Just a quick glance at the Exeter forum, one of their posters said:
"........However, I agree with the opening post that very few have had the all-round skills of Sam. He can score from distance as we saw against Rovers and he can also score classic poachers goals like Northampton away at the end of the last season. However, he has also pace and power and can link up play brilliantly."
I guess, that's some of what appeals to Dean Holden.
Sounds ideal from that post, and should fit in well...
Jayden Stockley's issue was that he was useless in a one-man forward line, he was too easy to isolate and mark out of games. We tried playing him as a sole striker under Nigel Adkins and it didn't work and it failed again under Ben Garner.
Sam Nombe fits the style of play that Dean Holden wants to play, that moving the ball quickly from defence to midfield to attack. He might not have a great scoring record (one in three games) but if you give him chances he'll convert enough.
Earlier in the window they wanted 1.2 mill, but that was above the agreed budget at that point, but now takeover is done, either we have met that or they dropped the price. good signing.
I reckon it will be a decent fee upfront, say around 500K and then the rest in add-ons. Edit: That's pure guesswork btw. My previous post isn't
Would be surprised if it was over £1m up front for a guy who only has 1 year left on his contract, at a club with supposedly financial issues. Few others are quoting £500-600K which would seem more realistic. Potentially with a few add ons based on appearances/goals/promotion etc.
Jayden Stockley's issue was that he was useless in a one-man forward line, he was too easy to isolate and mark out of games. We tried playing him as a sole striker under Nigel Adkins and it didn't work and it failed again under Ben Garner.
100%. Madness really. And he was our highest paid player and captain. My God we seem to be in a better place now.
This for me would be the final piece of the jigsaw pre season. There are 2-3 more I would like but they can be slower time, maybe loans from the Prem or seeing who’s made available late in the window.
Nombe seems close, then. Okay. Hope we aren't paying much more than we paid for May, if it's happening.
As much as I am pleased with signing Alfie May, I have a couple of reservations about Sam Nombe, and am not quite as excited. I don't think his overall goalscoring record is demonstrative of much beyond one good season and one decent season (in a league below, curtailed by injury). I have to admit though, I am NOT overly familiar with his all-round play, and I am not familiar with how Exeter have set up their side.
That said, I did the classic "watch all his goals last season" thing and got the following. Here's a goal-by-goal breakdown, and here is the reference video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-wQ4N1pliE
[First up, the direction of this vid feels very Blair Witch Project. It was quite hard to watch more than once. Loads of unsettling camera angles.]
Goal 1: yeah, cool. Great work from Jevani Brown to slice open the defence, perfectly weighted pass. Does well to stay level/onside, finishes with aplomb. Good goal.
Goal 2: Fair enough - he's being hugged all over. Strong lad, pokes it in. I'd say that's a fairly run of the mill goal you'd expect most strikers at this level to score though if they get the ball in that position.
Goal 3: Unmarked tap-in. Defender has had a mare. Again, pretty bog standard.
Goal 4: Great header. Alfie May ain't scoring those.
Goal 5: Defensive error; Brown plays him through; slides it under the keeper from a tight angle. Not sure that sort of shot always goes in, but hey, good finish.
Goal 6: Defence and keeper hand it to him on a plate. He has a bit of a turn of foot but I don't actually think he is THAT quick in this particular clip. The mix-up is what gifts him the goal here.
Goal 7: Penalty against us
Goal 8: Winger makes that goal in my humble opinion. Good that he finishes it but the ball is placed perfectly onto his foot and even while he's holding off the man, it'd be a far worse miss than good goal. Again, strikers at this level should score those.
Goal 9: Defensive error and good work from Jay Stansfield who plays a really good weighted ball. I'd say he has a turn of foot - but milk turns quicker than that centre back. Okay finish over the keeper. Maybe not every L1 striker gets to that ball to be fair.
Goal 10: He's left unmarked from the initial cross which is poor. Ball fumbles its way toward him and he has a couple of bites at the cherry. Dustbin. Another day and the defenders successfully block that.
Goal 11: Nah that's class.
Goal 12: Route one, absolute gift central.
Goal 13: Shot blocked, keeper out of position, slots it into a cavernous gap between two defenders. Every centre back should be scoring opportunities like that!
Goal 14: Again, a gift. Beats a defender on pace and slides it into an open goal.
Goal 15: Good finish. Not too many score those.
Goal 16: Couldn't ask for an easier goal after some pinball.
Goal 17: Penalty.
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Positives:
- Knack of being in the right place at the right time. Tends to just "stand there" in the box and tracks the ball, only moving when close in range. Having not seen his non-goals, this feels like it is extremely effective, but I wonder if we'd get frustrated at him not moving onto crosses sometimes, or anticipating ball movement.
- Turn of foot that, in this league, does just about enough. I don't think he is rapid but he's obviously got a decent enough first 15 yards.
- He feels like a "reactive" rather than proactive player. Latches on to mistakes, waits for the ball to be in an opportune place in the box - not quite sure he always goes fully after the ball in attacking situations. But I could be wrong.
- A lot of these goals have come from high expectation scenarios (two penalties, at least three if not four tantamount to "open" goals with keepers nowhere). I think this is an indicator more of luck that he gets into these situations, more than manufacturing. I would expect some regression in terms of chance quality - how many times are you gonna latch onto terrible back passes? - but hey, he's on the right trajectory and has improved in each of his last two seasons.
