[Archived] Should Dunny Have Come Home?

[John]

I just think Hughes is being very clever in this.

Good attacking midfielders are hard to find, especially English ones.

[joey_big_nose]

Tris I think you are living in dreamland a little bit. Clearly we need creative midfield players now, we have struggled to carve out chances as the season has progressed, and when one of our starting four has been injured or suspended the replacements seem inadequate.

Man City have enquired about Dunn. I am certian if the terms that you suggest were on the table (free transfer and a grand a week wage) then every single club outsie the top four would have a look. That would represent almost zero risk for a potentially excellent player, you would have to be insane not to give it a shot.

But Dunn realises this and commesurately will ask for more money. That is how market value is set, supply and demand. he knows, or his agent will, that clubs will be happy to give him ten grand a week (this is my guess but i feel an accurate one), the average wage of a footballer in the premiership. This will represent a third of what he is on at birmingham, so if you want him to suffer then he will as much as the mega rich can.

You do have a point about waiting till the summer so we don't have to pay a fee but i would say 1) we need him now, we need a little quality on the bench at the moment, we have no one ot bring on to scare the opposition, dunn is a different sort of player to what we have. 2) he can provide cover for both midfield and up front. This season has shown how thin our squad is. 3) City are sniffing around, I'm sure others will be interested, we could lose the opportunity if we wait.

i suppose it all comes down to our assessment of Dunn's potential, and i think relative to the modern transfer market 500k-1m is good value (despite in a 'real sense' it being an obscene amount of money) to acquire it.

[John]

Sparky wanted him back in the summer but left it too late.

I am sure any deal which will be done will be done a pay as you play basis.

You can put a negative slant on it if you want but this really is a no lose situation for the club.

[Eddie]

Not quite and you'd be silly to think it was.

[T4E]

If we've got Reid coming back, why don't we just wait til the Summer and take Dunny on a free?

[sussexrover]

Its clearly not a no-risk situation - but it is relatively low-risk. Whilst we could wait until the end of the season and possibly get him for nothing, at a low price surely the prudent thing to do would be to sign him in January. As stated we currently have 3 midfielders of a sufficient standard to play central midfield (i'm not going to include bentley at this point in time), one of whom is currently injured and one of whom has played far more games this season than we would want him to play. Whilst we are hoping to have reid back fairly soon, it is surely not beyond the realms of possibility that he could have a setback which would leave us back down to 2. A small investment in a bit of extra cover and quality could make the difference - as we have seen in previous seasons 1 result can make a massive difference to your league position and subsequent prize money.

[rover6]

Dunn's flair would be a welcome addition to the squad. But his injury problems and positional confusion, not.

Some might see his versatility as a good thing but I can only see it as a hinderance. He needs to find a position and grow into it.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Agreed.

Having Dunn on the bench as an optionto break teams down looks at lot more attractive than Peter, Gally and the rest.

It will be a good deal.

[arrodblue]

I think that those in this topic who have rightly queried Dunn's fitness levels, and to a lesser extent, his professionalism, have maybe overlooked the regime that the manager now emphasises upon the playing staff.

Since Dunny's departure, the training regime, the fitness levels of the players, the introduction of pro-zone etc have all contributed to the overall improvement of Rovers' first team squad.

If you add to that the rigorous medical that Dunny is likely to undertake I think we should be able to say that, first, Dunny will be in good physical shape when/if he signs and, second, once he's integrated back into the fold and has a few week's training under his belt he will be physically fitter and sharper than he has been for years.

I also trust the Rovers medical staff to look after him to prevent those niggly injuries he has been susceptible to.

But, of course, he may just do his hamstring again and prove all this immaterial!

[T4E]

Atleast two sets of medical staff have tried and failed in that area before. Why would now be any different?

[USABlue]

Atleast two sets of medical staff have tried and failed in that area before. Why would now be any different?

One of them under the watchful eye of Graeme "Hamstring" Souness. Also at Brum, during Dunny's time there, did they not suffer a rash of Hamstring injuries too. Perhaps it's as much poor training regimens than anything else.

