Ross Barkley

[thunderball]

Quality player, experience, knows the league, just had a very good season, its on a free when we have little money and need to box clever.

We need to grow the squad because we desperately ran out of steam this season with so many games with so much at stake in each of them. If we want to also progress in the domestic cups we are going to need a lot of decent players. This is an absolute no brainer and should be decent business if Unai gets something out of him and he can perform in our very different set-up than Dean Smith’s ‘give it to Grealish’ Villa.

Monchi is no mug, neither is Unai, they will know exactly what to expect and demand from Barkley.

Edited May 21 by thunderball

[paul514]

8 hours ago, The_Steve said:

He’s still not deleted it

Do we take it seriously when it say's Man Utd or still tier one?

[DCJonah]

2 hours ago, avfc1982am said:

Started well then finished very poorly literally blowing out his arse and becoming a passenger most the time he played, becoming pretty pointless. Personally I thought he was pretty shit. People are allowed to have different opinions without there being a narrative, at the end of the day the club will do what they want.

Like I said, if he comes in and does well then fair enough but I'm not chuffed about him returning or going to get excited about it ffs. I think there are much better players out there we could bring in. Each to their own. 

Didn't he and a few others get bad cases of Covid?

[Khizzy]

It's a shrewd signing on a free. An English player with good Premier League experience, a former Villa player who is arguably coming to us in a better state than when he last joined us. He won't play 38 league games but as a squad/rotation option, he's pretty solid. 

[Captain_Townsend]

51 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Didn't he and a few others get bad cases of Covid?

Yeah, that's how I remember it. We were never the same after the covid outbreak

Edited May 21 by Captain_Townsend

[Jas10]

57 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Didn't he and a few others get bad cases of Covid?

Yeah… it derailed our season pretty much. More than once too.

[Jas10]

9 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

Yeah, that's how I remember it. We were never the same after the covid outbreak

Yep, our wings were clipped unfortunately… we looked really good beforehand… Berty (big love) was magnificent too… him, JG and RB linking up looked quite magnificent in moments…

I think a few, inc Ross, suffered a few long term effects too…

Anyway, this isn’t the same Barkley… looks like he’s learned from his experience at Nice and Luton and having to prove himself or rebuild… adapting to a more suited (his original or more natural) role. Different player, matured.

Edited May 21 by Jas10

[avfc1982am]

1 hour ago, thabucks said:

Name a better option that can add depth to the squad and the skills Barkley possesses for the peanuts he’s gunna cost  … also fitness wise he joined us during the Covid impacted season- he had Covid  and was no worse  for us than McGinn was in the past in that respect. I think he became disillusioned and can be criticised for that, I for one think to add depth and calmness on the ball he’s a perfect signing for us. It’s means funds can be diverted in other areas. 

Tbf you could of said the same when he was last here. It's only a loan, it's peanuts, he'll add depth etc etc. If your also honest he's not a patch on McGinn and I'm not McGinn's biggest fan at the best of times. He's had one decent season for a bottom feeder club in the last half decade. He's not a DM and if we're also honest a little more, he isn't in the same class as Ramsey, Tielemans, Luiz, McGinn and Rogers who will all be vying for the box to box positions. That's potentially 5 players rotating for 2 positions. We need another quality DM first and foremost before worrying about another box to box midfielder that we all seen before and wasn't too great the last time. Then that'll be another body to aid covering any gaps in midfield and potentially rotating when Kamara is fit again. 

I'm not trying to piss on the bonfire here but I'm just not convinced we need someone that isn't an upgrade on what we already have. We need upgrades, not downgrades, in which case the squad massively improves and it raises the levels of others. We need more pace and athleticism in our midfield. That's when the depth will become more telling imo. It's just my opinion anyway. He could return and be brilliant... I just doubt it very much. 

[Tom13]

47 minutes ago, avfc1982am said:

Tbf you could of said the same when he was last here. It's only a loan, it's peanuts, he'll add depth etc etc. If your also honest he's not a patch on McGinn and I'm not McGinn's biggest fan at the best of times. He's had one decent season for a bottom feeder club in the last half decade. He's not a DM and if we're also honest a little more, he isn't in the same class as Ramsey, Tielemans, Luiz, McGinn and Rogers who will all be vying for the box to box positions. That's potentially 5 players rotating for 2 positions. We need another quality DM first and foremost before worrying about another box to box midfielder that we all seen before and wasn't too great the last time. Then that'll be another body to aid covering any gaps in midfield and potentially rotating when Kamara is fit again. 

I'm not trying to piss on the bonfire here but I'm just not convinced we need someone that isn't an upgrade on what we already have. We need upgrades, not downgrades, in which case the squad massively improves and it raises the levels of others. We need more pace and athleticism in our midfield. That's when the depth will become more telling imo. It's just my opinion anyway. He could return and be brilliant... I just doubt it very much. 

He's not better than McGinn but he is better in tight spaces. Would be more useful than McGinn against a low block, and I doubt Ramsey will be vying for a box-to-box spot.

[avfc1982am]

1 minute ago, Tom13 said:

He's not better than McGinn but he is better in tight spaces. Would be more useful than McGinn against a low block, and I doubt Ramsey will be vying for a box-to-box spot.

Where does Ramsey normally play in Emery's system Tom? It's not the 10 role normally and never wide right where Bailey or Diaby play so I'd argue he'll be vying for a midfield slot, maybe at times the the same as Rodgers. Playing from a deeper starting position on the left side of midfield. We don't play with an out and out winger on that side either as the LB is normally the wide outlet so he'll generally be classed as a box to box type player who tucks in when the overlap is created. Maybe the plan moving forward is to change the system at times and play him wider but he has played that 8 role. 

