Bannan speak out against Mon… Part 2

[TimTheVillain]

Typically British this.

Skill comes 2nd to other things, and height / weight seem more important to the old skool ( MON is in that category).

In other parts of Europe ( Spain / France/ Italy) a players physique will be a non issue as long as the footballing ability is there.

I hope we cam bury this height thing as soon as possible.

[sfx412]

I'd sack the fool.
Fancy even daring to hint Mon as anything but perfect.
If he doesn't hold his tongue he'll be off playing for Leicester.

How tall was Mon by the way ?

[Simba]

I agree, those of us that are not blessed with a George Curtis physique were constantly told by English coaches even at Sunday League level: get stuck in, forget that fancy stuff, and so on.

The full backs just followed the mantra and kicked the living crap out of us lightweight (compatritively) skilful wingers.

Always been the same in England and it is why a host of skilfull players in the recent past never got a chance with England. Be hard and be fit.

IMHO I think MoN and his coaching staff still played that way.

[Chris Smith]

Typically British this.

Skill comes 2nd to other things, and height / weight seem more important to the old skool ( MON is in that category).

In other parts of Europe ( Spain / France/ Italy) a players physique will be a non issue as long as the footballing ability is there.

I hope we cam bury this height thing as soon as possible.

Look at Chelsea and Man City. All the money in the world with European coaches and they're buying giants. The English league is more physical than most and little Diddy Men like our Barry have to be twice as good to get on.

[Darth Villa]

Typically British this.

Skill comes 2nd to other things, and height / weight seem more important to the old skool ( MON is in that category).

In other parts of Europe ( Spain / France/ Italy) a players physique will be a non issue as long as the footballing ability is there.

I hope we cam bury this height thing as soon as possible.

Look at Chelsea and Man City. All the money in the world with European coaches and they're buying giants. The English league is more physical than most and little Diddy Men like our Barry have to be twice as good to get on.

Completely agree Chris. And as Kevin points out it's probably got a lot to do with the conditions that we are faced with in this country as to why we look to the more athletic player. There would need to be an overhaul on our entire development philosophy for anything to change. But I'd wager we've lost out on a fair amount of talented players because they didn't measure up so to speak.

[KevinGage]

There is also the fact that in countries such as Mexico and Spain the smaller (or more diminutive) players would be in the majority so it's easier to tailor training sessions for their benefit. Particularly with the advantage of the weather.

In England, smaller players tend to be in the minority. So what can a coach at schools/ parks level do for them without neglecting the other players?

Where that falls down is that a lot of young players are picked up by clubs from about the age of 10 now, so for them there probably isn't much opportunity to play parks football. They're in supposedly getting the best individual and professional coaching from a young age, so it's disappointing that there haven't been more players like Cropley, Little and Cowans breaking through. They cracked it when conditions were much harder, in an era when good players slight of frame would be just hacked and kicked out of it.

[pauliewalnuts]

Typically British this.

Skill comes 2nd to other things, and height / weight seem more important to the old skool ( MON is in that category).

In other parts of Europe ( Spain / France/ Italy) a players physique will be a non issue as long as the footballing ability is there.

I hope we cam bury this height thing as soon as possible.

Look at Chelsea and Man City. All the money in the world with European coaches and they're buying giants. The English league is more physical than most and little Diddy Men like our Barry have to be twice as good to get on.

True, but they also bought David Silva, who is sparrowesque, and Johnson is hardly massive, either.

That Yaya Toure is fucking massive, mind. Massive and massively overrated.

[The Left Side]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, if you see the clubs and the possible fees being banded around for Gary Cahill, you have to question a few of MON's decisions including selling Cahill. The youth system developed a great defender, and we sold him for peanuts.

If Bannan can reach his full potential then we could have a fantastic player on our hands who will be in our team for years, and MON probably would have sold him for next to nothing to the benefit of another team who would have sold him for 5 times the price a few years later.

[Merv]

I was just going to mention David Silva. Waffer-thin, he is. Not sure Chelsea and City are actually signing giants - Milner's not exactly huge, either.

But anyway... I hope there's still room for the exception to the rule, and Bannan fits that bill. He's actually a pretty tough fella. Sinewy, I'd say. What we forget is that he's faced this size issue all his life, and made it work so far. He knows what he needs to do to compete.

[Californian Villain]

Time will tell if Bannan becomes a great Villa player or merely the next Steven Davis. Don't understand why he has to go moaning to the press about MON though - he has looked good this season, but it's what comes over the next 2-3 seasons that really matters.

[D.boy]

Anyone concerned with Bannans size should remember how skinny Yorke was when he broke into the first team.
Also how tall were the likes of Michael Owen & Zola.

[damon loves JT]

I reckon it's possible to guess precisely how tall everyone is on this thread by observing how passionate they are about height discrimination. Initial data points to a number of real tiddlers

[TimTheVillain]

Time will tell if Bannan becomes a great Villa player or merely the next Steven Davis. Don't understand why he has to go moaning to the press about MON though - he has looked good this season, but it's what comes over the next 2-3 seasons that really matters.

I think all he's saying is that under MON he was getting nowhere.

In fact, he was thinking of packing it in.

Under GH he's playing 1st team football and as a consequence, is playing for his national team

[TheSandman]

It will be interesting to see his reaction when dropped. I have an horrible feeling, based on his time at Blackpool, that young Barry may turn out to be a Johnny Big Bollocks and think he's better, more deserving than he is. If he uses his intelligence, he could develop to be a great player for us, providing he bulks up a bit and continues to add to his game. Something tells me he won't have the patience. I hope I'm wrong.

It's not exactly helping him with the likes of Levein, Houllier, McAllister and Darren Fletcher likening him to Xavi, Iniesta and Scholes every other day. That is before you get the media up here making him out to be the answer to Scotland's prayers either. If anybody had that kind of stuff to put up with they would either have a head the size of a house or collapse under the pressure.

[olaftab]

I agree with others who said he should keep quiet  for now and concentrate on his football. Some praise has been OTT including Fletcher's comments however he is a real prospect.
 Big nagative  in that I cant laaarf at Scotland anymore!