09 Nov 2026 19:43:11
Dibling got his first start this season for us against Coventry and although he didn't pull up any trees, the fact he keeps getting singled out by fans online is a disgrace to me.
Just read that again "his first start". How on earth is any player able to be deliver anything close to their best when they are not afforded to build up any rhythm or momentum in their play. You see it all the time, when players have come back from a long layoff, they always take time to get back up to speed. It is no different in this kids situation.
The lad played a part in 33 PL games for Southampton and had the best sides in Europe showing serious interest in him before Southampton put a truly ridiculous price on his head in the winter window. That dropped to 349 minutes of football under Moyes, with most of those minutes coming when our first 11 was obliterated and missing the likes of JB, Idrissa, Ndiaye, KDH and Grealish. That is half or our outfield starting 11 and arguably our best players.
Fast forward to this season where he has had at least a season to settle into his new home/city, gel with his teammates and simply find his feet as a 19 year old kid.
For me, he showed good signs in pre-season and looked like he had found a better level of confidence. What does the manager do, he doesn't give him a sniff until 5 games in, against Ipswich with a 24 minute appearance. He then gets 4 minutes away at Hull and 18 away at Highbury when the game is dead at 2-0.
That takes us to his first start against Coventry, where, again, he didn't pull up any trees but it was by no means a poor performance.
He had 1 shot, created 1 chance, 4 touches in the opposition box, completed 17/22 passes with a 77% success rate. Not impressive numbers by any means but not terrible.
It is his defensive numbers that were beneficial to the team though and this is what dispels the absolute myth that the lad doesn't work hard enough for the team and to get into a David Moyes side.
7 defensive contributions, 2 tackles, 1 interception, 1 recovery, 3 clearances, 2 headed clearances. Tarkowski, by comparison and someone who is seen as a defensive monster, managed 4 defensive contributions.
He equalled JB, Armstrong with his tackles and got more than Mykolenko and Tark.
The lad is also having to contend with a manager that stifles everything that is good and natural about his game. If he is afforded minutes to build up his confidence, he will quickly look a lot closer to that 40m that we paid for him.
Kid is still 20 and it is time he starts getting a fair crack of the whip. If he is still "rubbish" after 15/20 consistent games in this team, then fair enough, he should be judged but it is absolutely criminal the amount of agg this kid gets.
09 Nov 2026 22:05:21
Great post bn there's a player in dibling but he's not being allowed to play his natural game instead he's getting overlooked for brenan Johnson who is miles off being a good player.
09 Nov 2026 22:35:18
Good read as usual, BN. One of the problems TF has got is that we haven't got a proper, settled right back for support on the right hand side. Once we have someone in place, despite this being a problem position for many years, I think we will see more of the player he was at Southampton.
The only bit I disagree with you in your post is that, last season, he wasn't tracking back in the few minutes he got. Against Coventry, me and my mate both made the observation that he was getting back to help out more than we had seen. Again, he hasn't had much game time but it was noticeable that night. I thought he had a decent game, not great but he imposed himself a bit more than we have seen. Encouraging for the future.
10 Nov 2026 00:27:15
TD not TF, sorry!
10 Nov 2026 07:51:12
Spot on BN mate. I would keep both him and Rohl in the team let them build a partnership together, and just let the lad play.
10 Nov 2026 10:34:34
Don't know why any of our players get slagged off to be honest its not like we are spoilt for choice. We have a team that has basically been thrown together this season with very little established partnerships. JP Myko and Tarky in the backline 2 seasons and JG and KDH in midfield having played consistently last season.
10 Nov 2026 15:59:16
Great post that blue nose mate must admit you're like the statman fair play i would like see dibling get more minutes and hopefully he will with whatever has happened with the grealish situation I think the lad can come good in my opinion just needs a fair crack of the whip.