Holgate to Villa...

I'm guessing perhaps like Dempseys was left out of the friendlies for Carlisle whilst the deal went through I guess to save it falling through due to injury. I imagine the club are negotiating a deal trying to get us the best possible deal hence the hold up. (thats what I hopes happening!)

 

Whatever the rights or wrongs its daft to think that a player good enough to attract attention from premiership clubs isn't good enough to get in our side.

Bullying is perhaps a bit strong but the handling of Holgate, Bailey and Laikovic seems to demonstrate poor man management and could potentially be alienating players you need.

 

I'm of the opinion that it's an offer that the club can't refuse considering this is for an 18yo basically unproven player outside division one. Also considering the position we find ourselves in its logical to take the cash and use it for two decent players who can get us out of this division. A great business decision IMO

 

A million isnt bad for holgate he isnt the same league as stones he isnt a natural rb and too light weight for a cb. He cost us game at donny away when forrester bullyed him off the ball. 1million for a player who has played 22 times in the third division isnt bad what are people wanting 7million or summat. He doesnt want to play for us bree will take his place move on.

 

No ones said they want 7 million for him, but 1 million is a joke in todays football.. 1 million to any Premier League club is nothing...

 

Don't get why he's got an agent. Surely he's got a mind of his own so doesn't need advice or if he does he can ask his friends and family for it. Surely he can read so doesn't need someone to check through a contract for him. I reckon he's probably capable of agreeing a new contract himself too if he wanted one.

I don't think he's being bullied either. If anything he's bullying the club by pushing for a move so we are looking after ourselves by concentrating on those who want to play for us. We are well in our right not to use pre season to get Mason match sharp for another club to pull out pants down and sign him.

 

During my conversation with Mansford last week we talked at length about Holgate, but he was loathe to say too much with definition. I had to assume a fair bit, but educated assumptions. You know, he chips it up and I volley it home. Clever. Because he can always refute my assumptions afterwards.

But from what I gathered, I have assumed that it was agreed with Mason last summer that the 2 year deal was the way to go, and that if he broke into the side etc they'd draw up fresh terms for four years in length, and that's what they attempted to do in December, but Mason (advised by an agent with a reputation, it has to be noted) rejected that. And he's rejected further offers put to him on terms that John Stones signed up to. He is well within his rights to do so. He's not a Barnsley lad, he walked out of the academy as a much younger lad to join the Leeds academy but returned to us after they'd got shut. So he has no loyalty to us in the way that the likes of Stones, Bree and Smith had/have, being Barnsley lads, Barnsley supporters etc.

Knowing that I'm aware of the Butterfield saga, Ben referred to that and accepted the club at that time got that all wrong. Jacob wanted a new contract the minute that season begun, an extension, but his and Keith Hill's wishes fell on deaf ears as Don Rowing suggested they'd look at contracts in December as "we always do". The fact Jacob (and Vaz Te) then had stellar half a seasons left the club looking stupid, it's that risk/reward thing again isn't it? But a deal with Newcastle was going to go through in January for Butterfield which was worth about £2m to BFC as a whole package. Unfortunately for BFC, Jacob ended up injured. And unfortunately for the lad himself, Newcastle and other clubs now wanted to wait and see as regards his rehab. During that time BFC made offers to Jacob that weren't long term but would have brought him in line with the bigger earners such as Steele. He was then offered things by Middlesbrough and Huddersfield but wasn't keen on making what he felt was a sideways move and at one point we expected him to sign back on with BFC. I remember a phone call with Keith Hill where he promised Keith that if he couldn't get a Premier League club he'd sign the BFC contract. A few days later, from nowhere, Norwich came in. I remember Jacob on the phone to his mum from Norwich telling her the contract length (4 years) and salary (16 times more than his BFC deal). He was still a few weeks away from getting the all clear to train fully and his knee was swelling up every time he did any running etc. Of course he took that offer and unfortunately it never worked out at Carrow Road. He never got a chance to be honest. And he's since played for the two clubs who offered him deals in 2012. Funny old game. He's not gone on to the heights that Stones has, but he remains one of the second tiers best footballers and has earned enough money already to set himself and his missus up for life.

It's hard then for me to say anything derogatory about Holgate, because I know there's going to be a lot more to it. Whilst I appreciate Ben's cooperation and willingness to speak with me last week, he's employed to do a job, he's going to spin things for his own benefit and the clubs. If Mason was told a while back that he could get a move to the Premier League on a lengthy and lucrative contract, and if he believes he's good enough to make that move work, then even as a huge BFC supporter I can't even begin to tell him he's wrong or making a mistake. It's a short career. Look at Jordan Clark. He could have gone to Man City, he's now at Shrewsbury. Jacob may never have recovered from that awful tackle/injury. Luke Potter didn't recover.

