Adam Barton

[Guest TheArtistFormallyKnownAsJB]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_7047314,00.html

[UtopianParadigm]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_7047314,00.html

He was in the year below me at primary school! Used to embarrass everyone in the playground.

Cracking player, used to play for Rovers youth when he was little, too! Would be a good move!

[bluebruce]

He was in the year below me at primary school! Used to embarrass everyone in the playground.

Cracking player, used to play for Rovers youth when he was little, too! Would be a good move!

No offence meant at all, and you've seen what you've seen whilst I've never even heard of him...but there were a few lads at my school used to embarass everyone in the playground as well. It doesn't mean that they should be signed for Premiership teams years later.

[Amo]

No offence meant at all, and you've seen what you've seen whilst I've never even heard of him...but there were a few lads at my school used to embarass everyone in the playground as well. It doesn't mean that they should be signed for Premiership teams years later.

But was that based on footballing skills? Or 'cos they made all the kids eat worms?

[UtopianParadigm]

No offence meant at all, and you've seen what you've seen whilst I've never even heard of him...but there were a few lads at my school used to embarass everyone in the playground as well. It doesn't mean that they should be signed for Premiership teams years later.

No, absolutely. I commented in the Transfer Thread after realising that it was a bit daft. I played against Adam quite a lot and I also played against Joe Garner (former Rovers youth now at Nottingham Forest, though loaned out to Scunthorpe). Joe was older than me (by a year, maybe..?) and was obviously very talented at that age. The difference with Adam was his technical ability. Very creative with his feet, impeccable balance and ball control, passing and shooting were very intuitive; instantly knew where to put it.

Whilst I'm not knocking you or your school friends, both of these lads went on to play at Rovers youth level and are now at professional clubs. I think it's safe to assume they're good at playing football. All I was pointing out was that, even for a kid at that age, he looked something special.

[bluebruce]

But was that based on footballing skills? Or 'cos they made all the kids eat worms?

Football skills of course. Maybe he's seen him play at Preston though, which would be a far better litmus test...I don't know.

[bluebruce]

No, absolutely. I commented in the Transfer Thread after realising that it was a bit daft. I played against Adam quite a lot and I also played against Joe Garner (former Rovers youth now at Nottingham Forest, though loaned out to Scunthorpe). Joe was older than me (by a year, maybe..?) and was obviously very talented at that age. The difference with Adam was his technical ability. Very creative with his feet, impeccable balance and ball control, passing and shooting were very intuitive; instantly knew where to put it.

Whilst I'm not knocking you or your school friends, both of these lads went on to play at Rovers youth level and are now at professional clubs. I think it's safe to assume they're good at playing football. All I was pointing out was that, even for a kid at that age, he looked something special.

Well actually, I played against and with Paul Gallagher a few times, and with Matt Derbyshire, who have both done more than Garner or Barton so far. So I've also had a taste of what future Premier League players were capable of at youth level. And whilst they both stood out as cracking players, there were others I've played with who seemed similarly gifted, and like they could have made it. If I were to make guesses about two of the more gifted ones at my school, one was always going to be branded too short, and one just never had the right attitude (worth remembering that even at his later stages Gally's failure was put down to attitude). In my junior team, I played with a cracking keeper behind me who seemed like he could definitely make it, and had already had a spell at Rovers youth team before being discharged. Scouts came to watch another lad, who simply stopped growing and slowed down (initially his height and long legs had given him a significant speed advantage over the other lads in our age group and he was ripping it up). There were all sorts of players knocking around at that age getting attention from pro clubs and looking like they could make it. The point I'm making is that all sorts can happen in the intervening years. Though I think you already realised that, so maybe I've laboured that point a bit

[UtopianParadigm]

Well actually, I played against and with Paul Gallagher a few times, and with Matt Derbyshire, who have both done more than Garner or Barton so far. So I've also had a taste of what future Premier League players were capable of at youth level. And whilst they both stood out as cracking players, there were others I've played with who seemed similarly gifted, and like they could have made it. If I were to make guesses about two of the more gifted ones at my school, one was always going to be branded too short, and one just never had the right attitude (worth remembering that even at his later stages Gally's failure was put down to attitude). In my junior team, I played with a cracking keeper behind me who seemed like he could definitely make it, and had already had a spell at Rovers youth team before being discharged. Scouts came to watch another lad, who simply stopped growing and slowed down (initially his height and long legs had given him a significant speed advantage over the other lads in our age group and he was ripping it up). There were all sorts of players knocking around at that age getting attention from pro clubs and looking like they could make it. The point I'm making is that all sorts can happen in the intervening years. Though I think you already realised that, so maybe I've laboured that point a bit

I see your point. There're a multitude of factors to consider. Those "intervening years" are indeed crucial in a player's development.

Whilst not wanting to gossip, I know that Joe Garner struggled with a lot of personal problems over the past few years and I don't doubt that is a contributing factor to his slowing in development. When he was a little lad, he did have Arsenal and Manchester United's youth setups after him, but it hasn't worked out for him.

I think Adam would've continued to develop at Rovers whilst he was here. The whole reason he was released was because of a pretty serious back injury. PNE gambled upon him being able to recover his promise, but he did and then he signed professional terms at 17. He's absolutely taken a step down in going to a Championship youth setup, but it was almost certainly his only route back into the game. I'd also point out that Liverpool were sniffing around him in February and there was talk of £5million. It's not a bad road of recovery.

Whilst I see your point about your judgement of people that could've made the step up, my answer would be, the problems that affected Adam in his intervening years between my playing against him and now have been overcome quite comprehensively and people are taking note of him again. Time will tell, but I'd be willing to stick my neck out and say that he'll become a good Premiership player in the future.

