Johnson, McNeil

[Eagleman13]

This must be on, it's made the bbc. . .

Dwight McNeil & Brennan Johnson: Everton and Crystal Palace agree swap deal for pair

Everton and Crystal Palace agree a swap deal that will involve Toffees' winger Dwight McNeil joining the Eagles and Wales international Brennan Johnson moving in the opposite direction.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Eagle-Trucker]

I'll be honest, if we were trading Johnson for a poke in the eye and Connor Wickham I'd still do the deal.

I dunno about that one James , ive had some nasty pokes in my eye . I'd just let them have him to get his wages off the books . 5-6 Palace win .

 

[Part Time James]

I dunno about that one James , ive had some nasty pokes in my eye . I'd just let them have him to get his wages off the books . 5-6 Palace win .

Well exactly that. Take the loss and cut the wage bill.

 

[PatrickA]

This will all end up in tears if it happens. By all means remind me when this Everton reject and boo boy is ripping up the PL for us in 6 months time…

If I was being uncharitable it could be said that you are almost willing for McNeil to fail to prove some point!

Each to their own I suppose, but when we sign players I really want them to succeed and at least get a fair chance to demonstrate what they can do as opposed to writing them off on the basis of some negative comments on fan forums.

I've seen McNeil play a few times live.
He's diligent and a team player with quality delivery.
If he joins I think he will benefit the squad.

 

[Mwncisee]

I really hope that this is a nonsence story, but as has been said it's on the BBC and they are pretty reliable with transfer speculation.

I'd far rather keep Johnsson. Yes not been great but he has more potential.

 

[Jacey]

Why not buy McNeil,for a possible £15m and retain Johnson until at least next window.
Ridiculous to lose so much on this deal.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

It's a squad game these days and McNeil gives us more flexibility if we want a left sided option in a 4 man midfield .

Pino, Johnson and Guessand haven't looked comfortable in.the wide left area always seeking to get the ball on their right foot and cut in.
I like the idea of Mitchell and McNeil as two naturally left footed players combining down the left to stretch the pitch and provide width at least for spells in games.

Most opposing teans play with one striker and at times our 3 central defenders seems like overkill.
People moaned about Glasner not having a plan B or on occasions not moving to a 433 or 4411.
McNeil would allow for flexibility in formations and provide much needed balance down the left.
He would also vastly improve our corners and set pieces, bearing in mind that we now have a specialist set piece coach who I'm sure will want to work with an adept striker of the ball - which McNeil is.

I was going to say he offers quailties that the rest of the squad don't possess, but that only leaves an opening for the wags amongst you to say that they are quailities we can do without!

I'd love to see a left footed winger on the left and a right footer on the right, especially if they can cross the b****** ball!

I don't imagine we will line up that way, though, or even play that way for parts of many games unless we are really chasing the game.

It just doesn't seem like something modern football accommodates.

Even if he was a very good player, McNeill strikes me as one of those types of player that would be a natural fit in a much more old school system, but maybe doesn't have a home in many modern systems. A bit like Nketiah, who would have had a far better chance playing upfront with a big target man alongside him but can't really play no9 on his own.

 

[dreamwaverider]

Keep Johnson and get him through this bad spell. There is a player in there, he's proved it at Spurs and will come good with the support of the new coach and us.

I would question your opinion of him at Spurs. Their fans thought we were on acid buying him at that price. So far they weren’t far wrong.

 

[MrRobbo]

I'd love to see a left footed winger on the left and a right footer on the right, especially if they can cross the b****** ball!

I don't imagine we will line up that way, though, or even play that way for parts of many games unless we are really chasing the game.

It just doesn't seem like something modern football accommodates.

Even if he was a very good player, McNeill strikes me as one of those types of player that would be a natural fit in a much more old school system, but maybe doesn't have a home in many modern systems. A bit like Nketiah, who would have had a far better chance playing upfront with a big target man alongside him but can't really play no9 on his own.

It doesnt, and I'm not sure why.

Kinda feels a bit like the long throws, was deemed by the footballing purists to be ugly, so ALL teams stopped doing it for a decade. Now apparently we are allowed to do it again. It would have never stopped being effective.

Having 2 wide men pinging balls into JSL would be worth a go surely?

 

[grumpymort]

Why not buy McNeil,for a possible £15m and retain Johnson until at least next window.
Ridiculous to lose so much on this deal.

Maybe the club is worried if they don't let BJ go now who else would come in for him later and how much more of his value would them lose.

Poor business paying 35m for player to say sell him 6 months later half the price (There is no swap deals media likes to keep coming out with nonsense like that)

McNeil is worth around 15m which is what we agreed to pay in Jan and for some reason pulled out still don't know why (he and his partner was very upset form what I remember with her moaning about Palace)

People did complain about McNeil but I think for that price is is a good option and I like he chooses to put balls in the box not like many other players who cut inside or want to slow everything down.

 

[Jim_Cannon]

Their comments on him are similar to what we are saying on here about Johnson and are spread over a longer period of time. And of course the fans who post are biased. We all are, surely?

