For most fans, what happens on the field of play, the clubs position in the league hierarchy and the number of trophies in the cabinet are all that matters. The manager/chief coach is the figurehead, and even when told that the club is being run differently, and that the organisation and structure now runs the club, the manager/chief coach remains the ‘go to’ man for praise and criticism. The best run clubs occupy the highest positions in the league. Long term success in football is measured, not so much by results on the field. It is measured by financial performance and the organisation and structures off it. As much as fans would like it to be so, Barnsley FC has not been successful on the field this season merely because Hecky has waved his magic wand, and everything has happened as a result. It has happened because we have had one of the top budgets, we have put together a team off the field that have identified players that are the right age and have the talent and ability to combine well as a team, and the club has had a policy in place to make sure that it all happened. Over the long term, clubs with above average budgets and good organisation will succeed if they have the patience to stick with the right policies and the right people. Players will always come and go. Theirs is a short career and they must do their best for themselves and their loved ones. Fans should not confuse their love for the club, with a love for individuals, be they players or managers. The club’s philosophy is that it must trade in order to supplement its income, and this means that players must come and go, and in that respect, the club has aligned its aims with those of the players. This rambling introduction is about setting a framework for posing a fundamental question. There is no doubt that our modus operandi has been successful in the third tier, but can it be successful beyond that. Can it be successful in a division which is dominated by Premier League parachute payments and mega-rich owners, prepared to inject millions into clubs in order to push them to the Promised Land? Is there a limit to what can be achieved by even the best run clubs, when even the best of plans can be swamped by a waterfall of cash? The first thing to do is to state the 5 tenets of our current plan. 1. Recruit players who fit a defined profile. The player must be of an age and a type that will allow the club to add to their value through coaching and development. These recruits are being supplemented by remaining faithful to an academy system that has had limited success over the years, measured by the total investment and total returns. 2. The manager has been replaced by a chief coach, who is supported by a coaching and development organisation that does not appear to be directly responsible to the chief coach, but which is independent of him. There is a much greater reliance on information and technology and the opinion of the group, and less reliance on the opinion of the one man who is at the head of the organisational pyramid. 3. The use of loan players is not popular amongst the many fans, but Mr Cryne appears wedded to the principle. It is interesting to debate why this might be so. I think that it allows for the club to better control its budgets against fluctuations in its income. If this is the reason, then the policy is here to stay. 4. The club had faith in the organisation and stuck with it even when there was pressure to change direction. Maximising season ticket sales is central to this strategy, hence the “early bird” offers, because it makes the threat of withdrawal of funding by the fans a less immediate one and removes that short term pressure that can be applied by impatient fans. 5. 4-4-2. Mr Cryne has gone on record as saying that the club will play a consistent system right throughout, and that system is 4-4-2, supposedly, because that is what the fans want. The club can only play this system if it has the players suited to it. Some of our great players of the past would just not fit in such a system, and if the policy is applied religiously, it means that the club must reject many players because they are simply not suited to that system. The way that the club is run has changed in the last two years as a result of our relegation from the Championship, and the lessons that were learned as a result of that relegation. As I keep pointing out, the last relegation cost Mr Cryne £2.7m as he had to fund the cost of that relegation and I think that it convinced him that both he and the club must learn from the experience. It must not make the mistakes that have dogged it through the previous 9 years. It must become better able to ride the financial shocks that result from promotion and relegation. The question is, will our new structure be one that can adapt to life in the Championship. 1. The problem with recruiting players who offer a future is that many do not offer much of a ‘now’. Marc Roberts is a good example. He came to us at the start of the season and his potential was immediately obvious. Yet, he had to be withdrawn after a few weeks, and Kevin Long brought in on loan from Burnley. The learning curve was just too steep for Roberts and the pressure of learning on the job, against a background of a team on a long losing streak was just too great. In the end, Roberts came back into the side when Long returned to Burnley, and everything ended well. But he needed that time away from the first team in order to get used to his new environment. If we introduce too many immature new faces at the same time, and introduce them into a much higher level of competition, then it will have even greater consequences than this season. We need some seasoned professionals as well. Some older heads, who know the division and who can show the younger ones the ropes. There is nothing wrong with the general policy. It is the right way to go in the long term, but we need to adapt it to have a chance of consolidating in the Championship. 