One player who's name has not been dragged through the mud in the last 24hours , yet Lennon has been slated for his defensive work , it was noted yesterday that our right back had gone missing Instead of holding up the attacker he took up a central position leaving Lennon no option but to run himself ragged chasing back , if we are to have a back 4 then the rb and lb should be in position unless they have just overlapped on an attack , which in many cases they had not , instead we looked vulnerable everytime they played the long diagonal , I'm not saying he had a bad game but to allow Lennon to attack he needs to know that if he looses the ball he has cover behind him

I woldn't have Lennon anywhere near the starting eleven. End of story.

Thought Lennon was one of our best three players last night.

Lowton was dreadful yesterday, like he has been for most of the season.
I would say Lennon was far better with his tracking back and his odd burst of pace, although that is not saying much.

Both full-backs tuck right in almost next to the centre half's and leave the wings wide open, It must be the
instructions they are following

Feel sorry for Lennon. He is an old fashioned winger who wants to get chalk on his boots and run at his man yet he is clearly under orders to constantly tuck infield and track back. Lowton knows he is going to play no matter what due to our lack of decent cover at right back.

Agree re:Lennon. At other clubs he’s always been allowed to receive the ball higher up the pitch and beat a man. With Burnley it’s like he’s playing as an extra right back at times.

Lowton was dreadful last night and has been for a while. I watched Lennon closely and he continually showed and spun for Lowton to play him in only for Lowton to cut in or lose the ball.

Lennon was the best of a bad bunch last night.

Caught out of position numerous times from our own corners a theme that has continued throughout the season! In fact opppsing teams seem to have a better chance of scoring from our own corners and attacking free kicks!

Ooogeorgeorgeoghani wrote:One player who's name has not been dragged through the mud in the last 24hours , yet Lennon has been slated for his defensive work , it was noted yesterday that our right back had gone missing Instead of holding up the attacker he took up a central position leaving Lennon no option but to run himself ragged chasing back , if we are to have a back 4 then the rb and lb should be in position unless they have just overlapped on an attack , which in many cases they had not , instead we looked vulnerable everytime they played the long diagonal , I'm not saying he had a bad game but to allow Lennon to attack he needs to know that if he looses the ball he has cover behind him

You didn't see my assessment of him on the player ratings thread for yesterday's game then

He gets a lot of space and time from teams as they know 9/10 theres no end product, was far from worst player tho....

I'm not his biggest fan, but Lowton was instrumental in stopping two clear breaks last night, at one point thinking very clearly and stopping two players in one movement. Impressive play.

jdrobbo wrote:Thought Lennon was one of our best three players last night.

Just curious, who were the other 2

I gave Long 7, Lennon and Defour 6

Lowton is what he is, what he was when we signed him, a decent top end championship, lower end Premier league player, nothing more, nothing less.

He is the player some fans dislike until Bardsley is picked. He is our most comfortable defender on the ball, and usually puts in more crosses than our wingers-most of them good. Certainly did last night. Far from our worst player and someone who has stepped up his game since leaving Villa

Played well last season as did most of the team, needs someone better than bardsley challenging him for his place as does everyone in the team....

Regarding him playing narrow and Lennon having to drop deep to pick Ritchie up. This came about in my view because Newcastle played 3-4-3. Lowton had one of the front 3 to pick up as both centre halves picked up Rondon and Taylor and Brady got ran ragged on the other side. That left Lennon having to pick Ritchie up. Could see this clearly from JMU but Dyche and his coaching team failed to react and instead stuck with the rigid plan / framework he’s pretty much hung his hat on for 6 years.

KlyBfc wrote:Regarding him playing narrow and Lennon having to drop deep to pick Ritchie up. This came about in my view because Newcastle played 3-4-3. Lowton had one of the front 3 to pick up as both centre halves picked up Rondon and Taylor and Brady got ran ragged on the other side. That left Lennon having to pick Ritchie up. Could see this clearly from JMU but Dyche and his coaching team failed to react and instead stuck with the rigid plan / framework he’s pretty much hung his hat on for 6 years.

Decent shout. Very slow to react 'in game'.
We were outfoxed tactically.

I feel Lowton is hung out to dry as he's told to defend narrow and then ends up challenging a 6'4 forward at the back post in the air with inevitable results.

Needs to be a wing back in my opinion and bomb on and cross.

(Not that we'd ever , ever , play with wing backs)

Lowton is hardly responsible for our current problems and like Taylor is obviously told to tuck in when defending.

Him and Lennon linked well during the first half but sometimes he can't play Lennon in because Lennon is either going the wrong way, is looking the wrong way or has disappeared inside. I'm not having a go at Lennon either.

For a lot of the game our players only seem to know where they are going when we win a throw in and the ball is dead. And that is another problem area that frustrates the fans...

Bardsley needs to start v Palace with JBG wide in front of him.