Jason Knight (M Bristol City b.2001)

[Eirambler]

That was Rosenior wasn't it? As soon as Warne came in he went back to centre mid.

It doesn't sound like he'll be getting out of there any time soon though unfortunately.

[Razors left peg]

That was Rosenior wasn't it? As soon as Warne came in he went back to centre mid.

It doesn't sound like he'll be getting out of there any time soon though unfortunately.

Didnt actually realise they had changed manager. I formally withdraw my snide and pointless comment :p

[irishfan86]

Knight is just 21. I don't think playing No. 10 in a team chasing promotion is the worst for him. Ultimately his performances for Derby and/or Ireland will lead to a decent move if he keeps doing what he's doing.

I'm not as high on him as some people here are -- I think he can make it to the Premier League but may end up just being a solid Championship level player when it's all said and done.

[JR89]

Yeah Rosenior had him playing RB for the first 9 league games and got replaced after the tenth game where Knight was supporting the striker. Played him in midfield or the wing for the cup games but started 90% of the league games under Rosenior at RB.

[Razors left peg]

Knight is just 21. I don't think playing No. 10 in a team chasing promotion is the worst for him. Ultimately his performances for Derby and/or Ireland will lead to a decent move if he keeps doing what he's doing.

I'm not as high on him as some people here are -- I think he can make it to the Premier League but may end up just being a solid Championship level player when it's all said and done.

I like him, but Im not sure what he is really. Hes not big enough to be a physically dominant center midfielder. Not an amazing passer to be a distributor. Not really skillful enough to be a real 10 and not fast enough to be a good winger.

He does make a difference for us when he plays though and I love the energy and enthusiasm he brings.

[irishfan86]

I'm with you Razor. He's above average in a lot of departments but not truly elite in any area. You can tell he's a top pro and works incredibly hard though. Would be great to see him reach the top -- I just am a bit perplexed at the hype on this forum historically. Sure he's looked good in terrible Ireland and Derby teams but I think that's a reflection of the poor quality around him unfortunately.

[Razors left peg]

I'm with you Razor. He's above average in a lot of departments but not truly elite in any area. You can tell he's a top pro and works incredibly hard though. Would be great to see him reach the top -- I just am a bit perplexed at the hype on this forum historically. Sure he's looked good in terrible Ireland and Derby teams but I think that's a reflection of the poor quality around him unfortunately.

I get the hype to a point, Im probably guilty of it myself at times with him. He was in that Derby team at a very young age so he obviously has something about him. I do get the feeling though that he may be a shorter Jeff Hendrick. Hendrick was very athletic as a younger player

[seanfhear]

"Derby County boss Paul Warne says Jason Knight is the player he would choose to be reincarnated as after the midfielder helped the Rams overcome Port Vale.....'.Knighty, for me, is my favoured 10 because he gives you so much in and out of possession........."

It's his effort, what he tries to do for the team, how hard he works and how determined he is to win. Sometimes games come down to determination and effort and tonight we probably edged it and got the win I thought we deserved. Even at the end he is winning the ball, taking it into the corner. It feels more like my team when he is in it, that's the truth.' " (BBC Football)Time for a pay increase.

[SkStu]

I think you have to take a step back and look at his journey to date as a 21 (nearly 22) year old. When you do, its difficult not to be excited about how high he can go. Three seasons in the Championship with over 100 appearances and ten goals as a teenager or 20 year old. Thats prime stuff for our youth prospects. Seventeen senior caps at 21 years old. I really do think his ceiling is premier league and he has a fairly good chance of getting there in the next 3 years or so.

Weirdly, i dont see him as a #10 at all - he has always come across to me as a #8 with his drive, energy and technique. I think that is where he will settle over time but good for him to have experience in other roles. (not right back though, jaysus)

[Eirambler]

I see a lot of John McGinn in him personally, like McGinn he's a good all rounder. I think he can make it to a similar level too - mid table Premier League, but probably never to one of the big hitters challenging for titles.

[Jd2793]

i love the optimism around knight. no doubting the lads energy and workrate but im yet to see anything other than very average when hes in possession. why kind of midfielder is he? he really needs to nail down a role at some point. being a terrier wont get him far

[Trequartista20]

Years ago I remember reading an article on the 100+-cap former England international Billy Wright, describing him as 'good at everything, outstanding at nothing'.

I think that seems a reasonably accurate assessment of Knight. He's extremely capable, has few weaknesses, and a terrific engine to go along with it.

