Jonny Howson...

[SYG 0]

I watched him closely today and I thought he was excellent.

He does everything simply and does it well.

Playing him that little bit further forward shows a world of difference.

Not just his play, but he was shouting out orders and telling players who to pick up at corners/free kicks etc.

If he continues to keep this up, he could be a big player for us next season...

[hogesar 9,611]

Problem is, we said exactly the same towards the end of last season. Never really materialised until, you guessed it, the end of the season

[SYG 0]

Yeah I agree, but for the majority of his games this season he has played a more defensive role, which clearly doesn''t suit him

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

after he had a decent run of games in the side?

[Gingerpele 0]

He definitely needs to get forward. He''s very dangerous rushing forwards with the ball, doesn''t always play the right final ball though, so needs to do it more often and he will create decent chances.

Box to box is his best roll for me, good at chasing down, decent passer, decent shot. Could be a very good all round midfielder. Mix of not being used to full potential, lack of games and lack of confidence I think. I don''t think he was operating as a defensive midfielder earlier in the season, he just didn''t get forward much and left that to Johnson. Surely any manager would realise Johnson should be staying back and Howson forward, so if that was Hughton''s instruction to do the opposite 90% of the time, it was extremely stupid. So I think part of it must have been down to confidence.

[jedi 0]

As I''ve said for months, great player. Looks class.

[ricardo 7,334]

He had a very decent game today. He is still a young player and will get better IMO.

[crabbycanary 2]

Thought he had a better game than the MoTM

[SYG 0]

I had him as MOTM

[birchfest 397]

I thought he got better and better as the game went on, when he gets his head up and drives forward really see the best of him, saw him working hard to track back and defend, didnt always come off but Im a fan of his efforts and if we are playing 4-2-3-1 style of the 4-5-1 id like to see him in the Wes behind holt role.... maybe a thought for Stoke as it would allow us to put Tetty and Johnson in the centre to battle!

[JayNCFC 14]

I am very happy for Howson and extremely happy with his performance today. I had him down as my MotM today. I have always hoped that Howson would come good for us and have agreed with many that his form this season has been poor. Today though he was very good and showed all that promise that we all knew he has.  I couldn''t believe how fast he looked at times today (plus how slow E.Bennett was at points today, anyone else see that?) Although the few times this happened it was when we were shooting up the river end so may have got it wrong... Anyone care to shed some light on that?

[AJ 1,218]

Some players just need a decent run in the team to pull up their socks and show what they can do. Take a look at Iwan when he came here, after his first few games, who thought he would turn into the player he did?

We know from his time at Leeds that Howson has a massive amount of potential, and a coaching manager like Hughton is sure to get the best out of him

[GJP 79]

Thought he was outstanding yesterday.

 

Even in the final few minutes he made a sensational burst forward to latch on to a ball Pilkington knocked into the corner, I imagine the manager and his staff would have been delighted with that and his overall performance.

 

[Foghorn 0]

Thought he could have tracked back better and stayed with their player who eventually scored. How son just stopped running and seemed to leave him to Garrido, who was further away.

[Waveney Canary 0]

A poor mans tettey in my opinion

[ZLF 271]

Clearly I am alone in thinking the central midfield was over run and the teams weak spot.    Thought neither Howson nor BJ were effective with the ball and, while giving great effort (which has never being in doubt) they were simply not great at defending either - their goal that put us under so much pressure was as a result of no tracking back from central midfield when we were next to the goal scorer and watched him stride forward to strike under no pressure - basic defending and responsibility for a CM.  

 

Neithers game is not up to the standard needed,  We were outpassed and out played yest (even allowing for a +1 body count) and this is reading we are talking about, not a WBA or better.     Better needed next year,  with Tettey better than both JH and BJ and all three being the back up players. 

 

It is the weakness in this area (not up front or in the creative midfield slots) that is driving the negative tactics that we are having to use to cover the central midfield inadequacies.   The sooner we improve here the better.

 

Just because we won does not mean our problems have gone away - or that players have suddenly improved.

[tom cavendish 0]

I think Howson has been very poor so far this season. He hasn''t been very good at anything in particular. He was a lot better last season.Tettey has been the best central midfielder by far.

[SYG 0]

Tom Cavendish wrote; "Tettey has been the best central midfielder by far"

Shame he can''t pass, and for a central midfielder that''s pretty key.

I''m not saying I don''t like Tettey, I really do, but I can''t agree with your statement

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="SYG"]Tom Cavendish wrote; "Tettey has been the best central midfielder by far"

Shame he can''t pass, and for a central midfielder that''s pretty key.

