Would you sell Gibson & Hanley?

[Indy 3,298]

Purely hypothetical but if a decent offer can in for either would you sell? Or are they vital part of the squad?

Could we rely on Sorensen, Omobamdele & Tomkinson and would they be any worse than we’ve seen this season?

[jaberry2 550]

Gibson yes if any value there. Hanley no.

[Google Bot 3,275]

From what i've seen Gibson should be behind Omo and Tomkinson... Slows down the play, gets caught out too often stuck in his own mind and never offers a threat when going up for corners.

In fact, I don't know what good can be said about him.  He's bang average championship level and nowhere near worth the 8m we paid.   Perhaps suffers from believing he's a better player than he is?  If he simplified his game and took the simple options as a CB should, he'd be a lot better.

Maybe i'm being a little harsh here, as he seems a nice guy and committed to the club.  But this isn't a home for the failed.

Not particularly sold on Omo, either, but hopefully he can up his game if he becomes a starter.   Hanley still number 1 CB for me.

[Midlands Yellow 3,980]

Buy one get one free deal? 

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

I'd sell Gibson on the proviso that Wagner sets up like I expect him to and we'll play with a high defensive line to compress the midfield. For that, we need someone with more speed, and that is Hanley by a long way. Hanley's problems are in possession but you'll never find him lacking in the commitment stakes. On top of that, we'll need an experienced head to guide the youngsters.

If I had to pick two I'd get rid of in the team as it stands, I would pick Gibson and Sinani.

Edited January 11, 2023 by TheGunnShow

[cambridgeshire canary 6,716]

Gibson yes. I'm sure there's lots of leauge one and two clubs he could become a starter at.

 

Hanley on the other hand..  Feel he sadly is a little past it but he has very valuable experience and is a top leader and captain on and off the pitch. Tough one.

[Don’t be Krul 399]

Yes and yes

[All the Germans 1,075]

Yes to both. I don't rate either of them at all. They both have only one positive - Hanley is a beast in the air and Gibson is decent at passing out progressively from the back to start attacks.

[norfolkngood 1,086]

Yes time to start fresh ,

i do not rate Hanley as a passing CB 

reminds me and would be better as a old fashion stopper who clears the ball first time  

 

[Robert N. LiM 4,342]

Neither in this window. Both were easily good enough to play in a title winning team last time. I'd like to see if Wagner can get Gibson back to those standards. I'm not sure we'd be even having this conversation about Hanley if he hadn't made that error on Sunday. He's been fine this season. Don't think he's anywhere near a top ten of our current problems.

[Robert N. LiM 4,342]

41 minutes ago, Indy said:

would they be any worse than we’ve seen this season?

Adding to this, I'd say our issue this season has been balance in midfield. That's the area to sort. Big ask, but I'd be looking for someone to replace the player we thought Hayden was going to be. Get that position right and our CBs would look much better.

 

[shefcanary 2,402]

If we don't get promotion this season we will probably have no choice.

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,296]

Gibson yes, Hanley is a decent squad player so keep him around for cup games/back up etc. 

[Google Bot 3,275]

At this level Hanley is very quick for his size, and has the ability to win free kicks when defending which I really admire.  I think he's a top championship defender for sure.  Not as cultured as we maybe require under Wagner, who knows?

What bugs me most about our CB's is that they never offer any additional fire power on offensive set pieces, interestingly looking at the stats Hanley gets exactly 1 goal per season since he joined us... That's some consistency, I guess! 🙂

Between the CB's they should be generating 3-4 goals a season between them if they're coming up for heads.  Add into that mix that we have a dedicated set piece coach it's disappointing.

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

Hanley is our best centre back so no.... Gibson only if we had a replacement set up.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

This reminds me about discussions on Rob Newman, back in the day.

 

I think we'd struggle to get in better CBs given what we are able to pay.

[Capt. Pants 4,229]

1 minute ago, It's Character Forming said:

This reminds me about discussions on Rob Newman, back in the day.

 

I think we'd struggle to get in better CBs given what we are able to pay.

Yeah this is the thing for me too. Plus Omo hasn't looked that assured in my opinion, and if he can only ever play on the right it does limit him and us.