2. I am no great believer in the cult of the name manager, but there is no doubt that the success of some managers can only be explained by them being able to get things done purely through the force of their character and their ability to organise a particular type of player (e.g. Sam Alardyce). Others can attract a particular quality of player who would perhaps not be willing to risk his short career at an unattractive club. Still other use the force of their character to extract performances from their players and to deflect criticism from the media. These types of manager create rifts between the board and the fans. They manage fan expectations, they manage fan demands and at the end of the day, the board is left with the bill. It is infinitely preferable if the whole organisation pulls in the same direction, and this is only possible if the Manager does not accrue too much power onto himself. I like the current arrangements, and I hope that the club will stick with them, even when the disadvantages become more apparent. 3. When we bring in loan players, we often have to pay a transfer fee. We have to pay a part, but not necessarily all of the players’ wages. If they are injured during their loan, we are committed to their wages for the length of the loan period. When they go back to their clubs, our interest in them is at an end. We cannot make any profit on selling them as we can with our own players, and indeed they can sometimes be sold from under our noses by the club that owns their contract. Loaning clubs tend to offer young players for loan, on the basis that young players will benefit most from the experience of regular football, even at a lower level. As I have highlighted above, young players with little experience of life in the Championship are not particularly what we will need next season, however much the gratitude to Ashley Fletcher might lead fans in his direction. So why would we go back to that market. Well, in spite of everyone’s current feelings of euphoria, there is a good chance that we will be relegated next season. Most promoted sides are relegated the season after promotion. Loan players represent the cheapest way of managing the return to the lower division. There are no long term contract commitments, no unaffordable wages. Just a quick shake of hands, and meaningless promises to stay in touch. Someone has to pay the price of failure, and I would not blame Mr Cryne if he chose to minimise that cost. 4. There is no doubt that season ticket sales will have received a boost from of performance at Wembley. There is an argument for extending that early bird offer for another few weeks in order to maximise the number of fans committed to the club financially for the full season. However, if things do not go as we all want next season, there are even more voices, even more opinions, even more pressure. The board must not yield to that pressure. It has a long term plan and it must stand by it, even if relegation results. Like me, the board is in it for the long haul. I hope my fellow supporters will also stay with it. Sometimes you have to go backwards in order to go forwards. 5. The only part of the grand plan that I do not go along with is the insistence that 4-4-2 is the way forward. I have no preference for a playing system. It is my view that best system is the one that best suits the available players. If a player like Jacob Butterfield or Craig Hignett comes along, you should not ruin them by trying to convert them to play in a central two, or play them on the wing to minimise the damage that they may inflict upon the team defensively. You work with them because they are an outstanding talents and you devise a system that takes advantage of that talent. Going back even further, Nicky Eaden was an ineffective midfield player, who Mel Machin had earmarked for free transfer. He only became the player he did because the team changed to a 5-3-2 system. Most of the teams in the Championship will not be playing 4-4-2. Possession is considered more important in that division and our four man midfield will face five most weeks. Do we really want to see the opposition in possession of the football for most of games? Is the whole club playing 4-4-2 to the exclusion of everything else really all that wise? I hope readers will find this post interesting. I have tried to time it for when the initial euphoria of our promotion week-end has subsided. It is quite long, as usual. The opinions that I express within the post are just that. My intent is merely to stimulate debate. There are no tricks or attempts to wind people up. Just honest opinions.
Go on then i'll go first. I haven't really thought about most of the points but one that stuck out is the 4-4-2 one. I have to say I do agree with you on that one. Not that I don't like it, course I do, how could we not after this year? Added to that Leicester showing how it can be done with a few player instructions like Okazaki consistently being told to close down the deepest opposition midfield player to make it a 5 out of possession. I also agree about the type of players, if we find a type of player that fits our profile and, as you put it, a Butterfield/Hignett type of player who are both incredibly gifted I would hope that we don't change our full operation to suit them, but bring them in as a different option in some games. We might need that individual piece of magic in tough away games where we have our backs to the wall.
On the 442 issue isn't it a valid argument to say that either our defence will have an easier time against a 1 man attack or our strikers should have more luck in facing just 3 defenders. To argue that being outnumbered in midfield means game over is a bit blinkered when it ignores the fact that it clearly outs us at a numerical advantage in other areas of the pitch.
