Conor Chaplin - Signing Confirmed (Finally!) (13 Viewers)

[fernandopartridge]

Said much the same last week and people insisted M R knows what he's doing, well . I am not so sure although Chaplin has been mentioned no others have been mentioned with any conviction.

Nobody from CCFC has said anything about Chaplin. Robins doesn't deal in public. The only reports are from supposedly in the know Portsmouth fans

 

---

[Sky Blue Pete]

I’ve heard no more in or out

 

[Cavan O'Doherty]

I’ve heard no more in or out

No chance. McNulty will be replaced.

 

[Otis]

Poor Stuart Beavon

Is that his full name?

 

[Skybluefaz]

I’ve heard no more in or out

Where has this information come from?

 

[shmmeee]

I’ve heard no more in or out

Ridiculous if true. More than £4m plus McNultys new contract worth to spend and were not touching it?

 

[skyblueelephant76]

Ridiculous if true. More than £4m plus McNultys new contract worth to spend and were not touching it?

I think you can just put the full stop after ridiculous.

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

Ridiculous if true. More than £4m plus McNultys new contract worth to spend and were not touching it?

I get the overall sentiment shmmeee, but not sure how McNulty's new contract factors into the equation?

 

[mark82]

Let's not be hysterical. There will be at least a striker come in and I wouldn't be surprised to see more.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

I’d be really surprised if Armstrong - the wolves guy didn’t sign and a striker but I also think the team is vastly improved given the signings already made. I think MR must know that goals will still be the priority and we will score more with what we have sharing the goals around than relying on McNulty.

 

[JimmyHillsbeard]

We’ve signed 10 new players this close season. There’s no reason to believe we won’t sign a replacement for McNulty, even if it turns out not to be Chaplin.

It’s hardly as if this is unusual for us is it Rune Lange? Ricky Otto? Steve Bull?

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

I’d be really surprised if Armstrong - the wolves guy didn’t sign and a striker but I also think the team is vastly improved given the signings already made. I think MR must know that goals will still be the priority and we will score more with what we have sharing the goals around than relying on McNulty.

You do realise the whole of our starting midfield and defence combined last season scored less than McNulty did. In what universe is 'sharing the goals' an adequate replacement for him. Even all of our strikers combined scored less goals than him as well. Your logic is baffling. The only goalscorer we've signed is a 22 year old who's come from a team the majority of the known world hasn't even heard of.

 

[covcity4life]

we need another striker. biamou and jch were not prolific league 2 and whilst they may find their feet we dont want to risk it

remember our aim is promotion not mid table consolidation

 

[JimmyHillsbeard]

You do realise the whole of our starting midfield and defence combined last season scored less than McNulty did. In what universe is 'sharing the goals' an adequate replacement for him. Even all of our strikers combined scored less goals than him as well. Your logic is baffling. The only goalscorer we've signed is a 22 year old who's come from a team the majority of the known world hasn't even heard of.

I loved McNulty and really came to appreciate his work rate but he didn’t really score until we changed the way we played after Jones was injured. I hope we replace him on a like for like basis but even if we do there’s no guarantee it will work as it did last year. Without him we might have to find another way to adapt again.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

I loved McNulty and really came to appreciate his work rate but he didn’t really score until we changed the way we played after Jones was injured. I hope we replace him on a like for like basis but even if we do there’s no guarantee it will work as it did last year. Without him we might have to find another way to adapt again.

Did I say I thought MR wouldn’t replace him? I just think the squad is hugely improved even without McNulty.

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

I loved McNulty and really came to appreciate his work rate but he didn’t really score until we changed the way we played after Jones was injured. I hope we replace him on a like for like basis but even if we do there’s no guarantee it will work as it did last year. Without him we might have to find another way to adapt again.

It wasn't the system alone that brought McNulty success though. Granted he excelled far better under it but he always had goals in him, as Robins reiterated when the fans started jumping on his back. IMO it was the lack of creativity behind him that was the primary issue, not McNulty himself. With Vincenti, Doyle, an ineffectual Kelly and a raw Biamou providing little creativity for the most part of the first half of the season, McNulty had no chance in scoring at a consistent rate. Even when Jones was playing, the opposition dealt with him on the most part fairly easily. All they had to do was double up on him and that was our only source of creativity gone.

Without another striker of his ilk providing creativity as well as goals I seriously think we'll struggle. IMO it will be a repeat of the struggle we found ourselves in the beginning of last season where goals were few and far between. What you're forgetting is that we can't rely on our defence to bail us out either this season as we'll be up against far better players. The clean sheets won't come as frequently as they did last season, as the back line and Burge will most likely find themselves exposed on more than one occasion.

