[Archived] David Dunn

[Tris]

£ for £ probably Mark Hughes' worst signing.

He would have been on a free 5 months after we shelled out good money for him, and we certainly didn't get 1.5 million quids worth of value out of Dunn between January and June 2007.

Great insight guys!

The point stands. There was no value for that £1.5 million in 2007, and since then it's been in fits and starts, until this run of form in a team built around him (** see below)

Sad you've had to wait 7 months since the oringinal post (and 34 months since Dunn returned) to be able to play the "I'm with stupid" smiley. Well done. I've noticed for a long time that you never ever make any observation unless it involves quoting someone else and then slagging them off. You should try some original insight for a change (if you're capable)

Have a look at the McCarthy thread and you can read from Tris and others how fat and slow Dunn is ,how his chief motivation is food, how he's too slow to hold down a "normal" central mid-field position etc etc.

Below is what I said about Dunn in the thread you refer to. There is no mention in what I posted anything close to the words FAT, SLOW or FOOD. You are an abslolute cretin to try and misquote.

Benni should be playing up front as one of a pair, because as things stand, he is our best striker. Dunn should be in central midfield as part of a 4. If he no longer has the "engine" to do that job without the added protection of two CMs behind him, then he should take a cameo role as a 30 minute 2nd half sub.

** - You say Dunn is "our best player and in the form of his life"

Which is totally true. Sadly, it's in a team and system that is built to suit Dunn (and Dunn alone), a system which excludes our best goalscorer (McCarthy), and a system which totally falls to pieces when Dunn catches a cold. Of course he's our top goalscorer, it would be a disaster if he wasn't in this tailor made formation.

Nearly 3 years gone on a 3 1/2 year contract, and Dunn is finally delivering the goods, in a team set up just for him. He'll be 30 years old in December. Honestly now - would you give him another Premier League contract for 3 more years???

[iamarover]

Nearly 3 years gone on a 3 1/2 year contract, and Dunn is finally delivering the goods, in a team set up just for him. He'll be 30 years old in December. Honestly now - would you give him another Premier League contract for 3 more years???

And on and on and on you go.....

£750k a point. Glory and Honour with Them for a lifetime. Think about it.

Genuine question. Did lads at your school smack you in the mouth for no apparent reason?

[Tris]

And on and on and on you go.....

£750k a point. Glory and Honour with Them for a lifetime. Think about it.

Genuine question. Did lads at your school smack you in the mouth for no apparent reason?

Genuine question. Did you forget tonights dose, or have you forgotten to switch usernames tonight?

40 years. In 3 different divisions several times.

And never. Never have I been embarrassed to have been a Rover. Sat in the magnificent West Stand with 2 Roverettes, the 3 of us died. Witnessing the worst performance of a longish lifetime.

Last night Allardyce should have dropped off Nelsen, Diouf, Olsson, Andrews, Roberts and the indesribably awful Pedersen and then driven the rest of them to the M1 to hitch a lift off Northbound nutters and their psychotic partners.

I hate them.

[Miker]

The point stands. There was no value for that £1.5 million in 2007, and since then it's been in fits and starts, until this run of form in a team built around him (** see below)

Sad you've had to wait 7 months since the oringinal post (and 34 months since Dunn returned) to be able to play the "I'm with stupid" smiley. Well done. I've noticed for a long time that you never ever make any observation unless it involves quoting someone else and then slagging them off. You should try some original insight for a change (if you're capable)

Below is what I said about Dunn in the thread you refer to. There is no mention in what I posted anything close to the words FAT, SLOW or FOOD. You are an abslolute cretin to try and misquote.

** - You say Dunn is "our best player and in the form of his life"

Which is totally true. Sadly, it's in a team and system that is built to suit Dunn (and Dunn alone), a system which excludes our best goalscorer (McCarthy), and a system which totally falls to pieces when Dunn catches a cold. Of course he's our top goalscorer, it would be a disaster if he wasn't in this tailor made formation.

Nearly 3 years gone on a 3 1/2 year contract, and Dunn is finally delivering the goods, in a team set up just for him. He'll be 30 years old in December. Honestly now - would you give him another Premier League contract for 3 more years???

