Barnsley FC - Defender producing machine

I'm going to stick my neck out here......

I wouldn't be surprised at some point over the next couple of years to see at least 2 or 3 of an England back 4, having played for US.

Stones - Holgate - Bree, all come through the ranks
Mawson - McDonald - Roberts, all brought in and performing superbly.

That will surely make us all proud to be RED!!

I don't know much about the academy, so who is next to come through the ranks and keep the clubs reputation and coffers growing??

 

I tend to agree, we really have produced some good defenders recently. However, I'm baffled as to why we concede loads of goals, and a fair proportion of them due to defensive mistakes. Something's not adding up somewhere.

 

Perhaps we have a never ending conveyor belt of talented defenders but finding the best combination is the problem. All of our recent crop are just as capable of making last ditch tackles as they are of losing the last man and conceding a goal, sloppy or not.

We never seem to be in the position of having a rock solid defence that you cannot get past. I suppose the philosophy nowadays (since the Bassett times in fact) is to make sure we get one more goal than the opposition. 2-1 win, or 8-7 - either will do

 

Louis Wardle and Will Smith.

 

Even with loanees our own actual players that you mention could easily be in the same line up as the likes of Butland, Rodriguez and Drinkwater.

 

I think it's just that the defenders we produce are more attack-minded than the average hoofing centre-half

 

From 8 years old players are encouraged in fact instructed to play the ball out from the back and take players on etc so they may lose loads of games but eventually they develop into what is termed a modern defender, the traditional big lad in the middle has no place in the academy unless they are good footballers as well..

 

£15.2 million pounds worth of talent if you include Butterworths couple of years in it.

Best in South Yorkshire.

I'll put my four year old in it once he gets out of this Billy Elliott stage he's going through. The poof.

 

Happen he'll dance through the opposition's defence and do a pirouette on the penalty spot before slotting the ball in the net.