The adventure is over. No more chasing waterfalls. The memory maker, the mastermind of last seasons great escape, David Flitcroft was last night relieved of his duties as first team manager at Oakwell. This, after yet another display that resembled nothing like the heroic performances that got him the job on a permanent basis just six months ago.
Yesterday saw us defeated for the tenth time this season, from just 17 games. It was the third successive game in which we'd failed to score. It was the last in a sequence of six so-called 'winnable' games. We won one of them, against Middlesbrough back in the middle of October. A game where if we're honest we were very fortunate to get anything at all. But we didn't build upon that fortune. The games against Wednesday, Doncaster, Ipswich and Millwall were all there for the taking, but the players couldn't put together a full 90 minute performance in any of them, and in the end we're now six points adrift at the foot of the Championship table with a goal difference so negative I'm naming it Victor Meldrew...
So how did it go so badly wrong, so blummin' soon?
Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in this particular update of the blog I'll be doing my best to explain where and why I think it went awry. Although without being conceited, I think I've outlined in previous blog updates where it was going wrong. I've also spent many an hour this season on our forum explaining where I think we were going wrong, and what I believed the manager needed to do to improve our fortunes. I wasn't alone. The mistakes being made were as blatant as much as they were costly.
But others using the same medium argued their own points. They felt the manager had no option but to go down the route that he did. They suggested that in fact we were improving said fortunes. Which is what football boils down to in the main - opinions. And the opinion of the Barnsley Football Club board somewhere around 7pm yesterday evening was that change was needed. Again.
I'll be giving my opinion, on that as well.
I have also the thoughts of three fellow supporters to share. All three with their own take on what went wrong. I know that I'm an opinionated so and so, and that my views aren't shared by all. Whose are? But I thought it necessary to put over a couple of other views, and I thank them for doing so late last night. Much appreciated, lads.
In fact, that's where we'll begin...
Now I'm never one for sacking the manager, but I'm struggling to figure out how things have turned so suddenly for Flitcroft. It's got me thinking that last season was a complete fluke, or at least he got the players psychologically thinking they couldn't fail. Whereas this season, the same players who looked like world beaters, now look like pub players. Players such as Mellis, Kennedy, Etuhu and Perkins look to be void of all confidence, when just 8 months ago, they could do no wrong.
I think that Flicker's philosophy changed over the summer; his never say die, win at all costs attitude last season, made us very difficult to beat. Gritty displays against Cardiff, Burnley and Hull proved this. However it seemed that this wouldn't be good enough for newly relegated, FA cup holders Wigan Athletic, and from thereon in, he has adopted a 'must not lose' attitude, which invited all sorts of pressure on the back four, resulting in heavy defeats against the likes of Wigan, Blackburn and Watford. This for me was the wrong attitude, especially whilst trying out a new central defensive partnership of Cranie and M'Voto, the latter in his Championship début season. And although three of the back four for me, have gone from strength to strength, the damage was done early on.
Whilst the central defensive partnership seems to have clicked, the rest of the team seems to have got weaker as the season has gone on, to the point where we look incapable of creating any chances at all. Although I've never been a fan of Mellis, he's certainly wasted on the wing, whilst a central midfield combination of any two from Dawson, Fox and Perkins, is far too negative for my liking, and just invites more pressure on the back line. The lack of creativity from midfield means that the strikers have been given very little in the way of goalscoring opportunities. Marcus Pedersen looks a very handy finisher, however he's rarely in a goalscoring position, and hence, his two goals for the season is a rather measly return. Chris O'Grady has been more potent in attack, however he's certainly on a dry spell at present.
I believe the future lies in... well the future, namely Reuben Noble Lazarus and Paul Digby: two very promising youngsters who need to be given more game time. For me, they're both up to the task, and with the way things are going, what could they possibly do wrong? It's a shame one of them has been farmed out to Scunthorpe.