I''m not saying I don''t like Tettey, I really do, but I can''t agree with your statement[/quote]

Well none of our midfielders seem to be able to pass so to say you don''t regard tettey as the best midfielder because he can''t pass is a little unfair. Tettey for me makes a huge difference when he plays. You only have to look at some of out results with him in the team compared to when he is not.

[tom cavendish 0]

[quote user="SYG"]Tom Cavendish wrote; "Tettey has been the best central midfielder by far"

Shame he can''t pass, and for a central midfielder that''s pretty key.

I''m not saying I don''t like Tettey, I really do, but I can''t agree with your statement[/quote]He is a better defensive midfielder than BJ. Howson hasn''t done much.

[The Great Wall Of Tettey 0]

Howson is an attacking midfielder who plays ideally in an attacking role, asking him to play in the centre of a 442 is like asking hoolahan too IMO.

He had a good game at arsenal when he had more of a free role!

[SYG 0]

Johnson is one of our players of the season.

On par, if not better than Tettey in my opinion

[AJ 1,218]

Easily better, been consistently one of our top performers, along with Snoddy, Bassong and Turner

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="tom cavendish"][quote user="SYG"]Tom Cavendish wrote; "Tettey has been the best central midfielder by far"

Shame he can''t pass, and for a central midfielder that''s pretty key.

I''m not saying I don''t like Tettey, I really do, but I can''t agree with your statement[/quote]He is a better defensive midfielder than BJ. Howson hasn''t done much.[/quote]

According to whoscored Howson didn''t do a lot yesterday, but by some accounts he did ok.

BJ had a typical BJ performance, excellent defensively but really poor on the ball, giving it away 18 times in 56 passes. BJ has the worst passing accuracy for a premiership central midfielder with 20+ appearances this season at 71.2%. We can probably get away with that in a 4-5-1, but in a 4-4-2 you need your central players to be capable of distributing the ball accurately. That said, he really has been outstanding defensively this season.

Tettey''s passing is not dynamic, but is at least fairly accurate at 82.9% this season.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="SYG"]Tom Cavendish wrote; "Tettey has been the best central midfielder by far"

Shame he can''t pass, and for a central midfielder that''s pretty key.

I''m not saying I don''t like Tettey, I really do, but I can''t agree with your statement[/quote]According to whoscored Howson didn''t do a lot yesterday, but by some accounts he did ok. 

BJ had a typical BJ performance, excellent defensively but really poor on the ball, giving it away 18 times in 56 passes. BJ has the worst passing accuracy for a premiership central midfielder with 20+ appearances this season at 71.2%. We can probably get away with that in a 4-5-1, but in a 4-4-2 you need your central players to be capable of distributing the ball accurately. That said, he really has been outstanding defensively this season. 

Tettey''s passing is not dynamic, but is at least fairly accurate at 82.9% this season.

[ROBFLECK 132]

He was one of the best player on the park. I agree with those Who say he is not a defensive midfielder

[jedi 0]

Surely you can''t compare Tettey to Howson their favoured positions are different. So yes Tettey is a better defensive midfielder but Howson is a better attacking midfielder when he''s given the freedom.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Foghorn"]Thought he could have tracked back better and stayed with their player who eventually scored. How son just stopped running and seemed to leave him to Garrido, who was further away.[/quote]

I sort of thought at that time but he was absolutely knackered from all the running he had done. Johnson had got caught high up the pitch and he didn''t have the energy to get back, Howson had a little burst to try to keep up with McCleary but then seemed to think Garrido or one of the defenders could come out to meet the danger. Perhaps both Garrido and Ryan Bennett should have made a better effort to do so.

[Tumbleweed 106]

Howsn ohad a decent game on Sat but he and BJ struggle to control midfield with two wide men, simply too much ground to cover and they struggled to close down Reading at times which gave them some useful possession around the box. When Bennett came inside more we looked better, but we need someone with pace who can run forward aggressively with the ball. Too often both BJ and JH do a little check back, go for an easy pass and the opposition can then get numbers back. If the pass goes astray we are then in trouble. When we had that purple spell in the first part of the second half we were playing nice one twos and getting forward much more quickly with numbers in support.

 

I thought Tettey looked a bit lost when he came on and we lost shape and a bit of momentum.

[KeelansGlove 0]

Can someone please explain it to me. I may be a little simple.

Howson doesn''t tackle , doesn''t shoot , doesn''t drop a Fox or Wes type ball creating a goal scoring opportunity yet some on here still praise his contribution. I am seriously underwhelmed and thankfully would suggest the lions share of our budget for next season will be spent on a player who can hopefully do all of these things. Celebration of 5 yard runs and passes in the centre circle baffle me.

Johnson and Tettey for me every time for the rest of the season injuries permitting. Leave the attacking to players that know what they are doing.