Wilder has a blind spot with Connolly

Scrug said:
Had a great chant though didn’t he?

Ooooooooohhhhhhh we’re half way there,
Oooooohhhhh Aliadiere
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surely the best chant for Aliadiere was from to KC and the sunshine's band Give it up Baby

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Aliadiere
adiere
Aliadiere

[Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Baby give it up
Give it up
Baby give it up]
 
BoroMart said:
the consensus was that Zenden was rubbish after 15 games, that Dijksteel was rubbish after a season, that Sporar was a god after 6 games.

I bow down to the eternal wisdom of Super Hans on this one. Most people are analytically lazy, like to get in early with an opinion, and stick to it doggedly, often based on a passing knowledge of the point at hand. Footballs about opinions, I think there's a player in there but it'll take a bit too long to get it out of him, we needed the finished article.
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I couldn't agree with you more. Some folk do seem to want to stick to an opinion doggedly despite the evidence staring them in the face. I wanted him to do well, approached it with an open mind and now having seen every one of his games have concluded that he is a very poor footballer. It is not analytically lazy and nor is it stubborn just because you don't agree.
 
Marvanelli said:
If Connolly starts against Bournemouth, I'll be beginning to think Wilder has one hand tied behind his back or there's something we're not aware of.
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There is no way Wilder would be forced into playing anyone. He is choosing to play Connolly and has never remotely criticised him, only ever bigged him up.

Connolly is not letting anybody down, he does try and it is clear that he is a favourite of Wilder.
But I don't see anything in him that Wilder obviously does, I think he is a completely inept trier at best. In a results game, Wilder's decision will show at the end of the season.
If we finish outside the playoffs, when we were in them on December 31st before the window opened, then January did not help and not nearly as much as we might have expected. Connolly will surely slip away from Rockliffe never to be seen again. Balogun maybe too, though I personally see much more in him.
If Connolly scores two or three real goals and we make the play-offs then Wilder will be vindicated and he will sign him permanently this summer.

Sadly I don't think I can have my cake and eat it, so I hope we do make it into the top 6 and will have to put up with watching the obvious misfit for another season.
 
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Kramer said:
surely the best chant for Aliadiere was from to KC and the sunshine's band Give it up Baby

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Aliadiere
adiere
Aliadiere

[Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Baby give it up
Give it up
Baby give it up]
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That's as I remember too - good song for a very poor player and awful signing.
 
indeedido said:
There is no way Wilder would be forced into playing anyone. He is choosing to play Connolly and has never remotely criticised him, only ever bigged him up.

Connolly is not letting anybody down, he does try and it is clear that he is a favourite of Wilder.
But I don't see anything in him what Wilder obviously does, I think he is a completely inept trier at best. In a results game, Wilder's decision will show at the end of the season.
If we finish outside the playoffs, when we were in them on December 31st before the window opened, then January did not help and not nearly as much as we might have expected. Connolly will surely slip away from Rockliffe never to be seen again. Balogun maybe too, though I personally see much more in him.
If Connolly scores two or three real goals and we make the play-offs then Wilder will be vindicated and he will sign him permanently this summer.

Sadly I don't think I can have my cake and eat it, so I hope we do make it into the top 6 and will have to put up with watching the obvious misfit for another season.
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I'd gladly accept a play off spot at the price of putting up with Connolly but I tend to agree with you, we need goals and unfortunately he hasn't looked remotely like delivering. At least with Sporar he scored a few goals to begin with to justify a bit of the praise he was getting. Watmore works harder than Connolly and looks much more of a threat and scores more. And Balogun is clearly a much, much better footballer.
 
Adi_Dem said:
I couldn't agree with you more. Some folk do seem to want to stick to an opinion doggedly despite the evidence staring them in the face. I wanted him to do well, approached it with an open mind and now having seen every one of his games have concluded that he is a very poor footballer. It is not analytically lazy and nor is it stubborn just because you don't agree.
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it's more an extreme view than a stubborn one.
 
Adi_Dem said:
I couldn't agree with you more. Some folk do seem to want to stick to an opinion doggedly despite the evidence staring them in the face. I wanted him to do well, approached it with an open mind and now having seen every one of his games have concluded that he is a very poor footballer. It is not analytically lazy and nor is it stubborn just because you don't agree.
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I actually think he suits our style, he's a physical presence and a focal point for the team - the obvious thing that's missing is more goals, but he is improving the more he plays.

Whether he will improve to a standard that we'd want him here permanatantly (or another loan) is debatable, but there's definitely signs of a decent player there, same with Balogun, albeit he's a very different style of player.
 
indeedido said:
There is no way Wilder would be forced into playing anyone. He is choosing to play Connolly and has never remotely criticised him, only ever bigged him up.

