Ross Barkley

[algy]

If you look at our second eleven now

Steer
Guilbert - Elmo(?) - Hause - Taylor
Ramsey - Nakamba - Hourihane
Trez - Davies/Wesley - AEG

That's not a bad side really - probably struggle in the Premier League, but I'd put money on them beating our first team from 2 years ago.

Christ I hope you're not a betting man.  I'm pretty confident that team would be relegated from the Championship not get to the play off final.

Ha, well thankfully I don't bet. But i'd disagree there - practically that exact team beat Bristol City 3-0 a week ago, and will play & hopefully beat Stoke tonight. They'd do fine in the Championship.

[Drummond]

If you look at our second eleven now

Steer
Guilbert - Elmo(?) - Hause - Taylor
Ramsey - Nakamba - Hourihane
Trez - Davies/Wesley - AEG

That's not a bad side really - probably struggle in the Premier League, but I'd put money on them beating our first team from 2 years ago.

Christ I hope you're not a betting man.  I'm pretty confident that team would be relegated from the Championship not get to the play off final.

Ha, well thankfully I don't bet. But i'd disagree there - practically that exact team beat Bristol City 3-0 a week ago, and will play & hopefully beat Stoke tonight. They'd do fine in the Championship.

I'd agree.

[Dave]

If you look at our second eleven now

Steer
Guilbert - Elmo(?) - Hause - Taylor
Ramsey - Nakamba - Hourihane
Trez - Davies/Wesley - AEG

That's not a bad side really - probably struggle in the Premier League, but I'd put money on them beating our first team from 2 years ago.

Christ I hope you're not a betting man.  I'm pretty confident that team would be relegated from the Championship not get to the play off final.

Ha, well thankfully I don't bet. But i'd disagree there - practically that exact team beat Bristol City 3-0 a week ago, and will play & hopefully beat Stoke tonight. They'd do fine in the Championship.

I'd agree.

Me too.

[paul_e]

If you look at our second eleven now

Steer
Guilbert - Elmo(?) - Hause - Taylor
Ramsey - Nakamba - Hourihane
Trez - Davies/Wesley - AEG

That's not a bad side really - probably struggle in the Premier League, but I'd put money on them beating our first team from 2 years ago.

Christ I hope you're not a betting man.  I'm pretty confident that team would be relegated from the Championship not get to the play off final.

Ha, well thankfully I don't bet. But i'd disagree there - practically that exact team beat Bristol City 3-0 a week ago, and will play & hopefully beat Stoke tonight. They'd do fine in the Championship.

I agree, I'd also say that the team from as close as possible to 2 years ago today that played preston was:

Bunn, Elmo, Tuanzebe, Chester, Hutton, Thor, McGinn, Kodjia, Hourihane, Grealish, Abraham

Hourihane and Elmo are in both so there's 9 players to compare:

Steer vs Bunn - Steer is better
Guilbert vs Tuanzebe - not a direct comparison so a draw
Hause vs Chester - Chester is better
Taylor vs Hutton - as a left back I'd go with Taylor
Nakamba vs Thor - Nakamba for me
Ramsey  vs McGinn - McGinn by a long way
Trez vs Kodj - Trez for me
Grealish vs AEG - Jack obviously
Davis vs Tammy - Tammy wins

You'd end up with a pretty even split between the 2 but with the real quality being Jack and John who are still with us in the first 11.

Put that team in the championship and it'd be comfortably top half. Also remember you still have Engels, Lansbury, Jota and Heaton to add in who are all either too good for the championship or have proven they can be important players in that league.

[chrisw1]

Well obviously we'll never know, but to me this team looks incredibly average with no stand out quality and a makeshift centre back.

Steer
Guilbert - Elmo(?) - Hause - Taylor
Ramsey - Nakamba - Hourihane
Trez - Davies/Wesley - AEG

Whereas any team with Jack, McGinn and Tammy has always got a chance.

[dave.woodhall]

Well obviously we'll never know, but to me this team looks incredibly average with no stand out quality and a makeshift centre back.

Steer
Guilbert - Elmo(?) - Hause - Taylor
Ramsey - Nakamba - Hourihane
Trez - Davies/Wesley - AEG

Whereas any team with Jack, McGinn and Tammy has always got a chance.

It doesn't have to be average to avoid relegation from the Championship. Small Heath manage it and the day they're average is the day they stop thinking about us.

[chrisw1]

ok, we'll agree to differ and thankfully we'll never have to find out.

[SoccerHQ]

5 of that 11 started in the actual play off final!

[Hookeysmith]

I know it was with Everton and was 2 years ago

But this is what got him into the England squad in the first place

If we get half of that form then this is going to  be  a great bit of business

[Toronto Villa]

Dean Smith in his latest interview talks about Barkley not just playing as a box to box midfielder but also in a more free capacity as he did when he broke through at Everton. He’s certainly got a good engine but it would be interesting to see if we can restore some of the goal scoring and natural creativity he once showed.

[mallo]

I know it was with Everton and was 2 years ago

But this is what got him into the England squad in the first place

If we get half of that form then this is going to  be  a great bit of business

Think I saw a Richards / Lescott masterclass in there...

He's good in that video - between him and Jack we should be able to switch play and they don't need to hang on to the ball as long.

[CT Villan]

I know it's only a highlights reel, but what struck me from that video was how two-footed he appears to be.

[kippaxvilla2]

I cannot imagine any circumstances (with the exception of him not being on the pitch) where Ross Barkley doesn’t improve us as a team.

[Brazilian Villain]

Official announcement. Season long loan, no word on any option to buy.

Does Johan Lange (our SD not the botanist) remind anyone else of Bingo from The Banana Splits or is it just me?

[Duncan Shaw]

I've just been told by a Chelsea fan that we have paid an Ł11 million loan fee??!!??!?!?