Position Now Compared to 28th April

It's the thought of seeing finishing 21st as an achievement that's making me despondent.

 

it's nice to have weekends that don't seem to hinge on something I have no control ov

It's not only me then

Next time the missis gets on at me for being a mardy ar5e on a Setdi neet, I now have proof that this is completely normal behaviour and not just me being a bairn.

 

Re: I'm also looking forward to the new season

We went in to last season not knowing what to expect. Now we do. I hope the new players will be decent but of the players from last season who are still at the club, the only ones who are Championship standard are Steele (finally), O'Brien and Davies. The others just aren't up to it. Neither is the manager.

 

Re: I'm also looking forward to the new season

Ahead of last season I was cautiously optimistic but thought we lacked a creative midfielder. And Butterfield stepped up. I thought we were weak out wide. I didn't rate Vaz Te at all and thought he was a lazy show pony and O'Brien was really poor in his first season. I was excited at getting Addison on loan who I thought would be a great addition to the set up!

The nutshell is we just don't know. If all things were constant, yes I'd be moderately pessimistic. But players improve and Hill is putting a lot of effort and energy into improving players. We've got a decent nucleus when all are fit and we have 2/3 players still to come in which i expect to be more experienced and add quality.

The calibre of players we've brought in is better than i expected and my biggest complaint looking back on last season is how the constant dumbing down of league position has harmed confidence in the fan base.

I don't think our ambitions are 21st at all and I just hope Hill has taken that on board to know when to play things down without killing hope in the fan base.

 

Re: I'm also looking forward to the new season

Blimey, is it already ten years since we were starting life as a 3rd tier club? It still seems like yesterday! That's the effect that serious trauma has on you.

 

I think Keith knows what went wrong in the 2nd half of the season - we had too small a squad and had to bring in loan players which he has previously said don't work part way through a season, and he was right, the lad from Norwich was Gash. He wants to add a few more players and then when we get injuries he can have ready replacements, plus the likes of Digby, Rose, etc who've signed on will all be that bit older, and better, if we get 2 or 3 of the 7 who've signed on to a decent performance level next season, plus Mellis, Etuwu, Mido - there's a team with 6 or 7 players who weren't first teamers last year, plus any additions before the start of the season hopefully one being a good centre-half. Given the budget we've got work with I reckon Keith's done a good job at strengthening the squad - if Mido gets his head right think he can fire us into the top half.

 

you forgot to add we wont get 8 points by october orsenkaht

 

Conan's post did remind me of a post Orsenkaht posted last year.

Whats happened to Orsenkaht?

 

With just over a month until kick off..

My battered confidence, my dented pride, and my shattered optimism have all been restored.

Why?

Not because of the recruitment thus far, or the promising youths. Not because the management may have learnt a lot from last season, and not because the current squad are any more experienced at this level.

The reason is simple - I'm a Barnsley supporter, and it's July.
If you can't be hopeful, or excited at this juncture, then when can you be?

Don't get me wrong, the recruits are quite impressive - should they perform. And I'm as excited as the next man about the likes of Digby, RNL, Stones, Clark, Rose etc etc.
And I do subscribe to the theory that after a year in the job, our manager ought to be better prepared for the season ahead.

But I always get myself back up for each season, despite whatever went off previously. It's a new slate IMO. And as already stated by others, we have October onwards to be a bunch of moaning buggers.

I still haven't renewed though - first time in 18 years.
But no longer because of my outlook, or the clubs, but because I don't intend to travel to the midweek home games, and instead I'm going to do a lot more away fixtures - I hate the dire atmosphere at Oakwell, and so I'm looking forward to trips to Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Forest, Wendies, Leeds etc etc.
Plus, by not having a ST, I can sit in a different stand when I make it to Oakwell, depending on my mood.

So yep, I'm excited.
Hell, I may even end up sitting next to Hemsworth Tyke!

 

Bang on. So many pessimists on this board, I wonder why they don't piss off down the road to Owlerton. As for the worst football; bloody hell, Davy and Robins hardly gave one confidence. As for Orsenkart, I think he disappeared up 'thereev's' posterior.