Nzonzi off?

[roversfan99]

Our central midfield has been a problem since we had Savage, Tugay and Reid.

Even under Big Sam our central midfielders were a weak under belly, luckily Sam had the tactical nous to not expose this and instead played to our strengths.

Allardyce was clearly not convinced by him, he dropped him because of his attitude and he also seemingly preferred a defender in Phil Jones in there, who had at least a bit on energy and bite even though it meant playing a top defender out of position where he looked less comfortable.

Nzonzi provides no protection to the defence or bite in there, his passing is limited although he does retain possession by keeping it simple.

He's a very limited player who has a very big ego and I don't think he will be missed.

In fact Murphy and Etuhu are both better and should do well in there. In this case we need to hope they can hide the lack of general organisation and tactical knowledge that Kean has, but I expect us to still allow teams through our midfield, perhaps down the flanks if anything.

[Silencio]

nzonzi keeping it simple is a good thing and when he had a good partner (jermaine or phil jones) with him we were strong. he's no world beater but he's a good player and he's technically sound. he won't stand out in any team but he could do a jon "keeping it simple" for most teams.

my main point is not to get bogged down in how good he is, i'm more interested in why people continue to advocate selling our best in the light of recent and long term history. baffles me because we have never sold good players and bought better. we always buy better from a position of strength...

[forumquizmaster]

can you tell me of one case in the last 25 year s where we have sold one of our best players and replaced him with better?

Speedie out, Shearer in. Berkovic out, Tugay in. Other than that, no.

[Silencio]

i think they were different as we did both from a poition of strength (promotion) and SPENT money doing it. im talking more about receiving money and then trying to replace the player. selling shearer, sutton, duff,bentley, sherwood, berg, roque, hendry always weakened the squad

[forumquizmaster]

i think they were different as we did both from a poition of strength (promotion) and SPENT money doing it. im talking more about receiving money and then trying to replace the player. selling shearer, sutton, duff,bentley, sherwood, berg, roque, hendry always weakened the squad

I don't disagree with your general point at all, but they are two examples of selling who we thought was our best (or one of them) player, regardless of the circumstances of the club at the time. Shearer was a raw young lad and Tugay couldn't get into Rangers' midfield when we signed them, and believe me there were some dissenting voices when both Speedie and Berkovic were let go. Understandable as both of them, particularly Speedie, were instrumental in getting us promoted.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

we probably have to let him go because we've gone down and no one deserves having to play under kean. my issue is more with the people who seem to think flogging good players is a good thing. can you tell me of one case in the last 25 year s where we have sold one of our best players and replaced him with better?

Bellamy for McCarthy.

[Silencio]

true, fqm, wasn't really you who i was debating with and you are right with your point. just wonder how others still think that selling good players is a positive. as you know, it hardly ever is...

[Pitty]

Bellamy for McCarthy.

McCarthy came after bellamy.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

McCarthy came after bellamy.

Bellamy leaving for McCarthy coming in I meant.....probably worded it wrong.

[Pitty]

Yeah your prob right as we got mcCarthey(2.5m) , Roberts(3m) and Cruz(3.5) with the money we got for Bellamy(6m)and Kuqi(2.5m)

[BRFC1995]

it should'nt be a loan buy or no deal...........i don't rate the guy at all and don't imagine people will be too keen to buy after they have tried.

he's tall....................coming up empty as to what people see in him beyond that as to why they rate him at millions of pounds??????

[Salgado Is A Hero]

If we're going by transfer rumours that's Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Villareal, Dortmund, Monchengladbach I think, Rubin Kazan, possibly another Russian team and Sevilla who have been linked with him.....there is a reason for that......he has great ball retention, is extremely hard to shrug off the ball and has great composure....he brought a calmness to our team that would have been basically non-existent without him.....as seen by Spurs away.......in certain games he would be given a licence to drive forward and he was good at that also...2nd half at home to Villa springs to mind but there were a few others.......I think he got the joint highest number of assists last season as well.......any argument based on him only being able to play simple passes doesn't hold much weight when talking about defensive midfielders......bearing in mind they have usually been given instructions to keep it simple.

He doesn't get stuck in enough and should be better in the air for someone his height.....but he's still only 23 and will improve with age.......the argument he only passes it backwards has been disproved with statistics and it was only because there was nothing on in front of him anyway......lots of players have an ego.....real managers know how to deal with them......otherwise the likes of Cantona wouldn't have amounted to anything, among many many others.

Like den says, he is our best central midfielder by a country mile....if anyone is in doubt about his ability make sure to watch him next season under an actual manager.

[Hughesy]

Seville, Everton and others....yet nobody has signed him yet, with the season just 5 days away..... strange that....

Agent talking him up by any chance?

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Seville, Everton and others....yet nobody has signed him yet, with the season just 5 days away..... strange that....

