Match Day Thread Hull City v Oxford

[Off The Line]

If Kamara had the same fire in his belly as Gelhardt then he'd be some player. I can imagine players fearing Gelhardt because of his intensity, and when he's running with the ball they know that he'll do anything he can to get past them. Unfortunately, Kamara is easily deterred on these occasions and often appears to panic, both inside and outside of the box.
Kamara is capable of many of the things Gelhardt did down the right on Sunday but I'm not convinced that he will do it, for anyone. I'm not even convinced that he is in love with football, full stop.

 

[bradymk2]

You don't want to sell Kamara, right?

I cant deal with this stupidity
Sorry

 

[originalminority]

Wouldn't mind keeping Kamara to see if he can progress out of the limelight a bit, under our better coaches and with our better players in training, there is value in him.

 

[HHH]

Good post.
If he were to stay, I suspect he would continue to frustrate, split opinion (more than any other player possibly), continue to carry this (perceived) attitude problem tag, etc.
He's clearly got talent, but we have better (Millar, Belloumi, Ndala ... maybe even Akintola, and probably others we might subsequently then bring in), and I think you are right, if we can get near our money back then it probably makes sense from both sides to move on.

It's a bit early to confidently be declaring Ndala as better. There's signs he could be good for us. I'm hopeful. The comparisons I've seen to Philogene though. He's nowhere near that yet.

I think we over hype Miller by talking about him in the same breath as Belloumi. He's been a solid player in the champ and seems to have a good attitude. But he's not someone who should be walking in to the team. I think Kamara has plenty more talent than him.

As for Akintola. Didn't see anything to get me excited on Sunday. But it's far too early to judge.

The criticism of Kamara has just become a boring trope now.

 

[originallambrettaman]

You might want to re-post with a goals per game stats comparison. Gelhardt scored 1 in 4 for us, Kamara 5 goals in 36 games with 3 assists.

How you can say Kamara wasn't disappointing last season is frankly nuts. Half the posts on this board were about him and what he wasn't bringing to the team, even the manager had to publicly come out in his defence. Yes he's young but so are Gelhardt and Belloumi. My issue is not with him personally but we have better in that position and in depth. Are you seriously suggesting we now need four players for each position?

Gelhardt started almost every game after he arrived, he only actually started six games less than Kamara. Your assertion that 'Gelhardt did more in 45 minutes playing out of position than Kamara did in half a season' was nonsense and the **** Kamara got last season was completely undeserved.

 

[cannon67]

It's a bit early to confidently be declaring Ndala as better. There's signs he could be good for us. I'm hopeful. The comparisons I've seen to Philogene though. He's nowhere near that yet.

I think we over hype Miller by talking about him in the same breath as Belloumi. He's been a solid player in the champ and seems to have a good attitude. But he's not someone who should be walking in to the team. I think Kamara has plenty more talent than him.

As for Akintola. Didn't see anything to get me excited on Sunday. But it's far too early to judge.

The criticism of Kamara has just become a boring trope now.

Good post, can’t really argue with any of that .

 

[Drew]

It's a bit early to confidently be declaring Ndala as better. There's signs he could be good for us. I'm hopeful. The comparisons I've seen to Philogene though. He's nowhere near that yet.

I think we over hype Miller by talking about him in the same breath as Belloumi. He's been a solid player in the champ and seems to have a good attitude. But he's not someone who should be walking in to the team. I think Kamara has plenty more talent than him.

As for Akintola. Didn't see anything to get me excited on Sunday. But it's far too early to judge.

The criticism of Kamara has just become a boring trope now.

We do a lot of this every summer as a fan base - we assume the new players are definitely better and our old players need to go.

We’ve done it with Jones and Macca this summer too. As it stands we have absolutely no idea if Ajayi, Ndala, Akintola etc are any better.

I’ve seen enough in Kamara to give him until January at the very least. He was one of our more dangerous players last season in a poor poor side. We need to assess him properly before we move him on, especially as he is young with a possible profit in future.

We can’t keep getting in young players and assuming they are crap after one poor season, that’s not how football or youth development works.

 

[Qatartiger Cambridgetiger]

Abu Kamara 2024/25 - 5 goals/3 assists

Joe Gelhardt 2024/25 - 5 goals/0 assists

Kamara wasn't disappointing, he was a 21 year old in his first full season in the Championship and he contributed plenty, some people just don't seem to like him for absolutely no good reason.

