Egan-Riley

[FCBurnley]

I noticed Harry McGuire at the Sheff U play off second game. Made me wonder if he is going to them if they are promoted. His experience and goals might be enough to keep us up if Sunderland beat Blades. Could be just what we need

[Vegas Claret]

At least it's happened early, you would imagine the club have plans in place for all possible circumstances

[Darnhill Claret]

Yes, good luck to CJ in his future career. Wish it had been with us, but these things happen.
Hopefully we'll have an excellent replacement lined up. Maybe Sunderland will lose their final and Parker might try to get Dan Ballard here. Maybe VK misjudged his potential.

[Vegas Claret]

I noticed Harry McGuire at the Sheff U play off second game. Made me wonder if he is going to them if they are promoted. His experience and goals might be enough to keep us up if Sunderland beat Blades. Could be just what we need

he's on 190K a week............

[nyclaret]

Wouldn’t be surprised if we go in for Tanganga as his replacement

[burnley007]

Has this been confirmed by any respectable journo?

[Dark Cloud]

It's a shame, but I don't think it could be helped tbh. Kompany signed him because he was young, he had rave reviews and apparently great potential and the player himself was pragmatic enough to know his chances of progressing at City were always going to be very limited, so like others before him a move to us looked a sound decision all round. Unfortunately, he struggled to impress Kompany sufficiently to be on the first team sheet and was farmed out to both Hibernian and PSV and was almost a forgotten man. Nobody was at all fussed whether he stayed or went or what the status of his contract was. At beginning of the season just gone he really wasn't expected to feature much or be a vital cog in our machine and Parker certainly didn't think he would be. He only got his opportunity by pure chance and he grabbed it and has absolutely flown and proved people wrong in the best possible way. After what went before though, it's not surprising he wants away and his mind was probably made up a long time ago.

[Goliath]

It's a shame, but I don't think it could be helped tbh. Kompany signed him because he was young, he had rave reviews and apparently great potential and the player himself was pragmatic enough to know his chances of progressing at City were always going to be very limited, so like others before him a move to us looked a sound decision all round. Unfortunately, he struggled to impress Kompany sufficiently to be on the first team sheet and was farmed out to both Hibernian and PSV and was almost a forgotten man. Nobody was at all fussed whether he stayed or went or what the status of his contract was. At beginning of the season just gone he really wasn't expected to feature much or be a vital cog in our machine and Parker certainly didn't think he would be. He only got his opportunity by pure chance and he grabbed it and has absolutely flown and proved people wrong in the best possible way. After what went before though, it's not surprising he wants away and his mind was probably made up a long time ago.

It's incredibly petty if he's holding a grudge about a previous manager not rating him enough at the age of 19 to play him. Especially when we went onto win the league with over 100 points

If that's what he's making his career decisions off then he's a bit daft. It's a completely different regime now and he clearly has a manager who now does really value him and would have him as first choice in a PL team

It'd be a strange thing to give up just because you didn't like the previous manager

[Dark Cloud]

It's incredibly petty if he's holding a grudge about a previous manager not rating him enough at the age of 19 to play him. Especially when we went onto win the league with over 100 points

If that's what he's making his career decisions off then he's a bit daft. It's a completely different regime now and he clearly has a manager who now does really value him and would have him as first choice in a PL team

It'd be a strange thing to give up just because you didn't like the previous manager

Fair enough, but let's not forget that Parker really didn't seem to rate him either and he brought in Worrall and played him and it was only because he (and others who would almost certainly have got the nod) were injured that we had to throw CJ in and he'll know that. Also, he might just be being realistic too. Play a season in the PL with us, maybe win 6? games in a seriously struggling team, conceed so many goals it looks like a cricket score and get relegated around Easter (like O'Shea has now done twice!!) or move to somewhere where he can learn, grow, compete without horrendous pressure and maybe get the experience to become a player who can hold his own at an established PL club.

[Claret Till I Die]

I noticed Harry McGuire at the Sheff U play off second game. Made me wonder if he is going to them if they are promoted. His experience and goals might be enough to keep us up if Sunderland beat Blades. Could be just what we need

Maybe he's just a fan and/or started his career there

[dougcollins]

I noticed Harry McGuire at the Sheff U play off second game. Made me wonder if he is going to them if they are promoted. His experience and goals might be enough to keep us up if Sunderland beat Blades. Could be just what we need

From Sheffield, boyhood Blade.

