How would you rebuild?

That looks a bottom 4 side to me. But as you say there would be strengthening. Who sores the goals other than Morris ?

 

This is worrying from a leading member of the ST. You don’t seem to grasp the magnitude of our issues.

 

@Loko the Tyke I agree with much of the above but Paul Conway is not the only issue. You may see him as the figurehead but the consortium of him and Lee are consistent throughout this failed foray in to football.

For this club to get back on its feet the primary aim in the summer needs to be the change of ownership and a restoration of the fundamental objective to win football matches. Along with that the club needs money and lots of it to survive next season. Any player who can attract a bid will be away.

Whilst ever Conway et al are around the influence on style, tactics, and if you believe the Esbjerg article, player selection, will continue.

Change needs to happen.

 

Personally, I believe the figures that were never in the limelight, as such, have been our biggest loss, which has put both of this seasons poor managers on a hiding to nothing.
Head physio - gone. Result - more injuries to the squad than I can ever remember.
Sports Scientist- gone. Result - Key players totally devoid of confidence and belief.
We need far more than just a new ‘head coach’ as we have spent the season, off the pitch, breaking young players physically and mentally.

 

The onfield success is debatable, the financial mire they are in is not.

 

First thing is to get a coach and staff who know what they’re doing. Pub league isn’t easy and some big clubs have got stuck in it. We won’t be favourites to come back up. We need to go back to the high press that brought us success before.
It seems that we’re 7 million worse off next year. That means sales to make up some of the loss. That means 6, or 7 of yesterday’s team will go close season.
Back to the coach then. Someone who can make Palmer a player, can make Wolf and Kitching better. Can make the academy work for us.

 

The board need to loosen the purse strings. First off the matchday experience needs sorting out, something they promised when they first came to the club but haven’t yet delivered. Scrap the catering contract, seek links with local businesses to provide food, employ more staff to handle the demand. Build something more permanent to improve the fanzone. Expand on the kids club. Have local bands & artists playing before & after matches.
Oakwell itself needs a big facelift, it’s looking tired & run down.

On the field, first priority is relieving Poya of his duties. We need a hard reset. The likes of Helik, Styles & Collins need to be sold. I would try to keep hold of Anderson, Morris & Woodrow. Not unrealistic. Use players like Aitchson, Kane, Winfield, as well as Wolfe. Bring in at least 2 experienced players to play alongside the youngsters. Employ a head coach who knows English football, & for god sakes give him free reign in team selections & tactics including style of play.

But most importantly let’s have some dialogue between the owners & supporters. Starting with an apology & acknowledgment that they are the cause of this dreadful season.

 

If there is no money in the club, all it will be able to do is react to events, penny pinch and try to reduce costs. Grand plans and big changes need cash. Without cash, you just do what you can on a day to day basis.

I cannot see where that cash will come from. I do not want to be negative, but if our owners are not prepared to re-finance the club, I do not see that there is a lot of money in selling the players who have clearly failed this season, and COVID is still affecting the amount of money that clubs have to spend. Others are looking at it purely as a football problem. I do not believe it is. Barnsley needs more finance than it can generate from the fans and from sponsorship to compete in the Championship, and it will take a hit to all its revenue streams next season in League 1. The biggest hit will be in its main source of revenue (EFL/TV funding). That reduction in revenue just cannot be ignored because the club is going to run out of cash if it does so. I am sorry to have to write this, but the club is going to have to cut back, and cut back hard. If revenue collapses, if there is no other source of finance, then costs have to be reduced down to a level that matches the reduced figure for revenue.

 

Who’s going to take Iseka? There will be championship interest in Brittain, and his form will annoy us next season.
Williams would be very good in league 1, if given the right role, but not sure when he’ll be available to play. Didn’t he do his ACL?

 

For me the key points I'd do are.

Keep as many of the better players here as possible. We know sales need to happen but get as much as you can for a select few (Iseka, Styles, Helik and Woodrow) then keep the rest and build around those to give us at least a half decent spine to the side with Collins, Morris, Kane, Mads and Brittain here for league one.

Get a manager in that has some knowledge of league one and has a successful track record there. This will help give the fans confidence that we will be ok going into the season. Doesn't guarantee success I know but will help ease fans worries. Someone like Bowyer for example if he is sacked from Birmingham. We also need a manager that believes in the project here that will not leave at the first sign of a new job. Stop adding these stupid release clauses into manager contracts making them another easy to sell asset. Means we are in a constant reset it's holding us back so much.

Then finally recruitment, let whatever manager comes in have more say. Let them pick targets and do the job they are paid to do. Yes keep using data to find some players etc. But stop the over reliance on this method that clearly isn't working for us. In the time they have been here we have signed so many players using this data approach. Yes it has unearthed some great players, but for every good one there is 2 or 3 bad ones.

 

I have seen enough of L1 to know what any team with goals in it will prosper and any team without will fail. From your 11 only Morris and Mads have scored any goals I think. There’s your problem. We have a non scoring midfield where we need everyone to chip in. I think we will strengthen enough to take your core team to mid table.

 

yeah seems very complacent doesn’t it?

 

We also have Oulare and Smidt to deal with.
Neither of these will fancy div 1.
As you all say we could have a half decent squad but need to sell to finance our losses.
Its clear what an absolute shambles Conway has made and I agree with Loko we need a good enthusiastic coach for starters who can bring in his own team.
I'm going to cut our CEO some slack and let him show us if he's a shrewd football man.
Let's see if we can actually get some decent money for players and try build properly.
I do think we missed a trick not getting Grant McCann but we are here now and we need strong leadership.