| Dunne, Simpson or Barton? 10:05 - Oct 22 with 5471 views | PhilmyRs |
From the promotion team which of the 3 mentioned above would you say we miss the most at the moment?
I’ve got to say all 3, purely on performances on the pitch are proving a big loss. Simpson was Mr dependable, up and down the right side all day and seemed to have decent positional sense for an attacking full back. Shows what specialising in a position can do for you.
Barton, massively missing him on the pitch. People often highlighted the times he gave the ball away, his speculative passes etc, but the guy never hid. He always wanted the ball, always gave 100% and never stopped running, pressing and hassling the opposition. I said at the time I agreed with getting rid of him purely because of how he acted and the money he was on but always stated we were a better team with him in then without. I didn’t realise until now how we do miss him.
And finally Dunne, I didn’t appreciate at the time just how much of a useful job this guy did. The key thing, ignoring the experience and leadership side of things, was that he could handle a physical contest with the opposition, in fact I’d say he thrived on it. What we have now are centre backs that rarely attack the ball and bully the striker they’re marking. More often than not they get bullied themselves.
I think it’s a close call between all 3 on whose most missed, but for games like the other night and Blackburn at home we were crying out for a bit of energy and somebody to take the game by the scruff. He didn’t always do it successfully, but he always tried to, and for that reason I’d say Barton is the player we miss most from the last promotion team.
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| Dunne, Simpson or Barton? on 14:41 - Oct 22 with 1077 views | PhilmyRs |
| Dunne, Simpson or Barton? on 13:55 - Oct 22 by Northernr |
We've got enough midfielders who can't pass the ball or take a set piece already without bringing another one back for 60k a week + associated aggro.
We miss Dunne in the sense that we haven't had a centre half who's dominant in the air all season - which is why Hill looked good the other night. |
And at the same time we have no midfielder willing to take responsibility and get on the ball and make something happen.
You can say all you want about Barton (a lot of it justified), but you wouldn’t be watching so many long balls by our centre backs/full backs because nobody’s willing to put their head above the parapet and take responsibility for winning a football match. True, there are a lot of occasions in the past when he’s tried and his passing has been abysmal, but right now, that willingness to get on the ball and that desire to win football matches, are greatly missed.
Yes we have numerous options in midfield but a lot of them strike me as guys that value the strength of their own individual performance above the result of the team. If they play well but the team lose, they’ll sleep well at night. I get the feeling with Barton and Austin for that matter, when they step onto the pitch they give everything to win. The result is the most important thing. | | | |
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