All having a giraffe, AAH did not want to sit on the bench. He's gone out on loan to a struggling L1 side, played several games over 80mins in most, scored, was in L1 team of the week, won Oldhams goal of the month and MOTM, assisted in them staying up and people on here are swinging for him because he didn't want too warm our bench and watch Hayes and Thommo have all the fun been picked week after week. Wonder if Thommo would be or cheerful getting 10-15 minutes when we are one nil down and rinse and repeat the following week.
The gist of it was man management if he was that crap why would Ainsworth offer a contract. We have borrowed how many strikers after January and how did they fair?
Our style of play has to change in order for any striker we put up front to score, you all and including me where singing about give us a goal, as the service is dire and chances are near nil.
So we will see who Ainsworth brings in this coming season and then have a several threads how poor they are instead of looking at why it's a strikers graveyard at the club.
I am just watching this one with interest, tbh he would probably score goals in scotland judging by how poor the standard of football is and we think we have to watch dross week in week out ..... anything below the Premier in Scotland is dreadful fare.
@aloysius said:
Well I for one hope Warburton does sign Holloway and he develops into a hugely successful, goalscoring machine. And I hope if and when he does, Gareth Ainsworth learns the important lesson: when you have a rough diamond, build your team around him rather than alienating him in a pointless display of machismo.
For all his mistakes this season - of which there have been many - Ainsworth's treatment of Holloway is the one I am most angry about and the one I expect is most likely to bite him in the bottom.
I hope it's a lesson he learns this summer. Ainsworth is clearly very good at spotting talent but not particularly impressive at nurturing it. We have two young central midfielders in Rowe and O'Nien he could build the team round next season, if he so chooses. He will reap the dividends if he does, but it means allowing them to play attractive football, passing the ball through the midfield rather than hoofing it over the top.
Anyway, that veered slightly off topic. Holloway is the most talented player to wear the Wycombe shirt this season and would be an excellent addition to your squad, in my opinion. Sign him up!
Before criticising Ainsworth on his man management skills, It should be borne in mind that some players despite their undoubted skills cannot be successfully integrated into a team. Also in all walks of life there will be an unavoidable clash of personalities which may be the case here.
Jason Banton is an example who has already been at 9 clubs and is still only 23. That means at least 9 managers have tried to make him an established player. At a higher level you have the likes of Balotteli.
I feel Ainsworth was partly successful in integrating Morgan into his playing style, an achievement not reached by a number of Morgan's past and subsequent managers.
Fully agree @mooneyman but it doesn't make coming to terms with the loss(?) of AAH any easier. Has any Wycombe player/ manager relationship ever generated this degree of controversy/frustration?
why is anybody bothered he is leaving ?? have I missed some magnificent player who scored hatfuls of goals for us ?? No I didn't think so ..... Id rather have Hayes myself who is proven year on year and will if not injured for half a season score more goals than AAH will. I totally agree we need more firepower and legs around hayes though, I also think a midfield with Rowe and O Nien at the heart could be a massive plus next year.
Well I think the dross we are serving up is sh1t tbfh. I support the team nevertheless but stopped bring friends as I did on occasions as it's was embarrassing to explain "So who did he kick that too?", when from the back or the Keeper, we launch into the oppositions half or penalty area.
Ainsworth is the architect, so style of play rests with him and who he selects to play.
This is the second season we have slacked away after Xmas, as the main team (no rotation policy here) are knackered with the amount of GPS/high intencity running they do, often without the ball. Will we learn from this and adjust?
Had we persevered with Aaron Holloway and played him every week regardless of his tepid goal celebrations and reluctance to run around like a headless chicken, I personally think we'd be in the play-offs.
Possibly true @Vital but I feel that had PCH not got injured and had played every week in place of the loaned out AAH (which must have been the intention when bringing PCH in and sending AAH out) there would have been a greater chance of Wycombe now being in the play-offs than if we had persevered with AAH.
With hindsight, knowing about PCH's injury, it would have been good to have kept AAH at Adams Park in case of this eventuality arising. At the time, however, it was probably difficult for Ainsworth to justify paying an extra set of wages to have a guy sitting on the bench, or even sat in the stands with the unselected and injured squad members, who may or may not have been required and who it was known would be getting more and more fed up and disillusioned every day.
He wasn't exactly setting the world on fire in the early season, if he had been I think he'd have been in the team more. He was excellent at times last season but he never replicated that form this year (except maybe Millwall away?).
I doubt very much that he was sent away for 'tepid goal celebrations' or the fact that he walked down the tunnel immediately after the whistle at Villa park. But I do think that those were symptoms of a breakdown in the relationship between Wycombe Wanderers and Amadi-Holloway.