Talk about contradiction...

You point out that Dunn didn't do anything for 3 years and is now delivering, but you completely disregard the fact that McCarthy was our "best scorer" over 2 seasons ago and hasn't done much since. So why would we tailor a formation to fit McCarthy in, rather than Dunn?

Why would you offer a 30 year old a 3 year contract?

[Tris]

Talk about contradiction...

You point out that Dunn didn't do anything for 3 years and is now delivering, but you completely disregard the fact that McCarthy was our "best scorer" over 2 seasons ago and hasn't done much since. So why would we tailor a formation to fit McCarthy in, rather than Dunn?

Why would you offer a 30 year old a 3 year contract?

Our current team is built around Dunn - have you missed that?

McCarthy has never had a chance under this manager. He appears to be 4th choice, despite being the best all round forward on our books by a country mile. Maybe Kalinic's #6 million price tag is influencing substitution decisions - to suit the manager rather than the team and the club.

To be honest, I wouldn't build a team around any of them, or offer either Dunn or McCarthy refreshed contracts as things stand.

But putting McCarthy into a 4-4-2 wouldn't be tailoring a formation for him, it would be common sense, in a formation that serves well for most other teams in this league, and which in the past has made the SA player a serial goal scorer. South Africa have a new manager, McCarthy needs games to get to the World Cup finals for his country. PLAY HIM NOW!!

Zola's West Ham team gave Arsenal a proper match today - they passed the ball, closed the opposition down, and made sure that good forward players had a platform to deliver opportunities. Their sqaud is poor compared to ours.

But at 2-0 down, they were never going to fold. 2-2 was the outcome ... how I long for the day Rovers play like that again.

2-6 and 0-5 is just shocking. Rovers must end this embarassing trend at Old Trafford.

[Miker]

Our current team is built around Dunn - have you missed that?

McCarthy has never had a chance under this manager. He appears to be 4th choice, despite being the best all round forward on our books by a country mile. Maybe Kalinic's #6 million price tag is influencing substitution decisions - to suit the manager rather than the team and the club.

To be honest, I wouldn't build a team around any of them, or offer either Dunn or McCarthy refreshed contracts as things stand.

But putting McCarthy into a 4-4-2 wouldn't be tailoring a formation for him, it would be common sense, in a formation that serves well for most other teams in this league, and which in the past has made the SA player a serial goal scorer. South Africa have a new manager, McCarthy needs games to get to the World Cup finals for his country. PLAY HIM NOW!!

Zola's West Ham team gave Arsenal a proper match today - they passed the ball, closed the opposition down, and made sure that good forward players had a platform to deliver opportunities. Their sqaud is poor compared to ours.

But at 2-0 down, they were never going to fold. 2-2 was the outcome ... how I long for the day Rovers play like that again.

2-6 and 0-5 is just shocking. Rovers must end this embarassing trend at Old Trafford.

It was a derby match for West Ham... of course they are going to give it their all and put in one of their best performances of the season, especially at a time when they really needed a confidence boost. They have an excellent partnership in Cole and Diamanti and they were able to be a legitimate attacking force through them. We have an excellent partnership in Dunn and Di Santo, but neither was available to us, so what can you do?

I'm sorry, but if you're telling me that we should prefer McCarthy to one of either Dunn or Di Santo, then you're insane. Both have been absolute quality and Dunn, in particular, in blistering form. There's no way I would put McCarthy on just because he had an amazing goal scoring run two seasons ago.

For the record, we gave Arsenal a proper match as well... or did you miss out on the fact that we went ahead twice and then should've equalised after the break, if not for an awful decision from the referee? Sure we capitulated in the last 20 minutes, but that in no way tells the story of a team that went on the pitch to simply roll over and die from the get go.

Maybe you should go join the West Ham fans and celebrate drawing with Arsenal while sitting 2nd from bottom.

