Whatever the reasons are for James not extending

Much as I don't like our board, they're not to blame for James returning. And if they don't strengthen us I wouldn't blame them for that either. Matty James' aren't ten to the dozen. That we got him at all is a huge positive. If we can't find anyone as good to replace him, that's not a stick with which to beat the board.

 

I’ll be pedantic but the Window did not open until January 4 so I make today day 2. Either way plenty of time to go and we’ll have a better idea of how things are going to pan out in 4 weeks time.

 

I can't help but feel we'll be weaker without James.

It's early days, though - let's see what happens. I feel more confident than I did a year ago that we'll get the experience we need to replace him.

 

Because it’s almost as if you can’t wait to blame the board for our eventual decline in results, and you will put it down to the board for not replacing a player who, in all honesty, without the board, we probably wouldn’t have got in the first place.

I just can’t help but think you almost want us to fail so you have a reason to slate the board who you clearly have a massive problem with.

 

Ah the old ambition card. This should run a bit

 

Yes of course I want the club I've supported since my late Dad took me to watch them at Oakwell in the early 70s when I was about 5 to fail just so I can have a pop at a load of "rich" business men. I care deeply about my club and I can have a pop at the board for a lot more than any failure on the pitch. I'll give you the fact that despite being "rich" they still haven't paid the agreed amount for the club and are being taken to court because of this for starters. They are the people in charge they call the shots, if things go wrong the blame lies at their door because ultimately they make the decisions that matter. To say I hope the club fail is an insult what I want more than anything is for Barnsley FC to succeed. But if I see things that imho will prevent or hinder that success I'll call it as I see it, if you want to defend poor Mr Conway and Co from every bit of criticism fine that's you right as it's my right to criticise if I see fit.

 

James is an experienced player and there is no doubt that we will miss his presence in
our squad. The reason he's not returning is probably due to a combination that Coventry
have offered Leicester a better deal for his loan than we have and as far as he is concerned,
it will be easier for him to commute daily as the two cities are a mere twenty six miles apart and
that fact must present a strong attraction as far as he's concerned.

As far as the window is concerned, as others have rightly said, we are only two days in.
Going forward, we have to hope that there is a discernible change regarding the clubs
transfer protocol. We have to believe that the Board have taken on board the fact that
they have made serious errors in the past and that whilst their aim is to make money
by nurturing young talent, their future interests will be best served by playing at the
highest level possible.

They have signed Liam Kitching from Forest Green today and we are led to believe that
the acquisition of Carlton Morris from Norwich City is imminent. I personally think
that the next announcement will be that Alex Mowatt has signed an extension to
his contract and fingers crossed the board have another striker lined up and that they
are able to resist any approaches from any club attempting to lure Woodrow away from Oakwell.

 

Yes it certainly is, as long as it's not at the expense of other key positions I'm certainly all for this type of signing.

 

BBC and me must be wrong then

The 2021 January transfer window for Premier League and English Football League clubs opened on Saturday, 2 January and shuts on Monday, 1 February.

 

No idea what the finances are like at the club and would hope we strengthen a bit if possible but the players we have already have exceeded my expectations so far as I'm looking upwards and not downwards for a change so fair play to them. Far more important things happening in the world brought home to me yesterday when I contacted a work colleague in her mid 30s who has a little 6 year old girl only to be told she tested positive for Covid over Christmas and it had hit hard on the day I contacted her. Sleepless night last night and not related to who we sign or don't sign.
I know football helps ease the strain of lockdown, unless you support the Blunts, but Bill Shankly was way out with his comments all those years ago

 

I have to admit, I thought it was Monday it opened, but a quick Google search shows SkY & the PL saying it opened on Saturday.

 

We've not sold anyone yet.

 

It did open Saturday - on the 4th is when it opened internationally. I think only Germany opened on second with us

 

As long as we get 2 forwards in as well as Kitching signing & Mowatt extends his contract I don’t mind James going back.

He’s obviously a very good player but Mowatt is, Styles is, Palmer looks like he can be & once Kane settles I think he can be. Basically I think the money going towards James would be better used strengthening positions we’re weaker in.

 

I wonder how hard we tried to extend his loan. I thought that maybe he wasn't as mobile as the first time we had him, but his skill on the ball meant that he got himself out of trouble pretty well. We know how much the spreadsheet is used to assess performance and I wonder if it showed that Matty didn't put in the miles and the running which the style demands. Just a thought with no evidence to back it up. He will be a good capture for the Sky Blues, for sure, and I hope he does well with them. I did wonder if this would free us up to bring in Whiteman, but it looks as though Preston (Pearson to Celtic replacement??) and QPR (are they tapping our phone?) are in pole position to get him. It's Morris plus one other striker we need most, but another holding midfielder would be good

 

I believe without doubt todays squad is weaker without James in it. I am also puzzled at why we didn't extend. However that's looking at things today. We have to put things into perspective. A club could easily have bought James and he would have then left anyway. In fact we don't know Coventry's terms with him and they may even have an option for permanent etc. So what I'm trying to say, we knew the circumstances and risks of him not being here in Jan well in advance, in fact even when we first signed him so we must have some ideas and plans in place that we want to follow up on. We also know the score with Mowatt's contract making centre mid a key position of interest to us right now. Kitchin if playing at LB may free up Styles. So I've come to the conclusion that the past is the past and that what counts now, having had time to prepare, plan and execute are the next steps. These didn't start 1st, 3rd, 4th Jan 2021 or whatever, knowing the scenarios they must have been ongoing for months. Only now in these next few weeks will we see whether we can close out those plans successfully and how good we are at strengthening our squad to push on. We are all nervous as recent years of history tells us the opposite happens and we dismantle before we build - i hope my nerves are calmed earlier than later in Jan.

 

Well I for one won’t be exactly sh1tting myself at thought of facing a Coventry team with James in it.

 

Hope at the end of the window your post reads "we haven't sold anyone

They ran us pretty close last time we played them

 

We brought in Kane at the same time as James and Styles has been playing out of position. Even if Mowatt left we still have Kane, Palmer, Styles and Christie Davies competing for two places.

I love a doom mongering as much as the next bloke but totally agree with your post.

 

Yep. It does raise the question though if we had Kane and Styles as the Centre two. Assume no Mowatt and no James of course. Do we think it will be a better starting partnership and would this strengthen us to push on second half of the season on the pitch?