I would love to have him back here playing well and as a happy member of the squad, he's a talented lad and seemingly has all the attributes to go on to have a good career. But I don't think it's going to happen.
@Chris Even when he was smouldering rather than on fire, he still looked more likely to score than those who replaced him.
And I'm sure you're right that he wasn't sent away for tepid goal celebrations and unfortunate body language. His card was marked long before that from what I heard.
Shame really, because the attributes you mention were exactly what we lacked this season - flair, skill, entertainment and goals.
Unless injury hampers his future career, I think he'll definitely go down as "one who got away."
@Vital obviously knows more than he is letting on. Do spill, if you can!
For me it was clear something was up during the summer when that curious article appeared in the BFP, with Paul Hayes suggesting this would be the season that made AAH's career if he knuckled down and pushed on. It seemed a very strange and public rebuke couched in positive terms and reminded me very much of the BFP interview with Stevie Craig on player bonuses. In both cases I got the impression Gareth Ainsworth was sending out proxies to put public pressure on others in the club. A good tactic if done well - but not sure it helped repair relations with Holloway.
Holloway was not playing well for Wycombe this season, I'm not sure that can be disputed. Who was responsible for that I don't know, but that is certainly up for discussion.
All I know is that since he's gone he's taken on a mythical status as Wycombe's answer to Alan Shearer.
This is a fairly common occurrence in the football fan narrative, and often happens when players have long term injuries
You're right that that Villa Park nonsense is a smokescreen. Fans can get so pissy and self important at times. Remember when fans started demanding refunds from players a few years ago after we'd lost at Chesterfield?
@eric_plant Plenty of players who weren't performing well for Wycombe this season kept getting picked in the hope that their form would recover - which in several cases it never did.
Holloway wasn't afforded that luxury.
That's despite his outstanding form at the end of last season, which was anything but mythical.
He did play well in the play offs, apart from ballsing up that chance at Wembley to put is 2-0 up near the end(!)
We only see one part of it all though don't we? I'm sure there must be a reason he was left out, same as there must have been with Rowe I suppose. I tend to think that a manager's job is on the line according to what happens on the pitch, so they should probably luck the exact side they want to
I even thought this when a personality clash with Gary Waddock forced my favourite ever player, Tommy Doherty, to leave the club
@Vital said:
eric_plant Plenty of players who weren't performing well for Wycombe this season kept getting picked in the hope that their form would recover - which in several cases it never did.
Holloway wasn't afforded that luxury.
That's despite his outstanding form at the end of last season, which was anything but mythical.
It's all a bit of a shame really.
@Vital said:
eric_plant Plenty of players who weren't performing well for Wycombe this season kept getting picked in the hope that their form would recover - which in several cases it never did.
Holloway wasn't afforded that luxury.
That's despite his outstanding form at the end of last season, which was anything but mythical.
It's all a bit of a shame really.
That is so true. Like ugwu coming straight in and holloway benched for quite a few games as I can remember.
@scarlet ; five straight games in fact after stating players coming in need to be Wycomized that must of miffed off Banton.
Plus keep your shirt etc, if you played well to be benching the following week. I recall watching a game when AAH scored, following week a nice article, to see him benched on Saturday. Seemed any press before the weekend, was the kiss of death.
The main thing was Ainsworth, said one thing did another and the younger players took the blunt of of those decisions. Yes, there professionals etc but look where that's got us.
@aloysius Building a team around a rough diamond is risky strategy. Its a two-way street. AAH had a good end to last season. Had a so so start to this and got dropped which is right. He then was given a handful of chances to shine and didn't. The fans were supportive of him at every turn and willed him to perform which made his snub at Villa Park worse.
Ugwu is undoubtedly no where near as talented as AAH but he applies what he has. But at this level that is what you get. Morgan was no different. On his day a world beater, if he turned up not wanting to play then he was a liability.
Lost count of how many players we borrowed to throw upfront, even after all the singing and chanting of Uwgu's name and Uwgu wasn't classed as a liability but pretty much benched after Xmas.
Incredible post from Aloysius earlier, almost suggesting Holloway is a poor mistreated super talented player who was victimised by big bad manager Ainsworth, who would rather make a big man point to him against the better bet for the team.
Completely missing that Holloway's attitude clearly hasn't been as good as it could have been, and at times on the pitch seemed a fairly passionless individual. Not to mention giving very very few hints he was ever going to explode into even a moderately frequent goalscorer.
The idea of building a team at our level round anyone, let alone such a character is incredible.
On O Nien, I think he's already played his way into key player territory.
Rowe clearly a completely different kettle of fish. Can he do a better job than Bean there? I'm not at all sure.
