Eckersley

greater wall

How do people rate this guy? I have been impressed with his cameo appearances in the first team. Came on yesterday at right back and did well, then got shifted to left back and did not look out of place. Seems better than some of the other young fullbacks we have had before.

Virtuoso

I think he's a very good defender; quick, tenacious, strong considering his size, good on the ball, very good tackler, battles for everything etc. I really do think he could become a player in the Phil Neville, John O'Shea mould as in he could be a squad/first team player who could play competently right across the back four and with more games could prove to be a very useful player. Really a fan of his, think he could do very well.

RedPhil1957

as above

Chirag

Its always nice to see players come through the youth ranks.. I absolutely loved watching the match yesterday..

Decotron

Reserve Team player of the year last season, better than Rafael defensively IMO. Also Wes taught him how to tackle!!!

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

I agree. IMO he is the new Gary Neville. He's gonna be a solid pro for us.

MrMarcello

Or perhaps the new John Curtis. Only time will tell. With Brown and Hargreaves fit next season, plus the continued development of the da Silva twins, there might not be room for Eckersley next season. Perhaps a season on loan to say one of the promoted sides might be best for his maturation.

BahamaRed

Pity he's not called Eckerslinho. Would rate him much higher.

Anderson Searl

A ginger Brazilian... truely a sign the apocolypse is to follow.

Elliott

Eckersley seems to be taking the step up to first team football quite effortlessly, in that respect he's the anit-Curtis. Curtis' lack of pace was always gonna threaten his ability to take his game to the next level, Dick has no such obvious weakness. Only time will tell if he has a future at United but whatever happens the academy has produced another mighty fine player.

oskarutd

John Curtis and Eckersley are not simular players at all. For starters Curtis was a center back and Eckersley a full back. Curtis had more natural talent. Eckersley is more like Gary Neville in doing well with his effort and will, even though he is not the most naturally talent player in the world. Gary Neville has shown the way, now it is for Eckersley to do the same.

FlawlessThaw

I remember Curtis quite well and like you said he had a lot more natural talent. I remember him getting ripped apart by Overmars when we were injury hit and his career has gone downhill ever since to the point where I think he is now unemployed (?). Think Ferguson learnt a harsh lesson from that sitaution and that was to never throw a young defender in too early. Which would explain why a couple of seasons when we had a whole host of defenders out, SAF would prefer to go with Fletcher or Richardson at the back rather than risk out Cathcart.

So if SAF thinks Eckersley is ready, then he definitely is.

Decotron

Half a million for Eckersley
01 Mar 2010 - 13:51:17


Burnley have today learned they will have to pay £500,000 for right back Richard Eckersley. After the two clubs failed to agree on a fee it went to a Football Association tribunal last week with Burnley believed to have offered £300,000 and Manchester United looking for £1 million.The decision this morning is we have to pay £500,000 for him with add ons and that's a result Burnley chief executive Paul Fletcher is happy with."The outcome is satisfactory," Fletcher said. "When the smallest club in the league tries to take on the biggest club in the league you always wonder how it's going to end up, but we thank the tribunal for taking a common sense approach to this."We have always valued the player around the £300,000 mark until he starts establishing himself in the first team and when Manchester United were asking a million plus we thought we had to stand up and be counted and that's what we did."The tribunal was represented by administrators of the Premier League who have hopefully seen the common sense of the way Burnley tries to run its business with sensible numbers, rather than allowing ourselves to get into financial difficulties further down the line."Fletcher attended the hearing with manager Brian Laws while Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill and the club lawyers were part of the Manchester United team giving evidence.

Chirag

I thought he was worth a bit more.. Anyway I am sure that is not the final figure there will be a few add-ons right?

x42bn6

Likely.