[Dark Cloud]

Re CJER: Let's also remember that when players are approaching the final year of a contract, it's clearly standard practice to begin tieing them down to a further deal IF you really rate them and want them to stay. Last summer nobody was bothered as CJ entered the final year of his deal and as far as we're aware no negotiations took place regarding his longer term future with us, because with the position he was in at the time I'm certain the player would have signed a new deal had we been offering it. 6 months down the line the landscape was wholly different. E-R was playing every week and getting rave reviews and obviously attracting bags of attention. No doubt we were suddenly waving all manner of new contracts under his nose, but by then it was too late.

[Conroy92]

It's incredibly petty if he's holding a grudge about a previous manager not rating him enough at the age of 19 to play him. Especially when we went onto win the league with over 100 points

If that's what he's making his career decisions off then he's a bit daft. It's a completely different regime now and he clearly has a manager who now does really value him and would have him as first choice in a PL team

It'd be a strange thing to give up just because you didn't like the previous manager

It's not just himself. Trafford is also linked to this.

They have the same agent. To which one of, is a family member.

The agent was not happy with the treatment of either Trafford or Egan Riley by Vincent Kompany and the club as a whole.

I think the feeling was that Trafford was hung out to dry and the supporters were very vocal at the time. And Egan Riley the club tried desperately to ship him out.

We talk about loyality like it's this great thing that footballers should have. Yet fans were booing Trafford last year.
Some people will be happy to forget. And others won't.

For what its worth, when Trafford and Egan Riley did the joint interview together after promotion, I had a feeling they were both off.

[Longsider]

Well at least he won't strengthen a rival

[boatshed bill]

Some absolutely morons on here at times, how quick people forget how he was treated prior to this season and just how committed and impressive he was this season for us. If he goes i wish him nothing but the very best and thanks for being part of a truly historical and record breaking team.

From what I have read he's been the lowest paid player in our squad this season, presumably because he wasn't expected to be a regular starter.
Can't say i blame him for wanting away.
Trafford next then.

[Goliath]

It's not just himself. Trafford is also linked to this.

They have the same agent. To which one of, is a family member.

The agent was not happy with the treatment of either Trafford or Egan Riley by Vincent Kompany and the club as a whole.

I think the feeling was that Trafford was hung out to dry and the supporters were very vocal at the time. And Egan Riley the club tried desperately to ship him out.

We talk about loyality like it's this great thing that footballers should have. Yet fans were booing Trafford last year.
Some people will be happy to forget. And others won't.

For what its worth, when Trafford and Egan Riley did the joint interview together after promotion, I had a feeling they were both off.

How were they hung out to dry by the club? It's the manager who was choosing the team? Trafford got what he wanted in first team Premier league football. It's as much his fault for signing the contract to be first choice keeper in a league he wasn't ready for.

He'd have complained if he was on the bench all season as well I'm sure so you can't win. I'd like to see how he'd have been treated by fans of other clubs. I don't think it'd have been favourable with the record we had, that's natural. He was lucky he played for a club that's actually pretty good for giving stick to their own. He'd have been properly booed at a lot of clubs.

[Raconteur]

It's not just himself. Trafford is also linked to this.

They have the same agent. To which one of, is a family member.

The agent was not happy with the treatment of either Trafford or Egan Riley by Vincent Kompany and the club as a whole.

I think the feeling was that Trafford was hung out to dry and the supporters were very vocal at the time. And Egan Riley the club tried desperately to ship him out.

We talk about loyality like it's this great thing that footballers should have. Yet fans were booing Trafford last year.
Some people will be happy to forget. And others won't.

For what its worth, when Trafford and Egan Riley did the joint interview together after promotion, I had a feeling they were both off.

Has Trafford recently changed agent .
I was under the impression that David Eyres was James Trafford's agent ?

[scamander]

I wish CJ all the best but a genuine concern is that he makes the mistake of moving too early. He played very well in the Championship, which is miles away from the expectations he'll have at a new club in the Prem.

The danger is that a few underwhelming performances and he's benched. Cue loan move in January. There is a steady tradition of players who have discovered this.

With the caveat of me not knowing all the facts I would have thought a year extension would work well for both parties. He gets a move next summer but gets Premier League experience in the meantime. He's a cb so plenty of time to develop his game.

[morninbob]

I bet he's just been offered the Strasbourg deal, doesn't mean he's going to sign it though.

