Ellis simms (20 Viewers)

[JoeCCFCPUSB]

I don't think it's fair to constantly bash Simms, since Lampards come in, his game has transformed.

Simms has become exactly the player he should be, he's 6ft2 strong, relatively quick, decent in the air and generally someone that thrives in the box.

Since Lampard has come in, Simms has added all of the above to his game, when we don't play out from the back, Simms is there waiting to get his head on the ball or to hold the ball up and then look to play it to Rudoni or our Wingers.

People forget, Simms will always have 2 big lumps at centre back trying to stop him, it's a lot easier for wingers who are dealing with 1 vs 1 most of the game, to have more of an impact.

Under Robins, take away Simms's purple patch, none of us really could.explain Simms purple patch, Simms wasn't holding the ball up much, showing aggression to win the ball, pressing. It was almost like we signed Simms and just let him play and hoped for the best.

Simms is an important player for us in my opinion.

For me, the squad needs a top left back.

 

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[StrettoBoy]

Against Derby and/or Sunderland, I’d like to see Sakamoto-Simms-Wright.

After the Stoke game I’m convinced it has to be Sakamoto-Thomas-Wright with Torp as a false 9.

 

[Evo1883]

Only three matches ago Simms was the match winner for us against Sheffield Wednesday.

Some posters will never take to Simms because he isn't Matty Godden.

For me he's the best number 9 we have and has some good raw attributes that still need to be honed so lets get behind him and he's capable of giving any defence in this league a hard match when he's on his game.

Was only a few weeks ago we were being told Cannon was a bargain at £10 million in comparison to Simms, now Cannons not scored since his transfer it's changed to Sargent now.

He's not as good as Sargent but Sargent is a £15-20 mill player

Simms isn't having a good season and thats arguably a correct opinion which for some weird reason you're all getting upset about

End of the day he needs to give us much more

 

[fatso]

I don't think it's fair to constantly bash Simms, since Lampards come in, his game has transformed.

Simms has become exactly the player he should be, he's 6ft2 strong, relatively quick, decent in the air and generally someone that thrives in the box.

Since Lampard has come in, Simms has added all of the above to his game, when we don't play out from the back, Simms is there waiting to get his head on the ball or to hold the ball up and then look to play it to Rudoni or our Wingers.

People forget, Simms will always have 2 big lumps at centre back trying to stop him, it's a lot easier for wingers who are dealing with 1 vs 1 most of the game, to have more of an impact.

Under Robins, take away Simms's purple patch, none of us really could.explain Simms purple patch, Simms wasn't holding the ball up much, showing aggression to win the ball, pressing. It was almost like we signed Simms and just let him play and hoped for the best.

Simms is an important player for us in my opinion.

For me, the squad needs a top left back.

Simms is OK, but he's certainly no Gyokeres.

I think part of the problem is that playing a 4-3-3 leaves the main striker isolated with little service, but it does allow more goals from wide players and midfielders.

We're having a great run but havn't played particularly well, we've relied on late goals to get us over the line (QPR and Stoke) and we've reverted back to conceding 2 goals per game again which is a worry. I wouldn't be suprised if we switch to 3-5-2 against Sunderland, Burnley and Sheffield Utd, which would suit Simms better, and give Wright a chance to play in a front two.

 

[Evo1883]

I really have to stop commenting on simms because it comes across like I dislike the player but he frustrates me , hes big but rarely uses his strength , hes tall but rarely uses his height , hes fast but rarely travels with the ball , hes awkward but rarely puts himself about players .

His finishing is very mediocre too .

All the stats that you can find will back up much of this too so its hardly a shocking opinion

If the club could develop him further he has all the attributes to be a top player at this level .

This is my opinion of simms , not anything else

I think its a fair opinion but others disagree , he will score some goals and some important goals too no doubt.

 

[Grendel]

I really have to stop commenting on simms because it comes across like I dislike the player but he frustrates me , hes big but rarely uses his strength , hes tall but rarely uses his height , hes fast but rarely travels with the ball , hes awkward but rarely puts himself about players .

