Barry "Messi" Bannan - again

[JUAN PABLO]

The problem with Bannan , yes , he makes a lovely side pass as stated and the odd long Gerrard type ball , but its when he gets a corner or  a set piece , a chance to get an effort on goal and score, thats where he is useless and thats why the fans take note and give him stick .

Gerrard pops up with goals , creates loads . I know he not Gerrard , I wish but what I am trying to say is when we need Bannan to really hurt the opposition he is not up to the job.

it was stupid taking him off for another striker but we would never have scored with him on anyway , he has no penetration from his passings.  .

[N'ZMAV]

We don't hear much of this these days "Who needs Barry when we've got Barry Bannan, oh Barry Bannan"....

[JUAN PABLO]

He would be a great signing for Blackpool . 

[paul_e]

The problem with Bannan , yes , he makes a lovely side pass as stated and the odd long Gerrard type ball , but its when he gets a corner or  a set piece , a chance to get an effort on goal and score, thats where he is useless and thats why the fans take note and give him stick .

Gerrard pops up with goals , creates loads . I know he not Gerrard , I wish but what I am trying to say is when we need Bannan to really hurt the opposition he is not up to the job.

it was stupid taking him off for another striker but we would never have scored with him on anyway , he has no penetration from his passings.  .

Short memory.  He can rightly feel that he could've had 5-6 assists from the 1st leg and the southampton match, that none of them were taken isn't his fault.

I never known a player whose own fans are so willing to ignore everything good he does and make such a big deal of every mistake.  He's treated like a pantomime villain (had to do it), but with "you're shit" replacing "he's behind you" as the chant of choice.

Next time he plays forget your preconception that's he's hollywood and gives the ball away 'all the time' and actually count the number of times he makes an accurate pass (or not).  Then count how many times after that pass he makes himself available to get it back and give the man on the ball options.

The reality is he's a decent bottom half of the premier league midfielder, who will make a useful squad member if we somehow make our way back to the top half, nothing more but also nothing less.

[Monty]

He's a talented player who more and more I feel just needs to leave the club for his own sake. He's stuck in a rut here, like so many, but unlike so many he finds himself inexplicably targeted for invective and bile which is seldom merited. He'll be good somewhere, but not for us I feel.

[paul_e]

He's a talented player who more and more I feel just needs to leave the club for his own sake. He's stuck in a rut here, like so many, but unlike so many he finds himself inexplicably targeted for invective and bile which is seldom merited. He'll be good somewhere, but not for us I feel.

I agree and think it's a huge shame that the same fans who voted Ireland player of the season on the back of some very mediocre performances with flashes of quality are hounding Bannan out for performing at a similar or higher level.

[pedro25]

Thought he played quite well last night, kept it simple, no aimless long diagonal balls to no-one, kept it on the deck and kept the play moving, just like Petrov did in that position.  The abuse he got was very harsh, he was/is certainly better than Ireland.

[TimTheVillain]

Bottom line is that Bannan is not good enough for the Prem., not strong enough, not tall enough, not combative at all and generally too lightweight.

He either goes for the Hollywood or the simple.

Champions League player at best, maybe that's why we play him - ready for the future.

[saunders_heroes]

He's a talented player who more and more I feel just needs to leave the club for his own sake. He's stuck in a rut here, like so many, but unlike so many he finds himself inexplicably targeted for invective and bile which is seldom merited. He'll be good somewhere, but not for us I feel.

Inexplicably targeted?
Ever seen one of his corners?

[saunders_heroes]

We don't hear much of this these days "Who needs Barry when we've got Barry Bannan, oh Barry Bannan"....

It's because most fans have come to their senses.
Oh for a Gareth Barry in the team now!

[paul_e]

He's a talented player who more and more I feel just needs to leave the club for his own sake. He's stuck in a rut here, like so many, but unlike so many he finds himself inexplicably targeted for invective and bile which is seldom merited. He'll be good somewhere, but not for us I feel.

Inexplicably targeted?
Ever seen one of his corners?

I saw 2 in the first leg that Benteke headed just wide, or do those not count?

