Hello guys. Wednesday fan here. Good to see you doing so fantastically well, under a terrific manager. Nice bit of business when you got Dyche. Not jealous at all...

Question for you on Boyd if you don’t mind.

He had a poor to average first season. An early injury then never really did much. Played wide right or left of a midfield 4 or 5,scored a couple at the back end. Little pace, very few crosses...just very very ordinary, at best.

This season our newish manager is again playing 3 at the back and wing-backs in a 343 or 352. We have the superb Adam Reach on the left, but we are struggling to find a suitable RWB.

Wondered what you guys think of George as a RWB at Championship level a year on from when he played for you lot?

Hope you can oblige.

All the very best for another great season.

We played Georgie as a right midfielder more than a wing back it winger.

The better we got as a team the more average his contribution appeared when going forward but he was also the hardest working wide midfielder I ever saw in terms of tracking back.

He never had any pace.

But he did have lovely hair.

This will be interesting! He split opinions and there will be a few that will agree with your summation. Lot of effort, good st tracking back, played the role he was asked but frustrating in the last third.

His usp at Burnley was his work ethic....nice guy who would run himself into the ground for the cause, which was very much a part of the Dyche plan at that time.
In all his time at Burnley , I barely saw him beat a man....his crossing was mediocre at best and his right peg was only for standing on. He could hit a screamer now and then with his left peg on the rare occasions that defenders stood far enough off him.

RWB ?....probably not at Champ level for me.....fine in League One.

Rowls wrote:We played Georgie as a right midfielder more than a wing back it winger.

The better we got as a team the more average his contribution appeared when going forward but he was also the hardest working wide midfielder I ever saw in terms of tracking back.

He never had any pace.

But he did have lovely hair.

We’ve got lots of players with great hair.

We just need the lesser things in a player now, like pace, strength, fitness etc

Hi holmowl!

To the best of my knowledge GB never played as a Right wing-back for us, as Dyche preferred a pretty rigid 4-4-2, or 4-5-1. However, Boyd won many plaudits for his terrific work rate, and amount of distance he covered in games, Indeed. I think the opta stats said he covered more miles or kilometers (I forget which) in the Premier League regularly!

However, he isn't without his limitations, as he does tend to go missing at times, and is sometimes reluctant to get to the byline and put a cross in when it looks the best option. His defensive work rate though make him an ideal player for a manager who appreciates sheer hard craft over creativity, but whether at his age now he could play RWB over a full season, I'm not sure.

Only my opinion though!

Good luck for the new season.

Always liked his work-rate and this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AjxMFRLJrQ

Rolls, Fatboy and Fidel have nailed it really. Unbelievable hard-work...I think he ran more distance than any other player in the Premier League in 2016/17...and the odd moment of inspired genius but his limitations are as stated. He won't have got any better with age and I would say neither quick enough or defensively solid enough to play as a wing-back.

Apparently his wife is quite fit.

I was always amazed he won player of the year awards in 2014/15 but that did prove to be his best season for us.

I once saw him described as the best player in the Premier League without the ball. I don't think he was, and he was definitely a long way down any list with the ball. Really hard working player but we needed to move on from that by adding more to our play. We have done which we couldn't have done with Boyd in the side.

Did OK for us but certainly was the right time for him to move on.

I think he had a bit more flair in his younger days, even his early days with us, but he is of course getting older so can he keep up that superb work rate.

I was thinking how we as a team have progressed and a good measure of that is that we have moved on from Boyd, Marney, Arfield etc.. Those players did good jobs in their day but now we are, (I hope!) better.

fidelcastro wrote: I think the opta stats said he covered more miles or kilometers (I forget which) in the Premier League regularly!

Presumably both...

10/10 every week for effort but little else apart from work from Boyd. I remember him scoring a couple of decent goals for us. City at home in the premier league and Brentford away when we were 3 nil up by half time when I witnessed one of the best halfs of football from a burnley team.

I notice that Hart was nowhere near that goal !!!!