His finishing is very mediocre too .

All the stats that you can find will back up much of this too so its hardly a shocking opinion

If the club could develop him further he has all the attributes to be a top player at this level .

This is my opinion of simms , not anything else

I think it’s a fair opinion but others disagree , he will score some goals and some important goals too no doubt.

What you are saying is a completely fair and accurate summary

He isn’t having a great season by any stretch and should give more

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Simms is OK, but he's certainly no Gyokeres.

I think part of the problem is that playing a 4-3-3 leaves the main striker isolated with little service, but it does allow more goals from wide players and midfielders.

We're having a great run but havn't played particularly well, we've relied on late goals to get us over the line (QPR and Stoke) and we've reverted back to conceding 2 goals per game again which is a worry. I wouldn't be suprised if we switch to 3-5-2 against Sunderland, Burnley and Sheffield Utd, which would suit Simms better, and give Wright a chance to play in a front two.

Gyokeres is a unicorn player and we are unlikely to find a player better than him in a lifetime.

Simms’ overall goal scoring record speaks for itself and he does a very thankless task of holding the ball up and being a general nuisance. Granted, it’s only been a short sample, but Haji hasn’t looked bright up front on his on and his bright sparks v Oxford and Stoke came when he got the ball out wide. The way we play, our attacking shape becomes a 3-2-5 so I expect Haji to play out wide over time.

It is potentially a concern with the goals conceded, but 2 of those goals were set pieces and frankly, there’s a case that 2 shouldn’t have stood (Oxford’s 1st, Stoke’s 2nd). Unless we drop Sakamoto (not a good idea atm), I don’t think we’ll go back to 5-3-2 without Rudoni and potentially MVE.

Bringing players like Kitching, Simms and Dovin in from the cold has turned our season around.

 

[covcity4life]

No one is hating on Simms FFS. He's not a boo boy

 

[covcity4life]

Gyokeres is a unicorn player and we are unlikely to find a player better than him in a lifetime.

Simms’ overall goal scoring record speaks for itself and he does a very thankless task of holding the ball up and being a general nuisance. Granted, it’s only been a short sample, but Haji hasn’t looked bright up front on his on and his bright sparks v Oxford and Stoke came when he got the ball out wide. The way we play, our attacking shape becomes a 3-2-5 so I expect Haji to play out wide over time.

It is potentially a concern with the goals conceded, but 2 of those goals were set pieces and frankly, there’s a case that 2 shouldn’t have stood (Oxford’s 1st, Stoke’s 2nd). Unless we drop Sakamoto (not a good idea atm), I don’t think we’ll go back to 5-3-2 without Rudoni and potentially MVE.

Bringing players like Kitching, Simms and Dovin in from the cold has turned our season around.

I think the main debate is that some posters including me don't thinks enough of a nuisance. He's not enough of a hold up man.

Not that he doesn't do it all. Just can do more

 

[Torquay Sky Blue]

He's the best we have down the middle. Wright can't play there and Asante isn't good enough. Strange game for him on Saturday...sort of passed him by a bit. I still think he's improving though

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I think the main debate is that some posters including me don't thinks enough of a nuisance. He's not enough of a hold up man.

Not that he doesn't do it all. Just can do more

If you mean beating defenders in the air from the hold ball, probably not because the refereeing clearly favours the defender.

The way we play, the striker doesn’t get much of the ball in the buildup play and he’s just expected to get in the box which he does well and has scored quite a few headers.

Again, it’s too early to judge, but if Haji Wright came on and played well getting behind defences and so on, I’d be a lot of open to the idea that the future is EMC-Wright-Saka. In reality, in both of Haji’s comeback appearances, his most promising contributions is when he came off the left.

Unless we play 4-4-2 (which is our defensive shape), you keep Wright out wide and let him take on defenders on. Whether or not it’s EMC or Sakamoto who is on the bench is probably down to form.

Assuming Haji plays wide, the viable alternatives to Simms is BTA or Bassette and we’ve gone that road and they’re not better than him.

