Ashley Barnes, The Latest: Ashley Barnes Signs for Burnley *Confirmation*

[Kalimantan Gull]

Good day - Burnley fan here in peace - well sort of.

One or two fairly ignorant comments about the club, town and it's people - which surprised me a bit. I used to work with a BHA fan many moons ago (if you are reading Charles, hope you are well ) and he was a real, genuine football fan - in common with most of the BHA fans I've met over the years. I can only assume a new breed have been attracted by that fabulous and bright & shiny new stadium. That said I love some of the stuff they do at your gaff - fan comfort seems to be a central philosophy which is hardly the norm at this level.

Anyway, on to why he might have signed for us. Instinct tells me it is all down to the manager. He's wanted him at least since summer and I suspect he was able to win over Barnes. What I've read of him (Barnes) and the little I've seen he is a player very much in the mould Dyche looks for, works hard, presses high up the pitch, reasonable amount of talent and knows where the goal is even if not prolific. I also imagine the contract on offer at Brighton for whatever reason wasn't as appealing, be it money, duration or both. I doubt the level of football would be a factor, with your greater resources I'd have thought over a 5 year time line you'd have far more chance of making it to the PL than Burnley.

I won't wish you luck for this season - for obvious reasons - but I will wish you luck for the future and just ask you to remember that it is as ridiculous a generalisation to assume all people in the North fit the media stereotypes as it is to believe all the nonsense spouted about people from Brighton

Sounds about right to me. Ash obviously liked playing for gus and i guess since he left dyche has offered to fill the gap adeptly. That, and possibly tb refused to give him the salary rise that many of us thought he deserved.

 

[drew]

No, but I am only 21. the sort of strikers i've seen come and go in my lifetime have been utter tripe in comparison to Barnes, the only player who comes close is Murray and he will never be remembered for the great player he was because of his choice of club, and i was to young when Zamora and Leon Knight were around to really remember their quality. It will be a long time before we see a player that in the face of constant abuse from his own fans gives his absolute all every single game and scores 53 goals. In my opinion any striker that scores 50 goals for the club should be remembered.

Both Zamora and Knight were far better players than Barnes. I would also add Forster to that list. Some have questioned the amount that Barnes misses but I would qualify that by saying that it is more the amount that he failed to get on target. Yes he was a good player but far from an exceptional one, as Zamora was and, for one season, Knight. Hopefully, once you have watched the game for 40 years you will have been lucky enough to have seen plenty of strikers that are better than Barnes. Ward, Poskett, Ritchie, Robinson, Connor, Saunders, Nogan, Nelson, Zamora, Knight, Maskell and, in my opinion, Maybank (no doubt some will point out others that I can't recall of the top of my head).

Well, I have to say that for a non-Brighton fan you have hit the nail squarely on the head. I fear at Brighton he always suffered somewhat being in the shadow of more loved and (more importantly) prolific strikers like Murray, CMS (before the fans turned on him) and now Ulloa. His versatility cost him lot reputation-wise at the Albion as Gus always tended to play him out of position and the general perception (amongst some) was "He's a striker who doesn't score goals". In reality, 50-odd goals in 160 apps was a remarkable feat given about 90-100 of those apps were out of position.

In my opinion, you are getting a very strong player who will only benefit your squad, sadly, at the of ours (for the time being at least)...

That's rewriting history a bit. There were many fans who didn't appreciate Murray at the time, at least prior to his final season, principally because they didn't appreciate that he was never completely fit, the game against Leeds being a case in point when he was derided for not tracking back with Delph when it was patently clear that his back problem preventing him doing so. Also, CMS has hardly ever been prolific for BHA.

 

[gnjd_85]

Surprised by quite how overwhelming positive most people are here. I always thought it bizarre how lowly some rated him when clearly he did an awful lot of good things. However, I also felt at times he wasn't quite up to the standard I'd aspire to have in the team.

As we all know, he did miss too many chances. I think he made a very good effort of making up for that by working very hard, tracking back well and having an excellent sense of positioning. I think though if you're going to have a forward that misses as often as he did, you would need to do an awful lot to make it up, sometimes he did enough and sometimes he didn't.

I do think possibly our best run of form last year was during his lengthy suspension?