[ClaretTony]

We would have been promoted with Delcroix as centerback and Hdlaky in goal.

I don’t think we’d have been close with either

[Steddyman]

Scumbag move my Chelsea to avoid paying compensation.

[Stayingup]

Could we get Harwood Bellis back?

[aggi]

Has this been confirmed by any respectable journo?

Well, that depends whether you class Talksport as respectable journos ...

All from them it seems.

[dougcollins]

Of course, the agent doesn't want them to move because he might make a huge wad of cash out of it.

Course he wants them to move.

[aggi]

Has Trafford recently changed agent .
I was under the impression that David Eyres was James Trafford's agent ?

CAA Stellar are Trafford's agents. Who are a big, big agency.

[dougcollins]

I remember David Eyres winning a bike for being the 'Coca Cola Man of the Match' and then attempting to ride it on the pitch.

[helmclaret]

It's not just himself. Trafford is also linked to this.

They have the same agent. To which one of, is a family member.

The agent was not happy with the treatment of either Trafford or Egan Riley by Vincent Kompany and the club as a whole.

I think the feeling was that Trafford was hung out to dry and the supporters were very vocal at the time. And Egan Riley the club tried desperately to ship him out.

We talk about loyality like it's this great thing that footballers should have. Yet fans were booing Trafford last year.
Some people will be happy to forget. And others won't.

For what its worth, when Trafford and Egan Riley did the joint interview together after promotion, I had a feeling they were both off.

David Eyres has been Trafford’s agent for a few years now.

[Enola Gay]

The entire backline was left exposed by our tactics.

They had little to no protection and we played one of the highest defensive lines in Europe's top 5/6 leagues (top 6 percentile).

We need more physicality across the pitch, this opens up a spot to go and grab a dominant CB to partner Esteve.

Beyer may well become a RB for us in the PL - I know he's played there for Mönchengladbach. UTC!

I realise it's become yet another CM/UTC tenet of faith that the relegation was all on Kompany but it's probably way past time that people realised the players have some agency in their performances.

They weren't all wired up to an Xbox with Kompany asleep at the controller.

[BurnleyFC]

From what I have read he's been the lowest paid player in our squad this season, presumably because he wasn't expected to be a regular starter.
Can't say i blame him for wanting away.
Trafford next then.

Quite right that at the start of the season, he would’ve been the lowest paid player in the starting eleven. It was his first proper, full season.

Obviously as the season progressed he’s more than earned his pay rise and/or move.

[BurnleyFC]

This is a bit like a Poundland Trent Alexander-Arnold saga!

[fatboy47]

Re CJER: Let's also remember that when players are approaching the final year of a contract, it's clearly standard practice to begin tieing them down to a further deal IF you really rate them and want them to stay. Last summer nobody was bothered as CJ entered the final year of his deal and as far as we're aware no negotiations took place regarding his longer term future with us, because with the position he was in at the time I'm certain the player would have signed a new deal had we been offering it. 6 months down the line the landscape was wholly different. E-R was playing every week and getting rave reviews and obviously attracting bags of attention. No doubt we were suddenly waving all manner of new contracts under his nose, but by then it was too late.

I'd guess this isn't far off the mark. At least the club can be thankful that it hasn't been drawn out into pre-season. Hopefully Trafford and Brownhill's situations are boxed off equally promptly.

[TheFamilyCat]

Could we get Harwood Bellis back?

No, because of how Vincent Kompany treated him. Probably.

[Dark Cloud]

Harwood-Bellis isn't the answer. Saints have JUST reached 12 points!! Crikey!

[CoolClaret]

I realise it's become yet another CM/UTC tenet of faith that the relegation was all on Kompany but it's probably way past time that people realised the players have some agency in their performances.

They weren't all wired up to an Xbox with Kompany asleep at the controller.

What did I write that you disagree with?

Of course, they have agency, and of course, we were always going to be up against it, but the fact remains is we had an inexperienced, brand-new backline, and we gave them little protection and expected them to defend in space, man for man (for the most part).

Defenders hate running with their backs to goal. Now, if we hadn't given the ball away so much and could have controlled possession in the opposition's half, then there would be no problem. However, we didn't (because it's hard to do in the PL), hence we were set up for failure and the defenders/goalkeeper were left exposed.

They even tried playing with two DMs a bit later into the season to plug some gaps in the midfield but to no avail.

Why do you think Mee and Tarky had top blocks/clearance stats basically every season when Dyche was manager?

