Academy retained list

Barnsley Football Club is delighted to announce that Brad Binns, Will Lancaster and Charlie Winfield have all been offered professional contracts.

The trio have impressed in the Professional Development League at both U18 and U23 level this term, putting in a number of accomplished displays for Tom Harban and Martin Devaney, respectively.

Mercurial midfielder, Binns, has shown his burgeoning potential with timely goals and added more strings to his bow by playing in a more advanced forward role in the later stages of the recent campaign.

He demonstrated his adaptability by scoring a late winner against Birmingham City at the start of March, as our young Reds came from two goals down at the Oakwell Training Ground.

“I’m so proud to have agreed terms on my first professional contract – especially here, where I’ve been since I was 10-years-old,” declared Binns. “I’ve worked so hard to get to this point, and to be rewarded feels amazing, but I know there’s much more work to be done and I can’t wait to get back at it.”

Fellow midfielder, Lancaster, is renowned for his tireless and industrial approach to the game. Often deployed at the base of the diamond, his combative style of play is complimented by an ability to seamlessly transition defence to attack with a fine range of passing skills.

His early season form was recognised with an U23s appearance at Ashton Gate and he has featured frequently amongst the substitutes for Devaney.

“I’m buzzing to agree terms on my first professional contract at Barnsley,” insisted Lancaster. “I’ve been here since I was eight and I’m a big supporter, so this is everything I’ve worked for. I’m looking forward to getting back to the club to show what I can do.”

Adept at playing across the midfield or at full-back, Winfield has put his injury concerns well and truly behind him as he has gone on to establish himself as one of the standout performers at academy level.

His versatility is just one of a number of key attributes and he has been rewarded with seven appearances for our U23s in what has been a breakthrough campaign for the youngster.

“I’m buzzing,” asserted Winfield. “It’s a proud moment for me and my family knowing that all the hard work, not just over the last two years, but since I signed at under 11 has paid off. I’ve just got to keep pushing on and I can’t wait to get back.”

Left-sided player Will Calligan, capable of being deployed in defence or midfield, has been offered and agreed a third-year scholar.

Meanwhile, Henry Kendrick has also agreed a one-year extension at Oakwell with a further year option in the club’s favour.

The young goalkeeper, who was amongst the substitutes for our home game against Luton Town in the 2018/19 campaign, has struggled with injuries this term after an impressive pre-season in France and Germany, but is raring to get back into action once football resumes.

“I’m delighted to have agreed a new deal with the club,” he stated. “It’s been a frustrating season for myself due to injuries, but hopefully they’re behind me and I can push on next season.”

Barnsley FC can also confirm that Ali Omar has agreed a six-month extension, which will keep him in South Yorkshire until at least January 2021.

The towering central defender joined the club in the last transfer window and has proved to be a commanding presence in our U23s backline.

“It really means a lot to me and my family,” said Omar. “I would like to thank the club and coaching staff for giving me this opportunity to express myself. Personally, I can’t wait to get started and really push on.”

Midfielder Ethan Erhahon has returned to Scottish Premier League club St Mirren following his loan spell.

The following players are out of contract and have been released by the club:

Sezgin Aleksiev, Jordan Barnett, Sam Fielding, Harry Gagen, Jake Greatorex, Keziah Martin, Josh Olatubosun, Chris Sang, Tommy Willard and Alex Wollerton.

We would like to thank each player for their efforts and commitment during their time at Oakwell and wish them all the very best for the future.

Big splash about the retained 3. Greatorex was not worth keeping?

I haven't seen much of the academy teams this season but I thought they had very high hopes for Tommy Willard. So i'm a bit surprised to see him released.

Anyone got opinions on him or the others?

Well sorry to be the merchant of doom but I'll be surprised if the academy continues too much longer .

The cost of running it will most certainly have to be looked at and I can see it closing as part of cost cutting procedures in the near future following this pandemic and subsequent relegation back to league one .

Well over a million quid pa to run I'm led to believe .

Does the Academy actually produce enough though? It's been running about 20 years now.

I can't remember back to the 1980's youth that this club produced because I was too young but I remember a fair few graduates of the 90's and this is before the Academy came along. The likes of Dave Watson, Nicky Eaden, Andy Liddell, Chris Morgan, Jon Parkin, Rory Fallon, Luke Beckett, Anthony Kay, Adie Moses, Scott Jones, Neil Austin to name a few and all went on to have good careers in the football league.

There was also young Chris Jackson who's career was tragically ended through a car accident which disabled him but he had broken into our 1st team and was becoming a regular. I saw him score a great header away at WBA in 1994. I believe he had the ability to go a long way in the game.

These boys were probably on YTS schemes at Oakwell and didnt have the facilities that the academy can offer.

The Academy has produced some good players over the last 20 years- John Stones, Jacob Butterfield, James Bree, Jacob Brown, Mason Holgate, Danny Rose, Scott Flinders, Noble Lazarus, Jordan Clark, Dale Tonge and a few more I have probably missed.

