Jack Sparkes

[IndoMike]

Jack Sparkes is 20. He will be 20 at the start of next season. Where does MT get the idea he will be turning 22/23 next season?

He will be the same age this coming season as Joel Randall and Josh Key were last season. Nobody said it was a make or break season for then at the same age - in fact at the same age MT hadn't started them in the league.

No wonder so many of our players want to leave when the manager so often gives interviews focussing on negatives/weaknesses in their play and/or issues publicthreats to their futures. There's a simple saying 'praise in public, criticise in private' that MT needs to learn.

PS where is TPC? Hasn't he been saying (correctly) all season that Sparkes shouldn't play left back?

Good post.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Jack Sparkes is 20. He will be 20 at the start of next season. Where does MT get the idea he will be turning 22/23 next season?

He will be the same age this coming season as Joel Randall and Josh Key were last season. Nobody said it was a make or break season for then at the same age - in fact at the same age MT hadn't started them in the league.

No wonder so many of our players want to leave when the manager so often gives interviews focussing on negatives/weaknesses in their play and/or issues publicthreats to their futures. There's a simple saying 'praise in public, criticise in private' that MT needs to learn.

PS where is TPC? Hasn't he been saying (correctly) all season that Sparkes shouldn't play left back?

What is the evidence that many of our players want to leave? And how often does the manager give interviews like this about current players? The only other similar one I can think of was about Aaron Martin in his first season.

And TPC may have been proved correct that Sparkes shouldn't play left-back but Matt Taylor has made it clear that we didn't have enough money to sign 2 left-backs so Jack was always going to have to be the reserve. I suppose the gamble was in signing Lewis Page we knew that he was unlikely to play every game so Jack was likely to have fill in; maybe we could have signed a player of less quality than Lewis but one who we felt was more likely to be available for every game so we didn't have to rely on Jack so much.

 

[dommers]

A tough one isn't it because what really is his best position now? I would say he doesn't have the legs to be the attacking player many (including myself) thought he was. I think he's a decent LB these days but reality is Page is better. MT has apparently spoken of potentially signing another LB which would mean Sparkes being pushed further forward, but with Iseguan waiting in the wings I fear it's another stalling season for JS.

His best position is wide left although has mean messed around by trying to be converted to a wing back then a left back. No wonder he hasn't developed

 

[Colesman Ballz]

His best position is wide left although has mean messed around by trying to be converted to a wing back then a left back. No wonder he hasn't developed

To be fair surely it was Steve Claridge that started playing him at left back, whilst he was on loan at Salisbury. In 2019-20 he was being used to good effect on the left wing when he unfortunately sustained the serious injury that put him out for the second half of the season. This led to Randall's opportunity in that position. 2020-21 has been far from normal, with a "needs must" mentality and he was recovering his confidence after the injury, whilst Randall was going like an express train and cementing the wide left spot as his own, prior to his own injury. One hopes that the forthcoming season will offer the chance to fulfill his potential in the areas of the pitch where he can be most effective.

 

[andrew p long]

What is the evidence that many of our players want to leave?

This is the Jack Sparkes thread so I'd better not drag this thread too much off topic ...Hants will be rightly displeased with me.. but..

...of the first eleven that finished the season four have rejected new contracts. The captain Taylor has left, the (potentially) most creative player Williams is going, Sweeney and Page have not signed the contracts offered.

... and of those that started the season as first choice two left in the January window. Law wanted to, and did leave, during his contract. Ward preferred sitting on the bench for someone else to sitting on our bench.

That's six first choice players this year so far. Not counting the rumours such as Bowman. Nor the fact that Ajose didn't want to play, let alone stay.

 

[SEA Grecian]

This is the Jack Sparkes thread so I'd better not drag this thread too much off topic ...Hants will be rightly displeased with me.. but..

...of the first eleven that finished the season four have rejected new contracts. The captain Taylor has left, the (potentially) most creative player Williams is going, Sweeney and Page have not signed the contracts offered.

... and of those that started the season as first choice two left in the January window. Law wanted to, and did leave, during his contract. Ward preferred sitting on the bench for someone else to sitting on our bench.

That's six first choice players this year so far. Not counting the rumours such as Bowman. Nor the fact that Ajose didn't want to play, let alone stay.

Well; Sweeney and Page, may yet re-sign; it's arguable whether Law was first choice and Bowman signed a contract extension which hardly suggests he's desperate to leave. As for Ward, he apparently got upset when the manager refused to guarantee he would be first-choice - we don't know what went on behind closed doors so maybe it's possible the manager could have handled the situation more sensitively but it also sounds like at least some of the blame is with the player.
But yes, lots of players are moving on but is it really any more than any other season. Maybe I'm wrong but I still don't see any evidence to back up your original assertion that more players are leaving than usual because they have an issue with the manager.

And to get back on the topic of the thread; maybe Matt Taylor has tried to 'criticise Jack Sparkes in private' and he feels it hasn't worked which is why he is doing it in public instead.

 

[SEA Grecian]

To be fair surely it was Steve Claridge that started playing him at left back, whilst he was on loan at Salisbury. In 2019-20 he was being used to good effect on the left wing when he unfortunately sustained the serious injury that put him out for the second half of the season. This led to Randall's opportunity in that position. 2020-21 has been far from normal, with a "needs must" mentality and he was recovering his confidence after the injury, whilst Randall was going like an express train and cementing the wide left spot as his own, prior to his own injury. One hopes that the forthcoming season will offer the chance to fulfill his potential in the areas of the pitch where he can be most effective.

Presumably Steve Claridge wouldn't have played him there without our blessing or maybe we even suggested it first. And in 2019-20 when Jack Sparkes broke into the team so spectacularly he was playing left-wing-back. Not sure his injury directly led to Randall's opportunity, though, as he only played a handful of minutes for the first team that season.

 

[Banksy]

This is the Jack Sparkes thread so I'd better not drag this thread too much off topic ...Hants will be rightly displeased with me.. but..

...of the first eleven that finished the season four have rejected new contracts. The captain Taylor has left, the (potentially) most creative player Williams is going, Sweeney and Page have not signed the contracts offered.

... and of those that started the season as first choice two left in the January window. Law wanted to, and did leave, during his contract. Ward preferred sitting on the bench for someone else to sitting on our bench.

That's six first choice players this year so far. Not counting the rumours such as Bowman. Nor the fact that Ajose didn't want to play, let alone stay.

Maybe it is simply down to the contracts we are offering in most of the cases Andrew? Sweeney ,for example , may not want to be a bit player next season on a lesser contract than one of the ‘core’ players MT wants to bring in.Page too might have been offered less once again given he’s presumed prone to injuries and knows perhaps he’ll be second fiddle. Law? Well , hopefully for him the American contract is a lucrative one. Sorry to waffle , I won’t go through the rest it’s only my opinion after all , but there may be absolutely no conspiracy theory here!

 

[STURTZ]

I don't think Sparkes has played as freely and well since his ligament injury.

 

[SEA Grecian]

Maybe it is simply down to the contracts we are offering in most of the cases Andrew? Sweeney ,for example , may not want to be a bit player next season on a lesser contract than one of the ‘core’ players MT wants to bring in.Page too might have been offered less once again given he’s presumed prone to injuries and knows perhaps he’ll be second fiddle. Law? Well , hopefully for him the American contract is a lucrative one. Sorry to waffle , I won’t go through the rest it’s only my opinion after all , but there may be absolutely no conspiracy theory here!

Also the turnover of players over the last couple of seasons may have been higher than we have been used to but my impression is it's still a lot less than at many other clubs.