Who?

We will never see him play again
Which is a shame

I had to Google him.

Our best player, gone

A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

Our best footballing midfielder not available.

Get rid in the summer along with
Brady
Lennon
Vydra
Gudmonsson
Lowton

I'd take JBG off that list, (for now) but he has to prove he's still got it as he has shown in the past what a good player he is.

Steven Defour has had one of the longest paid holidays in the history of the Premier League !!

fanzone wrote:Get rid in the summer along with
Brady
Lennon
Vydra
Gudmonsson
Lowton

Steady on do you know how much it would cost to get equal replacements. They are hardly Winstanly, Blatherwick, Morgan. Let's improve and build the squad not decimate in one fell swoop. But what do I know?

Does anyone know when and if he's likely to play again?

How many "sick notes" do we need?

He has been sent to see a second consultant who specialises in calf injuries....this on the recommendation of his previous consutant that the club normally use.

We've (for)got defour. Steven Defour.......

I've given up on Defour now i''m afraid,if he wants to go to China in the Summer let him go,he is never going to be reliable as an option,this would free up another place in the squad,and hopefully his wages could go towards incomings or transfer fees.

We do need a creator in the middle of the park,as today illustrated,but he isn't the answer.

Ah yes, Defour.
He and Brady were going to be like two new signings when they came back.
Haha.
I said back in August I'd eat my hat if Defour played 5 X 90 mins this season.

fanzone wrote:Get rid in the summer along with
Brady
Lennon
Vydra
Gudmonsson
Lowton

Has there been a big spice delivery in Burnley tonight?

It’s a shame, but with the starting XI there’s no case for dropping Westwood and Cork being responsible for the harder defensive work keeps him in the side too. I’d want Defour back on the bench, he’s a good option to have, but we need to be looking for a replacement this summer. Cairney if possible.

fanzone wrote:Get rid in the summer along with
Brady
Lennon
Vydra
Gudmonsson
Lowton

Gudmundsson

It’s a shame some have chosen to forget our reliance on this man creatively for the entire first half of the season. And most of last season too for that matter.

Inchy wrote:Our best player ...

On what evidence?

[quote="dsr"]On what evidence?

Nick Pope said so, and so do I. He's a superb player, but he's not fit to play, sadly. Being injured does not equate to being a bad player.

paulus the woodgnome wrote:

But being injured does not equate to being a good player either.

Bfcboyo wrote:Steady on do you know how much it would cost to get equal replacements. They are hardly Winstanly, Blatherwick, Morgan. Let's improve and build the squad not decimate in one fell swoop. But what do I know?

£100m?

Now where would we get THAT kind of money...

tarkys_ears wrote:£100m?

Now where would we get THAT kind of money...

100m for the same skill set perhaps. Why would we do that?

Great player but Leon Court fitness levels unfortunately

On a pounds per minutes played he must be the most expensive player we have ever had. And whilst we constantly hear about how we struggle to compete with the finances of other teams, just remember someone saw fit to give him a contract extension......

You can write this season off-never get to our fitness levels

He was the best player on the pitch for six months last season, that is why he got a contract extension.

He was the main reason we were briefly 4th and finished 7th, that is why he got a contract extension.

He's comfortably the best player I've seen in a Burnley shirt, and was playing like it at the time he got a contract extension.

He's injured, and he hasn't got a great injury record, but at the time he got the contract extension, he wasn't injured and was the best player at our club.

Hindsight is ace isn't it?

Lancasterclaret wrote:He was the best player on the pitch for six months last season, that is why he got a contract extension.

He was the main reason we were briefly 4th and finished 7th, that is why he got a contract extension.

He's comfortably the best player I've seen in a Burnley shirt, and was playing like it at the time he got a contract extension.

He's injured, and he hasn't got a great injury record, but at the time he got the contract extension, he wasn't injured and was the best player at our club.

Hindsight is ace isn't it?

I agree Lancaster but this calf injury he has does seem a worry, as he is getting a second opinion for a problem that seems soft tissue rather than bone or joint and to me brings back memories of David Bedford and his career ending thigh problem where several specialists could'nt find answers and the one that did couldn't fix him. Just hope his problem is in his leg and not his head.

