We don’t know how his season’s going to pan out, but if it continues in this manner there would be a strong case for releasing him in the summer and paying up his contract, or, finding somewhere to take him on loan. The first would be easier than the second option and I expect we’d have to pay some of his wages as well if he went on loan.
The best scenario I see for him and us is that if/when he’s fit again, we treat him a bit like Spurs did with Ledley King, except we only play him for 20-30 mins max. Might sound a bit ott, but I’m just thinking of practical ways you fit him in.
I reckon if he comes back and we try and play him to any consistent degree, something would go wrong again. It’s not ideal, but him playing only 20-30 minutes of each game would be better for him, and better for us.
What’s the benefit of paying up his contract though? Would cost as just as much as keeping him, with zero chance of him ever playing.
The very low chance we have seems the better choice
Would you want to have him hanging around if he hardly played this season? If the squad is still capped at 22 players and he’s taking up a place, I’d argue that’s a place we could fill with someone else.
If he can come back and offer something in the way I’ve outlined in the second and third paragraphs, then I wouldn’t disagree with keeping him. However, if we hardly see him this season, he’s 0 for 9 so far, so almost a quarter gone already, then I really don’t see the point in keeping him past the end of this season.
We’ve only got 18 players under those rules, plenty of spaces available
No point paying up his contract. He will end up going somewhere and getting significant game time knowing our luck. We have to try to get as many minutes out of him as possibe. There are no other options.
There is an option: concentrate solely on getting him fit enough to pass one of these "fitness tests" we hear so much about. Flog him off for any money at all to the first sucker prepared to match his salary expectations. We know for damn sure that 3 matches in to his next "return" he'll be back on the physios table - that table needs to be at any other club.
No point paying up his contract. He will end up going somewhere and getting significant game time knowing our luck. We have to try to get as many minutes out of him as possibe. There are no other options.
There is an option: concentrate solely on getting him fit enough to pass one of these "fitness tests" we hear so much about. Flog him off for any money at all to the first sucker prepared to match his salary expectations. We know for damn sure that 3 matches in to his next "return" he'll be back on the physios table - that table needs to be at any other club.
Can’t imagine there’s a barge pole in England that any other club would touch Aneke with.
No point paying up his contract. He will end up going somewhere and getting significant game time knowing our luck. We have to try to get as many minutes out of him as possibe. There are no other options.
There is an option: concentrate solely on getting him fit enough to pass one of these "fitness tests" we hear so much about. Flog him off for any money at all to the first sucker prepared to match his salary expectations. We know for damn sure that 3 matches in to his next "return" he'll be back on the physios table - that table needs to be at any other club.
Can’t imagine there’s a barge pole in England that any other club would touch Aneke with.
Bowyer took him in full knowledge of his inadequacies We know Skintgaard doesn't listen to what he doesn't want to hear but there are no rumours of dissenting voices when he came back. Rose tinted specs are freely available all over football and remain popular. I'm not saying we should hold out for any sort of fee.
The anticipation this week re; an update on his injury is palpable after we found out he was running on grass last week. Will it be
- continuing to make progress and taking it slow, we mustn’t rush him back
- taking part in some light contact work
- no update
- Chuks felt a tweak somewhere so as a precaution we’ve quarantined him at home and told him to wait until spring next year, just to be on the safe side
The anticipation this week re; an update on his injury is palpable after we found out he was running on grass last week. Will it be
- continuing to make progress and taking it slow, we mustn’t rush him back
- taking part in some light contact work
- no update
- Chuks felt a tweak somewhere so as a precaution we’ve quarantined him at home and told him to wait until spring next year, just to be on the safe side
The last one but in addition have extended his contract to allow for the extra recovery time required.