I saw a couple of poor ones last night and have said as much, how about you acknowledge some of the good things he does rather than make out that they never happen.

That game and the southampton match he put 5-6 excellent balls into the box and we didn't convert any of them, had we done so we'd be in a cup final and 3 points better off in the league, so lets encourage him to do it more often, rather than call him 'hollywood' and slag him off all game.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Thought he played quite well last night, kept it simple, no aimless long diagonal balls to no-one, kept it on the deck and kept the play moving, just like Petrov did in that position.  The abuse he got was very harsh, he was/is certainly better than Ireland.

Last night saw one of his worst ever games in a Villa shirt. The less said about Ireland the better.

[saunders_heroes]

He's a talented player who more and more I feel just needs to leave the club for his own sake. He's stuck in a rut here, like so many, but unlike so many he finds himself inexplicably targeted for invective and bile which is seldom merited. He'll be good somewhere, but not for us I feel.

Inexplicably targeted?
Ever seen one of his corners?

I saw 2 in the first leg that Benteke headed just wide, or do those not count?

I saw a couple of poor ones last night and have said as much, how about you acknowledge some of the good things he does rather than make out that they never happen.

That game and the southampton match he put 5-6 excellent balls into the box and we didn't convert any of them, had we done so we'd be in a cup final and 3 points better off in the league, so lets encourage him to do it more often, rather than call him 'hollywood' and slag him off all game.

He doesn't do enough, he isn't good enough. You can't keep picking a player because you may think there's a good player in there somewhere. He's played 80+ games for us and scored just one goal and that was a pen. This season he's got one assist. Now there's a OPTA stat that hasn't been posted on this thread before.
Not good enough and it's time to rid the club of him.

[claretandbeer]

The problem with Bannan , yes , he makes a lovely side pass as stated and the odd long Gerrard type ball , but its when he gets a corner or  a set piece , a chance to get an effort on goal and score, thats where he is useless and thats why the fans take note and give him stick .

Gerrard pops up with goals , creates loads . I know he not Gerrard , I wish but what I am trying to say is when we need Bannan to really hurt the opposition he is not up to the job.

it was stupid taking him off for another striker but we would never have scored with him on anyway , he has no penetration from his passings.  .

Short memory.  He can rightly feel that he could've had 5-6 assists from the 1st leg and the southampton match, that none of them were taken isn't his fault.

I never known a player whose own fans are so willing to ignore everything good he does and make such a big deal of every mistake.  He's treated like a pantomime villain (had to do it), but with "you're shit" replacing "he's behind you" as the chant of choice.

Next time he plays forget your preconception that's he's hollywood and gives the ball away 'all the time' and actually count the number of times he makes an accurate pass (or not).  Then count how many times after that pass he makes himself available to get it back and give the man on the ball options.

The reality is he's a decent bottom half of the premier league midfielder, who will make a useful squad member if we somehow make our way back to the top half, nothing more but also nothing less.

His accurate passes are played in our third,square or back to a defender,when under no pressure.He makes himself available again usually only in deep lying positions.Rarely does he support a forward player,rarely does he get in advance of his other midfield players,can't go round players,the accuracy of his crosses and forward passes is not above average,therefore he provides very limited attacking options.His defensive qualities are the worst I've seen ever in a Villa midfielder.

[Pat McMahon]

He's a talented player who more and more I feel just needs to leave the club for his own sake. He's stuck in a rut here, like so many, but unlike so many he finds himself inexplicably targeted for invective and bile which is seldom merited. He'll be good somewhere, but not for us I feel.

I agree and think it's a huge shame that the same fans who voted Ireland player of the season on the back of some very mediocre performances with flashes of quality are hounding Bannan out for performing at a similar or higher level.

I too thought at least he was looking for the ball and was willing to offer himself for a pass. Our lack of movement up the pitch and absence of width meant that he had little to aim towards. Oval he was one of our better players last night, not that that is a coveted award.

I think there is a competent player in there but he is very lightweight defensively. Given where we are, that is a problem.