 

[covcity4life]

If you mean beating defenders in the air from the hold ball, probably not because the refereeing clearly favours the defender.

The way we play, the striker doesn’t get much of the ball in the buildup play and he’s just expected to get in the box which he does well and has scored quite a few headers.

Again, it’s too early to judge, but if Haji Wright came on and played well getting behind defences and so on, I’d be a lot of open to the idea that the future is EMC-Wright-Saka. In reality, in both of Haji’s comeback appearances, his most promising contributions is when he came off the left.

Unless we play 4-4-2 (which is our defensive shape), you keep Wright out wide and let him take on defenders on. Whether or not it’s EMC or Sakamoto who is on the bench is probably down to form.

Assuming Haji plays wide, the viable alternatives to Simms is BTA or Bassette and we’ve gone that road and they’re not better than him.

Im not saying Simms shouldn't be starting striker. I'm not saying wright will be better there

I'm just saying Simms cns improve further. He doesn't win headers all the time. He isn't a beast shielding the ball. He rarely gets the ball and runs at defenders

Right now he's a 6.5/10 player. He has attributes to be 10/10 on this league though

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

He's the best we have down the middle. Wright can't play there and Asante isn't good enough. Strange game for him on Saturday...sort of passed him by a bit. I still think he's improving though

Simms deserves credit for Torp’s first goal. Firstly, Torp’s man completely loses him, but the nearest defender to him was marking Simms and when their defender sees the danger, Simms blocks him off.

It was probably the difference between Torp having an uncontested header versus a contested one.

 

[Offhegoes]

We didn't play to Simms strengths yesterday. Wright was even more anonymous when he took over. I would of brought on BTA as the CF. Despite him being at fault for Stoke's first goal, he looked bright. He's no winger though.

 

[Rodders1]

Maybe lamps will prove me wrong but when EMC came off it had to be wright at LW with Simms up top. Its worked so well before.

Even when BTA comes on he should be the CF with wright LW.

I wonder if Hajis had a word or Lamps is convinced he's only a CF.

Would be keen to see EMC LW and Haji CF for a run of games though.

 

[Mcbean]

We didn't play to Simms strengths yesterday. Wright was even more anonymous when he took over. I would have brought on BTA as the CF. Despite him being at fault for Stoke's first goal, he looked bright. He's no winger though.

BTA never looks up to make a pass

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Maybe lamps will prove me wrong but when EMC came off it had to be wright at LW with Simms up top. Its worked so well before.

Even when BTA comes on he should be the CF with wright LW.

I wonder if Hajis had a word or Lamps is convinced he's only a CF.

Would be keen to see EMC LW and Haji CF for a run of games though.

The calculation was probably that there was 42 minutes left of the game and they didn’t plan to play Haji for that long as part of his rehab.

 

[Flying Fokker]

I really have to stop commenting on simms because it comes across like I dislike the player but he frustrates me , hes big but rarely uses his strength , hes tall but rarely uses his height , hes fast but rarely travels with the ball , hes awkward but rarely puts himself about players .

His finishing is very mediocre too .

All the stats that you can find will back up much of this too so its hardly a shocking opinion

If the club could develop him further he has all the attributes to be a top player at this level .

This is my opinion of simms , not anything else

I think its a fair opinion but others disagree , he will score some goals and some important goals too no doubt.

I’d go with Lampard’s view. If he picks him, he’s seeing enough to warrant his place.

 

[Rodders1]

The calculation was probably
that there was 42 minutes left of the game and they didn’t plan to play Haji for that long as part of his rehab.

Yes I imagine you're spot on with this. Can't remember now but think BTA stayed left and Haji up top when he did come on though?

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Yes I imagine you're spot on with this. Can't remember now but think BTA stayed left and Haji up top when he did come on though?

That’s right and it puzzled me tbh. In fairness, BTA joined the box as a second striker whenever he could. For Thomas’ winner, Haji forces their defender into a poor clearance which BTA probably doesn’t force so the plan worked out eventually.

