BEES’ JACK IS TAYLOR MADE FOR SUCCESS
DARREN Currie says he felt like a proud dad seeing Barnet talent Jack Taylor land his dream move into the Football League at Peterborough United – and now hopes to be given license to reinvest in his squad.
The highly-rated 21-yearold midfielder was snapped up by the League One club for £500,000, which could rise to £1 million with add-ons, having come through the Bees academy.
Taylor, who has represented Republic of Ireland U21s, made 127 appearances for Barnet with nine of his 16 goals coming this season, catching the eye of Posh, the renowned Non-League talent spotters.
“He is a special player,” Currie told The NLP. “He will really enjoy playing at that level, he will be comfortable because of his attributes, he’s got everything.
“He’s gone to a good club who will develop him. It wouldn’t surprise that within the next three or four years you see him at the top end of the Championship, if not the Premier League.”
Taylor achieved his big move and the likes of his brother, Harry, Wes Fonguck and Ephron Mason-Clark in the talented young Barnet squad will also be attracting interest this month.
The club has also accepted an undisclosed fee from Dorking Wanderers for striker Jack Barham and personal terms are now being discussed.
Reinvest
The Bees still harbour playoff ambitions but will need to strengthen in forward areas if they are to make a push.
“You never want to lose your best players but at the end of the day everyone has a price,” added Currie.
“I’ve had a hundred agents on the phone today who have an ‘ideal replacement’ for Jack Taylor. That’s the game, we know that. What I’m hoping is once I’ve had a conversation with the chairman about how we go about replacing Jack. That may come from within or a new signing but certainly there’s got to be a conversation had about how we reinvest and move forward.”
Currie, a former winger for the likes of Barnet, Wycombe and Ipswich, celebrated a year in charge just after Christmas and is enjoying his management ride.
“I’ve gone a lot greyer, my voice is a lot croakier from shouting, but I love it,” he added. “I’m football crazy, always have been. I’m just gutted I can’t play anymore, but managing and coaching is the next best thing.
“Something like selling Jack Taylor makes me feel like a proud dad because he’s one of my boys
I’ve helped over the last year and now he’s moved on.
Even when you have a few tough times where you might lose the odd game and everyone things you haven’t got a clue what you’re doing, that’s part and parcel of football, it doesn’t change my love for the game.”