In response to a dose of reality

An excellent post, however I would point out that great achievements have never been made by people who recognise and accept "reality". Achievements are made by people who see "possibility" and make it happen. I admire clubs with aspiration to greatness and those who seek resources where there are none. The "go for it" clubs at the moment are Bournmouth, Fleetwood, Crawley, MK and a bunch of others that you can name yourself.

They didn't sit down and look at reality. Reality had them below the Conference, or as plodding lower league clubs. You are right that Barnsley is in danger of being just another 'reality" club and I think as a fan it is depressing.

 

Nope, I'm not having that.

We have to accept that we're in a period of transition and that the team we've got is doing it's best to finish in an acceptable 20th place, and Wilson is the best man to lead us to that. At no point should we be looking or expecting to finish higher considering the money we've spent and the players at our disposal, especially in comparison to other big spenders like Swindon, Fleetwood, Rochdale and Chesterfield.

 

Yes, sorry, I wasn't thinking right.


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Do you not think that what we are trying to do at the moment is pro-active? Nobody can guarantee that it will work, but it is the first time in years that the club has a plan that stretches past the end of the current season. I would say that we are modestly trying to "go for it".

The only other way to "go for it" would be to spend money we don't have.

 

When I was working we had two phrases which were banned at work. Anyone caught using them would be beaten mercilessly. They were: -

1) "But we've always done it that way"

2) "Cantittude" - obviously an invented word, meaning "I don't think we'll ever be able to do that"

We would never have made progress over my 32 years in business if we had allowed people to think like that. Just a thought.

 

The go for it clubs:

Bournemouth - bank rolled by a Russian millionaire, dropped on a great manager and worked wonders. Their push has come after Eddie Howe laid the foundations for it about 5 years ago, left then came back to finish the job with millions in the bank.

Fleetwood - local businessman pumped in over £10 million.

Crawley - eh?

MK - lifted and shifted a historic football club because they couldn't be arsed to start afresh. Never been above League One.

You're confusing reality with doing things the right way. We're absolutely reliant on Mr Cryne. I wish we weren't, I'd be happy if we weren't but I'm hoping that's coming.

The club you should have put down is AFC Wimbledon, FC United, Swansea - all clubs that have achieved without any of the support the clubs you've mentioned have had.

 

the way we've always done it is to sack the manager on a frequent basis, so surely sticking with the long term strategy would be a brave new world

 

We are not worthy!

 

So after years of being told that we had unrealistic expectations by successive managers it seems that we still have them. Despite being in the 3rd Division with, apparently, one of the biggest budgets. Can't wait to hear what's being said when we make the Conference.

 

Didn't say that we weren't trying to be aspirational, I was saying that slavishly following "reality" won't get us to where we want to be. Unless that place is somewhere quiet in the lower leagues.


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OK!


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I wondered why you decided to start a new thread when everybody else who wanted to contribute to the debate was quite happy using the existing thread. Then I realised that the poster most probably had something important to say and wanted to stand out from the crowd. So I read it, and to summarise its content, other clubs are doing better than us, and other owners are doing better than us.

There is no analysis of why they are doing better than us, no winning strategy, no original idea. The whole thread is based upon the fact that a number of clubs are doing better than us. Frankly, that comes as no surprise. Based on our current league position, about 60 clubs are doing better than us. So this grand idea, the whole reason for starting a new thread turns out to be many clubs are doing better than us. Honestly, I despair.

If any poster has an new strategy that deals with the facts listed below better than the strategy currently being employed by the management of BFC, not only is it worthy of a new thread but the contributor should immediately ring the club with the good news. The facts are as follows:

1 Last season the club lost £3m before Mr Cryne's donation.
2 Revenue will reduce by £4m this year, with a consequent knock on effect on profitability.
3 At 31 May, the club had a bank overdraft of just short of £1m. Because the club has no assets, the overdraft is guaranteed by Patrick Cryne, who is the clubs only source of additional finance
4 Because of FFP rules, wages cannot exceed 75% of turnover this season.
5 My guess is that even after the O'Grady fee is taken into account, Mr Cryne is having to bank roll the clubs spending on the players needed to replace the seventeen that have left since the end of last season.
6 The club spent a "considerable sum" on paying off the team manager and his staff last season, estimated at £500K by the Chronicle. This represents almost 10% of turnover for this season.

