Harvey Barnes

[Pata]

2 minutes ago, Deuce said:

Honestly it comes across as wanting your classic PFM’s “bit o’ magic.” 

Nah, I obviously want us to win first but I would be lying if I said watching Almiron is in any way exciting or entertaining. Some people just want to win, some value the entertainment side too. Won’t matter as much now when we are legit good and have a chance at silverware but I still want to be entertained too.

[PauloGeordio]

1 minute ago, reefatoon said:

Totally agree, It really is like. What’s more exciting than seeing a killer pass leading to a goal. 

Some folks are totally seduced by a few tricks. For me one of the most glorious things of last season was Willocks  ridiculous through ball to Isak with the outside of his foot against Spurs. That got me well excited. Was a joy to watch.
 

Surely scoring goals is an exciting part of watching a game and if he brings that, then that sounds pretty fucking exciting to me. Give me that ahead of taking a man on any day.

[Fosse]

I essentially never join up other teams' forums but such is my disappointment with the move I thought I'd write something up.

 

Firstly, I'll confess I'm a huge Barnes fan. I'm a very similar age, I'd tracked his progress as a youth player and saw him make his debut at Porto's ground. I had high hopes for him from the beginning.

 

His first loan at MK Dons was promising - he scored 6 in 19 nineties as raw, pacey winger with the ability to use both feet and score from distance; albeit in League 1. That summer he won the Toulon tournament with England and he was the joint top-scorer, iirc.

 

Next was his loan to Barnsley which was fairly productive, scoring 5 in 15 nineties. They sacked their manager so he was in and out of the side until he was recalled, he only played 10 minutes for the first team despite mediocre football under Puel. He did however score 5 in 7 games at PL 2 level, which he was clearly a cut above by then.

 

At 20 he was loaned to West Brom which was his breakthrough season. Playing mostly as an AM as the 10 in a 352 he thrived scoring 9 and assisting 6 in 26 apps. He was scoring outrageous goals, creating and beating players in a way we haven't really seen since - especially the latter two. He was recalled again, making 11 starts scoring once and assisting twice. We were still a dysfunctional attacking unit under Puel but he had a knack of fluffing one-on-ones that season. Puel was sacked and he fared a bit better under Rodgers but question marks were raised over his finishing.

 

19-20 was his PL breakout top flight season scoring 6 and assisting 8, he was in and out the side but it was the first evidence he was productive PL winger. Also when he always scored against Leeds and Villa.  He was pretty exciting with his pace and would often take it past players but not as nimble winger but with pace and power.

 

20-21, he started like a house on fire and per 90 it's been his most productive season to date when he scored 9, assisted 4 in 25 starts - until he cruelly did his knee in January. By this stage he'd banished his finishing demons and was usually very reliable in goal. It was after the injury he was less agile and he naturally bulked up with age despite being fairly stocky anyway. The extra mass and injury coincided with his dribbling and carry numbers falling.

 

After that he's been a mainstay in the side but for whatever reasons, including a few smaller injuries he's never really out together a 35+ starts season. Since 20-21 he's scored 19 in 53.4 nineties and notched up 11 assists. He was great in our European campaigns too. His trademark goals have been 1-2s, cutting inside and finding the far post, powerful strikes and getting on the end of cut backs.

 

He's always been more of a forward than a winger, despite the assist number he's not the most creative but maybe that's a function of playing under Puel and Rodgers; neither of which are very good coaches. He's a bit unrefined for a 25 year old so I think Howe can eke more out of him. As for his character he's surprisingly meek, both in character and defensively. His dad is an ex-pro is he is very grounded and pretty normal for a footballer although the rumours are he likes a pint.

 

He can drift out of games, the criticism and it isn't unfair is: you'll tell if he'll have a good game or bad game inside 5 minutes. if his first touch is off he'll go missing, if he beats his man, he'll have a blinder.

 

Overall you've got a proper goalscorer, 0.32 goals per 90 through is career is verging on elite numbers for a winger, especially as we were never that good in his time here. I wish him well and I think he's got the potential to score 10+, maybe even pushing up to 15 every season for 5 years to come. The fee stings considering his number but that's more our incompetence than anything else.

[STM]

 

 

Nailed.

[nufcjmc]

I think it's the unpredictability of Maxi I will miss it didn't all come off but that's why we picked him up as cheap and he stayed as long. What he did do though was keep the opposition on their toes and wasn't a player you could ignore so at times he gave more space to others as another threat to mark. 

