James Garner

[StirlingBlue]

Nope, I still don’t understand the narrative.

It’s a lot easier to understand when you picture him coming in on a free as a squad rotation option expected to start 5-10 games a season a la Gomes.

If people think he’s walking into our starting 11 then they’re idiots

[Mouse]

I get that but I'm not convinced at all a swallow in Luton makes a summer at Goodison. I'm happy to be proven otherwise but the baggage he brings back to the club and (I could be mis-remebering here) the issues he had in the city gives me serious doubts.

[TheRam]

If you’re not good off the ball then you’re useless in the modern game.

Gone are the days a talented midfielder could strut around and let the others do the work.

[777Kidnappings]

I get that but I'm not convinced at all a swallow in Luton makes a summer at Goodison. I'm happy to be proven otherwise but the baggage he brings back to the club and (I could be mis-remebering here) the issues he had in the city gives me serious doubts.

Look at the other frees we've signed the last 2 or 3 seasons.... that's the level of player we've been snapping up. Townsend Ali Rondon Young...... we ain't looking for a summer. We are looking to not freeze to death during another winter

[AjaxAndy]

Barkley has 5 goals and 4 assist this season.

Doucoure has 6 goals and 2 assists.

I've said before I'd have him on a free but only because we need players, but I also don't think he'd be some kind of major game changer for us. Even in his only good season in about 7 years his stats are only one goal contribution more than Doucoure.

If you want to compare him to Garner, Onana or Gomes then yes those stats are better, but Dyche wouldn't be playing him deep and he'd expect more game time than Gomes, so I really don't see how this fits with our needs or his.

He's not a Dyche player either, he never flourished until Martinez came in and didn't really ask him to train or work hard, the moment anyone before or after expected a high level of fitness and work rate he quickly lost his place in the team.

Doesn't fit on any level other than he's free and better than some of the players who are leaving.

[777Kidnappings]

Barkley has 5 goals and 4 assist this season.

Doucoure has 6 goals and 2 assists.

I've said before I'd have him on a free but only because we need players, but I also don't think he'd be some kind of major game changer for us. Even in his only good season in about 7 years his stats are only one goal contribution more than Doucoure.

If you want to compare him to Garner, Onana or Gomes then yes those stats are better, but Dyche wouldn't be playing him deep and he'd expect more game time than Gomes, so I really don't see how this fits with our needs or his.

He's not a Dyche player either, he never flourished until Martinez came in and didn't really ask him to train or work hard, the moment anyone before or after expected a high level of fitness and work rate he quickly lost his place in the team.

Doesn't fit on any level other than he's free and better than some of the players who are leaving.

He's a much better footballer than doucoure. Such an indepth look at stats led us to sigurdsson.

[TheRam]

He's a much better footballer than doucoure. Such an indepth look at stats led us to sigurdsson.

Is he though?

How many managers out there would rather have barkley in their team than Doucoure? Not many I bet.

He kicks a ball better, but he’s not a better player. Doucoure is much more rounded.

[Cereal Killer]

Barkley has 5 goals and 4 assist this season.

Doucoure has 6 goals and 2 assists.

Don’t Luton funnel almost everything through him as well?

Doucoure spends half the time watching the ball fly over his head

[Shogun]

Not sure people realise just how bad the squad is going into next season. We have Garner, Onana and Doucoure as our 3 CMs and massive gaps everywhere else in the team.

Not sure how this is in the Garner thread but keeping on Gana, selling Onana to free up funds for other positions and bringing in Barkley on a free is a no-brainer.

The lad is definitely good enough for a side in our position, whether he's actually 'that' good or not.

[AjaxAndy]

Not sure people realise just how bad the squad is going into next season. We have Garner, Onana and Doucoure as our 3 CMs and massive gaps everywhere else in the team.

Not sure how this is in the Garner thread but keeping on Gana, selling Onana to free up funds for other positions and bringing in Barkley on a free is a no-brainer.

I don't think we can be too choosey but at the same time you need cohesion within the team and players that fit in with how the manager wants to play.

