The Eve Of The War - My Thoughts On The Summer Ahead Of The Big Kick Off (long!)

I'm not sure why I feel the urge to write this, but for some reason I feel compelled to set out my thoughts on the summer's goings on at Oakwell ahead of the game on Saturday. In a way I feel as though I've sat back for the last few months and watched things develop without ever daring to try and discover how I truly felt about them. However, a couple of days ago, a friend posted on a poker forum I frequent, asking for thoughts about some pre-season bets he'd made, one of which was for us to be relegated at 6/4. I replied on the thread and it suddenly occurred to me that this was the first time I'd actually sat and thought about 'the big picture' for the new season. Having 'set the ball rolling' I've been thinking ever since about setting out my thoughts in a longer post, and this board seemed the right place to do it.

As a start point, its fair to say that I did not enjoy last season, despite the fact that we stayed up. Too many negative things had occurred for my liking over the course of the year and, in the end, it soured my enjoyment of what, on the face of it, was a fantastic achievement. By the time the season had ended all I felt was relief that the worst hadn't happened, mixed with an overwhelming desire to put football out of my mind for a few months and 'recharge the batteries'.

Clearly I wasn't the only one feeling like this at the time, as there seemed to be a spate of 'I'm not renewing my season ticket' posts, which I read with interest and could understand their point. Bizarrely though, the thought of not renewing never even crossed my mind. Its a strange thing to say but not renewing my ticket is something which I don't seem able to contemplate. Price increases (which, when announced, seemed reasonable enough to me) and thoughts on the 'state of play' at the club don't even seem to be a factor for me. Once the envelope lands through the door it gets put to one side until about a week before deadline day when a quick phone call sorts everything out in about 5 minutes. Its almost as if there's no thought involved. I'm not saying this to be critical of anyone who has chosen not to renew, for whatever reason. I just find it a strange phenomenon that, as someone who generally tends to be very logical and deliberate in their decision making, this particular decision seems to defy all the usual rules time and time again.

Going into pre-season, I'm not sure what I expected to happen or where I expected we'd be by this time. The only thing I knew was that something had to change this time around. That being the case, lets break things down into some 'neat' categories to look at the results.

DEPARTURES

On the whole I think most of what's happened was largely inevitable. It was clear towards the end of last season that several players were on their way out and and there weren't any real surprises to me when the names were announced. I was disappointed that Kay left, but there seemed to be a serious problem between manager and player so perhaps it was for the best. I hope he does well away from Oakwell as he's been a good servant to us over the past few years.

The other departures, such as Hayes and Richards, were also inevitable to me. The only one for which I felt a pang of regret about was Robbie Williams, as I've always had a feeling that given a clear run in the team he could shine for us like he did at Blackpool towards the end of the season. However, I had little doubt that he would choose to go elsewhere if the opportunity arose. The only surprise was that the destination turned out to be Huddersfield, rather than Bloomfield Road. In a way I'm glad that his injury put the deal on hold for a while, and that he's still on our books at the moment. However, it seems fairly certain that the deal will go through at some point in time.

Undoubtedly the biggest news with regard to departures this summer was Nardiello, particularly given the way the whole thing transpired (which was a pity). However, despite reading all the posts on here with interest (and he certainly seemed to arouse a lot of passion on the forum) I didn't feel the same level of disappointment about him going as perhaps I thought I would. He's undoubtedly talented and his end of season form was a huge factor in us staying up, but every time I recall my memories of him last season the ones which rush into my head always seem to be of the ball-greedy git who had me shouting and screaming in frustration at the fact he didn't pass yet again. Consequently, he seems destined to join the ranks alongside Brendan O'Connell and Martin Bullock of players who I liked, but who frustrated the hell out of me to watch them. Quite frankly, the lack of stress in this respect this season might be a blessing in disguise. I've had to deal with far more distressing player departures than Nardiello over the years so this one isn't too difficult for me to worry too much about. No doubt I'll be eating my words at some stage when 2 of his quota of 6 blinding performances next season both turn out to be against us. However, I reckon QPR fans will be as frustrated with his inconsistency next season as we've become used to.

As for the plethora of loan signings we had at the club, I wasn't overly fussed about whether any of them came back. Reid and Rajczi were popular amongst some on here, but they'd both been inconsistent in the games they played so I wasn't too bothered either way. Eckersley and Jones both turned out to be disappointments and no-one else set our season alight. The undoubted exception to all this was Nyatanga, who was a joy to watch last year in the few games he played. Much as I'd hoped he'd return again this season I kept telling myself not to get my hopes up. After all, let's face it, there was no chance of that realisically happening was there?

