Weekend Debate

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6 months left on his contract - can’t see anyone doing that. Think if Blackburn were midtable he’d definitely go - but if they harbour hopes of promotion they might still play hardball.
They're in with a shout of promotion so no way will they let him leave on the cheap. £10m would be a fair price with the contract situation but if it cost them promotion....
 
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They're in with a shout of promotion so no way will they let him leave on the cheap. £10m would be a fair price with the contract situation but if it cost
them promotion....

agree… don’t think they will go up, buts it’s such a sh*t league this year anything is possible. Burnley + any 2 from 20.
 
agree… don’t think they will go up, buts it’s such a sh*t league this year anything is possible. Burnley + any 2 from 20.
Because of that they are possibly thinking this is the best chance we'll get in a long time.
 
Back on the grass in December by all accounts :emoticon-0148-yes: in fairness he may be the only +30yo still at the club next season, unless we go down

So probably February before he plays, just wondered if it was earlier, he could fit in at LB, and move Struijk into the middle
 
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So probably February before he plays, just wondered if it was earlier, he could fit in at LB, and move Struijk into the middle
Think I heard Marsch when asked when he would be back and he said December. Maybe I’m assuming that meant back in training, but it could mean back ready to play. I know he was in London 2 weeks ago with the specialist who said alll looks good, step up your recovery….
 
Think I heard Marsch when asked when he would be back and he said December. Maybe I’m assuming that meant back in training, but it could mean back ready to play. I know he was in London 2 weeks ago with the specialist who said alll looks good, step up your recovery….
Just did a quick Google but not clear if date is a return to training or playing, I'd hazard a guess at full time training

Marsch said (14 Oct): "Stuart is making good progress, and we're planning on bringing him along with us with whatever we do. He'll be part of the group, so that's big progress there."

Potential return date: 01/01/2023
 
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Lets look at Patrick Bamford, who has never ever been a prolific striker. You can say whatever you want and say things like some strikers mature later and score regular then. In Paddy’s case this is the pattern over the last 5 seasons:
18/19 23 games and 9 goals a 39% average
19/20 45 games and 16 goals a 35% average
20/21 38 games and 17 goals 44% average (A freak season) his goals got us to 9th in the prem
21/22 9 games and 2 goals a 22% average
22/23 10 games with zero goals a 0% average.
Which is a 35% average overall from 125 games and 44 goals. One great season but the last 2 have been total shyte and that’s the reason Marsch needs to do something else until/if Bamford ever gets his mojo. 18 months of no contribution to this team but big pay rise and new contract with nothing in return.

I accept footballers are in a dangerous job but on one good season the club decided to not buy another striker and that gamble has hobbled us last season and this
 
And Bamford two rubbish seasons have coincided with us being in two relegation battles. Wouldn’t you think someone would sign a quality replacement along the way and keep him for emergencies when we’ve a load of injuries
A right minded person would and as Radz admits to knowing nothing about football who should we blame for this sorry state of affairs?
 
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Lets look at Patrick Bamford, who has never ever been a prolific striker. You can say whatever you want and say things like some strikers mature later and score regular then. In Paddy’s case this is the pattern over the last 5 seasons:
18/19 23 games and 9 goals a 39% average
19/20 45 games and 16 goals a 35% average
20/21 38 games and 17 goals 44% average (A freak season) his goals got us to 9th in the prem
21/22 9 games and 2 goals a 22% average
22/23 10 games with zero goals a 0% average.
Which is a 35% average overall from 125 games and 44 goals. One great season but the last 2 have been total shyte and that’s the reason Marsch needs to do something else until/if Bamford ever gets his mojo. 18 months of no contribution to this team but big pay rise and new contract with nothing in return.

I accept footballers are in a dangerous job but on one good season the club decided to not buy another striker and that gamble has hobbled us last season and this
Rodrigo at present has a 55% strike rate playing at No9.
In Rodrigo’s first 2 seasons he had an average of 25% but played as a 10 or AM not a striker and the only other midfielder who comes close to Rodrigo’s strike rate is Pablo Hernandez everyone favourite. Everyone including me likes to take a pop at Rodrigo possibly because he doesn’t do nutmegs like Pablo.
 
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Rodrigo at present has a 55% strike rate playing at No9.
In Rodrigo’s first 2 seasons he had an average of 25% but played as a 10 or AM not a striker and the only other midfielder who comes close to Rodrigo’s strike rate is Pablo Hernandez everyone favourite. Everyone including me likes to take a pop at Rodrigo possibly because he doesn’t do nutmegs like Pablo.

I think the commentator on my stream summed Rodrigo up when he said something along the lines of him "doing alot of the difficult things right but is clumsy with the easy stuff".

I've still got a downer on him for basically downing tools toward the end of Bielsa's time here and every other performance he just looks lazy.

I thought he was really good last night despite a few 'clumsy' moments. His workrate was excellent and he was fully switched on to get the opener.
 
I think the commentator on my stream summed Rodrigo up when he said something along the lines of him "doing alot of the difficult things right but is clumsy with the easy stuff".

I've still got a downer on him for basically downing tools toward the end of Bielsa's time here and every other performance he just looks lazy.

I thought he was really good last night despite a few 'clumsy' moments. His workrate was excellent and he was fully switched on to get the opener.
Bielsa said he couldn't believe we where signing him at the time and to be fair he's never been prolific, got plenty of skill and guile but like a lot of Continental's is temperamental and sulky.....but at the moment he is the striker doing the business and I've seen many others costing more who don't, perhaps a bit of slack is deserved
 
Bielsa said he couldn't believe we where signing him at the time and to be fair he's never been prolific, got plenty of skill and guile but like a lot of Continental's is temperamental and sulky.....but at the moment he is the striker doing the business and I've seen many others costing more who don't, perhaps a bit of slack is deserved
Never prolific because he has been used wide left and AM a lot for his clubs, but he is right up there at International level with a 30% strike rate which puts him just outside the all time world top 50. Not on goals scored of course but on goals to game ratio, so does his job. Just for context Raheem Sterling has a 24% strike rate for England and Marcus Rashford a 26% Strike rate for England.
 
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