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Lunny Leaves The U's

Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 7:04 pm
by OUFC4eva
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A sad day - I enjoyed watching Lunny pinging passes all over the pitch.
I would argue he would figure as one of club's top centre mid players
of the past 25 years. I wish him well and will watch his progress with interest.

He has of course played at Championship level with Yeovil and Blackpool
and found it tough as both those sides struggled. He's got big
competition at the Blades this season and a much bigger stage.

I am reading reports that we got an " attractive " but undisclosed fee
which is both interesting and frustrating.

We need to reinvest some of the proceeds fairly quickly and judiously
but must not spend recklessly!

Re: Lunny Leaves The U's

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:33 am
by recordmeister
It's been hard to tell when we've had a special player in a position such as this, as over the last 20 years we've had our eyes so badly abused by players of sub-quality that it seems to have adjusted our idea of 'what good looks like'.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Lunny wasn't good. Or that we can't see real talent in 'flair' players such as Roofe and COD, but in those positions such as central mid and centre back, were you just want utter consistency all day long, do we know what not just 'good' but 'really special' looks like at Oxford United any more?

I'd have Lunny down as 'really good' but I'm not sure he's 'special' and doesnt put bums on seats like Roofe, COD or Johnson and I'd imagine the fee we got would reflect that.

Very sad to see the Captain leave, and a player of real quality and, most importantly, consistency but I'm sure the club will find the fee useful and build a new way of playing around the squad we have.

Re: Lunny Leaves The U's

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:47 am
by Kernow Yellow
Lunny had great vision and a good range of passing which we'll miss - he's a lot better than our current midfielders in that respect. His positional sense was good too, allowing him to break up play, though he sometimes sat very deep to take the ball off the defence, allowing the opposition to press us high up the pitch. His tackling was poor though imo, which left our defence exposed against more direct teams.

The bottom line is that he wanted to further his career and only had a year left on his contract - it is very much our business model to take young talent like him who have failed to break through at Prem clubs, develop them by giving them game time and useful experience, and sell them on for a profit. So we can't really complain when that happens.

The problem with this model is that we don't get to cherish our players for long - our heroes come and go quickly. Barely 18 months ago we enjoyed one of our best ever cup victories against Swansea, and every single player who featured that day has now left the club.

Re: Lunny Leaves The U's

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:41 am
by Kairdiff Exile
Kernow Yellow wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:47 am Barely 18 months ago we enjoyed one of our best ever cup victories against Swansea, and every single player who featured that day has now left the club.
Wow, that's a pretty damning stat. Our player turnover certainly seems to be going back to the Wilder days, which can't possibly be spun as a Good Thing.

Re: Lunny Leaves The U's

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:16 pm
by Old Abingdonian
As a fan, I find high player turnover disappointing - it reduces the interest of seeing players develop (or not).

However, the Swansea team sheet is a bit misleading:
Baldock - on loan. And we tried to buy.
Mullins, Taylor, Slocombe - we would probably agree, not good enough for a progressive L1 club
Skarz - now very prone to injury - I agreed with the decision to let him go

- and another two (+ one sub) sold on for significant money.

So in effect, we are left with the trading model, the curious Sercombe incident, and one in Maguire who has made no secret of his willingness to follow the dosh. And letting Jake Wright go, which was undoubtedly a mistake by MApp, whose judgement of players was otherwise far superior to Wilder's.