| Which defensive partnership are you? 17:33 - Oct 1 with 1525 views | ChrisAllen7 |
Wolfie & Burgess or O'Shea & Greaves?
After nearly a whole season of premier league football and a lukewarm start to this year in the championship, I'm struggling to see how this partnership is any upgrade on what we already had. ( I get they were up against far better players in the Prem. )
The distribution from Woolfie and Burgess in my opinion was by far more accurate and we built up play so much quicker.
Everytime the ball is played behind us I feel sense of panic as well. Maybe an unpopular post but just interested in people's opinion. [Post edited 1 Oct 17:36]
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 17:38 - Oct 1 with 1365 views | bluelagos |
I think all 4 are excellent, decent players.
All 4 probably wanted first team footie too, so management had to make a call which 2 to keep, which 2 to allow to leave.
No real issues with KMs choice, albeit I don't think Wolf and Burg would be materially worse. Is what it is. |  |
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| I agree that…. on 17:45 - Oct 1 with 1358 views | Bloots |
….we are building up play slower than previously, but I think a lot of that is down to the goalkeeper and it is improving.
CB and LW had a keeper behind them that was much more confident with his feet and as a result released the ball a lot quicker.
We were hardly solid at the back in our Championship season, we mainly won matches through our attacking prowess rather than our outstanding centre back partnership.
It’s also worth noting that I’m sure DOS and JG would have looked a lot better if they’d have had a season defending against 3rd division strikers.
DOS and JG will become a top level CB partnership pretty quickly in my opinion.
Wolfie currently can’t get a start at Coventry. |  |
| "Yeah I think you’re right, yet again….” - TWTD User (Oct 2025) |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 17:48 - Oct 1 with 1326 views | Bellevue_Blue |
I totally get this forum is about discussion and opinions but with the greatest of respect I really believe this debate is entirely pointless and only really aims to be divisive.
By all means compare our current players in O'Shea, Greaves, Kipre and Baggott but constantly comparing current players with two players who played in a generational team is becoming really tedious.
Get behind the two currently playing (who are averaging just 1 goal conceded a game, which is only bettered by 3 teams) or make a case for Kipre/ Baggott to play. [Post edited 1 Oct 17:53]
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:06 - Oct 1 with 1249 views | Everydayblue |
Wolfy and Burgess had the benefit of Morsy and Mass in front of them...
Burgess became twice the player when Mass arrived... The LDMF was a huge problem for a while before that.
Still don't think our pivot is as fluent as the Morsy/ Mass partnership.... Even though Jens and Matusiwa are individually better footballers, imo.
Never really rated Wolfenden, tbh. Never got stuck in enough for me. For a CB. (I know that's gonna be unpopular).
Would love to have seen Burgess stay here. He's just a beast in both boxes. Had Aussies not qualified for WC. Perhaps he might have stayed in a squad role? Could have done with Burgess with the last two goals we've conceded. | | | |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:09 - Oct 1 with 1229 views | USA |
O’Shea and Burgess.
Don’t hate Greaves but I loved Burgess!! | |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:36 - Oct 1 with 1175 views | Swansea_Blue |
Osman/Butcher |  |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:39 - Oct 1 with 1169 views | bluelagos |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:36 - Oct 1 by Swansea_Blue |
Osman/Butcher |
Beattie/Hunter :-)
To think we'd have had all four vying for a place in the early 80s. | |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:49 - Oct 1 with 1135 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:39 - Oct 1 by bluelagos |
Beattie/Hunter :-)
To think we'd have had all four vying for a place in the early 80s. |
They weren’t too shabby lol. We were stacked with quality in those days.
That’s why the PL is worth the hassle imo. Yes, chances are you yo-yo and lose players you’ve grown to adore. But there’s always the off chance of challenging near the top of the table or getting back into Europe again. We should be so lucky but I haven’t given up hope yet. | |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 19:47 - Oct 1 with 1067 views | Nutkins_Return |
Interestingly I think at the same point both defences have conceded the same.
In game eight we conceded 3 more so let's hope that doesn't happen....although we did still win :) | |
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| I agree that…. on 20:13 - Oct 1 with 1007 views | Dubtractor |
| I agree that…. on 17:45 - Oct 1 by Bloots |
….we are building up play slower than previously, but I think a lot of that is down to the goalkeeper and it is improving.
CB and LW had a keeper behind them that was much more confident with his feet and as a result released the ball a lot quicker.
