According to SkySports......Dale Jennings is having a medical at Barnsley

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Absolutely agree, for me it's a matter of common courtesy. You want to live somewhere? Learn the language then you lazy ****. As Brits we're quick enough to jump on people's backs when they come to the UK and speak ropey English, yet the amount of expats I know who've been in Russia for ten years plus and never bothered learning the language is ridiculous. And this is a country where the level of English is generally poor compared with a lot of Europe. For me, the question shouldn't be "why learn it?", but "why not learn it?". No excuse in my book.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Why do you have to keep bringing Digby into the equation? Whatever his problem was, does anybody know what his problem was?,he has been out of the game 12 months or there abouts, so i would imagine it could be another 6 to 9 months before he is ready, if at all.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

I keep mentioning Digby because in a three he would be perfect.
He was telling people before the season ended he would be fit.
Dawson Etuhu Perkins all like each other. Digby's a passer, we haven't got another passer apart from Mellis who i think could play higher up.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Him saying he's fit and proving it in a competitive environment can be totally different.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Agreed.

Once had a visitor from England when I was in Hamburg and we went out for some nosh. He said he could "get by" in German and insisted in ordering his meal himself. It was like the Fawlty Towers episode when Basil claimed he could speak German.

When the food arrived, we all got our steaks, my mate got an ice cream with strawberries on top.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

He'll go in to pre season the fittest of all the players maybe.

you can think positive or negative about these things. I always think positive

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Fitter than Bobby Hassell....?

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Maybe i should just not answer this but i would think he'll be one of the fitter players in pre season simply because he's been doing fitness work all summer i presume.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

I suppose if he was farmed out on loan for 12 month whoever plays in his place will be your next whipping boy.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Brilliant!

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Did it take you long to become fluent in Russian? It doesn't look the easiest language to learn.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

Would love to see him sign, he looked quality for Tranmere in the highlights I saw before he went to Bayern.

As for the language thing, it's one thing getting by when you're earning upwards of 100k a week & can afford a full time interpreter, it's another thing getting by when you're an 18 year old kid who's probably on a relatively modest wage playing in the German 4th division (think it was 4th anyway) & can't afford one.

I think it's pretty poor if he failed to learn any German in his time there, I've learnt a bit of French, Spanish & German & found German the easiest to learn by far.

 

Fitness isn't something you can guarantee, particularly following a long term injury.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

It's not easy at all, and the first two years are pretty hellish as it's so far removed from English that you have to basically reteach your brain how to structure a language. However, once you've mastered the basics, which are pretty complicated, it does become much easier. So I'd say I'd reached some level of fluency after three years, but it's only in the last couple that I've felt confident doing business in Russian without any help. I have been mistaken for a Ukrainian before, which is good enough for me, although my writing still sucks big time! But I wouldn't slate Dale Jennings for not getting that fluent in German after two years. Firstly, there will be far more English speakers in Germany than in Russia, meaning that it won't be as easy to find people willing to practise with you. And secondly, German is not an easy language in itself. It has as many regional variations as English, both in accent and dialect as far as I'm aware, something which mercifully isn't a problem with Russian as it's pretty much standard from St Petersburg to Vladivostok. I would regard myself as pretty adept at languages in general but I foudn German very difficult to get to grips with at school, whereas I found French an absolute doddle.

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1457628-barnsleyfc-boss-david-flitcroft-on-dale-jennings#t=4m36s

if you listen at around 4:40, Flicker pretty much summarizes what i said yesterday - "flexibility"

 

Re: Rob Staton seems to confirm this on Twitter

sky sports text he as signed on a three year deal