[47er]

The point stands. There was no value for that £1.5 million in 2007, and since then it's been in fits and starts, until this run of form in a team built around him (** see below)

Sad you've had to wait 7 months since the oringinal post (and 34 months since Dunn returned) to be able to play the "I'm with stupid" smiley. Well done. I've noticed for a long time that you never ever make any observation unless it involves quoting someone else and then slagging them off. You should try some original insight for a change (if you're capable)

Below is what I said about Dunn in the thread you refer to. There is no mention in what I posted anything close to the words FAT, SLOW or FOOD. You are an abslolute cretin to try and misquote.

** - You say Dunn is "our best player and in the form of his life"

Which is totally true. Sadly, it's in a team and system that is built to suit Dunn (and Dunn alone), a system which excludes our best goalscorer (McCarthy), and a system which totally falls to pieces when Dunn catches a cold. Of course he's our top goalscorer, it would be a disaster if he wasn't in this tailor made formation.

Nearly 3 years gone on a 3 1/2 year contract, and Dunn is finally delivering the goods, in a team set up just for him. He'll be 30 years old in December. Honestly now - would you give him another Premier League contract for 3 more years???

So you still think that Dunn was Hughes' worst-ever signing and you think I'M a cretin?

Yes its 7 months since your original post but Dunn has been playing for less than 3! We didn't play in the summer so I've given him a couple of months to show what he can do.

I didn't misquote you, I said that you "and others" were slagging him off even though he was in the best form of his life.

In your post on the McCarthy thread you said "Dunn should be in central midfield as part of a 4." You went on to say that "if he no longer has the engine for that' then "he should take a cameo role as a 30 minute 2nd half sub."

The implication is clear and other morons picked up on it.This is our best player and you want him out of the side! Most people think Sam has found the best position for Dunn and the team thrives on it.All Rovers fans that I know are proud that a local lad, a genuine life-long Rovers supporter is playing so well for us. What is wrong with you?

Finally,very few of your posts are free of insults to somebody or other and if you get a bit of your own back--well tough.

[CrazyIvan]

Zola's West Ham team gave Arsenal a proper match today - they passed the ball, closed the opposition down, and made sure that good forward players had a platform to deliver opportunities. Their sqaud is poor compared to ours.

But at 2-0 down, they were never going to fold. 2-2 was the outcome ... how I long for the day Rovers play like that again.

West Ham got lucky. They spent most of the match watching Arsenal pass their way around them. They didn't close them down until late in the second half when the front men suddenly decided to chase everything.

[thenodrog]

West Ham got lucky. They spent most of the match watching Arsenal pass their way around them. They didn't close them down until late in the second half when the front men suddenly decided to chase everything.

Very lucky! The free kick for the first goal was given the wrong way!

[jim mk2]

Finally,very few of your posts are free of insults to somebody

Ignore him. His posts are usually fuelled by alcohol anyway.

Incidentally, that particular football "expert" also thinks Di Santo is useless, still laments the departure of Souness and maintains that Ince is a better manager than Allardyce.

Enough said.

[47er]

Ignore him. His posts are usually fuelled by alcohol anyway.

Incidentally, that particular football "expert" also thinks Di Santo is useless, still laments the departure of Souness and maintains that Ince is a better manager than Allardyce.

Enough said.

Good advice-I'll take it!

[Tris]

So you still think that Dunn was Hughes' worst-ever signing and you think I'M a cretin?

POUND FOR POUND. You still can't read simple English, and you are still misquoting.

Yes its 7 months since your original post but Dunn has been playing for less than 3! We didn't play in the summer so I've given him a couple of months to show what he can do.

I didn't misquote you, I said that you "and others" were slagging him off even though he was in the best form of his life.

In your post on the McCarthy thread you said "Dunn should be in central midfield as part of a 4." You went on to say that "if he no longer has the engine for that' then "he should take a cameo role as a 30 minute 2nd half sub."

The implication is clear and other morons picked up on it.This is our best player and you want him out of the side! Most people think Sam has found the best position for Dunn and the team thrives on it.All Rovers fans that I know are proud that a local lad, a genuine life-long Rovers supporter is playing so well for us. What is wrong with you?

Nothing is wrong with me but thanks for asking. All Rovers fans that I know are sick to the back teeth of 4-5-1 local lad or not. They want to see the team perform and win points, rather than roll over and concede half a dozen goals every other week because the system is wrong.