We were hardly solid at the back in our Championship season, we mainly won matches through our attacking prowess rather than our outstanding centre back partnership.
It’s also worth noting that I’m sure DOS and JG would have looked a lot better if they’d have had a season defending against 3rd division strikers.
DOS and JG will become a top level CB partnership pretty quickly in my opinion.
Wolfie currently can’t get a start at Coventry. |
I agree with every element if this.
Top darts. |  |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 20:15 - Oct 1 with 994 views | Pendejo |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 18:39 - Oct 1 by bluelagos |
Beattie/Hunter :-)
To think we'd have had all four vying for a place in the early 80s. |
Grr wanna fight?
It's Hunter & Beattie GOT IT! |  |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 20:48 - Oct 1 with 934 views | chantryblueboy |
We are regularly told that the defence midfield and attack are better than the promotion team which begs the question why are we playing so poorly | | | |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 00:11 - Oct 2 with 790 views | Garv |
Stu Watson had a mini rant about this discourse recently, particularly referring to Greaves/Burgess. I rarely hear things that I don't agree with coming from him but I felt he was a bit unfair on those who long for Burgess and bring up his name when discussing Greaves. It's totally valid and a lot of people including myself consistently said last season Burgess was the better option. We should have offered him more game time and eased Greaves in more gradually. From the outside it appeared that we simply decided Greaves was our man and that wasn't going to change. Burgess saw that and decided to get games elsewhere.
Overall though, if we can't mix and match the partnership, it's O'Shea and Greaves for me I think.
O'Shea is a leader, full blooded and generally solid. He maybe doesn't omit quite the confidence and calmness on the ball as Woolfy did at times, but I think we can live with considering the other qualities. He's a better long passer and a bigger goal threat too.
Greaves is a funny one. He makes some important interceptions and last ditch tackles and blocks, but also looks like he's got a mistake in him. Premier League it was but he often seemed uncomfortable with his positioning last season, especially when balls were played over the top or high into the channel.
Maybe it's just the lankiness but he reminds me a little of Delaney when he first arrived. Damo was ultimately underrated and left us a very good player having struggled in his early months, so if Greaves has a similar redemption arc I'll be happy. I do enjoy his marauding forward runs and like O'Shea he does offer a threat in the oppo's box, more so than Burgess did generally.
Woolfy and Burgess were brilliant in the team they were in, because that team was superb and better than the sum of its parts. Put them in this new team and who knows. |  |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 00:36 - Oct 2 with 775 views | J2BLUE |
O'Shea & Greaves, the CB partnership we have.
I highly rate Burgess and Woolf. Ideally they would still be here but they're not. |  |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 00:56 - Oct 2 with 752 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 00:36 - Oct 2 by J2BLUE |
O'Shea & Greaves, the CB partnership we have.
I highly rate Burgess and Woolf. Ideally they would still be here but they're not. |
Burgess is flying down here at Swansea. He’s the obvious leader on the pitch already and their fans can’t believe we didn’t want to play him. As much as Greaves is the potential future, right now I see where they’re coming from. In a different team it’s now obvious how lower his ceiling is than Greaves, but at the moment he’s the surer defender of the two quite easily. | |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 06:10 - Oct 2 with 676 views | PioneerBlue |
DOS and Greaves. We can’t play other teams players, Wolfie left the club remember. | |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 06:39 - Oct 2 with 641 views | Blue_Heath |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 06:10 - Oct 2 by PioneerBlue |
DOS and Greaves. We can’t play other teams players, Wolfie left the club remember. |
Defence has never been KM's strong point but agree there is little between them all. | | | |
| I agree that…. on 08:16 - Oct 2 with 544 views | Steve_M |
| I agree that…. on 17:45 - Oct 1 by Bloots |
….we are building up play slower than previously, but I think a lot of that is down to the goalkeeper and it is improving.
CB and LW had a keeper behind them that was much more confident with his feet and as a result released the ball a lot quicker.
We were hardly solid at the back in our Championship season, we mainly won matches through our attacking prowess rather than our outstanding centre back partnership.
It’s also worth noting that I’m sure DOS and JG would have looked a lot better if they’d have had a season defending against 3rd division strikers.
DOS and JG will become a top level CB partnership pretty quickly in my opinion.