[Jd2793]

the thing is we already have the terrier type 6/8 in molumby. we really need more players who can help us in possession. either knight can develop those attributes or im afraid he'll just be another run of the mill member of the squad. hes a grand player against say a france or portugal as he'll do a load of the donkey work from an advanced position but against the rest we need some guile and technical ability.

[Razors left peg]

the thing is we already have the terrier type 6/8 in molumby. we really need more players who can help us in possession. either knight can develop those attributes or im afraid he'll just be another run of the mill member of the squad. hes a grand player against say a france or portugal as he'll do a load of the donkey work from an advanced position but against the rest we need some guile and technical ability.

A back up to Molumby is no bad thing considering how often he gets himself booked.

I think overall hes probably going to be better than Molumby. Id rather have 2 like that than having to use Hourihane

[seanfhear]

I see a lot of John McGinn in him personally, like McGinn he's a good all rounder. I think he can make it to a similar level too - mid table Premier League, but probably never to one of the big hitters challenging for titles.McGinn is a decent player.

[seanfhear]

the thing is we already have the terrier type 6/8 in molumby. we really need more players who can help us in possession. either knight can develop those attributes or im afraid he'll just be another run of the mill member of the squad. hes a grand player against say a france or portugal as he'll do a load of the donkey work from an advanced position but against the rest we need some guile and technical ability.
I would never under estimate the upside of a good engine on the football field. It didn't do Roy Keane any harm.

[Olé Olé]

I am a fan but he isn't producing goal contributions and he really should be at League One level if he's going to attract the right attention. He probably needs a little more guile both in and out of possession to achieve the stats that he will need to kick on.

He is very young and he has got a decent dribble and finish in his locker. A little slicker on the interplay and picking up positions with more space to do it are things I see. A good coach would see lots I'm sure.

[nigel-harps1954]

Lovely goal from Knight today


EDIT: Embedding tweets not working.

https://twitter.com/DerbyCountyLA/status/1621908702671548417

[tetsujin1979]

That's Derry tweet keeps getting embedded for some reason
I had the same problem with the Atletico lineup tweet in the Matt Doherty thread

[nigel-harps1954]

That's Derry tweet keeps getting embedded for some reason
I had the same problem with the Atletico lineup tweet in the Matt Doherty thread

Think it might have something to do with whatever fix was mentioned in the support thread for quoting Tweets.

[JR89]

Found himself playing WB again for the last four games but thankfully Derby missed out on the play offs and Knight might finally leave this summer. Even if they managed promotion you'd want him to be pushing for a better move as Derby would be favorites for relegation.

[Demesne Lad]

Derby Co. and their supporters are not too pleased by Stephen Kenny's comment about Knight being 'on the verge' of a move. But Stoke and Sheffield Wed are not very far away.

[Snapshot]

Derby Co. and their supporters are not too pleased by Stephen Kenny's comment about Knight being 'on the verge' of a move. But Stoke and Sheffield Wed are not very far away.
He's talented but limited. The quote from Billy Wright a few posts back was well referenced (by Trequartista) - Knight is good at everything but outstanding at nothing. But where he barely scrapes a "good" is composure - he too often seems harrassed/uncomfortable and that (imo) damages his chances of an unlikely shot at EPL. But then again, had he signed for Luton Town last year - a move many would have labelled unambitious - that's exactly where he'd be.
As for Stephen Kenny - it's more likely he's the one who'll be on the move. He'll be inundated.

[JR89]

Reports that Bristol City are lining up a move for Knight.

[Demesne Lad]

Reports that Bristol City are lining up a move for Knight.

Knight's versatility had prompted Nigel Pearson's interest, but Derby have turned down two offers, the later one thought to be £1.5m. Bristol City may not be willing to go to Derby's valuation of about £2m and may look elsewhere. (Bristol Live, 20 June).

[liamoo11]

Knight's versatility had prompted Nigel Pearson's interest, but Derby have turned down two offers, the later one thought to be £1.5m. Bristol City may not be willing to go to Derby's valuation of about £2m and may look elsewhere. (Bristol Live, 20 June).

Even trying to not have green tinted glasses on 2 millon seems reasonable for a lad with so much first team football at a young age and ability to play different positions

[joey B]

Heading to Bristol City,fee of 2 million mentioned…

[Demesne Lad]

Heading to Bristol City,fee of 2 million mentioned…

"...a package worth £1.75 million... Knight is due to have a medical at the Robins High Performance Centre in the next 48 hours having not joined the Rams squad for their pre-season training camp in Spain." (Bristol Live, 9 July).

