Hill's Definition Of Success.....

Nothing in that post sounded like rose-tinted spectacles, it sounded like realism and a plea for patience to me.

If we're asking questions, here's one for you; is there any manager out there we could hire that'd stop your moaning? I'd hazard a guess that there isn't a single one.

Why am I even wasting my time? You're so clearly a WUM. Nobody could be as miserable as you and get this far into being a Barnsley fan, you'd have just quit by now.

 

I bought my season ticket on the belief that I will get entertained

Not on the belief that we will be a top half of the league team. I was in two minds whether to renew or not because it was obvious there was a big cut in our buget. The reason I spend Saturday afternoon watching Barnsley is for some entertainment I don't think I've had value for money over the last two seasons. So far the trend has continued but I won't knock Hill for being honest about our situation only if our early pre-season entertaining football build up doesn't appear on the pitch.

 

I also see Lodgey has become nothing more than a sycophantic mouth piece as well in the Chron! Having cheap pops at fans who don't toe the line of Hill is the best thing since God!

 

Yes - TTP.

That's a pity cause I rate Lodgey - I think he is honest, and an enthusiast. The trouble is, you can't be objective (what some people call 'negative' or 'critical') and retain access to the inner sanctum! But Andrew is a proper fan and his Dad was before him.

I stumbled across the Bradford City programme from 26th April 1997 the other night. Keith wrote a piece in there that bristled with excitement at the prosepcet of promotion to the Premiership. It fair made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - even after all this time! Happy days!

 

I'm actually quite a jolly and humourous chap, Tykleton, as anyone who knows me will tell you. It's just that I'm not blinkered though!

 

Oh, and I'd have taken Danny Wilson, Phil Brown or Aidy Boothroyd at the time when they were available. Perhaps McLaren will be soon!

 

Boothroyd?

Are you for real?

 

Yep - you need to read a little deeper into his career. And he's a Yorkshireman. I'd have given him a go.

 

Danny Wilson says it all really.

You should try leaving the past behind for a bit, it's not so bad here in 2011.

 

Phil 'perma-tan' Brown and Aidy Boothroyd. Now I know you're trying to take the ****.

 

Times have changed. We are now further behind the other championship teams than we were then in terms of finance etc,the gap is widening and is going to continue to do so, I'm sure Cryne would be first person to admit this. We've got to look long term now, developing players rather than quick fixes.

 

o dear mr kaht........ i like and agree with most of your posts....... and llike the betting banter too........... but i fear we have a major difference of opinion here regarding the Barnsley Chronicles choice of sports writers.

Keith Lodge was full of cr@p quite frankly.........and the only reason Andrew got the job was pure nepatism.....but at least he is consistent....he is full of cr@p too.

I do hope this altercation of opinions does not demean our otherwise trait of having similar views.

 

Excellent post.. completely agree with your opinion and with your '****edoffness'!!!

 

Rose tinted spectacles?!!! I'm not the one who's looking at the current situation and thinking we should automatically be in the top half of the league.
Rose tinted spectacles? I'm not the one who's looking back at the eighties and nineties as a period when we were a strong team in this league. In fact we hung around for 20 years, had two or three serious gos at the play offs and as many brushes with the drop and other than that were mid to lower table with long spells of some pretty drab football.
Rose tinted spectacles? Aidy Boothroyd as the man for the job? And one of the mainstays of your argument for that is because......he's a Yorkshireman. Brilliant.
It was clear when Robins left that, given we had no money, Keith Hill was the stand out candidate for the job given that he'd got a record over several years of getting Rochdale to overperform and playing good football while doing it. Attractive football not kick and rush. I'm not saying he's going to succeed here. I'm simply saying that after taking 5 points from 5 games, tough ones at that, it is absolutely ludicrous to start destabilising his efforts.

 

If he had tempered that comment with mid-table I would have been a wee bit happier. As it stands I can't stand listening to the bloke, I'm not inspired by him, and WTF does expansive football mean. Does he mean attacking football, that I understand.

 

Aim low and the chances are you're not going to achieve very much. Set your sights a bit higher and who knows what may happen.

