Ok, I'm quite sure we were sounding him out on a constant basis for a long time, before we got promoted even. You heard Patrick say how much he thought of Conor. Do you really think he wouldn't have tried to keep him? And yes....he was obviously such a quality player as we came out of League 1 that he would have had his eyes on much more than we were going to be able to offer him. Maybe not £28k but certainly more than the top of our wage range and beyond. Furthermore, in his shoes it was obviously in his interest to test himself in the Championship before committing to a deal because if he was successful in that league he knew what his earning potential would become.
Except he himself stated that if he had been offered a contract then he was likely to have signed. Completely at odds with your guesswork as to what he would have done
Oh come on ST! I loved Hourihane. To me he's up there with the legends. And he loved his time here, I'm sure of that. Do you think he's incapable of choosing his words carefully though? Of course he'd have signed if we'd offered him what he though he was worth. If it were any different don't you think he'd have walked over quietly to Hecky on the training ground and said. "ayup boss, I really want to stay, give me 15K a week and I'll sign.". He knew we wanted to keep him. If he wanted to stay at a massive knock down price I'm quite sure the deal would have been done. As it is he can quite legitimately say he'd have signed a deal if one was offered. the right deal for HIM.
This is exactly my point. Don't offer one and he will simply not stay. He can't stay. Offer him one and he MAY stay. Isn't 0.00001% chance better than 0%? Not only that but the important thing is that instead of everyone speculating and criticising the club for not even trying they could legitimately come out and say we DID offer a contract instead of saying we offered to discuss offering an offer or just guessing and saying 'meh he wouldn't have signed so we didn't bother'
We were not prepared to pay the weekly "rent" required so obviously they exercised the right to sell to the highest bidder. Apart from the one who moved to Swansea the other six have moved to somewhere they perceive to be better than Barnsley .We will have to wait and see on that one.! Don't know the kind of "rental" we are prepared to pay per week. Could it be £6-£10 k per week.? Interesting that somebody from London moved to Barnsley yesterday. He must have other priorities in his life other than money as I doubt he will be receiving the £18 k per week her earned at his last port of call.!
ST everyone IS'NT speculating and criticising the club. Just a few. I actually agree with a lot of your posts on other subjects but I think you're being deliberately credulous in regard to Hourihane's diplomatic comments as a way to bash the club. We're not going to agree so I guess you can cling to your 0.00001% argument and I'll cling to the rest.
From adding value I guess that's the best we can hope for. Sent from my iPad using Barnsley FC BBS Fan Forum mobile app