Connor Wickham, I need convincing

Morning all , before we signed Connor Wickham I had never seen him kick a ball, heard a lot about this young lad and that he was destined for great things. When he signed for us genuinely thought we pulled of a great a great result as many bigger teams seemed to be in for him. I know he is just a boy but I have to say that I have yet to see any signs to justify the potential we invested in. Again last night he needed 2 touch's to control the ball sometimes 3' his heading was poor and his hold up play was worse. He seemed to be pushed of the ball with ease, trying not to be too critical but am I reading him wrong does anyone see something in him that I am not.

PS. Good win last night ,thought Boro did well but always felt confident that we would have enough, thought Bardsley, Gargener and Collback deserved a special mention, bring on the Gooners double bill.

 

I think from what we have seen of him so far, I'd agree but I am mindful of his age and experience. He was and still is a very hot prospect and under the Mon arm, he will develop quickly imo.

I do think we overpaid for him but that's put into context when you think how much Liverpool paid for caroll, who hadn't even played as many games.

It's vital we get behind the lad and not on his back imo as I do think we will reap many benefits by doing so. He seems a well grounded young lad from a good family and this is his first move away from home at 18 as well.

Give him time lads. Trust Mon to do the business.

 

Was just about to create a similar thread. I know he is only a young lad and we need to give him time, and I fully believe and hope that he will go on to make his mark with us. But, at this stage I can't see where the potential is? His first touch is average, not great in the air, and completely agree his hold up play is below par.

Has anyone seen anything of the lad prior to him signing? There must be something about him to justify an £8m price tag but buggered if I know what it is!

 

The other thing I noticed about him is that it seemed like he never broke out of a trot, whereas Campbell had been sprinting all over the place closing players down.

 

The lads 18, that's two years younger than Ryan Noble, he's been plagued with injuries and hasn't had a run of three four games in the team yet.

The lad is ready physically but he needs to learn how to use his strength in the premier league to hold the ball up better.

Too early to be making judgements but I agree he has been fairly poor recently.

 

Way too early to write the lad off and to need convincing. He will be fantastic.

 

I don't think anyone's writing him off, Tony, and all the comments seem fair. I'm sure that we all want him to turn out to be a great, and I hope that he will. Does seem that something's not right at the moment, though.

 

I watched him in an England under 21 game, and he put in the worst performance on the field.Not convince at all, and would have preferred Ji to come on last night instead.

 

The lad has been injured more than he has played for us so far.

He has not set the place of fire yet, but he is lacking match practice, fitness and perhaps confidence.

Last night he was poor, but in the 1st leg vs Boro i thought he did some nice flick, knock-downs and made some nice moves. Enough to convince me that once he is match fit, then he will be a good player. He seems to lack a bit of pace, but he will be knocking the ball down to Campbell / Sess for that.

 

Ponderous with a very poor touch and like Heskey... no idea how to use his size and strength. Needs to do a lot more to convince me he is the real deal. That closed-eyes header he missed down at Norwich set the seeds of doubt. Hope I'm totally wrong, mind.

 

I agree with this - He looked poor last night but he looks devoid of confidence - you have to remember he is 18 years old, has had a lot of injuries and when MON arrived he said he would be using him - then Campbell returns with the form he has and all of a sudden the young lad is back down the pecking order - how is that going to affect him. I hope MON can get him gee'd back up!!

 

Before he picks his confidence up and improves his ability he needs to learn how to control a football. Surely as a pro footballer he should have learnt that as a wee nipper?

 

I think MON will develop him into a strong holding forward along the lines of Heskey, and let's be honest Heskey did well in MON's system at Villa. I don't think he will ever be our 20+ goal a season man (a gap we still need to fill).

 

I am sure he hasnt forgotten the theory, but lack of match practice (and confidence) means that your 1st touch can be awkward. As soon as you start to over-think (or even think about) what you need to do, then it is no longer a natural gesture and that is when it goes wrong.
Look at Sess and his shooting before he got a couple of goals under MON, his shooting was woeful and he looked awkward doing it until his confidence picked up.

 

I think he is a very young lad who looks very short of confidence at the moment, but from what I have seen of him in the past it will only be a matter of time before he comes good again...Patience is a virtue...

 

The likes of Redknapp, Wenger and Dalglish cant all be wrong. He made his debut for Ipswich at 16, so it seems like he's older than what he is.
He's still only 18, so I think patience is a virtue, and he will become a top player in the next couple of years!

After all the money we spent on him and the fact we havent replaced Bent has put abit of pressure on him I think, and to expect him to step in at 18 and bang 20 goals a season in is a big ask!

 

Said at the time it was too much money to spend on a prospect and Bruce should have spent on a proper striker.
On what I have seen I would be questioning the amount spent if it had been £800,000 never mind 8 mill.
I understand his defenders saying we should give him a chance as he is only young, but!
I don't need to list the multitude of players who have only been young and been brilliant!

Injury or not I have never seen this big strong fast striker that was mentioned when we got him.

One of the lads above got it spot on, ponderous.

Of course we want him to do well it's human nature, and I agree he should be given more time.
It is up to him to make the most of that time, because too many performances like last night (lets be honest he looked like he had never played before) and I can't see the faithful standing by him.

 

CONFIDENCE.......The lad had had a string of in juries, slow, overweight, soft as ****e, couldn't trap a fart in Y fronts. HOWEVER, the lad just seems really low in confidence. As said 18 years old, pressure of a big fee and over keen to get in the side, do well, score goals look the part. 12 months on loan next season for me. Nowhere near premiership at the mo. Shame as I had big hopes from the off.

 

Campbell was w*nk when he was played on the wing, look at him now.

CW needs a run of games in the team, not the odd 20 mins here and there. Then I think we can judge the lad. Personally I think he will come good

 

he is young,injured (still not fully fit) aapting to this new league its a step up... and he has to play a new formation tactics ect... not to mention he is away for his family for the first time so is learning it all at once