Finally,very few of your posts are free of insults to somebody or other and if you get a bit of your own back--well tough.

Please do put me on ignore, and take the Murdoch moron with you. It would be a blessed relief.

[thenodrog]

4-5-1? I'm not sure you are right with that anymore Tris. I think too many have stereotyped Dunny as a midfielder without thinking it through properly. He's now more like an old inside forward if you can rem em and we're prob playing 4-4-2 taking into account that Dunny is both leading scorer and leading the 'shots on target' stats too!

If you wish to carry on with your anti-Allardyce vendetta then you might just about get away with labelling us as 4-4-1-1 otherwise your points will sound increasingly hollow. If you want Benni in then he'll have to grit his teeth and play up top with his back to goal otherwise you are suggesting the folly of playing our most effective attacking force further away from the sharp end and deep in midfield in favour of a talented but lazy and overweight player who only performs when it befitts him.

[Tris]

We have an excellent partnership in Dunn and Di Santo, but neither was available to us, so what can you do?

I'm sorry, but if you're telling me that we should prefer McCarthy to one of either Dunn or Di Santo, then you're insane. Both have been absolute quality and Dunn, in particular, in blistering form. There's no way I would put McCarthy on just because he had an amazing goal scoring run two seasons ago.

This is what I said - it involves dropping neither Dunn or Di Santo. It's not hard to understand ...

Benni should be playing up front as one of a pair, because as things stand, he is our best striker. Dunn should be in central midfield as part of a 4

For the record, we gave Arsenal a proper match as well...

If you think that, there's really no point in discussing anything with you.

[dazmaz]

4-5-1? I'm not sure you are right with that anymore Tris. I think too many have stereotyped Dunny as a midfielder without thinking it through properly. He's now more like an old inside forward if you can rem em and we're prob playing 4-4-2 taking into account that Dunny is both leading scorer and leading the 'shots on target' stats too!

If you wish to carry on with your anti-Allardyce vendetta then you might just about get away with labelling us as 4-4-1-1 otherwise your points will sound increasingly hollow. If you want Benni in then he'll have to grit his teeth and play up top with his back to goal otherwise you are suggesting the folly of playing our most effective attacking force further away from the sharp end and deep in midfield in favour of a talented but lazy and overweight player who only performs when it befitts him.

agreed.

Dunn at the moment is by far our best player, we are not playing a 451. its actually a 4411 with dunn playing in a free CF role. tris why on earth would you want to change that and pull dunn deeper when hes shown everyone what he can do when we attack is over my head. Mcarthy is jst too lazy, he showed that last season, if he put more effort in maybe Sam would concider him but as it stands why play someone who clearly cant be assed.

[ABBEY]

It was a derby match for West Ham... of course they are going to give it their all and put in one of their best performances of the season, especially at a time when they really needed a confidence boost. They have an excellent partnership in Cole and Diamanti and they were able to be a legitimate attacking force through them. We have an excellent partnership in Dunn and Di Santo, but neither was available to us, so what can you do?

I'm sorry, but if you're telling me that we should prefer McCarthy to one of either Dunn or Di Santo, then you're insane. Both have been absolute quality and Dunn, in particular, in blistering form. There's no way I would put McCarthy on just because he had an amazing goal scoring run two seasons ago.

For the record, we gave Arsenal a proper match as well... or did you miss out on the fact that we went ahead twice and then should've equalised after the break, if not for an awful decision from the referee? Sure we capitulated in the last 20 minutes, but that in no way tells the story of a team that went on the pitch to simply roll over and die from the get go.

Maybe you should go join the West Ham fans and celebrate drawing with Arsenal while sitting 2nd from bottom.

so we dont need to try if its not a derby game?

benni oozes class but doesnt get a chance.

how can you say we gave arse a game when they dicked us 6....awful decision agreed but the score tells a tale.

a draw with arse is beyond our wildest dreams these days.

[ABBEY]

agreed.

