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Webster > Flint


Port Said Red

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I wonder what odds you would have got on Webster outscoring Flint this season? I was given short shrift a couple of times at the start of the season, when I said that selling Aden was good business and that we had seen the best of his career. I continue to stand by that statement.

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10 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I wonder what odds you would have got on Webster outscoring Flint this season? I was given short shrift a couple of times at the start of the season, when I said that selling Aden was good business and that we had seen the best of his career. I continue to stand by that statement.

Don't think you were alone in thinking or saying that PSR, although looking back it's difficult to imagine how many felt we were almost doomed at losing Flint in particular.

I've said before that Webster reminds me so much of Gary Collier from our 1st division team,  and he was just about the best centre back Ive seen in a City shirt. A strong defender, but with that extra bit of class on the ball and bringing the ball out of defence.

Perhaps we've been lucky in having Kalas alongside him to help him settle in quickly and form such a strong partnership, but Webster has the ability to make it on his own.

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17 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I wonder what odds you would have got on Webster outscoring Flint this season? I was given short shrift a couple of times at the start of the season, when I said that selling Aden was good business and that we had seen the best of his career. I continue to stand by that statement.

You certainly weren’t alone in that thinking and I’m sure that plenty voiced agreement with you back then. 

People weren’t too concerned about Bryan, because of Kelly and pre Dasilva. 

Bobby was the big miss, but our improved defence has made that less of an issue. 

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Just now, Bar BS3 said:

Surely he’d have been (very shortly) after the Ape..?

I reckon the gorilla's at bristol zoo would be better defenders than him. 

That graph is incredibly harsh on Fontaine, who despite being crap for the majority of his spell here was nowhere near as crap as El-Abd... 

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Just now, Greedo said:

little known fact, but El-Abd is Egyptian for ‘the ape’

I didn’t know that. I stopped my research after discovering that in some parts of Asia, “Darrell Clarke” translated to “Dog manual manipulator” 

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1 minute ago, JBFC II said:

I reckon the gorilla's at bristol zoo would be better defenders than him. 

That graph is incredibly harsh on Fontaine, who despite being crap for the majority of his spell here was nowhere near as crap as El-Abd... 

It was more a representative time-line, rather than defensive capabilities per se.  There was no similar picture of McManus so went for Fontaine (who I liked until his catastrophic dip in form).

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Just now, Davefevs said:

It was more a representative time-line, rather than defensive capabilities per se.  There was no similar picture of McManus so went for Fontaine (who I liked until his catastrophic dip in form).

Is the 2nd guy mcmanus? I honestly have no recollection of who it might be

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Ok, I liked Flint and thought we would miss his goals. But on the flip side I thought we had got far too predictable at set pieces and corners, everything was always aimed at him and he would tend to strop if it didn’t. Often we would be caught out as he then had to hurry to get back in position as teams swiftly got the ball upfield to take advantage of this.

I also thought he had too much say in the dressing room at times. Until the rebuild he centred himself in the room so he was seen and heard by all, overpowering lots of players. Yes we needed strong leaders but when it was his way or he would be moody that isn’t good.

I guess until I saw the class of Webster I didn’t really appreciate the weaknesses Flint has. 

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7 hours ago, JBFC II said:

I reckon the gorilla's at bristol zoo would be better defenders than him. 

That graph is incredibly harsh on Fontaine, who despite being crap for the majority of his spell here was nowhere near as crap as El-Abd... 

Fontaine certainly wasn’t crap for the “majority”. Lost his form and became the scapegoat

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7 hours ago, marcofisher said:

Just think that our starting centre back partnership used to be Lewin Nyatanga and Liam Fontaine....

Last time I heard Nyatanga was working as a personal trainer whilst still being at prime centre back age! 

Such an amazing athlete, terrible concentration and reading of the game.

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20 minutes ago, RedM said:

Ok, I liked Flint and thought we would miss his goals. But on the flip side I thought we had got far too predictable at set pieces and corners, everything was always aimed at him and he would tend to strop if it didn’t. Often we would be caught out as he then had to hurry to get back in position as teams swiftly got the ball upfield to take advantage of this.

I also thought he had too much say in the dressing room at times. Until the rebuild he centred himself in the room so he was seen and heard by all, overpowering lots of players. Yes we needed strong leaders but when it was his way or he would be moody that isn’t good.

I guess until I saw the class of Webster I didn’t really appreciate the weaknesses Flint has. 

Interesting angle. Was he that domineering? I thought him and Marlon were a double act?