They’re being very cautious with Sheaf too which makes sense because we’ve got depth at CM now. Whereas before, Sheaf would come back and pretty much have to play an average of 80+ minutes per game and we get surprised he gets a muscular injury.

 

[Levship20]

We didn't play to Simms strengths yesterday. Wright was even more anonymous when he took over. I would have brought on BTA as the CF. Despite him being at fault for Stoke's first goal, he looked bright. He's no winger though.

Simms in the first half was making runs and losing his defender but nobody from our midfield could see this and he was basically knackering himself out. Give him the service and he will make it difficult for whoever.

 

[olderskyblue]

I’ve seen a marked improvement in Simms effort since Frank took over the reins, but not so many goals from it.

he's having an average season, as others are too, although he wasn’t getting as many minutes under Robins was he?

As much as we can talk about how good we are because of the results, I’ve only seen us play really well a few times, and even then gifted some goals to the opposition.

We can look at Simms for that, or Milan, or JDS, or Bidwell, or Eccles or anyone else who hasn’t been consistent this season. Maybe it’s the fact when we get it wide, no one seems to put a pass through to simms, when the pass is on, they prefer to go backwards, and slow it right down again.

 

[Evo1883]

I’ve seen a marked improvement in Simms effort since Frank took over the reins, but not so many goals from it.

he's having an average season, as others are too, although he wasn’t getting as many minutes under Robins was he?

As much as we can talk about how good we are because of the results, I’ve only seen us play really well a few times, and even then gifted some goals to the opposition.

We can look at Simms for that, or Milan, or JDS, or Bidwell, or Eccles or anyone else who hasn’t been consistent this season. Maybe it’s the fact when we get it wide, no one seems to put a pass through to simms, when the pass is on, they prefer to go backwards, and slow it right down again.

Simms has missed the second most big chances in the entire division .. chance creation is certainly not this teams issue

 

[Ccfcisparks]

Simms has missed the second most big chances in the entire division .. chance creation is certainly not this teams issue

Not sure big chances missed is the best metric

 

[rob9872]

Only three matches ago Simms was the match winner for us against Sheffield Wednesday.

Some posters will never take to Simms because he isn't Matty Godden.

For me he's the best number 9 we have and has some good raw attributes that still need to be honed so lets get behind him and he's capable of giving any defence in this league a hard match when he's on his game.

Was only a few weeks ago we were being told Cannon was a bargain at £10 million in comparison to Simms, now Cannons not scored since his transfer it's changed to Sargent now.

He's not as good as Sargent but Sargent is a £15-20 mill player

Sargeant's also a wanker. I can't stand him.

 

[rob9872]

Simms is 24 now. How much improvement do we think he still has in him? I think this last 10 games and next season are big for him if he's really going to make it. He has the attributes and it's largely down to him I feel. He works hard, but that needs to match in his performance and certainly does need to add more goals from that position. Whatever people's thoughts on him, he's no Cyrille who also only scored around 1 in 5 or 6, as he doesnt possess that explosive power, but I still think we have better all round shape with him in the side.

 

[M&B Stand]

That’s right and it puzzled me tbh. In fairness, BTA joined the box as a second striker whenever he could. For Thomas’ winner, Haji forces their defender into a poor clearance which BTA probably doesn’t force so the plan worked out eventually.

They’re being very cautious with Sheaf too which makes sense because we’ve got depth at CM now. Whereas before, Sheaf would come back and pretty much have to play an average of 80+ minutes per game and we get surprised he gets a muscular injury.

Lampard prefers Torp.
I’d start Sheaf & Grimes tomorrow night.

 

[Grendel]

I’d go with Lampard’s view. If he picks him, he’s seeing enough to warrant his place.

He can be the best we’ve got and still not performing at full potential

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

He can be the best we’ve got and still not performing at full potential

Similar to Bakayoko in that he needs fire in his belly to perform

 

[rob9872]

He might not be the best but we've now gone from comparing him to Vik to comparing him to Bakayoko. Very harsh

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

He might not be the best but we've now gone from comparing him to Vik to comparing him to Bakayoko. Very harsh

Not in terms of footballing ability!!