If it does cost a million pounds per season to run (personally I think it's probably more) then in comparison to the years before it was built you have to say that it has been unsuccessful in producing more quality for our 1st team.

When we built the Academy I was buzzing at the thought of more youth players coming through and thought that the future looked bright in that respect. It promised so much, each new manager gasped at the facilities when they came here and I thought it would level the playing field a bit more for a club like ours. However, building the Academy and it's presence alone is not enough. It has to be run properly with structure and geared towards more kids making their name at our club.

What has gone wrong then? Why has it not produced many more kids than when there was no Academy there? Is it simply down to luck in finding talent? How many young talented players look the ballax at an early age, sign up here but don't make the grade? Have we run it badly? Is it too difficult to bridge the gap?

One of my takes on it is the period between 2006 and 2014 when the club was clinging onto championship football for dear life season after season. Not many of our Academy players actually got a look in, there was too much at stake and the 1st team managers were very reluctant to give our youth a chance because we were often in a precarious position in the bottom end of the Championship.

The clubs philosophy has changed in the last few years where we now of course play youngsters, albeit youngsters that we've brought in from other clubs. However, I'd say that the chances of our Academy players getting a 1st team opportunity have increased compared to the years before which is a good thing.

I was impressed when Daniel Stendel arrived here and said that from the 1st team downwards the youth, kids would be trained and geared into the high press style that he wanted to implement throughout the club. That to me is how our Academy and the club could succeed in the long run, everyone singing from the same hymn sheet. Unfortunately we don't have our head coaches here long enough to leave their legacy.

That's a great post pass :star:

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Originally Posted by pass_and_move

Does the Academy actually produce enough though? It's been running about 20 years now.

I can't remember back to the 1980's youth that this club produced because I was too young but I remember a fair few graduates of the 90's and this is before the Academy came along. The likes of Dave Watson, Nicky Eaden, Andy Liddell, Chris Morgan, Jon Parkin, Rory Fallon, Luke Beckett, Anthony Kay, Adie Moses, Scott Jones, Neil Austin to name a few and all went on to have good careers in the football league.

There was also young Chris Jackson who's career was tragically ended through a car accident which disabled him but he had broken into our 1st team and was becoming a regular. I saw him score a great header away at WBA in 1994. I believe he had the ability to go a long way in the game.

These boys were probably on YTS schemes at Oakwell and didnt have the facilities that the academy can offer.

The Academy has produced some good players over the last 20 years- John Stones, Jacob Butterfield, James Bree, Jacob Brown, Mason Holgate, Danny Rose, Scott Flinders, Noble Lazarus, Jordan Clark, Dale Tonge and a few more I have probably missed.

If it does cost a million pounds per season to run (personally I think it's probably more) then in comparison to the years before it was built you have to say that it has been unsuccessful in producing more quality for our 1st team.

When we built the Academy I was buzzing at the thought of more youth players coming through and thought that the future looked bright in that respect. It promised so much, each new manager gasped at the facilities when they came here and I thought it would level the playing field a bit more for a club like ours. However, building the Academy and it's presence alone is not enough. It has to be run properly with structure and geared towards more kids making their name at our club.

What has gone wrong then? Why has it not produced many more kids than when there was no Academy there? Is it simply down to luck in finding talent? How many young talented players look the ballax at an early age, sign up here but don't make the grade? Have we run it badly? Is it too difficult to bridge the gap?

One of my takes on it is the period between 2006 and 2014 when the club was clinging onto championship football for dear life season after season. Not many of our Academy players actually got a look in, there was too much at stake and the 1st team managers were very reluctant to give our youth a chance because we were often in a precarious position in the bottom end of the Championship.

The clubs philosophy has changed in the last few years where we now of course play youngsters, albeit youngsters that we've brought in from other clubs. However, I'd say that the chances of our Academy players getting a 1st team opportunity have increased compared to the years before which is a good thing.

I was impressed when Daniel Stendel arrived here and said that from the 1st team downwards the youth, kids would be trained and geared into the high press style that he wanted to implement throughout the club. That to me is how our Academy and the club could succeed in the long run, everyone singing from the same hymn sheet. Unfortunately we don't have our head coaches here long enough to leave their legacy.

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It's actually not down to anything we've done wrong Pass in my opinion .

The games changed even down to academy level , the best talented kids around the country are getting snapped up because they are receiving substantial financial offers from the big clubs .

Chelsea , Man City etc are stock piling these kids with 99% of them with absolutely no chance of ever seeing first team action .

The way forward in my opinion is to become the club who specialise in taking these young players at 19 and 20 years old when they are released from the big PL clubs .

You may as well abandon the whole programme from school age to under 20's in my opinion and concentrate on these players who are released .

I'd keep the U23 part of it to give these lads the opportunity but other than that I'd knock the rest on the head .

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Originally Posted by animallittle3

It's actually not down to anything we've done wrong Pass in my opinion .

The games changed even down to academy level , the best talented kids around the country are getting snapped up because they are receiving substantial financial offers from the big clubs .

