LJ - Barnsley fan in peace

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

9 minutes ago, 29AR said:

Even more so with the later reference to 'you were contemplating life in League 2 under SOD'. Leaves me in little doubt that Redarmy1 probably couldn't pick out Oakwell on a map. 

Reads more like a Gashead to me...they seem to think that the biggest deciding factor on size of attendances is how much money your owner has got too (or at least they did until they became the 6th richest club in the country and still couldn't fill their tiny ground).

[AshtonGreat]

44 minutes ago, ashton_fan said:

I still think we'll finish above Barnsley come the end of the season. Losing Kodjia wasn't planned but we had to accept with the money being offered. We've been short of strikers as a result but have the chance to put that right next month, we're still a 'work in progress' so let's wait and see.

Short of strikers - apart from that £2.5million one from Sweden

[shelts]

2 hours ago, Redarmy1 said:

Just reading your comments with quite a lot of interest as your form is starting to mirror ours during his tenure at oakwell.

Good start , then gradually getting worse.

i think I speak for quite a few Barnsley fans by saying we didn't really want him in the first place as he had a decidedly average record at Oldham.

up until the last 6 games that he won before he departed it was the worst football bar none that I had seen at oakwell in 30 years, tippy tappy possession football, 4-5-1, all the football in our own half and a shot on goal cheered with sarcasm.  At any point during negotiations with yourselves I would have driven him for the interview had he asked me for a lift - none of this skullduggery that appeared to have been building needn't have happened (allegedly).

allegedly it was other forces at the club that resulted in us reverting to 4-4-2 and using out and out wingers and a little more direct play as well as chasing people down.  Suddenly we win 6 on the spin.  This was a dead man walking the month before and all of a sudden he is Carlo Ancelotti. 

I am am no master tactician but I have never seen such great quality at oakwell that would enable us to execute such a system of 4-5-1 effectively. 

I might be be wrong but in some way LJ (allegedly) probably thinks he was responsible for our continued good form and surge up league 1 and subsequent promotion and now continued good form.  I am certain that had we been relegated to league 2 he wouldn't have wanted the same association with Barnsley FC - he would have had to get some new slides for his power point presentation on taking positives out of it (something I am sure you have heard times many recently).  Be under no illusion Paul Heckingbottom is the man to be attributed to our upturn in fortunes and by you getting LJ you have actually allowed us to uncover what I think is a managerial diamond in the rough so to speak.   

in all my 30+ years of being a Barnsley FC season ticket holder I had never been so uninterested in a manager leaving us - I though if anything we dodged a bullet. He joined us when we were 17th in league one and left us in 13th - and only one point more on the board than his predecessor the previous season in league 1 - hardly scintillating progress.  The football was dire up to the 6 game winning streak - to the point where I was almost begging the wife to book a holiday so I didn't have to go.  She settled for buying me a robust , large thermos with its own plunger function so I could distribute drinks to the other nearby needy souls who had become welded to the chair through frost-bite and lack of movement (something which had also filtered down onto the pitch during his tenure).  

 

Personally I don't see anything 'dynamic' about this 3 transfer window merchant (I'm sure you've heard that as well!!), just someone who is probably good in interviews with a power point presentation (allegedly) and reminds me of one of those kids that has been freshly dressed by his mum, with everything looking slightly oversized. 

 

Another LJ basher with tales from another club, just waiting for someone from Oldham to complete the hat trick. 

[tinman85]

Any other club in the country would have sacked LJ by now. Shocking run, can't take chances, can't defend. Does nothing to change the slide. 

[Kodjias Wrist]

47 minutes ago, Redarmy1 said:

Phantom - historic average gates.

even in 2 out of the last 5 years when you have been in a division higher you have averaged around 5000-6000 less

 

they average more than you now!!

its only since the SL money appeared that you have seen the gates swell - along with your expectations 

Sheff utd are way bigger than us but you got a couple of things completely wrong there. We average 5000-6000 more than you despite you being soo much better than us.