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The Flint out, Webster in deal has to be the apogee of the Bristol Sport 5 pillars this-is-how-we-do-it-now buy-young-sell-at-max-value-replace-repeat thing/dream thus far? Buying and selling Kodjia for a tidy profit in such a short space of time probably was previously but that was Cotts, so doesn't count really.

It's difficult to see Flint improving now, whereas Webster has time to do so.

Prepare for more wailing and gnashing of teeth this summer as Webster is sold this summer to .... the highest bidder....

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Moments of Pleasure said:

The Flint out, Webster in deal has to be the apogee of the Bristol Sport 5 pillars this-is-how-we-do-it-now buy-young-sell-at-max-value-replace-repeat thing/dream thus far? Buying and selling Kodjia for a tidy profit in such a short space of time probably was previously but that was Cotts, so doesn't count really.

It's difficult to see Flint improving now, whereas Webster has time to do so.

Prepare for more wailing and gnashing of teeth this summer as Webster is sold this summer to .... the highest bidder....

 

 

and if he is sold, it would be for three times the amount we paid for him, he's a better player the flint and has age on his side, he'll be in the prem before long, reminds me of Jagielka when he was at sheffield united 

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8 hours ago, JBFC II said:

I reckon the gorilla's at bristol zoo would be better defenders than him. 

That graph is incredibly harsh on Fontaine, who despite being crap for the majority of his spell here was nowhere near as crap as El-Abd... 

Fontaine was excellent for the majority of his career here , let’s not rewrite history.

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11 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

Fontaine was excellent for the majority of his career here , let’s not rewrite history.

He was here 2006-2014. 

It was around 09-10 season that he started to drop off. That's certainly not the majority of his time here... 

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35 minutes ago, The Horse With No Name said:

Which begs the question that if we lose Webster in the summer, how many would have Flint back ?

Lloyd Kelly or Bailey Wight would get to play in their preferred position. Flint will stay put.

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Last night with the reshuffles at the back, Webster moved into a position in front of the back 5.

Looked comfortable there bringing ball out ,one cracking run length of pitch and was closing down there keeper in injury time. Was also geeing up Fammy in injury time to keep going till the end. Think he has potential to be a great DCM if needs be.

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13 minutes ago, The Horse With No Name said:

Kelly was absolutely superb in that role for England last week. Hope he does make it here as a CB

He was, and probably if it wasn’t for that game we wouldn’t know how good he is there, or could be.

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1 hour ago, Tinmans Love Child said:

Flint wanted out before the start of last season and half way through last season as well before getting his move.  Fair play to him, got his cash, move to so say a bigger club, but he wanted out no question.  Yes enjoyed him as a player for us, but he didn’t want to stay

I think for someone who came from non-league, with fairly limited "ability" and age against him it's hard to begrudge him fancying a "last roll of the dice" type move to try and get to the Prem

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44 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Webster for Flint does seem to be the Ashton way of doing business and I've no complaints. 

I think we could all see why Flint made the move but 8 months is a long time in football. I can assure you there were not 21,000 at Riverside last night. Actually closer to 14000 for a top Championship match so we can't be sure Boro are still a bigger club. 

You're quite right, for OTIB fans of attendance manipulation (i.e. include all your season ticket holders) Boro did not actually have 22,000 or whatever they claimed last night, as you say it was far closer to a quiet night at Ashton Gate when the weather is poor - circa 13 or 14 thousand.

As for Webster, there was one fantastic moment second half where as a result of one of his barnstorming runs overlapping everyone, he wound up as not only our most advanced player, but by some distance so much so that that he was actually isolated up front and our only outlet.

Rather than getting a nose bleed and tearing back, he stayed on and led the press, tearing about Flint and co. I half imagined the Boro centre backs looking across at Pulis and asking what this sorcery was that involved 7 foot defenders not simply hoofing it vertically on demand.

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Aden Flint is the absolute epitome cult hero and there are few players in my time watching Bristol City who gave more on the pitch or who connected as well with the fans. But Webster is an utter class act. Composed, quality on the ball and a joy to watch. As others have said, Flint had reached a point where he wanted to move and the peak of where we could cash in on him and it was a superb piece of business. 

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33 minutes ago, Trueredsupporter said:

@cowshed went further than that and said City should get Webster in last season!!

I posted something along the lines of if Bristol City wanted to advance its passing style Adam Webster would be a progression if tat was the intent of Mr Johnson. The pairing could have been Flint and Webster. Webster is not Flints replacement Kalas is. A way of advancing City's passing football further could be Kelly Webster.

Its was a bit more involved than Flint v Webster. Flint is a fine defender, if the model Lee Johnson is looking towards is a fine passing team it requires more fine passers and composed on the ball in each position.   

