Dan Neil

[Rocky77]

At the end of the day, the PL is just on a different level and unfortunately he is not good enough.

There is no doubt he has been a massive part of this club revival but I cannot see why people get so upset by his lack of game time.Do they know him personally and/or is it because hes a local lad?

Personally, I wish we could field 11 local lads and compete in the PL but the reality is - is that hes not good enough.

I'd like to have made my mind up about him not being good enough with the same opportunities Rigg, Cirkin etc have had

 

[chriswallace85]

I mean this is stetching a bit Chris, like end of day we haven't won a game recently, some really hard earned points, and just mixing it up a bit might not have hurt

He is a decent footballer, like people suddenly rewriting history like he is some sort of bomb scare...we dont get close to promotion without him last year.

Club dont want him I agree, and need to sell him to be fair to him. Just think it was mismanaged during this period thats all

Leeds at home especially he could have helped, IMO anyway

I really don't think it is.

We haven't won, but every point counts, and we've had to fight for them. The City draw wasn't exactly a dull 0-0 going nowhere. It could have gone either way at any moment. There's nobody on that pitch at the end who I'd have substituted for Dan Neil.

 

[Rocky77]

Im not suggesting he should have signed it, Im suggesting/assuming that he or his agent felt he was in a strong position and wanted to see where the land lay. Unfortunately for them, it lies as it does currently.

Even if that's the case I'm not buying it as a reason not to play him. We played a lad who turned down a deal last season, he even signed for another club.

 

[Madcap11]

A lot of people forgetting DN has spent time at lb, lm, rw and am. He can cover positions.

He could have been given more game time over the last few weeks definitely but it is what it is. Seems apparent that the writing is on the wall for him.

would you put Xhaka as a right midfielder? He will look uncomfortable there. Thats why I want Riggs to play centrally, His vision and pass forward is that good.

 

[Dobbler]

Poor lad deserves better this season. Put in so many good performances the last couple of seasons and Regis picks Rigg ahead of him. You can’t tell me that Rigg offers more to the team than Neil does…

Would you have played Neil on the right last night? Maybe if he’d signed a contract he’d be getting more time to develop. Rigg is staying so needs those minutes on the pitch.

 

[chriswallace85]

I'd like to have made my mind up about him not being good enough with the same opportunities Rigg, Cirkin etc have had

I was over he moon for Cirkin last week, but he's only gotten a game cos Reinildo's been away.

After Saturday there's good chance we won't see him again. That's the harsh reality.

 

[Lonz]

Well, he'll have got more money this season, so does that make up for it at all? It's pretty clear the options we have now are leagues ahead of him, ability wise. Literally.

 

[Bear]

Poor lad deserves better this season. Put in so many good performances the last couple of seasons and Regis picks Rigg ahead of him. You can’t tell me that Rigg offers more to the team than Neil does…

Stopped reading at “Poor lad”

 

[Coeus]

Even if that's the case I'm not buying it as a reason not to play him. We played a lad who turned down a deal last season, he even signed for another club.

That's fine, but I also gave a perspective on why it's the case that Cirkin has played, it was the same with Watson tbf.

 

[chriswallace85]

The Le Fee and Xhaka midfield was good against City with Alderete pushing into midfield, but it was a gamble leaving Mukiele one on one with Haaland. Against Spurs away starting with Mayenda leaving the same central midfield was a big call he got wrong. Neil as an extra body in there to slow things down and stifle would have been better than starting Mayenda as we were allover.

Leeds was an obvious one as well - they play 352 and look for bits around DCL. We got completely overawed numbers wise in there.

I think Mayenda gets the nod because of the shift he put in against City. It would have been harsh to drop him.

Leeds were forced to revert to 433 and that's when we struggled to cope. As I keep saying, there was good argument for Neil in that game.

 

[Rocky77]

Would you have played Neil on the right last night? Maybe if he’d signed a contract he’d be getting more time to develop. Rigg is staying so needs those minutes on the pitch.

I'd play him ahead of Rigg on the right, but tbh I wouldn't play either there.
As for the not signed a contract bit I'm not having it, we played Tommy Watson last season who turned down a contract and even signed for another club

 

[Mboma]

I can only think of 2 things that's stopped Neil getting games over this difficult period of the season:

1, Contract talks and possibly agents wanting too much which has caused talks to breakdown.

2, Dan himself, not putting in the hard yards in training which has resulted in the gaffer overlooking him, and (again) a breakdown.

He was never good enough to be a regular starter in the PL, but you'd think with our hectic fixtures over Christmas, he'd at least be in line for some game time to take the pressure off others in the squad. For me, there's something going on in the background that has seen a breakdown between him and the club or Regis himself that doesn't look like there's a road back for him.

 

[Lonz]

I was over he moon for Cirkin last week, but he's only gotten a game cos Reinildo's been away.

After Saturday there's good chance we won't see him again. That's the harsh reality.

I'll be very surprised if Reinildo isn't straight back in at the earliest opportunity.

There have been opportunities for Neil to play more, but we've chosen to do something completely different instead bringing a like-for-like on. He's clearly not in RLB's plans this year at all.

 

[RichD]

Not signing a new deal has played a major part in his lack of football IMO...

 

[chriswallace85]

Even if that's the case I'm not buying it as a reason not to play him. We played a lad who turned down a deal last season, he even signed for another club.

I don't think it'll have anything to do with it at all. If it were the case, he wouldn't be in the squad.

 

[Lonz]

I can only think of 2 things that's stopped Neil getting games over this difficult period of the season:

1, Contract talks and possibly agents wanting too much which has caused talks to breakdown.

2, Dan himself, not putting in the hard yards in training which has resulted in the gaffer overlooking him, and (again) a breakdown.

He was never good enough to be a regular starter in the PL, but you'd think with our hectic fixtures over Christmas, he'd at least be in line for some game time to take the pressure off others in the squad. For me, there's something going on in the background that has seen a breakdown between him and the club or Regis himself that doesn't look like there's a road back for him.

I think it's simply that he's not good enough.

 

[magic snood]

Well, my perspective originates from my assumption of what seems likely, that's pretty typical. Also typical is having a discussion on a football topic without having facts, it would be a bit bizarre if it were different.

How did you arrive at that assumption? Given that there's plenty of evidence of many football clubs lowballing and taking academy products for granted due to their personal connection to the club, I fail to see how the likeliest assumption is that he was caught up in his own hype.

We had the 7th lowest wage bill in the championship according to the most recent accounts, I doubt we managed that without being pretty thrifty with contract offers and renewals.

 

[JaFlan86]

I'd like to have made my mind up about him not being good enough with the same opportunities Rigg, Cirkin etc have had

Fairpoint, I get it. But imo.... Neil is a good Championship player. And even then he never set the world alight.

RLB etc obviously see him train every day and also know this, hence his contract situation. Sadly, I think the writing is on the wall for him

 

[woodlebert]

A lot of people forgetting DN has spent time at lb, lm, rw and am. He can cover positions.

He could have been given more game time over the last few weeks definitely but it is what it is. Seems apparent that the writing is on the wall for him.

he looked decent enough on the ball yesterday. progressed it well and made a great first time switch. obviously a strange game state to come in to though

i agree he could have been played more. but i suppose the unknown is the contract. if he's being difficult i can see why we wouldnt. but if he's being reasonable, then it seems a bit counterproductive as i think he could have played a bit more over the last few games to help rest a very stretched first XI

 

[Rocky77]

I don't think it'll have anything to do with it at all. If it were the case, he wouldn't be in the squad.

I really hope it isn't the case , it would be grossly unfair