Transfer Rumour Haji Wright (26 Viewers)

[Happy_Martian]

He's played in all 18 matches and scored in one of them.

Be sensible. On paper, he's played in all 18 league games but coming on as sub for 2 minutes against Watford, 6 minutes against Millwall, 7 against Cardiff and 10 against Plymouth doesn't give him a chance to impact the game or improve his confidence. He's actually only started 10 league games this season. And to clarify, he's scored in one game but he hit the target twice against QPR.

I'd challenge any player to improve or feel more comfortable with those types of appearances.

Stats taken from Transfermrkt (Ellis Simms - Stats 23/24)

 

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[Deleted member 9744]

Be sensible. On paper, he's played in all 18 league games but coming on as sub for 2 minutes against Watford, 6 minutes against Millwall, 7 against Cardiff and 10 against Plymouth doesn't give him a chance to impact the game or improve his confidence. He's actually only started 10 league games this season. And to clarify, he's scored in one game but he hit the target twice against QPR.

I'd challenge any player to improve or feel more comfortable with those types of appearances.

Stats taken from Transfermrkt (Ellis Simms - Stats 23/24)

So he's scored two goals in 10 starts and 8 substitute appearances. Not exactly a great record and his performances don't scream out to me that he deserves a place ahead of a consistent goalscorer in Godden.

I find it odd that people think we are fine with three strikers one of whom needs time to settle but they want to replace Eccles and Sheaf.

 

[shmmeee]

So he's scored two goals in 10 starts and 8 substitute appearances. Not exactly a great record and his performances don't scream out to me that he deserves a place ahead of a consistent goalscorer in Godden.

I find it odd that people think we are fine with three strikers one of whom needs time to settle but they want to replace Eccles and Sheaf.

Are these people with us in the room right now?

 

[Deleted member 9744]

Are these people with us in the room right now?

You wanted Eccles loaned out no? On other threads loads are saying drop Godden for Simms.

 

[shmmeee]

You wanted Eccles loaned out no? On other threads loads are saying drop Godden for Simms.

At the start of the season when we were playing two pivots and signing a Hamer replacement/had Hamer. He’s come into his own in a three man midfield because we can bring someone in with passing range and ball carrying ability and keep him in the side. We were looking at a situation where Sheaf and Hamer were ahead of him and we had Kelly. He’d have been better on loan than on the bench. Totally different situation now.

 

[SBAndy]

As said on another thread, I’d like to see our 5 midfield options as Sheaf, Bird (Derby), Eccles, Styles (Barnsley) and a 10. Gives us the option to play 2 sitting with a 10 (Sheaf, Bird, 10) or a flat 3 with 2 shuttlers (Sheaf, Styles, Eccles).

 

[skybluegod]

Be sensible. On paper, he's played in all 18 league games but coming on as sub for 2 minutes against Watford, 6 minutes against Millwall, 7 against Cardiff and 10 against Plymouth doesn't give him a chance to impact the game or improve his confidence. He's actually only started 10 league games this season. And to clarify, he's scored in one game but he hit the target twice against QPR.

I'd challenge any player to improve or feel more comfortable with those types of appearances.

Stats taken from Transfermrkt (Ellis Simms - Stats 23/24)

I find it odd with Robins as an ex striker he typically showed early on in his career that you need give strikers a run of games in order to get them going. You only have to look at McGoldrick, Clarke, McNulty, Chaplin, godden. All of them when signed were pretty much more or less allowed to be the main man and start no matter what. We have started to see that change he slowly brought through Vik, and is now taking his time with Wright and Simms. Different players, different situations I know

 

[Happy_Martian]

I find it odd with Robins as an ex striker he typically showed early on in his career that you need give strikers a run of games in order to get them going. You only have to look at McGoldrick, Clarke, McNulty, Chaplin, godden. All of them when signed were pretty much more or less allowed to be the main man and start no matter what. We have started to see that change he slowly brought through Vik, and is now taking his time with Wright and Simms. Different players, different situations I know

Agree. McNulty and McGoldrick didn't hit the ground running yet turned out to be that seasons' stars. I think with Vik, he was coming from a different place. McNulty and Goldie were regulars for their existing teams whereas Vik was a limited use sub for most of his time with Swansea. Its only when he came to Cov was he started more regularly. Started 2 games for the Swans and came on as sub in another 9. He made the matchday squad another 7 times but wasn't picked. When he came to us in the same season, he started 7 and came on as sub 12 times. He was an unused sub 4 times but we never left him out. If he was picked, he made at least the bench.

