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Barnsley FC Profit Over Points! Well here we go again another year and yet another new challenge for Barnsley in Football Manager, it seems like no two years are the same. 2 years ago I was writing a similar yet (as you will find out), a more positive prologue than this year’s and when you consider we were relegated that season it tells you pretty much all you need to know about the current situation at the Barnsley. So not to bore you with all the Barnsley backstory which some people won't be particularly interested in, I'll keep the reasons why you should manage Barnsley on FM 20 short but sweet, Barnsley have an exceptionally young squad with an average age of 22.6 according to transfermarkt, there is undoubtedly a lot of potential in this young squad but unfortunately you'll only have 2 Championship quality players at your disposal, a distinct lack of experience and leadership will keep your squad dynamics interesting for sure. Profit is the bottom line at Barnsley and any offers you do receive for your players should be considered greatly and the introduction of the new “Club vision” to FM will make your challenge even harder, realistic and more rewarding should you succeed in staving off relegation. If you're looking for a real challenge in the English second division then this is the biggest of them all! A relegation at the end of the 2017/18 season leads us directly to last season. The 2018/19 season began with the appointment of German head coach Daniel Stendel, who became an immediate hit with the fans after a 4-0 opening day win against Oxford United. His passion and high pressing style were akin to Jurgen Klopp, who you’ll all be well aware of. Our early season form left us going into the January transfer window in 4th place, with a huge chance to claim a top two spot by the end of the season. However instead of investment into the team to give us the little push that would surely give us an outstanding chance for promotion what did the board decide was best? Well obviously it was to sell one of our best players in Brad Potts, which I accept had to happen given the interest from Championship Preston and I believe most of the fans accept this is what we are. However the part which was a little confusing was the decision to sell, an impact sub in George Moncur who specialised in turning up for 45 minutes a season namely against Peterborough, to Luton Town who at the time sat in the automatic promotion places themselves, selling to promotion rivals at such a pivotal point in the season was a real indicator for the motivations of the board, which are now more than clear as I write this. January left a somewhat of a sour taste in the mouth, with many fans wondering whether we'd been sold short of promotion by the board, with a string of seemingly odd signings, such as Jordan Green and an even more strange addition in George Miller from Middlesbrough who at the time was having a hapless loan period at Bradford, where he would stay for the rest of the season. These signings added little to nothing to the squad and overall left us in a weaker position than we were before. Fortunately no thanks to any investment from the board, we managed to squeeze over the line with a depleted squad and pip Sunderland and Portsmouth to 2nd spot behind Luton. With promotion back to the Championship secured at the first attempt most fans were happy to give the owners their backing, despite some worrying signs from the January transfer window and support them fully going into the all important summer, ahead of what would surely be a tough Championship campaign. However many people's suspicions about the boards real intentions were realised with the loss of key players such as Adam Davies, Liam Lindsay and Ethan Pinnock. These three players had formed the heart of the best defence in League 1, ripping this defence has turned out to be complete suicide leaving us miles short of quality at the back. Without doubt however the most controversial exit from Oakwell this summer was the sale of last seasons top scorer Kieffer Moore to Wigan for between £2-4 million. Now selling to a potential relegation rival in Wigan is something we have previous in if you remember. There have been various rumours around Moore's departure, with some suggesting he wasn't wanted by then Daniel Stendel or that he'd become a disruptive member of the squad in a bid to pursue his move to Wigan, however the “replacement” for Moore is somewhat of a joke in all honesty. Patrick Schmidt came to Oakwell from Austrian side Admira Wacker for considerably less than was brought in from the sale of Moore. I feel sorry for Schmidt he's barely had a kick for us this season and if he can't get in this side I doubt he's even up to much at League 1 level let alone Championship. There is undoubtedly a massive rift between the board and fans, can you succeed in the Championship, under the new owners model? But enough talking, hopefully I've convinced you Barnsley is the save for you on FM 20 or at least you'll stick around to see how I fair this year. Thanks for reading.

Hello guys. I have been managing Barnsley for 3 years now. In my first year, I won the English FA Cup and got promoted from Sky Bet Championship to Premier League. I the next season, we somehow managed to stay up and not get relegated but were able to win the UEFA Euro Cup. This season we are in the mid table in Premier League and have reached the quarter finals of UEFA Champions Cup. Now, since my team has been playing above expectations in the Champions cup, I am supposing of my chances to win it. On the other hand, I have got a job offer from Schalke 04 for which I have been declared as the leading candidate with odds as small as 1-2. Schalke 04 is at 14th place in the Bundesliga. To be honest, I want a new challenge so I want this job, but then again, on the other hand, I don't want to leave my club until we are eliminated from Champions Cup. But as far as I know, Schalke 04's offer will force me into joining them immediately. I wanted some suggestions on what would be better for my career in the long term as I believe that Schalke 04 must have finances and players better than Barnsley, so I would have a better chance to prove my abilities.