I don’t understand the grief he is getting from so many of our fans.
The kid is 20 years old and is being asked to be our main (only) outlet every single game. there is not another player in the league at his age that is so heavily relied upon.

This just highlights how light on the ground we are. we need to sign a RM and LM this week or we will go into the international break on 0 points.

Agreed. Only 20. Very unfair.

Completely agree, he is way off it at the moment but not surprising with the pressure he is under to perform

Is he getting a lot of grief?

It’s ok to say players don’t play well when they don’t play well. Just like it’s ok for people to say players play well when they have good games.

Awful tonight but generally agree. Not many PL teams rely on a 20 year old as their only source of creativity. He’s been flogged and it’s showing.

Wish I was him at 20 and would be buzzing for that - does not look interested

I honestly believe he is being over-worked.
And he's not the only one in recent years.

Wasn’t the best tonight but that’s what happens of having no fit competition.

He doesn’t look happy at all. Fair play to him for tracking back on the right, but that was the most effort he put in all night. Needs to be dropped until his head is right - problem is we have nobody to replace him.

boatshed bill wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:07 pm

I honestly believe he is being over-worked.
And he's not the only one in recent years.

Agree with that. We should t be relying on him so much.

He’s a great player but tonight he had a poor game.

McNeil has enough talent that he doesn’t deserve criticism sugar-coating. He deserves better than that; he deserves honesty.

He can play much better than he did tonight. That’s it.

Happens to all players when there's no competition. No reason to keep you on your toes.

Why not throw Glennon or Pieters on though. That is Dyche trying to make a point IMO which is not acceptable when it costs us.

When he doesn’t perform, we don’t. He is our most important player going forward, it’s clear.

He doesn’t deserve “grief” but his performance warrants criticism.

Simply needs options to push him to fight for his position - and options on the pitch to give the ball to and actually play a bit - there’s no link up with the forwards it’s just touch and cross because of the huge gaps between midfield and attack.

Agree with everyone above and logged on to state just that.

Relying on a 19 year old winger is coming home to roost.

Creative players unless the very best in the world go in and out of form. Dwight McNeil has carried this team since January 2019 which is a bloody good effort.

He needs loyalty from the fans and he’ll / we’ll come through it.

And I think McNeil has the character to take the criticism and learn from it.

He’s a great player and it’s an honour to have him wearing our shirt.

Rowls wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:11 pm

He doesn’t deserve “grief” but his performance warrants criticism.

Which also warrants placing in context.

What would we give for the talent of a player like Harvey Barnes right now

The guy is probably earning about £2000 a week, thats more than I earn in a MONTH busting a gut, I'd expect him to perform if he's earrning that much whatever his age!

He’s getting endless grief on twitter and a bit on here.

we should be in a position where we rely on a 20 year old to be our only outlet. to be honest he looks absolutely shagged, he needs taking out of the firing line but there is no one to replace him

Stevie Morgan wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:12 pm

Which also warrants placing in context.

Yup

McNeil is a fine talent and has dragged us out of the **** since he arrived on the scene! Baffles me how people can be on his back - he’s still very young, has very little in terms of imaginative players around him to carry the ball or play smart 1-2 passes with etc etc , don’t get on the back of our only true attacking midfielder - back the lad, football fans have terribly short memories

morpheus2 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:13 pm

The guy is probably earning about £2000 a week, thats more than I earn in a MONTH busting a gut, I'd expect him to perform if he's earrning that much whatever his age!

Good creative players need good creative players around them tonight apart from Taylor it was lacking.

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:12 pm

What would we give for the talent of a player like Harvey Barnes right now

Idiot

morpheus2 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:13 pm

The guy is probably earning about £2000 a week, thats more than I earn in a MONTH busting a gut, I'd expect him to perform if he's earrning that much whatever his age!

A 0 missing there, methinks And an X

Looks like he needs a break unfortunately not going to get one. Doesn’t look the same player who came onto the scene a few years ago.

Newcastleclaret93 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:13 pm

He’s getting endless grief on twitter and a bit on here.

we should be in a position where we rely on a 20 year old to be our only outlet. to be honest he looks absolutely shagged, he needs taking out of the firing line but there is no one to replace him

Agree. I think we need a left and right winger now!

Needs some decent footballers around him. Our team is full of journeymen who put in a shift but lack imagination, pace and any sort of creativity. Any attack minded player would struggle playing in that team.

It's getting a bit ridiculous now. Why not search and update an existing thread?
This is just part the first of 3 pages of search results:


Use the search button before posting to avoid duplicate threads.

morpheus2 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:13 pm

The guy is probably earning about £2000 a week, thats more than I earn in a MONTH busting a gut, I'd expect him to perform if he's earrning that much whatever his age!

If he’s only on £2000 a week when we’ve just signed Stephens on £30k a week he’d have every right not to be arsed.

There’s no way on this planet that Dwight is only on £2000 a week.

Also he’s a fantastic young footballer and I’ll keep reminding folk of that - back the lad , one of the finest talents we’ve seen in a claret and blue shirt for some time

As always he has been put on a pedestal and now people want to knock him off. It would help his progression if he could use his right foot.

Robben had no right foot and he ddI alright.

Needs players closer to him who enable him to make runs and receive the ball rather than having to attempt to beat 3 men every time he picks up the ball.

