[Archived] Nickos (newer) Thread

[Eddie]

Top of the list in attempts (not percentage)

Bentley 416 25.72%

Tied for 6th in assists

Bentley 9

Compare that with

Shorey 293 26.62%

Shorey 9

OPTA statistics are not the best way to judge players.

[Sparky Marky]

I just think that Lennon has been badly managed for the last couple of seasons, in and out the side etc.... I remember him doing things a season or two ago that Bentley could only dream of....his pace is electric and he immediately puts defenders on the back foot. Bentley's one of those players that get sussed out quickly....

Just my opinion.

[Eddie]

Bentley's good. Lennon's good. Both offer different things. Bentley's probably better at this moment in time, but we all know what pace can do and it makes up for a lot of things.

Seems like those who don't like Lennon do it on the basis that they like Bentley. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I just think that Lennon has been badly managed for the last couple of seasons, in and out the side etc.... I remember him doing things a season or two ago that Bentley could only dream of....his pace is electric and he immediately puts defenders on the back foot.

He played 47 games last season in all competions, not sure where this "in and out of the side" comes from.

Lennon has been found out, defenders know which way he is going to go and in a lot of matches you see two players on him.

[den]

Top of the list in attempts (not percentage)

Bentley 416 25.72%

Tied for 6th in assists

Bentley 9

Compare that with

Shorey 293 26.62%

Shorey 9

OPTA statistics are not the best way to judge players.

Shorey is a good player Eddie, hence his stats. Why's Lennon nowhere to be seen?

[den]

Bentley's good. Lennon's good. Both offer different things. Bentley's probably better at this moment in time, but we all know what pace can do and it makes up for a lot of things.

Seems like those who don't like Lennon do it on the basis that they like Bentley. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

probably?

[Head Rover Heels]

Aaron Lennon will never be a great crosser of the ball but his game offers much more than that.

He's someone who will get to the touchline using his pace and look to play it back for one of the late runners rather than whipping crosses in from deep, the rest of his game is pretty good and he stood out when Martin Jol was boss as he suited Spurs fast counter attack and the great one touch football they played at the time, he hasn't looked the same player under Ramos as his style of play isn't suited.

£6 million or whatever he's been rumoured to be worth is a bargain.

Sorry, but all that says to me is...

Aaron Lennon is quick, he runs to the corner chasing a ball because he's quick, tries to whip in a quick cross and if you're lucky you get a throw in in a dangerous area.

If we want someone who can leg it to the corner and chase lost causes, i believe Dwain Chambers is without a club - Why don't we try to teach him how to cross.

[Baggio]

Hmmmmm, I'm not a lover of ststistics normally, but take a look at these stats. Look for Bentley and look for Lennon.

Prem stats.

Stats don't tell the whole story though do they?

A player like Bentley who takes freekicks and is a good crosser of the ball will always stand out where stats are concerned, the things Lennon offers like being able to stretch games because of his pace, dribbling skills, being able to beat his man and how his movement will create space for others in the team won't show up in the opta stats and won't earn you too many fantasy football points either.

As a Newcastle fan one of the best players for us over the past decade was Craig Bellamy, his stats were nothing special but the things he offered the team that wouldn't get picked up stats were what made him such a good player.

[Eddie]

Didn't play as often as the other two. Played in a team that were simply horrible for half of the season. When he did play we wasn't used properly. They liked to play through their strikers rather than use width.

We always make our wide players look good because we never play through the middle because of our horrible central midfield, at Spurs the opposite is in effect. Lennon could do a good job in our side. Wouldn't take a straight swap for Bentley, but if we could replace Bentley with him (or simply sign Lennon and keep Bentley or sell him to someone else) and bring in a central midifelder on top of that then I feel the team would be better.

[Eddie]

probably?

I don't think we've seen Lennon properly used for about two seasons now. When a player isn't properly used it is difficult to judge just how good they are (Santa Cruz at Bayern, Benni here last season, Derbyshire when he's out on the right...).

[RibbleValleyRover]

Bentley's good. Lennon's good. Both offer different things. Bentley's probably better at this moment in time, but we all know what pace can do and it makes up for a lot of things.

Seems like those who don't like Lennon do it on the basis that they like Bentley. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

With the way the team is set up and the strikers we have, having a winger that can cross a ball is a necessity. Bentley was our most creative player last season and without his vision and service Roque wouldn’t have scored anywhere near as much goals as he did.

Unless you are going to see a complete rebuilding of the team (something I cannot see) replacing Bentley with Lennon is a completely stupid suggestion.

Might as well get rid of Roque now if you are going to rely on Lennon's service.

[den]

Stats don't tell the whole story though do they?

No they don't, you're right.

But - Lennon didn't come anywhere in the following catageories that allude to wing play:

Total shots attempted

Number of times hit woodwork

Assists

Total passes and passing accuracy

Crosses and corners attempted and crosses and corners accuracy

Tackles attempted and tackle success rate

Shots without a goal

Minutes per chance created

Minutes per shot

Minutes per pass

Minutes per cross

Percentage of team assists

Chances created per game

Crosses per game

[Rover down South]

Come on Nicko, you've been a bit quiet the last few days, you must have some info for us. A lot of bickering on your thread, give us some good news to discuss so we can all get along nicely!

