Washington!

[corbray]

If you think you've seen NOTHING positive in the year from him, then you're deluded quite frankly. There's been countless flashes of cutting in, pace and strikes at goal - which I would class as, something positive.

I've said absolutely nothing wrong. I'm in the camp of backing our younger players who work hard, not being over critical of them, full stop. Especially the ones who need more support than others, and confidence.

To all the critics saying 'it's been over a year', 'about time' - Again I ask, have you listened to the reasons and circumstances surrounding as to why this might be? And are you willing to accept them? I'm guessing not. For the last time - we are not buying the finished article in players anymore, if it takes them a year to settle and perform, then so be it... we're buying to develop!! I'm sure Ian Wright, Jamie Vardy, Charlie Austin, all had enough write offs in their time...

Was frustrating to watch conor at times as there was more than one occasion where he should have scored but fluffed it, heck at times i thought he looked more like a winger than a striker but i think thats more down to him being able to play in a role hes more comfortable in rather than as a bloody target man and hold up player under jfh.
Pure and simple hes a poacher and someone who harrasses defenders non stop and is getting more and more confident with each game, his goal against newcastle showcased that perfectly. A month ago he'd never have done a touch-turn type play but now he is because hes playing a style hes most suited too and we will benefit from it.
Hes been more frustrated than anyone i imagine. I'd wager he reaches 10 goals by the end of the season though and will get 15+++ goals next season imo.
People could see the potential goalscorer in him even before he scored his first goal for us!! Ollie so far has got him playing way better and more confident than jimmy floyd clown ever did and long may it continue!

[West London is Rss]

What's more frustrating and a sign of how fickle some of our fans are is... all it's taken is 2 back to back goals and a good 180 minutes in his actual position, to change the naysayers opinion on him.

Laughable and ridiculous.

[nasser95]

Have you looked at the circumstances around why him not performing for a year to your standard, might be? I'd like to hear a viewpoint and reasons for that viewpoint, from someone who has weighed all of this up and still holds the judgement that he hasn't been good enough for a year.

Stop saying he was just running around and was 'pants', give me more substance. Why do you think he was poor for a year, and has now started to perform? Why?

Mate, listen, you're a good poster, but I've given all my reasons on this thread before, numerically, and they've been shot down because people don't like numbers. The fact is that in the past, his shots were straight at the keeper, there's no denying that. When you do all the running outside the box but get into it and panic, as a striker, that's not good enough in my opinion. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, it's two goals in two matches. It's a great start but he needs to build on it and find consistency. His positioning in the Newcastle one was what got him the goal but there are still concerns about the quality of his finishing. For now though, as long as he puts away what he gets (Something he didn't do before with the volume of shots he had in the past (and he had plenty relative to what he scored)) I'm happy. We cannot get too ahead of ourselves just yet. Let him do what he's doing now without the pressures he's had in the past and lets see what he does. If he can score regularly, then we'll all be happy.

[nasser95]

What's more frustrating and a sign of how fickle some of our fans are is... all it's taken is 2 back to back goals and a good 180 minutes in his actual position, to change the naysayers opinion on him.

Laughable and ridiculous.

I don't think people have changed their opinion more so that (at least from my perspective) I'm willing to give him more chances as long as he scores.

[corbray]

Mate, listen, you're a good poster, but I've given all my reasons on this thread before, numerically, and they've been shot down because people don't like numbers. The fact is that in the past, his shots were straight at the keeper, there's no denying that. When you do all the running outside the box but get into it and panic, as a striker, that's not good enough in my opinion. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, it's two goals in two matches. It's a great start but he needs to build on it and find consistency. His positioning in the Newcastle one was what got him the goal but there are still concerns about the quality of his finishing. For now though, as long as he puts away what he gets (Something he didn't do before with the volume of shots he had in the past (and he had plenty relative to what he scored)) I'm happy. We cannot get too ahead of ourselves just yet. Let him do what he's doing now without the pressures he's had in the past and lets see what he does. If he can score regularly, then we'll all be happy.

