QPR Fans Love Barry Bannon

[owler66]

3 hours ago, Lincs Owl said:

Our best player this century in my opinion.   And we're almost a quarter way through it.  

1900-1924 Wednesday fans would say Andrew Wilson who remembers him

[Mr. Chow]

******** cyclops, love it  

[Holmowl]

One of my favourite jokes.

 

Two blokes looking in a shop window. One points at something and says “That’s the one I’d get”. A cyclops comes out and beats him up.

[FreshOwl]

The cyclops comment  

[onlyonedavidhirst]

4 hours ago, Lincs Owl said:

Our best player this century in my opinion.   And we're almost a quarter way through it.  

I'll be the one to bite. When we were arguably at our very best this century (the team that nearly went up under Carlos twice) he wasn't always first choice midfielder.

 Personally, if I'm picking my best 2 CMs this century I'm going Whelan and Lee.

I wouldn't argue that he's close to that, or that he's incredibly loyal and has given everything. 

I'd add that he was never voted our POTY in the Championship, apart from the covid relegation year when my pet rabbit was 2nd in the voting. 

I don't think your opinion is definitely wrong, Bannan is a class act, I just won't go that far and similarly I'd argue with those that say he's the problem at the club etc

[Worthing_owl]

2 hours ago, maidstoneowl said:

Always find it odd when men comment on another man's appearance/ fans take up a player's looks (unfavourably, generally?!)

 

Closet homosexuals?

 

Or.do they want a load of Kate Middleton /Liz Hurley types playing for us?

 

If they can pass, tackle and motivate like BB, then I would love to see them in the blue and white, especially if they have close fitting kits.

[nevthelodgemoorowl]

TOBY JONES Footballer of the year !

[daveyboy66]

39 minutes ago, onlyonedavidhirst said:

he wasn't always first choice midfielder.

Who was yours ??

 

[onlyonedavidhirst]

8 hours ago, daveyboy66 said:

Who was yours ??

 

I'd already said my best 2 Central midfielders this century would be Whelan and Lee. Under Carlos there was a point where Hutch and Lee would get picked and Bannan was played wide, plus Lopez sometimes got played in the centre.

I'm not trying to knock Bannan, I'd offer him another deal at the end of the season, I just don't think he's our best player this century. I've only mentioned central midfielders but there are others like Sibon, Antonio, Bougherra that have to be considered as well in the debate,  if we had one.

[Bluesteel.]

9 hours ago, onlyonedavidhirst said:

I'll be the one to bite. When we were arguably at our very best this century (the team that nearly went up under Carlos twice) he wasn't always first choice midfielder.

 Personally, if I'm picking my best 2 CMs this century I'm going Whelan and Lee.

I wouldn't argue that he's close to that, or that he's incredibly loyal and has given everything. 

I'd add that he was never voted our POTY in the Championship, apart from the covid relegation year when my pet rabbit was 2nd in the voting. 

I don't think your opinion is definitely wrong, Bannan is a class act, I just won't go that far and similarly I'd argue with those that say he's the problem at the club etc

We’ve had players like Antonio and Whelan who’ve moved on and thrived at a level above (although Bannan has about 90 PL apps too) but in terms of time spent here and consistently influencing games for us it’s hard to get past him. Good shout on Kieren Lee though, but for injury him and Bannan may have changed our fortunes. I think we had a fair few players who were technically on a par with Bannan from 2015-18 but I think how he bought into it and took responsibility probably added something to how he has played for us 

[JohnnyQuinnsQuiff]

12 hours ago, Devonstrix said:

Liz Hurley though. 
 

58 years old in this photo. 
 

I’m guessing Bazza won’t be in such good shape when he gets to that age. 
 

Depends on whether he’s planning a move in the transgender direction?

[Worthing_owl]

Bannan, would be my best midfielder this century .He gives everything match after match, but he also has real quality.

[maidstoneowl]

12 hours ago, Devonstrix said:

Liz Hurley though. 
 

58 years old in this photo. 
 

I’m guessing Bazza won’t be in such good shape when he gets to that age. 
 

 

Liz could probably do a job for us at left back?!

[onlyonedavidhirst]

32 minutes ago, Bluesteel. said:

We’ve had players like Antonio and Whelan who’ve moved on and thrived at a level above (although Bannan has about 90 PL apps too) but in terms of time spent here and consistently influencing games for us it’s hard to get past him. Good shout on Kieren Lee though, but for injury him and Bannan may have changed our fortunes. I think we had a fair few players who were technically on a par with Bannan from 2015-18 but I think how he bought into it and took responsibility probably added something to how he has played for us 

Totally fair what you've said but I'll go back to my original points that when we were at our best he was sometimes dropped and never won POTY. I'd take Whelan every day over Bannan on pure ability. He was more rounded and his record probably shows that. There was and always has been the question of whether Bannan can play in a top Championship midfield 2 and I guess that's where I stand. I think he sometimes needs a 3rd central midfielder when playing against the best sides and his goal contribution hasn't been quite good enough. Again though, what a good player who can show som sublime skill at times and great commitment to a club he gets. 

