Hughton on Dunk: "Yes it is a concern"

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

I think it's OK to highlight specific mistakes, but giving Dunk a rest just has not been an option with the injury list. I also have to agree that having a more experienced player alongside Central Defenders does help, and that is the value that Greer brings, even if he struggles himself. I think both Dunk and Greer were better players with Upson beside them for example. Whilst Dunk may be 24, have 100 appearances etc etc, he is not an experienced leader of a back line, and that maybe is what is making him more error prone at the moment - he has to think about others etc. rather than just concentrate on his own game.. He will get there, and be fantastic at it. There are very few excellent young centre-backs, leading lines in teams that are struggling.. Chris Smalling is getting there, Stones at Everton - but very few others to my mind?

 

[Danny-Boy]

The situation with Lewis Dunk reminds me so much of the same with 'Fozzie', Steve Foster. he was very good until people started to say how good he was and he received a pay rise commensurate with those comments. After that it all went down hill to something more ordinary. How is he being managed? A 20 something year old, earning a reported £22k a week on a three contract, it would have made us all feel very important at that age. he does have this side to him where he is rash and he has form on being sent off. He needs to be managed, I personally believe he needs Gordon Greer next to him as a mentor. Its up to CH to deal with him, i'm sure he has found himself in this position before. Strange thing to be saying about someone who you may consider you want to sell however.

That's the point, alongside Greer Dunk seems to gain confidence. Without him he makes misjudgements. The problem for you is, that all the other teams will know that and try to play on Dunk's temperament. That's the nature of football at this level. Can you afford the risk?

 

[StonehamPark]

Can you afford the risk?

Can TB afford the risk?

From my stat's, which I'm happy to be challenged on (Sussex2K & JohnScrotes), Dunk has cost us 5-7 points so far (let's call it 5 for balance).
This has cost us 2nd place at the current stage of the season.
If we reach the end of the season 5 points off an auto-spot, you could (and I would) argue that Dunk has been a major contribution to the loss of a Premier League place and £100m+.

Does TB bring in another CB during this window?


*Again, I think Dunk has been a very good player for BHA in recent seasons and much of the first half of this one.
However, he's directly cost us vital points and is currently a huge liability to this seasons Premier League push.
He's a good player, but not right now.

 

[El Presidente]

we are down to the bare bones.

You are Harry Redknapp and I claim my TEN POUNDS thankyou.

 

[saafend_seagull]

Can TB afford the risk?

From my stat's, which I'm happy to be challenged on (Sussex2K & JohnScrotes), Dunk has cost us 5-7 points so far (let's call it 5 for balance).
This has cost us 2nd place at the current stage of the season.
If we reach the end of the season 5 points off an auto-spot, you could (and I would) argue that Dunk has been a major contribution to the loss of a Premier League place and £100m+.

Does TB bring in another CB during this window?


*Again, I think Dunk has been a very good player for BHA in recent seasons and much of the first half of this one.
However, he's directly cost us vital points and is currently a huge liability to this seasons Premier League push.
He's a good player, but not right now.

How on earth do you get 5-7 points? What about the points he has won us with his contribution in games?

Dunk also kept us up on his own last season, so if we didn't have him we'd be playing in league 1 right now.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Here is the use of the word ' great ' again, normally reserved for those of high ability and who only come along once or twice in a generation. Never mind, lets use it in reference to a decent player, struggling to hold down a place in a Championship side.

I still think Dunk could be a great player. I mean, if / when he cuts these silly errors out of his game, he'll be an immense championship defender.

 

[StonehamPark]

How on earth do you get 5-7 points? What about the points he has won us with his contribution in games?

Dunk also kept us up on his own last season, so if we didn't have him we'd be playing in league 1 right now.

Last season, totally agree.
As I've said in my previous post. He's been very good in previous seasons, including much of the first half of this current one.

Ipswich 1 Point (Slip directly leading to goal)
QPR 2 Points (Sending off 85+ mins indirectly leading to Austin's second goal)
Burnley 2 Points (Penalty)
Derby 2 Points* (Mistake indirectly leading to First Goal)

That's 7 points, I've taken off 2 in my previous post as Greer was just as much to blame against Derby.

 

[saafend_seagull]

Last season, totally agree.
As I've said in my previous post. He's been very good in previous seasons, including much of the first half of this current one.

Ipswich 1 Point (Slip directly leading to goal)
QPR 2 Points (Sending off 85+ mins indirectly leading to Austin's second goal)
Burnley 2 Points (Penalty)
Derby 2 Points* (Mistake indirectly leading to First Goal)

That's 7 points, I've taken off 2 in my previous post as Greer was just as much to blame against Derby.

Interesting. So not factoring in his performance in any way of previous games where he was the best player on the pitch in a couple of games, completely stupid post.

What about Murphy who missed two absolute sitters versus Ipswich and Brentford?

What about hemed who scores about 1 in 29 shots? Or baldock?

QPR sending off isn't completely to
Blame also, we were getting battered for the whole game, would have conceded with 11 men.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

I am all for supporting our players but we have to face the facts. Whatever was he thinking? To launch oneself horizontally at a player's feet ,in the box, is just asking for a penalty against us. I don' t question his commitment but his judgement. I have never seen an attempted interception like that before.
Play Grer, Uwe, Goldson ...play anybody but him , please

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

He will get there, and be fantastic at it. There are very few excellent young centre-backs, leading lines in teams that are struggling.. Chris Smalling is getting there, Stones at Everton - but very few others to my mind?