[tcj_jones]

Atleast two sets of medical staff have tried and failed in that area before. Why would now be any different?

Did Brum not discover a long term back problem that was causing his multiple hamstring injuries? He was operated on and I was under the impression that his hamstring injuries should be a thing of the past from now on.

Guys, you can make 500k look like a lot of money to the club - you could even calculate how many replica shirts in the club shop would need to be sold to make that sum, but in terms of transfer funds and how much will be taken from our summer budget, then it is virtually nothing. Bellamy was sold for nearly 6m. This has not as yet been spent. We must have the money and 500k is a very small fraction of this sum.

You can call it low-risk, but at the end of the day we could be getting a player that we know to have quality, if only he can put his injury problems behind him. I think we have a superb set up at Ewood and he will get exactly the right treatment he needs.

When Reid gets back from injury, we have three natural central midfielders. Tugay cannot play every game and any further injuries could cripple us. I'd say with all three fit we still desperately need another central midfielder. We should have got one in the summer. Dunn could score a single goal that raises us one place in the league table at the end of the season. That's 1m gained.

[T4E]

Minus what we'll have had to pay him from Jan - May, plus goal, win and appearance bonuses.

I'm for the Dunn signing, but I think we're being ambitious if we're trying to claim (as some have) that his signing will actually make us money.

[AndyR]

Steve Bruce saying they want a fair price for Dunny:

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/cc_ch...MHD=nationwide1

Can't see how we can lose on the deal for around £1m, great player providing mouch needed flair alongside Sav and Reid. About the best Tugay replacement around if he stays fit, If we are pessimistic on the deal we may well end up delighted.

[LeftWinger]

Steve Bruce saying they want a fair price for Dunny:

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/cc_ch...MHD=nationwide1

Can't see how we can lose on the deal for around £1m, great player providing mouch needed flair alongside Sav and Reid. About the best Tugay replacement around if he stays fit, If we are pessimistic on the deal we may well end up delighted.

I can't help but feel Birmingham will be a pain with this one. I think he'll come at the end of January after a long and drawn out negotiation.

[tcj_jones]

Minus what we'll have had to pay him from Jan - May, plus goal, win and appearance bonuses.

I'm for the Dunn signing, but I think we're being ambitious if we're trying to claim (as some have) that his signing will actually make us money.

Yeah that's fair enough. Not saying that he will definately make us money, just looking at the possibilities. For me, there is more to be gained than to be lost.

However, I don't agree with those that say we will be cost money in wages; we have a squad full of players that have either been injured or underperforming. Dunn will jsut be another one of the squad. I doubt he would be paid much more than any of our starting 11. Bonuses may cost us, but that would be a very small amount.

For me the only issue is the sum up front, and as I have argued, I don't see thatas a large amount by any means.

EDIT: OK, 1m is a fair amount. That speculation changes things slightly. I'd still be fully in favour of the deal.

Edited December 21, 2006 by tcj_jones

[Blue blood]

With his woeful injury record any significant outlay for Dunn would be questionable and a huge risk. The club haven't loosened the purse strings much during Hughes reign so 500k let alone 1m IS a significant amount of money to our club. With falling attendences and looking like a midtable team thus not getting the revenue from having fewer televised games than last season, 500k plus on a player with Dunn's injury record is a questionable policy. Added to which all the bargaining chips should be with the buyer - he's missed loads of games through injury, he's out of contract in the summer and he's a rovers fan. With all this in mind anything over 250K would be questionable on such a fitness risk when the odds are stacked in the buyer's favour to boot.

Remember the club also needs at least one new full back, another midfielder on top of Dunn and another good striker as Nonda hasn't quite done enough. All of which will cost money, which we don't have in abundance.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to have Dunny back providing the deal was right. He's as good a chance of regaining his form and fitness at rovers as anywhere else. He'd be highly motivated, would give us some much needed creativity, and the local lad stuff would give the fans a boost, oh and he plays midfield where we are pretty short especially in depth.

