Leon Barnett to Cardiff?

[Mervmeister 18]

Reports in Welsh Media that Malky wants to make Barnett his first signing for next season. Impressed on loan and thinks he could make the step up.

Should we retain him for cover?

What sort of fee would he co,mand with just a year left on his contract? 500k?

[Branston Pickle 4,150]

I always thought he was a good guy and did a job fairly well, but isn''t as good as the lads in front of him. Neither PL or CH seemed to ''fancy'' him in the Prem and he''s 4th or 5th in line as things stand (unused v Man City when Turner and Bassong were out) - that''s before summer transfers in (eg Curtis Davies?). It does seem likely that we''ll let him go, a good move for him and us if we can get some £. We also have Ayala to make decisions on as well.

[William Darby 0]

He''s a good EPL entry level player. However we''ve moved on to the next level.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

A good player, too good for the championship but not good enough all round for the prem and at 27 he''s going to want to play matches rather than be 4th or 5th choice here.

[ZLF 335]

Good move for all concerned and I suspect that Martin moving to the middle against citeh suggests where banett is in Hughtons thoughts.

 

Good luck leon.

[Thirsty Lizard 3,215]

As others have said I think Leon is one of those players who is too good for the Championship, but not quite good enough for the Premier League.

He is athletic, fast and boy can he jump, but his concentration and reading of the game don''t quite seem to be up to Premier League levels. Mind you, if any manager can get the best out of him it may well be Malky.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,035]

"if" we keep Ayala ,he and Bennett are decent understudys for Bassong and Turner, with Martin able to play CB aswell, Barnett should move on.........that doesn''t mean we should let him go on the cheap though, as he proved with Cardiff he can do a good job with a top end Champinship club and should command a fee to reflect as much.

[priceyrice 133]

Boy needs to leave, last i heard he''s still got major off-the-field problems. If he doesn''t sort himself out he wont be playing footie much longer. Would be a waste of a place in the 25 man squad

[Salopian 1]

He''s quick, good with his head, and not too bad at reading the game and covering. The problem he had with us was sometimes his decision making - he would rush in unthinkingly or ill-prepared. You always, or at least I and I think others, were nervous when he went for a ball as to what was going to happen. I suspect that WBA who loaned and then sold him to us, had a similar opinion.

 

If he has overcome the tendency, and thus improved with experienced, he could be a useful signing. Has he improved, - I don''t know? If he stayed with us, he would clearly be fourth in the ranking, and arguably Martin could fill in if very necessary.

 

I''m not sure how long he has on his contract, but it can''t be more than a year. If this is the case, and if he is destined to be a bench warmer, perhaps we should sell for what we can get.

[JayNCFC 14]

[quote user="priceyrice"]Boy needs to leave, last i heard he''s still got major off-the-field problems. If he doesn''t sort himself out he wont be playing footie much longer. Would be a waste of a place in the 25 man squad[/quote]Why post something like that with no back up or evidence to suggest what you are saying is true?

[chicken 0]

I thought Lambert appeared to rate him quite highly. He chose Barnett and De Laet more often as the starting central defenders at the beginning of last season when we appeared to shed penalties and red cards.

I think it was one of the areas that showed Lambert could at times be a bit defensively naive.

Barnett is a good squad player for this level, reasonably quick, reasonably good in the air, not so great distribution and panics a bit sometimes.

If we can get someone better in to replace him, or Ayala proves to be that, then sure, let him go to Cardiff.

[birchfest 401]

Hopefully get abit of cash for him! Barrnet needs an experienced partner at the back, Bassong brought the best in him, but without that he has a tendacy to have lapses in concentration that can be all the top teams in the league need to take advantage. I think Curtis Davis is probably the target, though Id love us to through a bid in for Dragovic, though im not sure if he would want to move away from European football. 

