Aden Flint

[BigTone]

On 06/05/2024 at 19:44, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

Just saw a report that Aden Flint picked up all 4 season awards at Mansfield from their supporters groups. Obviously they can't have a young player of the season award. 

Maybe he's the youngest in their squad 

(apologies but I really should read other responses fully before posting)

Edited May 8 by BigTone

[Oh Louie louie]

Bet he didn't get a warm reception at the county ground last year! 

[Selred]

10 hours ago, DT The Optimist said:

Never again reproduced the form he showed for us.. in League One.

The bloke played 228 games in the Championship. 

When you say form, you mean goals don't you. Because he was a good Championship defender.

Edited May 8 by Selred

[Curr Avon]

10 hours ago, Tony Tootle said:

Laurent Blanc

I don't care what white wine you drink, just answer the question.

[Mike Hunt-Hertz]

18 hours ago, Robbored said:

It’s my opinion Nogbad………..

I never rated Flint. To me he was/is a 1970s ‘head it and kick it’ merchant. He is/was never a proper footballing CB and there are plenty in todays game and why he’s slipped down the leagues.

That said fair play to AF who has become wealthy by utilising his attributes to the maximum. Not sure how many times he moved clubs since City but each move would have earned a few grand signing on fee.

I met Aden a number of times. Nice guy and happy to chat about football.

I'm no expert, but aren't footballers supposed to kick and head the ball?

[Silvio Dante]

1 minute ago, Selred said:

The bloke played 228 games in the Championship. 

When you say form, you mean goals don't you. Because he was a good Championship defender.

The bloke played 228 games in the Championship. 

When you say form, you mean goals don't you. Because he was a good Championship defender.

He was probably, at peak level, a decent mid table championship defender as that’s where he spent most of his time, and he was disposed of pretty quickly by Middlesbrough who were more looking at top six consistently at that time. Nothing wrong with that.

I wasn’t a massive Flint fan, and as has been said, we really played a blinder with him transfer wise - disposed at the top of his value and replaced him with a far cheaper but far better replacement. The reason I wasn’t as big on him as others, as I said at the time, is he was very much a “bubble” player - he’d go and try and win a ball but it often disrupted the overall shape. As long as you win it though, that’s fine! But he was at his best for us playing in the Aden Flint bubble, focussing on his own game and with a weakness of not appreciating as much what was around him. It’s why I didn’t really see him as the leader of that side - but it doesn’t detract that what he was there to do, he did well. However I don’t recall him taking the armband for us which tells its own story.

Fast forward to now, and two divisions lower, he can be skipper, and has clearly done excellently. No pace to really lose which helps, but he’s grown into that leadership.

Not a player that touches my best City side but anyone that says he didn’t show good form in the Championship is a bit churlish.

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

18 hours ago, Robbored said:

It’s my opinion Nogbad………..

I never rated Flint. To me he was/is a 1970s ‘head it and kick it’ merchant. He is/was never a proper footballing CB and there are plenty in todays game and why he’s slipped down the leagues.

That said fair play to AF who has become wealthy by utilising his attributes to the maximum. Not sure how many times he moved clubs since City but each move would have earned a few grand signing on fee.

I met Aden a number of times. Nice guy and happy to chat about football.

I'm sure you don't label all 70s CBs as 'head it and kick it merchants' or do you put Collier and Merrick in that category?

[Robbored]

1 minute ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

I'm sure you don't label all 70s CBs as 'head it and kick it merchants' or do you put Collier and Merrick in that category?

Both of them were proper CBs with far more footballing ability than Flint has ever had.

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

5 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Both of them were proper CBs with far more footballing ability than Flint has ever had.

True, but he wasn't totally devoid of skill, certainly not up front. Half of the goals he scored weren't with his head but were strikes a centre forward would of been proud of (such as the winner at Bramhall Lane) and included deft flicks and even a rabona (in the 8-2 rout of Walsall). 

[LondonBristolian]

4 hours ago, Robbored said:

Describe what you mean as ‘cult hero’ LB.

 

A player who fans connected with and remembered fondly due to their personality, playing style or commitment on the pitch. I broadly agree with @Silvio Dante's assessment of Flint. A very decent Championship-level centre-back with some flaws in his game, who we cashed in on at the right time.

But he was the mainstay of our defence for five seasons, three of them in the Championship, one where we looked genuinely competitive in the division. He scored a gloriously ridiculous numbers of goals for a centre-back, many of them in a style you just don't expect a centre-back to score in. He connected with the fans to an extent that one interview he gave led to a terrace song that outlasted his time at the club and his uncompromising playing style endeared him to supporters, even at points where we had little to cheer about on the pitch.

Flint wouldn't be in my best XI City players and there are other CBs we've had in recent years that I rate higher than him but players like Flint embody the joy of watching football and every team needs two or three players with a bit of character about them that the fans can connect with. For me, Flint is one of the first players that comes to mind when I think about my experiences of watching City over the past ten years and I'd not want to be without players like that. 