Agent talking him up by any chance?

Transfer window ends 31st August.....most transfers happen in the last 2 weeks I believe......agents talk up players but I don't think they do it that much for that long......that's not my basis for why he's a good player anyway...rather that he's quality.

[savage90]

How can you say that Savage? When he came he was fighting, playing with handbandage full of blood and pushing Lucas down to the ground showing him to not mess with him.

I remember when he played a loose pass on the half way line against West Brom (I think), he turned around, sulked and gave up. Those are the type of players who see you relegated.

[braddock]

Petulant waster. Shame as he's talented. Was a liability last season. His head went under Allardyce (by no means Allardyce's fault) and was rightfully dropped for a while back then. Showed glimpses at different points but never really got consistently back to his one good season, even though it appeared as though he could have done if he had wanted. He's the kind of player you can get a good fee for though and I'd want £5mil.

[Baz]

Bellamy leaving for McCarthy coming in I meant.....probably worded it wrong.

Seriously? You have some very strange views on football.

Bellamy was the second best striker we've had at Ewood after Shearer, in the past 25 years.

There are some examples of us replacing a player with a better player, the last being Kalinic for Yakubu, but they ain't regular.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Seriously? You have some very strange views on football.

Bellamy was the second best striker we've had at Ewood after Shearer, in the past 25 years.

There are some examples of us replacing a player with a better player, the last being Kalinic for Yakubu, but they ain't regular.

I have strange views? Says you......the question was name one example of replacing one of our better players for a better player than the original.....for me McCarthy was better than Bellamy in his first season.....not by much obviously.....and I'm only going by that 1st season as it's the most significant in terms of whether they replaced them......McCarthy was never as good after that 1st season but there's no way of telling whether or not that would have happened to Bellamy......but if someone thought Bellamy was better that's fine, they were both quality.

[thenodrog]

people here glad to be getting rid of nzonzi? guess these are the same who were happy when we fired allardyce/williams. some people never learn that letting your best players leave is never good...

Spot on.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Seriously? You have some very strange views on football.

Bellamy was the second best striker we've had at Ewood after Shearer, in the past 25 years.

There are some examples of us replacing a player with a better player, the last being Kalinic for Yakubu, but they ain't regular.

Bellamy for me by a fair distance. Mc Carthy just threw his career away. Bags of ability but no desire.

As for Nzonzi, he can be everything he wants to be. A good manager could bring out the best in him.

[Kelbo]

I have strange views? Says you......the question was name one example of replacing one of our better players for a better player than the original.....for me McCarthy was better than Bellamy in his first season.....not by much obviously.....and I'm only going by that 1st season as it's the most significant in terms of whether they replaced them......McCarthy was never as good after that 1st season but there's no way of telling whether or not that would have happened to Bellamy......but if someone thought Bellamy was better that's fine, they were both quality.

For me Bellamy was able to dictate games, had pace and destroyed teams, his work ethic was 100% and still is, has kept himself fit and still doing it at top levels, he is one player we should have been all over this summer, having said that, he wouldnt have come with Kean here, he doesnt suffer fools!!

[braddock]

Spot on.

When they don't want to be here and are a liability to the team then it becomes a different matter. There is, unfortunately, a lot of player power.

And Bellamy was better than McCarthy. Not by much at all if you compare him with McCarthy's one great season, but still better.

[joey_big_nose]

When they don't want to be here and are a liability to the team then it becomes a different matter. There is, unfortunately, a lot of player power.

And Bellamy was better than McCarthy. Not by much at all if you compare him with McCarthy's one great season, but still better.

Benni, RSC and Bellamy were all great for one season, but Bellamy was the best player by a distance. Arguably one of the most underrated players of his generation. Was outstanding in a star studded Man City team a few years back and great for Liverpool last year.

If he had more self control I think he would have gone on to be a big Champions League player. I honestly think in raw talent there is not a lot to choose between Bellamy and Rooney.

[Silencio]

When they don't want to be here and are a liability to the team then it becomes a different.

there have been very few points when nzonzi was a "liability" but kean's management has been a constant liability which is why nelsen, samba, emerton, salgado, phil jones and now nzonzi have all left under his watch. we might not be able to stop it but lets not justify it by pretending that they weren't aren't good players.

[braddock]

there have been very few points when nzonzi was a "liability" but kean's management has been a constant liability which is why nelsen, samba, emerton, salgado, phil jones and now nzonzi have all left under his watch. we might not be able to stop it but lets not justify it by pretending that they weren't aren't good players.

N'Zonzi had gone off the boil under Allardyce, hence why he dropped him for a prolonged period. Wasn't Allardyce's fault, the guys too big for his boots.

I'm talking N'Zonzi here, not the other players. This is the N'Zonzi thread.

And there were half a dozen games where he messed up through petulance or lack of interest. That's not very few points.