Best defence

[James Kent 0]

It seems that the back line has had a few changes throughout the season. So the question is which four work best together.

Russell Martin and Gary Doherty have both cemented their places, so who should join them?

I see the biggest weakness with Nelson and regard him as back-up at best.

I still see Drury as our best left back, Rose has done well but I still see him as backup. I like Askou a lot in my opinion he has been the most solid of all our defenders. However, I haven''t seen much of Whitbread and it would be interesting to see Spillane at right back again.

So for me the best defence is:

Drury Doherty Askou Martin

Any other ideas?

Also should Lambert make changes for Brighton, is it time to give Whitbread a go from the start? Should he risk the fitness of Askou and Spillane?

[Nexus_Canary 1,016]

NOW :Drury Doherty Askou MartinLong term ie: Next seasonRose Whitbread Askou Martin

Players need time to settle and should not be expected to drop straight into a team and perform from the first time they kick a ball in new colours.You got all kinds of things like Fitness, Co-Ordination etc etcOne of the reasons that arguably the best defence in recent British football.. the famous Arsenal back 4 of      : Dixon  Adams Keown Winterburn  were so damn hot was the fact they had played with each other for so long they could pretty much predict where thier team mate would be with high levels of accuracy without even actually seeing him.

[? 20]

Taking everyone as fully fit and, of course, not accounting for recent form, i''d say the best defense i''ve seen this season would be:

Drury Doc Askou Spillane

Though as you say, we''ve not seen much of Whitbread.

[ZLF 271]

Can only judge now,  next season will depend which league we are in but rose is already 28 and is not going to improve much.

Right now for me our best back 4, if fit is

Spillane  Doc  Whitbread Drury

[The gut 0]

Poor old smudger, he was having a bit of a rest. Now he''s gonna have to do another 10 pages. Surely you''re trying to wind him up.

[willynaylor 0]

boys whitbread is a class act and should be one of the first names down

[GJP 79]

At this moment in time I''m happy with

Martin Doherty Nelson Drury

 

I''d like to see more of Whitbread before I form a solid opinion, although the early signs are good. Askou I''d now put behind Nelson. And Spillane...well I still don''t think much of him, can''t see more than a backup role.

[adycanary 0]

Martin, Askou, Doc Drury

Think askou was doing a sperb job before injury, Doc was also playing better, think weak link is Nelson evcen tho he has improved during the season. Do like The Rose long throw tho so he is good cover for Drury until he his fully fit again.

[The gut 0]

How come 4 out of the 6 formations posted have them in the wrong positions?

[Guest]

On form I guess it''s got to be:Martin Doc Askou DruryHowever, I would say that the LCB position is fairly open to competition. The other three are probably shoe-ins at this stage.

[Stephen Frys Evil Twin 0]

Drury  Whitbread  Askou  Spillane

[Bovril 219]

[quote user="Stephen Frys Evil Twin"]Drury  Whitbread  Askou  Spillane[/quote]I agree with this...Whitbread is a class act, and having seen him play for us albeit briefly it confirms my previous opinion I had of him...for me there isn''t alot in it between askou/doherty though askou is slightly less prone to giving away free-kicksSpillane will hopefully get better but for me is already better then martin, martin and rose looks like two quick fixes to give us good cover at this level but not alot more.In whitbread/askou/doherty we have three of the best centre backs in this division along with kisnorbo and darren ward, who I thought had an excellent game for millwall at the weekend

[Norwich or die tryin! 0]

ImoSpillane Askou Whitbread Drury

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Doc and Drury plus two others.

[Jacko 0]

[quote user="Stephen Frys Evil Twin"]Drury  Whitbread  Askou  Spillane
[/quote]

Couldnt agree more. I think that defence would hold its own in the championship. Particularly if we could get Forster on loan behind them again for next season.

[Ivana_rubyatitz 6]

Ought to have Whitbread in there. Couple of people I work with are Millwall fans (odd as they appear otherwise normal) and they both say he is excellent but just needed to move on and that he can play in Championship if not higher in time.Drury has been solid enough for years and I still take him over the other options for now but in 12 months time he may be starting to seem somewhat jaded.Spillane is one for the future.  Not sure about Askou at Championship level and even the much maligned Doc has something to offer against all but the quickest and mobile strikers.  Nelson, hmmm, maybe a bit too much more him though.  Martin certainly did not cut it here in Peterborough at higher level (but had some issues with Fergie junior) and have not seen anything of Rose to judge on.