The manager has criticised fans for complaining that the players he's brought in won't be up to scratch. I think he's got a point. You've got to give players a chance rather than simply judge them on on where they've come from. But how much confidence does Keith Hill have in the new recruits when he states the best we can achieve is to avoid relegation? That's hardly a ringing endorsement of their abilities.

But all that is by the by. What's got my goat is the about turn we've made from the close season to now, just a few games in to the new season, with reference to the prospects for the club. In June both the manager and the board spoke in unison about improvement in terms of performances and results. We definitely weren't looking at simply maintaining our championship status. We were looking forward, looking to improve and the message was strong and unequivocal. A couple of months later and the board are silent while the manager is berating fans who express any kind of ambition or desire for success. Not only are we deluded for wanting our club to do well but we're a bunch of ignoramuses who simply haven't been listening to what was said.

I'm sorry, but I was listening, I was listening intently. Not only have you changed the tune, you've changed the lyrics, the song title, the musical instruments and the style.

Since when was it a crime to want the team you support to score some goals and win some games?

 

Perhaps Hillcroft still believe that they can move us forward as a club, but unlike some of our fans, they recognise that this sometimes takes longer than 5 games. Perhaps a couple of seasons or something. Not that he'll get that at Oakwell, he didn't even get 45 minutes of his first home game so he's got no chance really.

 

excellent post Jay.. and while im one of the positive folk on ere, and not moaning and reading far too much into everything he says, i have now begun to understand those such as yourself who are looking at the opposite side of the coin so to speak. there does seem to have been a little bit of backtracking..
BUT, once again someone has manipulated Keiths words to further their own agenda. havent they Kahtorse?? hmmm.
the fact is that Keith DID say that to stay up against all odds this season would indeed be viewed as a success.. BUT, he didnt say that that was all we are aiming for.. he has said all along that we want to improve on last season. that doesnt mean just positionally. it means the brand of football. the finances. creating a TEAM. a squad of players we can call our own. not a club full of expensive, short-term loanees.
he spoke of improving our goal-difference, and our dreadful away record. these are all things that if remedied over time will no doubt in his eyes, the owners eyes, and mine and many other supporters' eyes, be constituted as an improvement..
last year we stayed up comfortably in the end. but that wasnt down to great football. nor was it a team effort from a squad of our own players. we relied on Adam Hammill, Gary O'Connor, Marlon Harewood, Kieran Trippier, Paul McShane, Diego Arismendi, Hugo Colace, Matt Hill, Jacob Mellis and Jason captain Shackell..
not one of those remains, not one of them came cheap, and not one of them made us a great profit upon departure.
we were playing quite well when Hammy was on his game.. but come the turn of the year, and despite his high-earning loanees, it was 5 months of deja-vu, as we holidayed our way to the end of the season. Mark Robins failed. simple as. we were quite fortunate to have 3 teams at the bottom who were absolutely garbage. so while on paper it looked a comfortable ending, we all knew deep down that our squad wasnt ours, that the football was negative and uninspiring, and that sumat had to change..
Mark bottled the new approach. he had tried and failed to bring in any 'diamonds' from the lower leagues, unless we are counting Liam D??
he left us with McEveley, Lovre and O'Brien. high-earners who have failed thus far.. apart from the loanees, what quality players did he find us?? Shackell, who didnt exactly need unearthing. Haynes? maybe. but maybe not. jurys out..
so that leaves just Nathan Doyle, out of 2 years work...
now, Keith n Flicker have the same job. ONLY they dont have even half the budget to work with that Robins had. they have built us a squad containing Marks left-overs, a handful of lower league players, a couple of young loanees, and 1 or 2 with 2nd tier pedigree..
the club have cut the wage and transfer kitty. theyve sold our captain and standout player. theyve also angered fans with the ticket prices/categories. which doesnt help Hillcroft..
and yes theyve made mistakes. but this is the start of a journey. judge em at the end of it.. we'll be fine.

 

Jay and Witey: we may differ slightly in opinions, but two excellent and well-reasoned posts!

Jay - I think the difference between pre-season and now is that we are past the time for selling season tickets!