Now I am sure that you do not like these facts, but all these people who "see possibility and make it happen" do not do so by sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring the facts. They devise a strategy by taking account of the facts.

 

Thanks for that, I didn't realise that I wasn't allowed to start a new thread when offering a different view. I began with the idea of adding to the thread, but I was afraid that the thread was so old that the new piece would have got buried. Didn't do it to upset you.

You are right, I don't like those numbers, they depress me and fill me with the futility of following a team that is not rich. It is my team however and my view is that if you have a series of conditions that prevent you from getting what you want you either change them, or live with them. The view in the original post and the view you have expounded is that we live with it. I propose that there is a different way to look at it.

We appear to have only one backer, where can we get others?
Some of the players aren't good enough. How can we get better ones?

Before you nail down the coffin lid, check to see if the patient isn't still alive. I think this is a stand alone post and you are entitled to your opinion.

 

I have no intention of nailing down the coffin lid. The original post was titled "A Dose of Reality" because many contributions in many different threads were being unrealistic. They were not recognising the facts as they stand. They were calling for success and the time fame was now. I have requested patience many times and have been told how much the fans have suffered, how much they deserve better and how the club has a rightful place in the second tier. If I had not known better I would have thought that I was on a Sheffield Wednesday blog.

It was time that someone showed why their expectations were unrealistic and provided them with the solid evidence, which is public record provided you have the princely sum of £1 to invest. Not hearsay, not conjecture, just the facts which are on public record.

I have been supporting BFC for almost 50 years and intend to continue to do so. With the continued support of Mr Cryne, I believe we will once more be a second tier football team. But it will not happen tomorrow, and it will not happen without the continued financial support of the fans.

 

The problem with having 'realistic expectations' is that this is never mentioned when the season ticket renewal forms are delivered. As someone who has supported the club for nigh on 50 years I absolutely know what is realistic. I support a relatively small club that will only occasionally exceed realistic expectations. What I absolutely didn't expect was that the club would be relegated last year without anything like a fight, and that this season would turn out to be the shambles it currently is. Whether the club can realistically expect supporters to renew season tickets if, and it's by no means out of the question, we end up back in the 4th division, would remain to be seen. Hope I'm wrong but this season feels very much like last season to me.

 

To be honest it sometimes feels worst than last season!

 

Aint that darn to what your expectations were for this season though?

 

To be honest it sometimes feels worst than last season!

 

What was your first match?


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I was taken to Oakwell as a 6 or 7 year old by my father, but to be honest with you, I was more interested in the half time crisps and Bovril than I was in the game. I was placed on one of the St John's Ambulance bunkers in the corner by the old score board and can remember a powerful winger go past me and cross the ball. Working out from my age and the players around in 1956/57 season the player must have been Johnny McCann, but as I say, I was oblivious at the time.

I do not remember much between then and the 1960/61 FA Cup run when we played Leicester at Oakwell in a 6th round replay. I did not go to that game as it was on a Tuesday afternoon because the club had no floodlights at the time. I did go to watch the team play Luton Town in the previous round though, and still remember Jackie Lunn scoring the winner. I suppose this would be my first match as Luton were the first opposition that I can remember.

I do not count these early games towards my period of support though, because I was not a regular attender. My first proper season was the clubs first ever in the 4th division and my first proper match, the 4-0 defeat of Tranmere Rovers. My first away game was also that season when I braved the wilds of Hartlepool for a 2-1 win. I remember that we were spat upon from behind by the local yobbos, more interested in fighting than football, and Ambrose Foggarty and Barry Swallow were sent off for a fight on the half way line. England won the world cup that Summer.

The season after, much was expected of the team after the glories of the summer and with Eric Winstanley returning after a long injury, but after 10 games we were bottom of the league. It was during this period that the club had its lowest ever gate when just over 1,400 turned up. As I recall, we did not have a bad side, but we could not score. Ernest Denis and Geoff Buckle put their own money in to fund the purchase of Barry Thomas and Johnny Evans, and the club turned around. We were promoted the year after. In those days, it cost only £10,000 to turn a club around.

So you see, I have suffered more than most. Two spells in the 4th division and John McSeveney in the managers chair. But you go through the years of pain for the few seasons of glory, and when you get one of those, you savour it as if it were your last. I have little sympathy for those who count hardship and suffering as a few years outside the Championship and I know that success and failure are both fleeting events in the long life of a small town football club.