Why does anyone rate Shola?

I'm perfectly happy for him to remain our backup for this season and emergency from then on, then hopefully a role with the club of some description. He's no Alan Shearer, but to say he was never 'good' is ludicrous. Always available when called on which has pretty much killed his body off and still pops up with goals, he's not a player you can rely on at this stage but he's better than many backups, and is still superior to Carlton Cole.

I'm sure Lovenkrands is a lovely fella, but he's useless against top flight opposition.

 

This. I think Lovenkrands' contract expires at the end of the season and I seriously doubt we'll renew it.

 

If Shola plays 10 PL games he'll get us a goal or two. If Ranger plays 10 PL games he won't score any. Decent enough squad player, but shouldn't be picked over Ba or Best.

 

How odd that every single manager has rated him............thing is if say Best stopped scoring he'd be back in a heartbeat.

 

I've asked myself this question for the last 2/3 years!!

 

Lovenkrands is worse than Shola IMO.

 

I prefer Lovenkrands, at least he makes an effort.

 

Lovenkrands works harder, has better ball control, is a better passer and crosser of the ball and can pull of more difficult finishes than Shola.

Shola is better in the air, but being better than Lovenkrands in the air is not an achievement. Shola must win about 1/5 headers from goal kicks. Any decent pair of CB's dominate him.

However, i would probably keep Shola over Lover, because Lover's qualities are already taken care of with other options like Ben Arfa, Marv and Jonas who can all support a striker, and he lacks a presence when playing as a striker, where as Shola can at least prove effective if only against the ****ter teams.

Lover is a better all round player, but we need all the strike power we can get, so even though it pains me to say it, I'd keep Shola over Lover.

Then again they got the same amount of goals last season, but 2 of Shola's were pens so i might be talking ****.

 

This.

 

i lol'd at this being a complaint about shola articles that you see as "pointless". now you know how a lot of people feel when you post pointless crap.

like it or not Shola has been around a long time and hes a big figure around nufc and is one of the longest serving players. would you play with a smashed hip and a broken face? have you scored 12 goals in europe.. scored against Barcelona? scored a hat full of goals in the derby?...

You might think Shola is ****e but hes a lot better than you and those on here that constantly berate him. The guy has done more for the club than most who have worn the shirt. and he cost nothing and we have had 10 years out of him. so stop complaining.

 

Thats fair enough but in fairness everyone is refering to this season and he has passed his sell by date!

 

1. I never said all the articles were pointless, i just don't like the fact that Shola being out seems like such a big deal.

2. Just because I'm not a pro footballer, doesn't mean i have no right to criticize a footballer for being ****. And not just for being ****, but for being a lazy bastard as well.

3. I never said i hated the bloke, in a way i love him as i said in the article. If he tried then i probably wouldn't criticize him that much, but his work rate is poor most of the time, which is why i have little respect for him as a player. If a player is ****, but has a go and works his bollocks off, I'll still respect him.

Using the old "Are you better than him? No, so shut up" thing is just pathetic mate.

 

no its not pathetic, hes done more for the club than any of us on here. we have very little right to criticize.

this season the games hes played he hadnt played much worse if at all than Lovenkrands and Ba had. hes only had 3 starts for ffs so you cant really complain about this seasons contribution.

 

Shola's problem is that when he was younger and fitter, he wasn't the target-man striker that he is now. He was a lot skinnier and quicker. He played off the main striker and could use his pace and good feet, making him a decent player.
However, he played when we needed him most and had no-one else and ended up knackering himself. He lost his pace and gained a bigger build, meaning that he now can only really play as a target man, and a rather average one at that.

I still love him though, and for some reason my Dad still rates him!

 

He's been paid throughout all the good moments, but he's also been paid throughout all of the long periods of him being ****.

He's done good things at times, but I don't know why you're acting like he's done us a favour by playing for us?

 

Lovenkrands is better than Shola. But that's not saying much. It's like saying you prefer horse **** over pig ****, at the end of the day, there both ****.

 

Chappaz comment pretty much sums up what i was about to say.

 

By this logic you can't say that certain music is **** unless you can proficiently play the instruments used to perform it. If a good musical artist releases a stinker you can still say that it blows. And it is an unfortunate fact that Shola has been terrible lately, this season when he has played he has made a notable poor impact and slowed down the flow of the game. He's a loyal and good lad who has contributed a lot, and I hope he stays with us in a coaching capacity but as a player he is crap now.

 

To try and say that Shola deserves credit just for being a footballer is incredibly stupid. The bloke is simply pathetic. I have said this before and I'll say it again, he is probably the worst striker to last in the premier league I've ever seen. He makes no effort, fails everytime he tries to make an effort and contributes nothing. The fact he was keeping Best out of the team under Hughton is a mockery, and probably the biggest failure of Hughton by a large margin. Apart from being an adopted Geordie there is nothing likeable.

 

ive supported NUFC for a long time and the amount of nobheads who have been through and dragged the club through the dirt and sat around for there ridiculous wage. .. all through that time shola has also been at the club, been a model pro. scored important goals never held the club to ransom with high wages. played games for us that could risk his career, yeah so what hes not the greatest ever footballing talent but hes been a very good servant to us. give the guy a ****ing break we have had a lot worse.