Pennington gets Leeds opportunity

IMO Pennington is a good player but not ready (thus the loan) and would be behind Galloway as a centre-back with us if both were still at the Club; not sure if he's better or worse than Browning.

A good loan and he may come back ready to figure; a poor one and we know where we stand...

Now we have players still "Developing" at 22. We tend to hold that players hit their peak at 26/27, then talk with concern that players are getting on a bit from around 28/29, and will start to lose it.

It's going to be a short playing career in the future at top level.

So I do fear for Pennington but hope he does get a chance of a decent run in the side and develop his game. I think he still has a chance to make it at the top level.

Keane's arrival now may mean he's unlikely to break through with us, but this loan rather than a sale means the club isn't giving up on him yet.

He's a clever and articulate lad. If he makes it, he's going to be a good asset to the club because of that.

Yeah it's smaller but it got pretty bloated under Martinez. Then we had the emergence of quite a few youngsters too. I think it's about right now. If we have an absolute emergency, there are one or two more U23s who could fill in

I assume it was part of the FA's plan to improve the national team as it was well recognised that development of players in England was excellent until about the age of 20 and very few developed further (because no game time in the Premier League).

I agree with Steve Ferns that Pennington will be an excellent ambassador for the club if he makes it because he's articulate and genuinely intelligent, and will stand out off the pitch from his fellow pros.

I don't think the squad is too small – actually it looks pretty bloated to me. With 7 newcomers and possibly two more to come in, I think we need to say goodbye to a few others to keep everyone happy. The 6 players have gone this window, but 3 of them were out on loan last season anyway (Deulofeu, McGeady and Cleverley). So its only really 3 (Kone, Valencia and Lukaku) that have left. Robles and Barkley will clearly leave.

I would have thought that at least one from Besic, Barry and McCarthy will depart, and Lennon as well it seems. So with Pennington on loan that would be 8 out and 9 in by my counting compared to where we were at the end of last season.

That's a very patient and understanding attitude. Pennington has just less than a year until he's the age that Barkley is now. Hopefully he makes very best use of that time because, if not, 12 months from now, all hell will be unleashed upon him.

Pennington has possibly got further in his development than some people expected (with more attention given to Browning, Holgate and Galloway) and if he has a good year at Leeds then there's every chance he could contend for one of our first team centre-back spots next year, more likely as first backup rather than first choice.

I also expect Matty Foulds and Morgan Feeney to have strong showings for the U23s this season and possibly put themselves into first-team consideration next season if they continue to push on.

Good move, I suppose... but with Funes Mori out do we think Koeman is happy with Holgate, Martina and Jagielka as back-up to his own two recruits?

Not sure what "highlights" you've seen of a centre-back, or who you actually saw, but Pennington is quick as a cat and has tremendous pace. His problems are lack of physical presence and confidence, but he's certainly nothing resembling a donkey.

Williams was far from great last year but seemed to hold his position when Jagielka and Funes Mori were in and out of the team.

Tony Adams was labelled a donkey by opposition fans and he did fantastically well for Arsenal. Our own Dave Watson had a very limited set of skills but was the finest centre-half we've had in the last 30 years.

There's nothing wrong with the centre-back hoofing it to Row Z, or just always giving it to Schneiderlin; as long as nothing gets past him, he wins all the defensive duels, aerially and on the floor, organises a defence, and like Watson did, pushes the team forward with his will to win.

Who forgets the 1995 Cup Final, where Rideout's goal starts with a crunching tackle by Dave Watson?

Contrast a donkey like Watson, to a cultured centre-back like Stones, and I will take Watson all day long. However, ideally you want a mix of the two, perfect example being Baresi and Costacurta of the greatest AC Milan side.

Yes, this is a good loan. It could make him or he might find his level in the Championship. There's time for him yet but he has to play and gain experience. Let's hope he plays and it's not wasted.

Pennington is not so slow, like the aging Watson was, that it forced the defence back another 10 yards to prevent balls over the top. The lad lacked confidence against Liverpool, he played like a rabbit in the headlights, and he did not do himself justice. He needs a good run of games at Leeds, to do his thing and to come back full of self-confidence and inner belief.

He ain't gonna be able to do all the stuff John Stones does, but there's no reason he cannot be a decent centre-half in the style of a good old fashioned English Number 5, and for me, that player still has a place in modern football.

Edit: I forget that Pennington also played a couple of games for us at right-back (in the first team - Barnsley in the League Cup I think) and whilst he cannot ever be a right back, he did look quick and he got forward well because of that pace. He certainly is not slow.

In the second half, he matched Vardy stride for stride on a long ball, which ain't easy. Drew a "wow!" from the guy next to me.

Hopefully he gets lots of games at Leeds and improves the physical part of his play. Actually, what he probably needs most is to add a little "donkey"!

It's a tough league and always sorts out the boys from the men. Hopefully in 12 months he will be a man, improved and ready for the playing squad.

Good luck, Matt.

He needs to make some adjustments to how he reads the game. If he does, then he has a much brighter future.

Let him get some games at a decent standard side like Leeds and see where he's at next summer.

Best comparison I can think of is Baines versus Coleman. Physically similar, but Bainesy had that sort of nous from the start, while Seamus didn't have a clue and had to work hard to learn it. Clearly Pennington is in the latter category.

And regarding your post #36, I'd bet half the mortgage on Holgate. He can save us that 㿅-㿞 mil right now if he can convince Koeman that there's no reason to sign a replacement for Funes Mori. And I think he can.