Ayone else bored to death of the doom and gloom merchants?

Agreed.

Every day, the same point, over and over again. The more extreme they are, the more the positive ones have go the other way and then the ones in the middle that can see both sides (I like to think I'm in that camp) get drowned out.

The only thing I can cling to is how much I enjoyed watching us before February. The Peterborough, Birmingham, Hull games are as good as I can remember in the last few years in terms of performance. Granted we were w@nk in February, there were a combination of reasons that are talked about every day on here that I can't be arsed to go into (lost players/mistakes). If you cling on to the bad bits, you'll end up going f.cking loopy and it's not what supporting a team is about.

 

Re: Ive got sympathy for Hill

There's some valid points there. The only trouble is where do you get the money to speculate, and to what ends? Finishing 5 places up the league? And I'm not sure that would generate more income, the criticism will then be what's the point in mid-table obscurity. To be honest my primary aim is to have a well-run club what is genuinely affordable to and active in the local community and invests in young players. I would rather that than paying over-inflated wages to maintain a position in the league which is competing with someone bank-rolling a club. Success is cyclical but ultimately (IMO) a well-run club will be more successful than those that aren't.

I'm not for a second saying we are meeting that criteria (ie well-run and affordable) and that is where my criticisms lay. But I would also say that so far I think Hill has made some interesting signings which are arguably more ambitious than last year, plus I'm certain there will be a couple of loans to follow

 

As a supporter, all that matters is the football

winning or at least competing in football matches. At Championship level, that requires good players who command high wages and just unilaterally refusing to pay those wages will ultimately end in relegation. James G is frustrated cos we arent signing the calibre of player we need to compete and I have to agree with him, the players we've signed so far and the ones left from last season dont look good enough. Its the reality of our position, we wont pay the wages but most other clubs are doing, so we struggle and attendances dwindle and so on and so forth. The risk with aiming for a well run, affordable club reflecting the community is Barnsley is broke and 5,000 die hards rattling about in a 2/3s empty stadium is what will happen and it might be a prolonged stay in League 1 or worse this time.

 

Yep it is getting a bit boring and it feels like the negative army has grown in numbers over the last few weeks but its only opinion and its what this forum is about so I don't let it bother me or put me off coming on here.

 

Re: As a supporter, all that matters is the football

But the only solution to that is an inidividual (or group) of investors ploughing their own money in to the club. Firstly that isn't going to be anywhere near as easy of attractive under the FFP rules, and will also mean others will be less likely to go down that route.

http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1034-May-2012/8544-how-ffp-could-help-championship-clubs

Secondly, the only person who would invest in Barnsley would either be mental or a die-hard fan who loves the club. The majority of investors see a club as an opportunity to make money in the long (or short) term. We don't have a large fan base, we are in an economically poor area, and we don't hold valuable assets (as I understand it from complex land holding agreements). And a Jack Walker figure is great in principle but what happens when they lose their money/die/lose interest etc. The club is left with outgoings it can't meet and goes the way of Portsmouth, Plymouth, Port Vale.

I agree its depressing but it is a general football malaise, not BFCs. As far as I can see the club are trying to do the right things, although not always finding the right way to do it.

One final point, do you think there would only be 5,000 fans if we did find oursleves in Leage One but had considerably cheaper tickets and were regularly for promotion each year? Look at Bradford and Huddersfield's attendances

 

The thing is with Happy Clappers is they always have to finish their posts like you just did 'Some of us still hope we will do well', the classic HC patrionising put down. Sod off to Clapperville if you can't put up with alternative views. For every ultra pessimist theres a Clapper, most posters are optimistic pessimists or pessimistic optimists.....

 

So you don't think there is a minority who revel in us losing?

I love the beautiful irony: "Sod off to Clapperville if you can't put up with alternative views"

 

I certainly haven't changed my opinion from the last half of last season. And for the first time in 20 years I haven't renewed. (That said its not purely down to my thoughts on this Manager and his capabilities. Living 4 hours drive away and when your kids need you on a Saturday it gets harder and harder to justify the cost/time) But I am convinced that I am not alone and this is where the club needs to think long and hard. Despite living in Scotland for 24 years, Barnsley is in my blood. I have followed my team for 42 years now. But the club has to ensure that they provide a team capable of competing. If they do this then fans like me will travel. As a real fan you can't not go and watch a successful team. We have got a hard core of fans but its the other 5-10,000 fans that would go and see a winning Barnsley team that would arguably make the difference. And this is where the club needs to have belief. Sadly I don't think this manager is the man to take the club forward so I wouldn't want to see him given a decent budget. (If he thinks Dawson. Dagnall and Wiseman are going to take the club forward what would he do with some real funds) That seriously scares me. I am therefore currently caught in a world of frustration, doubt and fear when it comes to BFC.

