Now of course I once suggested David Edgar might be the surprise player who influenced a season only to find that SD's brief flirtation with him as a holding midfielder ended summarily with the implementation of the framework in his first successful promotion effort.

This season I'm looking for a player who has yet to truly make his mark or comes from our new signings. I'm sure Ben Mee will be as able as ever, Heaton will still be a force in goal but it's from those group of nearly/maybe players that I'm looking for a star to emerge.

So for me that's Westwood JBG Brady Agyei Taylor Walters Cork Defour Long O'Neill Pope Darikwa and Gray, some might question whether Gray is really a nearly player but at this level I fancy he still is.
Out of those it's likely that Westwood and Cork are the most capable of holding a place down on available evidence but I fancy it's from the rest that the player of the season will emerge.

No it's not going to be Tarka for me because I believe he would be best employed as a holding midfielder or as the attacking player in a back three. As a pure centre back I think within SD's framework he might have issues, although he will always add a significant presence going forward.
I fancy most of us hope Defour becomes the star player because of he does I fancy we will have a good season but I'm still uncertain SD sees him as a viable option around which to build a side particularly one lacking Boyd. However for me the gamble is worthwhile.
Again most of us hope for better and more consistent things from Brady and JBG but I fear they will find themselves defending rather than doing what they are best at taking on defenders.
So for me that leaves Agyei, Taylor and ONeill and maybe none of them will feature hardly at all as Edgar didn't but I'm hoping one of them makes a significant impact and the one I still rate as exceptional is Agyei, the kiss of death I know, but there is something about this lad that sets the pulse racing. I hope he is a great success.
Finally don't write off the Longs Darikwa et al, decent players who can hold their own and of course Pope who is a worthy understudy to Heaton but for me the player of the year

Agyei.

You find all this time to write that nonsense but still haven't provided your list of which clubs are interested in your Scottish future stars.

Anybody doing anything interesting today?

Tarkowski will surprise us all and score 16 goals from his holding midfield role as you predicted

One of the defenders probably, or the assist king Tom Heaton.

ablueclaret wrote:Now of course I once suggested David Edgar might be the surprise player who influenced a season only to find that SD's brief flirtation with him as a holding midfielder ended summarily with the implementation of the framework in his first successful promotion effort.

Suggesting David Edgar just about sums you up

KRBFC wrote:One of the defenders probably, or the assist king Tom Heaton.

Out of curiosity, how many assists did Heaton make last season?

I'm prepared to acknowledge my mistakes CT unlike a lot on here.

Juan Tanamera wrote:Out of curiosity, how many assists did Heaton make last season?

I don't know but id guess, 0. Although plenty of our goals would have come from him launching it.

I must admit I have similar thoughts about Agyei.

He looks like he will have a bright future. However as the highlights against shamrock show, his finishing was more than poor. However as a positive he managed to get himself in those positions.

I imagine training with the first team will develop him massively.

So the player you label our assist king you then have him with 0 assists within 10 minutes of the original stupid statement.

it is almost like you had a weeks ban for being a helmet and in that time have stared at the topics getting all excited and frustrated being unable to comment, soon as your ban is up you can't control yourself and spew stupid comments on most topics.

Someone gets a great 4G signal on his allotment

ablueclaret wrote:Now of course I once suggested David Edgar might be the surprise player who influenced a season only to find that SD's brief flirtation with him as a holding midfielder ended summarily with the implementation of the framework in his first successful promotion effort.

This season I'm looking for a player who has yet to truly make his mark or comes from our new signings. I'm sure Ben Mee will be as able as ever, Heaton will still be a force in goal but it's from those group of nearly/maybe players that I'm looking for a star to emerge.

So for me that's Westwood JBG Brady Agyei Taylor Walters Cork Defour Long O'Neill Pope Darikwa and Gray, some might question whether Gray is really a nearly player but at this level I fancy he still is.
Out of those it's likely that Westwood and Cork are the most capable of holding a place down on available evidence but I fancy it's from the rest that the player of the season will emerge.

