Dean Hammond..........

[Saint Lennard]

I think that out of all the youngsters Hammond is the best. You can see he has the potential to go further. He is not one dimensional like our other midfielders.... He is good in the air, is a ball winner, can make defence splitting passes and actually goes beyond the front 2. It's a shame that his chance at Watford that ricocheted of the line didn't go in, as that would have given him even more confidence. But i feel he has goals in him as well. Please please please play him in the middle with Nocholas (once he is fit).

 

[Pavilionaire]

Carpenter is STILL the midfield daddy. A quality performance vs. Leeds after a long lay-off.

When other midfielders start scoring goals and dictating play like Chippie they will get my vote. Until then...

 

[Saint Lennard]

Carpenter is STILL the midfield daddy. A quality performance vs. Leeds after a long lay-off.

When other midfielders start scoring goals and dictating play like Chippie they will get my vote. Until then...

Agreed that he tries to boss the game byut unfortnately he makes too many stray passes for my liking... and never gets in the box, and Charlie wins more in the air than he does. Still you can't fault his heart.

 

[cheshunt seagull]

Agree with most on here that he is better in the centre than on the right. The part of his game that he could work on is getting into the box to support the strikers, with the ability to do that he could be our best midfield prospect for many years.

 

[Brighton Jock]

Also agree and on Saturday looked to get into the box on a couple of occasions which looked promising........

 

[unnameable]

Dean Hammond was our best player against Leeds.

 

[sams dad]

Hammond had a terrific game on Saturday-and I agree that his best position is Centre Midfield

 

[BensGrandad]

I must have been the only person who wasn't impressed with Hammond on Saturday. I do not think that he wins enough tackles to be the hard man and makes too many stray passes to be the general. My midfield when all are fit would be Hart Carpenter Nicholas Currie.

As they say football is about opinions.

 

[Hungry Joe]

I must have been the only person who wasn't impressed with Hammond on Saturday. I do not think that he wins enough tackles to be the hard man and makes too many stray passes to be the general. My midfield when all are fit would be Hart Carpenter Nicholas Currie.

As they say football is about opinions.

I agree that he's not the finished article yet but what I'm impressed with is how good he is for his age and experience. He's played far fewer first team matches than any of the other younger players yet doesn't seem fazed at all. When you consider he's been thrown in against Championship and ex-Premier players and hasn't looked out of place it's quite an achievement.

 

[CP 0 3 BHA]

Given that we got promoted last season despite an almost total lack of midfield (other than as another line of 4 in front of the defence) this thread is hearwarming indeed!

 

[oapdodge]

Dean Hammond played well at Ipswich a couple of seasons ago and I thought he would have got his chance sooner.Must have fell behind the other youngsters but has worked very hard in the reserves and was captain,I think.Has not let us down and deserves his run in the side.Difficault to leave him out at the moment and was also my MOM Saturday.

 

[Hungry Joe]

and was also my MOM Saturday.

Now that is versatile.

 

[dougdeep]

WHAT! Better than Guy.

 

[balloonboy]

I watched Albion Reserves play a pre-season friendly away at Salisbury about three years ago. Hammond was immensely average, and I couldn't see a future for him. Something amazing has happened in the last few years, and it must be hats off to Hammond himself, Hinshelwood, and no doubt McGhee that he's now doing so well.

 

[Incredigull]

Plays a mean organ ??

 

[oapdodge]

Now that is versatile.

 

[John Byrnes Mullet]

Hammond reminds me of Simon Rodger, a real blocker and also has the ability to be mobile, but forget about him as a wide player, McGoo is better off putting him on the subs bench and giving him 20 minutes because it will just destroy his confidence playing him out of position, and the more games he gets I expect his first goal to come at Sunderland. That's if he gets the chance to play in the centre.

 

[London Irish]

Also why are people slagging Oatway? I thought he was excellent yesterday and it was a shame he had to go off.

The answer to that is fairly simple. Certain people have been spouting off endlessly for months about how useless Oatway is, and now that he is come into the team and done a fine job, they simply don't have the class to admit they were wrong

I'm surprised most people seem to think it's a terrible thing that Hammond is playing on the right rather than centre midfield. I think the evidence of our games is contradictory at the moment and it is a little early to come to such decided views yet.

Dean came into the side in the centre midfield when we had our midfield crisis at the beginning of the season and did well in the circumstances. When players came back, he had to make way to the right to accomodate them, and I think has done a good job filling that problem position on the right flank.

McGhee tried something different against Cardiff by putting Alexis on the right, unfortunately Hammond struggled in the centre, but he was up against very fine opponents. When Chippy came off the bench against Cardiff, Hammond then went back to the right flank and looked more comfortable. The opposite switch happened against Leeds due to Charlie's injury, but I think we have to say the Leeds midfield were less of a test.

Where Dean now plays will depend on whether McGhee continues the experiment of playing Nicolas on the right rather than in the centre. That's your choice. Jarrett is too inexperienced and OGH too banned at the moment to give them extended runs in that right flank spot.

It is good that Dean has done so well because competition is hotting up. Charlie has been our most consistent performer in the last few games and I reckon will start in centre midfield (if you take McGhee's Cardiff/Leeds selections as your guide). Then you have to make a choice on Chippy's match fitness and sharpness against Dean's youthful zest.

So there are two questions to resolve in deciding whether and where Dean gets picked:

1) where does Alexis play when fit. If Alexis is picked in the centre, it is likely Dean will start on the right, but if Alexis is picked on the right;

2) it's a case of Dean or Chippy in the centre.

I'm not hugely fussed what we do, to be honest, there is not a great deal to seperate many of our midfield performers at the moment. My marginal preference would to be give the Alexis right flank experiment another shot and bring Dean off the bench if that is not working or if Chippy is not quite 100%.

Against Sunderland, the much harder decision will be who plays up front with Leon, whether we've had Virgo up front, or not, has often been a crucial factor this season about how well whoever we've had in midfield has played, because Virgs has been the guy giving our midfielders the options in their passing and has held on to the ball long enough to give our midfielders the chance to get forward.

 

[ac gull]

Hammond excelled at Leicester away as well - the link up play between him, El-Abd and Hinshelwood that day was superb to watch at times

Competition for central midfield places will not do us any harm at all

Oatway may yet surprise some of us and establish himself at this level