Jonathan Barnett likes to talk.
But the again he is a football agent and during August or January these are the most powerful people in football and everyone is expected to listen. Trouble is much of what they have to say can be nonsensical with Barnett’s musings proving that expected line in gibberish over recent months. Much of that talk of seemingly of little help to his number one client Gareth Bale it would seem. Highlighting the necessary evil that agents have apparently become in the game of football these days.
Barnett’s most recent episode was reported in The Independent from a speech at Soccerex where he explained how Bale had missed out on “millions” in sponsorship deals by refusing to play for England. With Barnett admitting he had attempted to persuade Bale’s parents, Frank and Debbie, both from Wales, to make their son consider the switch.
“When we first got together when he was 15, we talked about whether he was going to play for England or Wales. I nearly got my head bitten off by his dad, who is fanatically Welsh, and his mum.” Said Barnett
“He could have qualified through his grandmother and I tell you that it has cost him millions and millions of pounds. You can imagine what it would have been like if he were playing for England next summer in the Euros... but he does love playing for Wales.”
The relevance of this untimely anecdote saying more about Barnett’s need for attention given that Bale scored the vital goal against Israel in the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier the same week. A goal that has brought the Principality within a whisker of a first major tournament since 1958. When John Charles strode Ninian Park in his pomp and last brought such honours to the nation.
A feat that has eluded an endless list of other greats like Mike England, John Toshack, Gary Sprake, Mark Hughes, Ian Rush, Terry Yorath, Mickey Thomas, Neville Southall, Dean Saunders, Ryan Giggs, and Craig Bellamy - to name check just a few. All Welshmen that could have been eligible for England had they not been reared as Welsh Dragons from their infancy. A point seemingly missed by Barnett.
But then again Barnett is prone to these faux pas.
In May he claimed Bale was suffering at Real Madrid because his team-mates were not passing the ball to him enough. The comments coming in the wake of the Champions League semi-final first leg against Juventus when the statistics showed Bale making fewer passes than most of his team‑mates. Albeit Uefa stats showed that the Welshman covered more ground than many of those same team-mates.
The remarks also untimely as Madrid’s season was unravelling and the club’s most expensive signing was suffering injuries and unable to reverse the La Liga losses. Or the home defeat to Juventus in the semi-final of the Champions and causing some ridicule in the news hungry sports daily’s
But Barnett seemed oblivious: “We’ve been vindicated by these statistics and it’s what we’ve been saying all along,” he told Telegraph Sport at the time. “It proves that people don’t know what they’re talking about when they criticise Gareth, they are not looking at it properly.
“Real [Madrid] have to work with Gareth and pass the ball to him more. Give him more of the ball and let him show everybody what he’s good at. He’s going to be the best player at Real Madrid when his team-mates work with him and help him. Hopefully Real will come to terms with this.
Then hitting out at ITV Sports pundits Roy Keane and Lee Dixon Barnett went on: “I’m very upset that professional pundits don’t realise these facts. Instead of criticising, they should look at it more closely because it’s plain to see when you watch the games.”
“Most people would have been broken by this but he is determined,” he said. “He could have screamed and shouted or knocked on the manager’s office door but he doesn’t want to upset anyone. I spoke to him on Thursday and while he’s obviously p------ off things aren’t going well he is desperate to get out there again.”
But then Barnett is no alien to a bit of controversy.
His other client being Jack Grealish of Aston Villa who has been embroiled for months in a to-and-fro between England and the Republic of Ireland. Where, no doubt, the argument has been about the bigger sponsorship deals possible within the England set-up as nationality seems to matter little in Barnett’s bag of tricks.
Thankfully tonight in Madrid Gareth Bale continues his day job and lines out for Real in their home tie against Skahktar Donetsk in the Champions League first round matches. With all the scrutiny over the world record signing leaving Benitez a bit puzzled, insisting that the Welshman remains a "great" player.
"He is a fast player, with a good shot and he's good in the air," Rafa said. "I don't understand the criticism. Gareth is a great player, we have many good players and we have to fix them in a good starting XI. To have many players of this kind is not a problem, it's a blessing."
Last weekend Real Madrid demolished Espanyol 6-0 with Bale setting up two of Cristiano Ronaldo's five goals and then winning a penalty which Ronaldo also converted. The Welshman now admitting he feels more involved under Benitez than he did last season under Carlo Ancelotti.
Also admitting that the national team success playing its role in his improved wellbeing: 'We have worked so hard with Wales over the last six to eight years and that shows in our ranking. Over the last four years we have gone from 117th to tenth.” Bale explained.
“We have got a style of play and a plan in place and we are keeping to that out on the pitch.'
Funny. No mention of lost sponsorship deals Jonathan?
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