WEST HAM BEAT BARNSLEY AND LEEDS TO SIGN YOUNGSTER

English Premier League side West Ham have defeated Barnsley and Leeds United to the signature of Red Devils youngster Ashley Fletcher.

The 20-year old player played the second half of the last campaign at Oakwell where he scored in the play-off final match against Barnsley. Barnsley won the game and were eventually promoted to the Championship but the display from the player forced them to place him on their priority list this summer. Their efforts ended in futility as the young player chose Premier League football over what they had to offer.

Leeds United have been monitoring the player and even encouraged to attempt to sign the player after he refused a new deal with Man United. West Ham just rolled in and spoilt the plans of both sides by getting the signature of the player. West Ham are reported to have offered the player a four-year deal. Barnsley are reported to have quickly changed tactics by approaching the Hammers for a loan deal for the player. Due to his age, the Red Devils are only entitled to compensation in the region of £500,000. Continue reading “WEST HAM BEAT BARNSLEY AND LEEDS TO SIGN YOUNGSTER”

WEST HAM ACADEMY PRODUCT JOINS BARNSLEY

West Ham academy product George Moncur has decided to join Barnsley after agreeing to a three-year deal, according to the club.

The player completed the switch from Colchester as the terms to join the Reds were agreed last week.

Moncur now gets set to join in the pre season training with Barnsley looking to get the best of off the talented player in the forthcoming season. Moncur scored 14 goals in a struggling Colchester team in the last campaign and Barnsley will be hoping he brings even more to the table when the season kicks off.

The 22-year old said he wasn’t ever in doubt as if he would join the team at Oakwell, as soon as the club showed interest in him. Head coach of Barnsley, Paul Heckingbottom told the official website that the club has been tracking the progress of the player for long and they were happy that they finally landed the player. Heckingbottom said: “He’s a huge talent and was a stand-out player for Colchester, so it’s a big signing and a fantastic addition to the squad.”
Continue reading “WEST HAM ACADEMY PRODUCT JOINS BARNSLEY”

COLCHESTER UNITED FORCES BARNSLEY TO A DRAW

English League One side, Colchester United forced Barnsley to a draw over the weekend.

Colchester United is second to the bottom on the table but was able to hold the Barnsley squad to a surprising draw, especially as the season inches to an end.


Barnsley had hoped to turn around their fortunes especially having had several draws that has limited their climbing up the league table. They defeated Port Vale by a lone goal late last month before their eventual loss to Chesterfield. The team came back after the loss to claim a 2-1 victory over Oldham Athletic. Then their string of draws started. They played the first against Burton Albion which ended as a goal less encounter. The draws were paused by a slim victory over Peterborough U., the draws continued with Sheffield Wednesday then the one Colchester United pulled even as Barnsley hoped to climb over Bradford to fifth place as the season ended.

Colchester United drew level eight minutes into added time to prevent play-off-chasing Barnsley going into the season’s final day two points above rivals Scunthorpe. Barnsley – who could have secured a top-six spot with a win had Scunthorpe also not beaten Port Vale – are now only above the Iron on goal difference. Continue reading “COLCHESTER UNITED FORCES BARNSLEY TO A DRAW”

Paul Heckingbottom has been able to win the manager of the month award

Paul Heckingbottom has been able to win the manager of the month award within one month of his arrival at Barnsley.

He was appointed as the manager only in February, but the club was able to pick up an astonishing 13 points from just six matches in March. A solitary 2-0 defeat against Southend was the only blemish for the club during this period. This has helped Barnsley move closer towards the play-off places. The club had to go through a period of uncertainty after former manager Lee Johnson was given the permission to talk with Bristol City.

Johnson ended up leaving for the Championship club, thus leaving Barnsley’s promotion hopes in tatters. The arrival ofHeckingbottom has been met with no reduction in performances and the club are now only four points behind the sixth placed Millwall. There is every chance that this gap will be reduced even further if Barnsley win their game in hand.Heckingbottom said that it was a team effort to put together this run of form. He has credited the players for managing to continue the winning run despite several injuries affecting the squad in the 2015-16 campaign. During the month of March, Barnsley kept four clean sheets and this may be the basis behind the good form. Continue reading “Paul Heckingbottom has been able to win the manager of the month award”

Players shouldn’t get too carried away from social media

Barnsley’s Lee Johnson says that even though social media has certainly helped in closing the bridge that existed between players and fans, it’s something that can turn into a big risk for certain players, especially for the young ones as they can get more easily influenced by the opinions of other people.

“Social media is a big problem for young players. They can have complete swings and, sometimes, you can’t police everything or hold their hands.By the same token, if your team is flying, you can have young players who get ahead of themselves and start thinking they are Maradona when they are more Madonna.There’s always challenges in football, as you are dealing with humans’’ Lee Johnson of Barnsley said.

Social media can certainly be a big risk or even a huge source of motivation for players but the younger performers have to find a way to stay focused in their matches and try on not getting too carried away by what they see outside of the actual pitch.

When managers talk in press conferences and things of this nature, they usually go around revealing information about their squads as well as what they are planning to win in the next few months but in one of the latest discussions that the media had with Lee Johnson, the 34 year old English manager used social media as one of his main talking points which is surprising but taking into consideration that Johnson has one of the youngest squads in the entire Football League, it’s a discussion that can help avoid unnecessary drama and problems along the way.

Lee Johnson wants to see his players acting professionally not only inside the pitch but outside of it as well and not get too caught up by what other people say. Back in 2014, there was an incident which occurred involving a man who sent racist tweets to former players of Rangers Kyle Bartley and Maurice Edu and it was because of these tweets that the man ended up being jailed for half of a year. This is what Lee Johnson is hoping that his players can avoid doing, not having to face serious consequences for things that can be easily avoided. Continue reading “Players shouldn’t get too carried away from social media”