[hinsleburg]

14 hours ago, Robbored said:

No - not revisionism at all. I had the same view on Flint for pretty much the entire time that he was at City. His limitations were clear for all to see.

Not sure I agree, think Flint's distribution was actually pretty good!

Certainly not a Webster/Dickie but Flint's long passing, particularly diagonal balls in behind, were at times exceptional and certainly not a hoof ball/hit and hope player.

He also wasn't slow, if you watch any attacking set piece he was always the first one back moving past people like they weren't there! His straight line speed was seriously impressive. Obviously he wasn't as quick on the turn but wouldn't have said he was any slower on the turn as a Baker for example... Flint improved so much from the player we signed, other than a poor run of form where he was culpable for several goals (can't remember if first or second year back in the Championship) I think he was exceptional for us and a far better player than you've portrayed.

I also think we sold him at the right time and had the best of him!

[Robbored]

1 hour ago, LondonBristolian said:

A player who fans connected with and remembered fondly due to their personality, playing style or commitment on the pitch. I broadly agree with @Silvio Dante's assessment of Flint. A very decent Championship-level centre-back with some flaws in his game, who we cashed in on at the right time.

But he was the mainstay of our defence for five seasons, three of them in the Championship, one where we looked genuinely competitive in the division. He scored a gloriously ridiculous numbers of goals for a centre-back, many of them in a style you just don't expect a centre-back to score in. He connected with the fans to an extent that one interview he gave led to a terrace song that outlasted his time at the club and his uncompromising playing style endeared him to supporters, even at points where we had little to cheer about on the pitch.

Flint wouldn't be in my best XI City players and there are other CBs we've had in recent years that I rate higher than him but players like Flint embody the joy of watching football and every team needs two or three players with a bit of character about them that the fans can connect with. For me, Flint is one of the first players that comes to mind when I think about my experiences of watching City over the past ten years and I'd not want to be without players like that. 

‘Cult hero’ is a very serious accolade - like Andy King is to the Foxes fans. 

To me only one City player qualifies as a ‘cult hero’ in my years watching City - the late Gerry Gow.

 

[Simon bristol]

16 hours ago, TV Tom said:

There was a centre half at Leicester about twenty years ago (Elliot ?) used to score a lot of goals, scored all four in a two all draw once !!! 

De vos at ipswich always used to get a few as well?

[Selred]

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

‘Cult hero’ is a very serious accolade

No it's not, it's literally the opposite of very serious. 

Cult hero means someone who is loved by a small amount of people (a cult). King is a hero at Leicester.

Really good article here on it: https://theathletic.com/2468874/2021/03/23/modern-cult-hero-premier-league/

 

[LondonBristolian]

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

‘Cult hero’ is a very serious accolade - like Andy King is to the Foxes fans. 

To me only one City player qualifies as a ‘cult hero’ in my years watching City - the late Gerry Gow.

 

It'd be a very odd concept indeed not to have had any cult heroes in 44 years and I'd say Gerry Gow wouldn't count as a Bristol City cult hero at all, for the simple reason that he's widely recognised as one of the greatest Bristol City players of all time and would feature in most people of that era's all-time Bristol City Greatest XI.

To my mind, a cult hero is a player who isn't objectively quite good enough to be one of the club's all time greats but who nonetheless played a big role in shaping the experiences of the fans who watched them. So, if you took Man City for example - Gow's other notable club, where he could conceivably be seen as a cult hero - the likes of David Silva or Sergio Aguero wouldn't count as 'cult heroes' but the likes of Georgi Kinkladze or Paulo Wanchope, who brought moments of joy at a point when Man City weren't winning things, might legitimately do so. 

[Nogbad the Bad]

2 hours ago, Robbored said:

‘Cult hero’ is a very serious accolade - like Andy King is to the Foxes fans. 

To me only one City player qualifies as a ‘cult hero’ in my years watching City - the late Gerry Gow.

 

Many of that City promotion/div.1 team were, are, and always will be cult heroes afaic.

Not just Gow, but for me, Sweeney, Merrick, Tainton, Ritchie, Cheesley, Gillies, Mann, Whitehead, and then in div.1 joined by Hunter and the returning Garland.

A special mention too for John Shaw, absolutely a cult hero.

Little did those of us celebrating promotion on the pitch as youngsters realise that we could support City for another 50 years and they would still be by far the best City team we would ever see.

Likeable & loyal to a man, individually and as a team they always gave 100% for their team mates, the club and the fans.

As I said on another thread recently but it bears repeating, what a team they were!

