DISQUS

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Alan Stubbs?

Did you actually watch Derby trying to defend?

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Liam Ridgewell??

Did you actually watch Blues trying to defend?

TT · 1 year ago

Stubbs is on his last legs.

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Graeme Murty?

Did you actually watch Reading trying to defend?

Kevin O'Connor · 1 year ago

Why not Stephen Kelly???

AML · 1 year ago

Sorry to say Ridgewell only played because the other Birmingham central defenders were worse, Premiership snap him up (PLEASE)
Long term bluenose

ammo · 1 year ago

ridgewell is rubbish 2bf he made his mistake of the week every week cost us the drop

CARTHORSE · 1 year ago

Cant believe that Stubbs & Ridgewell made that list but McFadden didnt!!

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Stubbs and Ridgewell are absolutely ridiculous suggestions.

Bikey from Reading is a considerably better player than both.

steve · 1 year ago

as a lifelong blues fan the ones I would willingly sell and who might find a buyer are Maik Taylor, Liam Ridgewell, Damian Johnson, Garry O'Connor

Those who I would let go but who won't find a prem buyer are Radhi Jaidi, Richard Kingson and Franck Quedrue

Not sure about Fabrice Muamba, Stuart Parnaby and Cameron Jerome

Please keep your hands off David Murphy, Stephen Kelly, Olivier Kapo, Seb Larsson, James McFadden and Mikel Forsell

BillE Shears · 1 year ago

I would place Oliver Kapo within that group.

The Gaffer · 1 year ago

Readers,

It's one thing to say that you would add so-and-so to the list, but who would you remove in his place to make the starting eleven?

Trust me, coming up with quality defenders from Reading, Derby and Birmingham City wasn't easy. Murty, Stubbs, Shorey and Ridgewell were four of the best I saw, which is a pretty sad reflection of those three teams really.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

True Blue · 1 year ago

You've left out the best defender of the lot in Stephen Kelly at right back who has been outstanding all season and only been troubled once by Ashely Young in the home game vs Villa sadly.

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Why oh why did you pick Stubbs? There is absolutely no foundation for that at all!

All three may have had poor defensive records but watching Stubbs was just painful.

Bikey, Ingimarsson, Ridgewell, and even Jaidi would be better!

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Marek Matejovsky made a really positive impression at Reading.

Lonnie · 1 year ago

It appears the premise The Gaffer has proposed is to form an 11-man squad out of the ruins that are Derby, Birmingham and Reading.

As there are a dearth of quality centre-backs, I decided to really roll the dice and build a 3-4-3 formation:

GK - Stephen Bywater
LB - Nicky Shorey
CB - Ívar Ingimarsson
RB - Stephen Kelly
MF- Marek Mat?jovský
MF - Giles Barnes
MF - James Harper
MF - Seb Larsson
FW - Kevin Doyle
FW - Olivier Kapo
FW- Cameron Jerome

Subs (I name 7 as this team would get into UEFA Cup for sure....LOL) - Leroy Lita, Liam Rosenoir, Kenny Miller, James McEveley, Bobby Convey, Maik Taylor, David Jones

I opted for younger players with that I thought have some promise. The exception are for my backup keeper and I did not count Zarate as he is on loan from another club. I only considered players that any of the three actually owned the contracts of.

A fun premise....nice post Gaffer.

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Lonnie, that is a million times better than The Gaffer's team.

Should have Hahnemann in goal though. Bywater is awful at the top level.

tampasoccer · 1 year ago

Why si McFadden not on the list? He is still fairly young and a quality player.
Ridgewell I wouldn't have on my co-ed intramural team: what a misunderstanding he is...

Anonymous · 1 year ago

GK Hahnemann
RB Kelly
LB Shorey
CB Bikey
CB Ingimarsson
RM Larsson
LM Barnes
CM Matejovsky
CM Kapo
CF Doyle
CF Forssell

Anonymous · 1 year ago

GK Hunt
RB Hunt
LB Hunt
CB Hunt
CB Hunt
RM Hunt
LM Hunt
CM Hunt
CM Hunt
CF Hunt
CF Doyle

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Hunt was poor for the 2nd half of the season.

Darren · 1 year ago

Only thing I would change is placing McFadden somewhere on that list, but unsure of who I would replace him with to be honest...

Lonnie · 1 year ago

Bywater's played well at the Championship level for West Ham and Derby and I preferred him over Hahnemann largely because of age. He's a quality keeper and I do not fault anyone for naming him in their preferred XI based on this exercise.

Bywater's inexperience at the top level is why I kept Maik Taylor around...a quality vet who could mentor the younger goalkeeper. I tried to approach this with the mindset that I was really asked to piece together a squad and thus went with players I would build a squad with.

As for the mentions of McFadden -- you do have a point in that he has shown flashes of brilliance for both club and country but he has not produced consistently at the club level. He had a terrible run with Everton and after a bit of a hot run after signing with Birmingham, he went cold again. I did think about adding him to my subs bench but opted for Kenny Miller instead who has only done marginally better.

Simon Burke · 1 year ago

They are all poor.
Nah, I think Kitson and Doyle from reading would have done better with a better midfield behind them.
McFadden and Miller are in a similar situation, Miller is a bit small though so he'd lose out for me.

GIles Barnes gets touted a lot but I have seen nothing to suggest he is any good but when you have a poor team around you its hard to look good.

Ridgewell and Stubbs are horrendous - none of the keepers are worth having, Taylor was good a couple of years back . Bikey tosses over the medical staff so is clearly insane.

Very hard to take any 11 of these and form a team that would stay up - Shorey is about it plus the 3 aforementioned strikers. Zurate scored a few but a 4 game hot streak requires a better examination.

Seb Larsson should be doing better than he is so maybe he's just not that good and thats why Wenger let him go.

March · 1 year ago

I can't see anybody but Barnes in demand from Derby.

Shakira Graham · 1 year ago

Stubbs??? Are you out of your mind? He is on his last legs and didnt do much when he came in. I would keep Barnes, if he can be injury free he has a lot of upside. I would also keep Villa from Derby as well.

Ivan · 1 year ago

Zarate i picked up as a key player for about a year now. Technically brilliant and McCleish seems to agree with me. BBC article states two big PL clubs are after him for about 10m pounds.

eli · 1 year ago

matejovsky looks like a good player but can you really say hes been fantastic... i mean he only played in the premiership for 3 months. i can't understand how ANYONE could not have Stephen Hunt on this list. I don't care how well he played in the second half of the year, all premiership managers know he is the best player on any of the three relegated teams. URRZZZ. (I love murty but have no confidence in any of our defenders except Shorey)

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Hunt was tragic from Christmas onwards. Convey offered a lot more when given his opportunity against Arsenal but struggled with a knee injury.

Bikey will surprise everybody - he has massive potential.

Bluenosesol · 1 year ago

Already there has been interest from Prem clubs for 5 players from Brum's last season squad. How about the other clubs?. I think the prem clubs have the nonce to decide the best players??

Anonymous · 1 year ago

Hunt, Doyle, Harper, Shorey, Long and Lita all linked away from Reading.

No pressure to sell, although I think Hunt and Shorey will move.