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We’ve struck gold with Webster, I don’t think anyone should be too hard on Flint as he was an absolute legend for us and gave me one of the most memorable interviews in my lifetime after that Swindon game, Boro’ have the best defence in the division so he can’t be all that bad.

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3 hours ago, JBFC II said:

He was here 2006-2014. 

It was around 09-10 season that he started to drop off. That's certainly not the majority of his time here... 

yet prior to the 11-12 season he nearly went to Championship rivals Southampton for circa 850k iirc?

I remember being gutted at the time

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12 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

I wonder what odds you would have got on Webster outscoring Flint this season? I was given short shrift a couple of times at the start of the season, when I said that selling Aden was good business and that we had seen the best of his career. I continue to stand by that statement.

I agree that Webster has been amazing business and his age makes it another positive as he's young and was out to prove a point at the beginning of the season, still is based on his performances.

The whole outscoring Flint thing is down to the team he's playing for and how they're being used, Middlesbrough don't allow Flint forward unless it's a set piece and even then they seem awful at getting the ball to his head. For us Flint scored 9 goals and assisted two last season and it was largely down to how we used him and the fact he was allowed to push forward a lot, Webster is a different type of big center back, far more traditional in that he stays back unless it's a set piece and his mentality is far more defensively focused. This is why we've benefitted so much more, it's allowed us to be more secure in how we defend whilst allowing our attacking players more space in which to work.

I'd more than happy to have Webster over Flint but it doesn't change the fact that Flint was a motivator which is something we miss on occasion.

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2 minutes ago, Spike said:

I agree that Webster has been amazing business and his age makes it another positive as he's young and was out to prove a point at the beginning of the season, still is based on his performances.

The whole outscoring Flint thing is down to the team he's playing for and how they're being used, Middlesbrough don't allow Flint forward unless it's a set piece and even then they seem awful at getting the ball to his head. For us Flint scored 9 goals and assisted two last season and it was largely down to how we used him and the fact he was allowed to push forward a lot, Webster is a different type of big center back, far more traditional in that he stays back unless it's a set piece and his mentality is far more defensively focused. This is why we've benefitted so much more, it's allowed us to be more secure in how we defend whilst allowing our attacking players more space in which to work.

I'd more than happy to have Webster over Flint but it doesn't change the fact that Flint was a motivator which is something we miss on occasion.

What he said

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24 minutes ago, devoncider said:

yet prior to the 11-12 season he nearly went to Championship rivals Southampton for circa 850k iirc?

I remember being gutted at the time

the reason he didn't go was because he failed his medical as well, which would explain his drop off in performance

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4 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

the reason he didn't go was because he failed his medical as well, which would explain his drop off in performance

Things eventually declined for him, but had we got that experienced partner alongside him- we were linked with Monk from Swansea in late August 2012- that squad was not a bad one, individually- things may have panned out differently for him and us.

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2 hours ago, downendcity said:

110262472_garycollier.jpg.761989540be9d069a050b3469bb2cb49.jpg

I never saw Collier play live. Just missed him as I was more Rodgers / Hunter (Merrick injured). 

How good was he if you compare Webster in the Champ v Collier in old Div 1?  Ignore the fact the game is very different. 

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I felt gutted when Flint left and thought his absence would leave a gaping hole, but both Webster and Kalas have been tremendous and have improved our back line hugely.  Webster as a footballer is probably the most gifted CB I have seen in a City team (just missed out on the Div 1 days so can’t comment on the likes of Collier) and in my opinion is our player of the season. 

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1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I never saw Collier play live. Just missed him as I was more Rodgers / Hunter (Merrick injured). 

How good was he if you compare Webster in the Champ v Collier in old Div 1?  Ignore the fact the game is very different. 

I didn't see so much of Collier once we reached the first division and saw much more of him in our second division ( championship in old money) days. 

He was a strong defender, good in the air and very good on the ball and bringing the ball out of defence. He always seemed very assured and never seemed rushed and my recollection is that he read the game well.

It's difficult to compare players from different era, but I Ive said before that I reckon Collier is the best defender Ive seen in a City shirt, so that's  a lot for Webster to live up to. Collier had a great partnership with Merrick and Webster likewise forms a great pairing with Kalas and a strong partner obviously helps a lot.

I'm not sure that Collier's move to Coventry pushed his career on as much as it could have, but think Webster has the ability, class and potential to go on to bigger and better things - hopefully with us, of course, but if not then I wouldn't be surprised to see him play in the top flight.

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2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I never saw Collier play live. Just missed him as I was more Rodgers / Hunter (Merrick injured). 

How good was he if you compare Webster in the Champ v Collier in old Div 1?  Ignore the fact the game is very different. 

