[Archived] David Dunn a Blackburn Legend

[cesus]

I think it's a good decision, I'd hope he has been signed on a small basic wage topped up with appearance money, if this is the case then a good move. I think everybody knows he won't break the 25 game mark but as an option on the bench I'm certainly happy.

[Tom]

There was a game this season that summed his entire career up. He was brilliant for the first half and set up a goal.....then limped off and wasn't seen for weeks

So frustrating for the fans so you can imagine how it must feel for him

[bringdunnback]

Well you would say that!

Haha ahh I remember back in 2006 when I created this profile, 3 years on from his move and I was desperate for him to return. My username has kind of lost its relevance now, but if anything it reminds me of a time when I enjoyed being a Blackburn fan.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Personally I think it's a poor decision.

I think we had the perfect opportunity to get an injury prone, past it player off our heavily bloated wage bill and once again we didn't take it (see Pedersen when his contract ran out as a previous example). The club is losing a ton of money and they go ahead with sentimental tosh decisions like this. Really poor.

[MrT]

Love Dunny to bits especially watching him destroy the Dingles year after year and competing with Jansen to be top goalscorer, his obvious passion for Rovers is heartwarming.

BUT

He's hardly played over the past 10 years or so and is terribly injury prone. He also had a dig at the fans, backing his then drinking buddy Mr Kean. Personally I'd of said a pay per play deal would of been the best for both parties given his recent playing record.

He hates Dingles....

[ABBEY]

thing is when he was played last year he was the one showing desire and passion when others in the team showed no will to win what so ever.

[Andy]

Showing passion and desire to play should be the absolute minimum requirement for any player.

Shame he didn't show it earlier in his career, when he had a chance of progressing to bigger and better things than Birmingham and Blackburn.

See Jones, Phil.

[ABBEY]

Aye all the squad gave it everything .

[Torgeir]

Showing passion and desire to play should be the absolute minimum requirement for any player.

Shame he didn't show it earlier in his career, when he had a chance of progressing to bigger and better things than Birmingham and Blackburn.

See Jones, Phil.

Ultimately I actually believe Phil Jones will disappear down the same route with constant injury problems. His style of play is so aggressive and the way he throws his body around wrecklessly I think he'll suffer another one or two serious injuries and move to a smaller club. Not hoping it will happen though...

Dunny had hamstring issues almost from the get-go that hampered his oppurtunities. I always thought he showed passion and love for the game but it's hard to stay match fit when all you get is the odd game here and there over a number of years. He has lost a yard of pace but has matured as well, and likes to get stuck in. Been a game changer throughout his career, think he receives a lot of stick on here for (wrongfully) sticking up for Kean.

[Sparky Marky]

thing is when he was played last year he was the one showing desire and passion when others in the team showed no will to win what so ever.

Might be because the old contract was up.

[Commondore]

Ultimately I actually believe Phil Jones will disappear down the same route with constant injury problems. His style of play is so aggressive and the way he throws his body around wrecklessly I think he'll suffer another one or two serious injuries and move to a smaller club. Not hoping it will happen though...

Dunny had hamstring issues almost from the get-go that hampered his oppurtunities. I always thought he showed passion and love for the game but it's hard to stay match fit when all you get is the odd game here and there over a number of years. He has lost a yard of pace but has matured as well, and likes to get stuck in. Been a game changer throughout his career, think he receives a lot of stick on here for (wrongfully) sticking up for Kean.

It probably doesn't help to play for a team where he spends about half of the season stuck on the bench... Still bitter over that transfer.

[LeChuck]

It probably doesn't help to play for a team where he spends about half of the season stuck on the bench... Still bitter over that transfer.

It's probably because of all his injuries that he is on the bench as much as he is. He can't just walk back into the team and take someone else's place whenever he returns from injury.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

The bit in bold is absolutely the key here, IMO. If he stays fit, then we have experience and quality, drive and imagination in our midfield - something we have desperately lacked.

I'd certainly sooner have him than Murphy but the question is: can he stay fit?

I think we all know the answer to that question unfortunately.

[jim mk2]

If Dunn had been offered a pay-as-you-play contract I think we might have got 35 plus games out of him next season.

With another fat contract under his belt however the original Mr Sicknote will probably be in the treatroom room more often than on the pitch - again.

[thenodrog]

Might be because the old contract was up.

He does have form in that direction. Leopards and spots. Pay as you play deal only for me.

