Did we make a mistake with Declan John

KGR98

Well-Known Member
I always liked him when he was here and gave us a good balance and was a great attacking option at left back i think we could do with him now
 
He was decent going forward but a terrible defender, which is unsurprising as it wasn't his natural position. His defensive stats were very bad in terms of winning challenges, headers and stopping crosses.
 
I always liked him when he was here and gave us a good balance and was a great attacking option at left back i think we could do with him now
No. Our current left back is recovering for injury. The other won’t be played so we’re currently playing a right back and left footed midfielder there as makeshift left backs. When Barasic is fit and gets a run I expect the position to be sorted.
 
Why is Flanagan getting worse, he looks like an old man when he walks on a football park, so leggy - he doesn't even fall into the category of good engine etc and nor is he even defending remotely well, he really is giving us nothing

And no, not "knee jerk" it is a steadily building trend of dreadful performances and early removal from the park.

As an aside if it was simply Flanagn or John the player - I would take John over Flanagan every day of the week based purely on shape it offers a team.
 
I liked the wee guy, but no. Barisic will go on to be an excellent player for us and we're just unlucky that he's injured. I suspect at the point of moving DJ on the manager looked at it and thought he had a Scottish international, a defender he knew well from Liverpool and a left sided midfielder who could sit in there for cover.

Much as I thought DJ deserved a little bit more of a chance at the time, the reality is it would have been bad for his career if he had stayed here plus we were in a position where we couldn't really afford to spend the time developing him as a player as the shitfest of a defence from last season needed sorted out pronto.

FWIW, I still believe DJ will go on to have a decent career and isn't as bad as some make out on here.
 
Why is Flanagan getting worse, he looks like an old man when he walks on a football park, so leggy - he doesn't even fall into the category of good engine etc and nor is he even defending remotely well, he really is giving us nothing

And no, not "knee jerk" it is a steadily building trend of dreadful performances and early removal from the park.

As an aside if it was simply Flanagn or John the player - I would take John over Flanagan every day of the week based purely on shape it offers a team.
I think it’s cause he is a right back and very one footed. Teams have sussed this and noted he’s very uncomfortable at left back. He’s a back up for Tav, which is why we need a fit Barasic back. %^*& knows the score with Wallace but he’s a far better option than a right back or left footed midfielder!
 
He'd have been better back up to Barisic than our current options but that's all. His injury record is also a concern and we've enough players like that already.
 
Do you think that op?

Some amount of hysteria on here over a bad result ... defeats happen off nights happen the need to blame individuals or question the decisions to let players leave is bat shit crazy on here .!
 
He was decent going forward but a terrible defender, which is unsurprising as it wasn't his natural position. His defensive stats were very bad in terms of winning challenges, headers and stopping crosses.
Omit the first five words of your post and I thought you were talking about Flannigan
 
Definitely, better than Wallace, Halliday and Flanagan at LB.

I reckon he would be on less than Flanagan aswell.
 
He was decent going forward but a terrible defender, which is unsurprising as it wasn't his natural position. His defensive stats were very bad in terms of winning challenges, headers and stopping crosses.

I'll go as far as saying we wouldn't still be playing European football if he'd started as left back
 
Flanagan feels like one of these proper old fashioned full backs that never pushes forward, happy to sit back. No energy.

This is what gets me. Flanagan gets absolutely destroyed for offering nothing on the left offensively. Tav gets absolutely destroyed for not doing what a full back is supoosed to do, and sit back and defend. It's lose/lose whatever you do
 
This is what gets me. Flanagan gets absolutely destroyed for offering nothing on the left offensively. Tav gets absolutely destroyed for not doing what a full back is supoosed to do, and sit back and defend. It's lose/lose whatever you do

Just don't start to talk sense here! :eek:

Methinks John was a left winger turned fullback. There are games that suited him, as teams sat back, and there were games when e.g. the Yahoo wingers ran all over him. He still was a better defender than Tav IMHO. Went home because of some family stuff, more than us willing to sell.

We do have Barisic now, while Flanagan and Halliday are simply utilized as cover. Our injury record has been ridiculously high, with 4 to 8 first teamers and important players out at ANY given time. Methinks Barisic is back soon, so Flanagan will be Tav's cover rather than anything else. And, BTW, I do like full-backs going forward, but first and foremost, I want full-backsable of defending. Flanagan ain't to bad at that and is usually picked for defending, rather than attacking. Unless we have no-one else to pick.

Perhaps that Jaden Jones lad will plug that hole in January.
 
We are on the verge of getting out of the group stages of the Europa League, second in the league and even if the unwashed win their game in hand we are only three points behind them.

So what would John bring to the table that would improve our position. He might be better than Flanagan and Halliday but is he make a difference better? I think not.
 
Sorry, I can’t forget what a hopeless defender he was. He had zero awareness of where opposition attackers were and regularly left gaping holes in the defence.

Decent going forward, but chronic at the back.
 
He's been injured all season so we made the right decision, he was also injured a few times when with us,seems an unlucky lad.
Decent player imo
 
Definitely, better than Wallace, Halliday and Flanagan at LB.

I reckon he would be on less than Flanagan aswell.

Flanagan was out of contract and didn't exactly have teams queuing up to sign him so I can't imagine he's on megabucks. I liked DJ but I don't agree that he's better than Wallace or Halliday in that position. Good going forwards but suspect at the back.
 
No. He was shite, too small and unable to cope with this league.
 
He might have been good as back up but we got a decent fee for him which was put to use in the summer to improve the squad more than it would keeping him.
 
Not for me. He couldn't tackle a fish supper and his attacking play declined sharply after a promising start. He wasn't good enough.
 

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