 

[Liquid Gold]

Well it's news Thursday...

 

[larry_david]

Of course we will sign a replacement.

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

Of course we will sign a replacement.

....but if it's not McNulty, James will be very very angry!!

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

You do realise the whole of our starting midfield and defence combined last season scored less than McNulty did. In what universe is 'sharing the goals' an adequate replacement for him. Even all of our strikers combined scored less goals than him as well. Your logic is baffling. The only goalscorer we've signed is a 22 year old who's come from a team the majority of the known world hasn't even heard of.

You need a team that has goals all over the park. A weakness of ours last season was our over-reliance on McNulty. It was only until Shipley, Bayliss and (to an extent) Biamou started scoring that we started to score a lot of goals. We also need a lot more goals from set-pieces next season too with defenders chipping in with a few more.

In this conversation about replacing McNulty, a lot of people seem to think we need a 20+ goal a season striker in order to compete. Not necessarily true. I’d say you need 3-4 players to hit 10+ goals rather than that one goal scorer. Also, some people seem to think McNulty was guaranteed to score 20+ this season, which is unlikely. We’ve seen players score 20+ Goals in L2 and struggle to hit 15 in L1. It’s the same with Eisa, he’s not guaranteed to hit 20+ in L1 either. Assuming we sign Chaplin, if he scores between 10-15 goals, I’ll be happy with that return. With Jones, Bayliss, Andreu, Shipley, Allassani, and of one of JP, JCH or Biamou gets scoring, we’ve got goals all over the pitch which is more important than 1 main goalscorer.

 

[SuperFred]

We need a CB as well as a ST if we're looking at playing a back 3 surely?

 

[covfanman]

And remember that all these strikers we sign MUST be able to play on the wing or they will never survive here.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

And remember that all these strikers we sign MUST be able to play on the wing or they will never survive here.

Made me smile

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

You need a team that has goals all over the park. A weakness of ours last season was our over-reliance on McNulty. It was only until Shipley, Bayliss and (to an extent) Biamou started scoring that we started to score a lot of goals. We also need a lot more goals from set-pieces next season too with defenders chipping in with a few more.

In this conversation about replacing McNulty, a lot of people seem to think we need a 20+ goal a season striker in order to compete. Not necessarily true. I’d say you need 3-4 players to hit 10+ goals rather than that one goal scorer. Also, some people seem to think McNulty was guaranteed to score 20+ this season, which is unlikely. We’ve seen players score 20+ Goals in L2 and struggle to hit 15 in L1. It’s the same with Eisa, he’s not guaranteed to hit 20+ in L1 either. Assuming we sign Chaplin, if he scores between 10-15 goals, I’ll be happy with that return. With Jones, Bayliss, Andreu, Shipley, Allassani, and of one of JP, JCH or Biamou gets scoring, we’ve got goals all over the pitch which is more important than 1 main goalscorer.

I agree we did need that. Has Robins resurrected that issue? No. Although he's improved the team overall, he's brought in players that haven't previously scored at a consistent rate. Yes, there's an argument that Allassani could make the step up, but no one definitively knows that until he steps out onto the field. Admittedly IMO Robins' transfer dealings fall short of what we need in the goals department. If the budget was there, I'd suggest another striker, a goalscoring winger at this level, a CB who's a threat in either box and (for the sake of including it) a GK are all needed to make the team promotion ready.

Have we got goals all over the pitch though? You talk about guarantees but there's still no guarantees that Bayliss will stay, there's no guarantees Allassani/Biamou will be able to cope with the step up, and there's no guarantees that Jones or Andreu will be back firing at all cylinders given their long stretch out. It might seem I'm playing devil's advocate but that's the reality of the situation.

Hence why IMO I think we'd struggle without a replacement for McNulty. Unless we have 2 midfielders that are going to bag 10 goals each then coping without a 20+ striker would put us at a huge disadvantage for the season.

There's no doubting we've got a good side but the goals department is an area I think we'll struggle in. So yes, for the benefit of the conversation I doubt we'd be able to compete without a 20+ goalscorer. There are sides in this league who have managed without but look at the talent they possess in their midfield. E.g. Shrews had Nolan, Plymouth had Carey, Blackburn had Dack, Walsall had Otzumer. Unfortunately at this moment in time I can't see any of our midfielders reaching these heights. But players can surprise and step up so nothing is impossible in football.