Exactly our own biases will tend to come to the fore hence why not to place too much on a fans forum. 18 months ago lots of fans wanted Kamada out

 

[Plaistow Eagle]

I really hope that this is a nonsence story, but as has been said it's on the BBC and they are pretty reliable with transfer speculation.

I'd far rather keep Johnsson. Yes not been great but he has more potential.

When have you seen that potential - because I haven’t backend of last season or in pre-season.

 

[PatrickA]

I'd love to see a left footed winger on the left and a right footer on the right, especially if they can cross the b****** ball!

I don't imagine we will line up that way, though, or even play that way for parts of many games unless we are really chasing the game.

It just doesn't seem like something modern football accommodates.

Even if he was a very good player, McNeill strikes me as one of those types of player that would be a natural fit in a much more old school system, but maybe doesn't have a home in many modern systems. A bit like Nketiah, who would have had a far better chance playing upfront with a big target man alongside him but can't really play no9 on his own.

It’s true that football has changed since the days when McNeil made a name for himself a few years ago supplying a string of crosses to the decent Burnley team with Wood and Barnes up front.
And yet while systems evolve, the one thing that hasn’t is the threat posed by a whipped ball from out wide , evading defenders and begging for a finish.
We have nobody who can do this.

McNeil can.

Some players,while unsung, make others around them tick.
I imagine, Larsen, for example would relish the thought of some early crosses to attack.
McNeil doesn’t complicate the game; he gets the ball out of his feet asap and whips the ball in before defenders are set and attackers are double marked.
He doesn’t chip corners into the keeper’s hands or hit the first defender with crosses, which our players have a tendency to do.

For the avoidance of doubt I’m not McNeil’s agent.
I’m sure there other players who have similar attributes, but I’m not sure they are available whereas McNeil seems to be.

 

[Dogburger]

Johnson was OK when he was the main man at Forest but has proven to be mentally weak when having to compete for a place .
He was pretty crap at Spurs and he has followed that by being pretty crap at Palace .We didn't even get the odd tap in he managed in North London .

Johnson was a bad buy , anything that gives us some return will be more than keeping him around the place .McNeil is a decent pro ,I would take a swap deal all day long

 

[rednblu]

This is a no brainer If someone is willing to take Johnson, bite their hand off. For those saying give him time and the new coaching team will sort him out. Well despite going to the wilderness and back the new coaching team have got a tune of sorts out of Franca. However, they clearly recognise that some challenges are beyond them, such as finding somewhere on a football pitch where BJ can be effective. Coupled with BJ being the highest earner must have some impact on team spirit. I imagine there are several in the squad who look at their contribution and BJ's and wonder why they haven't got a mammoth contract (Lacroix and Mateta spring to mind) and in my view a contributing factor to the former moving on. If we get a sack of potatoes that cost us £35k per week, it would be better than shelling out over £100k per week for BJ

 

[steeleye20]

Johnson will explode at Everton, McNeill will be rubbish for us.

It's sods law.

Its a new season, Johnson is primed, McNeill may take some time to adjust to Palace..

It hasn't happened for him but we have others who came good despite the doubters.

Besides we won't be getting McNeills wife.........

🙂

 

[syd snot]

I would question your opinion of him at Spurs. Their fans thought we were on acid buying him at that price. So far they weren’t far wrong.

You may want to take on the fact that Spurs fans are an entitled bunch of clowns,some not all, who no doubt fawned all over Johnson when he was their leading goal scorer and if memory serves he got the winner in the UEFA Cup final.
Didn't hear many pissing and whining about him at that time did we or am I the one pissing in the wind here?
Simply said I've always believed it takes a player a season to get used to new surroundings, team mates, playing styles etc. He now has a new coach to get used to and in my opinion will come good.
I've watched him fairly closely since he played on loan at Lincoln City onto Forest onto Spurs and he's is and will again be a damn good player whom I hope we keep.

 

[Elphers40]

From a football perspective - no problem at all and I actually think it improves the squad.

But, financially?

He’s going to sit on the bench at Everton anyway as Dibling is looking every bit the player he promised to be this season. After their obligatory 3 points against us to start their campaign they may be in for a big season.

 

[Lanzo-Ad]

Setting aside how bold this idea is, it essentially makes Mitchell, one of our best, most consistent performers, redundant, no?

Yes, there is no place for a LB, unless the formation changes, Mitchell goes into the back 3 or is back up to McNeil in my book, square pegs round holes again.

 

[Lanzo-Ad]

I'm not sure he's ever shown sufficient defensive nouse. He seems like a hard working winger, a bit like Townsend, but I'm not sure that's enough.

It might suit him in terms of attacking, but even then it's very different starting on the wing in build up play, which is what he's used to, compared to overlapping from deep, which is what he'd be doing.

I can see why you feel he has some of the ingredients, but I'm not sure he has them all.

He'd probably have a better chance if Mitchell was playing left of the back three, but I can't see that happening. Or working.

Again, I'll take him, though to be rid of Johnson.

I don't think you get the formation, we play 3CBs and 2 DMs so the both WBs attack at the same time, attacking qualities are far more important than defensive, that is the job of Riad or Takimoto. 😊