[ricardo 7,385]

Hangings to good for em.

[Big O 225]

The model dictates a yes. Both near or over 30 so get a resale value on them and reinvest in younger players that you can add value too.

I agree with the consensus that Hanley is a damn good defender at this level but not irreplaceable. 

[sonyc 5,517]

They are both very experienced and one wonders who might come in of better standard. I'm hopeful we scout some up and coming younger CB who has had a couple of seasons hardened in League 1 or 2. I loved our signing of Ben Godfrey (as a defensive mid at the time) who was bought for his potential (York City I recall).

There again I'm interested in how Andy O and James T get on under Wagner. Plus, who knows, Hanley and Gibson might improve under different coaching. Grant has put in a good shift for us and is a solid character. But for both CBs they have too many mistakes in them and I have never been really sold on either in terms of their speed of reaction outside of their penalty areas. Both are suspect. I always felt Godfrey helped Hanley when here. 

When we do get a great CB pairing again (thinking Bruce/Watson) we will be great again.

Can't help thinking we might see quite a churn in players this coming summer.

[shefcanary 2,402]

The one saving grace is Wagner has said quite a few times he will be looking for the football to be simpler, so that should sit well with Hanley and Gibson. 

[Mr Angry 1,555]

No, going with AO and JT with JLS in reserve would be disastrous.

[Grando 260]

I'd sell both if we actually got a decent deal and replaced them with better. But I doubt we'd do that - instead we'd probably get rid of the pair and replace with some sort of semi-injured Premier reserve-team midfielder who can allegedly also fill in at CB. Then after one appearance they'd be injured and Kenny would be playing there.

[Indy 3,298]

I’d argue that Omobamdele has been our most consistent defender this year and gets better with each game. I’d certainly move Tomkinson ahead of Gibson, just to give him as much game time as possible. 
If Sorensen gets back to full fitness and match sharp he’s got the skill set to be a very good Wagner type CB.

[lake district canary 4,531]

7 minutes ago, Indy said:

I’d argue that Omobamdele has been our most consistent defender this year and gets better with each game. I’d certainly move Tomkinson ahead of Gibson, just to give him as much game time as possible. 
If Sorensen gets back to full fitness and match sharp he’s got the skill set to be a very good Wagner type CB.

Good point about Sorensen.

We will need to freshen up the defence and I'd like to see Omobamidele and Tomkinson as the central pair - Wagner is known for wanting high energy younger players and they fit that criteria.

[BigFish 1,986]

1 hour ago, sonyc said:

Can't help thinking we might see quite a churn in players this coming summer.

Yes, but with both staying

[Barham Blitz 652]

I'm in a minority in that I would keep Gibson and sell Hanley.

Omo is a more natural Hanley replacement and plays on the right.  We would then have two centre backs who can actually pass a ball without thinking about it for an age.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Barham Blitz

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

The only concern I have with Lungi at centre-half is his pace. I'm critical of Gibson at the back because the expected high Wagnerian defensive line doesn't really get the best out of him as he's vulnerable when turned around, not to mention he's considerably better on the ball than Hanley, and as much as Lungi is a very composed player I just think you'll repeat similar mistakes. Lungi really should be in that double pivot and dropping back into the defence, not starting there.

The difference between Lungi and Gibson is the tackling. Gibson doesn't win that many, he tries to pick the ball off. Lungi wins more tackles when it's man-on-man.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

47 minutes ago, Grando said:

I'd sell both if we actually got a decent deal and replaced them with better. But I doubt we'd do that - instead we'd probably get rid of the pair and replace with some sort of semi-injured Premier reserve-team midfielder who can allegedly also fill in at CB. Then after one appearance they'd be injured and Kenny would be playing there.

You know what... if Kenny actually got rid of that damn tendency to chase ANY BAR-STARD THING THAT MOVES and focused on holding a line, I could see him becoming a centre-half in the twilight of his career.

[Grando 260]

5 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

You know what... if Kenny actually got rid of that damn tendency to chase ANY BAR-STARD THING THAT MOVES and focused on holding a line, I could see him becoming a centre-half in the twilight of his career.

Strewth! I hope it doesn't come to that at Carrow Road...