I think we're heading into a very interesting and equally challenging season. I also think the most important thing is for everyone to take a long-term view to whatever transpires and doesn't get drawn back into the panic-driven, reactionary behaviour that tended to punctuate our last stint in the Championship. I think you have essentially presented the challenges that BFC now face excellently and whilst I'd love to disect it all and come up with inspired opinions, the truth is I honestly don't know how it will pan out. What I do know is that for the first time in a long long time, BFC appear to be united, positive, forward thinking and absolutely on the same page off the field. We have a popular head coach, popular owner and presently a popular chief executive. We also have a policy of recruitment and a style of play that has been met with enthusiasm. I think the effectiveness of this will be tested to the limit over the next few months, but it is essential that as fans we recognise where we are now and don't allow this feel-good vibe to get lost amidst whatever troubles lay ahead. We will lose games next season. We will probably lose a few on the trot, go without scoring for a month, lose 5-0 at some point. I'll accept all that because the Championship is so so tough. If we end up getting relegated, so be it. But please lets not lose sight of what has made the last 6 months so enjoyable in a mad panic to stay up. I'd rather see us continue to do things the way we are and recruit with the future in mind rather than chop and change players and managers in a desperate attempt to finish 20th in the Championship each season. Regarding how far a club like ours can go being well run and following our current recruitment model, sadly I don't think much higher than we are presently without significant investment. Everyone references Peterborough as the model club in terms of buying and selling players etc. They're languishing in League One. Crewe Alexandra are/were the model club when it comes to bringing through their own young players. They're now in League Two. Money is king there's no doubt and only now and again will a club like Blackpool come along and drop on a set of players who perform miracles. Don't be fooled by Bournemouth, Burnely etc. They have spent serious money. Our recruitment model worked well in League One, where we were a biggish fish and could more than compete for players. It will be so much more difficult in the Championship but frankly, what other option do we have? We can't spend our way up this league and nor would I really want to see us throwing money about like confetti even if we could. So although our well run club, with it's fluid recruitment model and comittment to younger players, may struggle to push on too far, it has to be the way forward. The alternative is the short-sighted loan signings of recent years that may get us over the line each May but offer no legacy whatsoever. I'd rather accept being a yo-yo club in the knowledge that we were on a sound financial footing and have a squad of young, hungry players rather than risk the future of the club by lurching from one expensive disaster plan to the next. Finally, regarding loan players and the relience on 4-4-2. I don't see us rigidly sticking to 4-4-2 blindly just because it's the preferred formation. Rather, I see us sticking to the style of play we have now implemented, an upbeat, quick attacking approach. I think that lends itself to a 4-4-2 formation at present. There will always be room for formation changes, absolutely. But the general style of play is what I think we'll be hoping to sustain for the foreseable future. I think loan players are here to stay simply due to their effectiveness at providing something above and beyond what even the most careful permanent recruitment can manage. I don't mind that as long as a loan player isn't blocking the path of a player of similar ability that we have contracted to the squad.
Red Rain suggests we were ultimately enabled by our budget. I'm not so sure about this. I don't know what our competitors budgets were this season, so just out of interest what was Burtons and S****horpes for example? Or indeed Walsall's? Yes i know we got promoted but can this purely be attributed to our budget?
Generally speaking in the long term budget specifically wages budget is responsible for about 90% of success. Even allowing for short term variables in any given season it is well above 70% so RR is bang on the errmmm money with this.
I think expectations will be different next season, fans will be more patient as we didn't expect promotion and have a manager and team we love. Things will be much easier with patience and a 4th from bottom target. I think we'll do alright with some momentum if we keep the key players. A couple of additions like Long etc are all we need. That said we will lose a lot more games, simply because of how you get punished for mistakes in the Championship. I'm not sure 442 is club policy is it? That would be a bit daft, tactically. Great original post for the talking points
Roberts didn't lose his place because of form, Indeed, LJ said st the time it was a difficult decision to leave him out but it was because of a change in formation as we had previously played with 3 centre backs, although Nyatanga did seem to move over to the left. Alfie struggled at times, but came through.