NEW SIGNINGS

What can I say on this subject other than 'wow'? Regardless of what people may think of the names in the frame, there can be little argument that a complete overhaul of the playing squad was much needed. When the first signings happened and the reports appeared on the website that 'more were coming' I kept saying to myself 'yeah, right'. But more did keep coming. And more. And more! 11 new signings so far goes way beyond anything I could have expected.

Yesterday's news about Muller is the icing on the cake for me as the one niggling fear I've had all summer is that we needed to get another keeper in, and pronto. Colgan splits opinion hugely on here but I've never managed to feel comfortable about him. It all stems from my first view of him at Milton Keynes on his debut when he was shaky, nervous and failed to instill confidence in his defenders. Several years on and nothing has changed. Yes, he's a great shot stopper at times, but he makes me nervous. Regardless of whether he remains No 1 choice or not, it can only be a good thing that he's got genuine long-term competition and the fact that it happens to be from a very tall, German goalkeeper brings back some happy memories (what are the odds that Muller will write a book in a few years time?!?)

As for the other signings I've been reading the pre-season reports with great interest. Again, much as I'd love to imagine that we'd be competing for the big name signings, we have to judge the transfer activity against what can realistically be expected of a club of our size and financial strength. When put into that context, then I'm really impressed with the business that we've done. We've brought in players from just about every position (although at one stage it looked like we were only planning to sign full-backs!) More importantly, we seem to have signed a good mix of experience (e.g Kozluk, Johnson), 'unknown' foreigners (e.g Bruma, Werling, Souza and Mostto), undoubted talent gone astray but with big potential (Ricketts), and lower division 'speculative' purchases (e.g. Odejayi). Its unrealistic to expect that all of these are going to be successes and we're undoubtedly going to have to give them time to settle into the squad (although perhaps the fact that there's so many of them means that the individual burden of expectation on them is lessened) but I have to admit that I'm looking forward to seeing a 'new' squad in place. Also, the squad is now Davey's own, rather than a team of players he inherited and, in several cases, clearly didn't want around.

However, above all else, I'm thrilled about the signing of Nyatanga again. Hopefully this will be extended beyond the current January expiry but its an undoubted coup for us to get a player who is so talented at a young age to be part of our squad again. I haven't enjoyed watching a defender as much since De Zeeuw left us and he's hopefully the catalyst for a massively improved defence this season. After all, it can't really get much worse than last year, can it?

The only twinge of disappointment I've felt about summer signings was the fact that De Zeeuw went to Coventry after being released by Wigan. I, like many others, would have loved to see him back in a red shirt (although I'm fairly sure this was never a realistic possibility). However, if push came to shove, and I was given a straight choice between signing De Zeeuw or Nyatanga again, then I'd have chosen Nyatanga, as we have to look forward rather than back. De Zeeuw in a Barnsley shirt is a reminder of happy days long-since consigned to memory, Nyatanga in a Barnsley shirt again is a really positive signal of our intent!

MANAGER

I have to admit, my opinions on Davey seem to fluctuate like no other manager I can remember. Although he undoubtedly deserves credit for keeping us up last year the niggle I have in the back of my mind is whether we'd have had the same success if his first choice signings had actually gone through. If we'd have managed to sign Constantine, would Rajczi or Ferenczi have signed for us at the end of the transfer window? Nyatanga was only signed after our pursuit of Zakuoni fell through. If these deals had gone ahead then I suspect we'd have missed out on the players who actually turned out to make a big difference for us last year so how much of our success was down to 'fortunate twists of fate' like these? The only 'first choice' signing that Davey made after getting the job full-time (that I can think of anyway) was Mattis, who was a disaster (although perhaps with a full pre-season behind him and more time to settle he'll feature better this time around).

Having said that, it can't be disputed that Davey deserves his chance at a full season, and the last thing we need is to see any more managerial instability this season. The other good thing is that Davey's judgement has been backed financially by the Board as much (if not more) than we could reasonably have expected them to. Consequently he's been able to do a lot of wheeling and dealing in the transfer market and, as shown above, he's gone for a mix of signings. If I were in his shoes, and given the amount of money available to a club our size, then I'd have probably tried to do the same sort of thing. The overseas and lower league signings are the only chance a club like ours has of unearthing a real bargain in the inflated transfer market and, although I keep trying to stop myself, the activity this year reminds me a little of 1996/97, when we brought in a group of new players, including a few unknown foreigners like Marcelle and Bosancic, and that didn't turn out to be too bad a season in the end!

We've ended up making a modest investment by Championship standards (although more than I expected us to spend if I'm honest) and brought in a lot of new blood. Davey now has a squad of 'his' players to work with and has had a full pre-season available to him. That can only be a good thing. I hope he's a little more active in the dugout this season during games as that was one of my big frustrations with him last year. Maybe it a personal thing, but I'd much rather have a Martin O'Neill type sat there, kicking every ball, than a Sven!