So while I think he was a fine player to have around, I'm not too sad to see him go all told. I would have valued him at about 1/1.25m so I think we did ok to get 750k given his contract situation. Not the major factor for me but I also wasn't always keen on the way he behaved, always thought he seemed a touch petulant.

Hopefully we can sign someone now that will be an improvement.

 

[JBizzle]

That's rewriting history a bit. There were many fans who didn't appreciate Murray at the time, at least prior to his final season, principally because they didn't appreciate that he was never completely fit, the game against Leeds being a case in point when he was derided for not tracking back with Delph when it was patently clear that his back problem preventing him doing so. Also, CMS has hardly ever been prolific for BHA.

No I agree, but for Murray they only played together for one full season and that's when Murray's stock was at it's highest so Barnes was being compared to Murray at his most prolific.

Regarding CMS, CMS wasn't prolific, but they were direct competitors and CMS was massively popular irrespective of form (although that waned a bit at the end)

 

[somerset]

............ CMS was massively popular irrespective of form (although that waned a bit at the end)

Really?... is that just your imagination or your Barnes bias that leads you to that conclusion...... I never noticed any reduction in his popularity, even when he wasnt firing on all cylinders.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Good day - Burnley fan here in peace - well sort of.

One or two fairly ignorant comments about the club, town and it's people - which surprised me a bit. I used to work with a BHA fan many moons ago (if you are reading Charles, hope you are well ) and he was a real, genuine football fan - in common with most of the BHA fans I've met over the years. I can only assume a new breed have been attracted by that fabulous and bright & shiny new stadium. That said I love some of the stuff they do at your gaff - fan comfort seems to be a central philosophy which is hardly the norm at this level.

Anyway, on to why he might have signed for us. Instinct tells me it is all down to the manager. He's wanted him at least since summer and I suspect he was able to win over Barnes. What I've read of him (Barnes) and the little I've seen he is a player very much in the mould Dyche looks for, works hard, presses high up the pitch, reasonable amount of talent and knows where the goal is even if not prolific. I also imagine the contract on offer at Brighton for whatever reason wasn't as appealing, be it money, duration or both. I doubt the level of football would be a factor, with your greater resources I'd have thought over a 5 year time line you'd have far more chance of making it to the PL than Burnley.

I won't wish you luck for this season - for obvious reasons - but I will wish you luck for the future and just ask you to remember that it is as ridiculous a generalisation to assume all people in the North fit the media stereotypes as it is to believe all the nonsense spouted about people from Brighton

northern monkey

 

[Albumen]

Really?... is that just your imagination or your Barnes bias that leads you to that conclusion...... I never noticed any reduction in his popularity, even when he wasnt firing on all cylinders.

Barnes bias! Ha!
There was a general feeling of "Will he do anything this week, or will the ball bounce off him and he'll fall over screaming?" after the "ooo we've bought an expensive player" excitement honeymoon was over. A very inconsistent player, and the highs werent too high.
Hopefully he'll have a new start here under Oscar, or elsewhere if necessary.

 

[Sam Ovett]

I have high hopes for CMS when he comes back. I think Oscar's attacking style will suit his game a lot more than Poyet's kinda negative play

 

[Seagull]

works hard, presses high up the pitch, reasonable amount of talent and knows where the goal is even if not prolific. I also imagine the contract on offer at Brighton for whatever reason wasn't as appealing, be it money, duration or both. I doubt the level of football would be a factor, with your greater resources I'd have thought over a 5 year time line you'd have far more chance of making it to the PL than Burnley.

Very well put. I am feeling a bit gutted that Barnes has gone and I just hope we have a good replacement lined up. Don't we want all our best players to want to play for us? He does see the red mist but seems to be getting control of that more this season and it's great to have a gutsy player in the side who gives 100% every time. Good player, I like him, good luck Ashley (just not against us!).

 

[JBizzle]

Really?... is that just your imagination or your Barnes bias that leads you to that conclusion...... I never noticed any reduction in his popularity, even when he wasnt firing on all cylinders.

Nope, they guys around me think CMS is useless. Runs around a lot and that's it.

Besides, I'm not Barnes biased anymore than I suspect you're biased against him, I just rate him and you clearly don't.