I chose my words very carefully when I discussed 4-4-2. I did not mean to suggest that the outcome of the game is necessarily decided by how many players there are in mid-field. You are right that 5 players in midfield often means just 1 player up front. I do think that 5 players in midfield does give that team a greater share of possession, though it is the quality of the striker and the attacking midfield players that decide whether the greater share of possession is turned into goals. My comments were specifically directed towards those supporters, and I am one, who like to see their team have at least 50% of possession in a game. Leicester have proved this year that you can win the Premiership with much less than 50% possession provided you have a method that works, and their method was the quick break.
Some interesting points. I am not sure if it will be possible to sustain our method of play in the Championship where the players are that much quicker, and of a higher quality than league 1. As far as I can see, the basis for our success was that we attacked down the wings, but our two central midfield players generally kept their shape and were not allowed to get ahead of the ball. Essentially, when the opposition got out of shape, we were able to attack quickly and catch them before they could regain their shape. However, we have relied heavily upon our wide players and if they come up against better full backs and better organised sides defensively (possibly with 5 man mid-field), I am not sure whether the strategy works as well. It is going to be fun finding out. There is a strong possibility that I am under-estimating our team and over-estimating the quality in the Championship. I just hope that expectations amongst the fans are not raised to unsustainably high levels as the backlash from disappointed fans always makes Oakwell an unhappy place to be.
In response Para 1 agreed. P2 agreed. P3 cash doesn't necessarily buy winning teams. There is no limit to what a team can achieve. Whether it be fuelled by cash or not. By your earlier reckonings we don't deserve to be in the championship. I'm still intrigued by what your team talk would have been to the players in the dressing room last Sunday. Tenet 1 - limited success so far? We get the stones sell on cash and that helps the financials doesn't it? Plus more recent evidence of kids come through. Bree Smith Evans.....Wilkie in charge of that group. That's progress. Tenet 2 - true and proven to be a successful way through the pitfalls of recruiting the right people. Tenet 3 - loan system not popular? Uh? Find me a Barnsley fan who would have not wanted Josh brownhill and Ashley fletcher and Lloyd Isgrove (and toney and chapman in the squad) and I will bare my arse on the town hall steps. Tenet 4 - agreed. Good policy. Tenet 5 - yes. That's what it means. That's the plan. We have a plan. 442 and find the players to match. Next para - of course; statement of the bleeding obvious . Point 1 - the myth which has been created about Roberts benefitting from being out of the side is laughable. Long was a good short term investment but had we given Roberts two or three more games he would have risen in the way he has subsequently proved capable of. On this point... Which "seasoned professionals" are you referring to? Whoa and re your statement of players coming in and not offering us the "now" factor, that is utter rubbish. Think bout what you're saying. At the start of this season please tell me who you think offered us a "now" solution. I'm guessing not many and look at what they've achieved Point 2 - I like the current arrangement too but I'm intrigued as to what the disadvantages are that might become apparent. Pray tell. Point 3 - whilst I might agree with your general sentiment how can you not see the benefit of getting Ashley or someone like him in next season? Baffling. "There is a good chance that we'll be relegated next season". No there isn't!!! There's a great chance of us staying up. Seems like your glass is always half empty redrain. Do you allow yourself to dream or does your rational thought preclude thoughts of how things might get even better than they are right now? Point 4 - agreed. More patience. Less pathetic criticism and more faith in the plan. Point 5 - kind of agree / disagree. Fact is that good footballers should be able to play in any system. Smile and think positive.
I always try to raise interesting questions. When we are doing well, those questions will lead readers into the reasons for the success and will try to tease out a debate about how to continue that successful path. Above all, they encourage the thought processes of my readers to move on from the present and look at the future. I am a very emotional football watcher. I was in tears of joy at Wembley, not only because we had been promoted, but also because we deserved that honour through the quality of our performance. But I am not one to dwell upon the past. It is time to move on. It is time to look forward. It is time to look at the problems that the future will throw at us, and how we might deal with those problems. It is the future that interests me, and most of my posts look at how we can plan for that. If you want to continue to glory at past successes, then my posts will hold little interest for you. As I recall, you first became one of my readers because I defended the team and the Chief Coach when it was going through its worst period. I have never gone with the majority. I have always relied upon my own analysis and pushed my own thoughts. I am not a 'glass half full' sort of person, but I am a person who is fiercely independent, and who is prepared to advance his own views. If you continue to read my thoughts, that is what you will always get. My thoughts.
