Hume Sold To Barnsley for 1.2M

[devioustrevor]

I'm almost certain he was once linked with 'Boro, that's the only one that pops to mind right now.

[BearcatSA]

Thanks for the info, d.t.

[trueviking]

this transfer is one year too late...

yeah, good news that he wont be playing league one this year, but for a 24 year old who is supposedly working his way up, to sign for 3 years with a bottom dwelling side in CCC who barely escaped relegation hardly seems like something to get too excited about...it is pretty much the lowest move he could have reasonably made, beyond staying put.

i was hoping at least a team somewhere above the middle of the table would have some interest...one with promotion hopes...this seems like an "im comfortable in CCC for the long haul" kind of move.

i had higher hopes for him a few years back...some of those americans on fulham are no more prem. quality than hume. (see eddy johnson)

[Toronto MB]

I understand some of the overly high expectations Hume garnered with his jaw-dropping performance with the U-20's and some young FA Cup magic with Tranmere, but lets put this in perspective.

Hume was consistantly the leading scorer for Leicester.

Other than Rob Friend - if you analyze our attacking players, Hume plays at the second highest club level currently:

1. Rob Friend - Bundesliga

2. Iain Hume - English Championship

3. Tomasz Razdinski - Greek Premier

4. Dwayne DeRosario - MLS

5. Olivier Occean - Norwegian First

6. Ali Gerba - German Regional/Unattached

I am the first to say that club level has only partial impact on MNT performance, but this deal we are analyzing is a club deal.

No he should not start, he does not suit our very effective 4-5-1 system that requires a larger presence up-front. See vs South Africa for reference.

But see the youtube clip of his performance as a sub vs USA and you will understand his value to the team. He is also probably a better crosser of the ball than any single other player in our 18 - a valuable tool with Rob Friend and Kevin Mckenna towering in the box.

[nolando]

quote:Originally posted by trueviking

this transfer is one year too late...

yeah, good news that he wont be playing league one this year, but for a 24 year old who is supposedly working his way up, to sign for 3 years with a bottom dwelling side in CCC who barely escaped relegation hardly seems like something to get too excited about...it is pretty much the lowest move he could have reasonably made, beyond staying put.

i was hoping at least a team somewhere above the middle of the table would have some interest...one with promotion hopes...this seems like an "im comfortable in CCC for the long haul" kind of move.

i had higher hopes for him a few years back...some of those americans on fulham are no more prem. quality than hume. (see eddy johnson)

i'd say its more of a, "I am a good fit in the Championship, better than Div.1, not good enough for more than a cup of coffee in the Premiership so why not stay where I can play" kinda move.

Plus he fits in the UK. Maybe he could go to one of the slightly chippier leagues like Scotland or B2, but at this point, he is no longer on lists of "most promising youngsters not in the premiership" or anything like that. And he's established in the CCC and probably likes the life in Britain. Let's face it, he's an old 24 (meaning he's been around for ages and taken his share of knocks), he has injury troubles, he scores it bunches, and could probably make a list of "most inconsistent scorers not playing in the premiership". I love him, and I know most of us do, but unless he was willing to take a bit of a pay cut and risk being a supersub/benchwarmer on a potentially promoting Championship side, maybe this is the best he could do. Even the most dreamy-eyed v's should be able to admit that this guy is not premiership material at the moment, and most likely never will be. Heck, I hate to say it, but he may not even feature in the WCQ the way it standing at the moment regarding formation and team chemistry.

[Grizzly]

I thinks Hume is overrated on this site because people like his personality and work ethic. Yet his development seems to have leveled to being a decent 10 goal a year scorer on a lower table CCC team and not quite national team material (at least judging with by his senior squad appearances to date). Guys like Friend and Simpson seem to be getting better every year and Hume does not. The only good national team performance I can recall from him after the U-20's was the game against the US at the Gold Cup and since then he has been terrible. I think he has underachieved since the U-20 WC where he showed the talent to go further than he has progressed so far. In my opinion he is only a callup to the WCQ team if we have injuries. At some point he needs to show a lot more on the field than a red and white mohawk and team spirit. He is a bit like our new Bircham, a loveable excentric that everyone likes and who has great spirit but doesn't contribute a lot on the field. We can only hope that a new team and coach may spark him to show a bit more.

[N-A]

quote:Originally posted by maccaliam

Did they not just sell Norn Iron man Kyle Lafferty?

Kyle Lafferty was a player with Burnley not Barnsley before he moved to Rangers in the SPL

[An Observer]

I like Hume but agree that his development stagnated a long time ago. I think he had the skill to develop into a premiership player as he can certainly turn a game. He has some speed, is very good with both feet, can cross, and generally be a problem for the opposition. His development stalled in my opinion as he played for ****ty English sides Tranmere and Leicester who both are not known for playing football. For those reasons, he has never developed his game off the ball to run into spaces, draw defenders, and generally play possession football. Those drawbacks are not a problem for playing route one football in the championship...but in international play they are huge.