[sbgawa]

Nice few bob for Cabo/Bray he had a sell on from years ago

[Demesne Lad]

Transfer to Bristol City confirmed, for an undisclosed fee. Knight joins Ireland squad members Sykes and O'Leary at Ashton Gate.

https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/watch-jason-knights-first-interview/

[tommy_c12000]

On the face of it, seems like a terrible move. Who’s advising him? Unless Bristol City are building a strong team with good backing, and could be next seasons Luton?

[LurcherLover]

On the face of it, seems like a terrible move. Who’s advising him? Unless Bristol City are building a strong team with good backing, and could be next seasons Luton?
How is a move from L1 to a Championship side a bad move?

[Razors left peg]

On the face of it, seems like a terrible move. Who’s advising him? Unless Bristol City are building a strong team with good backing, and could be next seasons Luton?

This was my initial reaction too but as you said Luton have shown whats possible in that division. They were firmly midtable last season, fairly big club, Nigel Pearson in charge, so with all that you'd hope that Knight could be a catalyst to kick them forward to playoffs.... and as LurcherLover said, at least its out of L1

[dr_peepee]

Is as good a move as could reasonably be expected at this point. But a teenage midfielder with an abundance of championship experience would have got a better move than a 22 year old league 1 regular starting “utility” type player…. In short. He shoulda moved well before now.

[Demesne Lad]

On the face of it, seems like a terrible move. Who’s advising him? Unless Bristol City are building a strong team with good backing, and could be next seasons Luton?

Sykes, Weiman, Memheti and Kalas are current internationals, Bajic and Conway are current U-21 internationals. Nigel Pearson is an experienced manager. Bristol City will not win the Championship, but they seem a good bet for the play-offs.

[pineapple stu]

Off the mark for the Robins; they're 2-1 up on Oxford at halftime in the League Cup

[elatedscum]

Off the mark for the Robins; they're 2-1 up on Oxford at halftime in the League Cup

2 goals, 1 assist - taken off after 60 mins

[samhaydenjr]

2 goals, 1 assist - taken off after 60 mins

Clearly he was being held back at Derby!

[Eirambler]

Good to see Knight captaining Bristol City today. I've no idea if he does that regularly or if today was a one off, but either way it's good to see. Sounds like he's playing very well for them also. Knight I think is a player that could pretty much adapt to any level of football, he didn't completely stand out in League 1, yet he looks very good in the Championship once again and if he played in the Premier League I'd say he wouldn't look out of place there either.

He's probably the most underrated Irish player at the moment, certainly if the number of pages I had to go back to find this thread is anything to go by. But as we hopefully move towards a more sensible and mixed style of football under a new manager I'd expect him to be central to our plans for the next few years, because we don't have anyone else who can cover the ground and make a meaningful impact in midfield the way he can.

[Eirambler]

Update on Knight from the local press in Bristol.



Can we clone Jason Knight?

Just once, maybe? It’s not being greedy. As great as it would be to have six or seven Knights on the pitch at one time, just one more version of the Irishman would make a huge difference. There are ethical and moral debates to be had but it could be the difference between a good and great season here, folks.

We joke to an extent but Knight has kind of caused a problem for himself and the rest of the team in that he’s so good and so important to so many aspects of how the Robins play, that they need him to be on the field for every minute of every match, but equally, such is the intensity at which he plays his game and which facilitates his best attributes, that requires him to be at, or at least approaching 100 per cent.

The latter clearly isn’t possible in a Championship schedule let alone one that ludicrously demands teams play four games inside 11 days (we’re going to keep on at this and, sorry, there’s more to come). When Knight is functioning at full capacity, City look a very good side, when he isn’t - which is wholly understandable because while it doesn’t always seem that way, he is only a human being - so elements of the collective performance dips.

The wide players are important in stretching teams and creating overloads which has a knock-on effect elsewhere on the field but Knight’s role, especially against tightly-packed organised defences and midfield units such as Millwall is more so. He has to constantly look for the spaces either side of the deep-lying sixes in midfield, buzzing from left to right, and then turn into the areas of vulnerability between defence and the middle of the park, hopefully drawing players out from there or then interlinking with his forwards.

There were a few moments when this did occur against the Lions, notably the move that led to Tanner setting up Weimann, but they were also too infrequent and what possibly was more symbolic of his performance were the two inside flicks he attempted to free Mehmeti, neither of which came off either due to a lack of execution or the Albanian not quite anticipating the trajectory of the pass.

