I'd never really seen him until we signed him and I went on Youtube, based on what I saw there alone and Bruces comment (he sees him in training and has seen and played with a lot of great players) I would take a punt on signing him, surely he won't cost big money and could work out a decent investment. Unlike a few people thousands of miles away I thought he looked fairly decent and sharp the other day with only a few moments which you could put down to not playing much/nerves
As we are talking about signing Powell, just to go slightly of topic, what the hell's happened with Diomande he's not even making the bench as of late.
Even though he's a different kind of player, Powell's signing is pretty much the reason Diomande is out in the cold - he's behind Akpom and Powell in the pecking order.
I've only seen him on the telly, but he definitely has a good footballing brain i.m.o. He's clearly rusty and trying to regain his fitness, and as you suggest, possibly nervous as he's trying to redeem himself and get used to playing with his team-mates. I believe he'll contribute a fair bit during the run-in, providing he's given the opportunity. Additionally, I would trust Giggsy's "footballing" judgement, and he rates him.
I heard rumours that he has a poor attitude in training and was rubbished by the usual suspects on here, but given that he's not even making the squad despite us having a 'fully fit' squad is a bit concerning. Thought these Norwegians were meant to be good at transferring their scoring record to England?
Powell has all the talent in the world, is totally comfortable on the ball and an excellent finisher* He is no doubt rusty and still working up to match fitness. The unknown factor is his attitude and willingness to do whats necessary, but given Bruce sees him everyday and he has had words with Giggs, that is persuasive. *Not just my observation - a bloke who works for me was several years ahead of Powell in the Crewe system and saw him develop from 7 years old. He still reckons if he applies himself and stays injury free he will play for England, he says he is that good.
I think Bruce is simply disappointed with Diomande, I don't think there's any more to it than that, to be fair, he was fairly dire against Bury.
Wasn't a whole lot better against Arsenal, though obviously a lot tougher to impress in that sort of game.
Too early to judge but although Powell didn't seem to do much for me I could see he wanted to go forward every time he got the ball but found there was nobody there. Did manage to find Abel on a couple of occasions (with his back to goal) but Abel doesn't appear to like this style. Perhaps Powell could get some defence splitting passes to Snoddy who could then 'lay the ball on' for Abel (which is what he likes). I think he'll need a couple of games under his belt to settle in and 'bond' with the current team.
Powell looks promising. Daft to be talking about signing or not signing when he's barely played a game but he does bring something we otherwise lack. He's tough and determined to win the ball back which most of our attacking players aren't. We have plenty of more defensive players like that but none with the combination of creativity and determination/tackling ability.
Brucie shouldn't be that disappointed - he bought him knowing he was injured, in the same way be bought Snodgrass knowing he had a knee problem and brought in Powell knowing he was no match fit - I don't believe the medical team never told him
Yeah let's sign players because they train well. I remember Bruce saying Graham and sagbo put goals away for fun in training....
What is it with city and forwards, we've wasted around 6 million on duff forwards over the last 2/3 seasons.
