Imagine for one moment, you're a lifelong fan of Barnsley. Putting aside all the whippets / flat caps / outside toilets stuff - you're a devoted supporter of a proper local football club - no delusions about your place in football's pecking order, but the same hopes and dreams as fans all over the nation.
Given their place in that food chain, you'd say that a top half Championship finish would be a very good result for the Tykes. But here they are, this season, under an unheralded, young, local manager, in position to make a genuine stab at a play-off place - as I write, sat just two places and a mere four points behind sixth spot. Get themselves into the end of season knock-out, and they've a CHANCE of a fantastical Premier League place - something that could utterly transform the club for years - possibly decades - to come.
How do you feel as a fan, (or as that young manager) that the board's response to this situation, is to sell, not just one, but all three of your side's best players?
Top scorer Sam Winnall has gone, for no more than loose change - to rub salt into Tykes' wounds - to a hated local rival. Coveted young defender James Bree has gone - to Aston Villa for a couple of million. Before the month is out, star man Connor Hourihane will have followed them - also to Villa most likely. Losing all three is painful enough - for all three to move to clubs rivaling your own for those play-off spots is a proper kick in the teeth. Enough to make you question your board's ambition, and ask yourself what the point is.
I'd LOVE it if they were to prove me wrong, kick on and get sixth place. They couldn't be making it any harder for themselves, though.
Given their place in that food chain, you'd say that a top half Championship finish would be a very good result for the Tykes. But here they are, this season, under an unheralded, young, local manager, in position to make a genuine stab at a play-off place - as I write, sat just two places and a mere four points behind sixth spot. Get themselves into the end of season knock-out, and they've a CHANCE of a fantastical Premier League place - something that could utterly transform the club for years - possibly decades - to come.
How do you feel as a fan, (or as that young manager) that the board's response to this situation, is to sell, not just one, but all three of your side's best players?
Top scorer Sam Winnall has gone, for no more than loose change - to rub salt into Tykes' wounds - to a hated local rival. Coveted young defender James Bree has gone - to Aston Villa for a couple of million. Before the month is out, star man Connor Hourihane will have followed them - also to Villa most likely. Losing all three is painful enough - for all three to move to clubs rivaling your own for those play-off spots is a proper kick in the teeth. Enough to make you question your board's ambition, and ask yourself what the point is.
I'd LOVE it if they were to prove me wrong, kick on and get sixth place. They couldn't be making it any harder for themselves, though.