 

[Limey]

For what it's worth, looking at Cheltenham fans forum they think Eisa has played last game and club is negotiating with Sunderland.
Where that leads the (rumoured) Chaplin deal for us who knows? Might depend on the players attitude towards a move I guess.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I agree we did need that. Has Robins resurrected that issue? No. Although he's improved the team overall, he's brought in players that haven't previously scored at a consistent rate. Yes, there's an argument that Allassani could make the step up, but no one definitively knows that until he steps out onto the field. Admittedly IMO Robins' transfer dealings fall short of what we need in the goals department. If the budget was there, I'd suggest another striker, a goalscoring winger at this level, a CB who's a threat in either box and (for the sake of including it) a GK are all needed to make the team promotion ready.

Have we got goals all over the pitch though? You talk about guarantees but there's still no guarantees that Bayliss will stay, there's no guarantees Allassani/Biamou will be able to cope with the step up, and there's no guarantees that Jones or Andreu will be back firing at all cylinders given their long stretch out. It might seem I'm playing devil's advocate but that's the reality of the situation.

Hence why IMO I think we'd struggle without a replacement for McNulty. Unless we have 2 midfielders that are going to bag 10 goals each then coping without a 20+ striker would put us at a huge disadvantage for the season.

There's no doubting we've got a good side but the goals department is an area I think we'll struggle in. So yes, for the benefit of the conversation I doubt we'd be able to compete without a 20+ goalscorer. There are sides in this league who have managed without but look at the talent they possess in their midfield. E.g. Shrews had Nolan, Plymouth had Carey, Blackburn had Dack, Walsall had Otzumer. Unfortunately at this moment in time I can't see any of our midfielders reaching these heights. But players can surprise and step up so nothing is impossible in football.

Shipley, Bayliss and Jones all got 6 goals in half a season, for just one of them to get 10 goals isn’t so far fetched. Will Bayliss stay? The indication is yes. All them are young, improving players. As for Andreu, he’s scored 2 in preseason already so it looks like he’s making a good comeback — he’s a midfielder who regularly scores 10 from midfield.

McNulty will be replaced by someone, and I’m confident this Chaplin deal will go through eventually. From his appearances, he’s a 1 in 5 striker and another poster (on this or another thread) said he has a similar goals to minute ratio as McNulty which I haven’t fact checked, but is believable given he’s made most of his appearances from the bench.

You’ve laid out all these ‘needs’ but it’s rather vague. A ‘goal scoring right winger’ describes Jones pretty well, and Allassani can play there too. We won’t know how good either will be until the season starts. You’ve just gotta trust the process of MR and his staff to get the team up to scratch. Personally, the team is shaping up quite well at the minute and there’s probably not a lot of good worrying about all the potential things that could go wrong, which you’re doing a bit tbh — not an insult btw.

 

[fernandopartridge]

Shipley, Bayliss and Jones all got 6 goals in half a season, for just one of them to get 10 goals isn’t so far fetched. Will Bayliss stay? The indication is yes. All them are young, improving players. As for Andreu, he’s scored 2 in preseason already so it looks like he’s making a good comeback — he’s a midfielder who regularly scores 10 from midfield.

McNulty will be replaced by someone, and I’m confident this Chaplin deal will go through eventually. From his appearances, he’s a 1 in 5 striker and another poster (on this or another thread) said he has a similar goals to minute ratio as McNulty which I haven’t fact checked, but is believable given he’s made most of his appearances from the bench.

You’ve laid out all these ‘needs’ but it’s rather vague. A ‘goal scoring right winger’ describes Jones pretty well, and Allassani can play there too. We won’t know how good either will be until the season starts. You’ve just gotta trust the process of MR and his staff to get the team up to scratch. Personally, the team is shaping up quite well at the minute and there’s probably not a lot of good worrying about all the potential things that could go wrong, which you’re doing a bit tbh — not an insult btw.

We do need a striker that will get 15 goals +, it's very rare that a team prospers in this leagues without one.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Where has this information come from?

Current player but they are not likely to be in the know necessarily

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

We do need a striker that will get 15 goals +, it's very rare that a team prospers in this leagues without one.

Absolutely agree. I do wonder how ponti would do with a run in the side

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

Shipley, Bayliss and Jones all got 6 goals in half a season, for just one of them to get 10 goals isn’t so far fetched. Will Bayliss stay? The indication is yes. All them are young, improving players. As for Andreu, he’s scored 2 in preseason already so it looks like he’s making a good comeback — he’s a midfielder who regularly scores 10 from midfield.

