24-01-2018, 14:09
Raglan got injured pre-season I think, was predicted to be out until the New Year and hasn't even made the bench yet. Outlasted the manager though - think they must have visions of grandeur, they're middle of the table!
I agree completely with Dancing on development. It happens at different rates and it isn't always the clubs' fault that they've released players who only start showing how good they are in a year or so's time. Players do change, what they've been promising to do without quite getting there, suddenly happens. BUT as Pooch suggests some of them are in non-league, because they are non-league players and won't become anything else. That's the gamble with Jacob Hazel, but it seems a small one to me. We obviously thought he was on the verge of making it when he was 18. At 24 he's finally found what he's best at and how to make the most of himself. Maybe he's just hit a low enough level to shine, or maybe a goal a game at that level should be enough to alert everyone to his potential.
I think we may be a bit hard on CO'G. Once you've classified a player like Dennis as a goalscorer the team tries to get him in on goal. The team knows CO'G isn't a marksman, so he gets the ball hit up to him, players use him as a way out when they are in trouble themselves and he's expected to battle for the ball .... and that's the kind of ball he gets. He isn't playing the same game as Dennis and nor is the team when he is around. It could be that CO'G loses the ball more simply because the ball isn't as good as that delivered to Dennis, and he perhaps doesn't receive the same support .......
BUT as Pooch suggested we paid him the big wage as if dropping down to our level he'd score goals and lead our attack, but he's roughly the player he always was, a worker and a provider more than a scorer. So we play to him in those terms, make it less likely than ever that he'll score and then we all become dissatisfied. He's trapped.
Once we started treating Eoin Doyle as a goalscorer he couldn't stop scoring could he? So I'm just wondering is it Dennis who is responsible for his 15 goals, or is it the way the team plays for him? If we sold him, or he was injured, would a Jacob Hazel, or another striker, step up to the mark if the team itself continued to provide the chances? Obviously a different striker would miss ...... but so does Dennis.
I agree completely with Dancing on development. It happens at different rates and it isn't always the clubs' fault that they've released players who only start showing how good they are in a year or so's time. Players do change, what they've been promising to do without quite getting there, suddenly happens. BUT as Pooch suggests some of them are in non-league, because they are non-league players and won't become anything else. That's the gamble with Jacob Hazel, but it seems a small one to me. We obviously thought he was on the verge of making it when he was 18. At 24 he's finally found what he's best at and how to make the most of himself. Maybe he's just hit a low enough level to shine, or maybe a goal a game at that level should be enough to alert everyone to his potential.
I think we may be a bit hard on CO'G. Once you've classified a player like Dennis as a goalscorer the team tries to get him in on goal. The team knows CO'G isn't a marksman, so he gets the ball hit up to him, players use him as a way out when they are in trouble themselves and he's expected to battle for the ball .... and that's the kind of ball he gets. He isn't playing the same game as Dennis and nor is the team when he is around. It could be that CO'G loses the ball more simply because the ball isn't as good as that delivered to Dennis, and he perhaps doesn't receive the same support .......
BUT as Pooch suggested we paid him the big wage as if dropping down to our level he'd score goals and lead our attack, but he's roughly the player he always was, a worker and a provider more than a scorer. So we play to him in those terms, make it less likely than ever that he'll score and then we all become dissatisfied. He's trapped.
Once we started treating Eoin Doyle as a goalscorer he couldn't stop scoring could he? So I'm just wondering is it Dennis who is responsible for his 15 goals, or is it the way the team plays for him? If we sold him, or he was injured, would a Jacob Hazel, or another striker, step up to the mark if the team itself continued to provide the chances? Obviously a different striker would miss ...... but so does Dennis.