Chelsea , Man City etc are stock piling these kids with 99% of them with absolutely no chance of ever seeing first team action .

The way forward in my opinion is to become the club who specialise in taking these young players at 19 and 20 years old when they are released from the big PL clubs .

You may as well abandon the whole programme from school age to under 20's in my opinion and concentrate on these players who are released .

I'd keep the U23 part of it to give these lads the opportunity but other than that I'd knock the rest on the head .

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Some interesting points made there Animal. I think back to the early 90s when Mel Machin was the manager. He went down the route of signing young players who weren't really going to get a serious look in at the big clubs. He brought in the likes of Andy Rammell from Manchester United, Gerry Taggart and Gary Flemming from Manchester City, Owen Archdeacon from Celtic. All went on to do very well for this club and were good players in a pretty solid Barnsley team but as you say, times have changed.

In more recent times we've brought in some good young players from bigger clubs- Adam Hammill, Lewin Nyatanga, Luke Steele, Danny Nardiello, Jacob Mellis etc

It can also go the other way of course. I remember Dale Jennings, Devante Cole, Kelvin Etuhu, Reece Brown, Emmanuel Frimpong who were all bigged up because of their pedigree at big clubs but they turned out to be below average and have gone on to pretty much nothing since being here.

When you're looking for the young premiership players in the age range you mention, I think of players like Adam Armstrong, Ashley Fletcher, Ivan Toney and Ryan Kent who have all been here on loan, done well then been sold to someone else by their parent clubs which begs the question- Can we afford these type of players even having already looked at them in action? Clearly not.

Ashley Fletcher went for 4m to West ham then onto Boro for 6.5m. Ryan Kent 6.5m to Rangers. Both of these way out of our depth.

More realistic was Adam Armstrong, Blackburn paid 1.75million for him. Ivan Toney cost Peterborough 700k which now looks a bargain although he hasn't played in the championship. We obviously weren't prepared to stick our neck out and gamble at the time on either player coming good for us in the Championship.

Of course Cauley Woodrow has been a great acquisition and highlights the type of player that you're on about. We went right under the radar signing him. It'd be nice to drop on more players like him but they're few and far between.

Scrapping the Academy wouldn't be a good idea in my honest opinion, especially with the route this club has taken in the last 5 years. If you'd have suggested it a few years ago I probably would've agreed with you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pass_and_move

Some interesting points made there Animal. I think back to the early 90s when Mel Machin was the manager. He went down the route of signing young players who weren't really going to get a serious look in at the big clubs. He brought in the likes of Andy Rammell from Manchester United, Gerry Taggart and Gary Flemming from Manchester City, Owen Archdeacon from Celtic. All went on to do very well for this club and were good players in a pretty solid Barnsley team but as you say, times have changed.

In more recent times we've brought in some good young players from bigger clubs- Adam Hammill, Lewin Nyatanga, Luke Steele, Danny Nardiello, Jacob Mellis etc

It can also go the other way of course. I remember Dale Jennings, Devante Cole, Kelvin Etuhu, Reece Brown, Emmanuel Frimpong who were all bigged up because of their pedigree at big clubs but they turned out to be below average and have gone on to pretty much nothing since being here.

When you're looking for the young premiership players in the age range you mention, I think of players like Adam Armstrong, Ashley Fletcher, Ivan Toney and Ryan Kent who have all been here on loan, done well then been sold to someone else by their parent clubs which begs the question- Can we afford these type of players even having already looked at them in action? Clearly not.

Ashley Fletcher went for 4m to West ham then onto Boro for 6.5m. Ryan Kent 6.5m to Rangers. Both of these way out of our depth.

More realistic was Adam Armstrong, Blackburn paid 1.75million for him. Ivan Toney cost Peterborough 700k which now looks a bargain although he hasn't played in the championship. We obviously weren't prepared to stick our neck out and gamble at the time on either player coming good for us in the Championship.

Of course Cauley Woodrow has been a great acquisition and highlights the type of player that you're on about. We went right under the radar signing him. It'd be nice to drop on more players like him but they're few and far between.

Scrapping the Academy wouldn't be a good idea in my honest opinion, especially with the route this club has taken in the last 5 years. If you'd have suggested it a few years ago I probably would've agreed with you.

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What's happening is that these kids are going out on loan and gaining a decent value by doing well , the players you highlight are good examples .

The big PL clubs have got this pretty much stitched up haven't they ?

I agree it's a difficult nut to crack but I'm also looking at the academy from a financial perspective and asking are we getting the value out of it ?

You take John Stones and Mason Holgate out of it in the 20 years we've had it and it's a loss maker , even including those two its probably not paid for itself .

Somewhere along the line this thing has to at least pay for itself at a minimum otherwise it just becomes an ideology that doesn't stack up financially .

One Cauley Woodrow or Connor Chaplin costs the same amount as running the academy for an entire year that isn't really producing anything .

It's a difficult conundrum to say the least .

I wouldn’t be surprised to see us drop to a category 3 Academy