[TIL 1010 5,246]

[quote user="JayNCFC"][quote user="priceyrice"]Boy needs to leave, last i heard he''s still got major off-the-field problems. If he doesn''t sort himself out he wont be playing footie much longer. Would be a waste of a place in the 25 man squad[/quote]

Why post something like that with no back up or evidence to suggest what you are saying is true?
[/quote]

Unless you are Sally Bercow maybe you would care to put some meat on the bones priceyrice. [:^)]

[Chunky Norwich 0]

Nowhere good enough for the Prem; sell, sell, sell, sell, sell

[Monty13 2,736]

Last count he is 5th choice CB behind Martin. Why on earth wouldn''t we sell?

Its a good move for both parties as otherwise he would probably spend another year picking up wages while being overlooked for the first team and then leaving on a free.

If anyone wants to give us money for our fringe players let them and wish them thanks and good luck.

[iron_stan 0]

god yes sell himid love to see the numbers on how many headers hes put over the bar/wide/into the gods from attacking corners

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

I think Barney represents the type of player we need to upgrade on if we are to progress.

IMO Barney is too one-dimensional for this league. To use Football Manager speak, I wouldsee him as a ''Limited Defender'', in that he is very good at what he does, which is good enough for most leagues, but if we really want to get better, we need to be looking at players who are also better footballers. What I mean by that is that Barnett tackles strongly, his physical game is good, good in the air. All good attributes for a CB, but unfortunately the other areas of his game are poor. Poor passer, poor distribution.

I remember reading a match analysis by Holtamania which highlighted something interesting about Barnett. When Barnett played with Fox, Fox was always there as an outlet for him, consequently a huge number of his passes were to him. Barnett won the ball, instantly laid it off to Fox. However, when Fox was absent from the team, Barnett didnt seem to know what to do with the ball (ie he had no real outlet) which often led to him booting it up the pitch or playing a sloppy pass and losing possession. Similarly it has been commented on numerous times how much better he played alongside Bassong. He has weaknesses in his game that other players need to compensate for, and which affect the team if this doesnt happen (in the Fox example possession).

Barney did a great job for us, but he is a prime example of someone we should try to get an upgrade on. Someone who doesnt exclusively have attributes needed for their position. Someone who can do what Barney does, but can also pass, is comfortable on the ball.

By shoring up these little deficiencies throughout the squad, and bringing the general all round ability of our players up, the squad can move forward.

Bassong is better than Barney for these reasons. Is he better than Barney at what Barney does well? Probably not. But thats the difference.

Similarly this is why I also feel we should be looking to upgrade on BJ. BJ does what he does well. But the other sides of his game? Because he is too limited, too one-dimensional (ie he can destroy and foul well but little else), the team overall has suffered. In the past 2 seasons we''ve been forced to chose between either defending (Hughton) or attacking (Lambert) because the players, particularly the central midfielders are incapable of doing both.

For me two central midfielders have to be the priority this season. A single player that has the defensive and physical attributes of BJ, but whom also has the attacking talents of a Hoolahan. Again, a general better all-round player.

I love the talents of our players and what they can do, but I think we need to be lloking at functions in the team which are currently being performed by two players (ie BJ and Hoolahan to provide solidity and creativity) and see if we can find a player who can do both. Someone who can not only win a ball, but then have the ability to play a pass once they have.

A difficult task, but one we should be taking on. Only this way can we move forward. And for that reason Barney has to go for me.

Interestingly I was reading Hucks'' book on the train yesterday, and he was talking about Dean Ashton. he was talking about players who didnt have all their attributes in one area. he highlighted him as a rare example of a striker who made others around him better and brought others into play whilst also being a goal threat (he cited Chris Brown and Earnie as polar opposites in this respect). I find this interesting because he also cited Grant Holt as another rare example of a player who can do this. Something that should be remembered by those hankering for his exit this season.

[ur just a man in a jacket 0]

He is still about - his kids go to nursery with my son in Wymondham.

Nice guy and well behaved kids!!