You cant wave a magic wand and fill the stadium....its taken years to lose em, it may take a while to get em back...
YES! I wish some folk would just give up the ghost and admit they don't really support Barnsley FC. Its too expensive- ok matchday ticket £20-£23. Teams not playing well- ok, top 4 form for the 2013 calendar year. I don't like the manager- ok, hire the fan favourite manager who kept us in the championship etc etc etc There is very little excuse to not come along next season as things stand and I really hope those who find an excuse not to finally admit they really don't like Barnsley FC all that much.
Both wanted to leave, Davies seemed to be a terrible influence on the dressing room by the time he left and he was not trying at all.
Flitcroft is quite right.He wanted assurances that increased revenue streams went into team strengthening before he signed his contract,the fact he signed the contract suggests his wishes have been granted.
The club apparently sold John Stones for £3m, and 300k was it for Craig Davies? They must have made close to a million pounds in revenue from the cup run. I think the 800k received for Jacob Butterfield was also part of this years monies. We receive around £2m a year in solidarity payments from the Premier League. Then there's the money from ticket sales etc, merchandise, programmes what-not. Obviously, they spent money on recruitment. 50k on Lee Collins was it? 100k in wages on Mido. And the wages of the rest of the players employed, the coaching staff, the media staff, groundsmen, etc etc, and The Don. Then security, coach travel, hotels, trips to Spain and so on. They must have paid Keith Hill off, too. So, taking all the above into account, and anything else I may have missed, I'd suggest we're better off financially ahead of this season coming, than we were ahead of last season. The club have increased season ticket prices, albeit slightly, but reduced matchday pricing by £5, and scrapped the membership scheme. I'd suggest they'd only be able to do that if we were better off financially. They've also employed Mickey Mellon and Martin Scott, thus increasing the coaching staff compared to last season. I don't for one minute expect the club to come out and tell us whether the budget is better or not. It makes little sense to do that. And when they've done so in the recent past they've been shown to be liars (see The Don last Summer re the Butterfield money etc). We'll soon see how the budget stacks up over the next couple of months or so, in terms of our recruitment, and certainly in terms of retaining certain players. Some people might think I and others are being moaners for moanings sake, with regards to the old Admiral logos still being visible, iSOFT signs, and the embarrassing old photos of JayMac, Lovre and co adorning our walls. But it's the little things that count. The devil is in the detail. Leaving old **** up like that smacks of a "can't be arsed" attitude that has stunk the place out since the FA Cup run of 2008. It's tinpot. And nobody can convince me we're so skint that it's impossible to alter the old **** I've just mentioned above. That **** wants replacing immediately, and replaced with images of THAT day in Huddersfield, or THAT win over Hull/Leeds etc etc. Things like that want putting on the walls in the Ponty End concourse, too. It's not that difficult. We have a talented artist on this forum who I've no doubt would be able to create some fine imagery to adorn the walls at Oakwell. Just as there are many of us on this board and among the fanbase who have other talents that the club could tap into. We all want the best for this club we love. Nobody (in my opinion) is asking for Patrick Cryne to pump money in. I think we just want the opportunity we've earned (that's us, Flicker, his staff and the players) over the last 5 months to be grasped by the horns and fcukin' run with. Let's be arsed as a club for once. And for those blaming stay aways etc, get your head out your arses. This club, this regime at least, they forced away many supporters with their ridiculous category system, then the £28 flat rate, the many **** ups, and the lies. The diehards of which I assume there are many on here, have put up with the club flogging our best talent for peanuts, but many others grew disillusioned by it. And it'll take a lot more than surviving on the last day to tempt them back. We were involved in it, that battle. We know how great that felt. But for those who merely heard or read about it, whilst doing summat else on a weekend, it will have had little impact. The club - even if implementing great ideas and actually TRYING to change for the better - won't be able to coax thousands of lapsed fans back overnight. It will be gradual, but it can be done. But short-termism has been the mantra of this regime for 5 years and so I'm not holding my breath. The only thing that gives me hope that they might change, is that Flicker and co have signed up, and he (and them) seem positive about a change, or a "new era" as he called it yesterday. Fingers crossed. *should have blogged this... long-winded enough. You Reds, etc.
I like you Mike. You have the gumption to understand the point I'm making. It's a shame so many other folk can't grasp it.
Aww how nice. You have in fairness brought up some good points and good ways to move the club forward, i feel the reason a lot havent really listened is due to the negative vibe of 99% of your posts. Agreed on employing some comercial nouse not being a wasted wage at all. The hierarchy at the club are quite literally dinosaurs and a change would be a healthy option in that department.