 

Has gone from being the "main man" to being just part of the squad as we have drastically improved as a team as a whole and individual talent, which  I guess for some could be a mind fuck. The permission to go back to France when injured rather than stick around the side was telling to me. 

 

Still would rather the dross go but as argued at nauseum if we can't shift them then that's not a viable option. 

[gjohnson]

If this goes ahead it reminds me a bit of when Gary Speed signed....everyone knew objectively he was a good player, but he wasn't fancy, continental, or an 'elite' player so most were a underwhelmed, especially after a relatively poor season having been stuck at left wing, but was a fairly integral part of a team that went from also-rans to almost title challengers 

[gdm]

13 minutes ago, Fosse said:

I essentially never join up other teams' forums but such is my disappointment with the move I thought I'd write something up.

 

Firstly, I'll confess I'm a huge Barnes fan. I'm a very similar age, I'd tracked his progress as a youth player and saw him make his debut at Porto's ground. I had high hopes for him from the beginning.

 

His first loan at MK Dons was promising - he scored 6 in 19 nineties as raw, pacey winger with the ability to use both feet and score from distance; albeit in League 1. That summer he won the Toulon tournament with England and he was the joint top-scorer, iirc.

 

Next was his loan to Barnsley which was fairly productive, scoring 5 in 15 nineties. They sacked their manager so he was in and out of the side until he was recalled, he only played 10 minutes for the first team despite mediocre football under Puel. He did however score 5 in 7 games at PL 2 level, which he was clearly a cut above by then.

 

At 20 he was loaned to West Brom which was his breakthrough season. Playing mostly as an AM as the 10 in a 352 he thrived scoring 9 and assisting 6 in 26 apps. He was scoring outrageous goals, creating and beating players in a way we haven't really seen since - especially the latter two. He was recalled again, making 11 starts scoring once and assisting twice. We were still a dysfunctional attacking unit under Puel but he had a knack of fluffing one-on-ones that season. Puel was sacked and he fared a bit better under Rodgers but question marks were raised over his finishing.

 

19-20 was his PL breakout top flight season scoring 6 and assisting 8, he was in and out the side but it was the first evidence he was productive PL winger. Also when he always scored against Leeds and Villa.  He was pretty exciting with his pace and would often take it past players but not as nimble winger but with pace and power.

 

20-21, he started like a house on fire and per 90 it's been his most productive season to date when he scored 9, assisted 4 in 25 starts - until he cruelly did his knee in January. By this stage he'd banished his finishing demons and was usually very reliable in goal. It was after the injury he was less agile and he naturally bulked up with age despite being fairly stocky anyway. The extra mass and injury coincided with his dribbling and carry numbers falling.

 

After that he's been a mainstay in the side but for whatever reasons, including a few smaller injuries he's never really out together a 35+ starts season. Since 20-21 he's scored 19 in 53.4 nineties and notched up 11 assists. He was great in our European campaigns too. His trademark goals have been 1-2s, cutting inside and finding the far post, powerful strikes and getting on the end of cut backs.

 

He's always been more of a forward than a winger, despite the assist number he's not the most creative but maybe that's a function of playing under Puel and Rodgers; neither of which are very good coaches. He's a bit unrefined for a 25 year old so I think Howe can eke more out of him. As for his character he's surprisingly meek, both in character and defensively. His dad is an ex-pro is he is very grounded and pretty normal for a footballer although the rumours are he likes a pint.

 

He can drift out of games, the criticism and it isn't unfair is: you'll tell if he'll have a good game or bad game inside 5 minutes. if his first touch is off he'll go missing, if he beats his man, he'll have a blinder.

 

Overall you've got a proper goalscorer, 0.32 goals per 90 through is career is verging on elite numbers for a winger, especially as we were never that good in his time here. I wish him well and I think he's got the potential to score 10+, maybe even pushing up to 15 every season for 5 years to come. The fee stings considering his number but that's more our incompetence than anything else.

Appreciate this. As someone that isn’t that excited about it this is good to read

[Whitley mag]

‘Meek defensively’

 

I thought we’d passed on Diaby because he couldn’t defend.

[Whitley mag]

‘Likes a pint and has hoyed the beef on’

 

Sounds like we’ve signed the football version of Bill Werbeniuck.

[huss9]

2 hours ago, Jack27 said:

We have a sighting

"Now, this is a training complex!"

[Cronky]

54 minutes ago, Fosse said:

 

He can drift out of games, the criticism and it isn't unfair is: you'll tell if he'll have a good game or bad game inside 5 minutes. if his first touch is off he'll go missing, if he beats his man, he'll have a blinder.

