Adam Hammill

[dom9]

Fabregas wasn't a product of Arsenal's youth setup. They bought him from Barcelona

Just like 90% of our reserves then.

[red g]

The period between 16 and 20 years old is a very difficult period for any sportsmen. We have all known excellent prospects over the years but that is all they are.

To go on to be a top player so much has to go right for you. Many young players have the requisite skills but now you also have to be a superb athlete in the modern game. This is not only a case of do you have the genetic advantages to be an athlete. It is also about how mentally strong you are to do the work, how you cope with the inevitable set backs, how you cope with being away from home, how you cope with the piss taking from the seniors etc.

It is a brutal unforgiving environment and that is why so many prospects fall by the wayside.

Just ask michael Johnson

[SB]

Hammill could be an international if he was Moroccan. Hammill has never been given a chance so how do we know if he's good enough or not? El Zhar has never been impressive even at the reserves. As I said, I'm not using this as stick to beat El Zhar with, he's not a bad player, but I think that under the right guidance and if given a proper chance, Hammill could have been something here.

He get's his chance every time he shows up for training mate. If he'd shown anything on the training park he would have gotten his chance. Just maybe, Rafa knows best!

[DannyMan2006]

He get's his chance every time he shows up for training mate. If he'd shown anything on the training park he would have gotten his chance. Just maybe, Rafa knows best!

Lately, Hammill has been on loan so he wouldn't have seen him there. And this pre-season whilst Rafa has been away with the first team Hammill has been stuck training with the reserves.

I'm not going to sit here and say that Hammill is good enough, because I don't know. But I think that Rafa could have at least took him on the far east tour and had a look at him. Hammill is a local lad and has gone out on loan plenty of times with no complaints. At the very least for his efforts he deserves a few training sessions with the big boys before being cast aside.

When ever I saw the reserves play with Hammill he looked the most talented player, but a bit greedy and like a bit of a maverick. From what he has said Rafa stated clearly to him that was what he needed to improve, and I believe he has.

[Exiled_red]

Lately, Hammill has been on loan so he wouldn't have seen him there. And this pre-season whilst Rafa has been away with the first team Hammill has been stuck training with the reserves.

I'm not going to sit here and say that Hammill is good enough, because I don't know. But I think that Rafa could have at least took him on the far east tour and had a look at him. Hammill is a local lad and has gone out on loan plenty of times with no complaints. At the very least for his efforts he deserves a few training sessions with the big boys before being cast aside.

When ever I saw the reserves play with Hammill he looked the most talented player, but a bit greedy and like a bit of a maverick. From what he has said Rafa stated clearly to him that was what he needed to improve, and I believe he has.

He's been on loan a number of times now I'm guessing that Rafa or the coaching staff would have at least seen videos of his performances. Also I would hope that there is good communication between Rafa and the reserve team staff in preseason where if they thought he was good enough they would suggest that he deserves a chance (at least in preseason) playing with the first team boys. Now we don't know if this has happened or not but I'd be worried about the relationship between the first team and reserve team staff if it hadn't.

[DannyMan2006]

He's been on loan a number of times now I'm guessing that Rafa or the coaching staff would have at least seen videos of his performances. Also I would hope that there is good communication between Rafa and the reserve team staff in preseason where if they thought he was good enough they would suggest that he deserves a chance (at least in preseason) playing with the first team boys. Now we don't know if this has happened or not but I'd be worried about the relationship between the first team and reserve team staff if it hadn't.

I think that with it being a new set up not all will run smoothly in that respect just yet. I just feel that maybe Rafa could have had a look at close quarters.

Hammill only needed a few games in the top flight and his price may have doubled or even tripled. Worst case scenario he proves not good enough and we get the same fee Barnsley are offering now, what ever that may be.

When all is said and done I am not too concerned, as long as the following conditions are being met.

i) We set a reasonable buy back clause.
ii) We get a reasonable % of any future sell on fee.
iii) The usual success related payments our inserted.
iv) Have first option on Hammill should his sale come below our buy back clause.

Therefore we are covered if Hammill goes on to be a big success. It does cost us if we want him back, but fair enough as he would have obviously developed very well at Barnsley.

And with Barnsley no doubt getting a reasonably low price on Hammill I don't think they'd be in a position where they would refuse the player based on the above clauses. Because if any of the above came off they would be making a tidy profit on him.

[lickedlollipop]

It's official; "Liverpool FC have confirmed the transfer of young winger Adam Hammill to Barnsley."

[Shaggy]

Move to Barnsley confirmed.

[Assassin]

Move to Barnsley confirmed.

Did we get any cash for him?

[Shaggy]

Doesn't say on the offal but it had been reported to be around £400,000

[Assassin]

Doesn't say on the offal but it had been reported to be around £400,000

Another 99 great deals like that and we could buy David Villa

[Parm]

good luck to the lad

[Exiled_red]

Another 99 great deals like that and we could buy David Villa

Didn't we have a similar deal with Anderson? That would make it 98 more

[Redspin]

Just like 90% of our reserves then.

I wasn't bigging up any of our reserves, just pointing out that Wenger did not bring Fabregas through from Arsenal's apparently magical youth set-up, as another poster was apparently saying.

For what it's worth you could say the same about the Mancs' and Chelsea's reserves too, also packed with foreigners. Doesn't alter the fact that a bought player isn't evidence of a club's ability to produce youngsters from it's youth set-up

[carheex]

Seems Barnsley bound. Not happy as I think he has the potentail to at the very least be a squad player. Would rather we got him on a years extension and loaned him out again. His value is unlikely to go down and we hardly need the extra 250k, which is likely to be the fee, ala Paul Anderson.

---------------------------------

Barnsley boss Simon Davey is awaiting a response from Liverpool after making an offer for winger Adam Hammill.

The 21-year-old enjoyed a productive three-month loan spell at Oakwell last season and the Tykes are now keen to secure his services on a permanent deal.

Barnsley have now tabled a bid for Hammill and Davey is hoping that their bid meets the Anfield outfit's valuation.

He told Barnsley Player: "We have been in conversation with Liverpool again this morning. I am yet to find out the outcome of that but we have made a bid for Adam today.

"We have put a bid in for a permanent deal. Hopefully that will be a successful one and we can get Adam into the football club as soon as possible.

"There have been positive noises coming from Anfield and I do not think that we are that far apart in our valuations so hopefully we can come to an agreement."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...464233,00.html

So, if he's good enough for barnsley then he's good enough for us? hmmm. Anything that gets rid of another youngster off our books is fine by me. I'd hate to think how much money has been wasted in the academy in terms of setup, wages, transfer fees. We could probably afford another 1 or 2 1st team players each year with the cash that we spunk away on "promising youth".