To be honest, I don't know who I want as our new manager, give it a day or two to let it sink in, then one name will jump out at me, and we'll appoint a different one, and I'll get disappointed. UP THE REDS!!!
Thanks to Chris 'archey' Arch for that. Much appreciated.
He'd lost the magic.. that's maybe all he had. Last season the team just galvanised in that moment when he took over.. we got momentum.. it kept us up.. justly in the end.. and Flicker was at the heart of it.. but it was the players that needed most credit.. it's possible the psychology was related to the players loving Hillcroft and getting behind Flicker because of it.. I don't know.. but looking back we never looked as bad as we do now under Keith.. I think recently Flicker was just throwing things in the mix.. he'd lost momentum and (I think) was picking teams on a hunch.. today he fancied the (supposed) energy of Perkins and Dawson against Brum... why? the board have acted quickly and there is more time than Flicker had last season to get us enough points but I'm really struggling to see how it can be turned round.. but a couple of wins on the bounce and the mood will change...
Just a slightly wine induced ramble from a fan who can't get to Oakwell enough because of work but I was there today, I was there against Weds and Donny too... I loved last seasons roller coaster and enjoyed the team.. I found it an amazing season.. even if we had gone down I would have walked over broken glass to clap that team.. this season.. I've felt detached.. the magic has left the building... like I said maybe that's all he had.. magic.. and in the words of Paul Daniels "not a lot"..
Thanks to Steve O'Connor for that. Much appreciated.
It had to happen I suppose. The run of results had been bad enough, but some of the displays have been as bad as I have seen for a long time.
From early January to May last season, Barnsley fans went on one of the most amazing roller coaster rides ever. A team, that at times, had played like a Sunday morning pub team, suddenly took on the appearance of promotion candidates. Yes there were hiccups (Barnsley 0 Charlton 6 comes to mind), but there were more highs than lows. Hull, Leicester, Leeds, Watford were dispatched with a vibrant attacking form of football that had the fans drooling.
And the architect of all this? David Flitcroft. He was the man no one wanted, the man who took temporary charge, and transformed the team.
That’s why the close season was one of real optimism for us fans. He took the job full time, and we fully expected the new season to carry on from the previous one.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t and we have reached the point where Barnsley FC and Flicker have parted. To many fans there is a feeling of sadness, as most of us really wanted him to succeed. Even today, there were no “Flitcroft out” chants, just a resigned belief that his time had come. I like the bloke, and really wanted him to succeed, and I’m saddened because he hasn’t. Yet if he hadn’t gone, relegation looked a certainty.
So where do we go now? Mickey Mellon has taken charge for the next two games, and so will be in a prime position if he gets decent results.
Aside from him, the usual names have come to the fore. Danny Wilson naturally, Ian Holloway, Gary Megson, Michael Appleton (shudder!!). It’s to be hoped that Mansford and Watkins have a list of likely candidates already. We can’t keep changing managers each season. This time, it has to be the right appointment.
Thanks to Ian Lodge for that. Much appreciated.
I think all three summaries given above show just how sad it was to have to admit that 'Flicker' had to go. The overwhelming feeling on our forum last night, on twitter and facebook was that a good bloke, a likeable bloke had proven incapable of turning it around, despite enormous backing from the fanbase and board alike. As some may imagine, I felt differently.
I didn't find him likeable. And neither do I sympathize with a bloke who had it all going for him and then set about destroying something he looked to be building just eight months previous.
I'm not suggesting that was his intention. I doubt he purposely chose to ruin all the good work he'd started. But nevertheless, that's what he's done. Do I agree with his dismissal? Not really, no. I don't think he's had very long and let's be fair, what he achieved last season ought to have bought him a bit more time. But he's shown little this season to give us hope, and so I'm not surprised he's got the boot, just sadenned by it.
Last season, he took over a club that was practically on its last legs. He was part of 'Hillcroft' and I wasn't the only supporter who wanted shut of him. No way could I see someone so entwined with the last manager turning it around in the manner he then did.
