Barry Bannan-What does he do ?

[claretandbeer]

His strongest area is his passing.He keeps possession well when not under pressure,short simple passes,mainly square and back.He can play probing chipped passes into the opposition's area but they aren't easy for a forward to find time to control them.
Similarly,his main creative pass is a long aerial diagonal one which again is not easy to either control or lay off accurately and also gives the defence time to readjust.
He produces,too infrequently,the defence splitting pass along the floor and ,likewise ,a ball played inside the fullback,a trademark of Westwood and Ireland.His lack of pace means that he hardly ever plays a wall pass or one-two to get round opponents and also means that he does not dribble past players.However,when pressurised,his passing becomes inaccurate or he can be easily dispossessed because of poor physical strength.
Let's look at what he can't or doesn't do.
His tackling is non existent,in fact I would say he hides from it,witness his shirking of 2 tackles v Arsenal where he opted to hit the ball against his opponent in situations where he was favourite to win the ball.
Defending ,weak again,watch how he does not track opponent's runs,how he remains 4-5 yards away from players and not pressing the ball as an aggressive midfielder should.
Likewise,his screening of our defence is poor and does not intercept enough passes.
Attacking,does not provide forward runs to give an attacking dimension to the side.Scoring,one I believe,a penalty.In fact,he rarely threatens the goal,mainly because he does not venture enough into the box and is striking from a free kick or distance has been ineffective,so far.
So,non tackling,non scoring ,non dribbling midfielder who does not control the game nor provide many assists for goals ? What is he doing in the team ?

[kipeye]

I'm in two minds about him now.

[Monty]

His strongest area is, in fact, keeping possession under pressure. His passing is at its best generally when it is switching the play up. He does not shirk tackles, he's just not particularly good at them, but he's imaginative and does work hard. He also does a lot of very good blocking work in our penalty area. At his best, he's able to make space for himself with dribbling in the middle third and work the ball into space well. His shots are mostly accurate though often not really powerful enough. He plays one-twos all the time.

Your criticisms would be valid if yesterday's shocker from him was how he plays every match. But it isn't.

[PeterWithesShin]

He lives at 29 Acacia Road and is a schoolboy who leads an amazing double life. That's what he does.

[MonsXI]

I thought he had an off night last night but recently has looked good, he can pass he reads the game well and obviously he can't tackle to well but he will close down and annoy the attacking team

[SirSteveUK]

I thought he had an off night last night but recently has looked good, he can pass he reads the game well and obviously he can't tackle to well but he will close down and annoy the attacking team

Agreed

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I thought he had an off night last night but recently has looked good, he can pass he reads the game well and obviously he can't tackle to well but he will close down and annoy the attacking team

He's certainly progressing and I hope he lives up to his potential. If he has a real fault it's probably trying to do too much too soon. He wants to take responsibility for everything which is a good sign but he lacks the experience. I'd certainly take him off free kicks and corners though.

[ozzjim]

I thought he was much better second half, and created complete panic in their box with 4 corners on the night, really good whipped balls.

I also think people should notice how many times it is Bannan cutting it out, tracking a run or making a block just inside our box. He reads it terrifically well.

[tauntonvilla]

Certainly did have an off night last night, him being our "creative" midfielder and all that. I thought he improved with the introduction of Ireland. Admittedly my mind was elsewhere, but the bloke sat nearby me did scream "get Albright on on"......very nearly got punched!

[Hoppo]

There are other senior players in the squad that need this thread not a young player doing his best. I may add I would love another gem next to Tim Westwood but until January Bazza is doing OK. What about what does Richard Tonne do for 50G a week...

[Rudy Can't Fail]

There are other senior players in the squad that need this thread not a young player doing his best. I may add I would love another gem next to Tim Westwood but until January Bazza is doing OK. What about what does Richard Tonne do for 50G a week...

I wouldn't pay him 50 Cents.

[Dave Clark Five]

You can't fault his effort. If he can stop trying the passes with the outside of the boot, which he should keep for the beach/park, also get a bit more bottle in his tackling, he could be a great player in a couple of years. He was looking at the bench to see if he was getting subbed and you could see that he genuinely wants to play.

[Percy McCarthy]

Was he? Aww, bless.

When he was younger he used to go in my mate's snooker club and say how much easier it would be to make it if he was a foot taller.

I've been willing him to make it since then really.

And then there's the things his mom used to shout out during reserve games - heart-warming and funny stuff. She used to get into a right tizzy when he went down injured.

[timeoutbigbar]

I thought he had an off night last night but recently has looked good, he can pass he reads the game well and obviously he can't tackle to well but he will close down and annoy the attacking team

 I'd certainly take him off free kicks and corners though.

Really? He appears to be just about the only player in our squad capable of whipping a ball in with pace rather than just lofting it in (Albrighton) so it's easy for the defence to clear.  He wasn't great yesterday but I thought his set pieces were dangerous more often than not.

[Kevin Dawson]

Gave the ball away in 3 dangerous positions in the first half alone.....saying that, we look better with hin in the side...