[Anything11]

1 hour ago, avfc1982am said:

Tbf you could of said the same when he was last here. It's only a loan, it's peanuts, he'll add depth etc etc. If your also honest he's not a patch on McGinn and I'm not McGinn's biggest fan at the best of times. He's had one decent season for a bottom feeder club in the last half decade. He's not a DM and if we're also honest a little more, he isn't in the same class as Ramsey, Tielemans, Luiz, McGinn and Rogers who will all be vying for the box to box positions. That's potentially 5 players rotating for 2 positions. We need another quality DM first and foremost before worrying about another box to box midfielder that we all seen before and wasn't too great the last time. Then that'll be another body to aid covering any gaps in midfield and potentially rotating when Kamara is fit again. 

I'm not trying to piss on the bonfire here but I'm just not convinced we need someone that isn't an upgrade on what we already have. We need upgrades, not downgrades, in which case the squad massively improves and it raises the levels of others. We need more pace and athleticism in our midfield. That's when the depth will become more telling imo. It's just my opinion anyway. He could return and be brilliant... I just doubt it very much. 

He didn't play box to box this season and isn't coming here to do so. He also made McGinn and Kamara look silly in our games against Luton at times. 

He is an upgrade with respect to the squad in place of Chambers/Tim etc and will push the current CM options.

[avfc1982am]

4 minutes ago, Anything11 said:

He didn't play box to box this season and isn't coming here to do so. He also made McGinn and Kamara look silly in our games against Luton at times. 

He is an upgrade with respect to the squad in place of Chambers/Tim etc and will push the current CM options.

So he's coming as a DM? A position he's excelled at that much Luton shipped 85 goals with him screening the back line. Fantastic. 

An upgrade on Chambers(a player we couldn't give away) and Tim is seriously nothing to shout about. It's not going to be too difficult is it.  

He doesn't upgrade our midfield, which is my original point. 

Anyway I'm done discussing bringing him back. I've said my piece tbf.  

[DakotaVilla]

Watch the Paul McGrath Podcast and you’ll see exactly why we want him. He’s basically a rotation option in the double pivot for Luiz……with significantly better numbers than any of our midfielders. In a significantly worse team.

If we had him Instead of Chambers last season we’d be in the final of the the Conference.  

Edited May 22 by DakotaVilla

[Adam2003]

1 minute ago, DakotaVilla said:

Watch the Paul McGrath Podcast and you’ll see exactly why we want him. He’s basically a rotation option in the double pivot for Luiz……with significantly better numbers than any of our midfielders. In a significantly worse team. 

Yeah, simple one this for me - if we are bringing Dougie off for a rest after 65-70 mins, I’d rather Barkley was coming on than Chambers.

Sure I get the “sign players who get in your first team and make your first team players backups” but I am not sure who we could credibly go after to do that with Dougie, so using the money elsewhere but still improving the cover makes obvious sense to me.

[Adam2003]

3 hours ago, avfc1982am said:

I'm not McGinn's biggest fan at the best of times

Why should we take your views on another midfielder seriously then?

 

(Just joking!)

[Keyblade]

8 hours ago, StewieGriffin said:

This.

I think it's safe to say Emery is able to spot a player with attributes to play in his/our system in what will clearly be a rotation option. If he thinks Ross Barkley is that guy, then he's more than earnt the right for some patience.

If he's a Luiz/JJ replacement because our PSR is ****, then yeah let's be a bit bothered. But he isnt - he's a Tielemans back up.

Imagine telling someone in 2019 that we'd be signing Ross Barkley (for a second time) as a "Tielemans backup".

[DakotaVilla]

5 hours ago, avfc1982am said:

So he's coming as a DM? A position he's excelled at that much Luton shipped 85 goals with him screening the back line. Fantastic. 

An upgrade on Chambers(a player we couldn't give away) and Tim is seriously nothing to shout about. It's not going to be too difficult is it.  

He doesn't upgrade our midfield, which is my original point. 

Anyway I'm done discussing bringing him back. I've said my piece tbf.  

He’s not the DM. He still can’t tackle for toffee. He will need a Kamara or an Ndidi next to him. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Our first XI had us in Title Contender form at one stage.

Injuries and fatigue were major parts of our eventual fall off.

So based on finances and other factors, increasing the overall quality of the SQUAD makes alot of sense.

We have proved strong enough in certain areas to be able to sustain a challenge and performance levels.

Simply reducing the fall off in quality will help us no end and is a step in the right direction to being more competitive on all fronts.

We don't yet have the luxury of splurging on 4, 5, 6 first XI improvements and in reality don't need to.

Improving our second XI probably sees us go further in Cups and other competitions.

Sustainable growth and development is fine.

Barkley instead of Tim or Chambers is a no brainer imo.

Also, people have the exact same meltdown every window ( Which hasn't even opened yet ). Signing one player doesn't mean we aren't after others.

Edited May 22 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[CVByrne]

The way I always view this is through the financial cost / benefit. We have literally a set squad cost and every player has an annual cost which takes a piece of the squad cost pie. 

A player like Dendonker costs us about £8m per season in amortisation + wages. Chambers costs us around £2.6m. 

If we double Barkley's wage he'll cost us ~ £3.1 a season. I am sure the club know plenty about his attitude and he must've been a positive presence in the dressing room last time and I'm sure he was a big influence at Luton. 

So when you see a player like this available, knows the League, knows the club and half our first team, has shown high level and the data backs it all up. Cost is small so downside is small. It makes a lot of sense.

I think the club correctly have the view, yes we can take experienced older players but they need to be on free transfers or small fee's. 

[sne]

Really hope his Luton season wasn't a one off like Jesse Lingard at West Ham.