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New Posh signing Tyrone Barnett: ‘The best striker outside Premier League’
Tyrone Barnett celebrate his first goal against Cheltenham Photo: Jon Rigby
STEVE Evans believes Posh have just signed the best striker in the Football League
The Crawley boss admits he’s devastated to have lost Tyrone Barnett from his own League Two promotion battle, but he’s happy that he’s joined a club which will improve him further.
Crawley paid Macclesfield just £125,000 for Barnett (26) last summer, but they’ve now sold him for almost 10 times that amount. Evans believes the £1 million plus fee is still a bargain for a striker with no weaknesses.
Factfile: TYRONE BARNETT
Football League
Club Apps Goals
Macclesfield 51 13
Crawley 33 15
TOTALS 84 28
======
Also played for Rushall Olympic, Telford, Willenhall United, Hednesford Town.
“Tyrone has got the lot,” said Evans, who used to live in Peterborough. “I have got through life without being jealous of anyone, but I am very jealous of Darren Ferguson today.
“He has just signed the best striker outside of the Premier League. I have no doubts about that and I don’t think I’m the only one with that opinion.
“Tyrone is quick, he’s strong, he’s unbeatable in the air and his attitude is fantastic. He gives 100 per cent in every game and the Posh fans will love him and I believe he will love them.
“I’m devastated to lose him, but my board accepted the offer and that’s the end of it.
“I won’t bother searching for a replacement because there isn’t one, but I am delighted though that he’s chosen to go to Posh because they are a club guaranteed to look after him and to improve him.
“I know Darren and his chairman and Barry Fry have been chasing him for weeks. Darren was here for a recent game against Cheltenham and left at half-time because he’d seen enough to know good Tyrone is.
“The whole football world were here that night and I fielded six phone calls from Championship clubs the next morning asking about him.
“Darragh MacAnthony has again put his money where his mouth is though and I believe Tyrone has joined the perfect club for him. He will go further than Posh in time.”
Evans deserves great credit for spotting Barnett. The striker didn’t play a Football League game until he was 24 when he joined Macclesfield from non-league Hednesford Town in 2010.
Barnett didn’t exactly set the world alight at Moss Rose for whom he scored just 13 goals in 45 League Two appearances last season.
But Evans was always convinced he’d spotted a gem.
“It took Darren 45 minutes to be convinced about Tyrone, but it took me just 20 minutes,” Evans added.
“I went to watch another player at Macclesfield, but I soon realised that if Crawley reached the Football League, Tryone had to be my number one target.
“And he’s been sensational for us. All the Posh fans should get on YouTube and see the goals he has scored for us.
“He gets goals from everywhere, from all angles, with both feet and his head.
“I don’t believe Posh were ever in any danger of getting relegated this season, but signing Tyrone pretty much makes it impossible now in my opinion.
“Tyrone is well grounded as well. He had four and a half years at West Brom as a youngster which is a good schooling for anyone, but he became disappointed when he was released which is why he’s taken a while to get back into the Football League.
“Not many were showing an interest in him while he was at Macclesfield and his scoring record wasn’t that brilliant, but I just trusted the judgement of my own eyes and it’s paid off.”
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Comments
There are 14 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
DonB
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 05:51 PM@13 GNAT....Have you forgotten your medication? You Must take it you know!
GNAT
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 04:52 PMBut anyway, Cambridge, Northampton, and even Forest now must be looking at us with envious eyes. UTP KTF and Lads excellent in training
GNAT
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 04:41 PM#11doggo. Sorry mate, if youve just read swannys article that states 1.4million then he is wrong. It was Swannys article at the time, Crawleys website, and Blackpools website that all declared that the fee was £900'000 . I know it seems incredulous that any figures in the ET can ever be wrong , but unfortunately in this instance they are. Still looks a reasonable player though. Roll on saturday. Up the Posh , Keep the Faith, Lads excellent in training.
doggo
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 04:23 PMGnat @9 - I think you will find that the fee agreed with Blackpool was £1.4 million - the same as Posh once the add-ons are included
suzyQ
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 02:12 PML@@king G@@d
GNAT
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:57 PMSorry , according to Wikapedia the fee is 1.1million. If that is true we have paid £200'000 than Crawley accepted from Blackpool. My apologies. Up the Posh. Keep the Faith. Lads excellent in training.
