Boss Mick McCarthy says left-back Jonas Knudsen is improving all the time, having benefited from his first full season of Championship football.

The 23-year-old has been one of the Blues’ better performers in recent matches, despite facing tough opponents such as Brighton’s Anthony Knockaert.

“I think anybody that comes into English football [is better for their first season],” McCarthy said. “We’ve seen it in the Premier League. I don’t think Thierry Henry, who ended up being one of the best ever, was great in his first bit.

“I’ve heard Premier League managers say before, Sir Alex has said, ‘Six months it took them’. You sign a player in January and you probably don’t see them until August because they have to get that first six months out of the way.

“We’re talking about the Championship and it is a tough old league. When he came and trained, it was nothing like he’d seen before.

“And I thought he had a good first season but he’s improving, he’s getting better and better.

“And he’s getting better and better because he’s so conscientious about it. TC’s great with him, any bit that he wants to see after every game to improve on his performance, he gets him, sits him down and shows him. He’s very, very thoughtful about his game. He’s been a good signing for us. He’s a great lad.”

Soon after the Danish international joined the club from his local side Esbjerg fB for a fee of around £325,000 in the summer of 2015 the squad nicknamed him ‘Mad Dog’, a sobriquet which still persists.

“That’s not one of the things I call him, I have to be honest,” McCarthy added. “It’s a term of endearment though because he’s very competitive and the way he plays.

“I see him playing head tennis and he plays the same way, a five-a-side he plays the same way, keep-ball, closing down, he competes in everything and I love him for it. He does it right, he wants to win, he plays it properly.”

Knudsen has had big shoes to fill at left-back having followed Aaron Cresswell and Tyrone Mings into the role but the Town boss is pleased with his progress.

“He’s improving all the time, he really is,” McCarthy continued. “The other two turned out to be exceptional and he’s getting there, I think.

"He’s a regular player, there’s no doubt about that, but he’s becoming a really consistent performer.”

Photo: TWTD

prebbs007 added 06:21 - Oct 11 Are you being serious dinosaur?? Comparing him to Cressy & Mings !!! He's got better yes but from a very low base. Can't cross, can't pass, can't use right foot, v poor heading, bad positioning, can HOOF it though so he will do for you. Sad times
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Penguinblue added 07:30 - Oct 11 Knudsen has definitely improved and well done to him for that. The problem is he was in the team long before he was ready. But why would that surprise anyone who watches Town? Our tactical genius of a manager has constantly played the worst right back in the league and made him captain to boot despite him costing us game after game, goal after goal. Unbelievable. McCarthy OUT

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Michael11 added 07:39 - Oct 11 I'm sorry, but even though he's slightly improved (couldn't really get worse than last year), he's not fit to lace Cresswell/Mings' boots.
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OwainG1992 added 07:40 - Oct 11 Ok i'm fed up of Mick at times too but rather than attack every single post can't we just save it for post match? Knudson has improved a lot and i like the lad. Roll on the weekend and let's see if we can turn it around!
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Swn98 added 08:06 - Oct 11 Much improved in fact I feel other clubs might be after him next windows.
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rfretwell added 08:14 - Oct 11 Its not a comment on Knudsen I know , but MM has hit the nail on the head. Brighton and several of our other rivals keep strengthening their first teams with real quality - eg Knockaert . Bristol City, traditionally inferior to us, have made loads of new signings and are seeing the benefit now. Huddersfiled top! their best start for over a century!!! We just cannot rely on serial injury prone players to get us out of trouble.

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BrettenhamBlue added 08:26 - Oct 11 I think he's done well. It's not easy following in the footsteps of Cresswell and Mings.
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blueblood66 added 09:03 - Oct 11 in other words he was rubbish but I kept playing him...fuzzy logic
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Surco72 added 09:32 - Oct 11 He is improving because he was so poor when you continually picked him last year , still a bog average left back for championship standard and no where near the standard of Cresswell who was leagues above Mings
2

prebsa added 09:36 - Oct 11 It's very easy to improve when you couldn't be any worse! Can't do anything other than lump it down the line and cross it at the first man or miles too far, exactly like chambers on the other side!
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jonbull88 added 09:38 - Oct 11 Joint 3rd best defence in the league people. And we conceded nearly 25% of them on the opening day, keep it honest people Knudsens done ok as has chambers. The weak link is the midfield but we all know that
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beornioblue added 09:47 - Oct 11 Chambers looked marginally better at centre back until costing us the Hudders game, Knudsen has got better but still not sure , too prone to slicing or heading the ball out with his 50p head!! But definitely improved, however if Kenlock could could in and look and comfortable as Emmanuel did surely he is worthy of a chance for a team that needs to be attacking from all areas, because one glorious day we could have 3 defenders with attacking potential (Emmanuel, Kenlock and Webster) and Williams, Bishop, Grant and Skuse in the middle....oh no hang on i forgot we've got M-Rex as manager!!