Lancasterclaret wrote:He was the best player on the pitch for six months last season, that is why he got a contract extension.

He was the main reason we were briefly 4th and finished 7th, that is why he got a contract extension.

He's comfortably the best player I've seen in a Burnley shirt, and was playing like it at the time he got a contract extension.

He's injured, and he hasn't got a great injury record, but at the time he got the contract extension, he wasn't injured and was the best player at our club.

Hindsight is ace isn't it?

It's not really hindsight if you've got the knowledge beforehand that he's susceptible to injuries & is very injury prone. It's weighing up whether the contract extension was a good idea armed with what you already know & strongly suspect will probably happen.

Lancasterclaret wrote:He was the best player on the pitch for six months last season, that is why he got a contract extension.

He was the main reason we were briefly 4th and finished 7th, that is why he got a contract extension.

He's comfortably the best player I've seen in a Burnley shirt, and was playing like it at the time he got a contract extension.

He's injured, and he hasn't got a great injury record, but at the time he got the contract extension, he wasn't injured and was the best player at our club.

Hindsight is ace isn't it?

He has had fitness issues the whole time he has been with us. He rarely lasts 90 minutes and has always been prone to missing games through injury.

Herts Clarets wrote:On a pounds per minutes played he must be the most expensive player we have ever had. And whilst we constantly hear about how we struggle to compete with the finances of other teams, just remember someone saw fit to give him a contract extension......

Remco Van Der Schaaf!

SGr wrote:Gudmundsson

It’s a shame some have chosen to forget our reliance on this man creatively for the entire first half of the season. And most of last season too for that matter.

Can barely string 3 games together, He could be the best player in the world but if hes always injured its pointless having him, all the players i mentioned are taking vast sums out of the club and offering nothing.

Tsk...thoughtless, selfish bastards............

fanzone wrote:Can barely string 3 games together, He could be the best player in the world but if hes always injured its pointless having him, all the players i mentioned are taking vast sums out of the club and offering nothing.

Gudmundsson will have made about 100 appearances in three seasons by the end of this season.

I can't say I'd be concerned if Brady, Lennon, Vydra (I have to take Dyche's word for it as I've not seen him), Defour all left (assuming we get numbers in to fill spaces).

I don't think Lowton or Gudmundsson are anywhere near that category.

When Defour is fit he's a joy to watch, and prompts us to play in the way I want to see my Burnley team play, week in week out.

The reality is though we just can't get him out there consistently, other than in that amazing purple patch we had in Autumn 2017. He doesn't really appear to have any sort of drive to get himself back either, from what we've heard. He's one of a few players at the club who are very expensive to us, but don't contribute very much at all really.

We need a bit of a clear out this summer, and Defour is on the list for me, sadly.

Not too sure about the lack of "drive" or commitment, I'll leave that to this board's experts but I can't imagine Dyche putting up with anybody skiving for this long. Other than that, you're spot on.

Can't knock him just for that free-kick at old Trafford but he nearly cost me a slap , i was sat with a manc mate near the tunnel and jumped up !

Literally the most over-rated Burnley player of all time.

What are his stats? One goal and one assist in two seasons?

He's permanently injured and contributes next to nothing when fit. A waste of a wage

Ksr, not sure we will get that bit of a clear out. SD keeps banging on about having faith in this group of players and certainly shows a sense of blind faith in them, but you're right, sadly including Defour, our squad needs some new players, some new energy.

Braindead wrote: What are his stats? One goal and one assist in two seasons?

Nope. Google is your friend if you didn’t go to many games.

Certificat médical

Archer wrote:Nope. Google is your friend if you didn’t go to many games.

Excellent banter. One goal and one assist last season and no goals and no assists thus far this season equals one goal and one assist in the last two seasons does it not?

Maybe you should Google it.

Herts Clarets wrote:On a pounds per minutes played he must be the most expensive player we have ever had. And whilst we constantly hear about how we struggle to compete with the finances of other teams, just remember someone saw fit to give him a contract extension......

