There's a lot of hysteria here for a Sunday morning!

makes a change from the more usual throat slitting, but I do suspect we need to find a balance!

We're going great, but let's be realistic there will come a point when we lose a few games. I sincerely hope people don't allow their expectations to run away with them to the point that the reaction to those defeats goes the other way ("we'll be playing in front of 2 people in the conference in a few years at this rate, Davey out etc. etc.). JUST ENJOY IT!!!

Newspapers - for those unaware of how/why they are here, it's to make a profit. That involves writing stories that as many people as possible will pay to read. If more newspapers want to write about Barnsley, that is a good sign because it shows we are newsworthy. There is little excuse for lazy journalism, but as in all jobs there are many about that just can't be bothered to do their job/are plain incompetent. I suspect the 'Howard transfer request' is the latter, mixing him with Colgan. On the upside, the Telegraph and Observer have produced well written and complimentary articles.

As for Brian, I fully expect the club to accept offers for him in January if this interest is real (though most will be paper talk). We just cannot afford to turn down that sort of money. I'm more interested in whether it affects the player, and on Tuesday it certainly benefited him.

 

If Shepherd was to sell Howard....

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...which I don't think he will, he'd be telling the rest of us that he believes BFC to be a second tier club at best. He'd be telling us he has no ambition for us, gates would fall and we'd be back in decline.</p>

We've got a good shot at the richest prize in football, to fold for a fraction of that would be madness.</p>

 

Even £4.5 m?

I rate Howard, but if we could get that much for him and keep the rest of our squad...

 

Rubbish, and utterly unhelpful

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not after being a negative ninny and want Barnsley to do as well as possible, just like everyone else, but...

1. We do not have a 'good shot' at the Prem this year. We've had a promising start, but if we were there at the end of the year it'd be an absolute miracle.
2. He wouldn't be telling us anything, other than that £3m is one hell of a lot of money to a club like ours. This whole squad has been assembled for less than half of that.
3. It might show a slight lack of ambition, in that a quality player is better in your side than money in the bank. But Brian Howard has been important to this side for 2 years, and if someone had raised this £3m question last year I doubt there is a single person on here that wouldn't have taken it in GS's position. Things change very quickly in football, and if he were to go, we'd have to find a replacement and get on with it.
4. I'm aware of who I'm replying to here, and the fact that you're after at least another 10 points here! I'm not rising...!

 

I'm with you on that

I'm still looking at how many points we need to stay up, and would still settle for a mid-table finish.

 

RE: Even £4.5 m?

Yes, but let us not forget, two of our best players at the moment are on loan. De Silva and Nyatanga,take those two out of the present team and it could alter the balance of the team. I hope we can get them for the season, but if not, then the tean may not be as strong as it is now and to keep the momentum going we need to try and keep these players.

 

The thing is...

Why do we need the money?

We don't have shareholders, our finances haven't been better in years, why do we need to sell?

 

I reckon selling Howard could be disasterous. (Though I don't think we will.)

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Put it this way. There's &pound;60m on the table and you've got a really good hand. Someone offers you &pound;4.5m to walk away. </p>

Thing is GS would have &pound;4.5m in his pocket (that's important to remember, the money would be his to do with as he pleased, not BFC's) but what would the effect on the club be? What message would that send out to the fans and the players? This attitude we have at the moment is a delicate thing, it's like we're all holding our breath and not daring to believe. GS needs to back this squad 100%, the chance might not come again. The loss of one player can **** everything up and does on a regular basis. I don't thinkGS isdaft.</p>

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exactly - don't take your eyes off fifty points

I'm not going to get carried away either. My initial reaction to every point gained is not 'We're going up!', it's 'We're staying up!'. (fingers crossed, touch wood etc)

 

It's not always a case of "needing the money"

If you get an offer over your valuation for a player, and think you can replace him using a fraction of that money, then you consider it.

 

On the other hand...

I think if we lose De Silva it could be just as bad, for the team.

He's one of the reasons we're doing so well.

So, do you gamble £1m (probably less), on buying him in the hope we can get the £60m in going up?

 

It's a risk

The player we bring in may not settle, why take the risk on someone who we all know can do the business for us?

 

Well

Leaving aside some questions that I'm in no position to answer re: loans, ground ownership etc (that would suggest money is certainly not plentiful, no matter how fantastic a job the board have done of getting us on an even keel), we have a small fan base and are trying to compete with clubs that have earned many millions from their prem exploits. Inevitably, at some point, in order to compete with these clubs in the long term we need to raise some funds from the sale of players. The same way Barnsley always have.

Just playign Devils Advocate really, and I'd much rather see Howard stay if we can afford it, but practically the only other option is keep the players and hope you get to the prem (which I re-emphasise, should not really be part of our thoughts right now - if we're in the same place in March maybe!)

 

RE: It's a risk

Or, like Anderson, they might settle very well and bring the best out of another player around them.

Like Howard!

 

I agree with Windy.

Go for it. Keep Howard, AND BUY Nyatanga and Da Silva. Now shoot me down, I'm waiting for it.

 

Any decision is a risk

Keep any player when a big offer is on the table - risk the money against the performances of not just that player but the team as a whole (no individual player is going to get you promoted independently) OR sell the player and taken the money - risking the performances of the team falling. Generally, in football, taking the big money is the safe bet, which is why is usually happens that second tier clubs sell.

 

RE: It's a risk

You could also turn down 3 or 4 million for a player and then he picks up a serious injury a couple of weeks later! Anything is a risk. Bringing in the number of players we did this summer was a risk.

 

There's a time for caution...

...and a time to go for it. I remember conversations with people with your attitude at the begining of the 96-97 campaign.</p>

The whole squad is up for it as are the fans. We're six games unbeaten and riding high in the form table. We've played 6 of the top sides already, four of those away plus Cardiff and Southampton and look at our position. I don't know what you want before you'd callit agood shot but I'm pretty sure, whoever does go up, they'll be showing a bit more positivity than you at the moment. </p>

&pound;3m is indeed a lot of money. It's not &pound;60m like but I'd be with you on that if it automatically belonged to BFC. I don't think you're quite getting the club ownership thing. The &pound;3m would belong to GS but, for the sake of the hypothesis, let's assume he'd plough it back into the club. What would you spend it on? Maybe he could take a trip to the talismanic goal-scoring midfielder superstore and snap up a bargain. We shouldn't lose too much ground in the meantime and, after all, we're not going for it anyway are we?</p>

Nice attitude by the way. Glad to see you're &quot;not rising.&quot;</p>

 

Phew! I thought I'd woken up in Loserland. nt

 

You've got to go for it haven't you?

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What are we saying if we don't? </p>