13 Jan 2015 09:55:48
An Everton supporter for 50 years I have to bring up the Barkley saga once again. Is he that good? My memories of young footballers that everyone knew to be special stretches back a long way so I will keep it fairly recent and make comparisons to Gaza and Rooney.

Barkley shows promise in similar ways to the two I mention, but I was genuinely excited about those two rather than Ross. He is 21 and Gaz and Roo were younger when they got me thinking positive of an England future.

Ross is injury prone. Only Gaz had problems when he did his knee and carried on like a brat thereafter.

Rooney commanded a fee comparable with money talked about Ross but he was already there IMO.

The conclusion I am trying to get to is 45 mil for Ross will balance books and free up money to strengthen an aging squad.

James Ward Prowse comes to mind among others. Maybe I am getting old and not seeing the potential I should but I can't see having 45 mil playing 2 thirds of the season helping Everton financially or in football terms.

Lets not wait until he gets totally crocked, cash in and rebuild. This season is over league wise and I hope I am wrong, but not good enough to win the Euro or FA cup.

{Ed025's Note - we all seem to have differing views on him smeggs, for me he has the potential to become great, but like you im in the 50 club and have seen it all before, players like rodwell vaughan and jeffers come to mind and like them he seems to flatter to deceive, i would love to be wrong as we all like to see a local lad and evertonian to do well but im not convinced, would i sell him..yes..if the offer was right, over £25m , then i believe for the betterment of the club and as long as it was re-invested in players then i would, it will not go down as a popular decision im sure, but the guy is 21 now and no longer a kid in my eyes, so unless he starts producing it on a regular basis i feel his days may be numbered mate..

1.) 13 Jan 2015
Good post, I am also another five O member and again can see the logic in what you are saying, I was so disappointed in the 'demise' of Rodwell a really promising footballer but we sold at the right time it was good business and the lad has not really pushed on in his career from then.
Barkley needs to develop a more consistent playing style not just the odd explosive moment in a game that people judge him on, he did look good in the deeper role against QPR and this could be a long term position for him, but the injuries are also a concern so much bad luck at a young age, so yes it is a risk do you keep or sell?

2.) 13 Jan 2015
Good point smeggs, as another blue in his 50's I have to agree sadly. Much as I do like Ross, I think he has real talent, at 21 he should be doing a lot more for the team.

IMO unless he starts to put a shift in and shine on the pitch week in week out between now and end of the season perhaps we should consider offers in the summer. let's face it, we have a decent squad and if we got a decent amount for him that was used to strengthen it, it could be better for the club in the short term.

To be serious top four contenders over the next three or four seasons could be more beneficial for the club than trying to build a team around a potential that may or may not develop in the way we hope.

3.) 13 Jan 2015
I agree with you Wakka, he did look good in the deeper role playing along side Besic! Hasn't played there since?? Surely the coaching staff and manager must of seen the potential and threat that he was towards the opposition.

4.) 13 Jan 2015
Prem clubs in general are in a better financial situation than ever before and at the time of the Rooney sale we were desperate, like really desperate.

Smeggs I think your forgetting Barkley was out for a year and a half with a broken leg at a crucial time in his development so he's playing still playing catch up but apart from the obvious rawness at times he's still a player that can stuff most in the team can't

5.) 13 Jan 2015
I think barkley in the deeper role balanced the team out. Besic defending the back 4 and barkley pushing on to help the attacking 4. Worked well but Bobby never stuck with it for following game.

6.) 13 Jan 2015
We have persevered with 2 defensive midfielders in front of the back 4 all season and have the second worse defensive record so either replace them of play a different style! in the deeper role Barkley had a bit more freedom and space to run at the defence, much like Baines is able to do from left back!

7.) 13 Jan 2015
13 Jan 2015 16:05:55
I'm quite surprised that there is so much debate on whether we should sell Barkley or not. I've previously stated that I would keep him for as long as we can/want.
To reiterate mikedeblue, the lad was out for a long time with a serious leg break so his development was delayed. The only other major injury he has had was suffered this year so to label him injury prone is a bit unkind. He has got the potential to be special, a lot agree on this, so let's give him the chance to do it at our club, not City or some other vulture, at the club he supports.
Against QPR I think we witnessed him playing in the position he is best suited to. He ran from deep with the ball and caused panic. Yes, it was only QPR but we haven't seen if he could do that against others as RM has shoved him everywhere but there since. The lad is still raw in certain aspects of his game but do we really expect him to be the whole package just now? Give him time to fine tune his game and then judge him. He has mistakes in him but so do the likes of Stones and Lukaku, I'd rather all three made them and learned from them to improve their games.
Money isn't as tight as when we had to sell WR so we are in a good position on who we sell or keep. It's all well and good cashing in but how many players would his fee get us? Bear in mind we would have to pay signing on fees, agent fees and then wages on top of transfer fees. I'd rather get rid of some of the weaker links in the team and give Ross the time to see how far he can improve with us. Should he be sold or kept is a question that shouldn't be brought up just yet, give it another season or two and we will have a better idea as to if he will realise his potential.

{Ed025's Note - thats fair comment spud, its a 50/50 call as i see it mate, do we sell and take the big bucks now or wait to see him develop?, running the risk of him not reaching his potential and having little sell on value or assets to improve the team..

8.) 13 Jan 2015
Be a crying shame to let him go I think he has in the locker to be great, he is a victim of the tabloids building him up like some super God and the World cup did him no favours. Keep him at Goodison where I believe he will be a great one day and not just sell him because he's not played the way pundits and tabloids expect him to play and let another team cash in on another fantastic footballer from Everton.

{Ed025's Note - fair shout lancer..

9.) 13 Jan 2015
I think he has the potential to be an awesome player and even though he's 21 he's missed enough football to be 18/19 in development terms. It would be really good to see him in a deeper role breaking forward.

10.) 13 Jan 2015
13 Jan 2015 18:34:09
I say let him develop and see what happens Ed025, if you haven't already guessed! As Lancerboy says, it's the press that are building him up to be this superstar player, us at EFC know he still has a long way to go and some of us believe he can go on to be that player. It is also the press who are throwing around these crazy figures, as far as I'm concerned no club has come in with a firm 40m+ offer. The clubs they link him to for this price have already fallen foul of FFP, would they take such a gamble? Until such an offer materialises, we should get behind the lad and help him achieve these heights. After all, if he gets his game together and becomes a top premier midfielder then we will benefit from having him in the team. If we sell him then we will make a tidy profit on an academy player.

{Ed025's Note - i dont have a problem with that spud, i agree that there is a lot of pressure on the guy, and that the press are mainly to blame..