If anything Barnsley fans have given it the biggun since getting promoted. Dont get this sort of thing from any other club except rovers and comes across really condescending.

[stokes7]

1 hour ago, Redarmy1 said:

The point with LJ is that I think the minute something better crops up he'll be off (allegedly) and I think he feels everything is in tip top condition when he leaves . He gives you the impression he's in it for the long haul and then jumps ship when it suits - he would make a good unsub on criminal minds.  (Again all allegedly).  You would not have gone near him before the six game run as we were rock bottom and arguably in the top 6 biggest clubs in league 1.  His social media is in overdrive  on a good run and appears to have a problem with his dongle when he's on a bad run. 

I think where bristol  city go wrong at the minute is that you have fallen into the trap that because you have an owner with considerable amounts of money that you are suddenly a bigger club than what you are.  You are in the same bracket as the likes of ourselves, Huddersfield etc.  the best you can hope for is around 9th or 10th

 

the difference with Barnsley is that we have a group of players who will work their socks off, will make mistakes but will get better for the experience.  You are buying in ready made talent which can sometimes come with an ego , million pound current account balances and a lack of desire (allegedly). But with this comes an expectation level from the fans.  

After 8 years in the championship last time around and seeing on quite a few occasions examples of the above , quite frankly you can keep it.  Give me a young hungry professional who wants to better themselves and put a shift in every week and I'm happy.  Even if we come up short - let's be honest we should have put you to the sword at oakwell but inexperience cost us.  If we went down I wouldn't change anything - we are now a stage for a good up and coming player to showcase their talent and be given a fair crack of the whip.  If they cut it they get sold on for a profit - long term it's the best strategy as there's no guarantee if you spent half of SL wealth that you would even get in the top 6 of the PL.  so why kid yourselves that you are going to be a 'big club'

 

i heard mentions of Chris wilder would be a good candidate.  Sheffield Utd are a far bigger club than you are (and as much as it pains me to say it - us). So why the hell would he do that?  

I think a certain level of perspective is needed - when SOD was in charge you were contemplating life in L2 like we were under LJ

as for the thermos. It is impressive. If it could unblock drains I would use it myself.

You say you come in peace then slag us off jog on back to your own forum 

[ChippenhamRed]

5 minutes ago, tinman85 said:

Any other club in the country would have sacked LJ by now. Shocking run, can't take chances, can't defend. Does nothing to change the slide. 

I hear "Does nothing to change the slide" then I hear "constantly chopping and changing". Which is it?

As for "any other club would have sacked him by now", if that's the case then sometimes it's good to be different. We are 17th, not 24th, with a relatively comfortable 7 point gap and an opportunity to put things right.

The lack of perspective is pathetic.

[Son of Fred]

2 hours ago, sglosbcfc said:

When Lee Johnson took over at City we were in the relegation zone. This was less than a year ago remember! His record across those 11 months is the record of a top half championship team. This is despite the fact that we lost our top scorer to a league rival on the eve of the end of the transfer window and that he has not been able to spend that 15 million.

Of course City have their fair number of 'you're something between Pep and Jose if you win three games on the bounce and a pub team manager if you lose three on the bounce'. But all clubs have those very fickle fans. The truth is Johnson is young, relatively inexperienced and will make mistakes. However I am confident City will finish this season in the top half and that will be real progress. We have only been beaten by one goal more than once and the majority of matches I have seen this season have been very entertaining (although I accept fans would rather have boring and win).

According to SL the Kodjia money has mostly just covered the books!..

You can be sure we will be doing 'it' on the cheap(again).What was the definition of 'insanity???

[Phileas Fogg]

4 minutes ago, Robert the bruce said:

According to SL the Kodjia money has mostly just covered the books!..

You can be sure we will be doing 'it' on the cheap(again).What was the definition of 'insanity???