He did that by first bringing in a couple of old friends, to help him out, to bring "new eyes" he said. And it must have worked, as he then changed the system in which we'd play. The return of wing backs. A bold move. A move that paid dividends as we began to turn the form book upside down, accumulating enough points to preserve our second tier status, and taking in a refreshing little cup run.
The sale on deadline day of young John Stones was hardly felt at all. Injury to the other wing back, Scott Golbourne looked an untimely blow. But it was a blow the reds recovered from. Club stalwarts Bobby Hassell and Stephen Foster saw plenty of action, and their contributions in the latter stages of the run-in were invaluable. Luke Steele similarly, was on top form as we garnered crucial points in games against the Championship heavyweights.
The win over Watford encapsulated everything that was good/right about Flitcroft's Barnsley last season. In your faces football. Never say die, no surrender. A great set-piece expertly dispatched by Hassell. A clean sheet. Against a free scoring side that ended up falling at the final hurdle at Wembley just a month or so later.
The away point in Cardiff. Backs to the wall stuff at times. Steele, Hassell and Foster were marvellous that night. The latter sticking out a leg in injury time to rescue a point against the eventual runaway Champions.
Away at Nottingham Forest, where Luke Steele lived up to his nickname of 'Superman'. With youngsters Reuben Noble-Lazarus and Andrai Jones trusted to start. Another priceless point was secured. And a huge nail into the coffin of Forest's own fading promotion hopes.
The victory over Wolves at Oakwell. Where again Steele's heroics were key. The save he made prior to Jacob Mellis' winner was world class. He repeated those heroics when Brighton came to town.
The circumstances were such that Flitcroft was forced to go with a small squad. No question about it, his recruiting of both Jason Scotland and Chris O'Grady were also key factors in his success. Although it has to be said, the way that Chris Dagnall and Marlon Harewood came to life and performed was equally notable. Everything he touched - Ryan Tunnicliffe aside - turned to gold.
It wasn't purely the football on show that improved. The whole atmosphere did. And the manager has to take full credit for the way he went about the vast majority of his post and pre-match interviews. They were like calls to arms. Not only motivating the squad of players, but the fanbase likewise. We felt as one. United.
After each game, the management and players would make a point of saluting the reds faithful. Win, lose or draw. The embarrassing 6-0 spanking against Charlton at Oakwell springs to mind. The fans who stayed behind still showed their support for Flicker and his men. Made me proud.
The final two games of that season I will never forget, for as long as I live. Different displays, different results, but again they encompassed all that was good/right about Barnsley FC under Flitcroft at that time.
The first of those games we comfortably saw off Hull City on home soil, 2-0. It could/should have been more. The way our 3-5-2 system eclipsed their own was a joy to watch. Noble-Lazarus gave a performance that gave me a tingling feeling of excitement at what was to come (I'd hoped) the next campaign. He terrorised the soon to be Premier League Hull backline. The triumvirate up top of Dagnall, O'Grady and Mellis were unplayable. Again, hope for the new season. And Kelvin Etuhu absolutely bossed the centre of the park, as he did so often in Flitcroft's first four months at the helm. Which enabled David Perkins to seek and destroy, to ruffle the feathers of opponents.
Seriously, that performance was as good as I've seen from a reds side, pre or post Premier League.
May the 4th 2013 will be a date forever etched into the memory of every reds supporter, the day we confirmed our Championship status for a record breaking 76th season, and in a manner that will probably never be seen again. It was an amazing afternoon. A day to cherish.
We set up that afternoon very differently. Jim O'Brien right back in a four man defence, Stephen Dawson ahead of him on the wing. Tom Kennedy shifting to left back. Mellis left wing. Perkins and Etuhu central.
It didn't work well in the main. But who cared? We got a point, Crystal Palace did their bit and we survived to live another season.