All I see from him is steady improvement on Sunday he celebrated as much as anyone in the team when we scored the winner. Keep him if possible.

 

[Gone For A Walk]

Genuine question, has SJ said he's desperate to keep Kamara in the same way he's said about Panda and Hughes?

 

[Mckechnie Orange]

Genuine question, has SJ said he's desperate to keep Kamara in the same way he's said about Panda and Hughes?

No, he's going. We need to raise funds from somewhere to complete the squad and stay within FFP. It was suggested early in the window that he may be sold, and we got his replacement sorted with Akintola already.

 

[Gone For A Walk]

No, he's going. We need to raise funds from somewhere to complete the squad and stay within FFP. It was suggested early in the window that he may be sold, and we got his replacement sorted with Akintola already.

If SJ isn't desperate to keep him, then I'm happy with that, and it would seem to then align with what I've been suggesting.

 

[Christophalophados]

I'd be a bit sad to see Kamara go, given that he's only young, and I think he's looked like he's improved over pre-season and seems more willing to try and take on his man.

That said, there aren't many players we could sell for +3m before the window closes, and out of the ones we could, losing him would likely have the least negative impact on the team. We have a options for out wide in Gelhardt, Akintola, Ndala, Brown, and that's before Belloumi and Millar return.

 

[Mckechnie Orange]

If SJ isn't desperate to keep him, then I'm happy with that, and it would seem to then align with what I've been suggesting.

Dunno what you've been suggesting, but
It's a shame because the initial plan was to develop him here, but needs must. He's going to be worth a lot more than the 3.5m we paid in a few years so I hope we insert a significant sell on.

If it's a choice between selling him or either Hughes or Pandur than it's probably the least worst option.

It's yet another asset we're cashing in to replace with a free transfer though, whichever way you look at it. And in Akintola's case he's an unknown quantity.

 

[tigerrev]

Genuine question, has SJ said he's desperate to keep Kamara in the same way he's said about Panda and Hughes?

No - Pandur and Hughes are the two players the club are desperate not to sell. That said, if a £15 Million bid comes in for Hughes we would have to consider it, I would imagine.
On Kamara, his languid style may not do him any favours, but don't forget he got 5 goals last season, including what was for me our goal of the season - the opener against TWS. IF we have to sell him and he moves on, good luck to the lad (except if he returns here with a rival team of course).

 

[Gone For A Walk]

He's going to be worth a lot more than the 3.5m we paid in a few years so I hope we insert a significant sell on.

We should of course aim to agree a good sell on as you never know.... but I'd be very happy to have a virtual bet with you that he isn't going to be worth a lot more in a few years time. Norwich chose to let him go. SJ doesn't seem that bothered. I think he'll flatter to deceive and fans will continue to be split and keep saying 'if only he ....'. There's just something not right that will stop him realising his potential.

 

[Mckechnie Orange]

We should of course aim to agree a good sell on as you never know.... but I'd be very happy to have a virtual bet with you that he isn't going to be worth a lot more in a few years time. Norwich chose to let him go. SJ doesn't seem that bothered. I think he'll flatter to deceive and fans will continue to be split and keep saying 'if only he ....'. There's just something not right that will stop him realising his potential.

Norwich fought to keep him.

There was another player who got dogs abuse for his languid style and was accused of being disinterested as a young player.

But Waddle did alright in the end.

 

[bradymk2]

Norwich fought to keep him.

norwich gave him to us for free apparently

theres only a few clubs at this level who could turn down £3m for a player yet to play in the league
its why they booed him in that game last season if we remember

 

[Mckechnie Orange]

norwich gave him to us for free apparently

theres only a few clubs at this level who could turn down £3m for a player yet to play in the league
its why they booed him in that game last season if we remember

Yup, their fans were livid he was sold. Think he turned down an improved contract to stay IIRC.

 

[Jim the Tiger]

Half of the people near me were sat down

Had this at Man Utd the other week. The gimp behind me tapped me on the shoulder and told me he couldn't see. I pretended I didn't speak English and ignored him. Probably didn't work as my lad shouted 'what did he say Dad'.

If you want to sit down why would you buy a seat in a safe standing area?

 

[FER ARK]

Why would you buy a seat at Man Utd?