Dunne's turn?

[jonzy85]

People are delusional if they think we are going to be able to get in anyone as good as Dunne in, were he to leave.

This is not 2009/10.

[Brend'Watkins]

People are delusional if they think we are going to be able to get in anyone as good as Dunne in, were he to leave.

This is not 2009/10.

Fair point.  He's also currently better than anyone in his position at Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal. 

[jonzy85]

People are delusional if they think we are going to be able to get in anyone as good as Dunne in, were he to leave.

This is not 2009/10.

Fair point.  He's also currently better than anyone in his position at Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal. 

And Chelsea + Man Utd this season? In fact, bar Kompany for Man City, there have been very few impressive central defenders this year.

[SoccerHQ]

I would've got rid of Dunney last season but fair play he's played very well this season. And he is a much better centre half than Collins if we're talking of getting rid of centre halfs.

The left side of the defence dosen't worry me at the moment. Warnock and Dunney have their defensive blunders but when fit and focused both are adequate enough at our level. The right side (Collins and Hutton) worries me though and I think over the next 10 games and some of the pacey attacks we'll be playing that side will be found out a little bit.

[cheltenhamlion]

Oi, fuckers, what about my fat joke? Winky, smiley thing...

[Legion]

Dunne certainly didn't lack hunger last year....

Chortles.

[cheltenhamlion]

Don't give me your sympathy, you bastard...

[oldtimernow]

Dunne & Collins.....................................Evans & McNaught..........................no comparison

See that Cahill was mentioned as being lined up by AM for Jan bid

Cahill and Clark     mmmm

[UsualSuspect]

Bore off Dunne, sick to death of this bullshit. The fact is your not even that impressive this season. In fact I wouldn't have shed a tear had you left

hear hear

[brontebilly]

some awful shite been spouted here.

first off, gerard houllier's disastrous reign in charge of the club wasnt too long ago. Generally revisionism takes a while to emerge but a few months after his farcical reign people are still pining for him? His pathetic man management skills and frankly his disrespect for the club was at a level not seen since the end of DOL's days. Ive no time for McLeish as a manager but he wont have a weekly dressing room revolt on his hands nor embarrass the club routinely like Houllier did. unbelievable.

Dunne like Gabby, though we dont criticise Gabby shhh, both turned up last season in dire condition. There was something rotten in our club last season from pre season to the end. That doesnt excuse Dunne far from it but there were a number who should look back on that season with shame. Dunne was an absolute disgrace at home to Bolton in particular early in the season. He was overweight and his attitude was shocking. After Xmas though once he got back in the side he was one of our best players. The season before that he was part of a defence that conceded the least amount of league goals for the club in 10 years or so. He was the best defender in that side easily over the season and got picked in the team of the year.
This year while not the force of two years ago, he is still our best defender. Yes he has a stupid rash streak to him like that idiotic foul at Sunderland that led to the equaliser but for a side of our limitations he is the best we can hope for. look around the EPL what defenders are better than him this season anyway. Chelsea - Terry is finished and AVB still hasnt found a partner for him, Arsenal less said the better, Man Utd, Ferdinand is finished and none of the replacements are that great at defending, Liverpool - Carragher (Id have Dunne in the side before him always), Agger etc nope, Fair enough Kompany is well ahead of him but I cant think of many others.
 
Maybe support the player instead of abusing him? You can see Dunne likes playing with Collins but I think its time Clark was given a chance next to Dunne. Collins is fine as backup but he takes rash to a whole new level. Clark will see us keeping the ball more anyway.

[paulcomben]

Estonia 0 Ireland 4. Ace. And Houllier was a totally terrible choice and we are lucky to be out of that.

[Eigentor]

Dunne was out of shape, or at least in a pretty big shape. last season. And Houllier's ideas of football didn't suit Dunne, so it's pretty clear that Dunne would have left if Houllier had stayed.

Dunne is nevertheless our best defender by far. Talented, but seems to have mental issues that sometimes brings him down. At his best he is among the top five in the Premier League, at his worst he is completely lacking in concentration (and sometimes also in fitness) and at the wrong place at the wrong time (quite often also scoring own goals).

At our current level of ambition we cannot hope for anyone better.

[KevinGage]

At our current level of ambition we cannot hope for anyone better.

What a depressing thought.

We might not be in any kind of position to sign a Vidic or Mexes, but there are still plenty of players out there who could improve on the likes of Dunne and Collins.

The challenge is to find good young players on the way up, rather than making do with inconsistent players on the way down.  Normally I'd say it's a gamble to try and blood youngsters for that position, that they'll invariably make mistakes due to lack of experience.    But Dunne and Collins make plenty of mistakes anyway, so what odds.

[Eigentor]

We might not be in any kind of position to sign a Vidic or Mexes, but there are still plenty of players out there who could improve on the likes of Dunne and Collins.

Who, among the Man City or Spurs reserves, are you thinking of?

Because there is where we do our shopping.

Seriously, I think it's unfair to put Dunne in the same bracket as Collins just because they are a partnership. As I argued, Dunne is, at his best, a very good central defender. Collins is big and strong and displays a lot of effort, but is a tactically naive and very limited footballer -- a bottom half central defender, in my opinion. (Yes he was part of a decent defence two seasons ago, but that year he had Carlos at right back continually bailing him out.)

[Archie]

At our current level of ambition we cannot hope for anyone better.

What a depressing thought.

We might not be in any kind of position to sign a Vidic or Mexes, but there are still plenty of players out there who could improve on the likes of Dunne and Collins.

The challenge is to find good young players on the way up, rather than making do with inconsistent players on the way down.  Normally I'd say it's a gamble to try and blood youngsters for that position, that they'll invariably make mistakes due to lack of experience.    But Dunne and Collins make plenty of mistakes anyway, so what odds.

100% agree, mate. In my local team, that plays in the Italian Serie B, there are one or two CB that are better than the notorious pair D&C and whose wages for an entire  season are minor that the amount of two weeks' wages for which D&C were fined due to their great committment to the Villa,  according to the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/17/aston-villa-dunne-collins-fined

Football is a sport that is played with feet, you can't play football at high level if you:
(a) have irons for feet (please see the attached pic);
(b) are the most error-prone player;
(c) and the most prolific own-goals scorer in the whole Premier League history (http://www.soccer-facebook.com/blog/?p=447).