The board vs the fans

Recent days have made me reflect on the position I find myself in as a fan.

I've been relatively fortunate because I went to my first game in 1991 and since; I've witnessed us be promoted to the Premier League, promoted back into the Championship, had play-off final wins, a couple of trips to Wembley (old and new), had some giant-killing scalps and seen some great players at the club on the way. I've also been fortunate to not witness the ***** that fans had to put up with pre-1991 (fourth division etc).

Conversely, I've also seen us relegated three or four times (actually can't remember now), go into administration and nearly have no club to support, lose in a play-off final, barely stay up after multiple awful seasons and see all my favourite players move on to bigger and better things...which is particularly frustrating when you consider what keeping those teams together could have achieved.

What I've realised over the years is that football has changed...massively. We used to be a solid Championship club, we were well-run but had a bit of ambition to punch above our weight, and the fans were happy to see us have a go. Now, we're a relatively big league one club with the ambition to grow...but no means to actually do so. As fans we want a team that will give it a go and can accept that sometimes we'll come up short. We want honesty from the board and we want to know what's going on behind the scenes that we can look forward to. However, I also recognise that if the board tell us everything that they'd be showing their poker hand to every other club and would be less competitive as a result. We need to find balance as a club - without the fans we're nothing, without the board and a strategy we're also nothing (remember Doyle?).

So what do I expect?

1. I want the club to deliver on their promises. Don't blow smoke up our arse and then fail to deliver a fraction of what you promised. That means you have to choose...don't promise as much or deliver more than you do currently.

2. Be open where you can. When fans hear that Brown was sold for £2m and we're going to reinvest immediately in the playing squad...they expect an imminent signing to the tune of £2m. Explain to them that £2m needs to be the fee and wages of the replacement - not just the fee. Tell them when we'll be signing the players and IMPROVE your ability to identify and actually SIGN replacements. Lots of people can identify good replacements but clearly we lack the skills to sign them.

3. Another part of being open...IF Bambo has failed a drugs test...just tell us and sack him. I know we probably don't want to lose the fee we paid him and are worried we can't recoup wages etc - but I no longer believe that the FA is holding this up. Garry O'Connor MK2?

4. Have some humility. The club I support does not use the press and official club statements to throw **** at hard-working and decent people who gave their all for the club (e.g. Stendel/Ludewig). It looks like sour grapes and isn't becoming of a professional organisation.

5. If we are ever going to achieve success at this level we need to invest somewhere. I think our data-based approach to recruitment has worked wonders and we have got a great strike rate for defenders and midfielders. We aren't good at signing strikers. Consider changing your approach to investing when it comes to certain positions or we will never establish ourselves at this level.

Conclusion
I've been through thick and thin as a Barnsley fan, so I've got thick skin when it comes to us being ***** at times. The thing I want most is for the club to exist because that nearly got taken away from me.

All I want is for the club to continue to run sustainably and to try to progress. The current board are proving hard to trust at times because they either over-promise and under-deliver OR they're purposely lying to fans due to an alternative agenda.

At this moment in time, I'm willing to accept that they're simply a bit inexperienced and have over-promised/under-delivered. Quite rightly, that patience won't last forever.

 

Agree with a lot of that but probably unfair to say the spreadsheet is weak on strikers. Winnall, Moore, Woodrow and to a lesser extent Bradshaw and Chaplin have all been good picks.

It seems to me to fail to generate players with any pace. Which is crucial beyond league 1 level.

 

‘Thick and Thin’

What about lads who watched us when we were bottom of the league in division 2 in the 70’s? A gauge we’ll be roughly the age and I’d argue that what We’ve seen in our lifetime is the glory years for the size of the club!! Yes things aren’t rosy at the minute but we could also be in a far worse position too

 

Good read and agree with most of it. Just playing devils advocate for a moment I wonder if they have reeled their spending down due to the Covid crisis and fans not being allowed back into stadiums? Conversely, non of that ties into what they have actually said though - so back to mistrust etc

 

I think that's the point I'm trying to make (albeit badly). It could be a lot worse but it's all relative. How many people loved our season under Stendel? We had a great season but at a lower level - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Again, agree with this. We need to sign a particular kind of player to help us succeed at this level. I just don't think we're that good at actually getting the deal over the line. Remember, in the US the league and clubs have a lot more power than the players. Maybe the owners are struggling to understand that dynamic over here and therefore can't seem to complete the deals?

 

A very good post, I agree with a lot of what you've said. Not everything, but a lot
It's a pity you don't post more often, as I believe you have a great deal to offer to the BBS.

 

I never saw us at the bottom of Division 4 (thankfully just missed that period). So I guess that calls me a glory hunter then

 

Glory hunting young pup!

 

The Team that Norman Hunter got promoted to what is now the Championship, was dismantled the following season by the Board of directors, who were all local business men. There used to be a saying on the terraces growing up of " The dunt wonna go up".
All this abuse of the current board is strange for "old timers" like me,they are behaving just like any previous board,except that they are not spending what we don't have. My understanding is that currently there is no income at the club but Cash reserves to meet operating costs,a small surplus to purchase a player (s).
The furore is mistaken, the club will start next season in whatever division, having stood on their own feet. A lot of EFL clubs are reliant on being bailed out by Sly and the government. As a Tax payer, I object to this. The UK economy is tanking and unemployment will rise,it would be irresponsible for Bfc to spend what they don't have in order to appease some supporters. Sure, it would be nice to have a new striker, even on loan but not at the long term security of the club.

 

That's me!

 

My observation is based on that individual directors paid for individual players, as was common practice at the time. Once in the Championship, overheads increase, these weren't rich men and the opportunity to get their money back was taken, whilst balancing the books. The ground was in a shocking state and they took the supporters for granted. John Dennis had his faults but he modernised the club with little help from the authorities.

 

In fairness we went and signed people like David Geddes who had been in the Villa squad that had won the European Cup.

 

We also signed Stuart Gray & Larry May. Unfortunately, we also got shut Aylott, McHale, Evans, Cooper, Banks, Birch, Barrowclough, Parker, Pierce, McCarthy in an 18 month period. The attendances had already started to fall away well before the miners strike.

 

I think we owe a debt of thanks to John Dennis and the directors of the time who also had their own businesses to run. I’m struggling to stay interested at the moment, going to the match is made more pleasurable when you factor in time spent having a pint with old friends and family, not being able to go I’m finding myself losing my connection with the manager and players. The board has no connection with us or to us at all, they won’t change either because they don’t care what we want or how we feel. They’re neither fans of Barnsley or fans of football, we’re part of a rich mans portfolio and thats all.

 

I have watched the Reds on a regular basis since 1963 so I have witnessed all the highs & lows previously discussed but the the biggest influence on our fortunes has not really been mentioned, which I believe is the formation & since development of the Premier league , with sickening wealth & obscene parachute payments, the ability for a small club to compete at the second level as almost been taken away . There are exceptions , like ourselves in 97/98 but these are brief flirtations with success , when we had years of being an established 2nd tier club it was because it was simply a more level playing field where we could to an extent compete both on the field & off the field with our competitors but the birth of the Premier league has subsequently brought all that to an end , sad really . I do not think I will see it in my lifetime but I believe that the Premier league will eventually kill the game as we know it .

 

very difficult times for both the town and the club. Not sure either really recovered.

 

One of the players told me that a number of the players were asking for"silly money" to stay on, but the board wouldn't sanction it. That's a bit different to the board decimating it.

 

Didn’t Doyle appoint Gudjon , decent manager