That PH interview was seriously depressing

BINGO

 

If that was supposed to be Latin for Heckingbottom, I don't think you've quite got it.

 

So he says yes to x amount of players in one position but then carries on saying yes for the same position just because they might be better than another player who plays in a different position? Sorry I’m confused.

 

I don’t think they would. It’s almost unheard of in football to lose almost a complete team in just over a year anyway but then to replace it with kids on the cheap & expect to do well is crazy.

If he keeps us up he’s done an outstanding job. Even if he takes us down & we put up a decent fight he’s probably done a decent job.

The squads not up to it. Everyone’s had a chance, different formations have been tried & let’s not forget he doesn’t sign the players.

 

I am all for patience and I have not yet written off any of our summer transfer window signings, but there are one or two "what if" questions that have occurred to me following Hecky's depressing interview.

The first is, what if Hecky has been told that he has to sell before he can buy again, that the annual player pay budget is tight and he cannot afford to bring in any more players until that figure is reduced. Let us take Brad Potts as an example. He was signed for a fee of £400k and put on a 4 year contract. Most of the BBS was happy with long term contracts at the time because it was thought that the reason we lost most of our previous squad in the previous January transfer window was that their contracts were too short. They were sold under the pressure of a contract that terminated the following summer, when there would be no fee received. I was never quite so sure, believing that players contacts should be timed to staggered termination dates, rather than that they all terminate at the same date, albeit further ahead in the calendar. However, that is not my point. My point is, how does the club get rid of a player bought from a lower division who simply does not make the grade. Going back to my example, even though Brad Potts is not currently in the team, his earnings are probably higher than they were at his previous club. Even if we allowed him to go for nothing, why would he want to take a cut in pay to play in a lower division. We have another current example. Alex Mowatt was brought in from Leeds and did not make the grade, but he is still on our books. He is still part of our wage budget, even though he is currently out on loan, because his new club probably cannot afford to pay him according to his contract terms with us. So, assuming Hecky is limited in his transfer dealings by his player pay budget, how does the club go about reducing pay, presumably without selling the few remaining players who could command a fee from clubs higher up the pecking order and thus reducing the quality of our remaining squad.

Others have said that our pay budget can rise, but only if our earnings rise. Those who read my comments following the takeover news conference would have noted that I had little confidence is the new owners' claim that they could internationalise the Barnsley FC brand. Now I will concede that I may be wrong on that, but I cannot see it happening between now and January 1, which suggests that the new owners "will not be going crazy" in the transfer window. If that is the case, what options does the club have for attracting new players, and especially players who are "championship ready" as Hecky described them. It seemed to me from the interview that Hecky had hoped that the purse strings would be loosened by the new owners, but that his discussions with them had convinced him that the club would be carrying on as before. He seemed disappointed and disillusioned more than anything. He seemed to have had his hopes for an easier and more competitive future dashed. There is the same message in his disappointment for us all.

 

Let's wait until the window opens instead of trying to predict whats going to happen or trying to look too much into an interview. He'll probably give another one tomorrow where he's saying it's going to be life changing for the club.

 

It was his demeanour that sent my alarm bells ringing. I don't know if it was premeditated or reactive, but if it was premeditated to make a stance, he needs to be careful, because he's in the points business, not the popularity business. If hes reacting to something happening in the background, he also needs to be careful because I doubt the new owners will want a doom and gloom merchant undermining the club brand every week, especially when they are trying to grow it internationally.

 

You say he is out of his depth , on what basis do you come to that conclusion ?

 

Reasoning further on in the thread.

 

I’ve just listened to the press conference and I too find PH’s comments rather alarming. It appears as though there’s a breakdown in communication between the various compartmentalised departments, particularly when it comes to player recruitment.

I remember PH saying earlier this season that we have signed too many of the same type of player and those thoughts are echoed again in his latest press conference.

This obviously begs the question as to whether PH is having any say at all because if he is signing off on and giving his approval to such players then he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Let’s just hope that the new regime provides for vastly improved communication between the various departments in order to maximise this golden opportunity.

 

I have read all the the thread & still do not understand why you say he is out of his depth , in itself , that is saying that the guy is incapable of doing his job , have you got any evidence of this because it is not a very pleasant accusation

 

Agreed. It’s similar to the content levelled at Maurice Watkins. The fact of the matter is that very few people (if anyone) on this board will be privy to exactly what GG does in his day to day role at the club.

 

If a manager is not identifying the players he wants it is only a recipe for failure. I have said it a million times get this January wrong and we will finish bottom

 

Correct , it appears that whenever the team are having a lean time on the pitch , it is open season for everyone at the club despite the fact there is rarely any evidence to back up accusations

 

Well who is to blame for us having three strikers? One an untested young lad from Chelsea, one an unfit striker from France and one who warrants a place in the team.

 

But not Hecky.

All I'm getting from this is that he's a great manager based on his results with a team he acquired from the previous two managers, and now he's struggling because he's got a team full of players someone else picked.

He's a manager that hasn't signed any players himself!

 

I’m not looking for an argument but GG/recruitment team are hardly the first and certainly won’t be the last to sign unproven/untested players either on loan or on a permanent basis, particularly when said players come highly recommended and with great pedigree. It’s obviously a gamble and doesn’t always pay off as evidenced by our previous untested signings such as Chopra, Fletcher, Kiwomya, Wilkinson, Nardiello etc, some of whom came good at Oakwell, others flopped and it didn’t work out.

Re Thiam - If he’s unfit at the end of December then surely that’s a criticism of the coaching staff as opposed to GG? We have fitness coaches and sports scientists who compliment JC and PH amongst others.

Don’t forget that we almost signed McBurnie only for the deal to fall through. Nobody knows why it did so it’s pointless speculating but had it completed that would’ve been four frontline strikers plus Jacob Brown returning from injury.

That being said, the much favoured McBurnie would also have been an untried/untested acquisition, as above.

You could of course be right but I just think it’s far too early to tell at this stage and I do think that some of the criticism generally levelled at GG on this board is a tad unfair and often baseless.

 

Putting all our eggs in the Mcburnie basket just to have 4 senior strikers was a terrible plan. Our goal drought isn’t obviously just down to the striking options but it certainly hasn’t helped. No professional club should be starting the season with the options we had up top.

 

Thats pretty much correct he doesn’t sign the players. Glad you’re onboard.