Its a pity as he could have gone quite a way but I am not convinced anymore that this will be the case.

Also, I personally don't think it helped his development that he became a father at something like 20. At that age, you don't need that added level of responsibility when you are trying to become a premiership level player. It may help explain some of his inconsistency. Dealing with a small child at an immature age must take a toll on you at times

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by An Observer

I like Hume but agree that his development stagnated a long time ago. I think he had the skill to develop into a premiership player as he can certainly turn a game. He has some speed, is very good with both feet, can cross, and generally be a problem for the opposition. His development stalled in my opinion as he played for ****ty English sides Tranmere and Leicester who both are not known for playing football. For those reasons, he has never developed his game off the ball to run into spaces, draw defenders, and generally play possession football. Those drawbacks are not a problem for playing route one football in the championship...but in international play they are huge.

Its a pity as he could have gone quite a way but I am not convinced anymore that this will be the case.

Also, I personally don't think it helped his development that he became a father at something like 20. At that age, you don't need that added level of responsibility when you are trying to become a premiership level player. It may help explain some of his inconsistency. Dealing with a small child at an immature age must take a toll on you at times

Those are some pretty good points which I do agree with. The issue of him having a child at a young age is one I have never thought of but it certainly could drastically affect someone who is trying to make a career at the top levels of football.

[canso]

"I personally don't think it helped his development that he became a father"

Whooaaa ease up there Nelly, there's criticism and then there's criticism and then there's being a pompous prick!

This thread turns my stomach. :(You lot have criticized the man's loyalty as a weakness, his fighting spirit as a concern, you demean his physical stature, you sneer at his league status and snicker at his goal scoring return...and now you want to second guess his birth control methods?

Too much! You're a fan, not a greatin social worker. Stay out of these guy's bedrooms. What exactly are you Observing Observer? Should we call you The Voyeur instead of Voyageur? Or just P.T. for Peeping Tom?

Fatherhood is sacred and no matter how much you feel you're entitled to comment as "An Observer"[)]...you're not! You're just not.

The rest of you are wrong, but I respect your right to be wrong.

Hume is a hero, but he's still human.

We owe him his privacy.

He owes us nothing.

[Grizzly]

Whoa yourself Canso. Noone is saying he shouldn't have become a father, nor has anyone criticized his loyalty or fighting spirit etc. Whether he wanted to become a young father or not was his own decision. Yet noone counseling a young perspective Premiership player would ever say that they if their priority was to make the EPL that they should have children at a young age. I am sure one could find some examples of players who did this and still were successful but one could find many more examples of others who hindered their career for this reason. Everyone has their priorities and noone is going to criticize anyone for putting their family first. Yet on the other hand the topic of this forum is the Canadian Men's National Team and I personally would rather see a team of guys on the field who put football first and will win games than a team of good family men who will finish last place in our group. When a player like Hume fails to fulfil the potential he seemed to have it is absolutely legitimate to look at some of the reasons and in no way malicious to mention things as being a young father as possible reasons. Plus, he is a highly paid professional athlete and scrutiny and media attention are part of the deal.

If there is any doubt that Hume has underachieved, consider 5 years ago the level of skill some of the guys on the team who are probably better than he currently is like Friend, Simpson, Occean, Serioux, Hainault and even Gerba if we ignore his club woes and think only of his national team play. None of these guys seemed to have even close to Hume's potential 5 years ago but look at how much they have improved.

Hume is a fan favourite of the forum because of his character and desire to play for Canada even though he had other alternatives. I like him as a person as much as the next guy. However, do we want a team of great guys or do we want to win? Sure having both would be a best case scenario but having a great character and being a great nationalist should not be enough to get him or anyone else on the pitch. I thought he played great in the U-20 and expected great things from him but as a senior national team player he has mostly been crap. Unlike Friend, Radzinski and DeRo who when they go through scoring droughts seem to contribute in other ways, I find him mostly useless on the field, running around a lot but contributing little to the team play. He doesn't score for the national team and he doesn't hold up the ball and make space for others like Friend, come back to help the midfielders like Radz or make the opposing defenders play cautiously like DeRo. He just seems to run around aimlessly and never seems in position to receive a pass or help out a player under pressure, ie. his play without the ball is terrible. Maybe at some point he will either start scoring or improve the rest of his play but as far as I am concerned his time to show a higher skill level for WCQ is over and if I were DM I would not call him to the team unless injury required me to do so. Yes we like the guy but that is not reason enough for him to be selected. Indeed I seem to remember that our coach in the last WCQ did exactly that, selected the guys he liked and didn't select the guys he didn't like and we all know where that got us and it sure wasn't Germany. In fact I also seem to recall that you were one of this coach's biggest critics for these exact reasons.

