Acceptance of our level

I don't think the issue is the individual players. It's the role we expect them to pick up straight away. Andersen was brought in as a 21 year old with barely 50 appearances to his name, and expected to, along with Diaby, replace our league 1 winning centre back pairing. Signing Solbauer in that January probably saved Andersen's Barnsley career. Josh Benson had about 50 league 2 appearances and was expected to replace a Championship play off team captain.

The transfer model should be to build the best team possible. Resale value will come naturally as a result. Instead we still seem to focus on potential and resale over the team.

 

We are currently a L1 club.

We need to pull off a good January, which we haven't really achieved since the Val season in the Championship. With Bobby at the helm, as stand in Director of Football, that might just be possible. I'm not writing this season off, as yet, until we see what happens then.

For me, Styles is the big disappointment. I'm not sure what is going on there. I'm resigned to losing Cole, but we need to secure Jalo & Williams to new contracts & find a new keeper, if Roberts is to be recalled.

We also need to raise the intensity of our play, particularly at home & make changes quicker when things are clearly not working.

I can't see a massive budget for new players, but an experienced centre back on loan would be my priority.

 

More years in the Championship than any other club by miles. It's as clear as any club in the country what our level should be and it isn't League One. The gaslighting to the contrary on this in the last 15 years is outrageous.

'Orrr, but the games different now, it's all about the money". Utter rubbish. It's been about the money since well before Tommy Taylor's £29,999 transfer.

 

I really don’t think it’s gaslighting to say it’s different now. I think it is. You need to be an exception (Luton, us under Val, Blackpool) or you need to have owners willing to lose tens of millions of pounds to compete (not guarantee promotion) in the championship. We could be an exception again but that would require the club being run much better than it is. Or someone who is willing to just burn a load of money with no guarantee of getting anything back (look at Milwall, Bristol City, Preston and others). I genuinely believe there has been a shift. Biggest reason in my opinion is premier league money and parachute payments. Of course other opinions are allowed but that’s just mine.

 

Oh, 100% agree with this.

 

Teams are where they deserve to be at any time in the past present or future.
Like quite a few on here I started watching the Reds in division 4 so anything after that was a bonus.The first trip to Wembley was so emotional because most fans never thought w.d ever see the famous ground with " little Barnsley" on it.Nowadays some of our fans look at Wembley and in my view take it for granted.
Football to me is all about ups and downs with no given right to be where we want to be.
One day Barnsley might grace the Premiership again, I might not see it but I can guarantee we'll get there because we deserve to be there and not for some given right.
In the here and now the chairman ,board, coaching staff players and fans will all want to be in the Championship but we can't click our fingers and over night get promotion.We'll get promotion when everything aligns and we get there on merit. Its not a given for any team but in my opinion we'll get there sooner than later.

 

To get back where we belong in the championship doesn't take megs bucks, getting into the Premier league is different I agree, but I thought we were talking about being a championship club again?
A couple a seasons ago we had a higher average attendance than QPR, Preston, Millwall, Luton, Wigan and bigger turnover than 3 of those.
It boils down to being run properly from the top and having a sense of building bit by bit, back in the 80's we were competing in a division containing Chelsea, Newcastle, Man City and Sheffield Wednesday,Leeds, West Ham, Derby and Sunderland at various points, so we have always be at a standing start in terms of punching power and budget but it didn't stop us being a stable 2nd tier club.
The pitch is the same size the balls still round the only thing different now is the model we are operating under.

 

That’s the spirit

 

Lot of talk of poor players on here but I think a lot of our woes at the moment is mindset and lack of a truly attacking intent. I like possession football but you can play it without always going backwards and sideways. We look our best going forward but we've stopped taking the opposition on and when we do, we lose the ball. Attack really is the best form of defence, particularly when your defence is slow and midfield a bit indifferent to battling in the traditional Barnsley way. The mindset needs to come from the inspiration, leadership and holding to account of the head coach. I'd love to know how Collins is asking them to play. Having said that, there's no excuse for any player not to be able to pass to a team mate, tackle, or take a shot!

 

It’s simple we’re at this level because the owners are not ambitious! Cryne blah, Conway blah the plan isn’t working and the club gas distanced itself from the values of the Barnsley fans

 

Spot on that all changed when the be thankful for your apple, orange and stick of coyle brigade took over in 2003.

 

It's a worry that next season we could be without Williams, jalo, Cole, cadden, kane all going for nothing.
Styles is a myth 20 games on loan at Millwall who ended up not wanting to pay the low fee many on here hyped thinking he would rip the league up total disappointment. Not as good as people/he thinks.

 

It'll happen again too mate. The loyal seven thousand.

 

Both of these were recruited using a similar model if not same as those who came in the Summer as in both were a gamble.
If Dyke hadn’t hit the ground running (after first game) many on here would have slated the board for wasting money/place on someone who hadn’t played almost anywhere except college level bar one season in the American league.
Morris very similar in he had achieved absolutely nothing prior to joining us.

 

Last January worked well for us in the short term too TBF.

 

Then either the Hungarian national team manager can see something in Styles you can't and Collins can't tap into in the same way, Hungary have a piss poor pot of midfielders to choose from or Styles has some very interesting pictures of the Hungarian coach in his back pocket. Because it's not like he's been picked for Gibraltar Hungary are a decent European International team and he's becoming a regular squad member.

 

It could have been much, much worse. Dane Murphy had to persuade Conway to sign Dike instead of opting for Conway's choice, a certain Obbi Oulare.

Imagine how that season would have panned out if Conway had got his way.

 

All the best center midfielders I have watched at oakwell over the years redfern, hignett, Howard, Hourihane, mowatt... could pass the ball very well both long and short range, could shoot from distance and could influence a game and turn it on its head I've seem none of that from styles. Maybe you see something I don't? And you think he's been good in center midfield?

 

Irrespective of what division wer in we always need to be pushing for promotion, fail try again, succeed and push on again, keep the faith, C,O,Y,R.

 

I think people get carried away with the ‘plays for Hungary’ thing.

As a team they’re doing great but they’re very much like Wales when they had a couple of stars, a few decent ones & then plenty of average players that made up the squad.