Never stopped running for Burnley...helped get us where we are today. Good old Georgie Boyd.

George Boyd is one of the hardest working players I have seen. I'll be honest, I was disappointed when he chose to move on. That said I was at times left frustrated by his quality in the final third. He scored the occasional beauty ie City but I felt he should have scored and created more. In answer to the question I don't for one minute see GB as a modern day wing back.

Boyds best game for us was Man City at home when he scored that great strike.
The City team were just passing atound between them with Boyd chasing them round Jack Russell like. He occupied them long enough for us to hang on for the win.

It was time for us to move on when he left but I thought your flair players might benefit from having a grafter in your side and at training.

Chalk and Cheese with Ross Wallace.

deanothedino wrote:Presumably both...

Not quite, he was #1 in the stats for kilometres run but only #3 for miles covered

On the original question I think the wing back position might suit Boyd as he's neither got the attacking quality to be a good winger or the defensive quality to be a good full back but is alright at both, has a great engine and will run all day. Whether he could be a right wing back I'm not convinced as he is so one footed.

George Boyd fan here.
George when a young lad was known as the white Pale. He has super close control and beats players and scored using that ability (for Peterborough).

We got him from Hull and as described, George has a Rolls Royce engine. He will ALWAYS be the player who tracks back, when others just watch. Working with a defender, between them, they blocked whichever wing he was on. If there was an overlap, George would cover.

Pace - no - especially when used as a long distance runner.

Skill - abundance with left foot. Again we subdued that somewhat with the physical demands.

Work with and for team - selfless. You would want him by your side.

He was injury free with us, so you were unlucky . He had an operation, that will take time.

He is great. Play him and see.

Boyd was a hard worker and had decent technique. He fitted perfectly in our system for most of his time with us. He arguably had the best spell of his career with us.

He never struck me as he particularly versatile and it was no great surprise that he flopped last season.

GB was the alpha-workhorse in Dyche's team (stud?) of workhorses.

He was the embodiment of the Dyche approach that brought Burnley initial success at a time when we simply couldn't afford to compete any other way.

Slowly, slowly, Burnley are evolving, and GB - as great as he was for us - was never going to be a part of that.

I was a big fan and hope he can find success again.

Devils_Advocate wrote:Not quite, he was #1 in the stats for kilometres run but only #3 for miles covered

How? 1 mile is 1.61 kilometres, if he ran 10 kilometres, then he covered 6.2 miles. If someone else covered 6.5 miles, then they must have run 10.5 kilometres.

We used him for his work rate as a defensive midfielder on the wing, as did Hull.

He has flashes of brilliance and can score some great goals with his left foot. Accurate shooting for a midfield player.

What I couldn't understand is why he never resumed his number 10 roll as he did at Peterborough. He would be better suited there with no pace in my opinion.

Wing back? I don't think he would really be suited, especially on the right unless you plan on using inverted wing backs like Guardiola sometimes does.

He wouldn't lack the stamina for that role but would be on the wrong side and he has no tackle really, just covers well. He doesn't really cross at all but cut inside which may suit the inverted wing back role but not the overlapping wing back role.

He was used by us for his work rate but he's also very technical, his role for us never really let him show that too often though.

Love George Boyd, got a lot of stick for offering little forward but he was part of a system that was the best I've seen in defence.

deanothedino wrote:How? 1 mile is 1.61 kilometres, if he ran 10 kilometres, then he covered 6.2 miles. If someone else covered 6.5 miles, then they must have run 10.5 kilometres.

Correct.

A one paced grafter, who can track back and double up with a fullback to offer protection defensively. Can't beat a man in attack when played wide but on occasion can pick a pass and also put a cross in from deep. He also has an eye for scoring a spectacular goal. He will give you his all every match

deanothedino wrote:Presumably both...

Not sure why you need to be such an arse about it.

I'm well aware that it'll be both, but I was referring to whichever measurement the opta stats used, but I'm sure you already knew that!

