[Archived] David Dunn

[S15]

How quickly I forget?

My statement was 'Hughes never got Dunn fit and playing well', I thought his form under Hughes was mediocre at best.

[LeChuck]

[quote name='Jan' date='23 November 2009 - 17:29 PM' timestamp='1258997354' post='843264'Hughes managed to keep Dunny fit for the majority of the season and a half he was here with him.

He was fit but he wasn't even a guaranteed starter, such was his form. I remember he had an extended run in the first team alongside Mokoena due to injuries, but he never excelled in games like he is doing now.

It's such a shame looking back that he couldn't play under Hughes like he is doing now. He would have been the missing piece in the jigsaw; we had a great goalkeeper and defence, dangerous wingers and a good array of strikers, we just always used to lack a creative force in the middle of midfield.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Pretty much every decision a football club makes has a large element of risk, contracts with players especially so. There have been plenty of players who have signed contracts then suddenly had a serious injury afterwards, at the same time there are those who have remained relatively injury free, its just part and parcel of the game.

In Dunny's case there will be plenty of clubs taking a huge interest in what happens with his current contract, he is playing some of the best football of his career at the moment. Look at the top goalscorers chart for example, only Fabregas has scored more than him from the midfield position so far this season.

Reading his article in the Daily Mail the other day its clear that Dunny is really happy with the way things are going. He is keeping fit (using posture techniques, special insoles in his boots), loving his football playing for the club he supports, also he has a young family around him, young son and his daughter also nearby. It could all be talk but i genuinely get the impression if he is offered a new deal he will want to stay at this club.

If i was Sam i would take the risk, offer him a new deal and try my utmost to get him to sign it. We can't lose a player of his calibre, not when you consider our ability to find a suitable replacement with our finances.

[mhead]

The local lads never get the 'rub of the green' with the supporters.

On the Riverside they still complain when Dunny gets man of the match.

Principle victim....Jason Wilcox.

[joey_big_nose]

He was fit but he wasn't even a guaranteed starter, such was his form. I remember he had an extended run in the first team alongside Mokoena due to injuries, but he never excelled in games like he is doing now.

It's such a shame looking back that he couldn't play under Hughes like he is doing now. He would have been the missing piece in the jigsaw; we had a great goalkeeper and defence, dangerous wingers and a good array of strikers, we just always used to lack a creative force in the middle of midfield.

To be fair there are a couple of qualifiers. We have never managed to get the most out of more than one creative midfielder at a time at the club. First Duff, then Tugay, then Pedersen, then Bentley, now Dunn. There was possibly a period where both Tugay and Duff were playing well but thats it.

Part of that is form, but another part is to be superb you need to be the focus. Dunn is unquestioningly now the focus for us, he is where the ball will go, he is the player others will look to make room for and make runs for. Same deal with Gerrard and Lampard with England, or Kaka and Ronaldo at Madrid - one (at least) suffers because they are not the focus.

Also NZonzi complements Dunn superbly. He is tall while Dunn is short, he is athletic while Dunn lacks pace, he is devotedly defensive while Dunn charges on. This is important. Dunn and Tugay rarely played together due to their similarly diminutive stature and lack of bite, while Reid, Flitcroft and Savage were a poor fit because they like to bomb on themselves forcing Dunn to retreat.

I would like to see how Dunn does against a side with a good midfield while in a 442. Personally I can see problems. There was a massive amount of space in the middle of the park against Bolton which the appalling Trotters midfield failed to exploit.

ps. I think Dunn is doing magnificently, I am not criticising him. He is our best player and looks every inch an international. Just making a larger point.

[Steve Moss]

If we can't offer him a decent deal he may leave but I don't think he wants to - he's been there tried it and it didn't work out. By all accounts he was homesick just in Birmingham, so i don't see him actually WANTING to leave, and I think he's got a pretty fair idea of what the club can afford too - after all, all fans know we have no money!

I hope this is the case. My initial comment was provoked by the statements that we have to keep him at all costs. That is not the case. If he wants Big 4 wages, he'll have to go to a Big 4 club. If he wants a decent multi-year contract, he should get one provided that it won't impair the club's ability to adequately fill positions when a small boatload of players eventually leave in January or the summer.

Let's not forget that Ince rushed Dunn back from injury, only for him to develop another problem that would keep him out for four months.

Ince is a problem that Sam is correcting. Sam's ability to keep players fit compared to other managers is a big plus favoring Sam's continued management of the club and giving Dunn a reasonable multi-year contract.

If i was Sam i would take the risk, offer him a new deal and try my utmost to get him to sign it. We can't lose a player of his calibre, not when you consider our ability to find a suitable replacement with our finances.

Any deal we offer Dunn has to be made in context of the budget. Assuming a 45 million budget, and assuming 10 million has to be delegated to maintenance and operations costs, that leaves 35 million for players. Assuming a minimum squad of 25, that would allow us about 10 two million a year players and 15 one million a year players, or some combination of those ranges. I'm sure that Phillip has a better grasp of the club's finances, my numbers are for illustration's sake only.

