Blackburnclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 4:50 pm

Both worth another contract

Blackburn_Claret wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:26 pm

Definitley bro

Blackburnclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:53 pm

I think Lennon gets a lot of unfair criticism...he has never let us down when called upon ...still has plenty to offer ..still has pace and ALWAYS gives 100%

burnley007 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 4:57 pm

probably.
but depends if they are happy as bit part players

BabylonClaret wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 7:32 pm

Lennon made a terrific run to pull the CB out of position enough to open it up for McNeills goal

Blackburnclaret wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 4:50 pm

Both worth another contract

SkiptonClaret wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 6:07 pm

I certainly wouldn’t give Lennon another contract. Based on what exactly? Younger option please. Bardsley might be worth another year as a back up if we sign a younger right back too.

Long Time Lurker wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 8:05 pm

Keep both and bring in a young player who could go on to play at either right back or right midfield ( depending on how they develop ). The team doesn't suffer any disruption and the new incoming would have time to adjust, improve their game and nail down their best position.

Doing that could get us a player with a touch more flexibility. Someone that isn't ready to hit the ground running would also be a significantly cheaper than a young starter ( that would probably be outside of our price bracket ). They might also command a lower wage and be more open to the prospect of less game time.

Alexis Saelemaekers would have ticked that box very well and a year would have given us time to improve his physicality a touch, but he went to AC Milan in the last window for a 3m loan fee and another 3m to make it permanent

I think we currently have two open spaces in the squad so we don't really need to move anyone on to bring in a couple of youngsters that could be ready in a year or so. Our Summer business could revolve around replacing Gibson, Hendrick and Vydra ( depending on how they see their futures with us ).

We only had a small amount of essential business to do in the last Summer window and we fell well short of putting in a satisfactory performance. Having a fairly solid core, from the business we have done in previous windows, has given us a little bit of protection from the downward performance curve of our recruitment. However, we can't carry on expecting the old guard to keep saving our bacon.

The recruitment team need to step up their game, but I don't have any confidence in the ability of Rigg to mastermind a large scale rebuild that involves 5 or 6 players. He has been in that position three times before ( not counting the billion he largely wasted when he had a blank cheque book to build city a new squad ) and he has made a complete mess of it every time.

His time with us hasn't shown anything to suggest that he can move beyond his consistently poor performance record and the less work we give him to do in the next window the better. Having three players with their futures somewhat up in the air is probably more than enough for him to cope with. Adding in the need for a new starting right back and a new winger is asking far to much of him. Giving him the free reign to formulate a large rebuild strategy would be a recipe for disaster, given our finances.

The problem with going after young players that we can develop over a year or two is that Rigg is the living epitomy of Barcelona not Burnley ( Brentford ). The primary targets we were linked with in the last two windows ( who ticked the box for ability, but not availability or affordability ) were very indicative of rudimentary surface scouting. Those players were analytical headline grabbers that everyone ( not just clubs ) was well aware of. As a predictable consequence they all carried multiple price premium points and low availability characteristics. Common sense should have ruled them all out as unrealistic targets.

As it was we wasted time chasing them, missed out, and filled three vacant slots with older players. Given the price of proven strikers Jay was understandable ( although what could be seen as £10m write off over his contract wasn't ideal ), but we should have bolstered his signing with two youngsters. Signing Browhill in the last window was a very fortunate conflux of favourable circumstances that allowed us to partially correct that.

In respect to our recent transfer activity I'm not sure we have the creative analytical flair that is needed to identify under the radar players or players that once showed great promise, but have subsequently failed to live up to it for some reason. Brentford seem to be very good at doing both of those things, unearthing new talent and finding players that have slipped under the radar as a consequence of some factor that can be identified, addressed and corrected to get them back on track.

Sorting out our three " up in the air " players, and bringring in a solid backup for Pope if Hart should leave us, is more than enough work to be getting on with. BPF could be that man, but I'm not confident about putting our Premier League status in the hands of a player with half a Championship season to his credit, who lost his place at Leeds, couldn't win it back and then threw his toys out of the pram. Mercer will no doubt know if BPF has what it takes to be a solid backup for Pope or whether it is something we need to address in the next window. Hopefully, BPF is ticking all the right boxes.

On top of that, two quality players for the future, who are above development level but aren't immediate Premiership starters, and a new Technical Director. Three relatively poor transfer windows, and judging by the recent article by Butterworth - no clear strategy going forward, is enough. We can't afford a " give me more time and more money, I will get it right next time " Technical Director. As a possible replacement, we could look at Sven Mislintat if VfB Stuttgart don't win promotion this season ( his contract with them is scheduled to end in 2021 if I'm not mistaken ).

Yup, I know I am critical of Rigg, but having a productive Technical Director is hugely important. It can be the difference between progression and stagnation on the pitch and financial success or failure off the pitch. I'm not trying to deny that recruitment is difficult,it is. However, we are paying people good money on the basis that they have what it takes to step up to the plate and overcome that difficulty.

We sign players on the expectation that they have what it takes to perform in a challenging environment and we reward them well for doing that. If they don't meet that expectation then we look to replace them. I can't see why it should be any different for the head of our recruitment. I don't think Rigg would have reservations about showing an underforming player the door if the shoe was on the other foot, because the club and the team should always come first.

Iloveyoubrady wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:00 pm

Absolutely agree, both should be happy to still be in the premier league playing a bit part due to age. Bardsley is rock solid, and Lennon comes on and runs 1000mph

Gordaleman wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 22, 2020 8:26 pm

Still, he's a much better option than your mate Brady, who just comes on and continually loses the ball through trying to be far cleverer than he is.