Excited when he signed having seen him excell for Peterborough, had no flair at all for us, ran his ass off every game but had little quality.

deanothedino wrote:How? 1 mile is 1.61 kilometres, if he ran 10 kilometres, then he covered 6.2 miles. If someone else covered 6.5 miles, then they must have run 10.5 kilometres.

I know i liked your comment and was just messing about with the premise of the original poster

Boyd 3

He may not make a traditional tackle (who does?), however, just when you think the ball is in a dangerous place for them, a long Boyd leg wraps itself around and prods the ball away, or simply steals it back.

Boyd always seemed to endear himself to Sean Dyche due to his selfless and tireless tracking back and covering of the full back. His work rate was always second to none meaning for quite a time his name would have been pre printed on the team sheet in SD's eyes. He also occasionally showed that he DID have some flair as well as hair by chipping in important goals. However his lack of pace, non existent crossing and inability to go past even the most static defenders meant that the writing was on the wall as we moved on and sought to bring in better quality and progress as a PL team. I for one never really faulted him as he was always giving his best, even if eventually it wasn't enough. He SHOULD have been a good addition to any championship side imo.

Thanks a lot guys.

Much appreciate your time and courtesy.

I will post a link on Owlstalk.

Best of luck again.

He only ran so far because he was 5 yards off the play, and had to make up for it.

No surprise we turned amazing when we had wingers who actually contributed to a game.

I’m not going to lie to you, his hair was beautiful. Very hard worker who had a great left foot for shots, but totally lacked pace.
He was a great signing for us.

Surprised to see IanMcL say that when George was young that he had superb close control, because i think that that was the one thing that he lacked. But he was the ideal player for the Dyche system in our early days in the Prem. And that goal against Citeh.....off the charts!!!

ontario claret wrote:Surprised to see IanMcL say that when George was young that he had superb close control, because i think that that was the one thing that he lacked. But he was the ideal player for the Dyche system in our early days in the Prem. And that goal against Citeh.....off the charts!!!

You don't get compared to Pele without some skill, Ontario!

IanMcL wrote:He may not make a traditional tackle (who does?), however, just when you think the ball is in a dangerous place for them, a long Boyd leg wraps itself around and prods the ball away, or simply steals it back.

He did have a knack for nicking the ball, but IMO his main attribute was his discipline in keeping our shape.
I liked him, but I don't think we miss him.

Pele!! High praise, indeed. Who compared them? George's mother?

Let's see. Who would you prefer on the wing? Georgie or JBG? OK. Nano second later, I've decided. And the winner is........

And another thing. I'm always surprised when people react to an opinion expressed by me. After all, I'm just a dumb sixth-generation Canadian who grew up on that barbaric sport called ice hockey, and who fell off of the back of a turnip truck. In a way, it's high praise, indeed. Not as high as IanMcL's idea of George Boyd, but right up there.

ontario claret wrote:Pele!! High praise, indeed. Who compared them? George's mother?

Peterborough fans.

Saw my mate,
The other day,
And he said to me he'd seen the white Pele,
So I asked,
Who he be?
He goes by the name of George Boydie!
George Boydie, George Boydie,
He goes by the name of George Boydie...

Started and nicknamed at Stevenage, evidently. Continued at Peterborough.

A very different role for him then

Newspaper report extract after they beat Huddersfield:

“And then there’s George Boyd. One will never know quite how such folk heroes as Denis Emery and Tommy Robson would have coped in today’s game, so to proclaim any player as the greatest ever is mere bluff and bluster.

“But what can be claimed – and may well be disputed – is that the lank-haired, lackadaisical-at-a-glance steal from Stevenage is the most talented footballer to have graced the PE2 turf in his generation.

“Today was no one-off. Once more Boyd toyed with his adversaries, seemingly more happy when given two men to beat rather than one, opening up chance after chance for his grateful comrades.'

So, Ian, can we say that George "ghosted" past the opposition?

Good but not great player if you want a regular assister goal scorer. However if you want a player who will do the miles cover track back and be an integral team player in a specific game plan has your man at championship level.