I initially thought this was a post about “The Good Old Days” (the TV show, not BFC’s)! However, it’s debate you’re after, so here goes! I think you’re right to say that the background organisation of the club has to be right, and that the club’s policies have to be stuck to in order to succeed. To be fair, you have said so through the season. But I don’t think it’s all been as smooth as you imply. I think that the club stuck with Lee Johnson not because they knew it would all come right, but in part because they had few options. We’d paid compensation for Lee and given him a three+ year contract, so we couldn’t practically afford to ditch him. Nor were the policies rigidly adhered to. At a crucial point we brought in the talent and experience of Kevin Long, Adam Hammill and Aidy White, and it’s highly likely that this represented a (justified) departure from the age profile and the wage structure. I don’t think that love for the club precludes us from having a great regard for players who do well for us. Sure, they come and go, but I think they can be celebrated while they’re playing for us. I don’t think we have to totally detach our affections for individual players even if we accept that they may move on. And I don’t think that rich owners and/or parachute payments automatically connote success – although it can certainly help. Wealthy ownership has done little for Newcastle and Aston Villa, and there are still clubs in League One who have had relatively recent Premiership experience. Going forward now, I agree with the general policy of obtaining and developing younger players. But we had to supplement that in the most recent season and I think we will have to do the same in the coming season. We have (at least in the second half of last season) begun to use the loan system amazingly well, and I think it’s inevitable we will have to continue to do so. Patrick Cryne has explained how this enables a club to obtain talent without having to mortgage the future, and some of the loanees will become permanent if circumstances permit. Ashley Fletcher has benefitted massively from his loan spell as have we, and I think the setup at Old Trafford may well permit him to come back and gain further experience at a higher level with us. His demeanour hints that he would be keen to do so – perhaps particularly if the Ibrahimovich deal goes through. As regards 4-4-2, I haven’t seen anyone say that that will always be our system, but it suits our current personnel (at least ahead of the Summer) and I think a good proportion of our fanbase are temperamentally attracted to it, myself included. If we have this idea of seamless progression from the development squad to the first team then we have to hitch ourselves to some system, and 4-4-2 seems to work well for us as we are currently constituted. Sure it might not have suited some good former players, but they are retired. We have looked particularly good in the latter part of this season when counter-attacking, and I hope that continues. It’s more important what you do with possession (how you “transition” the play, in posh circles) and how you use the ball once you have it. I don’t agree that the coaching, medical and sports science personnel work independently – they seem like a great team to me. And I don’t think the personality of Paul Heckingbottom is irrelevant either. He seems to me to be a talented and gifted individual who has incredible focus and professionalism and works well with those around him. I agree that we need to be patient next season, and it is quite likely that we will encounter a losing run early on. But the premature dismissal of Andy Ritchie and, more particularly the experience of the most recent season demonstrate the value of the patience for which you have advocated. We will however need to see improvement as the season progresses, and entertainment is still important for many of the fans. But all in all I do believe we can survive, provided that we adapt our policies to address problems should they arise and do not follow them too blindly. I’ve every confidence we will do so.
Intersting read Can't argue with any of that really and I particularly agree with your comments on 4-4-2. We have to be flexible.
Good posts. I do enjoy reading your posts although I do find them far too negative. If you were to read your posts back through the season it would not read like you were commenting on a side that won promotion, but one that would be struggling lower mid table. I think you're in danger of doing the same here. You are completely over estimating the quality of the championship and underestimating the quality of our team and structure. For every Peterborough, Crewe etc there is a Swansea, a Brentford, a Blackpool. If we keep this team together (still possible) and make a couple of shrewd additions ( completely plausible given evident success of scouting strategy now in place) then we have a side capable of a top ten finish. There is nothing to fear. The model is sustainable. I totally agree with the sentiment that if we struggle then we all need to stick to the plan. I suspect that the chances of this happening are improved given that this approach demonstrated long term results last season (keeping faith on 10 game losing streak). There are quality players in the lower leagues. Examples are numerous - vardy, lallana, gayle etc - I could go on and on, I firmly believe we have the system in place to find them now. You reds.