 

[Mackenzie]

Really?... is that just your imagination or your Barnes bias that leads you to that conclusion...... I never noticed any reduction in his popularity, even when he wasnt firing on all cylinders.

A red letter day in your household.....has the bunting gone up yet?

 

[Papa Lazarou]

There was a general feeling of "Will he do anything this week, or will the ball bounce off him and he'll fall over screaming?" after the "ooo we've bought an expensive player" excitement honeymoon was over. A very inconsistent player, and the highs werent too high.
Hopefully he'll have a new start here under Oscar, or elsewhere if necessary.

The high point from CMS was ironically away at Burnley where he scored from about 30 yards AND a world class Overhead kick, 2 world class strikes.

 

[Albumen]

The high point from CMS was ironically away at Burnley where he scored from about 30 yards AND a world class Overhead kick, 2 world class strikes.

Yeah but I wasnt there .....

 

[Icy Gull]

Really?... is that just your imagination or your Barnes bias that leads you to that conclusion...... I never noticed any reduction in his popularity, even when he wasnt firing on all cylinders.

CMS is one the most frustrating Albion forwards I have seen when we have been at this level. Lots of endeavour but a square peg in a round hole whilst he's been here for most games. I was not a big fan after about a month of last season, ball control was appalling and he did not bring much to the team except running around a lot and making a nuisance of himself. Limited ball skills and nowhere near as good as Barnes as a lone striker ( and Barnes wasn't great at it but least he looked like he was on the same wavelength as his team mates)

 

[Footsoldier]

CMS is one the most frustrating Albion forwards I have seen when we have been at this level. Lots of endeavour but a square peg in a round hole whilst he's been here for most games

Only one person to blame and that is Poyet.

 

[Hamilton]

Good day - Burnley fan here in peace - well sort of.

One or two fairly ignorant comments about the club, town and it's people - which surprised me a bit. I used to work with a BHA fan many moons ago (if you are reading Charles, hope you are well ) and he was a real, genuine football fan - in common with most of the BHA fans I've met over the years. I can only assume a new breed have been attracted by that fabulous and bright & shiny new stadium. That said I love some of the stuff they do at your gaff - fan comfort seems to be a central philosophy which is hardly the norm at this level.

Anyway, on to why he might have signed for us. Instinct tells me it is all down to the manager. He's wanted him at least since summer and I suspect he was able to win over Barnes. What I've read of him (Barnes) and the little I've seen he is a player very much in the mould Dyche looks for, works hard, presses high up the pitch, reasonable amount of talent and knows where the goal is even if not prolific. I also imagine the contract on offer at Brighton for whatever reason wasn't as appealing, be it money, duration or both. I doubt the level of football would be a factor, with your greater resources I'd have thought over a 5 year time line you'd have far more chance of making it to the PL than Burnley.

I won't wish you luck for this season - for obvious reasons - but I will wish you luck for the future and just ask you to remember that it is as ridiculous a generalisation to assume all people in the North fit the media stereotypes as it is to believe all the nonsense spouted about people from Brighton

I think you've labelled him correctly. If that is what Dyche is after, then that is exactly what he has got. I hope he has a good game plan for him. I rate Barnes, but he is not the striker that will take you to the promised land. In cycling parlance, he is a striker domestique.

Also, agree 100% that you're right about the ignorant posts about The North. Can only apologise.

Regards, The South.

 

[somerset]

A red letter day in your household.....has the bunting gone up yet?

Never took it down from the time Burnley made the previous offers....... I did lose hope when he popped in one, and a pen, against Leicester and nearly took it down in exasperation,.... but it can stay up until tomorrow when I get back from the Brum game.

 

[somerset]

Besides, I'm not Barnes biased anymore than I suspect you're biased against him,...

....thats a lot then...

 

[LamieRobertson]

I am missing him already. Good luck Barnsey, as long as you do not score against us.

U can bet he will.. Although it's unlikely with Greer now fit, it would-be interesting to see him against El Abd

 

[The Merry Prankster]

I have high hopes for CMS when he comes back. I think Oscar's attacking style will suit his game a lot more than Poyet's kinda negative play

I have zero hope that CMS will be the player he was (and I wasn't particularly excited by the player he was).. I can only be pleasantly surprised.