It is also not true that he owes us nothing. He in fact owes every Canada fan a lot everytime he puts on the Canadian shirt. To his credit he gives his all everytime he puts on the shirt but from what I have seen his all is not enough at the moment because we currently have quite a few strikers who are more skilled than he is.

[Marc]

I liek Barnsley and have always had a soft spot for them, and may even buya Hume jersey. The problem with this move, however, is that a) that's a big fee for a mid-level CCC club with possible fan-backlash if he peters out, and Barnsley is the kind of team that can easily go down with one poor year or the loss of one-or-two key players.

As for Hume not reaching his potential, I agree that he is over-rated - I'm not sure if he ever had top flight potential, but he's certainly done well enough for himself considering the "Canadian soccer generation" he came from. If you're the third or four best player from a generation where you're behind Hutchinson, Simpson, et al, outclassing others like Oppong, Harmse, Belotte, and Asante, that's not too bad.

[Massive Attack]

I agree with Grizzly on this (except for the father part, I don't think that matters).

Hume is essentially the new Peschisolido (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Its not like he's being held back by the EPL because of some outrageous conspiracy. He plays in the Championship, if an EPL team wanted him, he would be there by now.

[An Observer]

I stand by my comment even if i have no way of knowing 100% whether Hume's decision to become a father a such a young age has had a positive or negative experience in reality. I find it quite funny that someone who thinks I have over step the bounds by being personal, turns around a gets extremely personal themselves in a far more aggressive manner.

I think it goes without saying that after someone's raw talent, a person's character and personal choices have probably the greatest impact on their development as a player (or a person for that matter). We might as well not have a dicussion forum, if that is not fair game. Look at Wyn Bellote. He had the talent but its clear that he does not have the character to be a professional let alone a top class professional. Landon Donovan also has character flaws, not as great as Wyn's obviously but if he stuck it out in Europe I think he would be a better player now. Because he didn't, he like has never reached his potential.

[Toronto MB]

Observer, I'm not even going to speak to how valid I think your comment is.

What I will speak to is that we all know the Canadian soccer community is a small one. Airing out Iain's personal matters in such a fasion on this board is upsetting to some of us because I wouldn't be surprised if his family, or Hume himself is reading this thread to see what the stir back home is about his transfer.

And we are supporters - not the f'ing tabloids.

If he was ever anyone that showed a lack of commitment to the national team, then maybe you could question his personal life.

But as far as his character is concerned, the man is clearly of good heart for this cause we're all a part of.

I'm also a little surprised about how this news of a 2+ mil CAD deal to a club in a higher division has been used to analyse how badly he's doing. At the end of the day, these guys are all trying to make a living like the rest of us, right?

[redhat]

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

Hume is essentially the new Peschisolido (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Being compared to a Paul Peschisolido is indeed an honour.

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by redhat

Being compared to a Paul Peschisolido is indeed an honour.

I didn't mean it as a slight. I actually like both players a lot.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by Toronto MB

Observer, I'm not even going to speak to how valid I think your comment is.

What I will speak to is that we all know the Canadian soccer community is a small one. Airing out Iain's personal matters in such a fasion on this board is upsetting to some of us because I wouldn't be surprised if his family, or Hume himself is reading this thread to see what the stir back home is about his transfer.

And we are supporters - not the f'ing tabloids.

If he was ever anyone that showed a lack of commitment to the national team, then maybe you could question his personal life.

But as far as his character is concerned, the man is clearly of good heart for this cause we're all a part of.

I'm also a little surprised about how this news of a 2+ mil CAD deal to a club in a higher division has been used to analyse how badly he's doing. At the end of the day, these guys are all trying to make a living like the rest of us, right?

I think some here are overreacting to what was said about Hume having a child at an early age. Words like "may have" or "could have" were used by Grizzly and An Observer. They are only suggesting that having a child at a young age might have had a negative effect on his career, they aren't saying he shouldn't have had one (that would be an intrusion in his personnal life). It's also possible that it had a good effect on him....

If I say that maybe taking care of his sick father didn't help player X career, is that OK? I think it is, I'm only commenting on a fact and making an assumption, the same goes for Iain situation and the comments that were made.

[canso]

"I have over step the bounds by being personal,"

No, actually, if you read between the lines, Observer, you piss me off for being a pompous prick who is making judgement calls on another man's timing as it pertains to the divine gift of conception.

