I notice in the papers today that Jol said the club were in talks with AJ over a new contract and that things were going well. Looks like we might not be getting a new striker this summer.
First bit of bad news I have heard today. My only conclusion is in 12 months he will walk on a free, and as there have been no concrete offers ,re sign and hope he starts to walk on water.
You never know, FFC_Madness, you might be right. Wasn't Gera offered a new contract on less favourable terms but turned it down? Maybe AJ will be invited to stay but on a more realistic figure. Jol was certainly singing his praises after the match. I think he said something like "every time I see him play he's fast and he scores". That would, of course, be because Jol has only seen him play 4 times unlike the rest of us.....
And against an opposition that he should have scored more... But to AJ's credit he produces some good assists and runs a lot. Regarding Gera, some people forget that they get older and slower (mind you Gera was never famous for his speed!). My worry regarding AJ's game is that he pushes Bobby too much out on the side. Bobby strength is in the middle against centre backs who tend to be slower than FBs. On the possitive side AJ offers a different style to our game which we have failed to explore. (Senderos' pass to Duff, could easily have been to AJ.) The only other worrying part of the story is Hughes position as FB... Out of depth, we need a proper FB on the right side. (Baird has been doing a good job.)
Certainly can't argue with AJ's work rate or his work ethic. I agree that he's not the perfect partner for Bobby but Jol seems to think he is and we've got to hope that under his guidance the partnership will improve. I agree with you about RB and I'm surprised Baird didn't play there last night.
Yeh he works hard but he has never produced anything for us, when he was fit and played with BZ everyone (not our fans) was saying how bad BZ was and that he didnt score and the rest of it, as soon as AJ got injured we got the best out of BZ for 2 seasons he has been immense for us, i would rather him leave and us not buy a striker then have him play as we wont score as many goals with him in the team. he is on too much money. keep him if he agrees to take a major paycut and i mean major. Rant over, (as you can tell AJ is one of my least favourite players) lol
Can't resist getting on my old hobby horse. Was at the match on Thursday but decided to watch it again just in case I was wrong. It was an unusual formation and my first thoughts were that Jol had done the old schoolboy thing of picking his best 11 players regardless of positions and so on. As the teams lined up I changed that view and said to my son, "no, he's better than that what Jol's doing is forcing them to play wide - Riise and Briggs overlapping on the left, Duff wide on the right." Well, whether that was the case, it my theory soon fell apart. The simple reason was AJ. He does not run the so-called channels, but diagonally. Unlike Bobby, he goes too early or too late and importantly doesn't pull the opposition out of position. Nor does he control the ball adequately or long enough to bring his own players into the game. I won't repeat all my previous points, just two - 1. he pushes Bobby wide and a Bobby standing out on the right waiting for the ball is an ineffective Bobby (he put in some good crosses on Thursday but of course he (Bobby) wasn't there to get them) 2. Aj's little deft flicks are more in hope than design The nub of it is that all too often our attacks quickly break down and we end up having to re-group and lose the initiative. On Hughes at RB. Very strange. I hope Mr Kelly took note. A wee bit worrying was Senderos and Hangeland together - they are very, very similar. I think a centre back pairing should compliment (take your choice on the spelling) each other. Hughes would do this with either of them but together? Ummm.
Is AJ going to be this seasons scapegoat for the fans ? I think most of us are getting frustrated with Andrew Johnson, his inability to score consistently against Premier clubs can not continue, and as has been said by others Zamora seems to play better with other players around him. Each manager who comes in seems to like his work rate and overlooks his inability to put the ball in the back of the net from the chances he gets. As they say he puts in a shift and runs and chases, but no end product. He was the same at Everton.
On a technical point of footballing regulations, if we have offered AJ a new contract on reduced terms, he is entitled to be sold as a free transfer if he declines. If the club is hoping to get a transfer fee for him (and has turned down some bids as being too low), it's unlikely to have risked this by asking him to reduce his wages. I can't imagine the club would overlook this, so my guess is that he hasn't been offered reduced wages at this stage.
He has been very frustrating over the last few years and I for one cannot defend him for this. I will admit, I want him gone, but if he stays then I guess we need to support Kol with his decision. I wasn't all that long ago BZ was getting slated and look at him now... Jol will make the right call I'm sure of it