He *would* say that though. We don't want other clubs to know we've got loads of cash. SL's track record shows he'll spend where necessary. 

[Eddie Notgetinya]

All this 'bigger club' nonsense. we're in a higher division and are therefore, at this moment in time, a bigger club than Sheff Utd.

Currently Bournemouth are bigger than all of us in the SBC.

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

14 minutes ago, Robert the bruce said:

According to SL the Kodjia money has mostly just covered the books!..

You can be sure we will be doing 'it' on the cheap(again).What was the definition of 'insanity???

For all that is currently going wrong, the contention that Steve Lansdown is "doing it on the cheap again" is surely the most ludicrous , misguided and daft statement that has appeared on OTIB for some time.

A revamped stadium at a £50,000,000 cost combined with summer spending of around £7,000,000+ AND having to cover annual losses of between £7-12 million per year every year  is not the footprint of an owner doing it on the cheap.

Criticise the Manager, the players, the staff or even the board's decision making is fair enough in that it is all part of being a football fan but to state that SL is doing it on the cheap is as laughable as it is insulting.

[screech]

1 hour ago, Rascal said:

I'm a Barnsley fan, and I thought Lee Johnson got a lot of things right when he was at Oakwell, and quite a few things wrong too, I can't stand the bloke to be honest he as no loyalty what so ever, and he thinks he's better than he is. When he finally listened to the fans, and stopped messing about with one striker and different tactics and styles of play, and settled on a formation and game plan, he then started to look a lot better, as did his team. When we was in the worst run of form in our history, in my opinion we wasn't actually that bad, we just wasn't getting positive results, we lost a few we didn't deserve to, and we could have got points from other games with a bit of luck. We as fans could see what needed to be done and after a few weeks so did LJ, the tempo of our play needed lifting, we needed 2 strikers and to attack teams once he did that we looked totally different. 

 

Now on the dust as settled on back hand Tommy, I think you could do a lot worse then get him in on a six month contract 

That is exactly how I see the team playing at the moment, slow tipppy tappy football deep on the pitch, and a talented bunch of footballers up front who are being starved of some quick balls and support. It's quite depressing that we can see what needs changing but we are going to be subjected to more of the same it appears. Tammy Abraham needs a foil, he'll bag a ton of goals if he gets some help. Sorry I had to read that from a Barnsley fan, but you shouldn't ignore it, they are bang on. Just because you don't like to read it doesn't mean it's not true.

[KevP]

If anyone needs any "assurance" that City are in a better place than Barnsley, ( I personally don't ) , just take a look at their ground, particularly the infrastructure and the old stand that looks like something from the 1950s......the flaking red paint on the walls, broken glass concreted into the top of the walls, the area around the ground itself. A step back in time. I went to Carlisle in the early 80s and their ground was a joke....this is on a par. Just need to compare the bigger picture IMO....

[Red-Robbo]

Other clubs' experience of managers is of little interest to be honest. The scenario at Oakwell, the squad inherited, the financial situation, the expectations, the culture even, will be different from here. Every Club is unique in that respect.

We had Doncaster fans here telling us how great Sean O'Driscoll was, for example, but AG he was an unmitigated disaster.

[JasonM88]

35 minutes ago, Robert the bruce said:

According to SL the Kodjia money has mostly just covered the books!..

You can be sure we will be doing 'it' on the cheap(again).What was the definition of 'insanity???

Sorry but that's one of the most stupid statements I've read on here 

[MarkRed!]

To be fair, the poster is 100% right about LJ but there must also be some collective responsibility. He is one of the coaches and there is also a team around him. Thus, they are all collectively responsible. Even during our good start it was clear the team lacked proper shape. JK was playing out wide to accommodate TA and that did not really work....LJ wants us to play in a way that limits us and having watched most of the games this season, it is clear that we are not solid enough in midfield and not clinical enough upfront. Abraham is also very isolated. Need to try to get to a system where we have 2 strikers, even if that means playing Tomlin and Abraham upfront. Tomlin comes so deep to get the ball that he isolates the wide players and Abraham. If I can see that surely the manager can?