No it's not going to be Tarka for me because I believe he would be best employed as a holding midfielder or as the attacking player in a back three. As a pure centre back I think within SD's framework he might have issues, although he will always add a significant presence going forward.
I fancy most of us hope Defour becomes the star player because of he does I fancy we will have a good season but I'm still uncertain SD sees him as a viable option around which to build a side particularly one lacking Boyd. However for me the gamble is worthwhile.
Again most of us hope for better and more consistent things from Brady and JBG but I fear they will find themselves defending rather than doing what they are best at taking on defenders.
So for me that leaves Agyei, Taylor and ONeill and maybe none of them will feature hardly at all as Edgar didn't but I'm hoping one of them makes a significant impact and the one I still rate as exceptional is Agyei, the kiss of death I know, but there is something about this lad that sets the pulse racing. I hope he is a great success.
Finally don't write off the Longs Darikwa et al, decent players who can hold their own and of course Pope who is a worthy understudy to Heaton but for me the player of the year

Agyei.

Defour.. here's hoping

To give a serious answer to the original question, I'll tip Hendrick. He's got absolutely everything you'd want in a modern day midfielder - deceptively quick with his long stride, decent range of passing, capable of carrying the ball and taking men on, tall strong and physically imposing. We saw real glimpses of this last season, the goal he created single handedly against Stoke being the best but by no means only example, and generally his performances once he had settled in were pretty impressive. Now he'll have had a year to bed in, and had a pre-season with us to get really, really fit (he didn't have that last season), I'm hoping he emerges as a massive player for us.

Certainly a lot more likely than Agyei, who may well make further strides this season and become an integral part of the first team squad but is starting from a very much lower point in his development.

I think you might be right Spice but I was looking for someone who rises from the peripheries
I fancy Cork Hendrick Defour and Westwood are central to our success given our likely initial vulnerability at the back

ablueclaret wrote:I think you might be right Spice but I was looking for someone who rises from the peripheries
I fancy Cork Hendrick Defour and Westwood are central to our success given our likely initial vulnerability at the back

You're central to this forums success.

Defour, if he plays in his correct position.

Seeing as Agyei is probably our fifth choice striker (would have been sixth had we signed Assombalonga) I'd be surprised if he gets more than 90 minutes gametime for us over the whole season.

Defour

Westwood to shine for me, but all depends on who else comes in so my opinion might change by the time the window closes

The Juke.....he just needs to get that first goal

ablueclaret wrote:I think you might be right Spice but I was looking for someone who rises from the peripheries
I fancy Cork Hendrick Defour and Westwood are central to our success given our likely initial vulnerability at the back

So not for the first time, you are starting from the wrong position, then.

Players do not rise from the peripheries to become star players very often. They rise from the peripheries to become important members of the regular first eleven. Important members of the regular first eleven in turn grow into star players.

Too often, you reckon there's some magic cure to transform us into a vastly superior team - be it Tarkowski in midfield, Agyei breaking through from nowhere, etc. This is fantasy stuff - it happens occasionally, usually to teams who have far more stellar academies than ours and so who frequently bring through top class juniors that are out of our reach. But it doesn't happen often, particularly at clubs like ours.

walters, he will be THE player for us this season.

JBG

I don't think it's any coincidence that our downward spiral began as soon as those non league cloggers disgracefully kicked him off the pitch

claretspice wrote:To give a serious answer to the original question, I'll tip Hendrick. He's got absolutely everything you'd want in a modern day midfielder - deceptively quick with his long stride, decent range of passing, capable of carrying the ball and taking men on, tall strong and physically imposing. We saw real glimpses of this last season, the goal he created single handedly against Stoke being the best but by no means only example, and generally his performances once he had settled in were pretty impressive. Now he'll have had a year to bed in, and had a pre-season with us to get really, really fit (he didn't have that last season), I'm hoping he emerges as a massive player for us.

Certainly a lot more likely than Agyei, who may well make further strides this season and become an integral part of the first team squad but is starting from a very much lower point in his development.

A pair of "strides".

Hope it's Defour, with goals.

If he's fit and committed Defour. Agyei is clearly a joke by ABC.

Grimsdale wrote:Seeing as Agyei is probably our fifth choice striker (would have been sixth had we signed Assombalonga) I'd be surprised if he gets more than 90 minutes gametime for us over the whole season.

Prepare yourself to see weekly threads by ABC moaning about Agyei not playing then!

