We've done ok. Someone suggested we had stagnated over the last 13 years. We haven't. We often harp back to the players of the 80s and 90s, but between promotions under Hunter and Wilson, we neither made the playoffs nor got relegated, and attracted crowds of 7 and 8 thousand. Apart from the odd cup run or local derby defeat it was a pretty uneventful era, and to add to that, we could still afford a decent player and money hadn't really saturated this level, so there wasn't the disparity.
I was thinking the other day about how we managed to be promoted to the Premier League in 1996/97, but have never come close since the play-off loss a couple of years later. Clearly much has changed and the game in the Championship has become dominated by rich owners and parachute payments. I doubt whether it is possible to compete at the top end of the Championship any more without the need for large injections of capital, whether that be by artificially augmented inter company trading and sponsorship, or by direct injections through loans and share issues. Nevertheless, there were special factors back then that allowed us to compete better. Hillsborough happened a few years before and most clubs at Championship level had put team building on the back burner in favour of stadium development, as did we. However, when we were promoted, we had completed only two sides of our ground. We also chose a much lower capacity than most clubs at our level, so our capital costs of rebuilding were much less. The combination provided us with a window, which we gratefully took advantage of. I wonder if we can expect such a window to occur ever again.
To be fair, we competed for half of last season, albeit more on our travels that at Oakwell, and that was done on a shoestring by championship standards. If we keep recruiting and keep our best players a window of opportunity could again present itself, never say never! New guys at the helm and very early doors
At some time in the future (probably caused by illegal streaming and live football overload) the TV money bubble will burst and rich investors will move on to better income earning activities. At that point the better run clubs who aren't in hundreds of millions of debt and reliant on rich benefactors will not go in to free fall like they rest and they will be able to attract the better players and we may (or may not) be one of them.
Explain (in glorious detail) how the directors were responsible for the collapse of ITV Digital which precipitated our collapse into administration. Or don’t you give the old board and credit or slack? Why do you hate John Dennis so much? He’s responsible for the relatively resplendent surroundings you sit in every other week.
ITV digital did not just crash in Barnsley, it crashed for another 23 teams. Yet Barnsley were the only team that went into Admin. We were the 1 out of 24. Why do you think that happened. We were too reliant upon the ITV digital cash. We were already sailing far too close to the wind that we had less margin for error. The crash was just the final straw. The club had been poorly managed for years. We had frittered away the Premier League parachute and had spent the Ashley Ward cash on the north stand that was unused most of the time. These were vanity projects, and when that happens you should not have to look far for someone to blame. I'm sorry but our collapse did not just happen just over one season. It came as a result of a long series of errors over a long period. I do not hate anyone, but I do hold John Dennis responsible for almost closing my football club. Some of you seem to hold a grudge against Patrick Cryne, simply for not being more successful or for not having enough money to make a difference in the Championship, but never once has he put our club into the danger that John Dennis put it into. Yes, he gave us a year of the Premier League, but was one year in the Premier League adequate compensation for closing the club. Not for me.
No we were bloody not. And it was 72 teams of the football league affected. Not 24 in the championship. “The ramifications were felt far and wide. Within a year of ITV Digital going under, no fewer than 16 clubs entered administration and it took some clubs years to recover from the damage” https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/footballpink.net/2015/09/27/5203/amp/
Exhibit A; Rescuing the club then allowing Peter Ridsdale to run it; meaning we had to be rescued again to prevent Admin, again. As someone who extols the virtues of the youth academy and indeed that being something that Mr Cryne has hung his hat on and off backed with his cash it is disingenuous at best to call the North Stand a “vanity project” given the whole complex behind it was built at that time. I’m sure you’d have called the East Stand over-ambitions and frivolous when it was built given our entire attendance at that time would have fitted in it most games. Not worth mentioning that other clubs went into admin given you are bending the facts to try and disparage the old board. The excellent ground we have today is down to that board as is the wonderful memories we have from the promotion to and playing in the Premier League.
We can debate the interpretation of that 4 year period between the glory of the Premier League and the ignominy of Administration until we are blue in the face. We can accuse one another of bias, bending the facts etc etc etc. At the end of the day, neither of us will be persuaded that our interpretation is the wrong one. I can list for you all the mistakes that the board made, from the appointment of John Hendry as manager at a period when it was vital that we had experience at managerial level, right through to selling players and building edifices to the boards own glory. None of it is going to make any difference. Our minds are made up. The one indisputable fact is that my club almost died and it was saved by Patrick Cryne. Yes, Peter Ridsdale was a mistake, but Mr Cryne used his own money to put it right. They all make mistakes. It is how you deal with them that makes the difference.
He doesn't "hate" him. Hate is an emotion. Funny how he shows no respect to someone who gave us the best period of our history and rebuilt the ground, but demands respect for someone who gave us mediocrity (at best) and let said ground fall in disrepair.
I thought you were going to reply to my question yesterday. Have I missed it, or were you just avoiding the question again. The question asked by Redstar last night was a hard one to answer and I knew that it would open me up to criticism because I knew that the old board are highly regarded, but I answered it any way, and I answered it honestly. You promised me a lengthy tome yesterday. I got nothing. In fact, I got more questions. Are you really so worried about answering a question directly. Are you really so reluctant to credit Mr Cryne with saving your football club.
John Dennis did his best for the club. So did Patrick Cryne. What's the f***ing problem in accepting that? I'm sure they both had faults, both made mistakes. Don't we all? Why do we have to listen to constant attempts to deride either? And yes, deride is an appropriate term. I'm fed up of people constantly looking to find fault and someone to blame.
You play your little games if you like, but anyone who has followed our conversation over the last few days knows that you are avoiding the question. The fact is that this conversation has been less to do with getting you to answer that question and more to do with exposing you your methods to others. Anyone who has followed our conversation now knows that you are shallow and empty. A person with questions but no answers. A person without the courage to justify an opinion. My work here is done.
So you don't want a response? You're all over the place at the minute. You'll be admitting to being human like the rest of us next.
Spot on. Or should it be "spotlight on"? We all have strengths and weaknesses and these issues are not black and white. Why not just move on and enjoy life?
The John Dennis era was miles better though. Promotion to the Premiership Two good FA Cup runs Play off final Record transfer fee spent and received Plenty of strong finishes in the division including a few narrow misses for the play offs 3/4 of the ground totally rebuilt The Cryne era just doesn't compare for me.