Anyone else feeling positive about the season ?

[baggieal]

Spot on Yarmbaggie. Some do not like successful people, some don’t like being 4th in a league of 24 teams. Some wanted a wealthy owner and welcomed the wealthy man from China and now don’t want him at the club. Other never wanted the wealthy owner from China but we’re were cast as having no ambition.

Some should be very careful of what they wish for! At the end of the day let’s hope we all get some enjoyment from this coming season. It has to be better than the last one, surely!

Al football finances changed at the start of the 1992-93 season with the formation of the Premier League.

At the start of that season we were in the third tier playing the likes of Chester City and Hartlepool United in front of crowds often less than 10,000. We finished 4th in that league after being 7th the season before, again in Division 3. Thankfully to cap a ‘great season’ we won at Wembley to go up into what is now the Championship and managed to stay up by coming 21st just beating relegation and Birmingham.

In the same 1992-93 season Villa finished runners up in the Premier league and qualified for Europe which they did for several seasons afterwards in the PL age.

Now that is what I call a huge gulf.

That’s 27 years ago FFS. Things can change in 1/2/3 years. Look at Leicester winning the cup and look at Harrogate Town who are now an established professional set up - they used to play on a dog s hit pitch in front of a handful of fans! I bet Lai purchased us for more than the new owners purchased Villa! Villa almost were liquidated! Dean Smith has not become a great manager overnight as many vilers wanted him out. Villa have increased the gulf between us and them since the new owners injected cash we could only dream about. With this new injection of cash the quality of the playing staff has increased massively and the value of Grealish who is probably worth at least half our club
now ! To cap it all Villa are nicking our best youngsters and 2/3 years ago we were known to have the best academy in the West
Midlands ! Why did Harrison and Hopcroft leave - because they couldn’t stand Dowling and they saw Villa were moving forwards whilst we were in decline. I hate Villa but that’s how it is - you invest in any business you move forwards. Don’t invest or develop and you become another Laura Ashley or Cath Kidston who were great brands but they stood still!

[animallittle3]

If Valerian can get Barnsley into the playoffs, think what he can do with our squad? I like the guy's "no passengers" attitude and I like the way he wants to press other teams and not let them play. We have a pretty decent squad for the championship and it can only get better once we get the money for MP and SJ. They also gave Valerian a 4 year deal which means they did not hire him to solve an immediate problem, which is what they have done with so many managers in the past few years with mixed success. I think the club is expecting him to build something good and has given him the time to do it. This is all very encouraging. I am way more excited with his appointment than I have been over any appointment since Megson left except perhaps Mowbray. So bring it on, I say.

Val did a remarkable job at our club getting us in to the play offs but at the same time there's little doubt everything about last season was set up for him to succeed .

1, Everyone one of our players are recruited to play the high press style of football , we've adopted this system for three seasons now and all Val did was put his own mark on it .

2 , You cannot underestimate how the five sub rule gave us a massive advantage last season over our rivals , three fresh forwards would come on at the 60 minute mark and keep the high press effective .

That isn't an option this season with reverting back to three subs .

3 , There was less pressure on him at Barnsley than he'll find at WBA , we were massively over-achieving but fifth spot at WBA in the championship wouldn't be considered that great .

4 , With such a young squad at Oakwell playing in front of empty stadiums wasn't a problem , most of our young lads aren't too long out of development football playing in front of three men and a dog .

Plus there was no negativity coming from the stands when they made mistakes and young players make plenty of them .

5 , Last season the standard in the championship was woeful although it may well be the same this season given nobody has any money due to the pandemic .

6 , We were extremely fortunate to obtain the services of American Daryl Dike , he got on the field for the US from the bench just hours before the January transfer window closed which enabled him to qualify for a work permit .

Without his goals we wouldn't have got anywhere near the play offs and we were fortunate the lad hit the ground running over here which is pretty unprecedented for a 20 year old American kid with less than 18 MLS games behind him .

He's taken on a very different challenge at WBA , a challenge where they may not be the same advantages at WBA that he found last season at my club .

This post probably comes across as a bit bitter but I'm not that kind of poster , Barnsley are what we are and WBA are a much bigger club and as a fan of 55 years it's nothing new and it becomes water off a ducks back after so many years .

Besides I wish Val well , he gave us a great season to remember at a time in history when life was difficult and kept our spirits up , gave us something to look forward to every match day .

I sincerely hope it works out for Val but at the same time I do honestly feel it probably may not be the quick fix many Baggies are hoping it will be .

[animallittle3]

I would also like to add that towards the end of the season and especially in the play offs Val's style had been worked out by the opposition .

Preston and Coventry beat us convincingly and how we got three points from the Rotherham home game remains a mystery .

Our style hadn't so much as laid a glove on Swansea in the two league games against them and Val went with the same tactics in the play offs against them .

With the same outcome , which wasn't totally unsurprising .

There wasn't a plan B unfortunately .

We needed something different against the Swans in the play offs if we were to progress to the final and we were capable of doing so .

I wouldn't go as far as to say " one trick pony " but none the less it did enter a few Tykes heads when the final whistle blew at the Liberty Stadium .

Not a million miles from the same feeling I had with Southgate a fortnight ago .

[DaveP67 is back!]

I would also like to add that towards the end of the season and especially in the play offs Val's style had been worked out by the opposition .

Preston and Coventry beat us convincingly and how we got three points from the Rotherham home game remains a mystery .