Edit: I'd also add, we won't get him cheap/free. I'd expect whoever does get him will be getting him for a sizeable fee. I think if we do pay the right sum for him, it'll indicate how highly he is rated.

[vintageadidas]

Well actually, I played against and with Paul Gallagher a few times, and with Matt Derbyshire, who have both done more than Garner or Barton so far. So I've also had a taste of what future Premier League players were capable of at youth level. And whilst they both stood out as cracking players, there were others I've played with who seemed similarly gifted, and like they could have made it. If I were to make guesses about two of the more gifted ones at my school, one was always going to be branded too short, and one just never had the right attitude (worth remembering that even at his later stages Gally's failure was put down to attitude). In my junior team, I played with a cracking keeper behind me who seemed like he could definitely make it, and had already had a spell at Rovers youth team before being discharged. Scouts came to watch another lad, who simply stopped growing and slowed down (initially his height and long legs had given him a significant speed advantage over the other lads in our age group and he was ripping it up). There were all sorts of players knocking around at that age getting attention from pro clubs and looking like they could make it. The point I'm making is that all sorts can happen in the intervening years. Though I think you already realised that, so maybe I've laboured that point a bit

Gallagher -really? I played against him loads of times and i never ever thought he would make the Prem. We had a couple of better players in our team.

Gally was cerainly pushed from the sidelines whenever we played. Those of you ITK will know what i mean.

[UtopianParadigm]

Gallagher -really? I played against him loads of times and i never ever thought he would make the Prem. We had a couple of better players in our team.

Gally was cerainly pushed from the sidelines whenever we played. Those of you ITK will know what i mean.

Can you elaborate on the "pushed from the sidelines" comment?

[The Rover of Finland]

The midfielder?

[Makey11]

He won't come back. When he was at rovers he complained about back problems but physio told him it was growing pains and rovers released him. Paul Simpson took him on at pne and sent him for a proper scan.... Turned out he had 2 broken bones in his back....

[bluebruce]

Gallagher -really? I played against him loads of times and i never ever thought he would make the Prem. We had a couple of better players in our team.

Gally was cerainly pushed from the sidelines whenever we played. Those of you ITK will know what i mean.

That's sorta what I was saying though, but not as harshly as your opinion of him perhaps. When our school played his, I heard him being hyped up before the game. Can't remember how old we were, but it was already known clubs were looking at him I think. That day I remember he seemed pretty good but I didn't understand the level of hype. I don't recall if I was actually marking him myself, but I came up against him a good few times, and he didn't exactly destroy me like I'd expected, but was definitely pretty decent. That's going off memory from a long time ago though. However, I think it was a year or two later when he played for my junior team for a couple of games (he wasn't actually registered for us, he was at Rovers Academy, but we snuck him in so I'm not gonna say which team we were) against Barrowford Celtic and Blackburn Boys, who were the best teams in the league...he almost single-handedly demolished them both. Well, we were a decent outfit ourselves, so single-handedly is a bit much, but he bagged most or all of the goals, and looked very good those times. He seemed to have developed a lot since the first time I saw him.

But anyway, the point I was making was that although he looked quite good, I wasn't backing him to make the Premier League (didn't even realise it was him turning out for Rovers til someone pointed it out!), and that I've played with and against others who seemed on at least the same level.

[joey_big_nose]

Gallagher -really? I played against him loads of times and i never ever thought he would make the Prem. We had a couple of better players in our team.

Gally was cerainly pushed from the sidelines whenever we played. Those of you ITK will know what i mean.

Hum, funny that. I always thought that technically Gally was excellent - maybe not quite up there with Dunn but not far off - he just lacked the workrate and pace to make the top of his game. By most accounts he is one of the best players at Leicester. I think he will make a cameo back in the prem at some point with a promoted club.

CHeck this out for praise! From wiki....:-

On 12 March 2011, Gallagher made 3 assists as Leicester beat Scunthorpe 3-0 at Glanford Park,^[21] earning praise from manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, who believed "he is not far from Beckham in terms of his delivery of set-pieces."^[22] He signed a contract extension with the club on 15 March 2011, which would last until the summer of 2015.^[23]

[greco82]

That's sorta what I was saying though, but not as harshly as your opinion of him perhaps. When our school played his, I heard him being hyped up before the game. Can't remember how old we were, but it was already known clubs were looking at him I think. That day I remember he seemed pretty good but I didn't understand the level of hype. I don't recall if I was actually marking him myself, but I came up against him a good few times, and he didn't exactly destroy me like I'd expected, but was definitely pretty decent. That's going off memory from a long time ago though. However, I think it was a year or two later when he played for my junior team for a couple of games (he wasn't actually registered for us, he was at Rovers Academy, but we snuck him in so I'm not gonna say which team we were) against Barrowford Celtic and Blackburn Boys, who were the best teams in the league...he almost single-handedly demolished them both. Well, we were a decent outfit ourselves, so single-handedly is a bit much, but he bagged most or all of the goals, and looked very good those times. He seemed to have developed a lot since the first time I saw him.

But anyway, the point I was making was that although he looked quite good, I wasn't backing him to make the Premier League (didn't even realise it was him turning out for Rovers til someone pointed it out!), and that I've played with and against others who seemed on at least the same level.

Ah but if I'm right Bruce you were mentored by the best....me!

[bluebruce]

Ah but if I'm right Bruce you were mentored by the best....me!

Aye? Who are you then? PM me if you think you know me..

[greco82]

Aye? Who are you then? PM me if you think you know me..

Have done....