Serious question

Battled

against Burnley, not so pretty but got a result.
2 individual errors against the Wendies, I honestly think the scoreline flattered them, we gave up at 3 nil tho.

wage cap & poor attendances dont equate to offering large contracts. at the start of the season prior to box office announcements, I thought we'd have mustered up more than an average home gate of 12k this season. disappointing, and to be completely frank, if the Barnsley public want box office, they need to get to the ticket office.

3 more signings.

 

Gord tinted spectaculars.

"against Burnley, not so pretty but got a result."
They had two big lads up front.
They battered us by hitting it long at their place.
At our place they tried to pass it.
There wasn't much of a battle, really - not like the war in the 2nd half at Turf Moor.

"2 individual errors against the Wendies, I honestly think the scoreline flattered them, we gave up at 3 nil tho."
Really?
How could the scoreline flatter them if we gave up?
They could have scored 8 in the second half - we got completely hammered.

"wage cap & poor attendances dont equate to offering large contracts"
Correct.
We are in the bottom three - how do we expect to bolster attendances?
On the other hand - if we'd done what we said we were going to do (Box Office players) then maybe we'd be in a better position, with a better team, with better crowds watching.

3 more signings?
We need 5 & have done since May 2006.

I'm currently penning a dossier all about you.

 

In all seriousness

give me a few names of players you think we should be looking at.....and before you press a key, you cant say Chopra and McPhail.

 

Kinell fire.

I've put loads up lately.
Mainly Premier League players who aren't getting a game - or kids who need to go out on loan.
Mainly centre halves.
A few forwards.
Some have already moved to Championship clubs.
You can use the search function? I can't be arsed.

We are aiming very low & still missing - look at Gregan for instance.
Possibly the worst Championship centre half I've seen in years (and I've seen him at Elland Road alot in the last few years).
Might have done a job in the middle of the park ... but he's obviously no Dwayne Mattis.

Are you not losing faith?
You put up similar lists & are watching the players join Championship or League One clubs.
It doesn't sound like you've given up ... maybe Gord's mind control PG Tips will wear off eventually?

 

To state the obvious

Im not Simon Davey, and I wouldnt expect him to take any notice of a mentalist like me posting names from soccerbase, cos we really would be in bother if that were the case. I watch a fair bit of football and like to think I know a decent player when I see one, but I have no background knowledge of which agent represents which players, who's on what wages/contract and which pubs and clubs they drink in. If I WERE Simon Davey, I would do my homework first, and would make sure I knew what I was buying. Lucas and Gregan - former colleagues. Mattis - Bury connection. Eckersley - how long have we been needing a left back?!! Im confident other defenders will join, maybe one from your list ;-)

Im confident that the team will be better prepared going into games than under the previous manager, and that they will all be improving their fitness, tactical awareness and positional sense and other things that they are being drilled on. Colchester are in the position we should be, cos of the 3 teams that came up, I thought we'd fair best. What have they done differently? Well their front 2 are working well and the rest are battling like fck. Im hugely disappointed by Nardiello cos he's missed chances that I expected him to take, but then he aint got the years experience that Cureton has. I hope we can find an Iwelumo somewhere (?) soon and I hope that the additional competition for places will push the others on to play above themselves.

A centre half, a right back and 2 strikers would be ideal.

 

Wage cap, is this a more subtle U-turn on your part?

What's the wage cap then, did Gord tell you? Thought there was money to be spent?

 

I sure if you take time out of the saddle

you could find out from google what the rules on the wage cap is, then find a calculator and work it out, Del Amitri.

 

Your posts are becoming more & more gay.

Majid Bougherra.
Just that.

Here is one of my unrealistic lists (I'd like to point out that I posted it a week before Aliadiere ripped Liverpool apart ... and as he'd been on loan at Wolves I honestly thought, at the time, he was a realistic target):

Arsenal - Song & Aliadiere
Blackburn - Todd
Charlton - Fortune & Gibbs
Everton - Weir
Liverpool - Warnock
Man City - Thatcher
Man Utd - Bardsley
Portsmouth - O'Brien & Hughes
Sheff Utd - Lucketti & Webber
Spurs - Gardner
Watford - MacKay & Carlisle
West Ham - Collins
Wigan - Jackson

Proper footballers.
Not 4th division £50k cannon fodder.

