Reds Retained List

Barnsley have announced the list of players retained/offered contracts and those that have been released.  

The release list came as no surprise to me but certainly left me disappointed especially with Kenny Dougall on the list.

We knew that Pinillos and Thiam were on their way out although I think both have suffered harsh treatment at the hands of the current manager.

As for Radlinger, I feel more confident with either Walton or Collins between the sticks so that one doesn’t bother me too much.

I am sure by now that you will have all seen the full lists on the official website so I mainly want to use this article to vent my frustration at the Dougall decision. Although why the retained and offered contract players weren’t on separate lists is beyond me.

Anyway back to Dougall and for me we instantly looked better when he came on on Saturday. He immediately solidified us and enabled Mowatt to come in to the game and get on the ball more.

For me Mowatt is much better when Dougall is alongside him and that in itself is enough of a reason to play Dougall. I also think Dougall gives the defence much more protection than any other midfielder.

I have hopes for Palmer to develop in to a fine midfielder player but I think at this moment in time it just a bit too soon for him.

I digress slightly but whilst I bring Mowatt in to this Dougall debate and my opinion that Mowatt plays better with Dougall, shows how good a player Mowatt is as for me he has been our player of the season by a country mile and Dougall has hardly played all season.

Back to my main frustration with Dougall leaving though. The fact that his contract expires on the 30^th June and it hasn’t been extended for the remainder of this season is what really boils my p***.

We are in a relegation fight and need all hands on deck at this moment in time. We have enough goalkeepers to let Radlinger go so I don’t mind that one. He was never going to use Thiam and Pnillos, although I would much rather have Thiam on the bench over Schmidt if we needed a goal.

Dougall is a different case as the manager used him on Saturday. Whether you think he should be starting or not (I do) is irrelevant. The fact is we are in a relegation fight and one player who helped us to three points on Saturday is no longer part of this football club after the 30^th June.

A complete baffling decision in my opinion not to extend until the season finishes. I personally would sign him for next season too but this isn’t the debate I want to have at the moment.

Surely he would have been happy to play on on his current wages given that he will have no income come the 1^st July.

Most things we do as a club annoys me and this is one decision that annoys me even more than most. Remarkably we have somehow put ourselves in with a sniff of staying up yet we are letting players go that could help us in our battle for survival.

It may be a case of Dougall not wanting to sign any sort of extension given his treatment from this manager but I’m sure he could have been persuaded to stay a little longer without having to break the bank.

I just hope the club, the manager, the board, whoever it is, knows what they are doing and we have enough in locker to stay up.

If we go down, will it be down to this decision alone? Probably not, but we will never know.

Rant over and now on to Saturday against Millwall hoping for another three points for the super reds.

COYR