Getting worried Mrs Nicko has changed your password

[den]

Come on Nicko, you've been a bit quiet the last few days, you must have some info for us. A lot of bickering on your thread, give us some good news to discuss so we can all get along nicely!

Getting worried Mrs Nicko has changed your password

Not bickering, - an interesting discussion.

[cn_barlow]

Not bickering, - an interesting discussion.

The tone has changed on here recently, with certain posters looking to have a snipe at others at the first opportunity....

Im not referring to you by the way Den

[Hughesy]

Roque Santa Cruz 47% - Percentage of goals involved in

Says it all - Total shots attempted - Bentley 83 - Santa Cruz 77

Then look at goals scored difference – league goals – 6 compared to 19.

Minutes per cross - David Bentley 8.0 – yet he has actually only set up 9 goals. So he played in 37 games – (if he played all 90 mins) he would of supplied 416 crosses (90/8*37), yet only 9 led to goals!!! That isnt great either!!

Also id like to see minutes played for Bentley compared to Lennon!

[socngill]

What struck me from looking atthose stats was shots between bentley and Santa Crux:

Bentley - 83 (goals 6)

Santa Cruz - 77 (goals 19)

Surely Bentley's job is to supply Santa Cruz for him to have the shots. i think that tells us something about Bentley's greediness on the ball. Maybe Bentley should concentrate on supplying his strikers, we may have done a bit better last season...

[RibbleValleyRover]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/2008/06/26/s...89520-20621418/

"The London club believe Lennon plus £8m could tempt Blackburn into selling now."

"Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has had a £15m bid for Bentley rejected. But Rovers' new boss Paul Ince is already resigned to losing the player."

If we were to sell Bentley i'd rather take £15 million in cash, use the money to buy a winger who can cross (kightly?), and use some of the money towards buying a decent creative attacking midfielder.

[Rover down South]

Not bickering, - an interesting discussion.

Just joking, quite good that people have different opinions, messageboard would be a bit boring otherwise!

Just waiting for thenodrog to log in to liven things up a bit more!!

[blue phil]

Lennon doesn't have a great technical ability or potential, thats the problem.

Apart from the fact that this is just a rather rash opinion you seem to be implying that we either get someone better than Lennon or stick with Bentley .

Off hand I can't think of anyone better than Lennon who'd wish to move to Blackburn .

I also think you overestimate the numbers who actually want Bentley to stay . Nearly everyone I speak to want the arrogant sod out of the club as quickly as possible .

[Rover down South]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/2008/06/26/s...89520-20621418/

"The London club believe Lennon plus £8m could tempt Blackburn into selling now."

"Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has had a £15m bid for Bentley rejected. But Rovers' new boss Paul Ince is already resigned to losing the player."

If we were to sell Bentley i'd rather take £15 million in cash, use the money to buy a winger who can cross (kightly?), and use some of the money towards buying a decent creative attacking midfielder.

Kightly has just signed a new contract (not that it means much nowadays, just he'd cost more) good player mind you.

[Sparky Marky]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/2008/06/26/s...89520-20621418/

"The London club believe Lennon plus £8m could tempt Blackburn into selling now."

"Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has had a £15m bid for Bentley rejected. But Rovers' new boss Paul Ince is already resigned to losing the player."

If we were to sell Bentley i'd rather take £15 million in cash, use the money to buy a winger who can cross (kightly?), and use some of the money towards buying a decent creative attacking midfielder.

Michael Kightly instead of Aaron Lennon????..........

[Head Rover Heels]

Michael Kightly instead of Aaron Lennon????..........

Ok, i'm not going to nail my colours firmly to the mast, and say that i completely agree with that. But, Kightly would be better equipped to fit in with our team at the moment.

By saying Lennon would be a better buy than Kightly, we are in danger of falling into the "england manager" trap, or trying to shoe in players because they are individually better than others. We need a team, and Lennon will simply not fit into the way we play at the moment, and we cannot afford (nor do we want) to go on a massive restrucuring mission.

[rover6]

No they don't, you're right.

But - Lennon didn't come anywhere in the following catageories that allude to wing play:

I think that this debate is pointless in the sense that I strongly doubt that Lennon would even deign to join Rovers. However, just for the principle of the thing, I think it's worth comparing how many minutes Lennon played last season compared to the leading wingers of last year. (According to premierleague.com stats).

Fabregas - 2857 mins, 20 assists, 7 goals

Bentley - 3320 mins, 10 assists, 6 goals

Young - 3288 mins, 17 assists, 8 goals

Petrov - 2972 mins, 11 assists, 5 goals

Downing - 3415 mins, 6 assists, 9 goals

Lennon - 2129 mins, 6 assists, 2 goals

Stats are not everything but I think it's clear that Lennon's season was hampered by not playing games. He's got a lot to improve but he has a lot of potential, imo.

[BlueMonday]

If we were to sell Bentley i'd rather take £15 million in cash, use the money to buy a winger who can cross (kightly?), and use some of the money towards buying a decent creative attacking midfielder.

I think we should be playing hard ball with Bentley and making him stay. Ince needs to lay down a marker at the start of his Guv'norship. Unless ManU, Chelsea, or Arsenal come calling we should be making a very good case for him to stay.