smurfsdabomb wrote:I never said anything against stevie actually, I rate him as one of the best young talents in the league if not the best.
But Dunne is honestly a class player, yes he gets OGs and reds but that's probably because of how commited he is to marshaling his area. Jamie Carragher has a similar number of both, would you question his quality? I'll admit Dunne had a poor season by his standards last year but I genuinely believe that was partly down to him playing with a different CB partner every week and partly down to two very dodgy full-backs who are getting caught out of position all the time. Prior to that Dunne was consistently City's best player year after year, including their best season in recent times under Sven where he was arguably the best defender in the league.
But the very fact that you're criticising a centre back for not scoring goals tells me that you don't have a very good grasp on the time, this isn't easy mode FIFA, kid where every player on the team should be scoring in 17-0 wins. Dunne has been every bit as good as Toure this season in holding two clean sheets, a perfect record thus far. To replace him in that form undermines his captaincy and the very value of good form in the team. It's not good management and will seep down to other players on the team, I can't even emphasise how bad from a PR point of view it is to have a club legend, the captain, the centre back with a perfect record this season discarded like that for some guy who doesn't even have to earn his place, he gets into the side on reputation alone.
For me, it's that kind of player management that will prevent City from ever cracking the top 4. It's not all about individual talent, if you lose the team spirit, guidance and what the club really stands for suddenly you're left with a squad of people with no passion for the club or fans, who just want money and fame. I've always defended City and hoped it wouldn't turn into that but for me if Dunne leaves it'd disgust me what this club is turning into.
Smurfy - sorry mate but you're wrong, and I don't want to repeat all those past Dunney threads. Simple fact is he wont take us to CL. For all his bood and thunder tackling, there is the turning like a battleship, the OGs, the horrible slices, terrible attacking corners etc, even in his good years. Everyone else was shite, which is why he was often PoY!
Most importantly, and what a lot are missing, is that he doesn't know what to do with the ball at his feet. To get to the top we need a whole side of people who can play the ball, witness Mr Toure.
Mercifully you are not in charge of our budget to 'take Dunney over Lescott any day of the week'. I am prepared to trust the Everton fans' opinions (who watch him every week) as well as our own managers who are developing a pretty good transfer track record up to now.
I think he and Ned should be our back-ups, although Ned may well break through ahead of Lescott or Toure at some future point.
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:41 am
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