ABC spoilt what could have been a really good thread by making the utterly ridiculous suggestion of Agyei. As if he's going to rise from promising youngster in the development squad to Premier League striker sensation in the space of a few months.

I was having this conversation with a friend the other day though, and I thought Brady might become our star player this season and sort of become to us what Snodgrass was to Hull in the first part of last season. My friend didn't agree at all and doesn't rate Brady one bit from what he's seen of him.

Agyei to play holding midfield with Tarka as trequartista.

ablueclaret wrote: I fancy Cork Hendrick Defour and Westwood are central to our success.

I'd be very surprised to see more than two from the four on the field at the same time.
Cork and Defour are the pick. Cork the best of the 4 in the holding roll and Defour the best vision and ability to find his target.

Agyei has a career in front of him but this year might be too soon, unless Gray is sold.

I go along with Wile, in that Walters will be a revelation for us with his experience,
aggressive style and his tenacity. He is not bad at all with his ball control either.

He's the chap that gets my vote.

Our next signing!

Wile E Coyote wrote:walters, he will be THE player for us this season.

Stop trolling this is a serious discussion

There are a few who stand out for me, including Cork, Defour, Brady and Walters.

All of them, with a full pre-season, coming back 'Dyche-fit' could play a massive part for us this year.

I will go with Cork at this point, but I'd love Brady to make a real impression this year.

Brady or Gray

I'll go with Taylor, if of course he gets his spot.

Tall Paul wrote:Brady or Gray

Gray ? ?

I really hope so, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Hope I 'm wrong.

Funkydrummer wrote:Gray ? ?

I really hope so, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Hope I 'm wrong.

Because you think he'll be gone?

We don't have star players we are Burnley not Barcelona.

Tall Paul wrote:Because you think he'll be gone?

I think you know my answer to that one, you little tinker.

If Tarkowski gets the nod he'll probably be the one the pundits talk about, they get excited about centre backs that are good with the ball, especially English ones. Walters will quickly become a Marney-like fans' favourite with his aggression and attitude. If Defour gets a good amount of game time he'll win us points and if we play some 451 JBG will do too, but I reckon Hendrick will be the most likely to stand out, hopefully breaking into good positions and chipping in with a few more goals.

claretspice wrote:To give a serious answer to the original question, I'll tip Hendrick. He's got absolutely everything you'd want in a modern day midfielder - deceptively quick with his long stride, decent range of passing, capable of carrying the ball and taking men on, tall strong and physically imposing. We saw real glimpses of this last season, the goal he created single handedly against Stoke being the best but by no means only example, and generally his performances once he had settled in were pretty impressive. Now he'll have had a year to bed in, and had a pre-season with us to get really, really fit (he didn't have that last season), I'm hoping he emerges as a massive player for us.

Certainly a lot more likely than Agyei, who may well make further strides this season and become an integral part of the first team squad but is starting from a very much lower point in his development.

Are you Hendricks agent or something? He's got "everything you want from a modern footballer". Is that a serious comment? I'm pretty sure you said the same about Andre Bikey.

The jury's still out big time imo. If he's so good why did he only get two goals (one he'd never be able to do the rest of his career) and one assist in 32 games?

I'm all for bigging up our players but I think you're verging on claret tinted glasses concerning JH

Defour!

I think the likes of Hendrick and Brady will be much more settled than last term...and I can see jack corks years of experience at the top giving him the edge.thats my gut.

Sam Vokes. Given a better supply line I fancy him to improve on his goal tally from last year.

Potentially, lots of stars this season:

Tom Heaton building his claim to be "England's number one." But, we don't want to be just relying on Tom's excellence in goal.
Ben Mee leading the defence, showing that we won't miss Michael Keane.
Tarks letting us know what we've been waiting 18 months for.
Our Irish internationals rolling in four-leaved clover every week - or should that be shamrock?
Our RB/LB/JBG/JC/SV/AG/AB/JW will all contribute.

My pick for the "10 out of 10" star is Steven Defour - here's hoping he is staying with us and Sean Dyche is building a team around him.

UTC

JBG... he makes things happen!

Jeff Hendrick.... our best all round midfielder.

Heaton by a mile.

Ben Mee as usual