Bandit asked the question, in another thread, why Trotta hasn't been called back when we are obviously struggling up front. And it's a good one. http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F3gI1IkEuXc#! Jol favours a 4-something-something-1 formation. BZ in his mind aint the 1 (for now), and unlike Hughes he refuses to play Dempsey there. AJ is too lightweight. SA a tad slow and doesn't put himself about. So why not Trotta?
Having watched Trotta many times in the past,i have been very enthusiastic about his talent and ability,but I do think that his stay for the moment at Wycombe is both beneficial for all parties concerned. Why stick a lad in at the deep end just because our 2 overpaid under performing prima donasare not delivering. Let him hone his craft, and confidence before throwing him in at the deep end. (he scored again yesterday).
Agree with valjing. Reading the newspapers today the feeling is that Zamora is counting days. Jol is Dutch and does not play politics easy. Zamora was used to Roy and his man-management tactics. Also to a smaller squad where he was the primadona! This is not the case any more... He has to prove his worth. As I said he has to loose more than us. We bought him for 4.5m and probably can sell him around 6-7m in the worst case. As for AJ I don't want to have my friend val going again... 1-2 games and that was it...
Maybe because our strikers are not scoring and he is? Think you just answered your own question. I for one would much prefer to have Trotta come off the bench for the last 10 minutes rather than the useless Sa.
I have been thinking. If we get rid of Zamora and AJ, that's 90k a week of wages freed up. Ask Mo to fork out a TRANSFER fee on a striker of the utmost class with BIG goal bonuses because the wage bill is able to take that. Then bring Trotta back as a back up to this class striker. Because a striker is ALL we need to take us to the next level. And it really would be a massive jump. The alternative is using our own players effectively, which means a change of manager. Because this one doesn't recognize the young talent we have. Our bench is better than our first team sometimes!
I think Trotta only went on a short loan of one month to Wycombe, so he will either return or it will be extended. I'd like to see him go on loan to a Championship play-off team to see how he coupes at a higher level in a winning team. Then maybe near the end of the season get a few games in our first team, instead of strikers who maybe leaving in the summer.
I'm really starting to regret our decision to spend so much money on Ruiz. When he signed we were all told he was a striker (goals for Twente backs it up) but he's being played on the wing. We have enough wingers (Dempsey, Davies, Dembele, Duff, Frei) so why the need to spend so much money on another one when what we were desperately needing was a striker?
I have been unhappy about Ruiz since his first game. Since then my opinion has been reinforced not only by his performances since which, while improving, still don't strike me as that of a man who is worth over £10 million, but also by the facts that no one at the club realised he couldn't play in the Europa League - even Ruiz himself, by Jol stating that he isn't a striker - which I believe most people, including the press, thought he was and then last week with him stating that he'd have preferred to have gone to Tottenham. Brilliant. Our most expensive signing, it appears, didn't want to come to us. He may come good, but for the money we've spent I think we deserve more than he odd quality touch that people on this board report
Ruiz will be good for us once he settles in. Have not seen his interview and the comment about Tottenham. But let's not forget that in Europe wingers and midfielders score many goals. Teams tend not to have big players up front like Bobby.
Once I read that interview where he said he didn't want to join us, my estimation of him went down immensely. He gave an interview previously where he said that he probably wouldn't have joined Fulham had he known he couldn't play in Europe. There is no smoke without fire people. Reporters can't just make up quotes from players, they would have their asses handed to them in court, what they can do is stretch the truth, but decide for yourselves if you think that's what's happened with Ruiz. My opinion is that he doesn't want to be here, a sad thing really as he COULD be a good player for us.
Bandit some reporters cry fire from the cigarette smoke! Papers in order to sell a few more copies will go to great lengths...
Agreed FFC but Bandit's general sentiment that Ruiz sounds like he doesn't want to be with us would appear reasonable. Maybe why he has never really hit the heights in any match he has played in for us.
Dalla Valle scored goals in a struggling league one side last season, but wasn't ready to step up for us. It may be that Trotta is the same. Just because he's scoring (which is undoubtedly a good thing!) it doesn't mean that he's ready to do the same two divisions higher up. He's certainly an option for Jol and his team to consider though. I don't share the doubts others have over Jol and Ruiz. I think Jol is a far better manager than some here give him credit for (and his record elsewhere speaks volumes about that). Just because we all assumed Ruiz was a striker, doesn't mean that 'no one at the club' knew it. Just because Ruiz didn't realise he would be cup-tied in Europe doesn't mean that 'no one at the club' knew. As for the recent quotes, I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the misquoted doubt, as long as his performances keep on improving. Once we find the right striker to play at the front of our 4-2-3-1 (thought it would be Bobby, now thinking his days are numbered), we'll step up several gears.
Captain, agree with your comments on Trotta,we should leave him where he is for the moment, then putting him out on loan to a top 10 championship side. DEMPSEY in the c/f role,and bring in FREI and give BRIGGS an extended run ???. Just a debatable idea.
Dempsey looks the best option for Wednesday if Jol doesn't think Bobby is going to sort his head out. I'd be tempted to start with Bobby (subject to what Jol sees on the training ground), but be ready to pull the plug and put Clint upfront at half time if it isn't working. I'm torn on Frei, who has bags of potential. I remember - as I'm sure you do, Roscafre - Paul Brooker, who put in some dazzling cameos as a youngster coming on as a late sub against tired defenders, but who never looked half as good when he started games. Perhaps - perhaps - at this stage in his life, Frei is better suited to coming off the bench. But with Ruiz unavailable for Odense and Duff (I think) still injured, perhaps Frei is worth a starting place. All the more so if Dempsey takes the striker's role. Having been (I think) the only voice against us signing Riise back in the summer - I argued then that he wasn't the player we remembered for Liverpool - I'm now one of the few who isn't calling for him to be dropped. I don't do this just to be contrary, honest! I'm very happy for Briggs to get games, but I'd rather see Riise as the main left-back, particularly with other parts of the back four looking like a bit of a revolving door at the moment. At least with him and Hangeland we've got two solid, experienced pros providing a bit of stability and continuity.
LDV was inconsistent at Bournemouth, whereas Trotta now has 2 in 2 games. I'm not saying Trotta will be the new Saha, but he's scoring goals at the moment despite the level he is playing at, and you can't say that for the strikers we have here currently.
LDV was inconsistent at Bournemouth - I saw him play for them - but after two games, the locals were raving about him. That's my point about Trotta - what he's done so far at Wycombe is hugely encouraging, but doesn't prove anything.
I found (and joined in on) a thread on the Wycombe board regarding Trotta. Only two responses to my question so far, but the sense there seems to be that (a) they like him, and (b) they don't think he's quite ready for the big time. Then again, as their poster admits, they have a vested interest in his loan spell being extended! http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/107724-Trotter
I too watched LDV as Bournemouth were in League One that season, same as Southampton whom I have a very big soft spot for having been to university there for three years. He started out very brightly but soon found himself on the bench after the first few games.
