Jon Flanagan

[Kenneth]

Firstly you will not get 20m for GJ secondly why would we do that? Who would you get instead and for how much?

Neh, we should keep him.

We need genuine competition for each and every position.

Kelly's injury record has not been the greatest and Flanagan is not ready yet for more regular role to contemplate that thought.

Also it could be a very risky to sell him and then try to replace him with someone for 1/3 what we got for him and in the process weaken the squad.

We did that last few years and see how that came back to bite us in the arse.

We don't sell for the sake of selling. It has to be a very good reason to do that here and I personally don't see it.

Well in terms of rightbacks, we ended up with Arbeloa for something like £2.5 million who was a very good player, better than GLen Johnson.

But yes, unless we know of a good target for a good price, we should only sell if an offer for one of our players is worth more than the player to us. At £20m, I would sell Johnson because there must be better value out there, but we won't get anywhere near £20m for him, so what's the point.

[Rudo]

IIRC Rio at the time played defensive mid more often than not, Clichy and Richards are prime examples of why you shouldn't over expose young defenders, Kelly is 21 in two weeks and still not quite what you'd call a regular and Bale isn't a defender.

There's still been many defenders that have come through at an early age and and impressed in the Premier League.
Jones at Blackburn is another one, fair enough he's playing in midfield this season but he started off as a centre half.

As for my comment about needing to see a player over 25-35 games before making a judgement one way or another, that's true but that's not to say i can't think **** that lad's really good or really **** after one or two performances.

I tend to look for game intelligence when judging a player, regardless of age...and even though it was a friendly against a part-time Irish team, i could see game intelligence in Flanagan's play - his positioning, his reading of the game, his anticipation, his timing...you can't teach that.
For a defender these are key attributes that you need to have. Johnson lacks them all.

I'm so delighted we have the likes of Kelly, Flanagan and Robinson coming through. I rate Wisdom highly as well, maybe next season he'll get his chance, and Wilson is obviously there as well.

[Rudo]

I agree with you boys about it being too soon to judge him based on one performance. But just trying to think of 5...

* Maldini
* Ferdinand
* Ramos
* Richards (debatable!)
* Cole

That's the best I can think of off the top of my head!

there's load of them. Woodgate's another one.

[Shaggy]

Jonathan Woodgate who was all but finished by 25.

[Rudo]

I know pal, but he still made the breakthrough at 18/19 with Leeds.

[DeeTheDog]

Was Booby Moore not 18/19 when he made the breakthrough at West Ham and Captain at about 21.

[DeeTheDog]

With the love-in happening with nearly every other player on display last night, would like to highlight the excellent job Flanagan did when switched to the opposite flank. 18 years old, only starting his fifth game and asked to switch flanks and fitted in seamlessly.

[danperkins]

Flanagan has been outstanding, delighted for the lad.

[danperkins]

Jonathan Woodgate who was all but finished by 25.

IMO could have been a world class defender, made out of biscuits. I fear Agger will go the same way Woody did.

[Shaggy]

Flanagan was fantastic again last night. His composure in possession is a joy to behold...superb use of the ball. It's unreal

[The Birdman]

Flanagan was fantastic again last night. His composure in possession is a joy to behold...superb use of the ball. It's unreal

Frightening mate, 18 years old, 5th game and played out of position at Left Back and it didn't bother him at all.
Temperament above everything is Flanagan's greatest attribute

[Fosterbloke]

Frightening mate, 18 years old, 5th game and played out of position at Left Back and it didn't bother him at all.
Temperament above everything is Flanagan's greatest attribute

His face has concentration written all over it. Fantastic passer, tackler and reads the game well. Let's hope he keeps developing!

[Lee]

His face has concentration written all over it. Fantastic passer, tackler and reads the game well. Let's hope he keeps developing!

If Flanagan, Robinson and Kelly can all keep developing as they have so far, then that could save us a lot of money in future. Another surprisingly positive thing to come out of this season.

[Exiled_red]

If Flanagan, Robinson and Kelly can all keep developing as they have so far, then that could save us a lot of money in future. Another surprisingly positive thing to come out of this season.

[Shaggy]

Honestly Flanagan has performed better in pretty much all of his 5 first team appearances than I ever saw at U18/reserve level. Not that he was poor - far from it - but it just shows some players thrive and improve, while some players (the likes of Darby et al) shrink a bit.