CJ Egan-Riley

[Hedontplayforyou]

I apologise if there is already a thread for him but couldn’t see it -

Just interested to hear the opinions on CJs future in terms of playing position. He’s come on leaps and bounds alongside Esteve and I’m delighted for him, it would certainly be very harsh to drop him once Worrall is back fully fit. Which brings me on to my point , when Worrall, Ekdal and Egan are all fully fit, where does CJ fit in ? I say this as Worrall hasn’t signed to be second fiddle , Ekdal has a point to prove also and Egan, maybe to a lesser extent after his injury is a seasoned pro at this level.

We’ve seen CJ at fullback where he did struggle, then again given games in the centre he’s begun to show his talent so maybe that’s a bit premature?

Or will he mature into a role where by he sits in front of the defence eventually ? In a deep midfield position . There will be a predicament eventually for Parker to overcome, not a bad one, but a difficult one nonetheless.

Either way I think CJ is earning himself a new deal to be put on the table. Well done CJ.

[hoosier-daddy]

He's miles ahead of Worrall imo. Certainly his place to lose.

[taio]

He'll retain his place ahead of Worrall, or at least should do, unless his form drops off a cliff.

[warksclaret]

No way are we going to change that centre half pairing. Its the best we've had since Mee/Tarkowski . He is getting close to 5 yellows-if that happens I can see John Egan playing alongside Esteve. Long term wise CJ may make a great defensive CM

[IanMcL]

Needs to face some prem strikers, to see where he stands. Ekdal is Sweden's centre backs. Seen it, done it.

[fatboy47]

His shirt atm.

He's clearly a CB and not a full back...as was Ben Mee.

As for midfield...it makes as much sense as Bikey /David Edgar in there.

Imo.

[Papabendi]

A big offer for ESteve might go some way to fixing that.

[daveisaclaret]

Don't really get this me. If you asked about Esteve's future position and whether he will be dropped for Worrall you'd be laughed off the messageboard. Yet Egan-Riley playnig just as well while younger and less experienced.

If you ignore the wild overreaction to him making a mistake v Rovers, you see a centre half who has been absolutely brilliant every time he's stepped on the field.

[Ampth7]

I think he’s been excellent and fair play to the lad for being so patient over the last few years. Defensively, we have certainly come a long way since last season, but I think this further demonstrates the yawning gap between this league and the Prem!

[bfcjg]

He is quality in fairness a very astute Kompany signing who has really blossomed under Parker's management.

[hoosier-daddy]

One thing about CJ is that in the summer he only has a year left on his contract.

[Vegas Claret]

He's been the highlight of the season so far imho. Along with others I've been delighted by his progress, long may it continue. If we are to bring young talented lads in we have to continue to give them opportunities as it will only help attract the next batch.

[morninbob]

Horses for courses, you don't become the best defence in championship history by mistake. His shirt to lose, and comes straight back in even with a suspension.

[Woodleyclaret]

Never given a chance by VK and clearly a great talent.

[fidelcastro]

Long term wise CJ may make a great defensive CM

Hi ablue.

Nice to have you back!

[summitclaret]

If we get back up we are going to need a dcm to sit front of the back 4 for sure. We got mullered every week last time by refusing to do it.

We currently have 2 players with the attributes to play there, CJER and an unfit Beyer.

[mdd2]

Need to get pen to paper for this lad on a 5 year deal. Only 22 in Jan 2025. The present pairing are, as another poster posted, our best defensive partnership under contract to us, since MEE and Tarks although how they would fare in the Prem has to be answered if it ever will be but at currenlty 21 and 22 years of age there is a lot of improvement to come as they gain experience.

[ElectroClaret]

As someone mentioned up the thread, come January, it might not be a problem if both Esteve and CJ keep up their current form, because you can bet that other clubs will have their beady eyes on our "goals against" column.
A big offer could prise either one of them away.

Needs a concerted effort to keep them at the Turf.

As for returning players from injury, the two centre back positions are theirs to lose, surely no automatic place
for the returnees.

[NewClaret]

The time is now for CJ. Big contract improvement to recognise his importance to the side else it’ll become tempting for him to run it down I guess.

Great player but longer term wouldn’t mind seeing him as a defensive midfielder. Certainly has the ball playing ability.

[Hedontplayforyou]

Don't really get this me. If you asked about Esteve's future position and whether he will be dropped for Worrall you'd be laughed off the messageboard. Yet Egan-Riley playnig just as well while younger and less experienced.

