@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
I just worry that a player after being out for so long takes on mythical status. See Stuart Castedine. If Uche doesn’t score 30 goals by February there will be people disappointed
Let's hope not (although it wouldn't be surprising).
Hopefully people understand that we're set up around having a target man up front, and that's what he's been brought in to be, not necessarily be the actual scorer.
Let's just remind ourselves of the scoring record...
I just worry that a player after being out for so long takes on mythical status. See Stuart Castedine. If Uche doesn’t score 30 goals by February there will be people disappointed
I think some people have already convinced themselves that he's a mixture of Tyson, Bayo and Kashket
I'm not sure it's so much that, but it is natural to get enthusiastic about the clubs marquee signing.
Clearly everything is set up for him to be successful here, the team and system is going to build around him being the focal point. If hes not successful here, then I'm not sure theres another manager who will set it up for him as Gaz will moving forward.
Facts are we are not far off mid point for the season and Kashket is the only player who looks likely to contribute goals consistently. JJ is our next highest scorer with 2, both pens.
What I do know is that we are a decent championship outfit, we are competitive but we need create more and score. If Uche can start to open up space and stretches defences with his pace and strength, then I believe what we have backing him up is good enough going forward to drag us to safety.
Is Uche the marquee signing?
Or is Horgan?
Horgan came for a fee and is an international after all.
After the midweek game calls for knackered leggy players to get a rest. Players rested and we get why weren't X Y or Z starting they are our best players! I love football!
@woodlands said:
I was so appalled at the officials today that as I was leaving the ground I made a decision to stop watching football. After 64 years of watching the refs have finally driven me away. The sad thing is they won't care much the same as they won't care about their performance today.
@woodlands said:
I was so appalled at the officials today that as I was leaving the ground I made a decision to stop watching football. After 64 years of watching the refs have finally driven me away. The sad thing is they won't care much the same as they won't care about their performance today.
@chairboyscentral said:
Horgan's the marquee signing and Uche's the gazebo signing.
Horgan shows why he was a 50k signing and not a 500k signing. He can be truly outstanding technically and mentally one minute and then just makes the wrong decision time and time again. I love the guy and his endeavour is second to none but I find him increasingly frustrating. McCleary is the more consistent out of the two and joined us with little or no fanfare.
McCleary and Horgan are class and fine at this level. Wheeler is so good and hard working. Bayo has impact, Coventry could not handle him for the first ten minutes after he came on. Dom Gape is good but we probably need a quality creative midfielder alongside him...oh and a striker who can score 15-20 goals a season...and that striker needs to make clever runs to make himself available for balls from Horgan and McCleary...not just being on the end of crosses.
I’m not a huge fan of Tyler Walker (his Dad was great though) but Tyler does make clever runs off the ball to turn defences and cause problems, we saw some of that today. Did we see that with Wycombe?
Yes there’s lots to like about Horgan but also plenty to frustrate. His final ball is often poor which is frustrating given he needs to be one of our key sources of creativity.
@Forest_Blue said:
McCleary and Horgan are class and fine at this level. Wheeler is so good and hard working. Bayo has impact, Coventry could not handle him for the first ten minutes after he came on. Dom Gape is good but we probably need a quality creative midfielder alongside him...oh and a striker who can score 15-20 goals a season...and that striker needs to make clever runs to make himself available for balls from Horgan and McCleary...not just being on the end of crosses.
I’m not a huge fan of Tyler Walker (his Dad was great though) but Tyler does make clever runs off the ball to turn defences and cause problems, we saw some of that today. Did we see that with Wycombe?
You got several million knocking about for a 15-20 goals a season striker? Of which there were * checks notes * only eight in the Championship last season, four of whom are now in the Premier League. It's just not going to happen.
@Forest_Blue said:
McCleary and Horgan are class and fine at this level. Wheeler is so good and hard working. Bayo has impact, Coventry could not handle him for the first ten minutes after he came on. Dom Gape is good but we probably need a quality creative midfielder alongside him...oh and a striker who can score 15-20 goals a season...and that striker needs to make clever runs to make himself available for balls from Horgan and McCleary...not just being on the end of crosses.
I’m not a huge fan of Tyler Walker (his Dad was great though) but Tyler does make clever runs off the ball to turn defences and cause problems, we saw some of that today. Did we see that with Wycombe?
You got several million knocking about for a 15-20 goals a season striker? Of which there were * checks notes * only eight in the Championship last season, four of whom are now in the Premier League. It's just not going to happen.
Tongue firmly in cheek when I wrote that...we will have to develop one with potential, not buy one. So...a premier league loan player or a lower league striker who might develop and compete at this level.