The anticipation this week re; an update on his injury is palpable after we found out he was running on grass last week. Will it be
- continuing to make progress and taking it slow, we mustn’t rush him back
- taking part in some light contact work
- no update
- Chuks felt a tweak somewhere so as a precaution we’ve quarantined him at home and told him to wait until spring next year, just to be on the safe side
It is interesting though as I think this is a perfect example of things not being right in the club. You are always taking a chance with players getting injured but with Chucks absolutely anyone could see clear as day that this would happen. Who on earth pushed for the deal he got in terms of contract length needs their head examining! This might be the straw that broke the camels back for TS in terms of transfers. If I was him I would be thinking "fuck that" £350k down the tubes plus wages ! We will be lucky to get 12cgames out of the bloke this season imo
It is interesting though as I think this is a perfect example of things not being right in the club. You are always taking a chance with players getting injured but with Chucks absolutely anyone could see clear as day that this would happen. Who on earth pushed for the deal he got in terms of contract length needs their head examining! This might be the straw that broke the camels back for TS in terms of transfers. If I was him I would be thinking "fuck that" £350k down the tubes plus wages ! We will be lucky to get 12cgames out of the bloke this season imo
TS and his son do make up 50% of the recruitment team , that I think has been a big problem.
It is interesting though as I think this is a perfect example of things not being right in the club. You are always taking a chance with players getting injured but with Chucks absolutely anyone could see clear as day that this would happen. Who on earth pushed for the deal he got in terms of contract length needs their head examining! This might be the straw that broke the camels back for TS in terms of transfers. If I was him I would be thinking "fuck that" £350k down the tubes plus wages ! We will be lucky to get 12cgames out of the bloke this season imo
The only thing I would caveat is that if you treated Chuks like a luxury player, focused his role on being an impact sub and anything else you got was a bonus, then this signing makes some sense. It's a lot for an impact player, but it's also one of the best impact players in the league.
But, if as we have done you make him your second choice center forward when your first choice center forward doesn't fit the system, then you have made a bad mistake.
It is interesting though as I think this is a perfect example of things not being right in the club. You are always taking a chance with players getting injured but with Chucks absolutely anyone could see clear as day that this would happen. Who on earth pushed for the deal he got in terms of contract length needs their head examining! This might be the straw that broke the camels back for TS in terms of transfers. If I was him I would be thinking "fuck that" £350k down the tubes plus wages ! We will be lucky to get 12cgames out of the bloke this season imo
The only thing I would caveat is that if you treated Chuks like a luxury player, focused his role on being an impact sub and anything else you got was a bonus, then this signing makes some sense. It's a lot for an impact player, but it's also one of the best impact players in the league.
But, if as we have done you make him your second choice center forward when your first choice center forward doesn't fit the system, then you have made a bad mistake.
If you have loads of cash, you can afford a luxury player to be an impact sub
It is interesting though as I think this is a perfect example of things not being right in the club. You are always taking a chance with players getting injured but with Chucks absolutely anyone could see clear as day that this would happen. Who on earth pushed for the deal he got in terms of contract length needs their head examining! This might be the straw that broke the camels back for TS in terms of transfers. If I was him I would be thinking "fuck that" £350k down the tubes plus wages ! We will be lucky to get 12cgames out of the bloke this season imo
Although he did come with a bad injury history. Before we signed him in January, Aneke had not missed that many games at all in the 18 month stretch before that. In hindsight it was a bad move, but if he’d had the same 18 months fitness wise that he had before we signed him then it would have been a great move. At the time I was happy we re-signed him and still am as when used correctly he’s brilliant. But the contract length was worrying, mainly because Aneke is a very good league 1 player, but he’s not a championship player. So a 3 year contract to me did not say we were thinking we’d be out of league 1 in 3 years
I think that today makes it 10 weeks out for Chuks following the calf injury. Quite some time and just bad news for all concerned including him.
We're all tired to count the number of points we might have gained if he wasn't injured as we've played that game too often the past few years with several players.
