Is Joleon Lescott the Real Deal.

[Anonymous]

When are some people going to get the fact that the price we paid for Lescott is rendered almost irrelevant?
If our entire yearly transfer budget was £30 million,then yes-paying what we did for Lescott would've been stupid.
But it's not,is it?

As it is-MH wanted the player,the player wanted to come-so we paid the asking price.

From what I've seen so far,Lescott's reading of the game and distribution is far better than Dunne,he's quicker than Distin and at 27 has not yet reached his peak as a centre half.
He's made a few mistakes-but none worse than Wio,"the best defender in the world" has been doing lately at the swamp.
As a team,we're three points off the top with a game in hand,and the more he plays Lescott will get better as he forges an understanding with the rest of the back four.
Give the lad time.

 

[Grand Master Ram Rod]

Not really read much of this thread but my opinion is that Lescott looks a decent signing so far, at first I thought he reminded me a lot of Dunne with some of the silly mistakes he was making but as he's fitting in, I can see he's getting better. I was really happy when we signed him and thought he'd be the final piece of the jigsaw, so I'm willing to give him more time. One thing I will say though is that Ned should have never have been dropped in the first place, he was our best player in the second half of last season.

 

[Mr Ed (The Stables)]

Not really read much of this thread but my opinion is that Lescott looks a decent signing so far, at first I thought he reminded me a lot of Dunne with some of the silly mistakes he was making but as he's fitting in, I can see he's getting better. I was really happy when we signed him and thought he'd be the final piece of the jigsaw, so I'm willing to give him more time. One thing I will say though is that Ned should have never have been dropped in the first place, he was our best player in the second half of last season.

I totally agree. He's been good in flashes and poor in others. But he's settling into a new environment with new team mates etc. He'll be an excellent signing in years to come. Ned though is right footed and although he's injured now he couldn't get into the side first of all by Dunne, and then by the signing of Toure. Ned will be back and he will play a big part sometime this season, perhaps when Toure is away in January! But I agree he was awesome second half of last season!

 

[AntonDonJuan]

There are a lot of points why he is taking time to show us his real ability.

1. New club, new surroundings, it takes time to adjust to different training methods etc.

2. New partner in Toure, they need time to learn when the other will do certain things, he will have known Jagielka inside out so knew when he could make a move

3. New pressure that is at City, it will take time to adjust to that

4. His price tag, maybe he's trying too hard to justify his price tag and making a few mistakes along the way


He will come good, he just needs games to get used to Toure and then we will see the best of him

 

[Bigga]

I think you're being very harsh there.

Very. And totally unsubstantiated which makes it worse.

What are the weaknesses in his game?

Onouha is a good young player, but his career has been hampered by injuries, and he's played around 40 League games intermittently over the last 5 years so it's a rather wild claim to make that he's better than an international defender with well over a hundred Premiership appearances

Every fan likes to discuss new players and how they are doing - but it's a bit much to make claims after 5 games or so, especially when without any analysis of his game.

PMSL!!

I'm sorry, but have you realised the age gap between the two players? And taking this into account, can you really say Lescott is streaks ahead of the lad? No, you couldn't. I don't think I've seen a learning curve, that type of which Neds has gone through, by any City player since Paul Lake. He's worked with Dunne, tried to emulate him, discarded that route and chosen pieces that sit comfortable with his game to develop his own. Richards tried to emulate and has now been stuck how to get away from what he's become at CB and is struggling to re-invent his RB position.

Neds has IMPROVED his passing game AND is willing to take the ball forward into dangerous positions(a la Touré) if forced to.

The claim of 'international defender' sits little with me. David Nugent is an 'international'. And...? I can't think of a good game Lescott has had an international level, if truth be known. True, the lad has had his injuries, but they are lessening over time. The lad is coming to a stage where he will want to show what he can do for his club.

Then the question becomes, do you play the price tag more often than the talent?

 

[Anonymous]

Well the first thing to say is don't judge a book by its cover ....... when Gary Pallister first joined the rags he could do little right , yet he ended up being an important 'mainstay' in their trophy winning side.

Having said that i didn't really rate Lescott whilst he was at Wolves , but he DID improve enough whilst at Everton to gain England recognition.

To me he isn't a centre-half , he's just not commanding enough ....... like Kompany i feel he's more effective when playing BESIDE one.

I reckon he was slow to react to Van persies goal at COMS and should have been quicker into his challenge , he would probably also say he should have done much better with at least two of the rags goals in the derby ..... he was probably also slow to react to Croatias headed goal against England at Wembley .

We defintely needed a commanding centre-back after 18 defeats last season , and i never at any time felt that Lescott had the height , or the stature to be that ........ i still don't , although he has made some effective challenges/interceptions for us ....... but i am prepared to hold my hands up should he turn out , like Pallister , to be the 'real deal' ....... only time will tell.

 

[Tueartssocktags]

RobbieBrewer..........spot on!!

 

[Bigga]

Well the first thing to say is don't judge a book by its cover ....... when Gary Pallister first joined the rags he could do little right , yet he ended up being an important 'mainstay' in their trophy winning side.

Having said that i didn't really rate Lescott whilst he was at Wolves , but he DID improve enough whilst at Everton enough to gain England recognition.

To me he isn't a centre-half , he's just not commanding enough ....... like Kompany i feel he's more effective when playing BESIDE one!

I reckon he was slow to react to Van persies goal at COMS and should have been quicker into his challenge , he would probably also say he should have done much better with at least two of the rags goals in the derby ..... he was probably also slow to react to Croatias headed goal against England at Wembley .

We defintely needed a commanding centre-back after 18 defeats last season , and i never at any time felt that Lescott had the height , or the staure to be that ........ i still don't , although he has made some good challenges/interceptions for us ....... but i am prepared to hold my hands up should he turn out , like Pallister , to be the 'real deal' ....... only time will tell.

I'm on similar lines to this thought. I'm just surprised that we will have to find the 'great CB' in the man. If it's not there at 27, it's hardly going to suddenly leap out of him later on!

 

[ibennett63]

Shock horror City fan slags new player for not hitting the ground running, some things never change

Nothing new there

 

[johnny crossan]

Well the first thing to say is don't judge a book by its cover ....... when Gary Pallister first joined the rags he could do little right , yet he ended up being an important 'mainstay' in their trophy winning side.

Having said that i didn't really rate Lescott whilst he was at Wolves , but he DID improve enough whilst at Everton to gain England recognition.

To me he isn't a centre-half , he's just not commanding enough ....... like Kompany i feel he's more effective when playing BESIDE one!

I reckon he was slow to react to Van persies goal at COMS and should have been quicker into his challenge , he would probably also say he should have done much better with at least two of the rags goals in the derby ..... he was probably also slow to react to Croatias headed goal against England at Wembley .

We defintely needed a commanding centre-back after 18 defeats last season , and i never at any time felt that Lescott had the height , or the staure to be that ........ i still don't , although he has made some effective challenges/interceptions for us ....... but i am prepared to hold my hands up should he turn out , like Pallister , to be the 'real deal' ....... only time will tell.

Pallister! What a benchmark, sure you don't mean Bruce?