It's none of your business if he wore a sock with a hole in it or made a map of hawaii but forgot Oahu or just said to hell with the "I'm on the fast track to the prem and don't need any baggage right now" speech it's a full moon and I'm drivin. None of your business.

As for comparison with other players on the MNT, Hume remains the fastest, fiercest, fiestiest warrior we have and if you go to war you need warriors. Radzinski is not going to get stuck in where it hurts when we need a battler. DeRo's answer to adversity is to try and dribble past it, and then dribble past it again and then again...then maybe a pass...if he likes you. Ali G is an impressive bulk of a striker and Friend gets up well but no one strikes the ball better than Hume and no one gives more to the cause than the wee man. As for not having an impact when he doesn't score, I have yet to see a defender keep his composure when Hume is on the field.

Hume should be the first name on the team sheet. Amen.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by canso

"I have over step the bounds by being personal,"

No, actually, if you read between the lines, Observer, you piss me off for being a pompous prick who is making judgement calls on another man's timing as it pertains to the divine gift of conception.

It's none of your business if he wore a sock with a hole in it or made a map of hawaii but forgot Oahu or just said to hell with the "I'm on the fast track to the prem and don't need any baggage right now" speech it's a full moon and I'm drivin. None of your business.

Are you Stephen Colbert or in the Bush administration?

[An Observer]

i stand by my comments and frankly see no reason to defend them further. Let the slagging continue....i am enjoying it.

[DigzTFC]

Anyone notice that Simpson and Friend have progressed where Hume has stagnated in development? I think most of you have stated that. I think it has more to do with the English system than anything else. That country doesn't develop players anymore like other countries. Look at Edgar...he should have been loaned out or Peters...Every guy we send over there gets slowed down in their development. Young players should go anywhere but England.

[RJB]

quote:Originally posted by canso

"I have over step the bounds by being personal,"

No, actually, if you read between the lines, Observer, you piss me off for being a pompous prick who is making judgement calls on another man's timing as it pertains to the divine gift of conception.

It's none of your business if he wore a sock with a hole in it or made a map of hawaii but forgot Oahu or just said to hell with the "I'm on the fast track to the prem and don't need any baggage right now" speech it's a full moon and I'm drivin. None of your business.

I'm a Teacher. Having a child at this point in my career may cause me to spend less time with my students, and more time with my young family. I may prepare lessons that are of a little less quality because, frankly, my mind would be elsewhere.

Or am I being too intrusive into my own life?

Canso, you are way out of line.

[SeanKeay]

Quick question guys?

Josh simpson has improved as a player??? Excuse me? Who has watched him enough to say that his technical skills have improved and he is a better player. Guys rob friend scored what like 15 goals in the 2nd div of germany not the top div so he isnt a GREAT goal scorer either. I figure its about the same as humey with 11 goals in the championship. Im not slagging our players i think there all good, but to say that those guys have grown alot and hume hasnt is rediculous.

Did you not see josh simpson in his last national team game, he was TERRIBLE. I think its a joke that people are sitting here saying hume is a waste of talent and really cant help this national team.

Also, Grizzly ive met you many of times but your way off on alot of your player assesments. 2 years ago you said dero shouldnt be starting on the national team and now your questioning someones choice to be a father... get your head on straight.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by SeanKeay

Quick question guys?

Josh simpson has improved as a player??? Excuse me? Who has watched him enough to say that his technical skills have improved and he is a better player. Guys rob friend scored what like 15 goals in the 2nd div of germany not the top div so he isnt a GREAT goal scorer either. I figure its about the same as humey with 11 goals in the championship. Im not slagging our players i think there all good, but to say that those guys have grown alot and hume hasnt is rediculous.

Did you not see josh simpson in his last national team game, he was TERRIBLE. I think its a joke that people are sitting here saying hume is a waste of talent and really cant help this national team.

Also, Grizzly ive met you many of times but your way off on alot of your player assesments. 2 years ago you said dero shouldnt be starting on the national team and now your questioning someones choice to be a father... get your head on straight.

While I kind of agree with some of your point (about Simpson and Friend level of play) I think the difference between those 3 is that we were expecting a lot from Hume in 2003 while we weren't expecting much from Simpson and Friend back then. Friend is now on the verge of getting B1 minutes and seems to be improving a lot if your consider his career, Norway first, Norway Premier to Holland Premier to Germany Premier(with a little stop in B2). Simpson is different IMO and I don't agree with the comments that he's improving for the reason you stated....I haven't seen enough of him and he doesn't have the same career moves as Rob Friend.

As for the paternity stuff, please read again, no one is questionning Hume decision, people are just speculating on what kind of effects young fatherhood can have on a professionnal athlete.