If you are genuinely naive enough to think we were ever going to keep Hourihane without at least doubling our wage limit then fair enough. I want a Ferrari. Do you think there's any point me popping down the showroom in the morning and offering them 30k for one?
With your crystal ball then how much did hourihane want in the summer when he hadn't played a single game for us above division 3 standard? Again, the facts are that he has stated if he had been offered a contract he may have signed and Patrick never disputed the claim that no contract had been offered that summer. I deal in facts
But your FACTS are limited. I'll add some common sense to them then I'm done arguing with you. Do you deny that PC and CH had a great degree of respect for one another? Do you seriously think they hadn't had informal chats about CH's future at Barnsley? Do you seriously think CH would have stayed here if he could have doubled his money and probably more elsewhere? That being the case do you think PC would have insulted CH by formally presenting him with a contract worth half what they both knew he could get elsewhere? That's me done on this topic.
I think he’d have played more if Morais has realised you can play 2 left footers at the back together. Always found it strange that many managers are happy to go with 2 right footers but not 2 left footers. He’s levels above Mills
I've no idea what the club's salary limit is, or what salary level may have tempted Hourihane to sign. I suspect the two were mutually exclusive. But Patrick Cryne did state publicly in July 16 that "....Conor Hourihane will not sign another contract with Barnsley" (and I think he said the same about Winnall too). I can only speculate as to whether discussions had taken place to gauge the expectations of the player/agent and what the club were prepared/able to offer. My own view is that I suspect they were that far apart that further discussion was futile.
The whole ‘no contract offered’ is absolute ********. They will have held initial talks with players agents, if you are worlds apart there’s no point even putting a concrete offer on the table. It’s just player speak to cover up ‘I went for more money’
Most likely correct. There's no point in talking if the initial request for what the expected wage is was so far apart so as to not matter. Besides most people did not think he or anyone else would cut the mustard in the Championship, just as they didn't think said they weren't good enough for Division 1 before that run happened. Hindsight is wonderful....
Patrick Cryne has gone on record saying that he offered a contract that would have made Connor Hourihane the highest paid player in Barnsley history. That's a fact. As disclosed in various supporters meetings that I've attended. It still didn't compare with whatever Villa paid him.
But you admit they are FACTS. Yours are just inferences. I agree that it's a waste of time arguing though. The players are gone and that's it. They've been replaced by players of much less quality and we now found ourselves fighting to hold on to our Championship status - having been just outside the play offs fifteen months ago.
If the lad has better luck with injuries next season, irrespective of which division we're in, I believe he could really establish himself as a mainstay of the defence.
Just numbers and not an opinion but the money spent on Mowatt would have equated to £10k per week for a year for a player. It's not an either or, budget can be spent in different ways.
I had a conversation with someone at the west stand bogs party at the metrodome and was asking about this very same situation . I was told categorically that SW and CH etc would all have accepted a double your pay deal , they wanted £4K a week which shocked me . Some were on less than £2k when we got promoted , if that’s what we were paying there’s no wonder we couldn’t recruit the ready made article !
Re Pinnock, I posted this back in August.... http://barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/pinnock.258126/ If you give me 20 likes, I'll tell you which ITK forum member shot me down for my views....
I didn"t realise we ever signed Brek Shea on a permanent , I thought he was a loan signing from Stoke , anyway , back to the topic , I think Pinnock has a lot of potential who has done well this season & with the right development can go on to be a very accomplished defender
I keep saying that he's the new Rio Ferdinand. I was joking at first, but if he keeps progressing I might not be far off.
I wouldn't listen to what he's got to say- he's not worth a ****. Pinnock and Lindsay will be a fair old centre back pairing next season imo.