A Dose Of Reality

Two Peas In a Pod

 

Agree with every word RR, of every post in this thread. As fans we need to get behind the strategy/team/players/manager to do what we can to ensure we survive this season (I think we will), then next season we will be in a position where we only need to add a few players and so may be able to bring in that bit of experience we need to mix with the youth we've already brought in.

I'm fully behind it. I do accept it's poor right now but there are reasons for that (or excuses if you're that way inclined), but I am prepared to ride it out and stick with the plan.

 

Peter Swan n is investing a lot of money in Scunny I'd imagine budgets to be roughly comparable.

 

It's not an alternative in the real works though is it?

 

Exactly.

 

He's not denying it

 

I'm Ben's Mum and I think he's a very good boy.

 

I'm not advocating sacking Wilson, my comments are purely football related without any agenda. I didn't want him as manager but I certainly don't want him sacked at this time. All I' m saying is none of the off-field stuff should prevent any manager from sending a team out with fire in their bellies and a will to win,with of course some sort of gameplan.
I believe Reds fans in the main, have been patient. Wilson's pre an d post game interviews haven't helped matters.

 

RR has been on here since before Ben was born. Nearly.

 

Both Wilson's post game interviews and his pre game interviews are on the whole meaningless attempts to say absolutely nothing. I don't know if you can remember back far enough to our promotion season. Mark McGhee the then Wolves manager was lured into making a derogatory comment about Barnsley by a reporter. Danny carefully cut the offending piece out and pinned it to the dressing room wall, using it to motivate the players. This experience taught him never to have an unguarded moment when talking on the record.

He will be criticising the players in private when he thinks that it is what is required to improve the players effectiveness, but will not usually do so in public. I was actually shocked to hear the veiled criticism of Dale Jennings after Saturday and I wondered whether it meant that he had given up on the player. He is conscious that any comment he makes will affect the dressing room in one way or another and I have long understood that this means that his public utterances will always be guarded.

 

You only have to read the year at the top book and you get how much Danny distrusts the media.

 

I think, with respect to Red Rain (whoever he/she may be, and whatever their connection to the club) that the original post really drives at what has been a recurring debate on here over the years. Do people attend Oakwell because a) It is in their blood, and they will do so come what may, regardless of results or performance, or b) Because they regard it a two-way transaction in which they expect to receive entertainment and interest in exchange for parting with their often hard-earned cash? At Oakwell, as on here, there are plenty of people in either camp. I've said on many occasions on here - I'm in the latter (b) camp.

Patience is all very well, so long as folks can see that something worthwhile is being built. But there is as yet precious little sign of that in this, Danny's second coming. The balance of the side is all wrong - surely we could expect to see at least one or two older/more experienced signings who could bolster the youthful players and help guide them. Instead we have virtually all young players who don't appear to be gelling or developing any understanding. Despite RR's comments, I don't believe that when a squad trains together from day to day and week to week, that they can't develop some sort of team understanding and strategy. And the manner of game that we are attempting to play seems a long way away from what we understood to be Danny's style, i.e. the type of pass and move football which marked his first reign. I can understand that that may be difficult for a less talented group of players, but it's disappointing to not even try to get them playing in that way.

So while Red Rain's post may be well expressed, and makes some valid points, I'm afraid I don't totally buy it. I'm also afraid that when this season ends, the club will be left with a support which consists mainly of the 'type a)'s' - which will be considerably fewer in number.

 

Cracking Post!

 

I agree with some of this, however, the signings of Lita, Treacy, Turnbull & Ramage don't point towards that strategy. I think we wanted to go up this year, I think we had the budget to do that this year but it's just not happened.

What I think has then happened is that at Christmas, we've had something that has completely thrown our weight behind the strategy you mention. Either something behind the scenes, a realisation the lads we did sign on decent deals aren't going to do it - I dunno, something. I'm all for doing something long term, giving us some foundations to build on etc. But what you're claiming has been our strategy all along I can't agree with, especially when we've spent something like £750k on transfers this year, the wages for Lita, Treacy, Turnbull, Ramage & the continued contracts of Cranie, Nyatanga etc.

The performance on the pitch has been disappointing since November - no one can deny that. There's many reasons for that which is why I'm not arsed. But to try and ignore that and say it's been the plan all along is just not true.

 

I think we were planning on the playoffs at least. But our recruitment does lend itself to a longer term strategy.

 

It does but there's been a definite change this last month. I'm hoping we've just reacted to the situation and decided to start planning for next year already.

 

We made the signings of Towner, Brown, Phenix and Williams a while ago now. All non league lads. The addition of Scowen and Lalkovic, the somewhat forced introductions of Bree, Holgate and Smith. I suppose the club accepted that a playoff tilt was unlikely and began the building for next season a bit earlier. As Danny keeps saying, not all of these lads are for now. He wouldn't say stuff like that if he feared for his job either...

Long term plan, but aye, probably kicked into gear a month or so ago upon realising our 'marquee' talent had failed to live up to that billing - Lita, Treacy, Cranie, Jennings, Hemmings, Bailey.

 

Looking more like a tepee than a marquee at the moment.

 

I have no connection to the club, but I have been an active supporter of the team for 50 years this year. The club is part of my DNA. My observations are based upon what I have seen, what I have read and what I know from my experience as a senior manager in business. I am firmly in camp a) because I know that once the support leaves a club and the revenue starts to fall, thing go from bad to worse. I believe that the management team at Oakwell are doing their very best to arrest that downward spiral before it goes too far. I Mr Cryne has contributed his cash to the club last season, and I believe that he continues to do so this. I think that he deserves our support, because if he decides that enough is enough and cuts off the flow of funds, then non of us would be happy with the result. This argument must make sense if you have the long term interest of the club at heart, and I believe that everyone who takes the time to contribute on here falls into that category.

Teams are not made overnight. There is more to the Danny Wilson passing style than just the ability to pass. The passer must be familiar with the runs of the receiver. He must know where he likes to receive the ball. He must know automatically what foot is his strongest and he must be confident with the receivers first touch and ability on the ball. The receiver will tend not to make a run if he has no confidence in the passer's ability to see him and also his passing ability. A mis-placed pass means that the receiver is out of position and should the opposition win the ball in space, they have a chance of counter attacking into the space vacated by the receiver. The quick passing game can be successful only in a team that knows each other well and trusts each other's ability. This is why you seldom see it done as well as Wilson's promotion team. There is no option but to opt for a different strategy when those conditions cannot be guaranteed.

 

It is my view, that the plan was to change the team utilising youth at that the management expected the plan to take at least 3 transfer windows, and that this was the plan from day one. Of course, we all know that bringing too many young players into the team at once is a recipe for disaster, so with the player who remained from the Championship team, and the few older players who were brought in during the Summer, there was a more experienced core. It is the injuries to this core that has hurt us the most during the period we have struggled, and it is these injuries that has driven the process of blooding young players who were not yet ready for first team action. Nevertheless, I believe the long term plan for 3 or 4 transfer windows is the one that I have described in my original post.