<div class="ds-headline" id="ds-headline">Ritchie pays for lack of ambition</div> <div class="ds-firstpara" id="ds-firstpara">You can't say 'forget the Premiership' – Cryne IAN APPLEYARD BARNSLEY'Smulti-millionaire landlord Patrick Cryne last night claimed managerAndy Ritchie was unwilling to spend more money in the transfer marketand lacked the necessary ambition to take the club back to thePremiership.</div> Cryne– the power behind the throne at Oakwell – also accused Ritchie ofhaving 'misplaced loyalty' to players already at the club. Sincewinning promotion via last season's League One play-off final, Ritchiehas signed only two players – Sam Togwell and Michael McIndoe – who arenow regulars in the side. The club have managed only one victory in thelast 10 games and are next-to-bottom of the Championship table. Accordingto Cryne, Ritchie failed to identify enough targets of his own andrejected a list of players recommended by the board. Those arebelieved to have included Manchester United's Ritchie Jones, now onloan at Colchester United, Middlesbrough's Matthew Bates, on loan atIpswich Town, and Brighton striker Colin Kazim-Richards, who moved tothe Premiership with Sheffield United. Cryne said: "There was adifference of opinion between the board and Andy about the prioritythat should be given to strengthening the side. "The boardencouraged him to bring in new players but he was resistant to that. Hewas very protective of his team but there comes a point where you haveto recognise the reality of the situation and say, yes, we are short ofcover. "It leaves you wondering why?" he asked. "Andy was stubbornand it had reached a ludicrous situation where the board wasidentifying potential names rather than the manager. "There were funds available but the manager kept saying there was no one available or no one that could do a better job. "Weare now in a position where we are just over 48 hours from a transferdeadline and we will be unable to sign any more players until January. "Butwe have a very bare squad that is struggling to come to terms with theChampionship and if Andy had stayed in his job, we would have got toThursday without anyone new." Cryne, a lifelong Barnsley supporter,became joint owner of the stadium and land with the local council inlate 2003, when former Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale acquiredthe club from mayor Peter Doyle after administration. Ridsdale wasreplaced by Gordon Shepherd two seasons ago and Cryne has invested over£4m via interest free loans to help the club move forward. Revealinghis views on Ritchie's apparent lack of ambition, Cryne said: "Youdon't expect any manager to say 'forget it' when it comes to returningto the Premiership. His ambition was behind that of the board's. As afan that is a bit of a body blow and there is a risk that fans willalso believe this to be the board's view. "We are realistic aboutthe situation. We knew it wouldn't happen this year or maybe not nextyear but we do aspire to a year-on-year improvement that willeventually enable us to mount a challenge." Reflecting on thedecision to reject Sheffield Wednesday's approach for Ritchie'sservices only last month – a move by the manager could have netted theclub compensation – Cryne said: "Gordon always wanted to keep Andy atthe football club but he also wanted a commitment to strengthen theside, and expected Andy to respond." Although Academy manager SimonDavey will be in caretaker charge for Saturday's game against IpswichTown, Cryne says it is more likely that a permanent replacement willcome from outside the club. Davey, 35, who played for Swansea City,Carlisle United, Darlington and Preston North End, will prepare theplayers for action as chief scout Martin Wilkinson looks for ways ofspending the club's transfer kitty. Early contenders for thefull-time post are former West Brom manager Gary Megson and formerLeeds United manager Kevin Blackwell. Stuart McCall, assistant to NeilWarnock at Sheffield United, could also come into consideration and beoffered his first manager's job.