Remco wants a word!

I bet we regret activating the extra year now.

Could have had £35/45k or so off the wage bill this summer.

Could be the biggest waste of dough yet, pending this final and 4th year.

No one is suggesting that he gets a new contract, but people are criticising him for getting a one year extension when he was our best player and the main reason we were as good as we were last season.

This season we are clearly missing him, and also clearly his injuries have caught up with him but that doesn't rewrite history.

fanzone wrote:Get rid in the summer along with
Brady
Lennon
Vydra
Gudmonsson
Lowton

Much prefer Lawton to Bardsley who has to play out of his skin to be average. Getting caught ambling back too often

jBG and Brady will come good given game time

Lancasterclaret wrote:No one is suggesting that he gets a new contract, but people are criticising him for getting a one year extension when he was our best player and the main reason we were as good as we were last season.

This season we are clearly missing him, and also clearly his injuries have caught up with him but that doesn't rewrite history.

I think people are criticising the wisdom of offering him a contract extension in light of his injury record & not in particular him himself.

Jakubclaret wrote:I think people are criticising the wisdom of offering him a contract extension in light of his injury record & not in particular him himself.

Stop talking sense, Jakub!

This is just it, we activated the clause when we could have just let him go and, no doubt, he would have happily gone. Also, wasn’t the extension activated back end of 2018 (I may be wrong) and he did nothing after the end of 2017. It was a very strange move for a Club that gets nearly everything right.


BTW, he wasn’t our best player last season, nor the main reason we finished where we did, was was an integral part of the 11 that took us to 4th in December 2017, part of the 11 and one third of that central trio of that were a joy to watch (Cork, Defour, Hendrick).

Season 1 - nothing
Season 2 - half a season as part of a machine
Season 3 - nothing
Season 4 - who knows but if I had to bet..... nothing

Awful, awful output from what will be an approx £15m investment. People knock Hendrick but to date, and I bet by summer 2020, he looks / will have looked a bargain in comparison.

£15m for half a season. Having said that, Europe was the best thing to have happened in my 33 years attending, so I am still glad the signing happened as without that Aug-Dec stint he had a part in, we might not have finished 7th.

But £15m for 5 months is grim.

At the time it was the right decision to give him a new contract. Is he injury prone, yes, but it was a calculated risk that had to be offset with the cost and difficulty of bringing in a suitable replacement.

Taking into account our dismal recruitment performance in the Summer window, not giving him an extension could have seen him move and us failing to bring a replacement in. How would we have reflected on that in hindsight. At least we got some matches out of him this season and injuries can never be predicted, even with players prone to them. Had we brought in a replacement they would have cost us a transfer fee and soaked up similar wages for sitting on the bench.

Going forward I would regrettably look at moving him on in the next window. He is a very talented footballer and easily our most skilful midfielder. When he returns from his injury he still has a lot of games in him. More importantly he has the quality to affect games.

However, we look a bit light in midfield and we need a player who we can realistically expect to be on the pitch more than off it. All the quality in the world isn't going to help us if it is not out on the pitch. I could see him extending his career by a number of years if he makes the switch to playing in the lower tempo leagues of America or China sooner than later. The PL is incredibly demanding and it will break down the hardiest of athletes over time.

Moving to a lower tempo league would allow him to show case his undeniable skill set and the lower physical burden could extend his playing career. Playing in the American league has given Rooney a new lease of life and he is tearing it up. They also pay well and the weather is nicer.

I've enjoyed watching Defour and I would agree that he is one of the most talented players to wear the Burnley shirt, but I wouldn't like to see him tear himself down, add to his injuries and shorten his career just to stay with us and play in such a physical league. The idea of him leaving makes me a bit sad, because I think he has really settled in and warmed to us, but the time could be right for him to move on.

The extension was the right move and if he does move on it will ensure that we have the chance to bring in some cash instead of him leaving on a free transfer. It's a secondary concern, but we don't have bags of cash lying around so it is an important one for the club.