[Superjohnnyfrancis]

He's been treated like a squad player until this season with loads of loans out. Can't blame him if he goes to France for a mid table easy ride rather than a backs against the wall relegation fight. Maybe the club were going to let him leave on a free before this season happened.

[Devils_Advocate]

As good as Parker has been this season the players will be aware he has failed in the Premier League twice so its understandable that players like Egan-Riley, Trafford and Brownhill might not want to stick around

[helmclaret]

Hahahahahahaha!

[FCBurnley]

As good as Parker has been this season the players will be aware he has failed in the Premier League twice so its understandable that players like Egan-Riley, Trafford and Brownhill might not want to stick around

Farke off

[dougcollins]

As good as Parker has been this season the players will be aware he has failed in the Premier League twice so its understandable that players like Egan-Riley, Trafford and Brownhill might not want to stick around

I'm still struggling to see whether that's one if your typical DA being a **** posts or one of your DA being serious posts.

To be honest, I dont think it matters.

[wilks_bfc]

Has this been confirmed by any respectable journo?

You mean Alex Crook, the man that said that Michael Jackson had to tell Cornet “he was not a load” when he hadn’t realised he was a permanent signing, isn’t a respectable journo?

[Devils_Advocate]

I'm still struggling to see whether that's one if your typical DA being a **** posts or one of your DA being serious posts.

To be honest, I dont think it matters.

Its a parody of how ridiculous some of the posters on here sound when they try to twist and contort their logic to conclude that Kompany is to blame for everything.

Outside the UTC's bubble those viewpoints sound just as farfetched and nonsensical as my comment

[claretspice]

I think the last paragraph is a tad harsh. What ALK have largely done since they came in is sign younger players and on long-ish contracts. To a degree this has paid off with big money sales of the likes of Odobert, Berge, Collins etc and smaller (but decent) profits made on players like O’Shea, Muric, Cornet, Zaroury, Al Dakhil, Vitinho etc.

Egan-Riley came in on a free transfer on a 3-year deal. For whatever reason he wasn’t fancied by the club and looked to be headed for a free transfer. His loan spells at Hibs and Young PSV had gone well, but not spectacularly. He wasn’t being linked with anyone decent, so there wasn’t a great deal of evidence that there was latent talent there than would mean he was going to be in demand at a high level. His development over the last 12 months has probably surprised a lot of people at the club (maybe himself included) and by the time it was realised we had a real player on our hands, the ball was firmly in his court and his departure was always going to be a risk.

The club often come in for stick, but this strikes me as a fairly unique set of circumstances. By and large the club are pretty good at holding the whip hand on talent we’ve developed.

Whilst I agree we've made good profits on a number of players, I'm not sure it's true to say we've maximised value on all of those. Zaroury is a case in point: his value can only have diminished slightly in the last 12 months he was with us. Benson arguably should have been sold after the Kompany promotion if we're being ruthless.

Egan Riley was signed as a development project. He was by all accounts rated at City (he played for their first team), we beat other Championship clubs to his signature, and I thought his brief appearances in the first Kompany season indicated he was a player with good attributes - I really don't think the fact that he had the potential to be a Premier League player should have come as a surprise (or at least, that he had the potential to make the club money in the way Luke McNally did) even if he's realised that potential earlier than we might have assumed last summer. I think many of us were sceptical when he first made the team this season about whether he was ready to hold the shirt or needed more time to grow into the Championship, but the speed with which he put that to bed reflected the underlying potential of the player.

I assume that had we not got promoted at the first attempt under Kompany, he'd have been earmarked for a starting role. But it doesn't appear that he's been made to feel valued at Burnley before this season, or that his development pathway has been especially clear.

There may be lots of reasons for that, but there are lessons to be learnt.

[agreenwood]

Whilst I agree we've made good profits on a number of players, I'm not sure it's true to say we've maximised value on all of those. Zaroury is a case in point: his value can only have diminished slightly in the last 12 months he was with us. Benson arguably should have been sold after the Kompany promotion if we're being ruthless.

Egan Riley was signed as a development project. He was by all accounts rated at City (he played for their first team), we beat other Championship clubs to his signature, and I thought his brief appearances in the first Kompany season indicated he was a player with good attributes - I really don't think the fact that he had the potential to be a Premier League player should have come as a surprise even if he's realised that potential earlier than we might have assumed last summer. I think many of us were sceptical when he first made the team this season about whether he would hold the shirt, but the speed with which he put that to bed reflected the underlying potential of the player.

