Was that the one with the square steering wheel? No wonder the British car industry went down the tubes!
Glad to hear that OLM. Looking at the two vids, he didn't look overly great in the first vid, but he looked class in the 2nd. Edit: Sorry, hearing the word "class" every 5 mins from my 10 year old is clearly rubbing off on me.
That Trippier looks very similar to Elmo in the way he plays. The amount of perfect crosses he and Brady put in that went unattacked... Makes me wonder how many Austin would've got in our team last year.
I wonder what would have happened if we had signed Austin when we had the chance when he was at Swindon.
He'd be **** and Aaron McLean would be a 30 goal-a-season striker and we'd bitch about NP signing the wrong player.
On paper this looks a great signing - the guy is obviously an accomplished finisher and can score with his left, his right, his head and positionally has a poachers instinct. He's exactly the kind of striker we missed last season - well he was for his first 20 games at least.... I can't help worrying about his stats for last season though.... 20 goals in 17 games, then only 5 in his next 20. He looks overweight by some considerable distance, and a lot of his goals seem to be penalties and taking advantage of defensive and goalkeeping howlers of the type that just don't come along in the premiership. Obviously there are plenty of quality finishes too - and I'd love to say I would be delighted with his capture - believe me I am pleased - and I'm sure if he can get the weight off, retain the required focus and professionalism he has the potential to make a real statement in the premier league. As a marquee signing though? The biggest transfer fee of the summer? His talent is not in doubt, but 5 goals in his last 20??? And Burnley having a better points return when he hasn't played last season???? It is enough for me to treat this signing with a note of caution. In Bruce I trust - fair enough, but believe Bruce dodged a bullet with the D.J. Campbell transfer massively - Big Nick hasn't yet proved to be the greatest success in a City shirt either, despite obvious potential.... Lets hope he doesn't let his new boss down, though at the moment the words "Jon" and "Parkin" are springing to mind - except J.P was a nominal fee and therefore less of a risk. The fee we're paying for Austin, he's going to have to do a lot more than score the winner against Leeds to be a cult hero. This is the big-time !!! In summary: he has the attributes, but his desire and professionalism is yet to be proven as far as I am concerned. You might argue that is the market we are in, but for 4.5 million I'd personally have seen it as a lesser financial risk to push the boat out a little further for Hooper. I'll judge our business up front at the end of the window. I'd be much more confident if Austin was coming into a competitive situation; within a cohort of strikers of similar potential. If he had to justify a place in competition with say Mphela/Odemwingie/A.N. Other, Gedo, Aluko and Proschwitz then I'd be much happier. The fee suggest though he'll be an automatic choice which I don't think is necessarily the best scenario for a player who has weight issues and blows hot and cold. Sorry if that makes me a neg-head. I don't believe I am though - The lad has the ability, I accept that. I desperately hope he makes the most of it.
Well said, I agree almost entirely. The only thing that I will say against you is that a lot of burnley fans have suggested on forums that it was the change in manager that lead to Austin's dip in goalscoring form, apparently Dyche messed around with Austin's role a lot when he came in despite how successful he'd been before under Howe. So as long as Brucey gets his tactics right we could have ended up with a bit of a bargain.
........but his desire and professionalism is yet to be proven as far as I am concerned This is a player who, in the last 5 years (from the age of 19) has gone from playing for Poole Town in the eighth tier of the English Football League to playing in the Premier League. In that time he has played 178 games scoring 120 goals. If you can find anyone with better desire or professionalism to achieve that kind of progression then good luck. You can question his technical ability, his pace or his fitness but it takes some character to accomplish what he has accomplished in the last 5 years.
I live in Pompey and I saw Austin playing for Poole Town. I was that impressed that I spoke to City about him at that time. Nothing ever came of it. I also saw Freddie Eastwood playing for Grays at the time City were just starting on their climb from the bottom division. Again, nothing happened. I have to admit at the time though our scouting network was poor at that time.
How many goals has Dwight Gayle scored at Championship level that lead you to be able to say he has achieved progression?