 

[Sick Boy]

He's played in all 18 matches and scored in one of them. He needs time and support but you're suggesting to keep the pressure on and start him ahead of Godden who has scored seven, and also that we don't need reinforcements. We didn't do this to Gyokeres when he arrived and we reaped the benefits in the long term. Also Simms has generally looked far better coming on as a sub than when starting when the pressure is much greater.

How many minutes has Simms played vs Godden? Don’t disagree that we could do with another forward though, relying on the 3 of them until the end of the season is asking for trouble.

 

[Londonccfcfan]

How was he today? I didn't watch or go.

 

[Greggs]

The only positive is he's had to play 3 times in a week - therefore earning his wage a bit more.

 

[sixfoursix]

Anyone moaning about Wright missing an easy chance should take a look at Haarand's miss against Tottenham today

 

[covboy9]

Strikers miss chances but watched this lad in warm up just seems to have no passion for football which you can’t teach

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I find it odd with Robins as an ex striker he typically showed early on in his career that you need give strikers a run of games in order to get them going. You only have to look at McGoldrick, Clarke, McNulty, Chaplin, godden. All of them when signed were pretty much more or less allowed to be the main man and start no matter what. We have started to see that change he slowly brought through Vik, and is now taking his time with Wright and Simms. Different players, different situations I know

You can’t really do that when Godden is our top scorer. If you’re not doing particularly well, a way to attract criticism is to not start your top goal scorer.

Godden missed a pen and Simms forced an own goal with some good play. I think Simms has played better than Godden in the last 2 games so could a justification for starting him.

Sakamoto, Simms and Wright as a forward trio could work well I think.

 

[PUSB-We_are_going_up]

I think the difference between Simms and Wright is that Simms had a really good pre season so has expectations to carry that on into the actual season where as Wright comes in with record signing expectations so they’re slightly different but we expect them to be quality, even though we’re forgetting with Wright he didnt have a pre season with us and both have the burden of replacing a monster 30 goal involvements guaranteed striker

 

[robbiekeane]

Sakamoto, Simms and Wright as a forward trio could work well I think.

I'm looking forward to seeing this with a hamer replacement playing alongside sheaf in the middle

Said it before but i am pretty confident we will come good this season. Probably finish top ten then kick on for next year

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

Anyone moaning about Wright missing an easy chance should take a look at Haarand's miss against Tottenham today

Does Haaland miss as many as Wright ?

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I'm looking forward to seeing this with a hamer replacement playing alongside sheaf in the middle

Said it before but i am pretty confident we will come good this season. Probably finish top ten then kick on for next year

Agreed, a lot of our struggles come from midfield and the switch to 4-3-3 has mitigated that a bit.

In January, my hope is that we can secure that marquee signing and in the summer followed up with 1-2 additional bodies. The starting unit wouldn’t be considered Top 6 standard and the quality of player we have outside of this drops considerably.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Does Haaland miss as many as Wright ?

Much more - Man City create a lot of chances!

 

[Winny the Bish]

4-2-3-1 could be fun to watch:

--------- Simms ---------

Wright - O'Hare - Sakamoto

 

[sixfoursix]

Does Haaland miss as many as Wright ?

How many has Wright missed?

 

[skybluegod]

You can’t really do that when Godden is our top scorer. If you’re not doing particularly well, a way to attract criticism is to not start your top goal scorer.

Godden missed a pen and Simms forced an own goal with some good play. I think Simms has played better than Godden in the last 2 games so could a justification for starting him.

Sakamoto, Simms and Wright as a forward trio could work well I think.

Of course you can do that.

You only have the top scorer justification when they continue scoring. He had a hot streak at the start of the season which has now turned into 1 in 12...

Simms has equally a bad a record of course but you can't rely on the top scorer argument for the rest of the season with godden.

