18 Aug 2021 07:53:05
All the transfer hustle and bustle aside, I am really excited for Leighton Clarkson this season. The young lad is going to have the chance to shine at his boyhood club and forge out a future career at Liverpool as his reward! I really hope he takes the chance and shows the rest of the football world that he is a serious talent. He's always flown under the radar because he isn't an attacker, but make no mistake about it, he is one of the best players in our academy right now. Best of luck to him and fingers crossed we don't even need to sign a Milner replacement next summer!

1.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 07:59:29
I know very little about him to be honest Adam. What would you say are his best attributes.

2.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 08:08:26
And he seems to have gone to the best possible team. Open style of play and very well regarded manager in Mowbray.

3.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 08:18:10
Agree MK Scouser. From what I’ve seen, he looks a really exciting prospect. Think he played a CL game last season and he really didn’t look out of place at all.

4.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 08:36:04
Leighton Clarkson will be the ideal replacement for Milner next season. We only got Fab and Thiago who like sitting deep in midfield so Clarkson would be a welcome addition to the first team squad, especially with one full senior season under his belt.

5.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 09:04:22
From what I've seen he's just a tidy player with a really good range of passing, can play clever through balls, long balls, tidy short ones.
Don't want to compare but more like an Alonso type from what I've seen and understand, looking forward to seeing how he gets on.

6.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 09:23:55
Jimmy boy, i'd echo a lot of what Maximosa has said. He is a terrier in midfield. Very hard working a loves to get stuck in, but also very tidy in possession and capable of splitting the lines with his passing as per Maximosa. He can also take a decent indirect set piece.

His ceiling is very high and the only real question you can level against him is his physique. After all, we saw Rossiter completely fail to cope with the physical side against men. However Clarkson seems to have a bit more of a football brain and a lot more aggression about his challenges. So much so that his nickname at the academy is "Phillip Lahm". Not a shabby comparison seeing as Lahm was probably up there with Zanetti as one of the most adaptable and intelligent players this century.

There's a long way to go and a lot of hurdles for them all to navigate, but how satisfying would it be if one day in the future we had Jones, Clarkson and Elliott across the midfield? In reality we'd be very lucky if even one of them lives up to their potential, but i can dream can't I!

7.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 09:26:29
I just hope he gets game time. That is what he needs most at this point in his career.

Blackburn did great with Elliot so optimistic if he puts a shift in he will get the opportunity.

8.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 11:20:15
I don't think that midfield three is dreaming MK. That could be the real deal in five years or less. The thing that worries me is where are the goals going to come from? Worse that that there will be no Mane, Salah or Firmino in five years. I don't see us actually scoring any goals at all then. Concerning.

9.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 11:34:47
I saw a photo of him standing next to Matip, and I thought "my God he's short". But I checked and he's 1.75 metres tall (same height as Neymar) so it's hardly going to be an issue. I think the physicality and durability will come in time with experience in tougher games than what he has faced with the U23s. What impressed me the most (the last preseason game) was his work rate and how he was pinging deadly accurate balls over the opposing players' heads. Pirlo and Alonso kind of stuff, I tell you. Let's hope he makes it (we've seen others like Spearing and Rossiter unable to do it) .

10.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 11:39:48
Ron are you suggesting we're going to play with only 8 players once Salah, Firmino and Mané are gone? 😅.

11.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 12:21:14
So in 5 years time the club will go the whole season without scoring a single goal?

12.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 13:19:06
The problem is whoever we replace the front three with, they won't score enough goals, maybe two or three each if we're lucky. We might even end up scoring negative goals which would be a disaster!

But regarding the midfield, recent history has shown us that you can't win the PL or CL if you don't have scoring midfielders.

So it's a real dilemma.

13.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 13:29:28
Don't worry Ron. We'll have Gordon, Jota and Sarr banging goals in for fun in 5 years 😉.

14.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 16:46:43
I think Dr. Frankenstein has had a go at Ron Keague and produced a very different Kane U Ogre, as a result; where has all the positivity gone?

15.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 18:55:51
Sighs deeply.

It was a mild polemic directed towards those who think we need midfielders who score hatricks every week. I have every faith that this season will see numbers 20 and 7. And next year 21 and 8. Whoever our front 3 is will be fine with me.

Back to the lab.

16.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 21:38:49
Looks a player. Blackburn will be good for him.