Every single manager ever "misses" a player, or loses one. Even Fergie missed a few that went onto be quality elsewhere. It happens. Not every manager can deal with every whim and fancy of every player.
Hindsight may well tell us that Thompson instead of Holloway wasn't clever at all, but it looked a decent signing on paper, and was done I nthe best of faith.
Comments
Didn't GA say fairly recently that Aaron was still in his plans? Whether Wycombe Wanderers are in Aaron Holloway's plans may be another matter.
All having a giraffe, AAH did not want to sit on the bench. He's gone out on loan to a struggling L1 side, played several games over 80mins in most, scored, was in L1 team of the week, won Oldhams goal of the month and MOTM, assisted in them staying up and people on here are swinging for him because he didn't want too warm our bench and watch Hayes and Thommo have all the fun been picked week after week. Wonder if Thommo would be or cheerful getting 10-15 minutes when we are one nil down and rinse and repeat the following week.
The gist of it was man management if he was that crap why would Ainsworth offer a contract. We have borrowed how many strikers after January and how did they fair?
Our style of play has to change in order for any striker we put up front to score, you all and including me where singing about give us a goal, as the service is dire and chances are near nil.
So we will see who Ainsworth brings in this coming season and then have a several threads how poor they are instead of looking at why it's a strikers graveyard at the club.
I am just watching this one with interest, tbh he would probably score goals in scotland judging by how poor the standard of football is and we think we have to watch dross week in week out ..... anything below the Premier in Scotland is dreadful fare.
Morning Rmj, guess you didn't catch AAH League 1 goal contender for March.
It's was 25 yarder half volley.
Don't think it's likely anyway judging by oldhams forum which I had a nosey at last night. Looks like they want him there .
Only person with a brain cell! Spot on
Before criticising Ainsworth on his man management skills, It should be borne in mind that some players despite their undoubted skills cannot be successfully integrated into a team. Also in all walks of life there will be an unavoidable clash of personalities which may be the case here.
Jason Banton is an example who has already been at 9 clubs and is still only 23. That means at least 9 managers have tried to make him an established player. At a higher level you have the likes of Balotteli.
I feel Ainsworth was partly successful in integrating Morgan into his playing style, an achievement not reached by a number of Morgan's past and subsequent managers.
Fully agree @mooneyman but it doesn't make coming to terms with the loss(?) of AAH any easier. Has any Wycombe player/ manager relationship ever generated this degree of controversy/frustration?
why is anybody bothered he is leaving ?? have I missed some magnificent player who scored hatfuls of goals for us ?? No I didn't think so ..... Id rather have Hayes myself who is proven year on year and will if not injured for half a season score more goals than AAH will. I totally agree we need more firepower and legs around hayes though, I also think a midfield with Rowe and O Nien at the heart could be a massive plus next year.
Well I think the dross we are serving up is sh1t tbfh. I support the team nevertheless but stopped bring friends as I did on occasions as it's was embarrassing to explain "So who did he kick that too?", when from the back or the Keeper, we launch into the oppositions half or penalty area.
Ainsworth is the architect, so style of play rests with him and who he selects to play.
This is the second season we have slacked away after Xmas, as the main team (no rotation policy here) are knackered with the amount of GPS/high intencity running they do, often without the ball. Will we learn from this and adjust?
Had we persevered with Aaron Holloway and played him every week regardless of his tepid goal celebrations and reluctance to run around like a headless chicken, I personally think we'd be in the play-offs.
Possibly true @Vital but I feel that had PCH not got injured and had played every week in place of the loaned out AAH (which must have been the intention when bringing PCH in and sending AAH out) there would have been a greater chance of Wycombe now being in the play-offs than if we had persevered with AAH.
With hindsight, knowing about PCH's injury, it would have been good to have kept AAH at Adams Park in case of this eventuality arising. At the time, however, it was probably difficult for Ainsworth to justify paying an extra set of wages to have a guy sitting on the bench, or even sat in the stands with the unselected and injured squad members, who may or may not have been required and who it was known would be getting more and more fed up and disillusioned every day.
He wasn't exactly setting the world on fire in the early season, if he had been I think he'd have been in the team more. He was excellent at times last season but he never replicated that form this year (except maybe Millwall away?).
I doubt very much that he was sent away for 'tepid goal celebrations' or the fact that he walked down the tunnel immediately after the whistle at Villa park. But I do think that those were symptoms of a breakdown in the relationship between Wycombe Wanderers and Amadi-Holloway.
I would love to have him back here playing well and as a happy member of the squad, he's a talented lad and seemingly has all the attributes to go on to have a good career. But I don't think it's going to happen.
@Chris Even when he was smouldering rather than on fire, he still looked more likely to score than those who replaced him.