One other thing, which says a lot for the man, is that he hasn't 'played safe' in his transfer dealings this summer. The signing of Mostto, for example, is a gamble and the sort of risk that will either turn out to be a masterstroke or look to be a total damp squib. There's no middle ground with it so it was a bold decision (by both Manager and Board). A familiar complaint about the club from supporters down the years is that they never 'speculate to accumulate' and, given recent financial history, you can see why. That's why this signing sends out all the right signals to me. We've 'taken a shot' and spent, for us, big money on a player who, although relatively unknown, suggests he might have the pedigree to deliver something special. Regardless of how history judges him as a BFC player, I have to applaud the decision.

PRE-SEASON RESULTS

In short, meaningless. The results of these games mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. If anything, the results should avoid any complacency setting in. On the whole, players are being played to get match sharpness, even if out of position, the manager is experimenting and wholesale changes are generally being made during games. Amid all that, no matter how much we insist that the 'players are professionals and should treat every game as such' it's impossible to expect that the individual performances in these games will be anything like those demanded from Saturday onwards. Consequently, I'm not concerned about the results of the games. I've taken much greater interest in reading the reports on here (I didn't make it to any of the games for various reasons) about how the new guys are settling in and, on the whole, there seems to be more positive than negative.

Also, Bruma apart, we look to have got through pre-season without a massive long-term casualty list. Hassell's injury is a shame, as he's missed out completely on pre-season, but I guess things could be far worse overall on the injury front. Let's hope it stays that way.

CHANCES OF SURVIVAL

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm actually quite glad to see us being written off as dead certs for 24th places by so many pundits. I'm puzzled as to how they've reached this conclusion given that we're a year more experienced at this level and investing more heaviley than previously. I suppose that, from afar, the relatively high number of 'unknown' foreign signings has just been judged to be a weakening of the squad. Digging under the skin of these transfers a little deeper (as we who are close to the club have done) gives the opposite impression (well it does to me at least).

Also, if anything is likely to be a catalyst for improved team spirit among a squad I would guess that being widely written off by 'those in the know' is the best one. Remember back to Wilson's reaction to Mark McGhee's disparaging comments? If I were Simon Davey I'd be inclined to stick every bit of negative punditry up on the dressing room wall for the players to see day in day out throughout the season with a simple message to prove them wrong.

So where do I think we'll end up this year? I honestly don't know! Once again the key aim has to be survival and I think realistically we should be well capable of achieving this in much more comfortable fashion than we did last year. If we do this then I'll view that as good progress. Colchester showed us last season what can be achieved in this league on limited resources and the 'wildly hopeful' ambition I have for the year is that we might be able to do something similar. Do I think it is likely? No, but it isn't beyond the realms of what is possible when I try to think objectively.

So, comfortable survival is the aim for me. Lower mid-table would be fine, anything better would be an astonishing achievement.

THE BOARD

I deliberately left this bit until the end as much of what I have to say has been alluded to earlier on. Much of the reason that last season was so miserable for me was down to what the Board were doing with the Club, and I was not shy in speaking up about this. In the end, my worst fears didn't materialise and we managed to stay up, but the manner in which this was achieved was all wrong for me. However, I'm not writing this to trawl over the past again and re-start old arguments, I'm doing so to judge what's gone on over the summer.

So, on that basis, its fair to say that I'm simply astounded by what's gone on over the past 3 months or so. For whatever reasons, we appear to have provided financial backing to the manager to an extent far beyond what I reasonably expected to occur. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, some of the signings are fairly bold statements of intent for this season. Perhaps the wider footballing world doesn't see it this way (hence our odds for the season) but, as someone who holds the club close to my heart, I can only be encouraged by what has gone on, and the Board deserve full credit for this.

Throw in the fact that we've also announced a surprising return to profit this year (not necessarily a good way to judge football clubs in isolation as one way to do this is sell all your best players but, Flinders apart, we didn't generate any sigificant transfer income in that year than I can think of), I've managed to buy two new replica shirts which are the best quality I've seen in years (despite all the criticism I read on here when the Surridge deal was announced), and that there seem to have been genuine effort to improve communication with fans (e.g. Radio Sheffield) then its fair to say that I can think of far more positives regarding the Board's actions this summer, than I can think of negatives. It seems only fair to me that, as I'm generally not shy in being critical when I feel justified, that I should also take the time to give credit where its due.

There is still some way to go, in my eyes, particularly with regard to the PR side of things but, to be honest, I never expected a huge improvement in this area (this is Barnsley FC after all, we've never done PR particularly well!) My overall impression over the last 3 months has been far more positive than it has negative, and I have admit that this has surprised me. I guess my biggest grumble at present is the state of the official club website, but how much of this is actually within the control of BFC, given that its a central deal and every other club site I visit seems to be equally bad?


