I think some of you just need to take a step back for a moment and stop hyping up our players so much https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/championship/top-scorers KLP is 18th on the list of top scorers this season with by far the most minutes per goal. We’ve got a talent but he’s got a long way to go.
That still need looking at with some perspective. Some are older, more experienced with premier league games previously. Better to compare with players of the same age, experience, games played and what level.
When I refer to UHNW owners I'm thinking the likes of top PL club owners. No, I'm not joking. I'm sure Acun knows he's not in the same league as those guys just as I'm sure he's planned how he might get us into a top 6 position with the resources he's got.
Just watched the highlights from Saturday. Loving Allahyar's pace and work rate but a word for Eaves too. Feel he has made a lot of contributions since Magennis left and he's been given more game time, and if Kane had laid one on for Son as he laid that goal on for KLP the TV pundits would have been raving about it. Personally really hope we extend his contract as definitely brings something different and i think the current coaching set up is making him a better player.
Eaves has improved a lot since coming to us but I wouldn't renew. I think there's better out there who are more polished. I don't really understand why he'd want to stay either, in the 3 years he's been with us, he never had much of a run in the side (1st year apart). Surely he wants to go somewhere and play regularly
When the previous manager says survival is a greater achievement than promotion then it indicates the expectation at the start of the season with the squad we began with. Very few would have got in any other Championship side at the start of the season but the youngsters have come on leaps and bounds, Honeyman, KLP, Smallwood have proved they could step up. Slater and Fleming have been revelations since coming into the side and Allayahar looks very promising indeed going forward. Looking forward to the summer window now. I still feel we have a lot of fringe players to offload who it's difficult to see getting a chance after the expected influx and it'll be interesting to see how many stay in the championship...
I can see us trying to release Cannon and Moncur by mutual consent in the summer, like we did with Flores and Mayer. New contracts for Smallwood, Honeyman and Ingram. Think Eaves, Wilks, Elder, Emmanuel and Huddlestone will leave when their contracts run out. Don’t know what we’re supposed to do with James Scott. His contract is until 2023 and his loan at Hibs has been a disaster with their manager/s publicly slating his lack of fitness. Can you really see anyone paying a fee for him?
Isn’t Scott on more than KLP and Greaves per week? I think Scott is one of those cases of being a half-decent footballer but a poor athlete. His ability is probably Championship-level but his attitude and commitment is that of a Sunday league player. Marcus Maddison is another one. They’ve got natural abilities and enjoy the lifestyle of being a footballer but perhaps can’t be arsed with the off-the-field graft like gym and training. The sorts of players who put on weight when injured because they put their feet up and order takeaways. Wilks might be in the same bracket tbh. Wasn’t he on Prinny or Newland ave drinking the same day as the game against Blackburn before the game was officially postponed?
I've got no real issue with players not playing having a drink, but Wilks desire and commitment when he has played has been a shadow of what it was last season. Think he scored more in the relegation year at this level despite less game time than this season. It isn't the first time his attitude has been questioned either. Maybe his head was turned last summer, maybe he's in the bracket you talk about but he's definitely not met expectations this term.
I’m not a Puritan so I don’t have an issue with players drinking either. Marcus Maddison actually spoke quite candidly in an interview when discussing his retirement from professional football and said he couldn’t be arsed with training, the diet and other non-glamorous aspects of being a pro footballer. The only part he enjoyed was Tuesdays and Saturdays when he played. He said he liked having a curry and a drink the evening after a Saturday game. Some players have talent, like Scott or Maddison, but maybe don’t want the commitments or expectations of being a pro like being in peak physical form all the time and having the club/manager dictate what they can or cannot do in their free time. They find it too regimented and monotonous. As a manager, Wenger was incredibly strict in terms of diet and lifestyle of his players. Ian Wright said he banned tea and coffee. I suppose the money is a strong incentive for sacrificing daily pleasures for decades but some players want to have their cake and eat it too, literally.
I think a lot of amateur footballers and fans have a dream of being a top flight footballer, whereas many of those with natural ability, simply see an easy way to get a lot of money, and effectively retire very early in life.
This is exactly how Maddison saw it. He enjoyed playing but compared the training and other stuff as being as monotonous as a 9-5 job. In the end, he sacked it off as he thought being a pro wasn’t worth being miserable. I imagine a few other athletes feel the same. Nick Kyrgios is a talented tennis player but he’s admitted openly that he actually hates tennis as a sport and only does it for money and nowt else.
