Barry "Messi" Bannan - again

[eastie]

at the point that you say a player works as long as there is another player to compensate you have lost the arguement.

he gives the ball away too often it is that simple

I think although he's improved this season he still isn't good enough for this level, you can only have potential for so long and then you have to deliver, he's been around a while now and still not really established himself and I think maybe a drop in division would see him find his level , although he hardly pulled up any trees when he went to Leeds .

A squad player at best at this level.

[Dave Clark Five]

When we have got the, much needed, additions to our defence and midfield then Barry Bannan will have a bit of competition to get in the team, along with a few other players. It will be interesting to see how players like Bannan develop with some older players around them. It is too early to ditch him or write him off. It is doubtful that Beckham and Co. would have got where they did if the team around them were of an average age such as ours is.

[eastie]

One thing I have noticed with bannan is that most people who watch the reserves often rave about him and think he is a decent player , I haven't seen much reserve football and can only judge him on what he has done in the first team, so I haven't seen the potential in him that others have seen - I hope that he can make it of course and as dc5 says with better players around him we may get to see the best of him .

[paul_e]

at the point that you say a player works as long as there is another player to compensate you have lost the arguement.

he gives the ball away too often it is that simple

I don't understand the first point you're making in the slightest.  Every single selection you make should be made in mind with how they'll fit with the players around them, be that complementing their strengths or covering for their weaknesses.  That's the entire basis of a team sport, the only way you could ignore that is if you had a squad full of Yaya Toure's.

If Lambert believes Westwood and Bannan can form 2/3rds of an effective midfield then it's his job to find the right player to enable them to perform at their best.

He gives the ball away about as often as the majority of other midfielders in the league (about 1 pass in 5 doesn't find it's target) but it's his positivity that's largely to blame, a lot of the time he gives it away it's him playing a risky pass that would open a side up if it came off.  He does play the odd sloppy pass but he's still 22 and a long way from the finished product, at least when that happens he works his bollocks off trying to get it back.

I'm not in any way saying he's perfect but the shit he gets on here, and a few other forums, is massively out of line with what he deserves.  The 'messi' and 'hollywood' bullshit pisses me off as well, he's one of the few players we've got with the balls to try to make things happen and half the fans slag him off for it.

Oh and Eastie, I very rarely watch the reserves, I just think there are other players who are far more deserving of criticism than Bannan, the reality is Bannan and Westwood are the only 2 midfielders we have currently who deserve to be in the matchday squad yet a large percentage of the fans seem to want to drive Bannan out of the team at all costs.

[eastie]

Not sure a large percentage want to drive him away at all costs, as I said he has improved this season and with another midfielder of experience he may well flourish , I hope he does - bannan more than anyone I think splits opinion , I really do hope he becomes the player we need him to be in the future, as regards others I would say yes there are several more players deserving of criticism , the only midfielder I'm really totally happy with right now is Westwood , I think he will be a very good player indeed.

[claretandbeer]

I'm not bothered about him playing the odd sloppy pass,my  main concern is that he offers no protection whatsoever to the defence. He plays very deep and thus often unchallenged.Very easy there to play comfortable short passes to his defenders and boost his stats.
The only position that I can envisage any success for him is at the top of midfield where creativity can be dangerous and he possesses a reasonable strike but he doesn't seem to relish a physical challenge and I doubt that he would impose himself in more advanced areas,in fact I think he lacks 'bottle'

[john e]

at the point that you say a player works as long as there is another player to compensate you have lost the arguement.

he gives the ball away too often it is that simple

i thought his pass completion percentage was pretty good,
and i've heard all the arguments about easy passes to the side and backwards, but Bannan actually does try difficult passes, thats why he gets so much stick on here for not giving the easy ball and trying something spetacular to often.

he and Delph for that matter are involved more than any other players, at least they dont go into hiding,
 and because they are always showing for the ball when they make mistakes as they do or things start to go wrong on the pitch as they have, they always come out looking worse than the rest

i've seen Bannan have some tremendous games against really good teams like Man Utd in the past, you cant do that unless you have some quality about you,
 i agree we need to see more but i would strongly disagree with anyone saying he was a rubbish footballer that we need to get rid of

[PaulWinch again]

Bannan is decent, but he needs to be playing consistently well now.  He's played in over 50 premier league games and so has some experience. We need him to be taking control of games, not just having the odd good game. We can't afford that.

[saunders_heroes]

Not good enough for Villa. Sloppy, lightweight, gives the ball away too much, and barely a threat in front of goal. 1 league goal in his entire Villa career when he's supposed to be an attacking midfielder, and that was a pen!
Na, not good enough. He's flattered to deceive for too long now. The sooner he's replaced the better.

[paul_e]

Not good enough for Villa. Sloppy, lightweight, gives the ball away too much, and barely a threat in front of goal. 1 league goal in his entire Villa career when he's supposed to be an attacking midfielder, and that was a pen!
Na, not good enough. He's flattered to deceive for too long now. The sooner he's replaced the better.

He's mostly played either as a wide midfielder or deeper behind nzogbia/ireland/holman who've taken the attacking midfield spot.

Once again, he's gives the ball away about as much as the majority of central midfielders in the league.

Light-weight I agree on, but he works harder defensively than most of our midfield, and work rate/pressing is enough in the advanced one of 3 role he should be playing.

By including sloppy you slagged his passing off twice in 4 points, he actually holds onto the ball well most of the time and has better vision than most in the squad.

He also makes himself more of a target by never hiding, Compare him to Ireland who earns at least 3 times the wage, or Nzogbia who only plays for himself and you should get my point.

We have bigger problems to concern ourselves with than replacing Bannan.

[stanadon]

i think bannan is technically a great player he needs a stirker that wants the ball though an not boot it at benteke

[WarszaVillan]

http://tinyurl.com/bf3mtell

Wee Baz taking some stick

[Loxton01]

Calling all heroesandvillains members please can someone tell me what this player brings to the team

Ok he can pass sideways has a decent first touch and set pieces are ok but that's it! Relegation struggle you need fighters and he isn't one if then he is always moaning arms waving but does nothing to block or tackle

He must not play another league game this season as he brings absolutely nothing

Would welcome any fan to justify his place in the 18

[saunders_heroes]

Awful player. One of the reasons why the team is so bad.

[N'Zimidy]

Decent in a 4-5-1, useless in a 5-3-2..

Not that Lambert had many options once Delph got injured. It was either Bannan, Ireland or Holman and I think we all would have had Bannan on there ahead of the other two. Hopefully Lambert can bring in Sissoko who can play in a 3 man midfield with Westwood / Delph and N'Zog.