[BFC SITE] RETAINED LIST

I think we've a really good record regarding who we keep and who we let go. There's the odd one who got away but they're very few and far between. Even Jordan Clarke spent many years playing below the level Barnsley were playing. He kicked on later in his career and that shows his character and his willingness to keep improving, but if we'd kept him, for many years he wasn't playing to a standard that would have got him in our team.

Club get a lot of things wrong, but misjudging youth players and randomly releasing talent that go on to consistently play at a higher level than that of the club is not something we see very often at all.

 

Very true bud. Had we kept him, he'd have been on benched and not got the game time to further the career hes had. I think it was 100% the right call at the time. Sad about James and Dyer but ultimately club has to be ruthless given the circumstances.

 

Thing to remember is that, if you listen to a lot of podcasts etc, often being released by your boyhood club gives you the determination to go and improve somewhere else.

 

I know Phillips is 'retained' but just read this over a lunchtime coffee. Wonder if there is still a link?

Preston looking to make at least eight signings - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c3wde6v444po

 

He’s not good enough for the Championship remember? Goes missing except when he contributes a goal or assist every other game.

But yeah. I imagine he’s high up on Hecky’s list.

 

Well I was pretty sure if Hecky was still there,he would be looking to bring AP in to his side.
I think he comes from that neck of the woods also, and would assume he is wanting championship football.
And the fact we're skint looks pretty sure this will happen.

 

Hey never doubt the knowledge of the bbs

 

Agreed, I like the lad.
No issue for me in keeping him, but likewise deserves to test himself higher up.

Was he a PNE fan growing up?

 

I was talking to his dad at Rotherham.He said thered not been any concrete offers at the time just "bits and bats" I took that as tentative enquiries.

 

For me, our most frustrating player. We know he's got the talent - on his day, probably too good for us - but I've just not seen enough from him this last few months to warrant keeping him imo. Yes, yes, 'but the stats!', but he simply hasn't looked interested enough.

 

A regular goal scoring midfielder whos under contract,I would expect around 3
million for him.

 

Good luck with that. I’d be delighted if we got £3m but the likes of Preston won’t be paying anywhere near that.
Any sale would be at nearer half that I bet.

 

Then we dont sell we play hard ball.

 

I’ve no idea mate.

And I’m happy if he stays, happy if he goes. The club needs to sell players every summer in my book. Few million for this player helps get two or three new ones with a view to at least one of those making us a few million 12 to 24 months down the line. It’s not rocket science. Just needs good recruitment. Which we have shown we are capable of over the years.

 

Probably 1mill Phillips and 3 mill DKD is what I’d realistically want

 

I would suggest it's considerably more complex than rocket science. Rockets are fired all the time. There's the rockets that are fired up into space, but also those fitted with missiles. Thousands and thousands of rockets fired all the time. Success rate is as near as dammit 100% There's the odd failure but it's barely measurable unless you start quoting decimals of 3 or 4 significant figures. And even then, it's not the science that is misunderstood, it's a component failure. We've cracked rocket science.

Balancing the books of a professional football club by trading players? No one has cracked that.

 

Parekh has already said we need to sell this summer. Phillips' body language since Xmas suggests he wants away.
He's only worth what anyone will pay for him and I'd rather keep DKD (difficult I know) and Russell.

 

It certainly isn’t easy, you’re right (your final paragraph).

I think it’s our best possible strategy though, alongside more advanced utilisation of our academy system.

For a pretty obvious and well known example, I think maybe Atalanta in Italy have shown it’s entirely possible and remarkably effective.

I don’t know what the other options are if I’m honest. But not selling lads where possible, letting their contracts expire and then having to recruit from a murkier pool of talent or rely on owners to cover losses isn’t my idea of progress. As the league table tells us this past season.

 

I'd imagine if anyone wants DKD the bidding will start around 4m anything less isn't worth thinking about.We might have debt but no greater than most clubs.This board won't be duped in to excepting less than market value.

 

Have a smaller squad. Don't attempt to spread a limited budget so thinly.

If a player becomes available in a position that we already have covered, don't sign him, even if we believe he is better than what we have, unless there is a 100% guarantee we can move out the player he is replacing.

Use academy players as back up. We don't need 2 players that we have signed as professionals for every position, it's too many.

If the primary target is missed, don't sign someone else for the sake of it. Get disciplined: "If we miss out on these targets then we miss out, we're not signing these other players just because we were unsuccessful with our primary targets."

In short, stop wasting money. There are only 11 players in a team. There are only 7 spots available on the bench. If you have 24 professionals you're paying the wages if 6 players who cannot possibly make the match day squad.