@Forest_Blue said:
McCleary and Horgan are class and fine at this level. Wheeler is so good and hard working. Bayo has impact, Coventry could not handle him for the first ten minutes after he came on. Dom Gape is good but we probably need a quality creative midfielder alongside him...oh and a striker who can score 15-20 goals a season...and that striker needs to make clever runs to make himself available for balls from Horgan and McCleary...not just being on the end of crosses.
I’m not a huge fan of Tyler Walker (his Dad was great though) but Tyler does make clever runs off the ball to turn defences and cause problems, we saw some of that today. Did we see that with Wycombe?
You got several million knocking about for a 15-20 goals a season striker? Of which there were * checks notes * only eight in the Championship last season, four of whom are now in the Premier League. It's just not going to happen.
Tongue firmly in cheek when I wrote that...we will have to develop one with potential, not buy one. So...a premier league loan player or a lower league striker who might develop and compete at this level.
Fair enough! I'd love if we could develop Linton into one (I know nothing about him so no idea how likely this is, but it's been done).
must admit that I too was frustrated by his uneven performance but was also surprised he was subbed. Its almost like we cannot have two creative players on at a
The referee was poor and seemed to give an absurd number of soft fouls. He also did little to clamp down on time wasting and then only added 4 mins at at the end. I know we are one of the worst offenders for time wasting so cannot really complain, but often we've seen referees pnish this by handing out 7-8 mins added on at the end.
However, it also has to be said the ref did award us a soft pen and, if truth be told, it didn't look like we would get back into the game at that point otherwise.
Coventry seemed to be managing the two game lead well, and only let us back into the game in the final 20 mins when they struggled to deal with Bayo and Wheeler in the air. They really impress me every time we play them in fact. Extremely well organised, difficult to score against, and seem to know precisely how to turn the dial at the right moment to convert a short spell of pressure into a goal. A very efficient team that appear very well coached from a tactical perspective.
We actually countered their shape reasonably well in the main. The man marking set-up in midfield seemed to prevent Cov playing out and I thought Blooms and Gape were tidy on the ball. As a result most of the first 45 seemed to be played in Cov's half, but an individual error, punihsed by a superb strike, cost us dearly.
For the 20-30 mins prior to the first goal we just weren't doing enough to create chances, despite being lagely on top in the game. Horgan, McCleary and Fred clearly all have the ability to trouble defenders (alhough the latter has had 3-4 slow games now) so we need to improve pattern of play to work the ball out to them quickly in 1v1 situations, or, better still, a 2v1 with the full-back overlapping. Even in the last 20 mins today when Cov sat back we didn't do enough to stretch the play and get the ball to the wide players.
Once again, we needed Bayo's presence to create enough havoc to open up opportunities. There must be a good chance Bayo retires this season so we really must find alternative patterns of play in build-up that get us into the opposition's back four. We all hope Ikpeazu provides an answer, but we're unlikely ever to see a player with Bayo's unique skillset again.
On balance, chances for either team seemed about equal and a score draw might have been a fair result so it is really gutting not to get at least a point. And overall the team contiue to do remarkably well, especially considering how many are now playing out of positon due to injury. I think if we can get our best 11 fit for enough games in the new year we have a chance of sneaking 21st, which shows how remarkably we're doing in the grand scheme.
@Glenactico - unfortunately I think you are being incredibly optimistic if you think we can end up 21st. How we are performing is a reflection of our financial position. We clearly have not got enough Championship quality.
@davecz said:
Were Millwall right that Fred cannot compete in the Championship? A step too far?
I think that Fred's issue may be a lack of confidence. If he can get on the scoresheet somehow soon, however fortunately, he may turn the corner. I really hope he does, preferably against Millwall away.
From what I have seen and heard about Uche Ikpeazu I don’t think expectations should be too high. In terms of physique he is clearly ahead of both Horgan and McCleary but he is nowhere near them when it comes to technique or (from what I’ve observed) speed of thought. He can also be quite abrasive and will probably collect his fair share of yellow cards. On the latter point, I hope to be proved wrong of course.
Comments
Let's hope not (although it wouldn't be surprising).
Hopefully people understand that we're set up around having a target man up front, and that's what he's been brought in to be, not necessarily be the actual scorer.
Let's just remind ourselves of the scoring record...
https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=70648
Is Uche the marquee signing?
Or is Horgan?
Horgan came for a fee and is an international after all.
Horgan's the marquee signing and Uche's the gazebo signing.
After the midweek game calls for knackered leggy players to get a rest. Players rested and we get why weren't X Y or Z starting they are our best players! I love football!
Thanks big. Your posts often make me smile as well!
I think people are getting too tents about them saving us.
Drum set... DUM DUM DUMMMM XX
They're great characters to have inside the camp though.
Please may I purchase your ST woodlands?
