Centre back - Ben Gibson?

[Donkey dangler 0]

M''boro centre back and he has started 123 games. So he is not a prospect even though he is only 22 years old.

[Crafty Canary 495]

A good call DD. Young CB in the tightest defence in the Championship last season. Certainly worth a consideration although it''s unlikely that Boro will be willing to sell.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

There have been many disgruntled fans at Boro that Gibson has played so much this season. They consider other players to be superior to him but he''s getting games because he is the owners son.

Also, the being the owner''s son thing, that does make it seem unlikely they will want to sell - could get a bit uncomfortable at Christmas in the Gibson household.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

Bugger, just remembered that Ben is the owner''s nephew not son.

Still, doubt Boro will be looking to sell and not sure if he is worth spending millions on.

[Crabbycanary3 994]

I''m not a fan of his.

I feel he is good, and a good stopper of crosses (!!) but as a Prem CB? I haven''t seen anything from him, to warrant him getting in front of Seb or Russ.

[Indy_Bones 441]

The real irony here is that I''d much rather have Ayala than Gibson (playoff final mistake and all), and still think he has the potential to be good enough to play regularly in the prem.I can understand exactly why we sold him when we did, and clearly he wouldn''t be my first choice for a new CB signing, but if we were going for a Boro defender then I''d be looking to bring Ayala back rather than Gibson, who in fairness has been pretty average whereas Ayala has been the much stronger defender AND has weighed in with a few goals as well.

[Paul Spector 0]

I think we can, and need to do better than this if we want to do well next season.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]The real irony here is that I''d much rather have Ayala than Gibson (playoff final mistake and all), and still think he has the potential to be good enough to play regularly in the prem.I can understand exactly why we sold him when we did, and clearly he wouldn''t be my first choice for a new CB signing, but if we were going for a Boro defender then I''d be looking to bring Ayala back rather than Gibson, who in fairness has been pretty average whereas Ayala has been the much stronger defender AND has weighed in with a few goals as well.[/quote]

No thanks, to Ayala - yet another who would not be better than Martin or Bassong - and when it came to the crunch - when it really mattered at Wembley - who was weak, Martin or Ayala?    Martin and Bassong are the two who will be at the heart of the defence next season, anyone else will be back up imo.

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="lake district canary"]No thanks, to Ayala - yet another who would not be better than Martin or Bassong - and when it came to the crunch - when it really mattered at Wembley - who was weak, Martin or Ayala?    Martin and Bassong are the two who will be at the heart of the defence next season, anyone else will be back up imo.[/quote]As I already stated in my post LDC, I''m not advocating we sign Ayala, simply that if it was a choice between him and Gibson, he''d be the one I''d sign.As for being weak at Wembley, are you really commenting on a players ability based on a single mistake in a high pressure game? Let''s not forget which of the three of them played a full season in the team that conceded the least amount of goals in the league - it wasn''t Bassong or Martin was it...If you seriously believe that we should only be looking purely for a cover option for Martin and Bassong rather than a better player to replace one of them, then I think you''ve banged your head whilst fell running and lost even more of the plot than usual. Our goals against column has ALWAYS verged towards the higher end when we''ve been in the top flight, and with more and more teams signing better and better players, we can''t just expect the guys who did fairly level at Champs level to be more than good enough for the prem. They both have prem level experience, but the overall quality simply isn''t quite there at times, and whilst we may get away with that against the likes of Stoke or Leicester, we absolutely won''t against Chelsea, Man City et al...

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"]I''m not advocating we sign Ayala, simply that if it was a choice between him and Gibson, he''d be the one I''d sign.[/quote]It seems Liverpool, Manchester City and Everton don''t agree with you Indy. As as stats man you should be impressed with this......."Boro’s number six, who is a part of

England’s U-21 squad for the European Championships this summer, blocked

31 shots last season, the most of any Middlesbrough player.""Gibson registered 283 defensive actions for Boro last season, the second most of any Middlesbrough player"http://www.squawka.com/news/liverpool-eye-deal-for-middlesbroughs-ben-gibson/399480And Middlesbrough have put a £10 price on him.Also, Alex Neil is out for the U21''s Championships, could this be one of the reasons?

[Crabbycanary3 994]

Half of those ''defensive actions'' were against us Lapps, so statistics can be used any how you like

[Crabbycanary3 994]

And if it IS £10, then we''d be silly not to...........

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]And if it IS £10, then we''d be silly not to...........[/quote]Doh! What a plonker I am. [:$]Of course, it should be £10m.[:)]Thanks Crabby. [;)]