Wolfie currently can’t get a start at Coventry. |
Well, quite. I think a lot of people have forgotten some of the goals we conceded at PR in the early part of 23-24 - Blackburn and Preston were particularly bad - and Burgess looking lost against Newcastle and Man City last year.
I do wish DOS and JG didn't look quite so vulnerable to a long ball down the middle as they do at the moment though. |  |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 08:24 - Oct 2 with 518 views | Reuser_is_God |
I don’t disagree but it is what it is, we have to move on.
O’Shea & Greaves you’d say are better individual players than Woolfenden & Burgess but they’ve not yet gelled as a partnership. Saying that we’ve been okay defensively this year, & if we can improve against the long straight ball then we’ll be absolutely fine. |  |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 08:30 - Oct 2 with 512 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
I just want Greaves and DOS to be a bit stronger.
Greaves is such a unit. He is the ideal build for a centre back but he always ends up on the floor. He loses duels to people half his size, I don't like that. He is a little bit unfortunate that most of his mistakes seem to end up getting punished though.
DOS is fine. I'm not sure he is quite as good as many said/thought he was myself included but a decent enough player at this level. Don't really see a Premier league player that can help you survive in that league if we were to go up though. Good recovery pace, wins a lot of first contacts. Fine.
As a partnership they have lots of improving to do, mainly stop being ripped open by one long ball forward. Aside from that, more than fine for this level. Not an area im too concerned about. [Post edited 2 Oct 8:34]
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 08:36 - Oct 2 with 488 views | Wickets |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 17:48 - Oct 1 by Bellevue_Blue |
I totally get this forum is about discussion and opinions but with the greatest of respect I really believe this debate is entirely pointless and only really aims to be divisive.
By all means compare our current players in O'Shea, Greaves, Kipre and Baggott but constantly comparing current players with two players who played in a generational team is becoming really tedious.
Get behind the two currently playing (who are averaging just 1 goal conceded a game, which is only bettered by 3 teams) or make a case for Kipre/ Baggott to play. [Post edited 1 Oct 17:53]
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I was about to post something similar just glad i decided to read through the comments first . |  | | |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 08:49 - Oct 2 with 450 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
Here we go again. Wolfie and Burge don’t live here no more. |  |
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| I genuinely wonder if…. on 08:53 - Oct 2 with 448 views | Bloots |
| I agree that…. on 08:16 - Oct 2 by Steve_M |
Well, quite. I think a lot of people have forgotten some of the goals we conceded at PR in the early part of 23-24 - Blackburn and Preston were particularly bad - and Burgess looking lost against Newcastle and Man City last year.
I do wish DOS and JG didn't look quite so vulnerable to a long ball down the middle as they do at the moment though. |
….KM just sees that vulnerability as an inevitable result of the way we play?
With Leif basically playing as a left winger, Greaves apparently being given carte Blanche to join in with the attacking phases and our desire to press high up, it’s always gonna leave us vulnerable to that tactic.
Does he need to sacrifice pushing Leif so far forward?
Is he going to stop trying to “compress the play” so far up the pitch?
Football is bleedin complicated these days! | |
| "Yeah I think you’re right, yet again….” - TWTD User (Oct 2025) |
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| Which defensive partnership are you? on 10:26 - Oct 2 with 358 views | BlueForYou |
I would have kept Burgess & got rid of all the others. Then find two further centre backs who are proper defenders. Greaves was a complete waste of money, Woolfenden never quite good enough, O'Shea is pretty average but does try. No idea about Baggott as he never starts, Kipre might be good, if so then play him. Burgess is one player who improved a lot each year he was here, & became a leader & it was so short sighted to allow him to leave, a decision which will continue to haunt us I'm afraid. |  | | |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 12:10 - Oct 2 with 294 views | ernie |
| Which defensive partnership are you? on 10:26 - Oct 2 by BlueForYou |
I would have kept Burgess & got rid of all the others. Then find two further centre backs who are proper defenders. Greaves was a complete waste of money, Woolfenden never quite good enough, O'Shea is pretty average but does try. No idea about Baggott as he never starts, Kipre might be good, if so then play him. Burgess is one player who improved a lot each year he was here, & became a leader & it was so short sighted to allow him to leave, a decision which will continue to haunt us I'm afraid. |
Burgess was class, an intelligent player and had real heart- always showed in the big moments. His huge improvement since arriving was tangible. Greaves falls over at every attempt and spends a lot of time appealing for free kicks he never gets- as on Tuesday night. | | | |
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