How would you rebuild?

So we’re down after a disastrous season - all the more difficult to take after flirting with promotion last year. The team lacked quality, fight, and tactical nouse. This has felt a long time coming.

League One will mean a loss of income and players, needing to sell or cut back to balance the books. Some people are optimistic we could bounce back, others worrying we could fall further still.

Being a Barnsley fan right now is not a joyful experience.

How would you rebuild from here?
How would you win the fans back?
Keep what you can of the team together?
Keep or change the manager?
Make other leadership or strategic change that puts us on a different course?

Personally, while accepting it might not bring immediate success, my dream is similar to Patrick Cryne’s dream - a team full of home grown players proud to pull on the shirt and represent the fans as they themselves are drawn from and amongst them. I’d focus on quality youth coaching, being family friendly, building on the community links, and making the broader match day experience an enjoyable and good value day out. Small club mentality perhaps, or back to basics depending on your perspective.

Oh and change the manager and sack the board obviously.

 

Build back better.
Get promotion done.
We'll be back.
Up the reds.
We want Colin.

Load of boll@ck this tub thumping.
Full of hot-air.

 

Put the £750k back.
Admit the decision to pick a playing style based on making players sellable was idiotic and apologise.
Explain that moving forward the number 1 priority of the club is winning football matches while still spending within our means.

 

If i was the owners my rebuild would start with sacking conway and putting someone who knows football in.

 

I think they should appoint someone with a Reds connection next. I’ve no idea whether that’s a Devaney, a Redfearn or someone else but they have to try & get fans back on side.

Another European manager who no one knows with poor English isn’t going to install any passion in anyone who’s thinking of stopping going.

They need a team of fighters. We need to get back to the scouting that brought us players who’d racked up lots of appearances by their early 20’s. Hungry, battle hardened players. Basically what Luton are still doing & we stopped doing.

If players are getting to 22, 23 & they’ve barely played any games & they haven’t gone out on loan to get some games to prove themselves then they probably haven’t got either the hunger or the fitness to hack it.

It will be hard to change things overnight because so many are under contract but look at Oduor, Christie-Davies, Palmer, Benson, Leya Iseka, Oulare etc, look at their appearances over the years. Are they really what we need? Are they ever going to make it?

 

I dread to think whats going to happen to the academy now.

 

We need stability at manager. Looking back it might even have been better for Stendel to take us down and then try to go up again. We can't keep having managers in place for eight months at a time, changing playing style every time one leaves.

 

Start by getting the shareholders to end their spat.

Sort out a proper match day experience in terms of food & booze.

Get some proper comms. Not from the monkey, but from the organ grinders.

Sadly, I cannot see any of these happening, they have had enough time now.

Good luck.

 

Nice one..Curbishley for me

 

I'd build a team around a midfield trio of Kane, Wolfe and Aitchison.

All 3 are likely to be here next season, and 2 of them as daft as it sounds are our 2 most experienced players

 

To be fair, Iseka had made about 120+ first team appearances. But the rest, yeah. And a few of those names show the risk of buying players from other academies to play for our first team.

 

The academy needs a total change Helen.

Since the current set-up changed when Branson left it has been a disaster.

 

If this relegation had happened under Redfearn with the youngsters would it have been accepted?

If the answer is yes I think it's a bit hypocritical.

 

Haha. Here it comes...

 

Just had a look & you’re right he’s played a fair bit more than I thought but even still he broke through at 16 & he’s averaged about 15 appearances a season & as a forward I’m sure a few of them are off the bench. It’s just piss poor really that he’s one of the most experienced & he’s not even averaging half his teams games.

There’s no wonder we’ve got so many injuries when the players we’re bringing in have often never done a full season.

 

No I don’t think so. There would’ve been more of a lift with the fans initially when he took over but whether that would’ve made a difference on the pitch is anyone’s guess. If he’d got Poya’s record then I’m sure fans would want him out.

 

You actually think the fat controller will make an apology?!

 

On the playing side, I'd sell whichever players in the current squad we can get a fee for, and hope that's enough to plug the financial gap.
Assuming it isn't, there's be some pretty rotten calls to make about cost cutting to avoid administration.
My first priority would be building anything which encourages fans to come to the games. Some might be revenue generating, some may be goodwill generating. I'd value both the same, as in the long run both equate to revenue.
Next up would be the team. With the budget we'll have left it will be primarily Academy kids cos they're all we'll have left under contract, so if there's any remaining budget I'd recruit one or two leaders on the pitch to guide them.
Next up, the best head coach you can afford who can get the best out of that group. It's highly likely that will be someone without much experience, so we need to maximise other strengths they may have. An association to the club would be one of those strengths.
From there it's marketing. We're a club running within its means, working at a new level. But we're a family and community club. Make the most of that. Open Oakwell up all week and year round, and create opportunities for volunteers to get involved.
With some prospect of future value established, the owners sell up, and ideally the ST takes some share in the club. From whichever position (and league) we've ended up, we then try to build year on year whilst living within out means.

Without a change of ownership, I don't think there's a chance on earth of us coming straight back up. But the above is apparently in the remit of our CEO's role, so if he has any mettle I'd like to hear him outline some kind of plan in the coming days.

 

As of today (appreciating this wont stay the same) a spine around Collins helik mads styles wolfe morris and cauley would be great in league 1. Realistically a spine of Walton mads wolfe kane and cauley is a good start. Add Williams Iseka Cole Benson Atchison and there is a lot to work with. Get rid of palmer. Give vic a new contract. Kitching? Meh. Moon? Meh. 'Hondermarck? Meh. Some decent loans and there is potential. That's on the pitch.

Off it? I'd possibly keep Poya but def get Hassell and Devaney with 1st team on match day. Need that connection back with the fans. Get fanzone most home days. Improve access and catering. Owners need to learn and learn quick. With no viable alternative they need to stay but please please invest. Pay back the £750k. Free flatbread in August. Move forwards together. You redzzz

 

As far as catering goes I wish we'd stop rattling on about it. We're a football club not a restaurant.