Emerton seems best at full back, Tugs is ancient, whilst Mokoena and Gally haven't really impressed or look up to standard for a while, and Peter is still learning the trade. That leaves only Reid, Pedersen, Bentley and Savage for the medium term, i.e. 12-18 months who can really be relied upon (although I'd be happy for Tugs to stay on another year or two on current form). With Reid injured, Pedersen being off form for much of the seaon it really highlights how important it is to get a couple more bodies into the midfield position. A fully fit Dunn would boost the options in midfield considerably.

Another thing which hasn't really been mentioned is who else is out there who could do a job in centre mid for us? With not much money to spend, risk's like Dunn may be the best thing we can currently get - both in terms of price and availability. If there was an equally cheap, fitter version of Dunn available I'd probably opt for that but off the top of my head I can't think of any. (The Hibs midfield pair if we have the cash?) This coupled with the need to strengthen the midfield may well be the deciding factor on whether Hughes takes a gamble on Dunn. Our need for a midfielder may also weaken our bargaining power with Brum too, something which worries me is how they got 6m for Heskey. Overall Dunn at 1m might be the best we can get, but Dunn on a free/£250K would be an excellent piece of business.

[joey_big_nose]

If we've got Reid coming back, why don't we just wait til the Summer and take Dunny on a free?

We need cover now, the fee will be small and waiting would increase the chances of him being snaffled by other clubs. I'm not sure I buy the idea that just because he's from Blackburn he will neccesarily turn down more lucrative offers from our competitors in the Prem.

If he was available on a free loads of people would be having a look, it would be very messy IMO.

All that said if the fee demanded rises beyond a million then we should walk away for now.

ps. Really good point about heskey. Brum got 6 million for him and managed to make us part with 3.3 million for Savage, Pennant went for seven million. They drive a hard bargain. But in this case I'm reasonably sure that 1 million is pretty much the absolute maximum they can hope for in light of injuries and his contract status.

[LeChuck]

For all this talk of £500,000, it's worth considering one point:

If Dunn can produce one piece of magic to influence the outcome of one game (which we all know he is capable of), then that alone could boost us at least one place up the table come the end of the season.

[tcj_jones]

That's exactly what I've been saying. Well worth the risk.

[laughatthedingles]

Dunny had a major operation to cure his hamstrings last season and he said at the time that it is not a cure but should help prevent it tearing again however he recieved another injury to it this season, whilst not being as bad as the previous ones.

IF we can get Dunny to a reasonable level of fitness then of course he will be an improvement to the squad, at the moment who wouldn't swap a fit Dunny on the left flank instead of MGP, I certainly would!!! The position Dunny would excel at however is probably one he wouldn't relish, its the 'Tugay' role, just infront of the back four, spraying the ball around, he has the ability of that there is no question however his mental attributes leave a lot to be desired, when he left he saw himself as a box to box midfielder, something he will never be and when he didnt get to play where he wanted out of the pram came the toys.

If Dunny has matured and we can keep the injuries down then what a signing it could be, in reality it could all crumble but I have every faith in Hughes and his judgement will do just fine for me.

[MarkBRFC]

Im all for Dunn coming back at the right price, which i think most Rovers fans would agree with.

However have some have said he is not the Tugay replacement we are crying out for, i just cant see him having the disciplin to sit in front of the back four spraying the ball about.

[gumboots]

I still can't get my head around so many fans wanting Dunn back. If Hughes decides he's worth the risk then I'll respect that but I personally don't think he's a risk worth taking. There weren't that many fans who didn't think he'd got too big for his boots before he'd left or too fat for his trousers. Perhaps he will respect Hughes more than Souness but I don't see us getting the Dunn who scored that fantastic goal against the Dutch under 21s back and that's the Dunn I'll need to see before I really feel it was a worthwhile move to bring him back.

[kevinyip]

Half year ago I won't agreed that the transfer of Dunn is a good deal. However, after half year, I have changed my mind. It seems that we don't have enough cover and we needs some cover that have acceptable standard. Dunn is the person. He needs not adapt to blackburn once again as he still be a blackburn guy...

[Tris]

deleted - it's Christmas

Edited December 22, 2006 by Tris