Smalling is 26 isn't he?

 

[Justice]

Is Dunk is playing like he doesn't want to be here?

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Last season, totally agree.
As I've said in my previous post. He's been very good in previous seasons, including much of the first half of this current one.

Ipswich 1 Point (Slip directly leading to goal)
QPR 2 Points (Sending off 85+ mins indirectly leading to Austin's second goal)
Burnley 2 Points (Penalty)
Derby 2 Points* (Mistake indirectly leading to First Goal)

That's 7 points, I've taken off 2 in my previous post as Greer was just as much to blame against Derby.

There's rational there although I'd disagree with bits of it. I agree about Ipswich and I agree about the Hull game. The Burnley game I'll give you too, although I still think that if that's a penalty then there should be 10 a game per side (but by the letter of the law, it is a penalty).

The QPR one, Greer and Bruno are as guilty. Yes he got sent off (and I'm not condoning the poor challenge), but the actual defensive errors that cost us the game came from the other two players. And Greer's came when we had 11 men on the pitch.

The Derby one I find hard to fathom - again, we drew because of Greer's mistake giving away the penalty (he made a challenge that no defender should ever make, let alone in the last minute of a match that your team is winning).

Still, I agree, Dunk has made mistakes recently (as have all of our defenders). Maybe it's the new baby that every keeps saying his missus has had which is affecting his concentration, or maybe it is the start of a genuinely worrying drop in form). I agree he probably does need a rest, as much as anything to refocus him, and maybe Greer will come back more focused following his own spell on the sidelines.

I guess my point is that (and this is a subjective point), I think Dunk is currently our best central defender. Uwe can't stay fit for long enough to take that mantle and I've not seen enough of Goldson to make the call about him yet (although he looks promising - albeit he has also made a huge mistake already). I respect what Greer brings to the club in terms of leadership and experience, and he certainly has a role to play (at no stage have I ever said we should be getting rid of him), but he himself has made numerous errors over the last couple of months that have also cost us points (which I've referenced in other threads) so it does surprise me slightly that posters on this board are jumping so quickly on Dunk's back, yet Greer always seems immune to criticism.

Basically, is Dunk the sole reason we're losing games at the moment? The answer, plain and simple, is no, particularly when our forwards couldn't score in a brothel at the moment. Has he made individual mistakes recently that represent a bit of a drop in form? For sure, he has. Does he need a rest? Probably, but we haven't had that option. Does he deserve to be singled out ahead of the other defenders as the main cause of us dropping points this season? Absolutely not, and if anyone thinks that he does, then they're just not watching the games properly.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

You are Harry Redknapp and I claim my TEN POUNDS thankyou.

Haha well the thing is he said that when he had about FIFTY fit players!

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

Smalling is 26 isn't he?

Exactly - 26 still relatively young in Central Defender years, but look at the improvement he has made this season..

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Exactly - 26 still relatively young in Central Defender years, but look at the improvement he has made this season..

I guess - I wouldn't say "young". I'd say "beginning his prime years". I think it's also important to note that he's playing in a team where the team is set up for him not to be exposed...

 

[Brighton Mod]

How on earth do you get 5-7 points? What about the points he has won us with his contribution in games?

Dunk also kept us up on his own last season, so if we didn't have him we'd be playing in league 1 right now.

Last season is history now, yes he has made great contributions in certain games, but surely that is why the club has engaged him. He has not been employed to pull the shirt of opposition players backs, let the ball slip under his feet allowing opposition strikers to score or do what he did at Hull (it is very difficult to describe). I'm not for getting on his back, he needs managing right now, however the post by Stoneham Park is accurate and each fail could add up to tens of millions of pounds at the end of the season. there is noticeable tension at the Amex when he is defending.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Last season is history now, yes he has made great contributions in certain games, but surely that is why the club has engaged him. He has not been employed to pull the shirt of opposition players backs, let the ball slip under his feet allowing opposition strikers to score or do what he did at Hull (it is very difficult to describe). I'm not for getting on his back, he needs managing right now, however the post by Stoneham Park is accurate and each fail could add up to tens of millions of pounds at the end of the season. there is noticeable tension at the Amex when he is defending.

In fairness there's noticeable tension in the North Stand when the whole team defends at the moment.

 

[Phat Baz 68]

..."individual errors are costing us."

#SlamDunkOut

He doesn't say Dunk anywhere in his interview He could mean any of about three or four players to be honest.

 

[StonehamPark]

Albion boss backs error-prone Dunk - The Argus

Hughton: “As regards to Lewis, he has been excellent for us. Making any mistakes is part and parcel of the game.
“Sometimes when you’re a keeper or a defender, mistakes like that will happen because of the position you play.”

Soft. But then again, what else is he going to say with no back up.

 

[atomised]

He doesn't say Dunk anywhere in his interview He could mean any of about three or four players to be honest.

Youre correct, he doesnt though the argus piece posted a couple of pages back does specifically quote hughton talking about Dunks errors and a need to learn from them