Teams are savvy to our lack of attacking options and the left hand side being our main outlet, hence doubling or trebling up on Dwight without being overly worried about anything coming quickly from the other side of the pitch

i havent seen the game, but it sounds ridiculously unfair to single out mcneil for so much stick.
clearly we have problems all over the pitch with injuries. also, the behind the scenes issues are probably unsettling.
that said, its not nice to read criticism directed at one player , more so when he was regarded as the golden boy not that long ago.
a bit of perspective on all of this is needed. the lad is an outstanding talent. and we are only 2 games in.

NewClaret wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:08 pm

Needs to be dropped until his head is right

Are you serious

The one shining light in a very dark place which is what BFC feels like at the moment

Forgot, Hendrick has moved on so who do we pick on now

And comments like this will really help Dwight get his head "right" for our season long battle against relegation

jojomk1 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 27, 2020 9:28 am

Are you serious

The one shining light in a very dark place which is what BFC feels like at the moment

Forgot, Hendrick has moved on so who do we pick on now

And comments like this will really help Dwight get his head "right" for our season long battle against relegation

Yes I am. He’s been poor for weeks and looks disinterested, bar that time he chased back and covered right back.

I’m saying we’ve relied on a 20 year old too much in recent times, he looks knackered and needs a rest until he’s back chomping at the bit. Nothing wrong with that.

I'm not having it that he's knackered. He's a 20 year old kid for gods sake. His body language has always been the same and that's probably why he didn't make it as a kid at United. I think the whole team doesn't look up for it to be honest, having to move Brownhill out of centre midfield didn't help yesterday after he's been our best player so far. We need 2 good signings and get some of the injured players back in time for playing Spurs, Chelsea, City, Everton and Arsenal in Oct & Nov.............................oh dear!

I think the criticism of Dwight is completely fair. He has been awful for the last 10 games and barely looked like an EPL player for most of last season.

Oh, hold on a minute, he wasn't on top form in ONE match and with the exception of Taylor nobody else seemed to be either.

Get a grip people, we are lucky to have Mc Neil and everyone has the occasional blip.

Listen if this board can see that McNeil is our only creative player you can be sure the opposition have seen it. Saw on a couple of occasions, more in first half, he had two men straight on him.
We have a lot of hard workers in this team (no sure on last nights showing though) but we seriously lack pace and creativity and it has been down to McNeil to provide that for far too long.

Even if we had competition, Dyche wouldn't take him out of the firing line. When it comes changing it around, Dyche lacks the imagination.

Just watched the game back.

Not buying this nonsense about not caring and looking disinterested. He looks like a 20 year old who is lacking confidence.
Why?
If anyone has seen the Spurs & Man City documentaries on Amazon prime they will have a better understanding of what it's like to be a pro footballer at the top top level. They are normal human beings consumed by football & money. It's so easy to see how so few make it & most young hopefuls fade away quickly, They may be well paid but it looks exhausting physically but more importantly mentally.

He looks like he's finally got to the point where's he at the grind, day in day out consumed by football, and now realises the pressures and expectations of professional football because he burst onto the scene and showed everyone what he was capable of. But that was the honeymoon period! Now, he's the day in day out professional adult and needs to perform. But we must remember he's only 20 in COVID times. He's had a lot of football in a short space of time. If anything, he is trying too hard and ultimately making lots of mistakes, which is creating his lack of confidence. Maybe he just needs to keep things simple and not force openings and opportunities too hard. We need him in dangerous areas on the left, higher up the pitch, to whip crosses in and in near the box in central areas where he can be most effective. Let Dale & Westy do the hard yards in the middle of the park to keep the ball moving and flowing.

Shameful the criticism he is getting after he kept us up that first year and played a big part in our finishing position last year. He's been an absolute revelation!

diamondpocket wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:36 pm

Shameful the criticism he is getting after he kept us up that first year and played a big part in our finishing position last year. He's been an absolute revelation!

100% behind that. Fans are blaming him due to weaknesses in other areas of the field.

FactualFrank wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 28, 2020 12:01 am

100% behind that. Fans are blaming him due to weaknesses in other areas of the field.

I don't understand the criticism. It is amazing that he has been so consistent over the last 12 months but completely understandable that he will have dips in form. Rather than flog him like a shire horse you would hope to be able to give him a break through squad depth.

As a wise man once said to me, you can't have it both ways.

People do forget, as I have done, that his movement inside does allow Chaz Taylor to overlap so well and provides us with good left wing coverage. Dwight may be lacking that final cross,final pass, giving the ball away, etc, at the moment, but his creating of space is still giving us an attacking threat down that left hand side.

diamondpocket wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 28, 2020 12:42 am

People do forget, as I have done, that his movement inside does allow Chaz Taylor to overlap so well and provides us with good left wing coverage. Dwight may be lacking that final cross,final pass, giving the ball away, etc, at the moment, but his creating of space is still giving us an attacking threat down that left hand side.

Well, if nothing else, calling him Chaz Taylor must add a decent £10 million to his price tag so fair play!

Even I want us to sign him and he's already here!

BOYSIE31 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:06 pm

Wish I was him at 20 and would be buzzing for that - does not look interested

What is it they say..form is temporary class is permanent....like you say the kids 20 give him a break ffs