No Reserve Team entered in league next season - from Club

RE: big mistake

Huge mistake. How many games will likes of Adam and Butterfield play next season? Too old for Academy, but not ready for first team.
If attracting young uns to Barnsley was not difficult enough. It just got harder with no reserve team on offer. First team or nowt. Not been thought through that one.

 

It worked for crewe dario gradi didnt have a reserve team for the last 20 years and the individual players what have come through there ranks have been first class,the likes of ashton ,platt, thomas, all england internationals to name a few .

 

RE: big mistake

No point in anything but the first team
5 keepers at the club so sticks keeper coach on bench great motivation for the kids
its not that long ago we had no keeper on the bench and 5 forwards
stick a kid on the bench almost all other clubs do

 

RE: if that welsh idiot played fringe 1st teamers in the reserves

racist.

 

Are you for real lardy lad . Do you know what day it is.

 

It has worked for Crewe but Dario Gradi is one of the top coaches in the country and he spends time working with the players himself. He has coached the club's 15/16 year olds at least twice a week and works with the Youth team even now at least three sessions a week.
I have spoken to several parents of the current academy squad and they state that the first team staff never spend any time coaching the Youth team. They rarely get involved with the Reserves on match days so unless they are going to change then making a comparision with Crewe's development success is flawed!

 

RE: sounds more to me like trying to cut down on the workload

I agree with you that the manager has little or no interest in the reserves or the academy which given his previous position is a surprise.
If it is difficult to recruit youngsters to join Barnsley now, it will be even more challenging now with no Reserve team opportunity to offer as bait! Good luck Mr Branson!

 

This surfaced yesteday!

So it's no April Fool.

Looking at it from another angle, without reserve team fixtures players who are pemenantly on the bench (Luke Steele for example) will have no opportunuties to play "competetive" football or have a means to ease their way back from injury a la Muller and Coulson last season. Big mistake if you ask me!

 

RE: This surfaced yesteday!

I would hardly call reserve team football competetive.

 

RE: This surfaced yesteday!

It's better than NO football!
What about the likes of Butterfield who is still developing physically, or any of this years 2nd year scholars who the Club decides to sign like perhaps Adam? Where do they play? If I had a son who played at that level, I would not sign for Barnsley as you have little prospect of playing immediatley after your scholarship finishes. How does no match practise help development? In my opinion this is a cost cutting exercise based on financial reasons not football reasons.

 

They can still arrange friendlies for the reserves 'behind closed doors'.

Like they have done before when players needed match fitness.

 

RE: They can still arrange friendlies for the reserves 'behind closed doors'.

If you were a fringe player or a 1st year pro would the prospect of playing in half a dozen "behind closed doors" games during a season fill you with enthusiasm? Most footballers want to play football, not just train.

 

If having no reserve team football was such a good idea

Why does any professional club have them? I agree with you, this appears from the outside to be a financially driven decision.

 

RE: This surfaced yesteday!

Tbh I agree, I think we should have a team. Hopefully they will go out on loan and get the experience, I would rather see them playing conference football than reserves but it just depends how many we can loan out.

 

Hard to tell at the moment its april fools day every day at barnsley fc :$

 

If the 1st team coaches dont get involved with tha academy or reserves dosnt that tell you that they have no interest in taking any of the kids on now or in the future and why do we need 3 coaches for a small 1st team squad save money there surely 2 coaches should be ok according to people on here branson runs 3 teams 16/18 and reserves

 

As the manager's job is a precarious one, maybe he is focussed on the only the next game and does not think much further ahead than that. Otherwise why would he show such little interest in anything other than the 1st team players.
If a club like ours is to move forward, we do need to produce our own players. Shutting down the Reserve team is not a positive step for the club particularly when you are trying to intice young players to our club.