I really enjoyed watching Mason last season and I saw enough in my opinion to suggest he could go right to the very top. LJ agrees, Mansford agrees. And so it's that that I'm only interested in as a BFC supporter - BFC getting a fair and positive deal/outcome if and when he's sold.


We do though need to stop comparing these kids with John Stones every time. That lad's a one off. We're told that James Bree is 'even better' by folk at the club. We'll see when it comes to getting a fair and positive deal on him too, when the time comes...

 

He has only played 22 times he wouldnt have got in team if we wasnt so short half way through season. Bree has a better future at rb then holgate I

 

And for clarity, the deal for Jacob didn't go to tribunal. http://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/news/article/reds-agree-butterfield-fee-254268.aspx

 

How do you know this or are you just guessing?

 

On another subject, Andy, as I've been away what incoming transfer rumours have I missed, mate?

 

Isn't that the whole point of a club like Barnsley? Sell a player every year for £1m plus. That is the reason we have a youth policy.

 

I don't know what you've missed though do I?

To the best of my knowledge, we've signed Roberts, Watkins, Mawson and Wilkinson (loan). We've shifted Jennings and Berry on. Turnbull, Bailey and Lalkovic are available to other clubs.

We've given contracts to development lads, these are Wade Maxwell (17 year old Liverpool winger), Cameron Scott (18 year old central defender from Blackburn), Ben Drennan (18 year old, tiny attacking midfielder from Newcastle) and Callum Evans (20 year old left wing back released by Man Utd).

Trialists that I'm aware of have been Germaine Ofori (19 year old former Reading striker), Devontae Romeo (19 year old forward from Marlow), Ramone Blackett (20 year old left winger once of Man Utd), Iain Vigurs (attacking midfielder from the SPL, 27 year old), Omar Rowe (20 year old winger from Southampton).

We're still linked with Liam Kelly, Oldham midfielder and captain. But he played for them yesterday and spoke in an interview recently denying any knowledge of a move. We were allegedly in talks with Tom Thorpe who then signed for Rotherham the same day. We apparently spoke to Jon Stead who ended up at Notts County. I was told we wanted Jordan Pickford on loan from Sunderland, great young keeper who Bradford had last season on loan.

I think that's all I'm aware of. Can't think of owt else matey. Considering our small squad and lack of nous I'm very surprised we've only recruited 4 players, especially when you consider we've released more than that and got rid of two more since. It's very much looking like last summer to me. But then, this is what happens when you sack managers so often. Rebuilds.

It's fun.

 

Simple as,,

 

Thanks, Andy. Much appreciated. Just prior to going on holiday, I'd heard we were in talks with Darius Henderson from Leyton Orient. However, I've not seen it mentioned anywhere else by others, so I assume it's gibberish.
Since I retired in 2009, we've dispensed with the services of Simon Davey, Mark Robins, Keith Hill, David Flitcroft & Danny Wilson. The last season we finished with the same manager we'd had at the start was 2011/12. One season we'll do that again. One season.

 

We have been searching all summer for players with potential. If Holgate was playing for anyone else and had been in dispute with his club, he would certainly have been one on our radar. And yet a player who has potential has been sent to play with the academy lads. The manager has stopped talking to him and we have closed the door on negotiations. I know what I would do in his position, and it would not be to ask to sign the original contract document and crawl back into the fold on my knees. By their actions, the club has left no room for compromise, and in such circumstances, one party of the other ends up the loser.

By excluding Bailey, Lalcovic, Turnbull and Holgate, Johnson has turned an already threadbare squad into one that will struggle to survive, never mind challenge for promotion. And yet, we are expected to believe that a largely unfruitful search for players that has so far taken up 8 weeks will bare fruit in the last three. At the end of last season, Johnson stated he needed 12 players, since which time he has sold one, pissed off another but now needs only four. My maths is not great, but those figures do not add up.

 

Thanks for that. Very interesting as usual.

As I have said in another posting, It seems strange that we have spent all summer on a largely fruitless search for players with potential, only to piss off one of our own.

 

It's not ideal is it? But it is what it is. We've been run by the same regime for over ten years now and it is ever thus. We still look at least 8 players short to me. And LJ has gone from saying he wanted 8 to 12 new lads in, to now saying 2 or 3 (yesterdays interview). This despite us only signing 4 and releasing/selling more than that as well as transfer listing a couple.

I expect another 2 or 3 in before August, then a few more in on loan once the season has kicked off. As per.

I hope to be surprised, but I see little other than a similar season to the last one.


I'm still excited, mind.

 

There is a big difference between being able to read and being able to digest and fully understand all of the clauses and subsections of a contract and understand all the legal terms and what they actually mean in practice and in reality. It makes a lot of sense to pay somebody else to read these and take care of it for you. Just like how we use an agent when buying or selling a house. We could technically do it all ourselves, after all its only reading. In reality it makes a lot more sense for someone else to do it