We play them next season, Part 5

Of the clubs relegated from the Championship, we have already discussed Derby County whose takeover is still not resolved.

Barnsley have been through the mill,  At Barnsley, where Chien Lee and Paul Conway are co-chairmen, a spokesperson for the Conway Out! campaign group tells Off The Pitch that it has been “a record breaking terrible season.”

They say that concerns about being part of a multi group model were initially overlooked “due to our excitement that we were bought by a consortium with a net worth of £9 billion.”

Billy Beane, the legendary baseball executive of “Moneyball” fame is also a Barnsley shareholder. But the Conway Out group say that the Moneyball football decisions have been disastrous for the club. They allege that the style of play that got Barnsley to last year’s play offs was changed “because there wasn’t enough interest in our players due to our direct style.” They claim this was adopted so the owners “could sell our players for more profit.”

The benefits of being part of a Multi Club Ownership (as practiced by Roland) have been at best opaque. “The only real effect on us is that some of our younger players have been loaned out to Esbjerg and a few of our players who weren't good enough were transferred to Nancy and Oostende. But apart from that, there hasn't been any other effects yet.”

The spokesperson added: “I’d love to think that this is just an exception, and one bad season at Barnsley due to a few bad decisions due to the ownership group. Unfortunately, we aren't the only club in the ownership group that have been relegated this season, with Nancy officially relegated and Esbjerg on the brink of relegation.”

Barnsley may not find it easy next season.

Peterborough United are not one of my favourite clubs, partly because of their very physical tactics at The Valley a few years back when, as usual, we got little protection from the referee.

The Posh have plans to move out of their rather ramshackle London Road ground, but the riverside site planned for the new stadium is controversial and funding is unclear.

They are a club who think they are entitled to be in the Championship, but have great difficulty staying there when they do get promoted.   However, I rate Grant McCann as a manager and they will be a handful next season.