Yes but he was being played more so as a target man and theres also the fact that theres no denying everyone is playing better under ollie than jfh, the whole team looks confident and like a unit which it didnt look like before.
Strikers are confidence players and if conor isnt confident then its the managers job to motivate him which jfh didnt, instead he played him in a role he wasnt suited to in a formation that didn't suit our strengths and threw him in at the deep end.
Not jumping the gun either but he looks like a way different player under ollie, plus it doesn't matter how you score as long as you put it in and even at peterbrough conor played as a poacher, heck, i don't think hes ever scored a 'good' goal yet.

Most of his problems lied with jfh and his style of coaching imo, numbers and stats cant prove that but its a fact that hes playing better now.

[Shepherds Mush]

The fact is that in the past, his shots were straight at the keeper, there's no denying that. When you do all the running outside the box but get into it and panic, as a striker, that's not good enough in my opinion.

I'd say Washington has taken too long over shots, possibly because at this level he's getting less time to shoot, but I wouldn't have said he looks panicked in the box.

[Cjskinz]

Mate, listen, you're a good poster, but I've given all my reasons on this thread before, numerically, and they've been shot down because people don't like numbers. The fact is that in the past, his shots were straight at the keeper, there's no denying that. When you do all the running outside the box but get into it and panic, as a striker, that's not good enough in my opinion. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, it's two goals in two matches. It's a great start but he needs to build on it and find consistency. His positioning in the Newcastle one was what got him the goal but there are still concerns about the quality of his finishing. For now though, as long as he puts away what he gets (Something he didn't do before with the volume of shots he had in the past (and he had plenty relative to what he scored)) I'm happy. We cannot get too ahead of ourselves just yet. Let him do what he's doing now without the pressures he's had in the past and lets see what he does. If he can score regularly, then we'll all be happy.

Shooting straight at the keeper - where was he taking the shot from? how many opposition players were around hm / blocking his route to goal? how much of the goal did he actually have to aim for?
Panic in the box - it is FACT that confidence is an integral part of a strikers game (more than any other position I would guess)
Same argument many people have mad RE system he's playing in and where he has been deployed on the wing.
Also argument for who was playing behind him. Pawel playing very well as is Mackie and Manning. More creative players ie Morrison and Freeman in to help him. None of which were playing (or playing well) under JFH.

Yes he has missed a fair few sitters and pulls out of one on ones which does frustrate me, but the point I am making is his goal return is poor yes, but you are looking at the stats that don't adequately reflect all the fact (in my opinion). Whilst stats can be useful, i feel they only show a very small part of the truth.

EDIT: Still not sure if he'll make it, but not writing him off at this stage.

[West London is Rss]

Mate, listen, you're a good poster, but I've given all my reasons on this thread before, numerically, and they've been shot down because people don't like numbers. The fact is that in the past, his shots were straight at the keeper, there's no denying that. When you do all the running outside the box but get into it and panic, as a striker, that's not good enough in my opinion. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, it's two goals in two matches. It's a great start but he needs to build on it and find consistency. His positioning in the Newcastle one was what got him the goal but there are still concerns about the quality of his finishing. For now though, as long as he puts away what he gets (Something he didn't do before with the volume of shots he had in the past (and he had plenty relative to what he scored)) I'm happy. We cannot get too ahead of ourselves just yet. Let him do what he's doing now without the pressures he's had in the past and lets see what he does. If he can score regularly, then we'll all be happy.

Right, I'm not talking about technique when he's striking a ball or his positions Nasser, because that all relates to my point about why he hasn't been performing - you need to go back a step.

The reasons why he hasn't been performing, the likes of which I've stated many times now - is the main contribution as to why he hasn't been good enough in your opinion/why his technique has been off. The reason someone's technique and positioning can be poor, can be down to confidence, not being played in the correct position, not used to the level of and pace of play. All these factors bear relevance to why he hasn't performed the past year.

Even a low on confidence Harry Kane, playing as a winger, would hit his strikes at the keeper sometimes.

It's not as simple, 'oh well he keeps hitting it at the keeper and his positioning isn't good enough', because as we can see - when played in his actual position and with confidence - his technique and positioning is better.

