Lucky really? - I would argue spotting such investments is 90% skill 10% luck & that's why Barnsley are cutting their own in the Championship and will continue to do so if they keep the conveyor belt going. Well done to them, but remember they had to go down to sort it out. Remains to be seen whether we can
Blown us out of the water with their approach and historically have always been bigger and better . I hoped TS was going to change that but I think we all see the reality now.
We have to spend much more on wages and pay the fees.
Reality is we have never spent more than 400k on a player and that is that
and i have serious misgivings that we will do the same if we are relegated. we are now reaping the whirlwind that was steve evans and the climb into the championship. and that the club infrastructure has not evolved with it. we will be constantly on catch up and with the current policy of paying peanuts attract nobody of any use
this situation wont change going down either as the crowd and tv revenue will be less in league 1. we will have appointed a manager whom we will be told has the knowledge, experience and budget to get us promoted. Who will have dispensed with warne and dibble close season brought his own posse in then come August we will have signed non league players and players past it and been given the usual spin of this team blah blah
Come November we will be bottom of league 1 the summer manager sacked , john breckin caretaker manager and a new manager will be appointed in December with even less money to spend in January who will then resign
sorry for being so negative but im just so disillusioned with the stewarts and douglas pathetic and shoestring budget running this club. we are paying above average price season tickets for the championship and get ripped off with the food and drink i am holding back this year on renewing my season ticket
Mmm, I don't think you'll be alone either. Once the spiral starts it's difficult to stop. So many teams go from the Champ to L2 in rapid succession there must be a reason behind it. I'm hoping our board have recognised that reason, and are putting things in place right now to make sure L1 is as far as we go. I think we can all agree a competitive L1 team we can all get along with that as long as things are happening behind the scenes, and once or twice a season a new product from the youth system materialises. Nobody however under any cir***stance will accept L2
I'd put it down to foresight and investment. I know I keep banging the drum about the 80-81 season when we were returned to the old 2nd Div. We went up as Champs and Barnsley were also promoted. Those in charge at Oakwell took the opportunity to move the club forward. We, on the other hand discovered that the Millers coffers were being ransacked by the then Chairman and it all crumbled like a house of cards. Meanwhile, Barnsley developed Oakwell and gradually built up the fan base and established themselves as a middling Championship outfit.
We had good old Syd Wood and K Booth keeping us on life support, but when a bit of success did come our way the benefits were squirrelled away to "pay off debts" and the downward trend continued. No forward planning, no investment, no interest other than to take Millmoor from us in lieu of "loans". Barnsley went on developing Oakwell and spent a season in the Premiership.
Back then at the end of the 80-81 season, I went with a few mates drinking in Birdwell. We met some Barnsley fans there and we spent the evening in friendly banter and rivalry, a good set of lads. At the end of the night as we were leaving one of the Barnsley boys said to me "You lot may have got the trophy, but we were the real Champions" How right he was. Their Chairman and board were clearly fans and wanted to build something. We were asset stripped. Forward planning, investment, and not just a desire for a salary, but pride and the desire for the success of Barnsley football club. Thats why they have done better than us.
Errr a good manager, good signings, good squad, momentum, its not rocket science ! Not keepin Warnock and paying him the £1 mil p.a. he wanted is the ONLY reason were going down. ( we spent that on stubbs anyway - wage, comp to hibs, his pay off)