Saturday Interview: Beevers is looking for stamp of approval on home turf

MARK BEEVERS has been waiting nine years for a letter to arrive from Barnsley Football Club. Perhaps it is stuck in the post.

The letter is supposed to say whether his dream of playing for the Tykes is alive or dead. Too late.

Beevers has moved on with his life and is now a rising star with one of the club's biggest rivals, Sheffield Wednesday.

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Today's game at Oakwell between the two clubs will also offer a reminder of what might have been and, make no mistake, it will be those working for Barnsley who have all the regrets.

For Beevers, 20, is worth around 2m in the transfer market and should not have slipped through the net.

"I went to watch Barnsley as a kid," he recalled. "They were always my team up until I started playing for Wednesday. I watched players like Ashley Ward, Dyer, Neil Redfearn and De Zeeuw.

"When I was nine, I had a trial for the Academy but they released me. A couple of years later, I went down again for a trial and a guy told my Dad that he was going to send us a letter in the next three weeks. We are still waiting for that letter to arrive!"

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Living in Higham, Beevers attended Barugh Green Primary School and then Penistone Grammar School.

In French lessons, he even sat at a desk previously occupied by a young Chris Morgan, now the captain of Sheffield United.

Battered but not bowed by the experience at his home-town club, Beevers was playing in midfield for Barugh Boys when spotted by a scout from nearby Wednesday.

He signed for the Owls a few months later but it was only at the age of 16 that he switched to centre-back.

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"Questions had been asked about my 'mobility' during my first time at Barnsley," he recalled.

"They said I was not mobile enough because I was a big lad but I was still signed on as a central midfielder by Wednesday.

"When I was in the under-16s, the coach, Tony Daws, pulled me to one side and I asked if could play centre-half. I said I was a midfielder but he asked me whether I could run from box to box for 90 minutes. I felt I could – but he asked me to give it a go at the back.

"Since that day, I have always played in that position so I really do have to thank Tony for putting me there. You never know, I might not have made it in professional football as a central midfield player."

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After making his first-team debut aged just 17, Beevers has clocked up over 80 appearances for the Owls and his progress is being monitored by Premier League clubs.

However, with refreshing honesty, the defender accepts that his current form – in keeping with that of a team four points adrift of safety in the Championship relegation zone – needs to improve.

The arrival of new manager Alan Irvine could well be the catalyst.

"I have to step up my game. I know that." he said.

"I would like to play in the Premiership but I have not been playing at a Premiership standard. I know I can do better and, hopefully, I can progress and get to that standard.

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"Sometimes, I think you do need a change of manager. A lot of people were saying he (Brian Laws) had done what he could at the club. Times were hard under Brian but the new manager has come in and the sessions this week have been different. It's good for the club, the fans, the players and everyone has an opportunity to start again with a clean slate.

"The league table speaks for itself," he said. "Everyone knows we are down in trouble – but everyone also knows we can pull ourselves out of it.

"Not so long ago, Barnsley were in trouble down near the bottom of the table but a new manager (Mark Robins) has come in and they have turned the corner. There is no reason why we cannot do the same.

"Financially, things are changing at the club and we just need to change what is happening on the pitch now. If both run at equal speed, in the boardroom and on the pitch, then we can push up that table."

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With age still very much on his side, Beevers has no rush to quit the Owls and his current deal does not expire until the summer of 2012.

Yet there will be many in the stands today at Oakwell who wish the defender's career had started in red rather than blue and white stripes.

"I don't think there was any problem with my mobility," he reflected.

"I am not big-headed but I really don't think I am as slow as many other players out there. I have a bit of pace when I get going and I do think I have improved on my first 10 yards. That's what it is all about because, if the striker gets half a yard in front of you, he can get a shot in or pull away.

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"I am not the finished article yet but I will keep working on stuff like that and, hopefully, it will take me further in the game. Hopefully, I will have been Sheffield Wednesday's gain and Barnsley's loss."