Does Barkley compliment the rest of the players? Maybe, we need creativity, although his numbers aren't anything special in that department.

Will he fit in the system better than Doucoure? Debatable, and I don't think he'd be interested in coming here as a rotation option.

He absolutely wouldn't put in the workrate demanded by the manager which would cause more problems than it solved.

He's apparently on £35k a week, if he wanted the same here it's highly unlikely we'd find a better player on that wage for free or cheap. However what is also highly unlikely is he'd want the same wages to come back, you're probably looking at double for a player that doesn't really fit the system, won't fit in with the requirements of the manager, and most likely wouldn't even work out all that cheap with regards our wage bill.

[CraigS...]

I get that but I'm not convinced at all a swallow in Luton makes a summer at Goodison. I'm happy to be proven otherwise but the baggage he brings back to the club and (I could be mis-remebering here) the issues he had in the city gives me serious doubts.

I get that said back to me every summer when calling for us the sign championship players only for 1.2 seasons to go past and the same players now selling for 3/4 times the money ( a star in a champ team is not going to be a star in prem team ) that is bullshit , yes Barkley is a bit older but he has taken longer to grow up and worked out its not all about him and has now stopped letting others blow smoke up is ass

[brap2]

I get that said back to me every summer when calling for us the sign championship players only for 1.2 seasons to go past and the same players now selling for 3/4 times the money ( a star in a champ team is not going to be a star in prem team ) that is bullshit , yes Barkley is a bit older but he has taken longer to grow up and worked out its not all about him and has now stopped letting others blow smoke up is ass

Would rather we take that outlook and sign your Eze, Olise, Wharton, etcs rather than Barkley who a fantastic if still incomplete player imo, would never have any sell on value

[Kerryblueboy]

Wharton was a standout in the championship there are others there Sara at Norwich greaves at hull is a prospect Southampton still have some interesting players if they don’t make it

[Shogun]

I don't think we can be too choosey but at the same time you need cohesion within the team and players that fit in with how the manager wants to play.

Does Barkley compliment the rest of the players? Maybe, we need creativity, although his numbers aren't anything special in that department.

Will he fit in the system better than Doucoure? Debatable, and I don't think he'd be interested in coming here as a rotation option.

He absolutely wouldn't put in the workrate demanded by the manager which would cause more problems than it solved.

He's apparently on £35k a week, if he wanted the same here it's highly unlikely we'd find a better player on that wage for free or cheap. However what is also highly unlikely is he'd want the same wages to come back, you're probably looking at double for a player that doesn't really fit the system, won't fit in with the requirements of the manager, and most likely wouldn't even work out all that cheap with regards our wage bill.

I don't think Barkley offers direct creativity as much as he offers being somebody who can get on the ball, be comfortable with it and progress through the pitch in dribbling and passing which does fit in with a Dyche team imo. I don't think Doucoure is the direct comparison because Barkley hasn't played that far up the pitch for Luton this season, he'd be a direct replacement for Onana I think. I also think if you've got Garner or Gana next to him then you'd offset the danger off-the-ball and even then, he's not Gomes levels of dire in that regard anyway. I actually think he's put in a shift in most Luton matches I've watched this season.

His fbref stats https://fbref.com/en/players/3a24769f/Ross-Barkley are exactly what we're missing and if you look at the areas he struggles (Tackles/Blocks) then that's exactly what Gana is exceptional at.

We could also just go for somebody like

who would be on similar wages and a hard worker but actually lacks the talent to be in a Premier League midfield and we'd be a poorer team for it imo. I know who I'd rather.

Obviously I'd rather just go get the next Wharton in the championship but they'd cost more money and we can't afford a player not to be ready from the get-go now.

[CraigS...]

Wharton was a standout in the championship there are others there Sara at Norwich greaves at hull is a prospect Southampton still have some interesting players if they don’t make it

Greaves is a player we should be going for asap ( last season would have been better )

Just like https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cd13p97znw4o good luck signing him this season but we could have signed him last season