..when this forum is pretty much united in opinion about Hills remarks. There are a lot of us on ere who havent had a bad word to say about him. I myself have been behind the guy, behind the appointment and behind pretty much every decision he has made up until the last week or so. So it was always going to take a huge own-goal on his part to shake my belief, my faith in him and his grand plan. And believe me, back to back defeats didnt alter my views. Of course, I was angry and frustrated at 5pm as I ambled out of Oakwell (much like passenger 5 Nathan Doyle who ambled around the pitch for 60 mins..) I felt we had thrown away a great chance for 3 pts. The 1st half was gash. No pace, a lack of graft and endeavour, little movement, and no threat up top. But Keith switched it up at the break and we grew into the game and were dominant in that 2nd half. We had a handful of near-misses before great work by JayMac was rewarded with a first goal for Craig Davies. He looked a beast in his 30 mins yesterday and so after the leveller I fully expected us to go on and win the game as Bristol crumbled. But as we all saw, the lads slid back into 1st half mode, and City could have won it at least twice before they eventually did. In the immediate aftermath I blamed JayMac for some lethargy in his attempts to get back to the winger, and with hindsight, I was perhaps a little harsh on the lad considering a few mins earlier he had crashed head first into the advertising hoardings. But I had seen enough over 93 mins yesterday to retain my positivity. It was a bad day at the office, but for me at least it wasnt the end of the world and I saw tuesday night as a quick opportunity to come and give the lads my usual terrific backing in hope that we could put things right against high-flying Hull... . But as I walked the 3 miles home to Carlton, reading the various tweets and listening to the radio on my mobile, I had my remaining hopes and positive feelings ripped from me as Keith Hill proceeded to speak to the media without first removing his foot from his mouth. There I was, programme and ST in pocket, a week after enduring a mammoth trip to Cardiff, and after spending most of the game cheering the lads on, I am walking up Cally Hill and somehow our managers got lost up his own arse again and attacked the fanbase. I may have been angry as I exited the Ponty, but nothing like the anger, the disgust that I felt upon hearing Keiths remarks. I and many of you have poured over his words so I wont go there again, except to just emphasise that he is doing no favours for the atmosphere he talks of non-stop. I am a Red forever. 23 years out of 29 have included weekends at Oakwell. I LOVE my club. But what of those in charge at BFC? Do I feel valued anymore? Do I get any respect for having a ST for more than half my life? Do I feel wanted? Does the club LOVE ME?? And now the man I have backed to the hilt is betraying that faith, that trust.. You are losing me Keith. Bad move.
And so at to rub salt in the wound, Dee darr pounced on this can't remember the exact words, but it amounted, Oh are the fans at it again booing. Thing is a Blunt had been on earlier moaning about their fans booing a 4-4 draw, but little was made of this. Sorry to change tact a little here, but Dee darr seem to love any adversity surrounding our club.
Agree with all of that Whitey. Like you say, you have totally backed him when some of us have been critical before now. Somebody (PC) needs to have a strong word with Keith because the LAST thing you do is alienate the fans. I didnt boo - having said that I hadnt just handed 3 tenner's over for the privilidge of watching that 1st half garbage (having a ST pays off in various ways!). No fans = No club. Wake up Keith Hill.
Yep. If I had forked out 30 sheckels and witnessed that, then maybe a boo would have left my mouth. I have booed before. Im not perfect. But only a few times and that was during one or two games in the relegation season 2001/02. And tbf, I was only 19 at the time and had that ****-sure attitude to match, where I believed I knew everything (bit like a certain young un on ere at the moment). And, those few times, I was in a huge majority. The atmosphere that year in the Ponty was shocking and I think a negative group mentality took hold of me. But I havent booed since. And I never will I dont think. I realised 10 year ago that its a pretty pointless thing to do, and harms the team if anything. But yesterday was not worth a mention. It was about 20 folk probly. It certainly wasnt loud, and no louder than the constant KEITH HILLS RED N WHITE ARMY chant.. Like I say, its not like its the usual moaners moaning about it. When people like me, pro-Hillcroft, arent happy with it, that says it all..
whitey, i agree with your original post..and if a diehard like ure goodself is starting to get pi$$ed off with Benny, then he really has gone too far. I myself have been watching the reds for well over 30 years and have seen good bad and dreadful teams. i don't for one minute think this mob are the worst i have ever seen........jim iley, viv anderson, s davey, parking and hart had far worse oufits than Benny's current crop. However his attitude is appalling towards the fans and i for one am wondering whether he secretly wouldn't mind the sack cos he is going the right way about it.....if he loses all of the fans which is now happening ( i say this because you yourself are a good yardstick in that department ), history will tell you that chairmen get rid of managers who lose the fans...... and lets be honest footy managers get well rewarded for being sacked whereas in any other industry if you get sacked you get very little if owt. what is your game Benny?....is the question he needs to answer. couple the above situation with the ticketing suicide dreamed up by Mr Rowing et al and things aint looking too bright at the well.
100% agree Whitey - I feel exactly the same as you. He's alienating his biggest fans and that is a slippery slope to go down. I liked Keith Hill's arrogance but this time he's gone too far and the knives will be out for him if we get beat on Tuesday. After these comments, I just can't see there being any patience from Barnsley supporters for Hill like they showed Robins, and if things continue to go wrong he'll know about it.
i think he'll do a good job at oakwell and i like the style of football he's trying to instill. what's lacking is a cutting edge which is down to our lack of financial clout rather than any fault of the players/manager. we just don't have the resources to get a guaranteed 20 goal striker so have to make do, we all understand that. it's completely unecessary to make the fans the major talking point after every poor home performance and i'm not sure he's aware of the impact this could have. it was a minority who booed at half time and overall i though the supporters were pretty encouraging in the second half (there was nothing to cheer in the first)
Ever thought about writing a fanzine? Either paper or electronic. You put a lot of effort in to your posts on this board, you're clearly dedicated, you're very positive and you're a decent writer. Pretty much exactly what is required for such a task. At the moment you're writing long, time consuming pieces that can easily get lost on a bulletin board that tends to trade on posts of a couple of sentences. It seems you're giving a lot out for little reward. Maybe if you put your efforts in to writing dedicated copy on specific Barnsley related subjects and published them as a blog, an online fanzine or even a paper fanzine you'd get a lot more people reading your thoughts and may even inspire some people to re-engage with Barnsley FC. Or at the very least give those of us who do watch the games an independent voice with which to relate. Find a colleague who could add some funnies to your more serious views and you could be on to a winner. Just a thought.
Some kind words there Jay.. Much appreciated, and some good advice too. I do annoy myself at times with the length of my posts, nemind others. I think I struggle to convey my thoughts in a short manner, and end up waffling. And so I think you have a point, and have helped me come to a decision. I sent a blog to Wilky at OnThePontyEnd during the last episode of Keith vs Fans, and I think it was warmly recieved. I havent bothered since. Despite requests. So I think thats where my long-winded, time-consuming efforts belong. And that whilst on ere I should stick to debate and banter with less than 500 words. Thanks for the reply though pal and without sounding a tad gay, may I again say that its the quality threads/contributions from such as yourself that make the BBS what it is UP THE TARN