Connolly is not letting anybody down, he does try and it is clear that he is a favourite of Wilder.
But I don't see anything in him what Wilder obviously does, I think he is a completely inept trier at best. In a results game, Wilder's decision will show at the end of the season.
If we finish outside the playoffs, when we were in them on December 31st before the window opened, then January did not help and not nearly as much as we might have expected. Connolly will surely slip away from Rockliffe never to be seen again. Balogun maybe too, though I personally see much more in him.
If Connolly scores two or three real goals and we make the play-offs then Wilder will be vindicated and he will sign him permanently this summer.

Sadly I don't think I can have my cake and eat it, so I hope we do make it into the top 6 and will have to put up with watching the obvious misfit for another season.
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Agree. If we finish in the top 6 with Connolly playing the majority of the games, then we have to turn around and congratulate Wilder, but I'm finding it very difficult to understand how Connolly is getting minutes and games as often as he is/has. He's not showing anything that suggests he'll get a couple of goals between now and the end of the season, nor is he doing enough for the team to warrant a place in the 11.

Hope I'm wrong and Connolly proves his worth.
 
Jonny Ingbar said:
I actually think he suits our style, he's a physical presence and a focal point for the team - the obvious thing that's missing is more goals, but he is improving the more he plays.

Whether he will improve to a standard that we'd want him here permanatantly (or another loan) is debatable, but there's definitely signs of a decent player there, same with Balogun, albeit he's a very different style of player.
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I don't see them Jonny. Genuinely don't.
 
Adi_Dem said:
I don't see them Jonny. Genuinely don't.
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Nor do I and that is neither extreme, stubborn or lazy Mart.
I remain desperately hopeful that Wilder - and you - are right about Connolly.

I do think it inappropriate to link Connolly and Balogun as though they are the same. (Not saying that you have Mart btw).
Either, both, or neither might be successful here, or elsewhere; but they are different blokes rather than one entity.
For what it's worth, I do see some promise in Balogun.
 
indeedido said:
Nor do I and that is neither extreme, stubborn or lazy Mart.
I remain desperately hopeful that Wilder - and you - are right about Connolly.

I do think it inappropriate to link Connolly and Balogun as though they are the same. (Not saying that you have Mart btw).
Either, both, or neither might be successful here, or elsewhere; but they are different blokes rather than one entity.
For what it's worth, I do see some promise in Balogun.
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Balogun carries a greater goal-threat, that’s for sure. There’s undoubted potential there.
 
FWIW if we don't go up this season, I'd look to take Balogun back on loan for a full season. I think he could improve and be a good player for this division, with the experience he'll have gained these last few months.

As for Sporar & Connolly, whatever happens come the end of the season, I think we need to move on.
 
I don't think Wilder has a blind spot with him; I just think he's playing him as part of a rotation of 4 forwards. It's not like he's first choice every game and he doesn't even always come on as a sub. I think the fact that Sporar was out for a bit makes some people thinks he's more 'in' than he actually is.
 
Unravel_Morrison said:
I don't think Wilder has a blind spot with him; I just think he's playing him as part of a rotation of 4 forwards. It's not like he's first choice every game and he doesn't even always come on as a sub. I think the fact that Sporar was out for a bit makes some people thinks he's more 'in' than he actually is.
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Excellent insight except that he has started 12 of the 15 league matches since he signed.
He played the last 8 minutes of the 2-2 draw at QPR, came on at half time in the 3-2 defeat at Barnsley and stayed on the bench last week at home to Fulham as we lost 1-0.
He has absolutely been first choice, nothing like rotation and was taken off in only 2 of the matches he started.
 
Jonny Ingbar said:
I actually think he suits our style, he's a physical presence and a focal point for the team - the obvious thing that's missing is more goals, but he is improving the more he plays.

Whether he will improve to a standard that we'd want him here permanatantly (or another loan) is debatable, but there's definitely signs of a decent player there, same with Balogun, albeit he's a very different style of player.
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Spot on. The extremeities of and I paraphrase but "He's rubbish, end of" are ridiculous. The persistence in looking at his failure against one single metric as evidence that he is rubbish is again silly.

The game is much more nuanced, than that. He is suffering in front of goal, and he needs to learn to shoot earlier and to make runs in behind, but he has positives to his game as well as negatives. He doesn't just not bother challenging like Britt used to, not close down like Fletcher, not hold it up like Rhodes.

I get some people don't like him, that's fine, but a little more nuance and honesty is a better way to look at it. He has weaknesses and strengths. To put him down in the same ball park as our worst forwards ever is silly.

Same with Balogun, he is much more hot and cold, but shows some very good technical ability. I'm very sure he will make it as a minimum at a top champ player.
 
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