May or may not have scored his first senior goal tonight at the City Ground. His shot was on target but deflected off teammate Matt Smith, who will have a first half hat-trick if credited with the goal, which it now seems likely that he will.
Ireland Under-21 captain Jayson Molumby on Stephen Kenny's big strength, a World Cup dream and 'proper football'
Jayson Molumby admits he has fantasised about playing for Ireland at the World Cup finals and he believes the glory days can return with a bright new generation of stars working under Stephen Kenny's guidance.
An update on Molumby. He's going back to Brighton and they'll see if he's part of their plans for next season:
'He’s got huge potential' - Millwall want Ireland U21 skipper Jayson Molumby back https://the42.ie/5157560
You'd have to think he has a good chance of breaking into the Brighton midfield, it looks like the weakest area of their team. Possible that they may invest in a couple of other midfielders during the break though. Even then I'd still back him to make a breakthrough next season.
Stephens, Propper and Bissouma are their three guys in there. None of them are Roy Keane.
There hasnt been much talk emanating from the management about him which seems surprising. The only talk is about getting Ben White back from Leeds. Another strong season where milwall are competing for the top 6 and play-offs cant be too bad for him anyway.
He did feature in a lot of pre-season last year, so whether its a case of new management not thinking he was ready or that a loan was better who knows. Gross and mooy sometimes play in there too.
Last edited by paul_oshea; 24/07/2020 at 1:43 PM.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
They tend to play further forward though. I think that is the trio that he would be competing with for two spots.
As I said above, the coaches at Brighton will assess him and see how close he can be to the first team. I'm sure they'll make a sensible call on that basis.
Brighton look like they have won the race for Adam Lallana. That will make things a little tighter for Jayson as he tries to get into the midfield.
Or maybe it won't. Another way of looking at it is that Lallana could be a good fit for playing beside Jayson. He plays slightly further forward than Jayson. He wants to move into coaching, apparently, at the end of his playing time there so he should be good with a younger player. And that bit quality and experience Lallana would carry in there might give Potter more confidence to play Jayson in beside him. I think Brighton's midfield has been played through any time I have seen them this season. Jayson's aggression and Lallana's energy might help change that.
Seems similar to Derby signing Rooney and the impact on Jason Knight. Ultimately it has cost Knight in terms of game time this season. What we don't know is how much, if at all, Knight has benefitted from training and playing with someone like Rooney.
While Lallana is talking about moving into coaching he has only just turned 32 so I'd expect him to be a first team player for a few years yet. However, having said all that, I'm not sure that they would actually be competing for the same position in the Brighton midfield, they are very a different type of midfielder.
The addition of Lallana's creativity into the team could be good news for Aaron Connolly also.
Last edited by Eirambler; 26/07/2020 at 9:28 AM.
I think you have made two conflicting points there. So, Rooney cost Knight game time. On the other hand, Lallana and Molumby, you say, won't be competing for the same position in Brighton's midfield. Rooney and Knight were by no means competing for the same position in Derby's midfield- Rooney was playing deeper and centrally and Knight more advanced and generally on the left.
My point on Molumby is simply that they will be putting 3 midfielders on the park and there will be a bit of work to get the right blend there.
I think we're pretty much in agreement to be honest, I was purposely making different points really (basically you could argue it either way at this point).
Just on Knight - he's playing out on the left largely since and because of the Rooney signing - he's been knocked out of his position in the middle (Louis Sibley breaking through just a few months after him also hasn't helped). It's good that he still gets a lot of minutes but not great that he is playing out of position.
Most Derby fans wouldn't actually have him in their starting team next season - not because they don't rate him but because they have so many central midfielders that he can't get in the team there and playing him out on the left disrupts the balance a bit - they'll probably sign or bring through a more natural left sided midfielder this summer.
He was on the right the couple of times I saw him recently, so versatile at least.
Last edited by DeLorean; 28/07/2020 at 9:07 AM.
Good interview with Molumby on Off the ball last night - football show part - starts about 9.30. Seems like abit of a character in a good way.
Seems to have a sense of humour too. Said that he was suspended from school around the time of his junior certificate for "acting the... the bit of the b0ll0cks".
“I was sitting around for long enough during quarantine, so I won’t be doing it once the season starts.
“I won’t be spending the season playing nonsense matches like Under-23s. If the gaffer can’t guarantee me involvement I’ll be straight back on loan.”
“At the time Millwall were talking about making a bid, I wasn’t feeling a lot of love from Brighton. That changed once they showed I was part of their future by giving me a long-term contract.”
“I can offer the Ireland team something that’s not there. It can only help that Stephen understands my game from the Under-21s.
Love his attitude.
I'm wondering has Kenny had a word with some of the younger players, along the lines of "just make sure you're playing football somewhere, I know what you can do, I know what you offer. Once you're playing football, you're in"?
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Graham Potter was in Off The Ball during the week. I listened back to the interview. He speaks in a very factual and sterile manner so it was quite difficult to glean much from the conversation on Duffy, Molumby or Connolly.
He gave zero away on Duffy. I assume they will sell but there's money to extract there so saying nothing might be the best policy.
He spoke almost interchangeably on Molumby and Connolly. He kept saying how the lads had "good attributes". So, he referred to Connolly's pace and ability to get behind defences over and over. And he wasn't getting carried away with Connolly. He said he has a lot to learn and to improve in his game, but again relayed the point on the aforementioned "good attributes."
Potter spoke in similar terms to Molumby. Highlighted particularly his attitude and desire to improve. Also stated he had "good attributes." He made a couple of points on his thinking with how he might use Molumby. He is hesitant to have too many young lads in his team as it creates pressure on him if things go awry. I'm thinking Lamptey, White (if he stays), Connolly and Molumby are all unlikely to start at once- that may be where he was going with that. Ultimately, he said that he is going to leave it to the last minute if at all possible because he is still undecided whether to keep Molumby for the season. Both Potter and Jayson are keen for games. Potter said he needs to get to know Molumby better before he can commit to that.
I reckon that unless an impossible to refuse opportunity arises, like say a manager comes to Potter in a top tier European side or top tier Championship side with a solid proposal for using Molumby then they will hold onto him until late in the window. Is the window open for 6 weeks at the beginning of the season? Ample time to try Molumby in a more experienced selection. And if he doesn't feel particularly sure, Molumby could go to Millwall or somewhere similar.
The last paragraph contains just my own conclusions based on what Potter was saying. He was clear in that they're in no rush to make a decision, he likes what he sees and that the blend of youth and experience in his team is essential.
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