Towler v Pollock

Towler for me. He’s miles better than Pollock.

Reminds me of Lever or Handysides.

Reads the game, he’s physical and he’s fast. He’s also really good with the ball.

Quoted from Fillipe Noche

Towler for me. He’s miles better than Pollock.

Reminds me of Lever or Handysides.

Reads the game, he’s physical and he’s fast. He’s also really good with the ball.

Lever or Handyside? Such an odd combination, they were nothing like each other. Lever a good old fashioned stopper who’d try to head a ball wherever it was and could handily use his knee or shin to hit the ball. A good player in the team but he needed Tillson with him. Now if you’d said Tillson or Handyside then I could’ve agreed with that. Both quick and ball playing centre halves who were often where the ball was before the ball got there.

I’ve just realised who you are with that slip, you are Mark Lever and I claim my £5.  

We got £250k for Pollock. I know Towler is playing a level lower at the moment but he seems to have that extra yard of pace required higher up the pyramid. It's a real shame he's not our asset.

Towler is shocking, no idea what Hurst sees in him, if it wasn't for Morais covering him all game and playing 10 out 10 every week we would be losing every week.
I just hope Bristol don't realise this and come on with a straight swap player deal in January.

Towler is streets ahead of Pollock. Be amazed if he didn’t end up playing at a higher level than Pollock in the future

Quoted from Mariner_501

Towler is streets ahead of Pollock. Be amazed if he didn’t end up playing at a higher level than Pollock in the future

Agreed, looks classier on the ball aswell. A real Rolls-Royce player. Can match it up physically, good with the ball and also got a yard of pace about him.

Yesterday proved how good he really is. He was under pressure from their striker early doors and almost got caught out, he adapted and reacted and then never looked in bother again…

Usually when a defender gets the ball I'm not that interested and want them to get rid, when Towler gets the ball I really like watching him, he creates himself so much time, a big future in the game I reckon.    

I'm hoping the fact that he was included in the squad for Bromsgrove indicates that unless they get a problem Bristol keep him with us for the rest of the season.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Usually when a defender gets the ball I'm not that interested and want them to get rid, when this kid gets the ball I really like watching him, he creates himself so much time, a big future in the game I reckon.    

Towler has forever time or space…

Towler is classy. Reads it well, calm on the ball, has a yard of pace to allow him to recover very well (made a great late tackle second half yesterday) and yesterday showed he can go toe to toe with big physical forwards too. He has it all. He will play comfortably top half of championship, if not higher. Much better than Pollock who was very willing but limited.

Quoted from mariner91

Towler is classy. Reads it well, calm on the ball, has a yard of pace to allow him to recover very well (made a great late tackle second half yesterday) and yesterday showed he can go toe to toe with big physical forwards too. He has it all. He will play comfortably top half of championship, if not higher. Much better than Pollock who was very willing but limited.

That tackle in the second half was fantastic. It was exactly the type of situation we’ve been winning penalties from, but having someone if that quality at the back meant we had the pace and timing to deal with it without conceding a foul.

He strikes me as a young man who’s going to make a lot of money from football.

Yeah Towler streets ahead of Pollock for me, and that's not me knocking Pollock. He was a strong lad but for a youngen he really lacked pace. Towler has it all, even the Mrs likes him  

Quoted from LN8Mariner

Lever or Handyside? Such an odd combination, they were nothing like each other.

Agreed, Handyside and L ever were like chalk and cheese, completely different players to each other, which is probably why they complimented each other so much.

Towler for me & i was a pollock fan but this kid will play prem football in the future how we got him i will never know but enjoy watching him & waterfall play they are both determined to keep the ball out of our net

Towler is one of the best players we've had in years, fantastic on and off the ball, defensive skills superb, good at moving the ball about too. Pollock is very similar to Waterfall, very strong and a good header on him, good positioning skills too. Pollock will always be limited by lack of pace though and I think that's one reason him and Waterfall never worked as a pairing.

Waterfall looked much better this season and I think one reason is Towler being there allows him to play his game without being exposed too much because Towler is always there to cover where Pollock was not. Kind of like how Pearson became much better in his last spell in L2 when Collins came in over playing alongside Gowling as Pearson had more room to play his game with Collins there to sweep everything up.  

Towler no contest, got all the makings to become a very good level CB.

Yeah I would agree with all of the above, towler is absolutely class at this level - quick enough, great touch and passing, good awareness, good in the air. As others have said he seems to have so much time and space on the ball.

Pollock was extremely good for his age, great in the air, strong  as an ox, good positionally but he was slow and his passing was poor as well. He did carry more goal threat than Towler to be fair though.

Not really a fair comparison, is it? Pollock was a player of great potential in a very poor team, Towler probably more polished in a very good team.

Horses for courses.

Towler is more like a Hansen or VVD and similar stylish players.  Quick and reads the game well.  That tackle on Sat in the pen area!

Pollock is more of a no nonsense lionheart type, John Terry or Terry Butcher,  Great in backs to the wall, hard bloody encounters.(Butcher for England in Italy).

Both players and styles have their advantages in a good team.  We are fortunate to see both players in a Town shirt.

They’d be a great pairing!

Towler looks a great prospect and will definitely play higher up.

Pollock is completely dominant in the air, has great strength, is a decent footballer and a really good reader of the game. His only shortcoming is his lack of pace. Currently doing well in League 1 and will probably kick on to at the very least championship level.

Towler has a handful of games outside of league football, looks a great prospect, but the standard is certainly less challenging.

One piece of class I saw from Towler was in the Alty game with a ball coming down from the sky, a lesser defender would have hacked the ball clear but he waited for it to bounce before launching it down the field in a more controlled manner

As someone else said, it’s a shame he isn’t ours!

Towler and Waterfall - best defensive pairings for a long time.  Towler can only get better playing alongside the experienced Waterfall and I can see why his parent club will let him stay for the full season

Towler is much the better player. Good luck to Mattie Pollock, but his agent deserves an oscar for getting him to a current Premier league club and I hope Mattie has a great contract that sets him up.

Pollock’s a regular starter in league one so he must be playing well. Think last season was a tough one for a young centre back, but good to see he’s bounced back.

But, as others have said, I think Towler is a better all round centre back.

For me, and I said it during yesterday's game, a young
Paul Futcher.

That's some accolade.

Pollock looked incredibly promising from the point when he broke into the team.  His last season was tainted by poor planning for the whole team, a lack of confidence, carrying an injury and playing in a poor team.

However he never looked leagues above where he was playing.  I think with better facilities and development, he will improve dramatically.  

Towler, on the other hand, looks absolutely levels above where he's playing. Fully accepting that we're a level lower than last season but I can't imagine he would struggle in the league above, far from it.  

First ten minutes on Saturday I was worried as he was getting bullied by their centre-forward but he grew into the game and was absolutely peerless.  As composed a defender as I've seen in a Town shirt for a long time.