Sod off to Barnsley

The prevailing reaction amongst fans of both York City and Barnsley, upon hearing that young striker Onome Sodje has been catapulted four divisions from being an unwanted fringe player at the former to a hot prospect at the latter, has been one of mutual bemusement. Surely, they cry, it can only be sheer idiocy which has led the Championship side to sign a player who was only grudgingly offered a one-year extension to his City contract as a result of a 'gentlemen's agreement' which Martin Foyle went out of his way to distance himself from. Surely, they yell, a striker who has failed to shine in a mediocre non-league side will find himself hopelessly out of his depth at a much higher level.

In all likelihood, of course, they are right. Sodje has, if anything, appeared to go backwards during his time at Bootham Crescent, the only thing saving him from the ire of supporters being his occasional propensity to produce something exceptional (see: his stunning late equaliser at Torquay early last season). The periods inbetween these moments have consisted of ridiculous hairdos, repeated failure to pick out better-placed team-mates when through on goal, and a general lack of effort.

And yet, and yet. History has taught us many a time that a player's performance at City does not always presage his future career trajectory. The exit of Jon Parkin during our relegation season under Brass might not have been met with the same apparent glee as today's announcement, but few could have envisaged his rise to solid Championship-level striker. Likewise Iwelumo, Cresswell, more recently Stockdale and innumerable others whose post-York exploits caused a few raised eyebrows at the least. And it is precisely those rare moments of brilliance, alluded to earlier, which hint that Sodje just might be capable of joining that list; indeed, it is the very fact that the young Nigerian showed such promise in his first few months at the club which probably explains the vehemence of City fans' ill-feeling toward him upon his departure. The bar was set high, and Sodje's performances over the last season and a half - increasingly restricted to cameo roles - never came close to reaching it. The very opposite path, in fact, to that mapped by Richard Brodie, whose rapid improvement came as a pleasant surprise to those who had written him off as an unfit, ruddy-cheeked no-hoper.

So, where will Sodje find himself in another year? On the scrap-heap or angling for a big-money move to a Premiership side? Let's stop giggling at the silly South Yorkshire fools for a second and reflect on what qualities they might have seen in the player. Pace? Certainly. Power? Not bad for a little'un. Skill? Has shown it in flashes. Goals? 17 the season before last, in a poor team. The only attributes he can really be said to lack are commitment and an overall understanding of the game. Major drawbacks, no doubt, but perhaps Barnsley consider themselves in a better position to develop these areas of his game than a struggling Conference team susceptible to regular staffing changes. My own feeling is that they are wrong in this; Sodje simply seems to lack the required self-awareness and perseverance to succeed as a professional footballer. I don't, therefore, expect to see footage of him cartwheeling across the Wembley pitch and jiggling his afro in front of the cameras after firing the Tykes to playoff glory. But stranger things have happened.