GNAT
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:49 PMSounds like a good signing and will give us the physical presence we need from corners and a perfect foil for the wasp Taylor. The only thing I would question is the fee. It was reported in the transfer window that Blackpool had had a £900'000 transfer fee accepted by Crawley. The only reason the transfer didnt take place was because the player didnt agree personal terms. Why are we therefore paying £100'000 more ? After potentially losing £300'000 on Ajose and another £100'000 on Sinclair which looks likely now we have Barnett, does anyone have to pay a 2% payment on losses as well as a getting a 2% bonus on profits ? Just a thought. Roll on Saturday, hope he plays. Up the Posh, Keep the faith, Lads excellent in training.
the-special-one
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 01:24 PMGood signing for Posh and good ti see them using the same transfer policy. You notice the players that come up from a lower league put in much more hard work and effort, The ones that drop down seem to think "its ok i came from a premier league side i don't need to work hard" As for the Doncaster policy - It is a good idea but i dont rate Dean Saunders managerial skills so i'd say with a better manager those players would be more motivated, Id rather keep Doncaster in the league and put that idiot Ken Bates team in the bottom half.
BobbyPosh
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:34 PMThis looks good. Of course Steve Evans would say things like that about the fellah he has just sold. Presumably the boy only has two legs and one head etc. We have gone through rather a lot of strikers recently, one only lasting 35 minutes, so we must be cautious, It does show that the transfer policy is working and Darragh is putting his money where his mouth is. The policy involves some risk with unproved young players though, and some do not come off. We must be prepared for that. Maybe this deal says that we are going for better players and the risk is getting less. Maybe it just says that we fancy Macclesfield's 2011 team, having now got 27% of it! Thank you Darragh.
staceyf
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:10 PMAbsolutely delighted with this one, now lets go and get Jason Pearce to replace Benno.
mangun
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:08 PMIt just goes to show our policy at Posh is the right one.Look at Doncaster they have several high profile loan players which cost loads more then what we have paid for Barnett. We dont always agree with how our club goes about things but i am really starting to appreciate why we do it that way.
Posh & Go
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:56 AMTypical Steve Evans. Obviously, it took him less than half the time it took Darren to recognise Tyrone's potential! I'm sure the goal tally would have been much greater were it not for all the shocking refereeing decisions Crawley apparently suffer in every single match. Grudgingly though I have to admit Evans seems to get the best out of his players - Sergio looks like a million pound midfielder since he left Posh for Crawley. Good luck to Barnett - should be a great addition to the team.
gilroy
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:54 AMWell put matty, good to see positive comment, great deal thanks DM for your great commitment
MattyWeston
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:42 AMYou dont get a better review than that! I have to say, im absolutely delighted! Posh have really thrown down the gauntlet and proved that they will pull out all of the stops to make sure we consolidate in the Championship. I dont think ive ever been more proud and exited about my football club! A massive well done to all! And a big thankyou to Darragh for putting his money where his mouth is! This is new territory for the club - In that, Tyrone Barnett, although 'Young and Hungry' and from Non league roots, is a player that has been coveted by a number of clubs, many of which are probably bigger in size and budget than Posh. It serves as a ringing endorsement of our transfer policy. Players form other clubs who have ambition are seeing now that Posh is a genuine stage upon which you can prove your talent to big clubs. By no means do i mean our club is a mear stepping stone, but because Ryan Bennett, Aaron McLean and Crain Mackail Smith have earned the right to get big moves it shows that the club are genuine in their claim that they can nurture and improve talent. If we can keep Tyrone Bennet for 2 or 3 years,and his reputation is matched by his performances, as i'm sure it will be, we will be looking at another potential 3-4 million pound sale, at which point we look for another gem. The thing is however, that in time, Posh will become a side that dont need to sell on their most promising talent, because progress on the pitch will be translaed into us becoming a genuine top half of the Championship club. Ok i'm done now.
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