Had a day to think about it..............do you know what I think is happening at the WELL ???

It may seem obvious and some of you are going to say - of course thats whats happening
But I thought putting it in to words may make the position clearer

I think this....................
Shep has been told by PC to make the club break even this season and do what it takes to do it
Its as simple as that
But it explains a lot of what is happening and what has happened at the club

Pot of money (from PC to buy players) but not a lot of money to pay wages of those players (running costs)
This could explain why we are attracting players but not actually signing them

So if you were Shep and PC and you knew what the game was behind the scenes - would you be as disappointed as what you are now - NO, because they know whats happening and why it is happening and they can't really do anything about it because the are restricted within a tight budget.
PC and Shep are probably looking at the long term prospects

I do hope they understand that failure and relegation means less money at the WELL and an even more tight budget
They probably think, when we turn it round the fans will be back - in time maybe - but after this season, especially if we go down its gunner take a lot of encouragement to get fans to purchase season tickets and go to the WELL regularly.

 

Or Maybe..........

the board expected more home fans than last season. The crowds only tend to be higher because of more away support. We didn't sell that many more season tickets and the fair weather fans going to just the Leeds and Wednesday games isn't going to fill the coffers for signings.

 

If Shep had been told to break even , surely Ritchie was well on the way to achieving this as he appeared to not be spending anything.

 

RE: Or Maybe..........we didn't sell as many ST as was expected because

The bums on seats statement ended up being a ******
The momentum after Cardiff was well and truely lost in the sand
Everybody happy after Cardiff........4 weeks later
The club was not sold to the potential supporter

 

Well my theory may account for Sheps and Ritchies comments

Both were saying different things
Why ???
Shep said money to spend on player
Ritchie couldn't (or wouldn't) get new players to the club

Like I said, if there is a pot of money there to buy players, but running costs of the club is low (wages) this would explain the differences in opinion
i.e. we can buy players but we can't meet their wage demands

 

And that's the clincher, isn't it?

I sympathise with the board regarding the financial shackles and I'm under no illusion as to the ability of BFC to compete with even some of the smaller clubs in this division for players - so why all the talk about ambition, and sacking managers for lacking it, when consolidation is about the best we could realistically aim for?

The money, apparently, isn't there and far be it from me to criticise anyone for it not being so but why the charade?

We're beginning to look a bit of a joke...

 

but under ritchie, he wasnt even consolidating... so the ambition seems to be simply staying in this division as opposed to going down.

 

I think you're pretty close Nudger. There seems to have been some money for

fees but GS seems to have had a pretty tight wage structure, £1500 wage cap maybe,which meant that the players Ritchie thought would help wouldn't come.

 

Do you know what the solution might be..............

The money set aside for buying players should be put into wages...........simple

So the players that you attract are not worth anything but are on high wages
What sort of player is this describing ???
Yep, experienced players near to the end of their playing career
EXACTLY what Barnsley FC need

 

eh?

When you're buying players there's a total budget to cover wages and fees. How that is split doesn't matter.

 

Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't - the truth is, we'll never know...

What's happened has happened and there's no turning the clock back...

However, my point was that the board have to take some responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in - once again they've acted (reacted) in a completely knee-jerk manner and, in attempting to make it look like part of a grand, long-term plan, have deceived the fans, smeared the reputation of our previous manager and been forced into the unpopular appointment of an inexperienced manager.

Davey has my support as long as he is the manager of BFC (and, to a lesser extent, so does Shepherd - if not his PR methods) but, if we do stay up, I will still be left feeling it was more accident than design...

 

I think GS has a wage structure within the club which limits

the individualswages, a wage cap if you like. If it isn't true then fair enough.

 

and the ambition now is? You can't have it both ways. nt

 

i think the ambition is still the same, 4th from bottom, but we may question the execution.

 

The execution? Are they taking it in turns to sign a League 2 player?

Gord - I'll buy McCann</p>

Kidd - I'll buy Mattis</p>

Davey - I'll buy Constantine</p>

Everyone - ooh, He's league 1, you'll have to get rid of someone or pick again</p>

 

and wallwork?

 

Nudge

That was exactly my train of thought when you were slating Ritchie for not strengthening the squad and bringing players in. Maybe with the money he had, he couldn't get what he wanted. The chairman sacked him thinking how hard can it be ... and now he's finding out.

Ritchie did manage to strengthen the squad on very little money (McIndoe) but those sort of signings don't come round every week, so a little patience with Ritchie was required. I don't think many people disagreed with you that the squad needed strengthening. I just thought Ritchie was being choosey and trying to spend his money wisely ... afterall it doesn't make sense that you'd let yourself get sacked for NOT spending money.

 

He only played 2 games! You seem to be clutching at straws

with that one as he was only due to be with us for a month. Could well have gone elsewhere in the transfer window anyway, 'cos we sure as hell wouldn't have been able to afford his wages on a permanent basis.

 

fair point again - and maybe i am clutching at staws cos he was exactly the sort of player we needed and need.

 

Don't disagree. Championship quality easily. Can't see how we

can afford that type of player on permanent wages though. To me we're looking at loans, but then again so is everyone else. Either that or take a chance on someone coming back,but that's a gamble that can fail, like with Healy.