I haven't spoken to a Barnsley fan who doesn't think his presence was highly influential in turning our season around. Still only 25, he arguably fits our preferred player profile. But there are pro's and cons in regard to attempting to take him back on a permanent move - if Burnley are prepared to release him. The main advantage is that our defence will surely be under heavier pressure this season, as our players adapt to the higher level. Long's experience and craft could again have a very good influence on the further development of our young centre back pairing. But against that, having come from a high-achieving Championship side who are back in the Prem, he would surely want a guarantee of being one of the first choice centre backs. That may not do a lot for the morale of Alfie or Robbo, who might have to give way to him. Unless of course we switch to a 3-5-2, which I find hard to imagine given the success we've had with the current formation. On the wider topic of recruitment, we seem now to be in that part of the close season where lots of folk put names up as suggestions for our recruitment targets. [This post is not one - we 'know' Kevin Long.] But as we know, there is a lot of sports science and analytical input in our recruitment process and I dare say a lot of the signings we have made in the last 12 months were names previously unknown to most of us. So it seems fairly pointless to me to put up these 'blue sky' suggestions, because there'll be a lot more thought going into who we sign. I understand the impatience though - we've just come out of one of the most incredible seasons we've witnessed for years, and I think we are all eager to see swift developments ahead of next season.
Well there's no fun (or posts) if we don't speculate or ask questions I agree though, he would probably want to start so that might be an issue if we did choose to look at him.
i can't see it, unless mawson goes. not initially anyway. alfie and roberts have earned the right to play in the championship. i can't see hecky breaking that up, and i can't see kevin long coming to us, to sit on the bench
I'd be dead chuffed if we could bring Long back to the club. However, any player being signed this Summer will have a difficult job getting a place in our starting line up, especially if the out of contract lads re sign. Competition for places, allied to the team spirit, will certainly help in what is going to be an exciting season.
We'd be a bit naive not to change anything though, we did that with Richie in 2006 and struggled, this is arguably a better team with more potential but still, the Championship is a big jump, and I'd hope our objective would be more than simply just to keep our head above water. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
i think we will have to change tbh. already lost brownhill. hammill, isgrove and fletcher still big uncertainties and i'd be happy if we managed to get just one of those back. i just don't think centre-half is likely to be our priority
I'm not for one second suggesting we don't strengthen, which is why I'd love to see Kevin Long back at the club. However, any new players will have a battle on their hands to break into the starting eleven after the performances this calendar year. I have every confidence in the club to bring in the right players and with Hecky & his staff to integrate any new signings into our current set up.
It would be great to get Long in aswell as having Mawson and Robbo here, but I doubt it would happen. If Mawson is sold then I think we'll use that money to get Long back on a permanent. If not then we'll most likely look at a younger centre half from the lower leagues, e.g Pierre etc. Who can come in as cover and for development.
Clearly he did as we made very little effort to keep him But heckingbottom was quite right not keep playing brownhill. You don't change a winning team