 

[biggymania]

I think Simms is a player who can develop both in terms of his application / confidence and also perhaps some of his tactics. I also think as a team we need to develop more patterns that involve playing him in centrally with the ball at his feet. It's not all on him.

Like many players, he had a pretty awful / rocky start to the season but is improving now with better coaching. He's willing to work hard and do all the ugly work in a system that doesn't give him a lot of opportunity to shine as a striker.

I feel very lucky we've not really needed a prolific striker at all this season! I think that has to be a target this summer - that we enter the season with at least one striker set up to have a really good run at 20 goals in a season.

 

[rob9872]

Joel Piroe	Leeds United	15​	72​
Borja Sainz	Norwich City	15​	57​
Josh Brownhill	Burnley	12​	49​
Callum Robinson	Cardiff City	12​	39​
Wilson Isidor	Sunderland	12​	54​
Josh Maja	West Bromwich Albion	12​	46​
Anis Mehmeti	Bristol City	11​	46​
Emmanuel Latte Lath	Middlesbrough	11​	55​
Callum Lang	Portsmouth	10​	44​
Josh Windass	Sheffield Wednesday	10​	50​
Liam Cullen	Swansea City	10​	38​
Vakoun Issouf Bayo	Watford	10​	46​
Emil Riis	Preston North End	9​	36​
Tyrese Campbell	Sheffield United	9​	51​
Thomas Cannon	Stoke City	9​	36​
Jerry Yates	Derby County	8​	35​
Andreas Weimann	Blackburn Rovers	7​	41​
Haji Wright	Coventry City	7​	52​
Carlton Morris	Luton Town	7​	32​
Michael Frey	Queens Park Rangers	7​	41​
Mihailo Ivanovic	Millwall	5​	36​
Greg Leigh	Oxford United	5​	37​
Ryan Hardie	Plymouth Argyle	5​	36​
A Kamara	Hull City	4​	36​

Just for reference, I've listed the top goalscorer for each Championship team this season, amount and the total goals the team has scored in the league. We've obviously shared ours around and a few close but I thought more teams would have 15-20 goal striker in the league. Haji missed a chunk and I guess we're not alone, but really aren't that many who will get there.

 

[TomRad85]

Joel Piroe	Leeds United	15​	72​
Borja Sainz	Norwich City	15​	57​
Josh Brownhill	Burnley	12​	49​
Callum Robinson	Cardiff City	12​	39​
Wilson Isidor	Sunderland	12​	54​
Josh Maja	West Bromwich Albion	12​	46​
Anis Mehmeti	Bristol City	11​	46​
Emmanuel Latte Lath	Middlesbrough	11​	55​
Callum Lang	Portsmouth	10​	44​
Josh Windass	Sheffield Wednesday	10​	50​
Liam Cullen	Swansea City	10​	38​
Vakoun Issouf Bayo	Watford	10​	46​
Emil Riis	Preston North End	9​	36​
Tyrese Campbell	Sheffield United	9​	51​
Thomas Cannon	Stoke City	9​	36​
Jerry Yates	Derby County	8​	35​
Andreas Weimann	Blackburn Rovers	7​	41​
Haji Wright	Coventry City	7​	52​
Carlton Morris	Luton Town	7​	32​
Michael Frey	Queens Park Rangers	7​	41​
Mihailo Ivanovic	Millwall	5​	36​
Greg Leigh	Oxford United	5​	37​
Ryan Hardie	Plymouth Argyle	5​	36​
A Kamara	Hull City	4​	36​

Just for reference, I've listed the top goalscorer for each Championship team this season, amount and the total goals the team has scored in the league. We've obviously shared ours around and a few close but I thought more teams would have 15-20 goal striker in the league. Haji missed a chunk and I guess we're not alone, but really aren't that many who will get there.

The game against us doing a lot of heavy lifting for Callum Lang there.

 

[wingy]

The game against us doing a lot of heavy lifting for Callum Lang there.

He's no Colby Bishop though!