If you ignore the wild overreaction to him making a mistake v Rovers, you see a centre half who has been absolutely brilliant every time he's stepped on the field.

CJ has different attributes to Esteve which make him adaptable positionally but wether or not he’s up to it at the standard in other positions is the question really.

Given the squad dynamic and keeping players happy this is another point I was trying to gain opinions on, we have an abundance of centre halves who are probably all top end in this league , you can’t keep them all happy.

Maybe Esteve will leave in January for a huge fee? If so we also have Bashir Humphreys who after all is a left sided centre half who’s played as a fullback thus far

[Goliath]

If we get back up we are going to need a dcm to sit front of the back 4 for sure. We got mullered every week last time by refusing to do it.

We currently have 2 players with the attributes to play there, CJER and an unfit Beyer.

What? We played 2. Berge and Cullen sat in front of the back 4 every week

[Stonehouse]

The time is now for CJ. Big contract improvement to recognise his importance to the side else it’ll become tempting for him to run it down I guess.

Great player but longer term wouldn’t mind seeing him as a defensive midfielder. Certainly has the ball playing ability.

Doing great however if we go back up and he signs and extended contract will he along with most of the squad be good enough for The Premier League?

[Newcastleclaret93]

My only concern with Egan Riley is he’s playing with everything in front of him (mainly due to the fact we are dominant in most games).


He’s very rarely ever under the cosh (can see this by XG against us).

I still have massive concerns with him against better opposition. He comes across as quite clunky and slow, I fear against a premier league striker he would get eaten alive.


However, at the moment I think it’s very fair to say he has improved at almost an unheard of rate. So potentially he can keep improving and prove me wrong on my opinion.

[NewClaret]

Doing great however if we go back up and he signs and extended contract will he along with most of the squad be good enough for The Premier League?

The problem is, the gap is so big that the answer to most of our players is probably not. We have an exceptionally young squad and I think in general you just can’t be good enough when you’re all early 20’s.

Thats not to say they’re individually not good enough, if they were put in with a team of established premier league players, just that the model of a full team of lads in early 20s will just never work at that level.

Traff being a good example here. Put him in a Newcastle shirt and behind an established defence and he’d do very well. Play him in the premier league for Burnley and he’ll look like he did last season again.

If we went up it would take another massive investment in premier league quality players to stay up and even then it’ll be touch and go. For that reason I would not mind just giving our lads a go, accepting relegation but using the £ to put the club on a more sound financial footing.

[hoosier-daddy]

The problem is, the gap is so big that the answer to most of our players is probably not.

Yep. As well we have played in large spells this season, the chances we have given away will have been gobbled up in the Premier League.

[NewClaret]

Yep. As well we have played in large spells this season, the chances we have given away will have been gobbled up in the Premier League.

Exactly right.

And we’d have given far more away that we haven’t in this division too.

[warksclaret]

Needs to face some prem strikers, to see where he stands. Ekdal is Sweden's centre backs. Seen it, done it.

No point having a Rolls Royce in your garage if it wont start or it breaks down regularly. Unfortunately you cant get RAC cover for footballers

[Milltown1882]

Yep. As well we have played in large spells this season, the chances we have given away will have been gobbled up in the Premier League.

Let’s get there first

[dougcollins]

It seems to be the Burnley fans' wont that if a player is doing well in a specific position, you move them to another one.

Bonkers.

[Stonehouse]

It seems to be the Burnley fans' wont that if a player is doing well in a specific position, you move them to another one.

Bonkers.

I remember Koleosho running rings round Spurs’s football who had been booked and VK swapped him to the other wing at half time so it’s not always the fans.

[xxmunkyennuixx]

He's improved a lot and I was very uncertain about him initially. His passing is getting better, his positioning is getting better. You don't worry about him in most situations. He seems a good character. One weakness at the minute is that he looks troubled with pace when one on one on the counter. Compare that with Esteve's reaction to similar circumstances. Esteve is a beast and bosses the situation like Tarky used to. Think that points to physical attributes that he is currently lacking, he's still young so maybe it will come. He looks a top end Championship defender at the minute but maybe there's more to come. He deserves a new long term contract, he deserves his place and if we get promoted I'd hope he gets the chance to further his development against Premier League attacks. Keeping a player for a few seasons and developing them is what we should be doing, one of the reasons why we support a club like ours.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

I've missed these suggestions about moving a defender into a cdm role, makes the board complete again

He's a CB and it's spot to lose

6 goals conceded in the league this season, where he's played the majority of the games at CB, that's no coincidence

[HurstGrangeClaret]

A measure of how much he has progressed is that when he first came into the side this season, I was wondering when Worrall would be fit. Now I’m very happy to see his name on the team sheet.
Definitely one of our success stories this season.