But was May the 4th also the day that the rot set in? Because based on the evidence before us this season, it seems Flitcroft saw the system used that day as the way forward. But before that, we had a Summer of optimism to enjoy, as reds supporters seemingly got everything - give or take - that they could have wished for..
The full time job was Flitcroft's if he wanted it. He did, but only after 'assurances' at board level. The board itself then changed. It was toodle pip to everybody's favourite whipping boy, GM Don Rowing, and hello to young pup and former football agent (don't we hate them?) Ben Mansford. We also welcomed a new chairman in former Manchester United director Maurice Watkins, who has his fingers in more pies than Desperate Dan.
New signings were warmly received, and the heroes of last season retained. Except for the odd one. Foster bit the dust, as did Harewood and so too could Steele and Hassell have fell the same way had the manager got his wish. And so began the dismemberment of everything good/right about Barnsley FC under the stewardship of one David Flitcroft..
When I looked at our squad in the Summer, I felt positive, optimistic that we'd got a better/stronger group. I felt that perhaps this season would finally see us reach mid table, no longer struggling to keep ourselves afloat in an ever strengthening Championship. We had the personnel to employ the 3-5-2 (5-3-2) system that served us so well last season, and the additions to the playing staff were on paper, sensible ones.
But what has developed over the last four months is a mile away from those expectations. We've barely used that formation. We've barely used key players that thrived in that formation, and barely used the football full stop. We take the mickey out of the Sheffield clubs for the propensity to 'hoof' their way up the field. Well, the 'football' served up by Flicker and his team this season has been as direct as I've witnessed in my time as a reds supporter. And defensive. Or scared. Possibly both.
There were signs of things coming together against Charlton first half, and certainly in our next home fixture, the victory over Huddersfield that saw a return to 3-5-2. Both strikers within 10 yards of each other. Two attacking wing backs penning back the opposing wide players. And invention mixed with grit and determination in the middle of the park.
The only worry for me at that juncture was our somewhat suspect centre halves. Namely, 'Big John'. But we had Hassell and Jimmy McNulty to call upon if need be. Experience at this level.
But what did Flicker do?
He went back to 4-4-2. He ignored Hassell, again. He'd already dispensed of Steele, and recruited his best man and good pal Mike Pollitt. And recruited yet another defender in Peter Ramage. Despite just days earlier stating Noble-Lazarus was now 'a man' who 'deserved' to start games, he too was dropped. And we went on to lose every game in September, conceding a hatful of goals.
He received further backing, bringing in Jack Butland and David Fox. And some suggest that the football and results have improved since then. My opinion was that we were merely facing opponents just as poor as ourselves, and still not winning games. I think time has proven that to be the sad reality of the situation.
We've a bloke scoring a goal every two games up front (at the time) and Flitcroft plonks him on the left wing. Our most disappointing player of the season is seen by Flitcroft as some sort of playmaker, seeing so much of the ball it bordered on the obsessive. Week in, week out we're starting with a central midfield duo without a goal or assist in them. Instead, plonking our midfield creator out there on the left as well. To the left, to the left. Everything they do it stems from the left.... good old Beyoncé.
I accepted watching some right garbage under Keith Hill. I knew what it was he was trying to do. Some think otherwise, but I honestly think the bloke was following a clear strategy that had been agreed at board level. He got a lot right, Keith. In fact, Flitcroft profited from some of it. John Stones in particular.
Yes, he had to go. But at least I understood what it was he'd attempted.
I thought I understood the Flicker 'vision', too. He told us when he was appointed full time that the squad had to 'evolve'. I agreed. And I saw the signings of Jennings, M'Voto, O'Grady and Pedersen as us evolving. But evolution takes time. You don't fix something that's not broke. You don't forget the efforts of your keeper after a hammering, replace him with your mate and then in interview defend your mate after another hammering. That keeper he dispensed of, the one he tried damned hard to get shut of, he was key to the success of last season, and, the only player to go public in the press in saying Flicker deserved the job full time. Telling people he was "too old" for a two year contract. Then loaning a 41 year old. Aye. Flicker did that.
