How would you rank our center backs?

[horse1031]

I am curious to see how everyone would rank our center backs.  I find this would change from game to game...

Last night Burn looked terribly slow but is good in the air.  Hutchinson has more speed but are these guys the answer?

Mine would be..

1.  Richard Stearman - Still the best center back on our books and a leader as well.  He would be one of the first players on my team sheet.
2.  Shaun Hutchinson - Reads the game well, can get caught out but has some decent speed to get back into the play.
3.  Tim Ream - Average but does the job.  He is good with the ball at his feet and can pick a pass.  Needs a little nasty streak in him and he would do a lot better!   :028:
4.  Nikolay Bodurov - He was our number 1 for awhile then made a ton of mistakes last year.  I wonder if it was mental?  Could he get another chance with a new manager?
5.  Dan Burn - Bless his heart.  He is a Fulham man and I hate to put him this low on the list.  He is slow and there is no way I can sugar coat it.  If he had a quick back backing him up ala Hughes with Hangeland he would do a job.  I love his attitude but he gets caught out when we play a high line.

[mangoputney]

I'm in agree with your ordering of our CB's... they as a group are particularly fragile which is not helped by the likes of Richards who appears to be scared of his own shadow

[colinwhite]

The problem is that it doesnt really matter how we rank them because none of them are" main men" they all need someone stronger or better than them to partner.
I dont rate any of them as defenders (which is their primary job) ,and of the bunch Stearman is the most likely to be part of next seasons side . If you told me all would be traded in I wouldnt be too unhappy. I wish Burn and Hutchinson were decent ,but they just arent.

[dannyboi-ffc]

Stearman- a decent partner for a better defender. Not promotion material
Burn- a decent partner for a better defender. Not promotion material.

Hutch- jury out from me as a squad player but not good enough if we are to kick on.
Ream- not good enough.
Bodurov- not good enough.

Out of 10 I give the 5 of them a collective 5 out of 10.

[fulhamben]

I'd rather start arthurworry over the crap we are using at the mo. At least he has pace

[Horsfield_No9]

1.Stearman 7/10 (on current form 6/10)
2.Ream 6/10 (on current form 5/10)
3.Burn 5/10 (on current form 6/10)
4.Budorov 5/10 (on current form n/a)
5.Hutchinson 5/10 (on current form 4/10)

[WayneKerrins]

Agree with the responses, broadly.
Stearman an OK as no 2... A Hughes to Hangerland.
Ream weak in air and powderpuff. Distributes well and good touch but the weaknesses are too glaring.
Bod too small and error prone.
Burn tall and 100% but full of mistakes, clumsy and not a clean header of the ball.
Hutch looks like he should be ok at times but believe he has no football nous/sense of positioning.

A pretty hapless bunch.

[colinwhite]

Add to this the fact that we have no defensive midfielder,full backs that cant defend, wide players who are better going forward than defending ,no pace at the back and goalkeepers who try to avoid dealing with crosses into the box, and its hardly surprising that we have conceded more than most other sides in the division.

[MJG]

It should be
Stearman
Ream
Bodurov
Burn/Hutchinson
Grimmer

At the moment its

Burn
Stearman/Hutchinson
Ream
Grimmer
Donnelly
Elworthy
Pino












Bodurov

[Chesh]

1.Stearman 7/10 (on current form 6/10)
2.Ream 6/10 (on current form 5/10)
3.Burn 5/10 (on current form 6/10)
4.Budorov 5/10 (on current form n/a)
5.Hutchinson 5/10 (on current form 4/10)

Yep, this for me

[H4usuallysitting]

Whoever we have at the back - I'd like to try Burn  in front of the back four, especially away from home and especially if the opposition have a target man

[filham]

Jakonovic , like Kit before him , has tried every combination possible of pairing up a couple of centre backs but has failed to produce what looks like a good partnership, they are just not up to championship standard although they would look a lot better with a couple of solid fullbacks in place.

I have a distinct liking for Dan Burn and am hopeful that with the right coaching and team mates he could become a reliable regular.

Stearman a big disappointment, how much did we pay for him.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Dan Burn deserves his place in the team, it's who is paired with him to bring the best out of both.

[St Eve]

All terrible. Burn may be salvageable with the right partner

[Samsara]

I agree with your points about Burn. He's not just slow but regularly gets caught out of position, due to his lack of speed. Poor guy gets nutmegged twice every game.

[Chutney]

Burn is our best at this level, Ream is also able to do a job at this level (he's better at left back), the rest would struggle to get into the bolton side.

[fcfulham55]

Ream 4/10.  The rest are embarrassingly lower than that.

[simplyfulham]

1. Stearman
2. Burn
3. Ream
4. Bodurov
5. Hutchinson

I hope to include Grimmer high up on this list one day soon..

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Centre backs need to impose themselves, read the game well or preferably both.

For me only Burn seems to try to impose himself mainly with his heading and the rest seem to do neither to great effect, all seeming too passive and reactive.

[J.Perkins]

On ability, it should be: Stearman, Ream, Hutchinson, Burn, Bodurov

On form: Burn, Stearman, Ream, Hutchinson, Bodurov