As a City fan I thought I'd come on here to find out how you were going on with Dunne and Ireland. Seems Dunnie has split opinion here as he did at City. Sometimes hero, sometimes villain. For what it's worth we reached the conclusion that Dunnie's great strength was making last ditch tackles when our backs were against the wall in our own 18 yard box. When he began to struggle was when we were pushing up and he was left near the halfway line, back to goal, with fast forwards running at him. Many of us also reckoned the own goals were as a result of the fact that he was usually the one trying to clear the danger in front of goal. As for his figure, that's exactly what we said but he can't half shift for a big man when he gets the momentum up.
Quote from: Deano58 on October 30, 2010, 03:58:25 AMAs a City fan I thought I'd come on here to find out how you were going on with Dunne and Ireland. Seems Dunnie has split opinion here as he did at City. Sometimes hero, sometimes villain. For what it's worth we reached the conclusion that Dunnie's great strength was making last ditch tackles when our backs were against the wall in our own 18 yard box. When he began to struggle was when we were pushing up and he was left near the halfway line, back to goal, with fast forwards running at him. Many of us also reckoned the own goals were as a result of the fact that he was usually the one trying to clear the danger in front of goal. As for his figure, that's exactly what we said but he can't half shift for a big man when he gets the momentum up. Hi DeanoDunne was excellent last season, not only defensively, but also as a leadership figure. The main problem I, and a lot of Villa fans have, is that this season he came back in an unacceptable physical condition. He looked like he spent all summer on the guinness and pies. His first few games were shoddy at best and downright pathetic at worst (Newcastle away). He is very lucky not to have been dropped. His performance at Sunderland was better, (besides the own goal) but he still has a long way to go to get back to last seasons form.As for Ireland. He was played out of position for his first few games and has been quiet on the whole. He is very talented and i'm sure in the near future he will start displaying that. He does get into some excellent areas but at present he doesn't seem to be on quite the same wavelength as our other attacking players. I'm sure that will come in time.Now as i've very graciously answered your question, perhaps you can confirm that Milner is not fitting in and we can have him back next summer for a third of the price.If you could be so kind.
Personally, I try not to judge a player too early. Second season is usually a more reliable guide. So far milner's failed to shine so who knows ?