I know he didn't like Hassell. In fact, he made that obvious last season in his first wobble as manager, in the interview where he spoke about two players at length and then threw a hissy fit when someone dared to ask about Bobby. We forgave that. And when he had no players left and HAD to pick him, he was instrumental. He played well. He still offered him a poor contract initially, hoping he'd follow Foz out the door. But he stayed. That stung, didn't it? So he made him train with the kids, picked anybody but him, despite our charitable defending. Just stupid.
I was impressed when he stated that Paul Digby signing a new contract was "great news.. if we get 100 games on his CV, he'll be ready for the top". So too was I impressed when he told us Noble-Lazarus deserved his opportunity, that no way would he be loaned out.
He made a right pigs ear of that as well.
So no, I'm not sympathetic. I'm sad, but don't feel sorry for him or owt. He failed. It happens to the best of us. He got a lot wrong. I do not have a clue what his vision was, nor what it was he was attempting to build. And let's be honest, it's football management. He's going to receive a juicy payoff for that failure. The last time I was sacked I had to sign on the dole..
I will though, thank him for getting it so very right in his first four months. I'll thank him for being in charge when we scoffed at the odds and pulled off the impossible. And that, that is how I'll remember him. I will quickly forget the mistakes now. I've had a whinge and a moan, I've given my thoughts. I will look back on Flicker's tenure and remember the good, and not the bad times. I've done the same thing with Keith.
So Flicker? Thanks a lot for your hard work, your time given, and what you brought to this club from January 1st to May 4th. I wish you the absolute best in your future endeavours, wish you and your loved ones good health, and if ever you return to Oakwell I will applaud you for the good times you brought us.
So where do we go from here? Who do we appoint? What's the strategy?
If we're aiming to stay up, and to stick with this short term vision, I'd like to see an experienced man in charge this time around, after a succession of near novices over the last 8 years. Just under a year ago on this very blog, we were looking for a new manager and I suggested the same bloke I'm suggesting once more, and yes, I know it's unlikely and I know it's not a popular suggestion.
Gary Megson.
He's a proven success at this level. In fact, he's a proven manager at the level above. He's battle hardened, knows the area and would get results.
However, my personal choice is for a new strategy. To end the short-termism that's engulfed our club for so long. To accept that yes indeed we ARE unable to compete at this level under the strategy we're currently implementing. Let's accept that we're unlikely to stay up this season. In fact, even if we do manage it again, we'll be down at the bottom again next season, and so on. Some might be happy with that. Me, I'm not. I've chosen not to attend the last two home games (picked two good uns, to be fair). The apathy has set in. And I couldn't really justify the cost when in reality the only part of the day I would miss would be meeting up with mates beforehand. I can do that without the football.
Let's be brave and get someone in and put out a statement that promises the bloke will be here come what may. We're going to stick with it. We're going to play a lot of the younger lads, and try something different. We're going to play a system, a brand of football and stick with it. A proper vision. And even if we're relegated, we'll stick with him/it. Get the message across, get the supporters on board. And stay brave. If we're losing seven games on the spin, we stick with it. That's the club, the fans, everybody.
I've no idea how we go about that, and I'm pretty sure that the majority reading this would be totally against it. But come on. We need to try something different. The owner told us all - when Mark Robins went - that we 'were' about to do things differently. That loans wouldn't be relied upon, that the youth talent would be selected etc. They then allowed the next two managers to go against that at the first sign of trouble.
Be brave. Be Barnsley.
Sounds like some kind of stupid branding idea from a Leeds based media company that, doesn't it?
Thanks for reading.
Up The Tarn!
We could always appoint this bloke again........ look what Keith's doing second time around.