 

 

I liked this bit. There's no-one better than Eddie at boosting a player's confidence and concentration. Whether he's dealing with a talented or an average player, he gets them playing at or close to their peak.

[jigen]

Barnes is a good player. Very direct and powerful. But he is the same type of player as Gordon (Barnes is better). Why buy both and sell ASM? Now Newcastle lacks a winger with creativity and skills. 

[nufc4eva]

6 minutes ago, Cronky said:

 

I liked this bit. There's no-one better than Eddie at boosting a player's confidence and concentration. Whether he's dealing with a talented or an average player, he gets them playing at or close to their peak.

He gets them pretty consistent as well and running through brick walls for him

[STM]

7 minutes ago, jigen said:

Barnes is a good player. Very direct and powerful. But he is the same type of player as Gordon (Barnes is better). Why buy both and sell ASM? Now Newcastle lacks a winger with creativity and skills. 

 

You know what's creative? Assists.

 

You know what's skillfull? Putting the ball in the net.

[Cronky]

4 minutes ago, jigen said:

Barnes is a good player. Very direct and powerful. But he is the same type of player as Gordon (Barnes is better). Why buy both and sell ASM? Now Newcastle lacks a winger with creativity and skills. 

 

A good question. Maybe Eddie's vision is to have Isak, Barnes and Gordon interchanging positions in the front three. All three can play wide or down the middle (I think that's the case with Barnes)

 

Unless you have a specialist winger who is very, very good, I'd question their value against the top teams. They can be snuffed out too easily, and so it's dangerous to rely on them as the main option.

 

We're not going to be able to compete for the very top players just yet, so maybe Eddie is hoping to compensate by clever tactics, with players with a range of general skills  interchanging positions to confuse defences.

[nufc4eva]

You don't get many top wide players dribbling past everyone. ASM good at the spectacular but Barnes and Gordon probably more efficient with the ball.

 

ASM tried to be more efficient end of last season but that's not his game and don't think he suits where we want to go. Most of last season he wasn't involved. How preferred Almiron, Willock, Joe workrate and efficiency, tactical play and intelligence on the ball.

[nufc4eva]

Really think people just need to trust the process. They know what they are doing.

[Pata]

10 minutes ago, nufc4eva said:

Gordon probably more efficient with the ball.

 

Wow, I like Gordon's potential but jeez man.

[ExiledGeordie]

26 minutes ago, Cronky said:

 

A good question. Maybe Eddie's vision is to have Isak, Barnes and Gordon interchanging positions in the front three. All three can play wide or down the middle (I think that's the case with Barnes)

 

Unless you have a specialist winger who is very, very good, I'd question their value against the top teams. They can be snuffed out too easily, and so it's dangerous to rely on them as the main option.

 

We're not going to be able to compete for the very top players just yet, so maybe Eddie is hoping to compensate by clever tactics, with players with a range of general skills  interchanging positions to confuse defences.

Tonali’s arrival will definitely allow Bruno to have more creative influence too not that either will player defined 6 or 8 positions. As you mention above Isak can interchange and has that element of the “unpredictable” anyway.

[Shelveys Hair]

A lot of Barnes goals come from 1-2s

 

Who was king at the 1st time pass last season? Bruno

 

And now we've just signed Tonali who also has it in his locker.. it's going to be bloody exciting, can see us tearing a few teams apart with it.

 

Now we need a right sided CB

[Aiston]

38 minutes ago, jigen said:

Barnes is a good player. Very direct and powerful. But he is the same type of player as Gordon (Barnes is better). Why buy both and sell ASM? Now Newcastle lacks a winger with creativity and skills. 

Barnes has excellent end product. ASM and Gordon don't. Easy upgrade.

[Elliottman]

11 minutes ago, nufc4eva said:

Really think people just need to trust the process. They know what they are doing.

It’s this simple. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

There’s really no such thing as wingers in the PL at the moment. Mainly wide forwards or midfielders playing wide. 

[nufc4eva]

8 minutes ago, Pata said:

 

Wow, I like Gordon's potential but jeez man.

Honestly think he is. 

[simonsays]

53 minutes ago, jigen said:

Barnes is a good player. Very direct and powerful. But he is the same type of player as Gordon (Barnes is better). Why buy both and sell ASM? Now Newcastle lacks a winger with creativity and skills. 

Sigh, because...

 

1. Gordon/Barnes fit the style we play, Maxi doesn't. 

 

2.Howe and the scouting team rate Barnes and Gordon higher than they do Maxi. 

 

3. Goals are more important than stepovers.  Remember Adel Tarabt?

 

4. We need to sell someone for FFP purposes