George Best and Paul Gascogne had God given talent but their potential was never really realised due to outside distractions among other things. Kevin Keegan was less talented but worked and practised to make the most of his talent. Perhaps that is what makes a great footballer.
I said this as gently as I could the other week. He’s come through our system which is great. He’s lightening quick which is good. Scored a great goal at the Bridge. Scored the latest ever equalizer at Old Trafford. He’ll be remembered for that but I don’t think he’ll progress as we’d hope. hopefully I’m wrong.
I'm fairly agnostic about Obafemi tbh. He certainly has potential and given the opportunities he's had over the season, Ralph clearly thinks that too. My concern is more around comments about his professionalism and attitude. We saw Stephens fall off significantly when he was (allegedly) being distracted by Austin and how much he has come on since Ralph arrived (and Charlie left). If Obafemi can knuckle down and apply himself the way Ralph wants, he could become a great player. If he stays, we'll need to patient I feel. We've been commenting recently about how great JWP is and how just a couple of years ago, many of thought he would never kick on. It could be that Oba needs a bit of time to get to the level we and Ralph expects. That said, if Ralph doesn't think it is there, get rid. So in a nutshell, in Ralph I Trust.
His first necessary step is to stay healthy for a spell, and he does have a tendency to become invisible for long stretches, but he has also racked up goals and assists at a per-minute rate that beats any other player in our squad* over the past two years. It's a very small sample, certainly, but doing that as a 19/20 year old is sufficient IMO to provide him more opportunities, so long as he works hard. *Yes, even Ings.
And at Obafemi's current age, Che Adams had never even played a game in the Championship. People expect too much from teenagers these days, because of the anomalies like Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho. Most players don't develop fully until well into their twenties. EDIT: Ooh, post number 1966!
and I’m still developing into my 40s...mainly around the middle. Maybe that make me ideal as PEHs replacement.
PEH's replacement? Let's see... Imagine you are sitting at the dinner table, and the person opposite asks you to 'pass' the salt. After picking up said condiment, does it find its way across the table, neatly placed within reach of the opposite person's hand? Or, does said condiment find itself shoved up inside the cat's arse, and booted out the front door into the street?
that's not fair - they took all my cats away for some reason. Even the neighbourhood cats don't come into my garden
You probably wouldn't be the worst. You wouldn't even be the worst to play for Saints. On a serious note, you could argue that, even though effort and commitment aren't enough, effort, commitment and natural athleticism often have been. Imagine if Vinnie Jones, Frannie Benali (sorry Franny), Adama Traore to name but three, had been naturally gifted footballers, as well as hard working athletes.
