Keep for me. Works hard, creates space and as others have said would be a good squad player.
Next season I think should be X and Stockley as first choice, and whoever X is, they need to be on the same level as Yann or Lyle Taylor, with Washington and Aneke has back up.
At this level Aneke is a handful, but he will break down and be absent for at least a third of the season I am predicting.
We’ll be no better off if it’s the current 3 plus someone or a similar quality to them
Whilst I like Stockton to be added as he would bring more goals, goals from Stockley, Washington and Aneke is not really a massive issue as our problem lies more with goals from elsewhere. We can't forget that we had a situation where all three were out at the same time and if that happened next season it could de-rail an automatic promotion push. Ideally, I think we add a prolific goalscorer who isn't injury prone but definitely keep those three if possible.
A player like Kanu could burst onto the scene but until it happens we can't factor in that it will happen. It would be a bonus.
Reading between the lines, Washington seems to have good rapport with Jacko.
Good reason why I feel Conor will be offered a new contract.
Does it? I don't agree with the first comment and I don't think the second line is true because I don't believe it's his choice.
If both were true he wouldn't be going to the press 2 games before the season asking for a contract.
If they don’t renew Washington’s contract, I would be surprised if someone like Matthews gets one. It’s difficult to compare the two as they play different positions and Jackson may have other forwards lined up and feel Matthews can offer more, but on the balance of looking at what they’ve contributed this season, personally, I would say Washington has been a lot better.
I know it doesn’t work like this in practice however
If we had a goalscoring midfielder then there would be less pressure on the strikers to be really prolific...
Absolutely this - I think all our midfielders and wingers combined have got less than 10 goals in total which is very very poor when you recall that Jacko would regularly get into double figures - we need to get midfielders who can time their runs into the box, show some movement, shoot well from outside the box and start scoring from set-pieces - its League 1 FFS not the premier league!
If we had a goalscoring midfielder then there would be less pressure on the strikers to be really prolific...
Absolutely this - I think all our midfielders and wingers combined have got less than 10 goals in total which is very very poor when you recall that Jacko would regularly get into double figures - we need to get midfielders who can time their runs into the box, show some movement, shoot well from outside the box and start scoring from set-pieces - its League 1 FFS not the premier league!
Washington isn't a great goal scorer, but his movement will create space and opportunities for others if they can exploit them
Thinking back to the Washington/Nelson comparisons, neither Nelson and Leaburn were prolific goalscorers like a Mendonca, but both created a lot, with Pardew scoring a healthy number of goals from midfield.
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Good reason why I feel Conor will be offered a new contract.
If both were true he wouldn't be going to the press 2 games before the season asking for a contract.
A player like Kanu could burst onto the scene but until it happens we can't factor in that it will happen. It would be a bonus.
I know it doesn’t work like this in practice however
Thinking back to the Washington/Nelson comparisons, neither Nelson and Leaburn were prolific goalscorers like a Mendonca, but both created a lot, with Pardew scoring a healthy number of goals from midfield.