Difficult to compare, watching Collier through teenage eyes , I would say that @Downend City is pretty close. I loved Collier , classy strong and athletic. If we have to compare, then I would say Collier was better in the air , and just as good on the ball. Probably didn't bring the ball out like Webster, but in those times it was rarely done by CB , unless you were Beckenbauer . Just checked and he only played 2 games for Cov' before going to play about 350 games in America. Decent business for the Coventry , I found this while double checking.

The summer of 1979 had seen big spending at Highfield Road . In came club record signing Gary Collier, a centre-half from Bristol City for £325,000 . He would appear just twice in sky blue before the middle of September and departed in the spring of 1980 for Portland Timbers of the NASL for the staggering fee of £365,000, an amazing profit for the club . Collier had been a Sky Blue for just nine months, played matches at Stoke City and Liverpool, conceded seven goals and never ran out at Highfield Road .

I thought Collier was brilliant and was gutted he left. I was never a fan of Rodgers , and although I loved Norm' , I was disappointed Merrick had to move to LB. My one , slight, disappointment so far with Webster is I'd like to see him a little stronger in the air. He does seem to have improved a little in that respect already, maybe I was unfairly comparing him to Flint, who was already settled as the first ball winning CB.

 

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@1960maaan thanks.

re Webster, first time I saw him v Boro (Home) I was worried that we had a CB who didn’t like heading it.  I did say I would reserve judgement until I'd seen him 5 or 6 times.  QPR he was a bit dodgy for 20 minutes, but improved as the game went on...then Swansea (away) he was great.  That’s been the level since.  My POTY if the season ended today.

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19 hours ago, JBFC II said:

I reckon the gorilla's at bristol zoo would be better defenders than him. 

That graph is incredibly harsh on Fontaine, who despite being crap for the majority of his spell here was nowhere near as crap as El-Abd... 

I would disagree with him being crap the entire time. From joining us in 2006 through 2011 he was very solid. That summer he nearly left to Southampton was the turning point.

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6 hours ago, Monkeh said:

the reason he didn't go was because he failed his medical as well, which would explain his drop off in performance

Very little gets said about that but must have been hard to handle, both mentally and then whatever the physical issue was

6 hours ago, Monkeh said:

the reason he didn't go was because he failed his medical as well, which would explain his drop off in performance

Very little gets said about that but must have been hard to handle, both mentally and then whatever the physical issue was

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4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I never saw Collier play live. Just missed him as I was more Rodgers / Hunter (Merrick injured). 

How good was he if you compare Webster in the Champ v Collier in old Div 1?  Ignore the fact the game is very different. 

Collier & Webster have very similar qualities and attributes. Having seen both play albeit 40+ years apart I firmly believe that Collier would be More than suited to the modern game and capable of playing at the highest level. Webster is of the same technical ability but has the confidence to step out and dictate and start attacks where as Collier didn't do that as it was not his responsibility in the 70s but in my opinion he would have had the vision to adapt to any role. He was an athlete and physically ideal for a player at the top level of football and Webster is also the same

We are very fortunate to have Webster and in my opinion getting him for circa £4m was fantastic business but keeping him fit has also dampened the concern and removed that sick note tag

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13 hours ago, hoxton casual said:

Interesting angle. Was he that domineering? I thought him and Marlon were a double act?

I always believed that Flint, Ayling Freeman and Pack were the "main men" under Cotterill.

Maybe Marlon has grown up a bit!! why do you think the others left!!

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14 hours ago, MarcusX said:

Fontaine certainly wasn’t crap for the “majority”. Lost his form and became the scapegoat

Just a little bit of an understatement there! Agree with you though he had a couple of great seasons before it all went pear shaped for him seemingly overnight, isit me or was he linked with Liverpool and Southampton at one stage?

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Nobody can deny that Flint was a key part of our club while he was here and that his sale was a great bit of business. 

I had a look on Boro's forum to have a giggle at their reaction to last nights defeat and by God they are shredding Flint in every post. Most it would seem, would be happy never to see him run out for Boro again.

 

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13 hours ago, Midlands Robin said:

Nobody can deny that Flint was a key part of our club while he was here and that his sale was a great bit of business. 

I had a look on Boro's forum to have a giggle at their reaction to last nights defeat and by God they are shredding Flint in every post. Most it would seem, would be happy never to see him run out for Boro again.

 

we all love flint, but he wasn't the best defender, while he was in the side, the defense was leaky, its no coincidence it's improved since he left,

His marking of webster for our goal, he'd get away with that here as fans would of blamed our keeper for it, for "not commanding his area"

Flint was great for us, but we are a much better defensive unit it without him,  (second best in the league behind boring boro)

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