 

League 1 with cheaper tickets and a chance of promotion

might actually be more viable and enjoyable all round. Bring it on.

 

I think there are people who over react to losing ,with the exception of one ,I can't think anyone revels in us losing.

'I'll go away and find a more constructive place to discuss our club'.........good luck with that then

 

Re: As a supporter, all that matters is the football

Disagree. That is one solution and not one that I would be particularly happy about. The other (viable) solution is to develop the club both on and off the field. We need to speculate and take some calculated risks, offer our (few) assets longer term contracts, and get the commercial side of things sorted out. An amitious and forward thinking board could triple our gross income but this lot are just happy to sit back and see what happens.

Huw Jenkins has far less money then Cryne but Swansea have been developed fantastically with (correct me if I'm wrong) no benefactor. Their crowds have increased 500% and they are based an area more depressed than Barnsley, and they now stand to make 15m from the sale of a decent Premiership player. In 2002 they were light years behind us and now this has been reversed. We should be looking at their business plan and learning from it.

 

Sorry, frustration got the better of me today when I saw the umpteenth thread in which all our new players have been dismissed as ****.

For all our disagreement I generally quite like Conan but occasionally it tips me over the edge when it is every other post without addign anything new. As for TheReev I just ignore him, he's doing it on purpose for attention.

i genuinely don't mind people criticising so long as their is a reasoned debate behind it. I am on the whole an optimist but I like to think I provide a back-up to my point whether I'm being positive or critical. It just frustrates me when we should all be trying to create a condusive atmosphere for success at the start of the season and constant criticism of every new player we look at it met by howls of derision.

 

They are entitled to their views

And that should always be respected. However, why anyone needs to resort to personal abuse, simply because someone else holds a differing opinion, is baffling. To arrogantly assume you're right every time and anyone who disagrees with you is wrong, or lacks your vision of the perceived truth, is quite sad. I'm one of the rose tinted glasses-wearing Happy Clappers of the BBS, I'll openly admit it. But I always try to explain why I hold a particular viewpoint with regards to the club, or a particular player, although I'm not always successful at it.
As an example, madmark & I are great friends. We rarely agree on football matters, but I greatly admire and respect him, his views and am proud to be able to count him as a friend.

 

Re: As a supporter, all that matters is the football

But we are agreeing. I don't think you will find anywhere that I have said the club has to improve the way it is run and increase revenue. I've said it elsewhere in this thread. We need innovation at board level and look to maximise all income streams to allow us to spend more. But what we can't do is have a wage bill that exceeds our income. Consequently I can't see how the manager is at fault for bringing in players who meet that wage structure, or the club for setting a wage structure that fits our revenue. Where the club is at fault is for not increasing revenue, and where Hill is at fault is for not getting his full backs to overlap.

 

Re: As a supporter, all that matters is the football

Most people I know have stopped posting on here because of the negativity. In fact I almost stopped for the same reason, until I learned how to ignore people! It's sometimes not worth trying to post anything constructive or try to start a discussion, because you'll end up with one of the regular wingers spouting the same boring old nonsense. Everything seems to be so black and white to them.

The problem with all this though is that I know that the comments on this board are monitored by the club, Keith Hill and Patrick Cryne and it can't help but prejudice their opinions of Reds fans in general, particularly when a vocal minority supplement it with booing at Oakwell. This led to Keith Hill coming out with some ill judged sweeping statements that ended up offending people that his comments really weren't aimed at (me included). I think the poor second half of the season gave Hill some much needed humility and hopefully he'll be much the better for it this season.

All the people associated with the club have been there long enough now to take the negative minority on here with a pinch of salt and realise that the majority of Reds fans are behind the team. We've made some good signings and I think we are a stronger squad starting this season than the one that finished the last, so let's hope we can have more to cheer this year.

There's nothing wrong with criticising if you feel it just, providing it is done with respect and isn't your sole reason for being on here. A good rule of thumb would be that if you wouldn't be prepared to say it to the face of who you are talking to/about, don't post it!

 

Re: As a supporter, all that matters is the football

i hope tha going to pitch that to the don on wednesday, and i mean that seriously, good points, will be interesting to hear the answer

 

Fed up to the teeth with them. I remember us being stuck in Divs 3 and 4 for 20 years (and had a season ticket) and we didn't have the moaners we have today.

 

Re: As a supporter, all that matters is the football

I don't know if I can as I'm hoping to attend incognito in case someone tries to get me.

 

Re: Im surprised you have "Sheffield Wednesday mates"

Just as anybody who makes a point perceived as negative gets shot down and told to stop whinging, or a special thread made just to have a go at them. I would consider myself as usually positive about BFC, but I am not that sure this season, think we might go down, worra lovely person I am.

 

Re: As a supporter, all that matters is the football

i may disagree with people on this forum, but thats the worse it should be, a disagreement, anything worse should be left to the school playground