Barry Bannan's Brentford compliment 'doesn’t mean I want to sign for them'

Barry Bannan has felt forced to explain that just because he paid Brentford a compliment at the weekend does not mean he wants to join them.
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Sheffield Wednesday’s Barry Bannan still has Scotland ambitions

In an interview at the weekend, the cultured midfielder explained he felt a certain style of football brought the best out of him and that when he played in the Premier League in particular, it was for teams fighting against relegation.

He mentioned that a team which played in Brentford's style would be “perfect” for him, but says those who interpreted it as him angling for a move were mistaken.

INTERVIEW: Barry Bannan says his comments about Brentford were misinterpretedINTERVIEW: Barry Bannan says his comments about Brentford were misinterpreted
INTERVIEW: Barry Bannan says his comments about Brentford were misinterpreted
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People are getting mixed up because I complimented Brentford on their play this season,” he wrote on social media.

“It doesn’t mean I want to sign for them, I’ve made clear my whole time I've been here I love it and that has not changed.”

Bannan has spoken before about how there is more time on the ball in the Premier League, and for a player of his type, that is significant.

The 30-year-old Scotland international played top-flight football for Aston Villa, Derby County and Crystal Palace before moving to Championship Sheffield Wednesday five years ago. He has made 183 of his 322 league appearances for the Owls.

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“I’ve got no regrets but if I’d have found a club that maybe suited my style more, I’d have achieved more,” Bannan said of his Premier League career in the Sunday Mail.

“It sounds selfish but maybe if a team was built around the way I play, it would have brought the best out in me.

“I had it in my first year at Sheffield Wednesday with our Portuguese manager, Carlos Carvalhal, who really took to me. That’s when I shone but it’s just about getting breaks in your career, and it’s also about timing.

“Look at Brentford now in the Championship. It would be perfect for me to play in a team like that.”

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With a host of senior players out of contract, and manager Garry Monk making it clear he feels the whole Hillsborough culture needs to change in the summer, it is bound to be a summer of great upheaval.

Monk has not been shy in making it clear which players he does not value – Keiren Westwood, David Bates, Sam Hutchinson and Jordan Rhodes have been frozen out – so the fact Bannan has started every league game bar two for him, despite needing injections to play with a groin problem, is telling of what he and Wednesday think of one another.

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