 

[One BCFC]

4 hours ago, Redarmy1 said:

Just reading your comments with quite a lot of interest as your form is starting to mirror ours during his tenure at oakwell.

Good start , then gradually getting worse.

i think I speak for quite a few Barnsley fans by saying we didn't really want him in the first place as he had a decidedly average record at Oldham.

up until the last 6 games that he won before he departed it was the worst football bar none that I had seen at oakwell in 30 years, tippy tappy possession football, 4-5-1, all the football in our own half and a shot on goal cheered with sarcasm.  At any point during negotiations with yourselves I would have driven him for the interview had he asked me for a lift - none of this skullduggery that appeared to have been building needn't have happened (allegedly).

allegedly it was other forces at the club that resulted in us reverting to 4-4-2 and using out and out wingers and a little more direct play as well as chasing people down.  Suddenly we win 6 on the spin.  This was a dead man walking the month before and all of a sudden he is Carlo Ancelotti. 

I am am no master tactician but I have never seen such great quality at oakwell that would enable us to execute such a system of 4-5-1 effectively. 

I might be be wrong but in some way LJ (allegedly) probably thinks he was responsible for our continued good form and surge up league 1 and subsequent promotion and now continued good form.  I am certain that had we been relegated to league 2 he wouldn't have wanted the same association with Barnsley FC - he would have had to get some new slides for his power point presentation on taking positives out of it (something I am sure you have heard times many recently).  Be under no illusion Paul Heckingbottom is the man to be attributed to our upturn in fortunes and by you getting LJ you have actually allowed us to uncover what I think is a managerial diamond in the rough so to speak.   

in all my 30+ years of being a Barnsley FC season ticket holder I had never been so uninterested in a manager leaving us - I though if anything we dodged a bullet. He joined us when we were 17th in league one and left us in 13th - and only one point more on the board than his predecessor the previous season in league 1 - hardly scintillating progress.  The football was dire up to the 6 game winning streak - to the point where I was almost begging the wife to book a holiday so I didn't have to go.  She settled for buying me a robust , large thermos with its own plunger function so I could distribute drinks to the other nearby needy souls who had become welded to the chair through frost-bite and lack of movement (something which had also filtered down onto the pitch during his tenure).  

 

Personally I don't see anything 'dynamic' about this 3 transfer window merchant (I'm sure you've heard that as well!!), just someone who is probably good in interviews with a power point presentation (allegedly) and reminds me of one of those kids that has been freshly dressed by his mum, with everything looking slightly oversized. 

 

Thanks for posting and sharing a fair view as a Barnsley fan.

Now I do not wish LJ to be sacked but I agree immensely on the 451 tippy tappy rubbish which is halting us from progressing. We lack fight, a directness and physicality a little bit like LJ as a player, it is very frustrating. 

[1bristolcity]

Gawd is he really posting on here, and are some actually giving him the time of day!!

[JasonM88]

6 minutes ago, BA14 RED said:

Thanks for posting and sharing a fair view as a Barnsley fan.

Now I do not wish LJ to be sacked but I agree immensely on the 451 tippy tappy rubbish which is halting us from progressing. We lack fight, a directness and physicality a little bit like LJ as a player, it is very frustrating. 

I don't think we lack directness, we average over 20 shots a game, the most in the league 

[One BCFC]

5 minutes ago, JasonM88 said:

I don't think we lack directness, we average over 20 shots a game, the most in the league 

I think we do, so often we slow down the play and over play it before having a shot. We arent quick enough

 

[Redarmy1]

Sean o Driscoll got the bullet when you were bottom of league 1!! I hardly think you were aspiring to anything promotion wise. As for finding oakwell, as mentioned I have managed to find it regularly (unfortunately for about 27 years of it) for over 30 years.  

again the money side has transformed your expectations - before SL money kicked in AG was hardly state of the art!!! As for oakwell being tiny - the 3500 bigger capacity hardly makes it the San siro.

