Looked to have something about him, certainly gave our England international left back the run around.

21 years old, another Irish lad as well.

I was more impressed with their number 8 Brownhill

wilks_bfc wrote:I was more impressed with their number 8 Brownhill

Scored a cracking goal against us for Preston in a friendly a couple of years ago.

I thought the same, made Flan look like a league 2 defender

Maybe SD could recommend him to Alex Neil.

I liked the look of the number 8 as well. Looked sharp on and off the ball. The winger looked ok but he was against probably the weakest player in our squad where as No 8 was against Joey, Defour and Tarks looked good

Is No 8 a local lad who went to school at St Augustines at Billington?

Extend George Boyds contract if he's the alternative..

We never looked in trouble we were solid and composed, no pressure no hassle.If we were up against players who hadn't lost eight on the trot I might look at them more seriously .

I was saying at the game that number 11 had good pace, he certainly gave Flanagan A hard time.

The only person who made Flanagan look like a League 2 defender was Flanagan. Absolutely awful defensive display.

Needs to be played @ right back in his natural position.

claretdj wrote:Needs to be played @ right back in his natural position.

Not sure his natural position is on a football pitch to be honest.

Rileybobs wrote:Not sure his natural position is on a football pitch to be honest.

Well he's a hell of a better right back than the one we had on the pitch today

ClaretTony wrote:Well he's a hell of a better right back than the one we had on the pitch today

Nothing this season has suggested he is at all. Something went seriously wrong for Jon during that time out injured.

I must admit i haven't seen enough of Flanagan yet to make any sort of judgement. That said we certainly need to look at our cover at right back behind Lowton.

All I'm saying is the guy is playing out of position & play him right back & then judge after 10 games..

claretdj wrote:All I'm saying is the guy is playing out of position & play him right back & then judge after 10 games..

The basics of defending are the same whether you're at left back or right back. I'm surprised Dyche is persisting with him, he commits himself every time he finds himself 1 on 1 and he inevitably gets rinsed every time. The further into the opposition's half he ventures the more comfortable he looks and that's not a good attribute for a defender.

ClaretTony wrote:Well he's a hell of a better right back than the one we had on the pitch today

I'd say it's touch and go, but Darikwa's athleticism usually makes up for his rash decision making.

I wouldnt bother CT doesn't rate Darikwa and looks for every opportunity to have a dig at him....especially when Flanagan is getting criticised

Saying Flanagan is a hell of a better defender than Darikwa is a big statement. What makes you think that?

Pretty much every time I have seen Flanagan I have thought he was awful.

Darikwa has made a massive jump in just over one season.
Flanagan has been brought up at this quality and he looks miles of the pace.

I would rather keep Darikwa than Flanagan moving forward.

odowda was good first half but faded in the second,


i also think the question of whether tarkowski can play midfield was answered today, and the answer for me was no

Surprised it's even a question. Only a suggestion from one well known poster on here. Put him back under wraps for when Keane departs...

Flanagan got roasted a few times today.

His positioning is awful - he left a gap on his inside for the ball to be threaded through time and time again

He can't cross a ball

Has no left foot

Darikwa has done ok in the cup games -played much better than Flanagan but still don't think he is good enough at this level.

O Dowda is absolutely abysmal.

Anyone who thinks we should be in for him clearly doesnt watch football. Hes awful.

I might be wrong but I don't recall them causing any problems down Darikwa's side. His problem, yet again, was his passing, and his crosses were awful. He gets in some positions to cross and then messes it up.

Cannot say I really noticed Brownhill as a stand out performer whilst I was at the game. What I have noticed on the highlights is Brownhill just gives up on tracking back Defour in the build up to our second goal. Not really a trait SD likes in his players.

ClaretTony wrote:Well he's a hell of a better right back than the one we had on the pitch today

Flanagan was dreadful again today, offered nothing going forward and was shocking in defence.

At least Darikwa gave us options pushing forward, his distribution was 99% bad mind you.

Flanagan just seems to get skinned for fun, looks way off the pace

I can't say we'd miss him if he went back to Liverpool. He's ok at right back but at left back he's a complete liability. His positional sense is woeful, he plays the entire game facing his own goal (thus offering the square root of feck all going forward) and he seemingly only has one way of tackling; that's to run directly at the winger in Forrest Gump style. I thought O'Dowda looked ok as well but in fairness he was skinning Flanagan by simply moving the ball either side of him. There was no need for any fancy footwork to get past him. Honestly I think Flanagan is appalling. He can't have been like this when he was playing for Liverpool and getting England call ups. He looks about as likely to get a call up for England as Darikwa!!