See you next week.
We should have a pole to canvas opinion.
This is my worry...lovely player, would love to see him get in the box more
Horgan shows why he was a 50k signing and not a 500k signing. He can be truly outstanding technically and mentally one minute and then just makes the wrong decision time and time again. I love the guy and his endeavour is second to none but I find him increasingly frustrating. McCleary is the more consistent out of the two and joined us with little or no fanfare.
McCleary and Horgan are class and fine at this level. Wheeler is so good and hard working. Bayo has impact, Coventry could not handle him for the first ten minutes after he came on. Dom Gape is good but we probably need a quality creative midfielder alongside him...oh and a striker who can score 15-20 goals a season...and that striker needs to make clever runs to make himself available for balls from Horgan and McCleary...not just being on the end of crosses.
I’m not a huge fan of Tyler Walker (his Dad was great though) but Tyler does make clever runs off the ball to turn defences and cause problems, we saw some of that today. Did we see that with Wycombe?
Yes there’s lots to like about Horgan but also plenty to frustrate. His final ball is often poor which is frustrating given he needs to be one of our key sources of creativity.
I think Horgan is great.
Was very surprised when he was substituted today
You got several million knocking about for a 15-20 goals a season striker? Of which there were * checks notes * only eight in the Championship last season, four of whom are now in the Premier League. It's just not going to happen.
Tongue firmly in cheek when I wrote that...we will have to develop one with potential, not buy one. So...a premier league loan player or a lower league striker who might develop and compete at this level.
Fair enough! I'd love if we could develop Linton into one (I know nothing about him so no idea how likely this is, but it's been done).
I
On at a time. Damn these tiny keyboards !
Still can't tell if it was offside or not, but if the assistant is putting his flag up that late then surely he's just guessing.
Quite infuriating game again.
The referee was poor and seemed to give an absurd number of soft fouls. He also did little to clamp down on time wasting and then only added 4 mins at at the end. I know we are one of the worst offenders for time wasting so cannot really complain, but often we've seen referees pnish this by handing out 7-8 mins added on at the end.
However, it also has to be said the ref did award us a soft pen and, if truth be told, it didn't look like we would get back into the game at that point otherwise.
Coventry seemed to be managing the two game lead well, and only let us back into the game in the final 20 mins when they struggled to deal with Bayo and Wheeler in the air. They really impress me every time we play them in fact. Extremely well organised, difficult to score against, and seem to know precisely how to turn the dial at the right moment to convert a short spell of pressure into a goal. A very efficient team that appear very well coached from a tactical perspective.
We actually countered their shape reasonably well in the main. The man marking set-up in midfield seemed to prevent Cov playing out and I thought Blooms and Gape were tidy on the ball. As a result most of the first 45 seemed to be played in Cov's half, but an individual error, punihsed by a superb strike, cost us dearly.
For the 20-30 mins prior to the first goal we just weren't doing enough to create chances, despite being lagely on top in the game. Horgan, McCleary and Fred clearly all have the ability to trouble defenders (alhough the latter has had 3-4 slow games now) so we need to improve pattern of play to work the ball out to them quickly in 1v1 situations, or, better still, a 2v1 with the full-back overlapping. Even in the last 20 mins today when Cov sat back we didn't do enough to stretch the play and get the ball to the wide players.
Once again, we needed Bayo's presence to create enough havoc to open up opportunities. There must be a good chance Bayo retires this season so we really must find alternative patterns of play in build-up that get us into the opposition's back four. We all hope Ikpeazu provides an answer, but we're unlikely ever to see a player with Bayo's unique skillset again.
On balance, chances for either team seemed about equal and a score draw might have been a fair result so it is really gutting not to get at least a point. And overall the team contiue to do remarkably well, especially considering how many are now playing out of positon due to injury. I think if we can get our best 11 fit for enough games in the new year we have a chance of sneaking 21st, which shows how remarkably we're doing in the grand scheme.
What a good summary of the game. Factual, accurate and a fine balance between optimism and realism.
@Glenactico - unfortunately I think you are being incredibly optimistic if you think we can end up 21st. How we are performing is a reflection of our financial position. We clearly have not got enough Championship quality.
I think that Fred's issue may be a lack of confidence. If he can get on the scoresheet somehow soon, however fortunately, he may turn the corner. I really hope he does, preferably against Millwall away.
Bournemouth away for me
From what I have seen and heard about Uche Ikpeazu I don’t think expectations should be too high. In terms of physique he is clearly ahead of both Horgan and McCleary but he is nowhere near them when it comes to technique or (from what I’ve observed) speed of thought. He can also be quite abrasive and will probably collect his fair share of yellow cards. On the latter point, I hope to be proved wrong of course.