Knight is not a traditional No10 in the classic playmaker sense in putting his foot on the ball and delivering passes that nobody else inside the ground outside of the recipient can detect, he very much plays downhill and at pace. If we’re being blunt, he’s probably a box-to-box No8 having to fulfil a job that there’s nobody else in the team who can do right now at an appropriate level.

Nigel Pearson may have been playing politics to an extent when, upon signing Knight, he declared the Irishman was there to complement not replace Alex Scott, but evidently that would have been a preferable outcome from the summer.

There’s no question the 22-year-old can operate in more advanced roles, just perhaps not every single game, and certainly not at this intensity. The Scott void is still to be filled by City and is recognised internally at the HPC with the desire for a goalscoring No10 to be added in this window, if that is possible given the various obstacles January can create.

In a perfect world, of course, Knight could have been given a moment’s rest in one of the four games between December 22 and January 1 but such is his influence in the team, on the ball in trying to create and off the ball in leading the press from the front - as the Robins morph into a 4-4-2 out of possession - he couldn’t, especially as Manning had to rotate other individuals in and out of the team. It was a juggling act that unfortunately didn’t quite come off, but then again, seven points from 12 games isn’t a paltry return by any stretch.

Such is Knight’s omnipresence on both sides of the ball, when he’s firing on all cylinders, it’s almost like having an extra man on the pitch. City need it every game, the issue is that sometimes that isn’t possible and needs others to compensate for his mortality. Sadly, against Millwall, that didn’t happen.

TL;DR: they like him a lot.

[Eirambler]

He's just the wrong kind of midfielder for some I think. He's not one for the slide rule threaded through balls that always show up in highlights reels or social media clips. What he does is different but equally important, arguably more important.

Cullen/Knight/Azaz in a midfield three this spring. Worth a shot.

[CSAD]

He's just the wrong kind of midfielder for some I think. He's not one for the slide rule threaded through balls that always show up in highlights reels or social media clips. What he does is different but equally important, arguably more important.

Cullen/Knight/Azaz in a midfield three this spring. Worth a shot.

He’s the kind of player every team needs. If he keeps on his current trajectory and doesn’t make another appalling career decision like staying at Derby like he did last season then I’ve no doubt he’ll be a premier league player and I think he’ll have a long premier league career at that.

[LurcherLover]

I can’t help but laugh at the COYBIG forum where one poster suggests that a top half championship player is the best Knight will ever be…so
Suggesting that at 22 years old he’s already hit the peak of his career…some people you just can’t argue with…To be honest, I would agree. I think he's an excellent player and an absolute work horse, but I don't think he has what it takes to cut it in the PL.

He could make it at other top leagues in Europe, but if we're specifically talking about the PL, then I don't see it(at this current time).

[Eirambler]

I think he can make it in the Premier League. In fact I think it's a league that would suit him more than other (arguably) more technical European leagues. Not every Premier League midfielder needs to be technically perfect on the ball. There's plenty of room for a player like Knight who will do the heavy lifting to allow the more technical types to stand out. He won't be playing for Man City or Arsenal, but he can definitely play 100+ games at that level for an Everton or a Crystal Palace. If James McCarthy, Jeff Hendrick or David Meyler could do it, then Knight absolutely can too.

[Olé Olé]

I thought YBIG was bad. Think il give this forum a wide berth also.

Just to reiterate with you, someone having a different opinion to you does not make them stupid or an idiot. I also didn't say that Knight had hit his peak, just that I don't see him having a long career in the PL. That's basically it. But, I hope I'm wrong.

I'll leave you to continue to call people idiots, stupid and with your 'lols'.

Please don't. This behaviour isn't representative.

[tetsujin1979]

Off topic posts and personal insults deleted.

[SkStu]

Jason Knight scores against Notts Forest in the cup. Not watching and havent seen the goal but the match texts talk about it being a lovely finish. Always nice to see him score, I think he's a premier league player in waiting.

[Eirambler]

Always has been. League 1 seemed to suck the life out of him, but I think he could go to a mid table Premier League team and be every bit as effective as he is for Bristol City. If he had joined another English team instead of Derby when he first went over he could easily have 60 or 70 Premier League appearances under his belt already.

[Olé Olé]

Scores away to Boro.

[zero]

While that's possible, I'd suggest he's doing fine. Closing in on 200 appearances, only last season at league one level the rest championship. Not a bad record for a guy of 22, and arguably better than being in PL2 team.