And I'm sure you're right that he wasn't sent away for tepid goal celebrations and unfortunate body language. His card was marked long before that from what I heard.
Shame really, because the attributes you mention were exactly what we lacked this season - flair, skill, entertainment and goals.
Unless injury hampers his future career, I think he'll definitely go down as "one who got away."
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it Holloway that asked to leave?
@scarlet Whether he ultimately did or not, it hardly tells the full story.
@Vital obviously knows more than he is letting on. Do spill, if you can!
For me it was clear something was up during the summer when that curious article appeared in the BFP, with Paul Hayes suggesting this would be the season that made AAH's career if he knuckled down and pushed on. It seemed a very strange and public rebuke couched in positive terms and reminded me very much of the BFP interview with Stevie Craig on player bonuses. In both cases I got the impression Gareth Ainsworth was sending out proxies to put public pressure on others in the club. A good tactic if done well - but not sure it helped repair relations with Holloway.
Holloway was not playing well for Wycombe this season, I'm not sure that can be disputed. Who was responsible for that I don't know, but that is certainly up for discussion.
All I know is that since he's gone he's taken on a mythical status as Wycombe's answer to Alan Shearer.
This is a fairly common occurrence in the football fan narrative, and often happens when players have long term injuries
You're right that that Villa Park nonsense is a smokescreen. Fans can get so pissy and self important at times. Remember when fans started demanding refunds from players a few years ago after we'd lost at Chesterfield?
I remember when Joe Cole became the best player in England by not being selected for the England team.
This whole discussion reminds me somewhat of Alan Beeton.
I cant remember anyone bemoaning the loss of Alan Beeton ?
Arguably the worst ever WWFC player to reach the 50 appearences milestone.
I think rmj is up in Glasgow negotiating AAH's contract.
@eric_plant Plenty of players who weren't performing well for Wycombe this season kept getting picked in the hope that their form would recover - which in several cases it never did.
Holloway wasn't afforded that luxury.
That's despite his outstanding form at the end of last season, which was anything but mythical.
It's all a bit of a shame really.
He did play well in the play offs, apart from ballsing up that chance at Wembley to put is 2-0 up near the end(!)
We only see one part of it all though don't we? I'm sure there must be a reason he was left out, same as there must have been with Rowe I suppose. I tend to think that a manager's job is on the line according to what happens on the pitch, so they should probably luck the exact side they want to
I even thought this when a personality clash with Gary Waddock forced my favourite ever player, Tommy Doherty, to leave the club
That is so true. Like ugwu coming straight in and holloway benched for quite a few games as I can remember.
@scarlet ; five straight games in fact after stating players coming in need to be Wycomized that must of miffed off Banton.
Plus keep your shirt etc, if you played well to be benching the following week. I recall watching a game when AAH scored, following week a nice article, to see him benched on Saturday. Seemed any press before the weekend, was the kiss of death.
The main thing was Ainsworth, said one thing did another and the younger players took the blunt of of those decisions. Yes, there professionals etc but look where that's got us.
are we now saying GA finds it hard to leave Garry out so left AAH instead ???
@aloysius Building a team around a rough diamond is risky strategy. Its a two-way street. AAH had a good end to last season. Had a so so start to this and got dropped which is right. He then was given a handful of chances to shine and didn't. The fans were supportive of him at every turn and willed him to perform which made his snub at Villa Park worse.
Ugwu is undoubtedly no where near as talented as AAH but he applies what he has. But at this level that is what you get. Morgan was no different. On his day a world beater, if he turned up not wanting to play then he was a liability.
Lost count of how many players we borrowed to throw upfront, even after all the singing and chanting of Uwgu's name and Uwgu wasn't classed as a liability but pretty much benched after Xmas.
Incredible post from Aloysius earlier, almost suggesting Holloway is a poor mistreated super talented player who was victimised by big bad manager Ainsworth, who would rather make a big man point to him against the better bet for the team.
Completely missing that Holloway's attitude clearly hasn't been as good as it could have been, and at times on the pitch seemed a fairly passionless individual. Not to mention giving very very few hints he was ever going to explode into even a moderately frequent goalscorer.
The idea of building a team at our level round anyone, let alone such a character is incredible.
On O Nien, I think he's already played his way into key player territory.
Rowe clearly a completely different kettle of fish. Can he do a better job than Bean there? I'm not at all sure.
Every single manager ever "misses" a player, or loses one. Even Fergie missed a few that went onto be quality elsewhere. It happens. Not every manager can deal with every whim and fancy of every player.
Hindsight may well tell us that Thompson instead of Holloway wasn't clever at all, but it looked a decent signing on paper, and was done I nthe best of faith.