 

yes the west stand is a dump, but why spend millions developing something that clearly wouldn't get filled unless we went to the PL which probably won't happen again in my lifetime (at least I'm a realist). We have one of the best academy set ups in the country.  At least the infrastructure within the club is right and we are realists

 

from some of your responses some of you are clearly delusional. You will go nowhere under this manager. He has already started falling out with players.  For me it will go one of 2 ways by the end of Friday after his supposed chat with SL.  You will scrap out a win in your next game at Ipswich or you will get a pasting by a Barnsley legend and LJ will get the bullet.  The meeting he's had with SL will either galvanise them or the players who don't want to play for him will not show up.  Rowett will then be your manager by FA cup weekend!

[Redarmy1]

Irrespective of some of the comments.  Footballs a matter of opinion and in my opinion you would be better off with a different manager.  He hasn't pulled up any trees wherever he has been but has somehow found himself at what I would call a progressive club when I think other managers with better track records would do a better job longer term.  Believe it or not I have seen at Barnsley where we buy the players you think we should and they are paid top dollar (relatively speaking) and are nothing short of a disappointment.  I would rather have 11 grafters on the field who might not be the best individually but collectively they work well - Bournemouth are an example of this, whereby a lot of their squad were playing in league 2 around 4 years ago.

[Redarmy1]

By the way, under LJ we had 15-20 shots a game and 60-70% possession and it didn't work. I'd rather have 30% possession in th right part of the pitch and 3 shots on goal and win the game.  The problem with LJ is that his head is hell bent on stats and they prove not a great deal other than to try and justify a defeat

[where's the joy]

5 hours ago, Redarmy1 said:

Just reading your comments with quite a lot of interest as your form is starting to mirror ours during his tenure at oakwell.

Good start , then gradually getting worse.

i think I speak for quite a few Barnsley fans by saying we didn't really want him in the first place as he had a decidedly average record at Oldham.

up until the last 6 games that he won before he departed it was the worst football bar none that I had seen at oakwell in 30 years, tippy tappy possession football, 4-5-1, all the football in our own half and a shot on goal cheered with sarcasm.  At any point during negotiations with yourselves I would have driven him for the interview had he asked me for a lift - none of this skullduggery that appeared to have been building needn't have happened (allegedly).

allegedly it was other forces at the club that resulted in us reverting to 4-4-2 and using out and out wingers and a little more direct play as well as chasing people down.  Suddenly we win 6 on the spin.  This was a dead man walking the month before and all of a sudden he is Carlo Ancelotti. 

I am am no master tactician but I have never seen such great quality at oakwell that would enable us to execute such a system of 4-5-1 effectively. 

I might be be wrong but in some way LJ (allegedly) probably thinks he was responsible for our continued good form and surge up league 1 and subsequent promotion and now continued good form.  I am certain that had we been relegated to league 2 he wouldn't have wanted the same association with Barnsley FC - he would have had to get some new slides for his power point presentation on taking positives out of it (something I am sure you have heard times many recently).  Be under no illusion Paul Heckingbottom is the man to be attributed to our upturn in fortunes and by you getting LJ you have actually allowed us to uncover what I think is a managerial diamond in the rough so to speak.   

in all my 30+ years of being a Barnsley FC season ticket holder I had never been so uninterested in a manager leaving us - I though if anything we dodged a bullet. He joined us when we were 17th in league one and left us in 13th - and only one point more on the board than his predecessor the previous season in league 1 - hardly scintillating progress.  The football was dire up to the 6 game winning streak - to the point where I was almost begging the wife to book a holiday so I didn't have to go.  She settled for buying me a robust , large thermos with its own plunger function so I could distribute drinks to the other nearby needy souls who had become welded to the chair through frost-bite and lack of movement (something which had also filtered down onto the pitch during his tenure).  

