I was away on holiday this last couple of days (Lytham st Anne’s. Lovely place) and got talking to some toffee fans. Word is at their end he has kicked his last ball for them and they reckon we are already in contract discussion terms. Apparently they want Wilson going the other way….
I thought Gordon was a huge waste of money, and that there was no point signing Pope as we had Dubravka so I'll wait and see how he performs if he signs for us if we sign him.
His very best season was 16 goals from 33 matches, 3 years ago. Before that, 4 from 32, 6 from 35 before doing ok-ish with 13 from 36. Then the injuries kicked in and he managed 34 games across 2 seasons, managing just 7 goals. For me, he's had a little purple patch in the middle of his career but on the whole is very, very average and certainly not looking like he's getting any better. Anyway, I'm now seeing that Howe's preference is to keep Wilson and Isak, and isn't trying to get another striker. I reckon we should buckle in for a poor transfer window. I think we'll do what we always do and end the window 2 or 3 players short. I think we all feel we need RW, CF, DM, CB, LB and GK. I think we'll sign 2 first team players (a British winger and Tosin), 1 utility player (Kelly) and 1 youth player (Trafford). At least we've managed to secure Mark Gillespie for another year. Once our 15 injuries kick in we can once again enjoy Howe sticking two keepers on the bench.
Starts is all I'm interested in.. appearances for 15 mins here and there aren't the same... if Lewin is fit he's a handful and scores important goals when the heat is on.. he can also do something called hold the ball up and Newcastle Wilson aside don't have anyone who can do that. It's cost Newcastle away from home regularly. Isak cannot hold the ball up he's incapable of it physically. Lewin also playing in a **** side, so will enjoy getting on the end of good opportunities.
For Everton, 160 starts, 54 goals. His xG is 67. Isak in comparison, 44 starts, 31 goals, xG of 28 for us. 72 starts, 33 goals for Sociedad, 34 xG. Wilson, 69 starts, 47 goals, xG of 45.
So that's roughly 1 in 3 in poor side feeding on scraps. Is there anyone in our stable that can hold the ball up or that gets on the end of things in the air ? The answer in no other than Wilson and he's done. 1 in 3 prem goals for 25 million... Really it's just his injury record
xG is nothing to do with scraps, mate. He should be around 65-70 goals. Big diff in xG means poor finishing. Anyway, it's all irrelevant, I don't think we'll sign him. I don't remember us ever signing a player following a Mirror "exclusive" back page splash, or whatever the **** it was!!
Xg doesn't tell us anything about the quality of chances. He'd be a club in the bag that we currently don't have. Newcastle are not where we would like and it's another part of the build. Who are you going to get with 1 in 3 prem goals 150 prem games that can hold the ball up for 25 million?
Steady Eddie... he's the type of gut that would buy hi tec silver shadows.... can't go wrong type of mentality.
Now do Wilson’s at Bournemouth. You find it’s pretty identical Now do Isak as Sociedad. You find it’s pretty identical
Very rarely do we sign players linked in the press. I have a feeling our strike force next year both currently play in black and white.
He's injury prone. 2017: 2.5 months - ankle injury. 2018: 3 months - back injury. 1 week - ankle injury. 2019: 5 weeks - a 'knock'. 2020: A decent year - only another 'knock' and a thigh injury for two short spells injured. 2021: January - hamstring injury. February - hammy again. April - muscle injury. August - toe injury. End August through to 10th September - muscle injury. From mid September - 4 months with a thigh injury. 2022: Jan - thigh. Feb - Knee. March - illness. April - Muscle. July, August, September and October - knee injury. Nov and Dec - hamstring injury. 2023: Feb, March and April - thigh injury. Mid-May - thigh injury. Late May and June - Hamstring injury. Aug & Sept - head injury. Nov/Dec - Strain injury. 2024 so far: Thigh injury in April, a knock when he recovered from that and then an illness at the end of April/start of May.
