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BARNSLEY. What on earth are they doing?



spence

British and Proud
Oct 15, 2014
9,814
Crawley
Hourihane to Villa confirmed

It's staggering we are 24pts ahead of them with the team they have got and the money they are throwing about. They even pinched our Calderwood.

I really hope they miss out on the play offs and spend another season here
 






Albion my Albion

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 6, 2016
17,876
Indiana, USA
As long as they knock off a PNE, Reading, Villa (wouldn't that be a cracker?), Huddersfield, Derby, Wednesday or Newcastle along the way, I'd be happy.
 


MattBackHome

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
11,726
Gutting for Barnsley - but you can see why they've done it.

I'd personally love to see Villa balls it up.
 


Exile

Objective but passionate
Aug 10, 2014
2,367
I'd personally love to see Villa balls it up.

Barring a miracle, they already have.

To reach the (commonly accepted) play-off target of 75 points, they need to themselves massively improve to take 2.05 points per game hereon.

That itself seems plausible at least, BUT they also need no more than 3 of the following to hit these PPG:

Leeds 1.33
Reading 1.37
Huddersfield 1.37
Wednesday 1.58
Derby 1.68

AND for none of Barnsley, Fulham, Norwich, Preston or Birmingham to manage 1.84.

It is beyond a long shot. Villa are buying for next season.
 




Stato

Well-known member
Dec 21, 2011
6,584
It was extremely decent of them to turn over Leeds before dismantling their side.

The fans will be very frustrated at the moment, but the good first half of the season means that the will have the opportunity to play in the Championship and try to bring more salable assets through next year. It may seem like lack of ambition, but, if we didn't have Tony Bloom, it would be the approach I would advocate for Brighton. The first responsibility of every board is to guarantee the future of the club. This can be easily forgotten when surrounded by financial madness.

It's also quite funny that Hourihane has gone to Villa when Wednesday were convinced they were going to get him for two bob and pickled egg.
 
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The Fish

Exiled Geordie
Jan 5, 2017
382
I know sometimes you have to sell your players to keep the lights on, but the sums Barnsley have got for their best players is a pittance. £3m for Bree is bad enough, but Hourihane has been one of the best players in the league thus far, £3m is nothing. Newcastle spent more than that on a 3rd choice striker. Villa have already spent c£10m in this window, on top of the £50m they splashed in the summer.

As Exile says above, they're unlikely to break into the play-off positions and even if they do, I'd still fancy the likes of Leeds, Derby and Huddersfield to get the better of them. Not being deluded, but it looks pretty likely that it'll be either Newcastle or yourselves for the title, unless either of us suffer a dramatic dip in form.
 


Napper

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2003
23,874
Sussex
Feel sorry for them. Decent club Barnsley and good supporters.

Were having a cracking season as well. Would be gutted if a Barnsley fan. Almost would feel like giving up
 




Finchley Seagull

New member
Feb 25, 2004
6,916
North London
True, but the board are between a rock and a hard place.

Keep the players , have a tilt at the playoffs and if it does not work out (and it's unlikely TBH) lose them for nothing in the summer, OR

Sell them, bank the £4-5 million and use this to consolidate the club in the Championship for a few years. Looking at their last accounts turnover was only £4.8 million for the season, and they made a profit on player sales of £60k, which contributed little to the overall loss of £2.9 million. I'd be gutted as a Barnsley fan, but realistically a play off position is possible rather than probable.

Agreed. And even if they got the possible play off place, they would probably be outsiders to win it.

They are better to lose the players now and bring a couple in when they can have a poor run and not drop too near the bottom three. If they lose them all in the summer, they'd be in real trouble and a potential early favourite for relegation (see Albion in the Hyypia season). It shows the nerve Tony Bloom had to turn down offers for Stephens in the summer when there was no guarantee we'd be up near the top again!
 


Greg Bobkin

Silver Seagull
May 22, 2012
14,848
Just makes you realise how lucky we are to have TB and the backroom team. No one can say it's been an easy path for the Albion to get where we are now. Barnsley have a struggle on their hands but this gives them an opportunity to create a strong team spirit and keep fighting. We all love an underdog, even if they are stroppy northern monkeys.

Exactly, while they were winning promotion to the PL, we were fighting for survival – not just relegation, but the very existence of the club. Fair enough to feel fortunate of our position now, but I don't feel TOO sorry for Barnsley.
 






Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,709
West west west Sussex
The 4-1 TONKING we took in the League Cup in 1980/81 was one of my lowest moments during the top flight years. The locals didn't take too kindly to southerners either.

Our firm ran them all over town.

Regards
SB.
 












LlcoolJ

Mama said knock you out.
Oct 14, 2009
12,982
Sheffield
Said that in an interview on SSN, basically given up on this season so Brucie is trying to get a squad together for next season but a lot of dead wood and rotten apples to get rid of and that won't come cheap
I absolutely LOVE the fact that all the DULLARDS on here who predicted Villa to be a force this season have been proved to be STUPID. A bit of cash from DOCTOR Tiny Za and a fat MANAGER wss never going to be enough to revive a ROTTEN club.
 


NooBHA

Well-known member
Jan 13, 2015
8,584
Since Calderwood went they have not improved whilst we have

Paul Trollope brings a lot to our set up though - So did Colin but our key was that his replacement is good and the one at the top has remained steadfast

On the Barnsley players moving. It's difficult to make a decision to hold players with only short term left on contracts. Top that with ''What if the player throws a strop and downs tools'' or the equivalent of. We saw for ourselves what disappointment can do to a player when Stephens had his Twitter Doo- Lally hissy fit moment . Thankfully since then he has got his act together and has been great this season.

A manager has to make a call as to whether he thinks the players are the sort who would knuckle down if they don't get the move they want; and perhaps their Manager wasn't 100% confident that he would have got the performances needed from those players to get them into the play offs if he hadn't let them go.
 






joeinbrighton

New member
Nov 20, 2012
1,853
Brighton
For Barnsley in the Championship, read Southampton in the Premier League. They produce good youngsters, give them their wings and then sell them on to bigger clubs and then repeat the cycle. They don't have the resources or the support to compete with the more illustrious or well-resourced clubs at that level, but Southampton have managed to continue consolidating in the Premier League despite losing players every close season for the last 3-4 years and with the right management, Barnsley can continue to compete decently in the Championship.
 


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