Everything seems to be going WRONG for Barnsley Football Club !!!!!!

National recession which has made the economy of the town even worse than it already was.........the town is now on its a.rse.
Lack of quality in the team.
Falling attendances.
Manager pointing the finger of accusation at the fans, and saying things like 'we need to over achieve to stay in the division'.
Owner running out of money, in bad health and also having problems with a court case.
For years the club has never been able to get away from the relegation zone ever since we came back into this division.

Its just worrying being a Barnsley fan. There aint much joy there at the moment.

 

In the latest football rich list released last month his wealth had gone up two million in the past year to 32 million, so I don't know where you get that from.

 

Seriously? This is the most optimistic I've been in years. I would say that the players on paper are not as good as in the past (because they are cheaper!) but that as a unit we are greater than the sum of our parts. I appreciate I missed Saturday's game and reading the BBC text commentary of the first half in Boston airport made grim reading but I think we've played more good football in the last two months than in the last four years. All through the worse injury crisis I can remember.

I don't have issue with anyone not liking Hill's public personna. I don't think he helps himself and I think if he counted to 10 before speaking he would come across much better. But beyond his interviews I can't fault him at all, and I don't have any issue with his comments about needing to over-achieve. That is the reality. The programme had a graph carrying average attendances and we were well and truly bottom of that list.

We can blame the prices for that but that isn't a BFC problem, it is a football problem where irtually all clubs are livign above their means to pay over-inflated salaries to men for kicking a ball. I don't think we have helped oursleves with the pricing structure, but attendances have always been there are thereabouts over the last decade. Football is expensive at every level of the game (£16 to which York in the conference) and this will impact on areas that have the greater socio-economic problems (ie former mining and manufacturing areas).

For me the club is doing the right thing in pre-empting the move to more fiscal accoutability by reducing the running costs of the club gradually. This will put us in a better position to be succesful at this level, a level which is higher than our income, attendances and catchment area should allow. If Hill can create a squad that plays good football with a sustainable budget and retain Championship status then we are ideally placed to progress when other clubs have to make the financial adjustment. What he needs is the club to find a better pricing structure which best serves the supporters whilst working within the constraints of the ridiculously high wages that the extravagant wealth at the top end of the football pyramid has imposed on all those below.

 

These financial measures that might not even happen?

 

Which is a fair point. But, personally, I would rather us be in a postion where we operated within our own means rather than being dependent on the benevolence of one individual, regardless of whether that becomes statute or not. Otherwise the future existence of the club is always at the whim of fortune of one person. I would rather have the securtiy of knowing that we exist as a collective, because of the fans, and that the money by everyone is invested directly back in to the sucess of the club. If one individual then decides that they want to provide funds to facilitate the purchase of a player then that's great, but the wage bill and running costs should only be under-written by income we generate.

If we are one of a handful of clubs that do this I appreciate that our natural level will be in a lower league, but at least we know that our club's future is sustainable and secure. And I believe that with the right internal structure and management you can still be succesful and 'over-achieve' to coin Hill's phrase. Plus, fans may buy in to the collective responsibility more and be more willing to spend money on and within the club. What incentive is there when you are struggling to find money when a millionaire will stump up the cash anyway?

 

Well said

We are where we are and we have to budget accordingly.

The galling thing is that given the amount of money wasted by messrs Davey and Robins, a decent manager would have had us vying for the play-offs these past few seasons.

As wealthy and as devoted a fan as PC may be, he cannot go on funding to the extent of the last few years indefinitely.

I'd be interested to see just who the club have been communicating with to try and improve income/investment etc.

 

Re: Well said

You make it sound like we've spent a fortune!

 

Re: Well said

We have !

Spending money doesn't just equate to transfer fees.

Somebody posted a link on here recently and I think it showed us as 5th/6th biggest spenders on wages etc in The Championship.

 

Re: Well said

Robins was Cryne`s choice for manager and backed him to the hilt financially as he probably said he would at the time of bringing him in from Rotherham.

So who really wasted the money?

 

Re: Well said

Point is the money's gone.

And what would we all be saying if Cryne started veto-ing signings etc ? There'd be uproar.

All Cryne's guilty of is backing his managers.

 

Re: Well said

Didn`t he put a stop on Robins bringing in a youngster from Everton?

 

Re: Well said

Not sure ? Perhaps by then he was getting fed up of managers buying a squad of players then by September having to sign half a dozen loannees to stop us getting relegated.

Could have been all sorts going off behind the scenes with regards to the terms of the loan etc.

 

That's what I've wanted all along

.

 

Re: Well said

aye...was a shame we missed out on rooney....

 

Re: Well said

Just think personally Cryne wants out, he has had his go, picked his managers, spent the dosh and found little in return from his outlay.

 

Re: Well said

Pretty much my reading of the current situation.

 

Re: Well said

What return was he expecting? To sell to a Russian/Chinese/Arab billionaire after getting us into the promised land?

 

Re: Well said

Higher league position James. Football not finance.

 

Whenever you think all's bad and gloomy re Barnsley, take a look at the likes of Bradford, Preston, both Sheffield clubs, Coventry and the like. There are plenty of clubs our size or bigger who have had an absolute mare recently, with little sign of recovery. We're treading water, struggling a bit, playing in front of decreasing crowds, little atmosphere, dependent on one person's wealth and not likely to achieve too much in the near future.....BUT, we're playing Leeds, West Ham, Leicester and Forest in what is sumat like the 4th/5th most watched league in Europe. We're not looking at trips to Yeovil and Exeter. Where others have imploded or steadily declined, we've managed to hold on to our Championship status and continue to be competitive. So although things might not be great, my God they could be a whole lot worse!!!

 

certainly things could be hell of a lot worse,,,theres plenty of us going to oakwell that can remember being in the wrong half of the old fourth division,when we would have given anything to be in the second division (championship)...thats not saying i lack ambition and dont want to be in a better position,,,,