Dunn at the moment is by far our best player, we are not playing a 451. its actually a 4411 with dunn playing in a free CF role. tris why on earth would you want to change that and pull dunn deeper when hes shown everyone what he can do when we attack is over my head. Mcarthy is jst too lazy, he showed that last season, if he put more effort in maybe Sam would concider him but as it stands why play someone who clearly cant be assed.

lazy or not he brings to the table what we dont get ..(1 goal is it?) from our striker ...GOALS.

Look at rush he hardly broke in a sweat either.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Zola's West Ham team gave Arsenal a proper match today - they passed the ball, closed the opposition down, and made sure that good forward players had a platform to deliver opportunities. Their sqaud is poor compared to ours.

But at 2-0 down, they were never going to fold. 2-2 was the outcome ... how I long for the day Rovers play like that again.

2-6 and 0-5 is just shocking. Rovers must end this embarassing trend at Old Trafford.

Absolute rubbish - watched all the West Ham match with great interest. Arsenal could, and should, have won this match at a canter. Just as they passed us to death - they did the same with West Ham - until they got a lucky penalty which gave them the impetus to go on for the draw. The major differences, they were playing at home and they got a penalty when the foul on Dunn wasn't given (which would have brought our match to 3-3). The difference in class between West Ham and Arsenal was just as wide as it was between us and Arsenal - only difference was they got lucky.

[Hughesy]

Absolute rubbish - watched all the West Ham match with great interest. Arsenal could, and should, have won this match at a canter. Just as they passed us to death - they did the same with West Ham - until they got a lucky penalty which gave them the impetus to go on for the draw. The major differences, they were playing at home and they got a penalty when the foul on Dunn wasn't given (which would have brought our match to 3-3). The difference in class between West Ham and Arsenal was just as wide as it was between us and Arsenal - only difference was they got lucky.

Spot on

2 differences in the games - we took the lead twice, and also we didnt get the penalty decision and West Ham did.

[Tris]

Absolute rubbish - watched all the West Ham match with great interest. Arsenal could, and should, have won this match at a canter. Just as they passed us to death - they did the same with West Ham - until they got a lucky penalty which gave them the impetus to go on for the draw. The major differences, they were playing at home and they got a penalty when the foul on Dunn wasn't given (which would have brought our match to 3-3). The difference in class between West Ham and Arsenal was just as wide as it was between us and Arsenal - only difference was they got lucky.

Luck??? Heaven help us if we're going to have to rely on luck.

This managers record against the big 4 - Played 6, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 6, Goals for 3, Goals against 23.

If luck has anything to do with football, then we're due a huge slice of it on Saturday at Old Trafford.

[Drunx2002]

I think the point that Tris is trying to make and that most of you are missing is that we have styled the team around Dunn and that (along with his decent fitness) is why he is performing. Because we play with him as a second striker we can only play 1 true striker up front and the current occupant of that role is Di Santo. What do we then do in January? Go back to the drawing board again probably hoverring dangerously above the drop zone with no confident and scoring strikers?

I agree that we should find our best "team" and not model the team around the best player, be that Dunn or whoever. In addition, Kalinic will never get a chance to prove himself if we only play 1 up front, and the pressure to score if he does get a start or two on his own will be huge. In my opinion, 4-5-1 only really works if you have fast, in-form and free scoring wingers who support the striker. We don't.

Surely we can accommodate Dunn in our currently woefully poor midfield and give the strikers some games together.

And after all, flooding the midefield is hardly helping us keep it tight at the back now is it?!!!

[philipl]

Get well soon Dunny, we need you.

[tony gale's mic]

Luck??? Heaven help us if we're going to have to rely on luck.

This managers record against the big 4 - Played 6, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 6, Goals for 3, Goals against 23.

If luck has anything to do with football, then we're due a huge slice of it on Saturday at Old Trafford.

If we're playing the big 4 then yes, luck will always play a big role. We're definitely due a huge slice of it after last season's fixture at OT when Man Utd hadnt conceded in forever yet we battled brilliantly and deserved at least a draw.

[Blueandwhitemike]

If he is fit for tomorrow it would be nice to try him in the middle of a 442, see how he gets on, and maybe Benni and Niko up front.

[roversnick]

Has dunn signed a new deal yet or does his contract still expire in june?