Interesting article by Paul Jouce released just now in The Times - have pasted it below for anyone that isnt a subscriber. Nothing to revealing from Joyce but an interesting read nonetheless.
"It is the starkness to Ronald Koeman’s words whenever he speaks of Ross Barkley, and the constant insinuations that this is a talent falling short, that fuel the impression of a total disconnect between player and manager.
And yet Koeman, of course, knows exactly how the midfielder is feeling. A year ago the Dutchman himself was prevaricating over a new contract, while suggesting there was nothing unsettling about entering the final 12 months of his deal.
“The main reason [I left Southampton] was that we did not agree about my last year of contract,” he said of the events leading to his move to Everton last summer.
Koeman does not perceive him to be indispensable and Barkley, valued at £50 million, has to ask himself why
“I mentioned to the club I would like to continue and go into my last year. Then, during the season, we would have time to discuss about the future.
“They said it’s not good because we like to know the future. I said it was not a problem because I signed three times a one-year contract with Feyenoord in Holland.”
There is an obvious contradiction in Koeman’s stance then and his position now in demanding Barkley decides whether he wants to extend a contract, which has a year to run, before Sunday’s final league game against Arsenal or face being sold.
Koeman can argue he is trying to protect his club and that it does not make financial sense to allow a player to enter the final 12 months of a deal. But Southampton could point out that signing players one summer for a manager who might not be there the next would not be a sound policy.
Yet the impression lingers that if it was not this, then the Dutchman would find another reason to pick a fight with Barkley. The bottom line is that he does not perceive him to be indispensable and Barkley, valued at £50 million, has to ask himself why.
Now that relations have become somewhat strained, it is easy to forget that, in the beginning, Koeman gave Barkley a nudge forward.
Barkley was made captain for the EFL Cup tie against Yeovil Town in August and celebrated his goal on the night by paying tribute to the passing of Sid Benson, the prolific Everton scout who first spotted him.
After carrot has come stick. Time and time again.
The sight of Barkley being hauled off at half-time of the win over Sunderland in September, the first game after he had been left out of the England squad, confirmed Koeman as a man not swayed by reputation.
Koeman had been quoted on the morning of the match saying the player needed to look at himself, rather than questioning whether he had been let down by the managers in his career, and his treatment that night redrew the boundaries.
The arm-round-the-shoulder and offer of the armband was replaced by a series of verbal jabs designed to provoke a reaction from Barkley and it is nonsense for Koeman to suggest he is merely answering his inquisitor’s questions. He is all too happy to plead the Fifth Amendment when it suits him.
Initially, the digs only gnawed at confidence. In a game at Burnley, Barkley backed himself to make the difference, unleashing one shot before immediately turning to seek approval from Koeman on the touchline.
Their relationship has complicated contract talks even if the reality is that, over time, Koeman’s tough love approach has coaxed Barkley back into form and back into the England squad. Barkley deserves credit for rising to the challenge, but there is little harmony.
So much so that when Barkley was dropped for the recent defeat against Swansea City, it is likely he spied a scapegoat when he looked in the mirror rather than someone who needed to react to a poor display against Chelsea the previous week.
When he hears Koeman talking up Romelu Lukaku, who may have two years, not one, to run on his contract but who has made clear he does not want to stay at Everton, he is likely to stew on how their treatment is so different even if, deep down, he knows the answer.
Two questions have been raised throughout Barkley’s contract stand-off: Where will he go? Will he play at another club? Tottenham Hotspur have been repeatedly linked and now there are noises about the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United. It is hard to see Barkley featuring week in, week out ahead of Dele Alli, Mesut Özil, David Silva and Henrikh Mkhitaryan unless he produces greater consistency.
And yet, despite the swell of advice that the player should remain at an ambitious, forward-thinking club newly qualified for the Europa League, Koeman’s latest comments hardly smooth the path towards reconciliation.
He has been open in suggesting Everton will be signing attacking midfielders in Barkley’s position this summer, players who can provide more goals. By delaying a decision on his future Koeman will expect Barkley to be put up for sale. Sign a new contract and, it seems, the boyhood Evertonian is still not sure of playing.
No wonder the situation has not been sorted out swiftly."
