According to this, he's created the 6th highest amount of chances out of all full backs in the PL. He's definitely grown on me lately. He seems to be settling into the league nicely and growing in confidence.

http://talksport.com/football/revealed- ... 223114?p=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Change his name to Kieran Trippier and we'd all have damp pants.

I don't have a problem particularly with Lowton, he's not flashy and will probably never be in the running for player of the year, but he is capable of playing well enough at this level.

At the moment he is the type of player that we can afford to have as he probably won't cost us too many goals / games, however we would need to improve on him if we want to progress as he probably wouldn't get in too many (if any) other PL teams.

Isn't he in the top list of tacklers as well?

Seems to be a real marmite player.

Goobs wrote:I don't have a problem particularly with Lowton, he's not flashy and will probably never be in the running for player of the year, but he is capable of playing well enough at this level.

At the moment he is the type of player that we can afford to have as he probably won't cost us too many goals / games, however we would need to improve on him if we want to progress as he probably wouldn't get in too many (if any) other PL teams.

If he doesn't cost us goals, creates chances and puts in a tackle, why is he somebody we'd need to improve on? Maybe we could just let him get better and better?

He's been better since he came back into the side for Flanagan since serving his suspension.

Underrated, is Lowton. He's sometimes a little flaky defensively, but he's grown in stature recently in that department (inevitably - players get used to the league, get confident in their own ability and begin to assert themselves more), and his attacking play has been excellent since he first arrived. His crossing isn't quite of Trippier's quality, but it isn't half bad (two lovely wickedly curling crosses against Sunderland attest to that) and leaving aside the eye-catching ball for Hendrick's goal v Bournemouth, his passing is consistently reliable and assured.

As with most of our full backs, plays best when paired with George Boyd on that flank.

I'd agree with all of that spice, he's definitely improving all the time. Seems very confident now, as he should.

Fretters wrote:If he doesn't cost us goals, creates chances and puts in a tackle, why is he somebody we'd need to improve on? Maybe we could just let him get better and better?

I personally don't feel he will ever improve to be that much better than he currently is, however he is currently sufficient for what we require / can afford.

There are other areas that definitely require new additions before we look at replacing Lowton, however in the long run if we have loftier ambitions that yo-yo club / scraping survival he will IMO require an upgrade at some point.

Like I said, I have no issues with him, I just don't ever see him being a "great" player.

He's the best we have by some considerable distance as all those who went to Sunderland were reminded

Goobs wrote:I personally don't feel he will ever improve to be that much better than he currently is, however he is currently sufficient for what we require / can afford.

There are other areas that definitely require new additions before we look at replacing Lowton, however in the long run if we have loftier ambitions that yo-yo club / scraping survival he will IMO require an upgrade at some point.

Like I said, I have no issues with him, I just don't ever see him being a "great" player.

He won't be great, but then neither will all but about 3 or 4 of our current team, and one or two of them are more likely to move on than fulfil greatness with us.

The likes of Lowton, Ward, Mee and Arfield are very important to us. They create the culture which means that the unit is greater than the sum of its parts.

The problem Lowton has is that he has had to follow Tripper, and we are always comparing the two.

I'm not trying to have a go at Lowton and I agree with what both Tony and yourself are saying. I just think that Lowton (and possibly Ben Mee) are quite limited in their potential and whilst they are good players they should EVENTUALLY be replaced with better quality if we are to progress. For now though Lowton would still be one of the first names on my team sheet his position is pretty secure considering the alternatives.

Goobs sums it up very well.

I think he offers us more defensively than Trippier did.

FactualFrank wrote:Goobs sums it up very well.

Yeah, i think it is a fair assessment. I suppose the point of difference is whether we as a club can ever move beyond the stalwarts who currently underpin what we are. We are seeing this season at Swansea what happens when you begin to replace them and begin to lose your identity and i think you can draw a similar trend from what happened to the likes of Rovers, Bolton etc before. We are always going to be an underdog at this level and players who have that mentality are therefore always going to be vital to us, even if they aremt top of the range players (much like Glenn Whelan, Shawcross and Jon Walters are still key cogs at Stoke).

In any event, i don't think we're at the point of outgrowing or potentially outgrowing Lowton any time soon.

That's a good point about Jon Walters. He's never been a player you'd think was good enough for the Premier league, but never seems to let Stoke down at this level.

He is clearly the best we have in that position but IMO that's because we are weak in that position. Stats don't paint the pull picture. I would like to see us sign someone better in the summer

Ditto Gareth Macauley at WBA.

Ric_C wrote:The problem Lowton has is that he has had to follow Tripper, and we are always comparing the two.

That hits the nail right on the head for me

Tripps hardly got out of his own half for the first 10 or so games the last time we were in the prem, let alone put any decent crosses in. There were also numerous times that when he did manage to venture forward, Jones had to cover the gap right midfield and stop potential counter attacks. Don't get me wrong, I thought Tripps eventually became a great player for us, but he was by no means perfect. I don't believe that there is that big of a gap between Tripps and Lowts ability wise. By the time Tripps left us he'd plenty of time to get used to our system, Lowts continues to improve each time I've seen him, I'm happy with his progress and contribution.