[Rangers77]

Yes but he was being played more so as a target man and theres also the fact that theres no denying everyone is playing better under ollie than jfh, the whole team looks confident and like a unit which it didnt look like before.
Strikers are confidence players and if conor isnt confident then its the managers job to motivate him which jfh didnt, instead he played him in a role he wasnt suited to in a formation that didn't suit our strengths and threw him in at the deep end.
Not jumping the gun either but he looks like a way different player under ollie, plus it doesn't matter how you score as long as you put it in and even at peterbrough conor played as a poacher, heck, i don't think hes ever scored a 'good' goal yet.

Most of his problems lied with jfh and his style of coaching imo, numbers and stats cant prove that but its a fact that hes playing better now.

Indeed. And some wanted Jimmy to stay? ROTFL.......

[blueandwright]

Confidence is 90% of the game for most strikers (the top strikers are just consistently confident/talented enough to score anyway)

Because of this I think statistics/previous form have a lot less of a role when discussing strikers as it would in other positions.

Look at Vardy last season for instance, how many times did he just wallop the ball into the net without any real precision, he just knew it was going in because he was full of confidence (as were the whole team)

Compare that with this season where he's missed multiple 1 on 1s without really changing his technique at all - all down to him (and the team) having less confidence.

Conor had 0 confidence up until recently and it was plain for all to see that this was affecting his game, no surprise that after Holloway's had a few months with him (and also backed Conor publicly) and gotten his confidence up that we are finally seeing more rounded performances from him - with the final touch being putting the ball in the net

[Rangers77]

Confidence is 90% of the game for most strikers (the top strikers are just consistently confident/talented enough to score anyway)

Because of this I think statistics/previous form have a lot less of a role when discussing strikers as it would in other positions.

Look at Vardy last season for instance, how many times did he just wallop the ball into the net without any real precision, he just knew it was going in because he was full of confidence (as were the whole team)

Compare that with this season where he's missed multiple 1 on 1s without really changing his technique at all - all down to him (and the team) having less confidence.

Conor had 0 confidence up until recently and it was plain for all to see that this was affecting his game, no surprise that after Holloway's had a few months with him (and also backed Conor publicly) and gotten his confidence up that we are finally seeing more rounded performances from him - with the final touch being putting the ball in the net

And some. I like the fella, so want him to do well.

[Pinkie]

Shooting straight at the keeper - where was he taking the shot from? how many opposition players were around hm / blocking his route to goal? how much of the goal did he actually have to aim for?
Panic in the box - it is FACT that confidence is an integral part of a strikers game (more than any other position I would guess)
Same argument many people have mad RE system he's playing in and where he has been deployed on the wing.
Also argument for who was playing behind him. Pawel playing very well as is Mackie and Manning. More creative players ie Morrison and Freeman in to help him. None of which were playing (or playing well) under JFH.

Yes he has missed a fair few sitters and pulls out of one on ones which does frustrate me, but the point I am making is his goal return is poor yes, but you are looking at the stats that don't adequately reflect all the fact (in my opinion). Whilst stats can be useful, i feel they only show a very small part of the truth.

EDIT: Still not sure if he'll make it, but not writing him off at this stage.

Its a waste of time pointing those things out to him as hes not too savvy on that real side of the game, he would of shipped him out by now if he was our manager

[Pinkie]

Indeed. And some wanted Jimmy to stay? ROTFL.......

Laughable and says it all about it all really

[Pinkie]

Confidence is 90% of the game for most strikers (the top strikers are just consistently confident/talented enough to score anyway)

Because of this I think statistics/previous form have a lot less of a role when discussing strikers as it would in other positions.

Look at Vardy last season for instance, how many times did he just wallop the ball into the net without any real precision, he just knew it was going in because he was full of confidence (as were the whole team)

Compare that with this season where he's missed multiple 1 on 1s without really changing his technique at all - all down to him (and the team) having less confidence.

Conor had 0 confidence up until recently and it was plain for all to see that this was affecting his game, no surprise that after Holloway's had a few months with him (and also backed Conor publicly) and gotten his confidence up that we are finally seeing more rounded performances from him - with the final touch being putting the ball in the net

Exactly this

[Cjskinz]

Its a waste of time pointing those things out to him as hes not too savvy on that real side of the game, he would of shipped him out by now if he was our manager

TO be fair, I'm sure he knows a lot about the game. Just relies too heavily on stats and takes them as gospel rather than the reasons behind the stats.