[Guest Monkowl]

And still some fans slag him.  Amazes me.  All the bullshit about can’t take corners never beats first man etc.    Load of shyte.  He beats the first man every single corner.  It’s not his fault we have a team full of giants who can’t jump to win a header.   Best midfielder  we’ve had since early 90s.    Wouldn’t put him in the same class as shezza obviously or Wilson or palmer.  But if he had a hirst or bright to aim for when he looked up then it would have got him much more recognition for what a genuine quality player he is and will go down as one of the best Wednesday players ever.     On top of all that he’s an out n out grafter who loves the Wednesday.  

[Kopparberg]

Some beautiful and kind words OP 

[Dan™]

As much as I liked Whelan (who received a lot of criticism while playing for us, way more than Bannan ever has), he's not even in the same conversation in my opinion. Whelan was generally solid but unspectacular, and I think there are/were several other players around the leagues who could have done what he did for us at the time.

 

Kieran Lee was brilliant, and much closer to Bannan in terms of ability and having that 'wow' factor which very few players have, but Bannan has proven to be the better player over a longer period of time and has largely remained clear of injury (touch wood) throughout his career. Bannan has played almost twice the number of games for us in a similar amount of time and is consistently on the shortlist for MotM week in and week out.

 

Perhaps Bannan's physical attributes prevent him from fulfilling what is required of a Premier League midfielder these days, but there's no question he has the talent for it and I don't think there's anyone else we could have realistically employed over the last few years who could have done what he has for our club. I also think he has a much stronger connection with the club and the fans, and suspect he'd be very interested in sticking around with us professionally even after he retires from playing.

 

The proof will be in 10+ years time though. I suspect he'll be missed and significantly more fondly reminisced over than either of the other two mentioned above.

[andrew1974]

His 400th game is Blackburn away if he keeps fit. For a free transfer on a one year deal 9 years ago I think he’s our best this century

[part timer owl]

Baz was getting some stick on here last week saying he's past it. He's not a 20 something anymore, but he still has it! Just needs his game time managing at times like Christmas and Easter. Also, in the correct system and correct players around him, he should be good still for a couple more years. 

 

With better quality midfielders Saturday, he would have been even better.

 

Edited April 8 by part timer owl

[Emerson Thome]

2 hours ago, onlyonedavidhirst said:

Totally fair what you've said but I'll go back to my original points that when we were at our best he was sometimes dropped and never won POTY. I'd take Whelan every day over Bannan on pure ability. He was more rounded and his record probably shows that. There was and always has been the question of whether Bannan can play in a top Championship midfield 2 and I guess that's where I stand. I think he sometimes needs a 3rd central midfielder when playing against the best sides and his goal contribution hasn't been quite good enough. Again though, what a good player who can show som sublime skill at times and great commitment to a club he gets. 

 

As resident stato, I feel I should point out that:

 

1) Bannan has never really been truly dropped in his 9 years here. In 2015/16 he started every game he was available for, except the final league game before the playoffs when he was rested on the bench. The only league games he missed were the first 5 (before he signed), 2 in the middle (knee injury sustained vs Charlton) and a 3-match ban for a red card.

 

In 2016/17 he missed two one-off games (Huddersfield away, Rotherham away) when he had limped off the previous game and made one sub appearance (Leeds away) when he had come off injured at half time four days earlier against Brentford. Again he was rested for the last game of the season (ahead of the playoffs). Otherwise he played every game and was rarely subbed.

 

He did sometimes play on the left or right, but he started the majority of the games over these two years through the middle (plus I'm not sure versatility should count against him)

 

Compare this to Whelan or Lee and they missed a lot more games, Lee was out of the team quite a lot (or sometimes also moved to the wing).

 

 

2) Bannan came 2nd in the POTY in 2015/16 (Kieran Lee never won POTY by the way), I suspect he's about to win his second Championship gong this year, to go with the one in League One. Whelan only won it once.

 

Personally speaking, I prefer the Owlstalk Ratings POTY which aggregate performances in each match to the fan vote at the end of the season that has thrown up some strange results (e.g. Adam Reach winning in 2017/18 when on a match-by-match basis fans thought he was bang average most of that year).

 

If we were going off Owlstalk Ratings, Kieran Lee would have picked up one award (2013/14 POTY with 6.74) and Bannan wouldn't have won the season we went down (6.17, in second to Tom Lees with 6.44). But Bannan would have been player of the year in 2015/16 (7.20, vs Forestieri's 7.04), won again in 17/18 (7.03, vs Adam Reach who was 8th on 6.24) and would have come second to Hector in 18/19 (fans voted him 3rd behind Hector and Fletcher that year).

 

Either going off the club vote or Owlstalk Ratings, he's had enough podium finishes in the Championship to clearly indicate he was considered one of our best players.

 

We don't have Owlstalk Ratings for Whelan's time at the club, although I suspect it was the 06/07 season (the year he won the club vote) when he came into his own - while he was a solid part of the team before that, I don't think he was considered as much of a standout those two seasons.