I was checking out our average attendances for this season yesterday. We're currently 44th out of 92. It would be 45th if Bournemouth's stadium was bigger. Historically our average league placing out of 92 is mid to high 40s. Slice it anyway you like we're somewhere in the middle of the pecking order and always have been. From the very beginning whenever we've had players who perform above that level or the level we were at at the time we've had to sell them to bigger clubs. That's even more the case now players hold all the cards in contract negotiations. The current spreadsheet model ensures we bring in more young players with potential to develop above our middling muscle. They consequently leave in bigger numbers. If we don't offer them release clauses or they see we obstruct the progress of other developing players they won't sign for us in the first place. I hate the revolving door of talent leaving the club but it's almost inevitable with our current policy and it's questionable how far that policy can take us up the ladder. The alternative is to employ players who won't develop beyond our middling niche and therefore won't be poached. They also won't progress us. Catch 22.
The question is though. Is our overall league position limited by our attendances or are our attendances a reflection of our overall league position? It's certainly true that when we were in the premiership the place was absolutely packed
The way out of it though is to become more competitive financially when it comes to offering players increased wages to stay and then we only sell when the price (and the timing) is truly right. This is something I hoped the new owners would be able to help with but we aren't seeing much sign of that yet. The Pinnock situation is going to be good test of what may be possible in terms of a change though ....
Good post. I think it is unrealistic to expect ourselves becoming an established premier league team, however I feel that we are capable of having an occasional dabble and should be firmly in the Championship. You only have to look at some of the teams with a bigger fanbase/ history in 2nd tier to see what we're up against. I think the model needs to change. We need to continue to bring in youth and establish those players, whilst keeping as much of this talent as possible. Sell maybe one player for millions each season to help keep us afloat. I may be wrong but that sounds like a manageable plan. Other teams around and below us don't seem to hit the reset button every 18 months or so?
Good post but the point is we are in a great position for automatic promotion we have already sold Potts for 2million. Now talk of pinnock which would defiantly harm our chances of getting were we want to be and the thing is both these players had decent lengths on their contracts. If we sell pinnock we might aswell cash in on them all Lindsay moore thiam mowatt after all were safe from relegation.
Buy cheap - improve - sell - repeat. This is our model that generates money. If we want it to be about football then we must break this cycle. We need to retain players after the improve process for our own use. If we don’t do this we will just have to watch as clubs like Salford appear and go sailing past us. It’s a bit like X Factor, I would imagine if you like Barnsley Fc you like X Factor. As the popularity of X Factor is fading due to it being same as every series then so will the popularity of Barnsley Fc.
For what it's worth and, at the risk of repeating what I've said before, I think the current owners saw us as a cheap lottery ticket for the riches of the Premier League. I'd have thought they'd be doing whatever it takes to get back to the Championship because while we're in this league their ticket is invalid.
I've just rewatched the intro video when they announced the takeover. I think its worth revisiting now we've had over a year of this ownership. A few points worth re-iterating. 1. The constant themes from the half hour footage is that they aren't doing anything crazy, budget balance, growth year on year, in it for the long haul. 2. When pressed on growth, they mention increasing revenues and better commercialisation. Internationalisation being the key one and access through their partners and structures in Asia and America. 3. When asked about ambitions on the pitch, they were relatively coy. Stabilise as a championship club, batted away a question about the premier league suggesting they'd review the plan year on year. 4. An option to acquire the Cryne ground ownership vehicle within 6 months (would have lapsed in May last year) and other than a bit of maintenance, no intent to do anything significant with the ground. From relegation, I think much of that has gone by the wayside and been delayed. I think the growth predominantly comes from international revenues and I think the new ifollow platform and clubs having more control over rights, allows them to swell an overseas market, if the product is attractive enough. And of course sponsorships. The last year of the current shirt deal may allow a more significant sponsor to come, especially if we gain promotion. Potts and Moncur made sense. I can understand Winkler moving to work alongside a former colleague and friend, with more resource, for more money and little upheaval. And so far people are getting in a frenzy because sunderland fans want Moore (tough **** mackems) and Brentford like our best centre half. But no comments of us accepting or rejecting a bid. That its not really hit the media, I suspect we might have told them point blank to go away. In 7 days we'll be wiser than we are now. The only reason I can see them selling more key players this window is if they've had enough already and want to cash in. If there were other motives behind the purchase which haven't come about or have been blocked for some reason. So as frustrating as it may be, lets unwhip our frenzy til we know more, and we can judge on 1st February.
I think the conundrum is well set out. But the problem for the fans is that they sign up for ST's in good faith only to find that halfway through the season they end up watching something of far less quality than what they signed up for. In the case of the Jan 17 firesale that became a 'doldrums' period of 18 months. The best way to mitigate that is to have the next 'wave' of youngsters well on the road to stepping up to fill the void - something on which our record is patchy, and in which we signally failed post-Jan 17. I'm personally surprised that more concern hasn't been expressed about Cauley Woodrow. True - he's only just signed. Remember a situation like that ever before? What our owners would find an irresistible offer would be loose change to some Championship and lower ranking Premier League clubs. And we have a person who knows his ability possibly about to join a struggling Premier League club who are lacking striking options!
This is a really sensible post. If you look at the lower reaches of the premier division it is littered with clubs who are in recent history of a similar or even lower stature than ourselves. Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Brighton and to a lesser extent Cardiff and Burnley. With the exception of Burnley they have all had major investment and owners who have covered debts and generally bankrolled the club into the top league in the world. Will these clubs go the same way as Wigan, Bolton, Hull, Swansea, Reading? Again clubs who are similar to us or will they push on? The issue we have is that our business model is based around a slow growth rather than boom or bust, which exposes us to having our better players (and coaching staff) being cherry picked by the very clubs we see as historical equals. The clubs like Bournemouth and Brighton have come from nowhere to eat at the top table where as we have established a reputation of developing young players and selling them on. I'm guessing if a championship team is looking for a player, Oakwell will be high on their hit list due to reputation alone! That's all well and good but will it make us a top 12 championship club challenging for promotion? Until we grow a bit of a spine and resist these advances we'll continue to be a yo yo clubs who is seen to be nice, respectful and an easy touch. I understand the argument that if we restrict the players movement we could have an unhappy player but the players must understand that they are professionals. We are a club looking to be promoted and our ultimate aim is to consolidate in the championship and hopefully kick on from there. Someone should be advising our players that we wont be excepting any bids until the summer. If we are promoted we can renegotiate their contracts accordingly. If we are unsuccessful then we would be willing to listen to offers if they want to leave. Unfortunately agents (Scum of the earth) dictate and play dirty behind the scenes and manipulate transfers from nothing.