I assume that had we not got promoted at the first attempt under Kompany, he'd have been earmarked for a starting role. But it doesn't appear that he's been made to feel valued at Burnley before this season, or that his development pathway has been especially clear.

There may be lots of reasons for that, but there are lessons to be learnt.

If Egan-Riley didn’t want to extend his 3 year deal because he wasn’t playing prior to this season and then decided to wait out the season once he had established himself, I’m really not sure what the club could learn. Unless the lesson is to sign everyone to contracts longer than 3 years or extend them before they’re proved themselves (which assumes they’d all be willing to do either of those things).

It strikes me that this is a bit of a one off so far in the tenure of ALK.

As for whether “it’s true to say we’ve maximised value” on our sales, I’m assuming you’re addressing that to someone else, because I never suggested that we have.

[claretspice]

If Egan-Riley didn’t want to extend his 3 year deal because he wasn’t playing prior to this season and then decided to wait out the season once he had established himself, I’m really not sure what the club could learn. Unless the lesson is to sign everyone to contracts longer than 3 years or extend them before they’re proved themselves (which assumes they’d all be willing to do either of those things).

It strikes me that this is a bit of a one off so far in the tenure of ALK.

As for whether “it’s true to say we’ve maximised value” on our sales, I’m assuming you’re addressing that to someone else, because I never suggested that we have.

Regarding maximising value - that was more of a general qualification to your valid point that we've done OK at selling players, AG.

I think one lesson to learn would certainly be that a 3 year contract passes by very quickly when you are signing one for the future. But I think another would be to manage the expectations and development pathway for a player so that they feel a part of something even if they aren't featuring. Egan Riley is on record saying that he didn't feel particularly well disposed towards Burnley before this season, and it doesn't look to me as though he felt looked after by the club. Perhaps circumstances conspired to mean there was no way for him to play for Burnley before this season, but there have been plenty of players for whom that has been true but who still ended up signing new contracts because they felt valued within a squad and had been made to understand how they might ultimately get their chance. Egan Riley ended up with a couple of pretty random loan spells and otherwise on the margins.

Put simply, if you're going to sign players like that, have a plan for them and look after them.

[agreenwood]

Regarding maximising value - that was more of a general qualification to your valid point that we've done OK at selling players, AG.

I think one lesson to learn would certainly be that a 3 year contract passes by very quickly when you are signing one for the future. But I think another would be to manage the expectations and development pathway for a player so that they feel a part of something. Egan Riley is on record saying that he didn't feel particularly well disposed towards Burnley before this season, and it doesn't look to me as though he felt looked after by the club. Perhaps circumstances conspired to mean there was no way for him to play for Burnley before this season, but there have been plenty of players for whom that has been true but who still ended up signing new contracts because they felt valued within a squad and had been made to understand how they might ultimately get their chance.

Maybe, but ultimately regardless of well looked after he might have felt, only he and his agent will ever know how likely he was to sign a contract for a club who wasn’t playing him until the final year of his contract.

[Dark Cloud]

I think after his initial loan spell at Hibs they (and the fans) were sufficiently impressed to want to take him permanently and we said no, but then pretty much immediately packed him off to Holland.

[aggi]

It's not just himself. Trafford is also linked to this.

They have the same agent. To which one of, is a family member.

The agent was not happy with the treatment of either Trafford or Egan Riley by Vincent Kompany and the club as a whole.

I think the feeling was that Trafford was hung out to dry and the supporters were very vocal at the time. And Egan Riley the club tried desperately to ship him out.

We talk about loyality like it's this great thing that footballers should have. Yet fans were booing Trafford last year.
Some people will be happy to forget. And others won't.

For what its worth, when Trafford and Egan Riley did the joint interview together after promotion, I had a feeling they were both off.

They don't have the same agent though

[Bordeauxclaret]

No, because of how Vincent Kompany treated him. Probably.

His agent held the door open for someone on the way out of The Park View and didn’t get a thank you so I’m afraid that one is dead in the water.

[JimmyRobbo]

He's had a great season. He's played well above expectations and was a cornerstone of our defence.

Having said that, I don't mind him leaving. I don't think he's up to the prem, in any way. Far too small and a liability at CB.

I don't mind him leaving but I'm sad we'll get nothing for him.

[TheFamilyCat]

They don't have the same agent though

They do, it's David Eyres' mum.