Our style hadn't so much as laid a glove on Swansea in the two league games against them and Val went with the same tactics in the play offs against them .

With the same outcome , which wasn't totally unsurprising .

There wasn't a plan B unfortunately .

We needed something different against the Swans in the play offs if we were to progress to the final and we were capable of doing so .

I wouldn't go as far as to say " one trick pony " but none the less it did enter a few Tykes heads when the final whistle blew at the Liberty Stadium .

Not a million miles from the same feeling I had with Southgate a fortnight ago .

I did watch the Swansea game and that has clouded my view, that said he seems to be doing the right things so far, guess time will tell!

[baggieal]

I would also like to add that towards the end of the season and especially in the play offs Val's style had been worked out by the opposition .

Preston and Coventry beat us convincingly and how we got three points from the Rotherham home game remains a mystery .

Our style hadn't so much as laid a glove on Swansea in the two league games against them and Val went with the same tactics in the play offs against them .

With the same outcome , which wasn't totally unsurprising .

There wasn't a plan B unfortunately .

We needed something different against the Swans in the play offs if we were to progress to the final and we were capable of doing so .

I wouldn't go as far as to say " one trick pony " but none the less it did enter a few Tykes heads when the final whistle blew at the Liberty Stadium .

Not a million miles from the same feeling I had with Southgate a fortnight ago .

Good points you make. That said Val did a brilliant job with bang average players and the club were almost relegated the season before. You would think with Val’s motivation and no nonsense approach he will get far more out of much better quality players than those at Barnsley. You can only do so much with tactics but if the quality is missing you could get headless chickens. Grant, Diangana, Livermore and Sawyers did not impress in the Premier so perhaps Val will get them going and they come good. Phillips was poor in the Championship but to his credit in the Premier he was a different player.

We need a manager who commands respect and takes no c rap - hopefully we have found one.

Best wishes to Barnsley this season and always had time for your club.

[animallittle3]

Good points you make. That said Val did a brilliant job with bang average players and the club were almost relegated the season before. You would think with Val’s motivation and no nonsense approach he will get far more out of much better quality players than those at Barnsley. You can only do so much with tactics but if the quality is missing you could get headless chickens. Grant, Diangana, Livermore and Sawyers did not impress in the Premier so perhaps Val will get them going and they come good. Phillips was poor in the Championship but to his credit in the Premier he was a different player.

We need a manager who commands respect and takes no c rap - hopefully we have found one.

Best wishes to Barnsley this season and always had time for your club.

I wouldn't go as far as to say we've got bang average players with all due respect .

I can see why that thought would come in to play given the size of my club compared to many in the championship and of course our modest budget .

The defensive three of Sibbick , Andersen and Helik are as solid as they come at this level , Andersen and Helik made the championship team of the season plus Helik went to the Euro's with Poland .

Plenty of others are attracting interest from bigger clubs , Callum Brittain , Callum Styles , Romal Palmer and Cauley Woodrow .

Plus you yourselves have taken Alex Mowatt .

Some of our young lads are far better players then they were often given credit for and have improved massively since they were recruited for the championship following promotion from league one in 2019 .

We often thought at times that Val should have let them play a bit more than he did with the ball on the floor .

We gave champions Norwich City as good as we got over three games including an FA cup tie , one win each and a draw .

2-1 down at half-time at the *****ity Stadium in March against a Bournemouth side packed with quality players we came out in the second half and bossed it with some pleasing passing of the ball and won the game 3-2 .

Val inherited far better players than perhaps many people realise at Oakwell .

Sometimes our style of football didn't portray that even though you couldn't argue with the results .

I personally felt a tad frustrated when the final whistle blew at the Liberty Stadium , an opportunity missed and with a better plan than we went with we could have overcome the Swans .

I have wondered if the hierarchy at WBA actually researched why Val was successful at Oakwell rather than just possibly looking at the results .

If they did and they see the same fit at The Hawthorns then you are on to a winner with Val , if they didn't it may be a slower burn and I suspect scratching around in the championship isn't on the menu at WBA given the finances the club needs to fulfill its obligations .

Just my honest opinion Baggies with absolutely no axe to grind with WBA who I've always looked upon as great historic club who have retained far more than many have of who they represent than many other clubs in the modern era .

[Acido]

... We need a manager who commands respect and takes no c rap - hopefully we have found one.
Best wishes to Barnsley this season and always had time for your club.

Aww tahh for that uncle Al lol. And hey remember almost a year ago to the day when we won away at Brentford, hhmmm you still owe us a few beers or two for that one.

[Yarmbaggie]

Found this thread a very interesting read given it was only just over 6 months ago. Very interesting comparison to the Val comments now to those just those few months ago.

Who would be a supporter of a club like ours?

Yes all of us, but wouldn’t it be nice to not always have our hopes and aspirations kicked into the gutter every few months.

Trophy presented to ………………….. as Captain Hindsight?

[Prando]

Hindsight eh ?
My disappointment was to see virtually all the players not performing to their best in the recent games. Clearly to add impetus to the ‘we don’t agree with Val’ campaign.
Irrespective of their dislike of his tactics and individual playing demands, they are contacted employees who should respect the ticket paying fans by giving 100% Player Power Rules OK !
Not the Albion spirit we have all been brought up with.
Still, let’s hope Brucey will re-engender some spirit.

[mickd1961]

No.

Next season yes.