It is interesting though as I think this is a perfect example of things not being right in the club. You are always taking a chance with players getting injured but with Chucks absolutely anyone could see clear as day that this would happen. Who on earth pushed for the deal he got in terms of contract length needs their head examining! This might be the straw that broke the camels back for TS in terms of transfers. If I was him I would be thinking "fuck that" £350k down the tubes plus wages ! We will be lucky to get 12cgames out of the bloke this season imo
The only thing I would caveat is that if you treated Chuks like a luxury player, focused his role on being an impact sub and anything else you got was a bonus, then this signing makes some sense. It's a lot for an impact player, but it's also one of the best impact players in the league.
But, if as we have done you make him your second choice center forward when your first choice center forward doesn't fit the system, then you have made a bad mistake.
The thing is, does a fit Chuks actually fit the system either?
Maybe he does better than Stockley, but do we really expect him to be charging around closing people down, etc - especially with his injury record?
A hard hearted comment I know, but are we approaching the stage where the club should be recognising it’s own mistake and seeking to come to some sort of termination of contract agreement with Chuks? Costly, but he is presumably taking up a lot of ongoing medical resource as things stand. And he is taking up a squad place that could be filled. I’m genuinely sorry for Chuks. He appears to be a good guy and, if fit, he’d add something without exactly being a world beater. However the saga will just go on and on and the false hope is a drain in itself. Time to draw a line?
It is interesting though as I think this is a perfect example of things not being right in the club. You are always taking a chance with players getting injured but with Chucks absolutely anyone could see clear as day that this would happen. Who on earth pushed for the deal he got in terms of contract length needs their head examining! This might be the straw that broke the camels back for TS in terms of transfers. If I was him I would be thinking "fuck that" £350k down the tubes plus wages ! We will be lucky to get 12cgames out of the bloke this season imo
The only thing I would caveat is that if you treated Chuks like a luxury player, focused his role on being an impact sub and anything else you got was a bonus, then this signing makes some sense. It's a lot for an impact player, but it's also one of the best impact players in the league.
But, if as we have done you make him your second choice center forward when your first choice center forward doesn't fit the system, then you have made a bad mistake.
The thing is, does a fit Chuks actually fit the system either?
Maybe he does better than Stockley, but do we really expect him to be charging around closing people down, etc - especially with his injury record?
I agree. He has been most effective coming on for 30 minutes in a front 2. There is nowhere he would work in the 433 lineup Garner favours. In fact the only player I can think of in the past few years who would fit that system is Lyle Taylor, mobile and can score. Maybe Grant as well. In a year it could be Leaburn if we have not blown him up by then by overplaying him.
Of course none of us really know the extent of Chuks' issues but what we do know is the injury that was so minor it couldn't even be called an injury has kept him out for 10 weeks so far. I sadly expected this to happen from the start which probably says more about how much I am pissed off with the club and I am not remotely interested or believing in anything it tells me. I just watch the games and judge for myself.
Comments
We know Skintgaard doesn't listen to what he doesn't want to hear but there are no rumours of dissenting voices when he came back. Rose tinted specs are freely available all over football and remain popular. I'm not saying we should hold out for any sort of fee.
- continuing to make progress and taking it slow, we mustn’t rush him back
- taking part in some light contact work
- no update
- Chuks felt a tweak somewhere so as a precaution we’ve quarantined him at home and told him to wait until spring next year, just to be on the safe side
But, if as we have done you make him your second choice center forward when your first choice center forward doesn't fit the system, then you have made a bad mistake.
We're all tired to count the number of points we might have gained if he wasn't injured as we've played that game too often the past few years with several players.
Maybe he does better than Stockley, but do we really expect him to be charging around closing people down, etc - especially with his injury record?
I really think his problem might be mental rather than physical now, in which case he'd be better off retiring for his own wellbeing
In fact the only player I can think of in the past few years who would fit that system is Lyle Taylor, mobile and can score. Maybe Grant as well. In a year it could be Leaburn if we have not blown him up by then by overplaying him.
Didn't Garner say he was still out?