https://youtu.be/KE6-bbdSnn8?si=lrQRxIwwkZPtXVQKIn my view this is what has basically happened Shads.
The Pacific Media Group (or whatever they call themselves) came in with a fanfare.
At long long last we had big money at the club in partnership with local directors - the Cryne family who have the welfare of the club at heart.
A match made in heaven.
As Conway said ‘they wernt going to go crazy’ but we expected a year on year build - with the new owners priming the pump.
It then became apparent that everything wasn’t great behind the scenes when bits of news started to seep out of the club.
Then Khaled gave his famous Radio Sheffield interview in November 2021 - he let the cat out of the bag when he said something on the lines of ‘the playing style has been changed so buyers will come in for our players’.
In other words - we are not going to use our own money to build the club - we will build the club by using money generated by selling players and selling tickets to supporters.
Furthermore - although we finished 5th in the Championship last season - player sales are more important than building on the great position we finished in the league.
IMO - Lee / Conway only became interested in Barnsley because of James brilliance in identifying and then signing rough diamonds that could be polished to make £££millions.
They wanted to use that to either build the club and sell it - or generate income for themselves from those player sales.
Unfortunately for the club and its supporters - the database recruiting strategy wasn’t in operation long before Lee / Conway got hold of the club.
That is to say - during most of the time the database has been running there has been a fly in the ointment - CONWAY.
Yes - the database has brought £££millions into the club - but those sales have been pushed through by Conway because he wanted to use the clubs money and not his own.
Where would we be if the club had kept hold of some of those players ???
If we had built on the team that finishing 5th in the Championship.
Instead of doing that - Conway threw his teddy out of the pram - changed how the team played to a tippy tappy style - recruited his own players (eg the 2 expensive Belgian strikers) - and told a Belgian newspaper that he decided who played in the team.
Is there any wonder the club got relegated that season after finishing 5th the season before.
An unbelievable turn of events.
The present owners have had to pick up the pieces left over from the disastrous Conway reign - they have had to start more or less from scratch again.
But if these owners can keep a tight relationship going between themselves - and I’ve watched them at games and they seem good together - and importantly Conway isn’t influential at the club anymore - then that’s the one reason I’m so positive that the club has got an exciting future ahead.
It’s going to take a few seasons - but they will do it.