 

Edited May 8 by Nogbad the Bad

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

The cult hero debate is an interesting one. I tend to agree with LondonBristolian's take on what is a cult hero, just adding that they had to be a permanent City player ie not Tammy Abraham. For example, I'd regard Hugh McIlmoyle and Andy Cole, two strikers from different eras, as potential cult hero's but they could never be any more as neither was at City long enough to establish legend status. Gerry Gow definitely has legend status for me as he'd appear in the best City XI of players I've seen but where would a player like Alan Walsh sit. Probably not in my all time XI but perhaps a legend, certainly more than a cult hero. I know some cream themselves over his name but Jacki Dziekanowski only merits cult hero status for me. As I said interesting as we'll all have our individual views. 

[Davefevs]

Paul Arnold Garita - cult hero

[Ashtongreight]

Bad Savage ? 

[Robbored]

My definition of a ‘cult hero’ is clearly very different to others. Is there much difference between club legend and cult hero?

Gerry Gow was both of course.

 

[Gazred]

By definition...

I'd say Gow doesn't fit but Flint could.

[LondonBristolian]

36 minutes ago, Robbored said:

My definition of a ‘cult hero’ is clearly very different to others. Is there much difference between club legend and cult hero?

Gerry Gow was both of course.

 

To my mind, there's a world of difference.

The club legend is the player that you'd mention to fans of any age or generation and they'd nod in awe - either because they saw that player play themselves or have heard the stories about them - Atyeo and Gow being two of the most obvious examples. 

The cult hero is the player that, if you mention to a group of fans, those who watched them at the time will share story after story of their favourite memories of them whilst those who weren't attending regularly when they were playing will be a little bit bemused about what all the fuss was about. 

 

[AppyDAZE]

A City legend for me despite what a certain grumpy old fool thinks.

A massive part of the legendary double winning side and a 15 goal in a season defender.

Not sure what much more you’d have to do to be honest.

PS couldn’t give a toss that he went on to play for Cardiff,

that’s football, and Flint is a great character and legend.

Edited May 8 by AppyDAZE

[PHILINFRANCE]

I was going to suggest Ian Holloway or even Joey Barton as ‘Cult Heroes’, but I don’t have my reading glasses on and suspect I may have misread the word cult.

[Clutton Caveman]

On 07/05/2024 at 11:24, TV Tom said:

Has a centre half ever scored as many goals in a season for any team as he did in our double year, non-penalties as well

Always was an honest professional giving good value for his wage

[GrahamC]

19 hours ago, LondonBristolian said:

It'd be a very odd concept indeed not to have had any cult heroes in 44 years and I'd say Gerry Gow wouldn't count as a Bristol City cult hero at all, for the simple reason that he's widely recognised as one of the greatest Bristol City players of all time and would feature in most people of that era's all-time Bristol City Greatest XI.

To my mind, a cult hero is a player who isn't objectively quite good enough to be one of the club's all time greats but who nonetheless played a big role in shaping the experiences of the fans who watched them. So, if you took Man City for example - Gow's other notable club, where he could conceivably be seen as a cult hero - the likes of David Silva or Sergio Aguero wouldn't count as 'cult heroes' but the likes of Georgi Kinkladze or Paulo Wanchope, who brought moments of joy at a point when Man City weren't winning things, might legitimately do so. 

As usual, spot on.

2 examples for me;

Darius Dziekanowski, people who have paid much attention to my ramblings on here will know I didn’t rate the bloke at all, but that’s irrelevant. To a decent section of our support at the time his flair & glamour were attractive in a struggling Championship side (so no change there), the fact he was gone again inside 50 games for us means as you say, he can’t be an all time great.

At the other end of the scale ability wise, Junior Bent.

To make a serious point he was our first black player in quite a while (Curle & Steve Johnson were both mixed race) & I honestly remember him getting extremely unpleasant comments from a few City “fans” on debut at Preston & being told a season or two before by a supporter that a section of fans wouldn’t “accept” us signing black players (welcome to the 1950s in the 80s). This arrival then paved the way for Allison, Rosenior, Cole, Goater, Akinbiyi & all those that have followed..

Anyway Junior was the absolute definition of erratic, through one on one you genuinely had no idea if the net was going to bulge or the ball end up in Ashton Park, but what he never shortchanged you for was his effort or bravery, plus he was rapid.

Add to that he seemed to be the nicest bloke on earth then he absolutely is the definition of a cult hero to me.

[TDarwall]

Ralph Milne = cult hero.

[Jazzy]

On 07/05/2024 at 11:24, TV Tom said:

Has a centre half ever scored as many goals in a season for any team as he did in our double year, non-penalties as well

Steve Bruce once got 19 in a season for United, no idea if he took pens though.

[Curr Avon]

On 08/05/2024 at 09:07, Robbored said:

Both of them were proper CBs with far more footballing ability than Flint has ever had.

I've put your comments to Flint, and he said.

No.

No.

No.

[redkev]

Done well for us , and I think we had him at his peak , not a jot on Dickie / Webster etc etc but he fitted into a very good side and was very much part of the formula 

miserable bugger though , tried to chat with him a few times non match days around portishead and Clifton didn’t want to know it 

mmmmmm perhaps it’s me