 

[Hincha]

Agreed, a lot of our struggles come from midfield and the switch to 4-3-3 has mitigated that a bit.

In January, my hope is that we can secure that marquee signing and in the summer followed up with 1-2 additional bodies. The starting unit wouldn’t be considered Top 6 standard and the quality of player we have outside of this drops considerably.

I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind playing 5-2-1-2 and trying to play possession higher up the pitch. Sheaf/Eccles were constantly outnumbered & we were so vulnerable in transition.

The answer is probably we thought we'd have Hamer who could cover so much space in the middle.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Of course you can do that.

You only have the top scorer justification when they continue scoring. He had a hot streak at the start of the season which has now turned into 1 in 12...

Simms has equally a bad a record of course but you can't rely on the top scorer argument for the rest of the season with godden.

Agreed, I personally would like to see MR stick with Simms for the next few games - he’s looked good the last two games.

I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind playing 5-2-1-2 and trying to play possession higher up the pitch. Sheaf/Eccles were constantly outnumbered & we were so vulnerable in transition.

The answer is probably we thought we'd have Hamer who could cover so much space in the middle.

The simple answer, in my view, is that without Hamer, our midfield options don’t have the range of passing to be effective in that 3-4-1-2 shape.

I really believe that a player with Hamer’s passing ability would lift our team up a level or two. Hamer put defences on back foot with his range of passing and the way he carries the ball in midfield. The way his goal scoring picked up last season he was undoubtedly the best midfielder in the league by the end of the season.

Personally, I think Wright in particular would really have benefitted had Hamer stayed. He makes goods runs behind defences but we lack someone who can consistently pull the trigger and make passes from deep.

 

[skyblu3sk]

Just to continue the how unlucky is Wright theme... Keeper completely out of control not even looking at the ball arms nowhere close and it hits him in the face...

 

[ProfessorbyGrace]

View attachment 32777
Just to continue the how unlucky is Wright theme... Keeper completely out of control not even looking at the ball arms nowhere close and it hits him in the face...

It was undoubtedly unlucky, but even as a kid, I was always encouraged (in that type of situation) to aim for the most open part of the goal. Instead he tries to tank it towards the near post, similar to how you would if the keeper was on his line.

Or indeed, if you didn’t realise how close the keeper was until the last second.

Wright just needs to chill his beans in front of goal, because he’s proven that he can actually finish, it’s where he’s putting the ball at times that’s letting him down.

There’s a really, really top drawer player in there, but does he even realise it?

 

[hinckley cov]

It was undoubtedly unlucky, but even as a kid, I was always encouraged (in that type of situation) to aim for the most open part of the goal. Instead he tries to tank it towards the near post, similar to how you would if the keeper was on his line.

Or indeed, if you didn’t realise how close the keeper was until the last second.

Wright just needs to chill his beans in front of goal, because he’s proven that he can actually finish, it’s where he’s putting the ball at times that’s letting him down.

There’s a really, really top drawer player in there, but does he even realise it?

Why didn’t he just play it to simms , he would of had a tap in.

 

[skyblu3sk]

It was undoubtedly unlucky, but even as a kid, I was always encouraged (in that type of situation) to aim for the most open part of the goal. Instead he tries to tank it towards the near post, similar to how you would if the keeper was on his line.

Or indeed, if you didn’t realise how close the keeper was until the last second.

Wright just needs to chill his beans in front of goal, because he’s proven that he can actually finish, it’s where he’s putting the ball at times that’s letting him down.

There’s a really, really top drawer player in there, but does he even realise it?

What I cropped out the picture was the covering defender on the line I'm not saying he couldn't have gone for the other side of the goal just that it wasn't open.

 

[skyblu3sk]

Why didn’t he just play it to simms , he would of had a tap in.

Initial positioning before he hits the ball. While Simms may be the better option I think he's good value to take in the shot.

 

[ProfessorbyGrace]

Why didn’t he just play it to simms , he would have had a tap in.

His head was down and he didn’t look up, judging by the highlights. I think Ruddy’s position took him by surprise as well, to be honest.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

It was undoubtedly unlucky, but even as a kid, I was always encouraged (in that type of situation) to aim for the most open part of the goal. Instead he tries to tank it towards the near post, similar to how you would if the keeper was on his line.

