Barnsley’s attempts to sign a striker on loan have been thwarted after they were pipped to the signature of Reading striker Simon Church by local rivals Huddersfield Town, who they face at Oakwell on Saturday.
Reds boss Keith Hill had hoped to sign 23 year old Church, who has netted 21 goals in 106 games during nearly 10 years at the Madejski Stadium but Terriers boss Simon Grayson managed to persuade the Welsh international that his short-term future lay in West rather than South Yorkshire.
“He’s a good player but he’ll be playing for the opposition,” said Hill.
“We respect players decisions. You have to look at the type of player we are trying to recruit and whether they have other options.
“They are not being disrespectful if they choose to go somewhere else. That’s just how it goes sometimes.
“You should ask Simon Church, Simon Grayson or maybe Don Rowing why he chose to go to Huddersfield.
“Personally I don’t think it is any disrespect to this football club or myself, I think it is down to possibilities and probabilities of both football clubs.”
Meanwhile the rumour mill has been rife today that former captain Jacob Butterfield was returning to Oakwell on loan, but that has been quashed after the 22 year old tweeted that he has joined The Reds Championship rivals Bolton Wanderers on a month’s deal- who ironically Barnsley face a week on Saturday.
Butterfield, who came through the ranks at Oakwell, joined Premier League side Norwich City in the summer for an undisclosed fee but has struggled to recover from the knee injury that curtailed his 2011-2012 season on New Year’s Eve, and he has made just two League Cup appearances for the Canaries. He will now look to get some first team football under his belt at the Reebok Stadium.
Norwich boss Chris Hughton told the club’s official website:
“It was a tough decision, because we brought Jacob here in the summer, and he has been involved in squads but hasn’t had the minutes on the football pitch that he would have liked.
“He’s quite a way from having played regular football, so it’s a really good opportunity for him in a short period of time to get some games under his belt, and then of course come back here even stronger.
“The only reason he’s going out on loan is to get games, and at this particular moment we are able to do that because we haven’t got too many injuries.
“He has done well here, trained well here, and we could be selfish and keep him here, but we have to look at it from the Club’s point of view that we want him firing on all cylinders.
“We were also very conscious of where he went, and when the opportunity came for him to go to a club of the stature of Bolton Wanderers at Championship level, that certainly had something to do with the decision.”
Source: TykesMAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