If you increase the squad size, we decrease the average of what we can afford across the board. If we increase anyone player's salary, then 2 things happen. First, we again reduce the average of what we can afford across the board. More importantly, though, is that we create upward pressure on our wage bill. Players have egos. Pay Dunn significatly more and others will want significantly more. Samba is a good, recent example of this effect. That means that we'll have less available to fill our weak spots, both in the short and long term.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't sign Dunn. We should and soon. But the contract has to make sense in light of the club's situation as a whole. We can't have a keep him at all cost mentality as one player will not keep the club afloat. We need a strong team for that.

[thenodrog]

I'll hold my hand up 47er.

Originally I was pleased when Dunny signed from Brum. I always thought it was good to have local lads around the club. On the other hand I said on here last summer that I would have been happy to let him go - considering his lack of appearances for us. Now though - changed my mind again. Dunn is fitter than I've ever seen him and is playing the best football of his life, consistently.

Nowt wrong with judging the situation as it changes. Better than being narrow minded.

Dunny's done well in the past 12 months without a doubt. Does he get all the credit though or is Allardyce due some too?

[thenodrog]

..........On this form he is definitely England material, I defy anyone to say Jermaine Jenas is better than Dunn in this form.

Don't get me going on Jenas...... Dunn is better than Jenas (and Dyer for that matter) when he's bloody injured!

His career has faltered for one reason or another but in basic ability he's up there with Joe Cole imo.

[DP]

Simple really. If Dunn keeps this form and fitness up until the New Year (and that's not long is it) they'll be 4 or 5 clubs sniffing around scribbling out their 40k/week 3-4 year deals and waving them in front of Dunn's agent. Sunderland, Stoke, Villa and even Man City (if Hughes doesn't get Bentley) could take a look. Injury record aside, these clubs are prepared to pay the wages to bring in that extra bit of quality even if they don't see them playing week in week out (in City and Villa's case).

He'd be mad to go, and I doubt he would want to, but then some would say he would be mad turning down a lucrative contract that would take him up to the twilight of his career (fit or unfit).

It would be a lot easier for us if he still had an extra season left, but he doesn't, and if we really want him to stay we have to take the risk and pay up.

Incidently I think yesterday's game was the best I've seen him play since the 2002 Worthington Cup Final. Says a lot to how well he played (almost Tugayesque in the 2nd half), but also to how much he's underachieved in his career.

[47er]

The local lads never get the 'rub of the green' with the supporters.

On the Riverside they still complain when Dunny gets man of the match.

Principle victim....Jason Wilcox.

How very true that is. And perverse.

[sparkspakespoke]

I do worry about Sunderland coming in for him. Bruce has always liked him and Dunny speaks very highly of him as a manager.

[gumboots]

I do worry about Sunderland coming in for him. Bruce has always liked him and Dunny speaks very highly of him as a manager.

Perhaps but how often was he fit playing for Bruce?

[waggy]

reading the peice in last night telewag,i urge rovers to dump saldalgo and give dunny his wages,what the club are thinking about not offering him a new contract is a disgrace,sort it out williams.sods law is he will sign a new one and get injured,but we need to tie him down,or he's off

[mellison24]

reading the peice in last night telewag,i urge rovers to dump saldalgo and give dunny his wages,what the club are thinking about not offering him a new contract is a disgrace,sort it out williams.sods law is he will sign a new one and get injured,but we need to tie him down,or he's off

we'll have to sell salgado though. paying his contract off will be more expensive. I do agree somewhat, although I'd still like to see if he can offer us anything in CDM. But atmo - get rid.

[thenodrog]

reading the peice in last night telewag,i urge rovers to dump saldalgo and give dunny his wages,what the club are thinking about not offering him a new contract is a disgrace,sort it out williams.sods law is he will sign a new one and get injured,but we need to tie him down,or he's off

I don't disagree that Salgado appears to be an expensive mistake, (I do strongly disagree that we should divert his entire salary package to David Dunn ) but you cannot suggest that course of cation without saying how we can do that legally.

The floor is yours.....

[jodrell]

Are you back on speaking terms with Sam, Waggy?

Rovers open Dunn talks

[sweet]

Another interesting Dunn statistic, is that he is our leading player for shots on target. And ranked 2nd in the league for shots on target, in terms of midfielders; just one behind Gerrard in first place.

[John]

Wonder if 3 games in 6 days had anything to do with Dunn's injury today....

[Bobby G]

Very possible John.

Lets hope its not serious.

[Stuart]

Seconded. I imagine it could also affect his bargaining position in contract talks.

[Gav]

Dunny is playing well at the moment, stands out a mile in a poor team.

Just goes to show how far we’ve fallen since his last spell here, then we could bench him because we had better players in the team that performed to a level that Dunny just couldn’t reach.

But we’re not living in the past, he deserves a new contract, lets hope he continues to apply the same work ethic he’s doing currently.

Blackburn Rovers needs a hero and Dunny is that man.

[ABBEY]

Wonder if 3 games in 6 days had anything to do with Dunn's injury today....

think it may have more to do with family problems.

[Bobby G]

Lets hope he signs the new deal and sees out his playing career with us.

[Stuart]

Dunn doubt for Chelsea clash

Sounds promising if he's potentially available for Wednesday.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Dunn doubt for Chelsea clash

Sounds promising if he's potentially available for Wednesday.

I wouldn't play him on Wednesday, no chance of winning that game even if Dunny is fit. I'd rather rest him and make sure he is 100% for the next league game.