Chris Martin available for loan. Gerrin theear Chien.

[EastStandRed]

Followed the club away from home between 1959 and 1981 then ESR , our longest spell outside of the second tier .

Didn't realise you were that old to be honest .

Here we go ... no I’m not that old . I meant I’ve been going away with Barnsley for well over 30yrs and prefer the lower league grounds

[EastStandRed]

Or to make it more clear smaller clubs grounds , doesn’t matter what league they are in for instance Brentford and Burton this season

[animallittle3]

Or to make it more clear smaller clubs grounds , doesn’t matter what league they are in for instance Brentford and Burton this season

Thanks for clearing that up .

It's an interesting debate is this , fans of my generation have witnessed the longest spell and the worst of times with the club when you look at our history since 1887 .

I was born in 1962 and went to my first game in 1967 , my formative years were cut in the old fourth division , that was my norm so to speak , so I'd supported the club for 14 years before I saw second tier football at Oakwell .

But if you factor in the entire histoty of the club every generation who has gone through the turnstiles at Oakwell is accustomed to enjoying second tier football .

Despite those early years that is where the bar is set , even our two relegation's from this level in my years of support have seen us returned to this level fairly quickly .

To be away from this league for 22 years would in my opinion be a catastrophe .

Now whether we enjoy visiting smaller grounds or nostalgic trips to Rochdale in the fourth division the facts and history tell you that in reality it's this level where you have seen the majority of your football .

This is why I can do a deal with the corporate devil and still hand over my money despite it's capitalist tentacles , I'm simply acknowledging history and what it takes to remain at our historical level .

[Ponte_Steve24]

Animal I agree. I was born in 1985 and went to my first game in 1994 and all I've known apart from relegations is us being a top end Championship club in the first part and then the decline that followed after the millenium season. 94/95, 95/96, 96,97 and 99/00 were cracking seasons. (All after the introduction of the Premier League and Sky I might add for those blaming that for our decline).

[pass_and_move]

Animal I agree. I was born in 1985 and went to my first game in 1994 and all I've known apart from relegations is us being a top end Championship club in the first part and then the decline that followed after the millenium season. 94/95, 95/96, 96,97 and 99/00 were cracking seasons. (All after the introduction of the Premier League and Sky I might add for those blaming that for our decline).

Decline? We're a championship club mate With respect Steve the money in the game has gone crackers since the 90s. Ok sky were setting the ball rolling but the championship in 94/95 didnt have a 20th of the money involved that it has now. John Terry gets more in wages in a season(5 mill) than we spent on our own transfer outlay in 2017. Players like Chris Martin on 1.5 million a season in wages and warming the bench looking to be shipped art on loan. Crackers, absolutely crackers.


We were always financially up against it, even back when we had our glory years of the mid 90s. Nowt changes from our point of view barring the fact that it's even harder for us to compete now at championship level with such ridiculous amounts of money involved.

[Acido]

Not always easy to sign a decent striker. Apparently Newcastle have signed 24 strikers in the last 10 years, spending a fortune, and most of them have been crap

Well done Nozz for trying to keep this thread on-topic!.
Speaking of Derby and all their strikers, is David Nugent still there and getting fed up with the subs bench ?.
And remember they've also got Sam Winnaffall till the end othe season.