Players always get better when they're not actually playing for us though.

Ric_C wrote:The problem Lowton has is that he has had to follow Tripper, and we are always comparing the two.

Agreed.
I have been reflecting on my 50+ years of watching Burnley, and bearing in mind the division in which we are playing, we haven't had many better.
Top of my RB list would still be the first I saw - the legendary John Angus, then it would be Keith Newton and Trippier, followed by Lowton.
(I hope I haven't forgotten someone really obvious).

Agreed.
I have been reflecting on my 50+ years of watching Burnley, and bearing in mind the division in which we are playing, we haven't had many better.
Top of my RB list would still be the first I saw - the legendary John Angus, then it would be Keith Newton and Trippier, followed by Lowton.
(I hope I haven't forgotten someone really obvious).

Brian Laws

I think Lowton has benefited by the 'Trippier Effect'.

Spurs got in Tripps as back up to Walker and Walker has improved amazingly (beyond recognition).

Flannagan gave Lowton a scare and now hes having to fight for his place in every game, hence showing consistent improvement.

UTC

HuncoatClaret wrote:Agreed.
I have been reflecting on my 50+ years of watching Burnley, and bearing in mind the division in which we are playing, we haven't had many better.
Top of my RB list would still be the first I saw - the legendary John Angus, then it would be Keith Newton and Trippier, followed by Lowton.
(I hope I haven't forgotten someone really obvious).

Brian Laws

What about the amazing Dean West?

HuncoatClaret wrote:Agreed.
I have been reflecting on my 50+ years of watching Burnley, and bearing in mind the division in which we are playing, we haven't had many better.
Top of my RB list would still be the first I saw - the legendary John Angus, then it would be Keith Newton and Trippier, followed by Lowton.
(I hope I haven't forgotten someone really obvious).

Brian Laws

You're right!. I wasn't being "revisionist" and trying to eradicate Laws from my memory, I genuinely forgot about him, although it is probably fair to say that he was not as good here as he was later to become, and, of course he never played in the top tier for Burnley. Nonetheless he would definitely be in the top 2 or 3.

boatshed bill wrote:What about the amazing Dean West?

I think that that statement goes some way to support my point.

He's 20th in the most tackles completed as well.

ClaretTony wrote:He's the best we have by some considerable distance as all those who went to Sunderland were reminded

Not sure I agree with knocking one of our own players in public...especially one playing virtually his first game for over a year. Dyche did say he was 'delighted' with Darikwas' performance though. Thankfully the manager knows best.

roamingclaret wrote:Not sure I agree with knocking one of our own players in public...especially one playing virtually his first game for over a year. Dyche did say he was 'delighted' with Darikwas' performance though. Thankfully the manager knows best.

I wasn't knocking anyone, I was pointing out that, in my opinion, Lowton is the better option by some distance which is probably been first choice since he got into the side in December 2015.

Sorry, but they weren't reminded by a performance from Matt Lowton were they, so I.m not sure I can swallow that.

Most games I find myself saying 'what a tackle', and invariably it is Lowton.

He has also made some crucial interceptions and last ditch tackles, usually when coming across to cover for Keane.

Lowton has easily saved us more points than he has cost us so far.

Bond got rid of a fullback,that became a regular for arsenal and england.

Dont forget,they are not John Angus,you know!

Lowton is good on the ball but just a smidge short of pace at PL level. I like Lowton but Ward is better in every department. That is more a testament to how very good Ward has been this season rather than a criticism of Lowton.

UTC!

holdyourfire wrote:Bond got rid of a fullback,that became a regular for arsenal and england.

I certainly hadn't forgotten about him, and he was probably the best of the lot, but with only 4 Burnley appearances as a teenager, he can't realistically be considered to be in our top 5 full-backs, or indeed ahead of Lowton.

nil_desperandum wrote:I certainly hadn't forgotten about him, and he was probably the best of the lot, but with only 4 Burnley appearances as a teenager, he can't realistically be considered to be in our top 5 full-backs, or indeed ahead of Lowton.

In fairness though he played for Chester, Bury & Stoke before playing for Arsenal so it wasn't as though he was playing that well after he left us.

Derek Scott?

Lowton is ok and he's definitely improved since the game he was dropped, but right-back would still be a position I'd look to improve either in this window or in the summer - he's the weak link in the defence and possibly the team for me. I also assume we felt Flanagan would be first choice by now but he hasn't been as good as we were expecting. With Ward 32 in August we need to be thinking about full-backs on both sides unless there's anyone particularly promising in the kids.

holdyourfire wrote:Bond got rid of a fullback,that became a regular for arsenal and england.

Yes, he went to Chester and they released him in no time, then to Bury. Lee Dixon himself said he had the wrong attitude at the time and it was no surprise.

I think he's doing a decent job. I believe we paid circa £1m for him (plus add-ons). I'm not sure what people were expecting for that sort of money.

Certainly got better these last few weeks.

Out of the two full back slots, id suggest if one was being replaced, it'd be Lowton. Ward has been absolutely superb since he broke into the team.

Having said that tho, i'd be happy if Lowton continues in his current form.