Crawley Town
Football action from Crawley v Posh Tyrone Barnett
Reds manager Richie Barker is set to meet with Crawley Town’s owners to discuss his transfer kitty, but would not be drawn on whether he wants to make a move for former striker Tyrone Barnett.
Barker will make a permanent deal for a frontman his priority in the January transfer window, with the on-loan Jonathan Forte returning to Southampton and Nicky Ajose appearing unlikely to be signed permanently at the end of his loan from Peterborough, which means Gary Alexander Billy Clarke and John Akinde could be the only recognised strikers at the club.
And while waiting to sit down with the board, Barker insisted he would not comment on one potential option.
Barnett, who scored 15 goals in 32 appearances for the Reds last season before joining Peterborough, initially on loan before completing a reported club record £1.1million move in the summer, has been transfer listed by the Championship club.
He, fellow striker Emile Sinclair and Posh teammates Gabriel Zakuani and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing have been placed on the transfer list and fined for a breach of club discipline - that has prompted a clamour from Reds fans to bring the 27-year-old back to the Broadfield Stadium.
Barker said: “I don’t know Tyrone Barnett, I have never met him, I don’t know anything about him.
“I do not talk about other clubs’ players, just as I would not want other managers talking about ours.
“I know very little (about budget meeting), we’ve not had the conversation.”
Meanwhile, Barker, who won promotion from League Two with former club Bury is close to attaining his Uefa Pro coaching licence, which would allow him to manage in the Premier League - and he says he is getting noticed for the job he is doing at Crawley.
“It would make me one of the highest qualified coaches under the age of 40 in the world,” Barker declared.
“I think I am getting pretty good feedback from people.
“I know that people in football are talking about what I have achieved so far.”
And after responding to some fans’ criticism of his management style, Barker admitted he is becoming weary of defending his decisions.
“I have every confidence in my ability to be successful here,” he said. “Crawley fans have never seen football here as good as it is now.
“If people do not like me I am sure I can get a job elsewhere. We are fourth in the league, above clubs who should be miles above where we are.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Crawley
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North west
