Official January Window Including Speculation And Rumour Thread

[Acido]

Can I suggest to all posters on here that we open a Young Nudger thread. I reckon it would be a very good idea in my opinion.

My point exactly Poggy.
It's attention seeking from him again, and it's ruining yet another thread!. 😵

[SBRed48]

We are delighted to announce the signing of Donovan Pines, subject to international clearance and a successful visa application!
Attachment 25591

until summer 2025 short contract.

Welcome to Barnsley Donovan C Pines.

"The Don" will be 26 in a few weeks so he will parade the prime of his playing career at Oakwell.

He fills the need for a big unit at the centre of defence and he comes with those two magic words the Barnsley owners were wanting to hear--"free agent".

Donny surprisingly did not make the roster of a MLS club for the forthcoming 2024 Season and is now developing his talents at a different level in a new environment.

He is a full USA International, making two appearances in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He made his debut coming on as a 79th minute sub to bolster a 6-1 victory over Martinique.

He now has the opportunity to get his fitness up to speed (having not played since the 2023 MLS Season finished last October) whilst waiting the granting of his Visa Application.

Good luck at Oakwell Donovan.

[animallittle3]

Welcome to Barnsley Donovan C Pines.

"The Don" will be 26 in a few weeks so he will parade the prime of his playing career at Oakwell.

He fills the need for a big unit at the centre of defence and he comes with those two magic words the Barnsley owners were wanting to hear--"free agent".

Donny surprisingly did not make the roster of a MLS club for the forthcoming 2024 Season and is now developing his talents at a different level in a new environment.

He is a full USA International, making two appearances in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He made his debut coming on as a 79th minute sub to bolster a 6-1 victory over Martinique.

He now has the opportunity to get his fitness up to speed (having not played since the 2023 MLS Season finished last October) whilst waiting the granting of his Visa Application.

Good luck at Oakwell Donovan.

Could be a few weeks before he's up to speed ( subject to visa application being successful ) .

He's got the physical attributes we desperately require and whilst I suspect he won't be the quickest all we need is from him is to head the bugga away and be a presence at the back .

A younger Darren Moore possibly .

[pass_and_move]

Could be a few weeks before he's up to speed ( subject to visa application being successful ) .

He's got the physical attributes we desperately require and whilst I suspect he won't be the quickest all we need is from him is to head the bugga away and be a presence at the back .

A younger Darren Moore possibly .

Crying art for that Darren Moore type player innit. A reckon if we had a strong center aif yesterday then the Chris Martin goal doesn't go in. More importantly, we need a leader in this defence as well.

I wish the lad all the best. There's a great opportunity for him here. Grab it with both hands lad. Go well Donovan.

[Arblasterfromthepast]

Definitely got the physicality we need. But has he got the experience we need? I hope so. Time will tell.

[Shadrack the Red]

Definitely got the physicality we need. But has he got the experience we need? I hope so. Time will tell.

He should have the experience being as he has played quite a few matches at league level plus he has 2 international caps , I accept he has no experience of football in our country but surely if he has a reasonable amount of ability he should be able to adapt to the third division , we will see .

[pass_and_move]

92 senior appearances at 25 years of age is a bit suspect but as I said about Carlton Morris earlier in this thread, it's about settling down and finding your feet at a club. At least the language barrier isn't an obstacle but the local dialect he may well struggle wi

I don't know the level of the MLS as I've never watched it. I would imagine it'd be comparable to league 1 at the very least.

I hope he can settle and make a go of it because we definitely need some defensive improvements. He's not a kid in terms of his footballing age so l think adapting to English football would come quicker to him than it would say a 21 year old foreigner. I wouldn't expect him to get homesick at that age either. No pressure or owt Donovan lad, tha straight in at deep end here mi owd!

[Young_Nudger]

Definitely got the physicality we need. But has he got the experience we need? I hope so. Time will tell.

I think we have signed a reyt player here.
He reminds me a lot of Pinnock - a tall and elegant player.
However - his presence will provide more height to defend against crosses - but it MAY NOT solve all the problems in defence.
Basically because I believe a lot of those problems are not coming because of poor players that have been at the club all season - but the problems are caused through poor organisation in defence.
We again saw this against Bristol.

Fingers crossed I’m wrong and he’s able to not only be a good footballer - but also has the ability to organise.

[Shadrack the Red]

I think we have signed a reyt player here.
He reminds me a lot of Pinnock - a tall and elegant player.
However - his presence will provide more height to defend against crosses - but it MAY NOT solve all the problems in defence.
Basically because I believe a lot of those problems are not coming because of poor players that have been at the club all season - but the problems are caused through poor organisation in defence.
We again saw this against Bristol.

Fingers crossed I’m wrong and he’s able to not only be a good footballer - but also has the ability to organise.

Rest assured Nudge the players will have been well organised and coached all week on the training ground , once they cross that white line it is down to them & all season our centre backs have been the weak link & have been exposed numerous times , yesterday Martin must have been licking his lips & of course he delivered , it is no good trying to shift the blame because you have championed these lads , if they were up to the job we would not have had to sign Pines & we might need to bring more in if we are serious about pushing this season .

[Young_Nudger]

Rest assured Nudge the players will have been well organised and coached all week on the training ground , once they cross that white line it is down to them & all season our centre backs have been the weak link & have been exposed numerous times , yesterday Martin must have been licking his lips & of course he delivered , it is no good trying to shift the blame because you have championed these lads , if they were up to the job we would not have had to sign Pines & we might need to bring more in if we are serious about pushing this season .

I don’t think the defence or indeed the whole team has been anywhere near organised over the entire season - never mind this last week.
And again it resulted in a poor performance against Bristol.
Leaving the slightly built Williams to mark the physically strong barrel chested Chris Martin is a fine example of that.

Got to say we desperately needed more height and physicality at central defence.
Would we have signed Pines if Cundy had been available this season - probably not.

Yes we do need more if we are to push on.
IMO our weakest department is midfield.
As things stand we have just one midfielder - Connell.

Styles is ok wide left.
There is a player in Russell but he seems to be sliding backwards - I would say because he’s lost his 1st team place to Connell.
He probably needs loaning out to get more game time.

I think we have two talents in Wolfe and Benson that probably need loaning out when they return from injury.

I don’t like Phillips as he dosent provide anything.

Kane reminds me of a poor man’s Mowatt - if the opposition give him time on the ball he can deliver a pass but he’s slow over the grass and he isn’t physically strong enough to make a strong tackle.

We are increasingly dependent on just one player Luca Connell in the midfield lineup.

Although we seem to have a lot of midfielders at the club - I wouldn’t be surprise to see another midfielder brought in during this window.