Almost all Dennis's goals were scored at one level higher.
Plenty of other teams recruit successfully at that level. Jacob'd have cost nothing. And remember he scored loads of goals (19 in 13 games I think) when we sent him on loan to Norway's lower divisions ........ but we let him go after that, what did he have to do to convince us? Maybe he wouldn't make it, but compare him to Giles Coke, hardly kicked a ball in two seasons, yet we gave him a deal and he's only been fit for a week so far.
To give you an idea, as Frickley are near the top of their division and Matlock near the bottom of theirs the two teams should be roughly the same standard. Jamie Vardy was playing for Stocksbridge when he began moving up the pyramid. Stocksbridge are below halfway to Frickley's fourth, same division. I can't find an up-to-date record of Jacob's goalscoring at the moment. He was on 26 goals from 28 games. Now he'll be up around 40 games and he's had a few misfires in recent weeks, and I doubt the very heavy going suits him, but Saturday was another hat-trick.
It seems to me we signed a whole raft of worse bets than Jacob. BUT I'm also sure that by not stretching young players you can create a lad who just becomes good at around the level you set for him. So Jacob might only be able to succeed at his current level - he has a decent record with several different clubs - and I'm afraid that's what we'll do to Ricky German. On the other hand there's a belief in football that real goalscorers can move up a few levels and still find the onion bag.
Plenty of other teams recruit successfully at that level. Jacob'd have cost nothing. And remember he scored loads of goals (19 in 13 games I think) when we sent him on loan to Norway's lower divisions ........ but we let him go after that, what did he have to do to convince us? Maybe he wouldn't make it, but compare him to Giles Coke, hardly kicked a ball in two seasons, yet we gave him a deal and he's only been fit for a week so far.
To give you an idea, as Frickley are near the top of their division and Matlock near the bottom of theirs the two teams should be roughly the same standard. Jamie Vardy was playing for Stocksbridge when he began moving up the pyramid. Stocksbridge are below halfway to Frickley's fourth, same division. I can't find an up-to-date record of Jacob's goalscoring at the moment. He was on 26 goals from 28 games. Now he'll be up around 40 games and he's had a few misfires in recent weeks, and I doubt the very heavy going suits him, but Saturday was another hat-trick.
It seems to me we signed a whole raft of worse bets than Jacob. BUT I'm also sure that by not stretching young players you can create a lad who just becomes good at around the level you set for him. So Jacob might only be able to succeed at his current level - he has a decent record with several different clubs - and I'm afraid that's what we'll do to Ricky German. On the other hand there's a belief in football that real goalscorers can move up a few levels and still find the onion bag.