Lennon

[ClaretTony]

Great to hear another one really enjoying his football with us. I think we will reap the rewards with Lennon if we are patient.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201 ... ving-life/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

UTC!

Only just read this article and so positive to see how things have improved for him. I've also just re-read this thread, still thought he worked his socks off last week, he just had a poor game like everyone else. He's clearly had a dip in form over the last 3-4 games. Prior to that he was looking really good.

[Blackrod]

Looking forward to seeing a performance from him today with no lack of effort.

[ClaretTony]

Looking forward to seeing a performance from him today with no lack of effort.

We've seen performances from him since he got here - good ones and not so good ones - we have not seen one with a lack of effort.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

A good read on how he is overcoming his mental health issues and also a great insight to how Dyche has made this kind of environment for the players.

Think he’ll be a good player for us next year after a full pre season.

[LongSider75]

Glad he has got himself back in a good place mentally, but he is nowhere near good enough to be a regular starter for us. we are playing with 10 men recently. Don't think he will be anywhere near starting 11 next season.

[ClaretTony]

Glad he has got himself back in a good place mentally, but he is nowhere near good enough to be a regular starter for us. we are playing with 10 men recently. Don't think he will be anywhere near starting 11 next season.

You are being selective though, he's had some terrific games for us as well. And his performances have not left us playing with ten men, far from it.

[JohnMac]

No lack of effort in comparison to any other player it's just sometimes things don't always work in games. Lennon has possibly never been asked to defend so much previously and striking the right balance between hold back or go won't always be right and he will be as frustrated as anyone.

Dean Marney was criticised almost weekly by many on Clarets Mad until there came a point in time when he was suddenly an irreplacable cult hero.

Robbie Brady was being questioned this season about warranting his place in the side until he suddenly hit form.

Those footballers who lack effort tend to be the one's who are constantly 'injured' for no apparent reason. Give me Lennon over Sturridge or Berahino any day!

[jrgbfc]

Can't judge him properly till he's had a hopefully good pre season with us. He's probably had to do more running this last few months than his entire career up to now!

[piston broke]

He’s just lacked confidence the past few games. Stopped taking his man on and looked for the easy pass back to Matt. All players go through it but he’ll be fine. Effort wise he’s been excellent.

[kaptin1]

Can we just get behind the guy and support him? He’s clearly someone who needs to feel wanted to get the best out of him. Back him and I’m sure he’ll deliver more often than not. Depression is a horrible illness and I wouldn’t want to see him go back into that state of mind again.

[tiger76]

It would be nice just for once if our fans actually supported players instead of belittling them,thankfully i'm sure Sir Sean doesn't have such a negative mindset.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Glad he has got himself back in a good place mentally, but he is nowhere near good enough to be a regular starter for us. we are playing with 10 men recently. Don't think he will be anywhere near starting 11 next season.

How strange the man who has guided us to 7th doesn’t seem to agree with you?

[Suratclaret]

Can we just get behind the guy and support him? He’s clearly someone who needs to feel wanted to get the best out of him. Back him and I’m sure he’ll deliver more often than not. Depression is a horrible illness and I wouldn’t want to see him go back into that state of mind again.

Spot on.

[Rick_Muller]

Is it just me or are people genuinely arguing over the performance rating of Aaron Lennon (yes the Aaron Lennon) who we signed from Everton (yes the Everton) who are going to finish lower in the Premier League than us (yes the Premier League)...

I must be in a dream world thinking madness like this...

Get a grip, he’s been observed to play well when the team play well, and appears off steam when the team performance isn’t great. The same could be said of most of the team. Aaron Lennon isn’t the problem here, it’s over inflated expectations.

[No Ney Never]

Didn't U2 once write a song called Lennon?

We've got Lennon, sweeter than the sunrise,
We've got Lennon, better playing for our side,
He's gonna make you cry, he's gonna make you say oh no,
And when tries, he'll draw the ball and score a goal.

[SGr]

Lennon is ineffectual when Dyche tells him to drift inside to add an extra man when we play 4-4-2. Hopefully today with the formation change he will be allowed to just be a winger again.

[Ooogeorgeorgeoghani]

Lennon is ineffectual when Dyche tells him to drift inside to add an extra man when we play 4-4-2. Hopefully today with the formation change he will be allowed to just be a winger again.

Got some really good blocks and tackles and worked really hard but... today was the day when he should have been just a winger running at players at pace what he is best at doing , hopefully he will get the opportunity to do this next season , we have seen glimpses man city at home he was awesome

[Vegas Claret]

we hardly gave him the ball to do anything today

[ClaretTony]

Aaron Lennon isn’t the problem here, it’s over inflated expectations.

Nail on head

[tim_noone]

The Steven Jordan syndrome never goes away.

[blsclaret]

Lennon is ineffectual when Dyche tells him to drift inside to add an extra man when we play 4-4-2. Hopefully today with the formation change he will be allowed to just be a winger again.

How on earth do you know what Dyche "tells him" to do ?
This is a team with a team ethic. Sometimes plans do not work for the simplest of reasons.
The bloke has had issues, as most of us have. Support him and see what develops.

[boatshed bill]

Got some really good blocks and tackles and worked really hard but... today was the day when he should have been just a winger running at players at pace what he is best at doing , hopefully he will get the opportunity to do this next season , we have seen glimpses man city at home he was awesome

If we are picking him for his blocks and tackles we should have stuck with the more industrious George Boyd.
Surely we are bringing players like Lennon for their attacking flair....
or am I missing something?

[SGr]

How on earth do you know what Dyche "tells him" to do ?
This is a team with a team ethic. Sometimes plans do not work for the simplest of reasons.
The bloke has had issues, as most of us have. Support him and see what develops.

Arfield used to do the same. Nothing I said had anything to do with "issues", it was to do with what I believe to be Dyche's instructions, based on what I've seen before and the obvious fact Dyche now values having 3 in the centre.

[claretspice]

Think Lennon has struggled a bit in the last few games (but only a bit - he's not been that bad at all, so some perspective is needed) for 4 reasons recently.

The first is that he's much better suited to playing in a 4-5-1 which transitions into a 4-3-3, where he can make attacking runs from outside to in to get beyond the striker and "break the line". Recently in a 442, I think he has suffered a bit from the tactical requirements we impose when we play that system - little doubt the wide players have to be really disciplined in coming narrow when demanded by the system, and also holding their position generally - it has meant Lennon getting lots of ball with his back to goal, which isn't his strength.

We changed that yesterday, and he was much better, but the other reasons remain.

Secondly, we're still missing a really incisive passer of the ball from midfield. I'm a fan of Hendrick and he had a good game yesterday, and I'm a fan of Westwood, but neither is a passer of the quality of Defour, and neither has the eye for the creative opening that Brady has (even if his success rate might be lower than Defour's). We've been without our two best playmakers as a result and that's inevitably impacted upon the quality of ball that Lennon has when he gets between the lines.

Finally, he's still adapting to us. We ask an enormous amount of our wingers tactically, and I'd challenge anyone to identify a winger Dyche has signed mid-season who has been an unqualified success before having a pre-season with us. He's probably been less instinctive than he'd be at his best as a result, and perhaps his confidence has dropped a touch as a result. Give him a pre-season, get him a team with Defour and perhaps Brady (if Brady gets his place back) in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 and he'll be absolutely grand. He's a fine player, and we've seen that in spells.