If "Box Office" players like thsi are unrealistic - just tell the fans.
Cryne should be reported to the trade descriptions act for his pre season statement & our subsequesnt signings (I'm joking, obviously).

I hope you're right with regards to Davey's alleged tactical awareness ... as so far he's looked clueless.

Witradiovoiceart.

 

A few of them

have joined other Premiership clubs, some are back in their respective 1st teams and of the others, Ive no idea if we've enquired or not but I suspect that the main stumbling block is wages and length of contract. Lucketti for example wants an 18 month contract and is on more money than any of our squad (which in itself provides an issue), he's 35 and hasnt played a game for months. That being said, we've enquired previously, but his agent no doubt will have worked overtime to broker something with Hull. Good luck to them, with £750k in the bank, Adam Pearson can probably make the sums on that one work.

We still need some experience at the back, and you may be surprised by some of the players the club ARE looking at that arent on either my or your list. We also need at least one striker, and if money needs spending, honestly again, I'd prefer it goes on a goalscorer that we could potentially make some money on.

 

RE: Your posts are becoming more & more gay.

They're unrealistic due to them being decent players and hence wanted by other clubs, most of whom aren't in a relegation battle and can offer more money. Todd for example is tipped to move to Rangers for £1million.

Simple fact is that without PC putting more of his own money in, we cannot afford or attract the players we need to have a fighting chance. Davey is having to gamble on unproven cheap players and try to get the best out of them, Good luck to him, if he does it given the budget it's a better achievement imo than Richie last season.

 

RE: A few of them

What was the boards aim this season?

What are they doing to increase income?

Even if we survive this season, what makes next season any different or do we just accept we haven't got the money to compete?

 

Excellent question

Are we trying to get people on the board with financial clout ? If not why not ?

 

Survival I believe

was the aim, staying in the Championship, the only realistic thing we could aim for. I dont believe there are many sheiks or russian billionaires knocking on the door, but self sufficiency has been mentioned a few times, and by being in this league the spin offs (merchandising, sponsorship, TV money etc) make that more likely than in League 1 where every penny is hard come by. we need to find a few gems in the Academy, christ I've been waiting long enough, wheel and deal in the transfer market and above all stay in the Championship. the Chairman sees the figures first hand, so will know exactly how important that is.

 

RE: Excellent question

If PC won't dip his bread then the club are in a difficult position. Most items of income are dependent on results on the pitch, hence for many clubs the only short term option is to splash out money on player in the hope of better results and increased crowds etc.

One longer term option is the academy. and without wanting to open up that issue again, have we got a full time permanent academy director? DH seems to divide opinion.

The only other option that makes any difference is someone putting their own money in. Even if they do, where would an extra £2mill a season actually get us??

I really don't know what the answer is.

 

RE: Survival I believe

I doubt we're making much more this season that last. I can't see us selling that much more gear. Where's the new sponsors? Agreed that the odd Sky game helps.

 

If survival is the target ...

... then we simply do not have the tools to achieve it.

I think we should sign some bummers.
The chasing round the dressing room would obviously get the players quite fit.

Gord's plan for 05/06 - consolidate in League One (we get promoted)
Gord's plan for 06/07 - consolidate in the Championship (we go down)

I think he's on a losing streak.

 

RE: Excellent question

We're into making the best use of the conference/business facilities in the East Stand, corporate sponsorship etc etc but in terms of paying half a mill for players I can't see that making much difference.</p>

</p>

If only the club had some assets to realise.</p>

 

RE: If survival is the target ...

If his plan was to push for promotion to the Championship this season, where was the money going to come from to consolidate. All this talk about business plans and us going up a year early is rubbish imo, we're skint now and we'd be skint nect year.

 

I'm not sure.

Maybe we had planned for a Turkish businessman to come in at the end of last season - but he was put off by our promotion to a higher league?

A self funding football club that doesn't own it's own ground or land.
Great stuff.

Market that, if you can.

 

RE: Excellent question

*cough*

witsellingfamilychinaart