McNulty will be replaced by someone, and I’m confident this Chaplin deal will go through eventually. From his appearances, he’s a 1 in 5 striker and another poster (on this or another thread) said he has a similar goals to minute ratio as McNulty which I haven’t fact checked, but is believable given he’s made most of his appearances from the bench.

You’ve laid out all these ‘needs’ but it’s rather vague. A ‘goal scoring right winger’ describes Jones pretty well, and Allassani can play there too. We won’t know how good either will be until the season starts. You’ve just gotta trust the process of MR and his staff to get the team up to scratch. Personally, the team is shaping up quite well at the minute and there’s probably not a lot of good worrying about all the potential things that could go wrong, which you’re doing a bit tbh — not an insult btw.

I guarantee McNulty will be replaced by someone, MR wouldn't be in a job if he didn't understand that replacing a striker who bagged 28 goals last season wasn't a priority. I'm sceptical whether it will be Chaplin as I personally believe Pompey may fall short in the Eisa race which has already dragged on too long. Although, we don't know who else they're after as I'm sure KJ will have backup options so it could still be kept alive - assuming MR doesn't walk away that is.

I reiterate, you cannot expect Jones to be firing at all cylinders given his time out. Jones isn't even available until mid-late September, and that's assuming there's no setbacks in his injury, which is entirely possible after damaging an ACL. It's not uncommon for players to not be the same after such an injury. Not comparing the players ability-wise but case and point look at Vincenti and Stokes. Andreu is looking promising and I can't wait to see what he can do but an element of caution still has to remain over him.

Assuming both stay I'm confident Shipley and Bayliss will be key to our season. But whether they'll be the goalscoring midfielders we require is again up to speculation. We can guess all day long how many goals they could or could not score next season but there's no guarantees as both are still young and they're playing in a tougher league. So, it's not as simple as putting it down to 'they scored 6 in half a season last season so that automatically suggests they'll match this or do better this season'. IMO the gulf in standards between League One and League Two is bigger than many think so time will tell how they cope with the increased standards that are required.

Is that vague though? Jones won't be available until mid-late September (as I previously mentioned) so surely we'll need someone to replace him for the time being. Allassani could well be his replacement but is he likely to be a starter? And who else is there? Once again it seems we're thin on the wings, so reinforcements in that area of the squad are definitely needed as at the minute as the only out and out winger we have on our books is Allassani - although they can play there, Sterling, Shipley and Bayliss especially aren't natural wingers. So how is that vague? We're bound to suffer injuries throughout the season so another right sided winger or midfielder with an eye for a goal/assist is needed IMO. It's not an assumption of things that go wrong though as everything I've stated happen to clubs/players season after season. It happened to us last season! Fans burying their heads in the sand and not understanding the reality of football by thinking everything will come out smelling like roses doesn't do a lot of good either!

 

[Earlsdon-Loyal-Blue]

We do need a striker that will get 15 goals +, it's very rare that a team prospers in this leagues without one.

100%. The bare minimum a striker should aim for is 15 goals in a season. We have a chronic history of shit strikers, that struggle to break into double figures.

In 1998 we sold Dion Dublin who had got 18 goals that season. Following him, we had to wait 8 years to have another player hit at least 15 goals in the league in 2006 (McSheffrey). After we sold McSheffrey, we had to wait 6 years for McGoldrick to hit 16 League goals in 2012. 15 goals a season is the absolute minimum a decent striker should contribute and we should be looking to bring someone in that can deliver that, not some shithouse that gets 8 a seaon!!!

And before everyone starts the X got 13 that's close or X got 12 but he would of got 15 if he was the penalty taker/had stayed until the end of the season/wasn't shit, that's irrelevant. We need goals to get promotions.

 

[no_loyalty]

We should at least try to get Adam Armstrong in on a season long loan, he is never going to get games at Newcastle and he hasn't produced the goods when being on loan at Championship clubs

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

We should at least try to get Adam Armstrong in on a season long loan, he is never going to get games at Newcastle and he hasn't produced the goods when being on loan at Championship clubs

He doesn't want to go out on loan again apparently. He's still assessing his future at Newcastle so I'm guessing he wants to move somewhere permanently. Blackburn in for him but wages are a stumbling block according to mumblings on their end.

 

[SkyBlueCRJ]

Pompey apparently after Middlesborough left winger Marcus Tavernier. Given that they're looking at wingers I'm guessing this is good news for us, considering they play left footed Chaplin on the wing.

 

[harvey098]

I make the point again though and please someone tell me what I’m missing but shouldn’t we be aiming higher than a cast off from a club in the same league as us?