[Commondore]

It's probably because of all his injuries that he is on the bench as much as he is. He can't just walk back into the team and take someone else's place whenever he returns from injury.

Chicken or the egg, maybe he wouldn't have had as many injuries if he had a more steady playing schedule? Then again your theory does seem more likely.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

At the end of the day all the decision-makers at Rovers will be thinking about is does his contribution justify his expense. And to me the answer is yes. A few moments last season spring to mind where Dunn was the only reason we got something out of a game, Sheff Wednesday and Burnley at home, and he was our best player against Sheff Wednesday away which should have been a win/draw if the defence hadn't self-combusted. He also played for most of the game in the our wins against Hull, Derby and Millwall. I'd certainly be interested in knowing our points per game with and without him in the team (can't be bothered to work it out though).

Then there's also his contribution off the pitch as a veteran player with a great understanding and affection for the club. Who knows what the contribution in stability and morale players like Dunn and Pedersen can provide. We certainly had a squad with more bottle when the likes of Nelsen, Emerton and Salgado were part of it. A lot of fans seem forever eager to be out with the old and in with the new. But every squad needs a balance and I'd take Dunny every time over another League 1 free transfer.

[Sparky Marky]

Someone with a real affection for the club wouldn't have bummed up with Kean, so for me, nowhere near a legend.

[mhead]

Scored enough times against Bummley to be a Legend.

[thenodrog]

Too much guff and too many short memory banks on here. Forget sentimentality (we can't afford it) this is business. Dunny left sentiment at home and had his business head on when he left the club of his boyhood dreams and flerked of to the mighty Birmingham City didn't he? Lets be honest it was hardly between us or Man U / Chelsea / NUFC or Spurs was it? He had his business head on when he bent over for Steve Kean in such unedifying fashion and he appears to have his business head on when inventing injury after injury to elongate his lucrative career (happens frequently with pro footballeers these days I'm very reliably informed). Is it coincidence that each and every time we've seen Dunny at his best his contracts running out?

A superb talent without a doubt but pay as you play Davey Boy or there's the door.

[Leonard Venkhater]

Don't tell me you understand those lyrics Leonard?

I used to think I did Ah but I was so much older then...I'm younger than that now!

[thenodrog]

Is that like the 15 year old boy who couldn't believe how stupid his father was and by the time he was 30 couldn't believe how much his father had learned?

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Too much guff and too many short memory banks on here. Forget sentimentality (we can't afford it) this is business. Dunny left sentiment at home and had his business head on when he left the club of his boyhood dreams and flerked of to the mighty Birmingham City didn't he? Lets be honest it was hardly between us or Man U / Chelsea / NUFC or Spurs was it? He had his business head on when he bent over for Steve Kean in such unedifying fashion and he appears to have his business head on when inventing injury after injury to elongate his lucrative career (happens frequently with pro footballeers these days I'm very reliably informed). Is it coincidence that each and every time we've seen Dunny at his best his contracts running out?

A superb talent without a doubt but pay as you play Davey Boy or there's the door.

None of my argument in favour of him staying involved sentimentality so I assume that point is aimed at other posts. I agree with your point about him leaving for Birmingham but I think his support of Kean is more of a grey area and something fans over-reacted to. Calling for unity and an end to dissention at a club is usually the most beneficial way forward, the point at which it stops being is when the situation is unsalvageable and there is a realistic chance of change. Well the fans were right on the first but Dunn was right on the second. When he spoke out, maybe he'd already figured Venkys out and knew better than the fans did that Kean was untoucable, so maybe he just wanted everyone to make the best of a bad situation.

Do you have any plausible motivation for why he would invent injuries? Laziness? Fear of pressure? Can no longer cut it? The fact that he destroys Burnley every time we play them should blow all 3 of those suggestions away. The most pressurised game imaginable for him, carrying every aspect of the club on his shoulders the week we play them, and always doing the business. If Dunn invents injuries then he'd make sure he was always injured in what is the most mentally, emotionally and physically challenging game for him. As for his contract running out, I thought he was already on a 1-year contract last season? If he was then his contract was running out all season, and the accusation that he only played well because it was could be applied to any stage of the season, and makes no sense.

[Andy]

Someone with a real affection for the club wouldn't have bummed up with Kean, so for me, nowhere near a legend.

+100

[Rover_Shaun]

Kean bumming, Venky chicken chomping and all round 'anybodies for tuppence' Dunn did say we should all "Get real". Maybe he meant his new contract too?