[summitclaret]

He's improved a lot and I was very uncertain about him initially. His passing is getting better, his positioning is getting better. You don't worry about him in most situations. He seems a good character. One weakness at the minute is that he looks troubled with pace when one on one on the counter. Compare that with Esteve's reaction to similar circumstances. Esteve is a beast and bosses the situation like Tarky used to. Think that points to physical attributes that he is currently lacking, he's still young so maybe it will come. He looks a top end Championship defender at the minute but maybe there's more to come. He deserves a new long term contract, he deserves his place and if we get promoted I'd hope he gets the chance to further his development against Premier League attacks. Keeping a player for a few seasons and developing them is what we should be doing, one of the reasons why we support a club like ours.

Very astute and that's why I see him in the old Cork role.

[JarrowClaret]

I've missed these suggestions about moving a defender into a cdm role, makes the board complete again

He's a CB and it's spot to lose

6 goals conceded in the league this season, where he's played the majority of the games at CB, that's no coincidence

I believe he is seen as a DM who can play CB rather than a CB that we would be changing the position of! He is doing well but I believe when Worral, Ekdal etc are fit again we will need to make a decision on who plays there and Egan Ryley would be 1 of the first names on the sheet at the minute for me and if he could play DM it allows 1 of the injured CB to come in and not weaken us.

[taio]

I believe he is seen as a DM who can play CB rather than a CB that we would be changing the position of! He is doing well but I believe when Worral, Ekdal etc are fit again we will need to make a decision on who plays there and Egan Ryley would be 1 of the first names on the sheet at the minute for me and if he could play DM it allows 1 of the injured CB to come in and not weaken us.

He is certainly a defender

[Hedontplayforyou]

For clarity, I don’t want to see him moved position , nor am I adverse to him changing as and when required, I am into tied to see what happens when our full contingent are fit, as we have seasoned centre halves here and Egan-Riley is only a youngster in comparison . However he’s performed brilliantly thus far and deserves to be offered a new and improved deal in my opinion .

It’s the recognition he’s getting that has brought the question to the fore , as I said well done to the lad and long may it continue

[RVclaret]

Egan-Riley has played in defence for most of his youth and professional career. Mostly at right back, including his Champions League appearance for City, but rarely in midfield. He’s got the profile to be one of these modern day centre backs that plays full back, in fact Hibs fans reviews suggested he was better there for them. But, he’s doing very well as it is, not only being solid but also progressive with his passing - funny enough he had a 95% pass completion for his Champs League appearance. I’ve enjoyed watching his emergence into the side and development so far.

[BleedingClaret]

He’s a RB for me
Build Speed Ball player
Reminds me of Kyle Walker

[IanMcL]

He’s a RB for me
Build Speed Ball player
Reminds me of Kyle Walker

We haven't tested that...yet.

[Rileybobs]

I think given time he could be a great goalkeeper. And if we sell Trafford in January we may find that out sooner rather than later.

[Hibsclaret]

I wouldn’t be changing any of that defence.

We have the lowest goals against in Europe unless you include Celtic who have played 4 games less. I think the Championship record is 30 conceded and there is no reason why we can’t have a crack at that with the current pairing. That said we have Boro to play twice soon and they scored as many as we have conceded all season yesterday.

[Pearcey]

I was really keen to see more of CJER after his first pre season. Glad we’re now seeing his quality. His shirt to lose and that says something given the CB’s we have at our disposal.

[bfcjg]

CJ didn't get where he is today without being able to defend.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ3qGKpGfjI

[boatshed bill]

I think given time he could be a great goalkeeper. And if we sell Trafford in January we may find that out sooner rather than later.

No chance, he's a natural centre forward, the lad has an eye for goal.

[BleedingClaret]

We haven't tested that...yet.

True

[dvalley69]

The lad is an absolute machine! And is now ready to add goals to his game. Him & Estevè are just ridiculous as a partnership.
While everyone attacks the attack, can we please not marvel and acknowledge the art of defending this team is giving, and that CJ is absolutely bossing? Top, top display again tonight from him & Steve.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Looking better each match along with Esteve and Trafford.

[Selby Claret]

Staggering:
Traff 22
Steve 22
CJ 21
Bash 21
Pires 23

[Commy]

Anyone betting whether CJ says he meant it or it was a fluke?

He deserved it for the way he battled to get the ball back.