Barry Bannan

[Philb125]

I don't think you can judge Bannan on last night alone. Last night he had a stinker in my opinion. Weirdly some think he had a good game, was one of our best players etc. But his stats show him giving a third of his passes away and when that's his main contribution due to him not offering much in terms of headers, tackles, shots, dribbles, forward runs, interceptions.... then it's hard to see what he does bring. 

 

Whilst I've been critical of him, I'm not sure it's his fault right now. We've failed to rest him in last few weeks. I don't care if noone is fit to lace his boots, if you keep him playing 90 mins every few days then his quality drops to their level anyhow.  Brown needs to be getting 30 minutes, especially in games where Bannan is doing next to nothing like last night, if nothing else just to give Bannan a break. 

 

Bannan may be our best player, but if playing him means we need to have better players around him (which we cant afford/attract) or we need players to do his work load then I think we'd be better off with 2-3 lessor players that may not have his hollywood passing range but are allrounders that can run, pass, head, tackle, shoot.... Paying Bannan 2-3 times more than the players left/right of him only works if he drags worse quality players up. 

[TodwickOwl]

There is no easy way to say this

 

Actually there is

 

You must be a complete loon and have no footballing knowledge if you think Bannan is the problem or we’re better off without him 

 

Mental 

[bigdan2003]

I didn’t think he had a bad game really. 
 

I think certain players in the squad rely on him too much though. Reach last night would get the ball, take it a few yards, sh*t himself then turn back and pass it to Bannan. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by bigdan2003

[Sefton owl]

His assists record would suggest otherwise

[OwlBiSeeinThi]

8 hours ago, TaxiMark said:

I agree ...people do notice when BB is not up to his usual self but take him out and replace him with who ...go on Bannan haters names please.

I think you've just made the point though. It's nothing to do with hating Bannan. It's the fact we have put all our eggs in one basket with him. We've not surrounded him with any quality when other players left. When he has an off day there is no one in the in squad who can step into his shoes. There is no quality on the bench to change the game.

It's not Bannans fault, but by the same token we should not be relying solely on him.

[matthefish2002]

Only way I could see us scoring last night came from Bannan set pieces near the end.

 

[twolaptops]

Bannan needs a Kieron Lee type alongside him.............pairing him with Joey...............jeeeeeesssss

[Orlando_Trustful]

Like Xavi on his day, but sadly the performances looking like JOC are becoming more common. 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Sticky Micky said:

Here we go another load of bull always said on here 

 

 

He’s right though. Some of your comments about BB are absolutely comical. 

[S72 Owl]

Desperately need Luongo back fully fit. Or as fit as he can be. 

[Cheshowl]

9 hours ago, H2Owl said:

If anything we’re too reliant on him. If Bannan has an off day inevitably so do we. 

 

I think if anything we’ve missed a trick over the years by not asking him to play more of a number 8 role keeping play ticking from deep while having a number 10 in front of him to create further up the pitch. 

 

 

 

We’ve tried that, he ended up not being able to affect forward play enough, and he’s our only creative player. And although he’s our best player, the part of his game lacking is he’s easily breezed past by bigger players on the ball. When he sat deep he wasn’t the best at breaking up play understandably so he was wasted there in my opinion.

[steelerian]

This thread makes me so sad. So many people just don't get it.

 

I criticise Bannan. A lot. Not because he isnt good. He is a decent player. He's probably our best midfielder. But we just don't get enough out of him. Not nearly enough.

 

Lets use Man Utd and Paul Pogba as an analogy. Is Pogba a good player? Yes he is, without a doubt. Are Man Utd getting enough out of him? No they are not, without a doubt. But the most important question, is are Man Utd getting value of out him? Certainly not. His wages are astronomical and his rentturn isn't. Its about VALUE, or VLAUE FOR MONEY.

 

People harp on saying that we would be a worse team without Bannan. Well yes, if you replace him with Pessy. Now I'm no scout/coach/manager so I dont keep tabs on too many championship level players. But I'd bet the shirt off my back that there are many many midfield players in this league, earning far less than Bannan, who are considerably outperforming him. And this is my point.

 

So, if we let Bannan go and don't replace him with someone who costs the same, then yes we will suck donkey balls. But if that wage is used adequately to replace him, I'm very confident that we can improve.

 

Same with Reach. Same with Rhodes. And quite probably a whole lot more of the higher end earners.

 

Final point. I don't blame Bannan or any player for the money they earn. Good luck to them  get whatever you can. Thats what we all try to do in life.

[@owlstalk]

1 minute ago, steelerian said:

 

People harp on saying that we would be a worse team without Bannan. Well yes, if you replace him with Pessy. Now I'm no scout/coach/manager so I dont keep tabs on too many championship level players. But I'd bet the shirt off my back that there are many many midfield players in this league, earning far less than Bannan, who are considerably outperforming him. And this is my point. 

Yeah - and how's our recent transfer dealings been?

[steelerian]

1 minute ago, @owlstalk said:

Yeah - and how's our recent transfer dealings been?

Less tham desirable, granted. But that doesn't mean we just give up and accept mediocrity. Not on OT anyway. Do we?

[@owlstalk]

Just now, steelerian said:

Less tham desirable, granted. But that doesn't mean we just give up and accept mediocrity. Not on OT anyway. Do we?

 

No - but we do have to look at the last five years and wonder where we're going to source someone better than Barry Bannan (or any of our players)

[Big Jack]

Bazza is quality sadly others around him are not ,  glad he is staying next season. 

[Philb125]

16 minutes ago, @owlstalk said:

Yeah - and how's our recent transfer dealings been?

I’m actually encouraged by many of last few seasons windows. I think for context you have to remember that we’re still trying to full voids under tight budgetary constraints. So some of the signings are literally warm bodies that can maybe do a job short term. But if you look at some of the others: 

 

Dunkley, Iorfa, Luongo, Moses, Harris are all players that we signed for next to nothing that cost (I believe) less than half of what Lees or JvA earns. In fact you probably get all five of those players for a JvA and Rhodes. 
 

Now, in the craziest of circumstances this summer will be, can you go out and find 10-15 players that are all first team ready for circa 10k a week? I’d think so. They may not have the star quality of a Bannan or a Reach but I think we’d be a stronger more competitive collective. 

[steelerian]

1 minute ago, Asio otus said:

Bazza is quality sadly others around him are not ,  glad he is staying next season. 

is he? doubt it.

[jrh]

12 hours ago, Sticky Micky said:

Here we go another load of bull always said on here 

 

 

Tell me how then? 

[Guest Kameron]

This is exactly why the club fails to progress.  Bannan is way past his prime and has offered little for a number or seasons, there's a reason he's staying and that's because no club with ambitions of promotion would have him gid.  He should be free to leave with the clubs best wishes not rewarded for constant failure.