1

MattinLondon added 10:00 - Oct 11 Knudsen is what he is which is a good Championship player - would Kenlock now be a much better player if he was given a few more games to prove himself? Probably, but then again he doesn't have a long aimless throw on him which is the equivient of a long hoof.
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mickeyjb added 10:15 - Oct 11 I understand why people say he doesn't have a right foot, however he certainly had one against Norwich !!!
5

Razor added 10:29 - Oct 11 Crikey I actually find myself agreeing with Mick here. For some reason some people on here keep having a go at the lad but let me just he has lovely left foot and CAN cross the ball, is very brave in the air and wins the majority of his headers. Apart from having to overlap he also has an enormous amount of defending to as our non existant attack always means he is overloaded with plenty of work. He is actually one of the very few positives at the moment so LEAVE HIM ALONE----please!!

7

PortmanTerrorist added 11:01 - Oct 11 MM says he is getting better but still doesn't trust him. Sit by the side of the pitch and you will see MM making sure that he is holding position at all times defending. Only when the game is gone or getting away from us does he allow Knudsen to get forward at all where he is capable of making more of an impact than ANY of our midfield stalwarts of Bru/Skuse/Douglas. Look at any MODERN successful side and see how critical full backs now are, which is why we received such value for Mings and Cresswell. Both could defend AND attack, but were trusted to. So yes Knuds is getting better and i personally think he could be terrific, but will we ever get to see the player he could be in this set up ? PS: There is a bit of me that thinks he won't cut Knuds loose in case it shows up Chambo at right back.....but then I remember it has not bothered Mick before

3

Currie10 added 12:33 - Oct 11 Some of the absolute crap I read on this website makes me chuckle. OF COURSE he has improved considerably and has become quite a solid left back. Defensively we are excellent and Knudsen has started to become much better in the opposition half too. As for the comment about being fit to lace Cresswell and Mings boots - Okay fine on Cresswell he was superb. As for Mings, sure at times he was fantastic going forward but he has to be the most overrated player in a town shirt I can recall. Mick has to put Tabb infront of him! Tracking back he was often poor and when he was bad ala Cardiff away 14/15 in the 3-1 defeat jesus christ he was absolutely horrific. Of course, when he was good he was excellent but I'm not convinced Mings was quite as good week in week out as many and feel we got a very nice deal from his sale.

4

kingcarloss added 12:35 - Oct 11 Another Mick McCarthy comment to get the paying fans to bite, so typical of him to do this it's getting a bit boring now. Knudsen will never be good enough in my opinion no end product, gets up and down in instalments the worst left we've ever had as far as I can remember.
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JimmyP45 added 12:35 - Oct 11 Great player and I agree, he is improving more and more as the season goes on. Very solid, just needs to be more consistent with his positioning and closing down. For a foreign player still adapting to the English game, this guy gets more criticism than he deserves.
2

JimmyP45 added 12:37 - Oct 11 beornioblue, slicing the ball and heading out of touch...think you are referring to Berra, not Knudsen.
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itfcbam added 13:20 - Oct 11 Why oh why do we constantly have to slap off our defence? Only Brighton and Huddersfield have conceded less this season. Several teams have conceded over 20 yet (at least until saturday) we are in single figures!! Yet our defence is poor?? Our problem is currently at the other end of the pitch where key injuries are really hurting at the moment. Knudsen has definitely improved, and if you read the article properly MM doesn't say he is as good as the other 2. MM doesn't normally publicly slag off a player which is why he is regarded within the game as a very good man manager. He sees improvement and is saying that, which any decent man manager in any trade should do, isn't it?

5

Surco72 added 15:52 - Oct 11 Our goal conceded record is more down to Bart and his excellent form rather than the defence he has kept us in a lot of games already . MOM in over half our games says a lot
1

poldark added 16:55 - Oct 11 So now Mighty Mick is Mr wonderful Knudson would be good in Sunday morning football at best to compare him with Cresswell is an insult. Knudson fits Mighty Mick perfectly hits the ball as hard as possible in the opposition half and hope McCarthy OUT
1

dannyrr added 16:58 - Oct 11 I agree he is improving and would like to see him get more forward and more crosses into box. I would also like to see him change the tactics of his long throws. I don't think they threatened the opposition once and more often than not leads to a break for the opposition. I can't remember which home game it was this season where the opposition had a long throw but always put it to the front post with someone there. Watch Gareth Bale's long throw last week. I want to see if as a weapon that worries other teams.

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Seasider added 18:08 - Oct 11 Interesting to hear someone say on here that McCarthy berates Jonas if he tries to get forward too much and makes him defend.Expect this person is in the West stand. Thought this may have been the case as Mick said on here recently about telling one of his players,think it was Adam Webster,that his primary function was to defend. This sums up our Manager,and why we will never see attractive football under his tutelage. Don't think these are the only players either,think BRu could be a good player,similarly Ward,if given the right coaching. Sooner he 'foxtrots oscar' the better;but fear that us stalwarts will have to endure much more of him before that happy day comes.

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