CONCLUSION

Its taken me a few hours to write this (as you might have guessed by now) but I think I've finally realised why I felt so inclined to do so at the start. I think I want to put my 'stake in the ground' at the start of the season so that, when things go wrong (as they inevitably will at times), that I can try to recapture the undoubted feeling of optimism I have within me about the start of the season. Its fair to say that this is the most excited I've felt about the start of a new campaign for years and perhaps the surprise to me is that this is how I think I should have felt this time last season, but didn't.

Given our relative strength in the division we are undoubtedly going to get some hammerings over the course of the year, some of our new signings won't turn out to be great, there'll be another PR disaster somewhere down the line or Davey will drive me up the wall by seemingly doing nothing from the dugout during a dire performance. Perhaps by writing this, it'll give me something to look back on in the dark times to remind me just exactly how far forward things have appeared to move this summer. Survival in this league is still a difficult objective for us and, if we don't manage to achieve it this time around, then I can at least console myself with the fact that it certainly won't have been due to lack of effort on anyone's part.

C'MON YOU REDS!

 

Fantastic Post

Thanks for writing that out.

Broadly speaking I agree.

 

Don't you be coming on here with that sensible malarky.

probablyone of the best and most balanced post I've read for ages. At the end of last season I said I'd done being a season ticket holder... but I say that every year and come deadline time .... kerching !!! I've bought another 9 months of potential misery !!!

 

Fantastic post
I echo your sentiments wholeheartedly.
Let's be optomistic and support all at BFC, however this season pans out, the Club is being re-structured and professionalised in a way it has never been before.
I applaud all the efforts being made to make us a stronger, more competitive team and to consolidate our place as a championship Club.
Massive improvements have been made and there is a definite 'feel good factor' and an optimism this pre-season, as compared to last season.
The 'buzz' that was so sorely missing last season is definitely there.
I do think that all at BFC should be congratulated on the improvements and the way that the Board have supported their Manager.
YoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooReds!

 

Took you hours to write

<div><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3">... and me 20 minutes to read and digest! </font></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt" /></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt" /><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3">All I can say is that you have done yourself justice in summing up possibly what most of us feel deep down. I particularly relate to the pre-season 96/7, when we made similarly very bold signings that equally cut no ice with the media or pundits. Like you, I love it when the pundits all dismiss us and put us down as no hopers. Someone this year summed us up as having got a couple of bodies in! Eh! eh! </font></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3">I too cannot wait for the season to start, and like you I feel confident that everyone has at least tried to make things better for the club than at any time in the last several years, whether it be signings, managerial involvement, image, board backingor whatever.</font></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3"><div><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3">I truly hope the fans will now respond and we can have an exciting and memorable season. </font></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3"><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3">Nobody could have summed that up better. That was a decent read! </font></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><font size="3">

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Good read. nt

 

You my friend have far too much time on your hands

 

bloody hell, very long read but i think all your points are valid. you should become an author

 

great read nt

 

Somebody email this to the club and get him a spot in the programme! Very good read! Many pundits, other supporters etc. make their predictions with very little research. I frequent several football forums and found myself reading a championship going up/going down thread, with many posts placing us in their bottom 3. After asking for reasons for this, i recieved replies saying basically that we struggled last season and havent made any real additions to the squad?!?!?!No guys, just the 10 summer signings... It baffles me as to where people get this information from.

Not for one minute am i claiming this season will be a breeze, but lets get behind the lads and hopefully prove these doubters wrong!

 

Thanks for that

Well written, from the heart but level headed (mixing of metaphors surely)

You seem to be coming from the same direction as myself, apart from one thing, I couldn't bring myself to renew my season ticket this year. I'll be there tomorrow, paying on the gate, paying more for my ticket, but the decision to charge for replacement season tickets is one area that the club has really got wrong in my mind.

Cheers for the read.

 

(clap)

 

Heartfrlt and honest,echoes most of my thoughts also, but it would have taken me past transfer deadline day to get all that down,Bravo , come on u reds!

 

Brilliant post that mate, it reads as if it was wrote with passion. It started to get my nerves jangling about tomorrow though. . .

 

Make this a Sticky

To keep reminding us how the Club that we nearly lost has progressed and how positive we all should be

 

Excellent post

Had to wait til I was home to read it!

 

same here

well worth the read and I agree with a fair bit of it

 

Excellent post - it is important for the fans to be patient as it almost a new team that may take a few matches to get used to one another. As long as they put in 100% effort we should get behind them!

 

(zzz)

 

Well thought out post.........................BUT

There is a couple of references to 'a club of our size' which is probably indicating the writer is happy with anything he/she gets at the club in way of success
My own opinion on this is the writer shows a lack of ambition for the club