Many Miles Have I Travelled....

f**k all games have I seen !

The late Brian Rix ( one for the teenagers eh ! ) would have had to go some way to top this one.

All week and especially in the last couple of days we've had " assurances " that this game was on. Clearly it was never going to be or at least was in considerable doubt and I, and many others, have every right in being mightily pi**ed off with our club.

As every detail surrounding this episode of shame start to unravel it looks increasingly pathetic. Even the aftermath is being poorly managed. The only real information seems to be emanating from Barnsley F.C., a club and whose fans deserve our every sympathy. 

It's now 4.55pm and I've just checked the club's website and it's all very matter of fact on how the referee decided to call it off. Not even the merest hint of an apology for our fans let alone the majority of Tykes' fans who will have travelled a considerable distance and at some expense.

Many of our own fans will have travelled some way and at great expense. For myself I have wasted at least £40 on petrol, I could add the additional £10 spent on breakfast for myself and my lad at the excellent York Cafe. It was good as it always is but 75 miles is a long way to travel for it. This is not to mention a wasted day.

Further ridicule and embarrassment is assured as delicious irony has dictated that Clem and Co from the Football League Show were on hand to witness events. Should make great viewing later on, please excuse me if I don't stay up for that !

I did write a couple of weeks ago that I and many others will, like watching the team itself, be travelling more in hope than expectation in respect of actually seeing a game.

Certainly one can blame the previous regime for the lack of expenditure that has led to us having such a poor pitch. However, it can't be blamed for the appalling manner in which this game was approached.

A few questions..................

Why did no one at the club as a matter of course get a local ref to inspect the pitch yesterday ?

Why was the offer of today's ref to come and inspect yesterday and / or this morning not accepted by the club ?

Why wasn't it seemingly clear to anyone that there might be some doubt as to whether the game would go ahead ?

Why wasn't news of the pitch inspection released earlier ? I'm led to believe Danny Wilson was informed at 11.35am ?

Why was it that twitter was the first source of information with details not going on the club website until much later ? 

Why did the club via the official site all but guarantee that the game would go ahead save for further rain ?

Why is all the information coming from Barnsley F.C. ?

Why is the club not being upfront about its shortcomings and is attempting to lay all the blame on the referee ? This is far from a repeat of the Andy D'Urso scenario.

Will the club be reimbursing the expenses of the fans from both teams or offering some kind of compensation ( I'm not holding my breath ) ?

If this were any other industry or walk of life we'd expect or perhaps even be entitled to a full apology and financial recompense. We can all be pretty sure that won't be happening unless Roland is more of a philanthropist than some would have us believe.

This game will now move to midweek. Personally that makes it difficult for me to attend. It means further financial loss to me if I do go and at the same time I'll be letting down some kids at my school as I run two after school clubs on Tuesdays.

Every season I increasingly question the value of buying a season ticket. Days like today make one question one's financial sanity !

As you may have gathered I'm not totally HP at the moment. However you look at it this is a shameful day for our club and I can find nothing to defend it from the flack that will undoubtedly come its way.

No doubt the F.A. and the League will be investigating matters as 3 games on the trot have now been called off aside from the Doncaster one. Let's hope it's Hercule doing the investigating and that he's sympathetic to his fellow countryman.

Just to underline what a bad day it is the announcer on Sky has, instead of saying that Charlton v Barnsley was postponed, just said " Charlton nil ".............perhaps it's a default setting but in every way " Charlton Nil " sums it all up !