Or indeed, if you didn’t realise how close the keeper was until the last second.

Wright just needs to chill his beans in front of goal, because he’s proven that he can actually finish, it’s where he’s putting the ball at times that’s letting him down.

There’s a really, really top drawer player in there, but does he even realise it?

Ruddy was in good form and the Millwall keeper’s save with his foot was top drawer. At least he’s making the keeper really work as opposed to shanking stuff wide or over the bar.

 

[ProfessorbyGrace]

View attachment 32778
What I cropped out the picture was the covering defender on the line I'm not saying he couldn't have gone for the other side of the goal just that it wasn't open.

Absolutely, however he’s not looked up, it’s debatable if he’s seen where Ruddy is (advancing on him) and a bit more awareness and that would have been a goal.

I’m still not convinced that going near post (even if he saw Ruddy properly) was the best option, with at least 50% more of the goal to aim at far post. Even with the defender, who would have struggled to keep the ball out if Wright had tanked it with that pace anywhere but where he actually did.

Again, just the old (very old) rudimentary football training kicking in.

And it’s always easy to dissect stuff, with the blessing of hindsight and highlights.

 

[skyblu3sk]

Absolutely, however he’s not looked up, it’s debatable if he’s seen where Ruddy is (advancing on him) and a bit more awareness and that would have been a goal.

I’m still not convinced that going near post (even if he saw Ruddy properly) was the best option, with at least 50% more of the goal to aim at far post. Even with the defender, who would have struggled to keep the ball out if Wright had tanked it with that pace anywhere but where he actually did.

Again, just the old (very old) rudimentary football training kicking in.

And it’s always easy to dissect stuff, with the blessing of hindsight and highlights.

I'm sure Robins will continue to coach hard but the reality is he got a decent shot away the keeper was very very lucky to save.

The other thing that was good to see is how he creates the space in the first place.

When Tats received the ball how close the defender was to him

Vs when he receives the ball

He'd started to drift away from his defender giving Tats the option then uses his pace to give himself more space. that is a footballing brain to do it in a way that your marker doesn't spot and follow he is helping us create. It's a shame Simms didn't play as well as we know he can given his chance. I do hope we don't just slot Godden back in to the side for the sake of it though...

 

[ProfessorbyGrace]

I'm sure Robins will continue to coach hard but the reality is he got a decent shot away the keeper was very very lucky to save.

The other thing that was good to see is how he creates the space in the first place.

When Tats received the ball how close the defender was to him
View attachment 32780
Vs when he receives the ball
View attachment 32781
He'd started to drift away from his defender giving Tats the option then uses his pace to give himself more space. that is a footballing brain to do it in a way that your marker doesn't spot and follow he is helping us create. It's a shame Simms didn't play as well as we know he can given his chance. I do hope we don't just slot Godden back in to the side for the sake of it though...

I agree, especially with the way he creates space and gets into goal scoring situations; that in itself can only be trained into someone to a degree.

He did show great tenacity to shrug off the defender and create the space for the shot in the first place, but I’ll still maintain, that what he does with the ball (shooting angles etc) does need some work.

Again, I don’t think Wright realises what a talented player he is, and how he could progress into a Vik MkII.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I agree, especially with the way he creates space and gets into goal scoring situations; that in itself can only be trained into someone to a degree.

He did show great tenacity to shrug off the defender and create the space for the shot in the first place, but I’ll still maintain, that what he does with the ball (shooting angles etc) does need some work.

Again, I don’t think Wright realises what a talented player he is, and how he could progress into a Vik MkII.

MR will be happy with the contributions of all our forward players. Wright does need to be more clinical but there’s a lot of undue criticism that the 2 chances he had were ‘easy’. He was under pressure both times and Ruddy’s head denied what would’ve been a great goal.

He was guilty of going down a bit too easily on Friday and that caused frustration around me.

They’re different players, but I have seen some similarities with Gyokeres and Wright to see why we wanted to sign him.

Things are starting to improve and the real litmus test will be this run 3 games - Southampton, Leeds and Sunderland.