 

Personally I don't see anything 'dynamic' about this 3 transfer window merchant (I'm sure you've heard that as well!!), just someone who is probably good in interviews with a power point presentation (allegedly) and reminds me of one of those kids that has been freshly dressed by his mum, with everything looking slightly oversized. 

 

'She settled for buying me a robust , large thermos with its own plunger function'.

now thats whats been missing from my life!!!!!!!

[Rascal]

1 hour ago, KevP said:

If anyone needs any "assurance" that City are in a better place than Barnsley, ( I personally don't ) , just take a look at their ground, particularly the infrastructure and the old stand that looks like something from the 1950s......the flaking red paint on the walls, broken glass concreted into the top of the walls, the area around the ground itself. A step back in time. I went to Carlisle in the early 80s and their ground was a joke....this is on a par. Just need to compare the bigger picture IMO....

Wow you've finally sorted out your stadium thanks to money from your sugar daddy, and now your having a pop at a club who have had a ground better then Ashton gate since the day it was decided we had to have all seater stadiums, and ours was all paid for by money generated by the club, as for the area around the Oakwell, to one side we have a fantastic training ground, and within at 10 minute walk we have a train station, over 20 pubs, 5 chip shops, 7 pasty shops and 6 betting shops, and a couple of off licenses what more do you want ? , Hopefully we're on the look out for a Rugby club to share Oakwell with us, so we can split the cost of running it, then maybe we can sort out the one stand that lets the ground down. 

[Redarmy1]

Where's the joy - you live and learn son, you live and learn

 

[KevP]

2 hours ago, Rascal said:

Wow you've finally sorted out your stadium thanks to money from your sugar daddy, and now your having a pop at a club who have had a ground better then Ashton gate since the day it was decided we had to have all seater stadiums, and ours was all paid for by money generated by the club, as for the area around the Oakwell, to one side we have a fantastic training ground, and within at 10 minute walk we have a train station, over 20 pubs, 5 chip shops, 7 pasty shops and 6 betting shops, and a couple of off licenses what more do you want ? , Hopefully we're on the look out for a Rugby club to share Oakwell with us, so we can split the cost of running it, then maybe we can sort out the one stand that lets the ground down. 

..." 20 pubs, 5 chip shops, 7 pasty shops, 6 betting shops..."........Well done mate, you've convinced me.

[Rob k]

Didnt take them long to show their true colours did it?

how about you **** off now then hey lads? 

[maxjak]

2 hours ago, Redarmy1 said:

By the way, under LJ we had 15-20 shots a game and 60-70% possession and it didn't work. I'd rather have 30% possession in th right part of the pitch and 3 shots on goal and win the game.  The problem with LJ is that his head is hell bent on stats and they prove not a great deal other than to try and justify a defeat

i can recommend a good therapist for your OCD with regard to our club . While plenty of your insights and observations seem accurate and informative, I can't help but be reminded of a phrase containing stones and glass houses, I mean thanks for your input, but I will get in touch towards the end of the season when we are if not above you, we will not be far behind, Both of our clubs are very much on par with each other, and while all is presently rosy in your cabbage patch…………the wind of change can turn things around very quickly?  As for Rowett being in charge by FA Cup weekend………..theres more chance of David Lynch setting an episode of Twin Peaks at Oakwell                               

[Rascal]

7 minutes ago, KevP said:

..." 20 pubs, 5 chip shops, 7 pasty shops, 6 betting shops..."........Well done mate, you've convinced me.

What more could you ask for from an away ground ? Surely that's all that matters isn't it, Oakwell is better located to every thing you need than what Ashton Gate is, and most other football grounds for that matter, we've got one old stand and three brilliant ones and it's been like that 15 years,