- In the second highlights video (the MK Dons one) he ain't really scoring loads! But hey that seems to have come since.
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So - like, if he signs, welcome. Seems to want to prove himself, seems like a good lad, seems like he works hard. And hard work is something I think is going to be very important for any Dean Holden side.
I'm not excited but neither am I greatly underwhelmed. Hopefully I am pleasantly surprised!
- I'm not an Exeter fan and am basing what I've said off not that much.
- I really AM unfamiliar with his all-round play which appears to be a huge asset.
- We look like we might be signing a poorer team's best player, which will allow him to further shine when surrounded by May/Leaburn/Fraser/Taylor/whoever else, a la the Powell promotion year.
So I'll be very happy if I end up with egg on my face!
What else do we genuinely need once Nombe is through the door?
A fourth Striker on loan from the Premier League (target man) so that Aneke is a luxury if he's ever available Right-Back to challenge Asiimwe if Egbo is one of those who may disappear before the end of the Window Backup Left-Back to Edun
What else do we genuinely need once Nombe is through the door?
A fourth Striker on loan from the Premier League (target man) so that Aneke is a luxury if he's ever available Right-Back to challenge Asiimwe if Egbo is one of those who may disappear before the end of the Window Backup Left-Back to Edun
If we get Nombe, and those 3. Maybe another CB so one of the younger lads can go out on loan.
Only other area, and it's less important because we could potentially always get an emergency loan would be a 3rd choice keeper.
What else do we genuinely need once Nombe is through the door?
A fourth Striker on loan from the Premier League (target man) so that Aneke is a luxury if he's ever available Right-Back to challenge Asiimwe if Egbo is one of those who may disappear before the end of the Window Backup Left-Back to Edun
Will be interesting to see the preferred strikeforce when Leaburn is back fit
How great would it be to have 3 genuine striker options though? Takes pressure off Leaburn which should help his body as it grows and might even cool off a bit of interest from higher divisions
What else do we genuinely need once Nombe is through the door?
A fourth Striker on loan from the Premier League (target man) so that Aneke is a luxury if he's ever available Right-Back to challenge Asiimwe if Egbo is one of those who may disappear before the end of the Window Backup Left-Back to Edun
Would love to get Mubama in from West Ham
Moyes has said he wont be going out on loan this season.
I heard Stuart Pearce on the wireless saying (about the premier league specifically) that in general one goal equates to one point over a season. If your team scores 70 goals you’ll end up with around 70 points. So with the prospect of Nombe and May, and a cautionary assumption that their scoring return might dip by 10%, that would be 35 goals between them less 10% which could mean they get us 32 points next season. By my very crude and simplistic calculation even with Nombe and May playing we need another 60 goals from elsewhere in the team (according to the Stuart Pearce notion anyway) for automatic promotion.
What else do we genuinely need once Nombe is through the door?
A fourth Striker on loan from the Premier League (target man) so that Aneke is a luxury if he's ever available Right-Back to challenge Asiimwe if Egbo is one of those who may disappear before the end of the Window Backup Left-Back to Edun
Would love to get Mubama in from West Ham
Moyes has said he wont be going out on loan this season.
To be honest, I doubt there's a huge market for David Moyes on loan anyway
Many were unhappy that Stockley had a similar (or better) ratio.
Yep, it's not hugely inspiring. Stockley screwed up our overall play by being immobile though.
Stockley’s all around play was poor, scored a bunch of goals in the papa johns and against Gateshead, he was also our main striker. Nombe will be coming in as third choice, behind May and Leaburn? 15 goals and 7 assists. Yes please
I don't mind if Nombe stands around a bit @PaddyP17 from what I've seen May is gonna be the dogsbody chasing everything down (like Luke Varney but can actually finish) and with the high pressing we'll look to implement, there will be plenty of opportunities for players to force mistakes and "gifts" to our strikers, our problem in the past is we've either had players like Church and Washington who couldn't capitalise on those mistakes, or players like Stockley who weren't mobile enough to pounce upon a mistake.
Cawley is now cooling it down, but hasn't completely extinguished the flame, he claims an agreed fee hasn't been made, but we definitely have interest
What I'm loving about this current squad is the fact we're building with so few loans at the moment.
We might not even need to utilise the full quota loan signings at this rate.
Perfect if we're getting the permanent signings right, as means we wont have the endless worry of having to replace the next JRS or Cullen
Ruins the song though
Holden had a dream To build a football team He had some money so didn't have to sign them on loan.
Holden had a dream, to build a football team, He had no money but then we were taken over, We build from the back, Taylor's three year contract, We're Charlton Athletic, we're on our way back!
Comments
Edit: Exeter forum saying 30% to MKD
Edit: That's pure guesswork btw. My previous post isn't
As much as I am pleased with signing Alfie May, I have a couple of reservations about Sam Nombe, and am not quite as excited. I don't think his overall goalscoring record is demonstrative of much beyond one good season and one decent season (in a league below, curtailed by injury). I have to admit though, I am NOT overly familiar with his all-round play, and I am not familiar with how Exeter have set up their side.
That said, I did the classic "watch all his goals last season" thing and got the following. Here's a goal-by-goal breakdown, and here is the reference video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-wQ4N1pliE
[First up, the direction of this vid feels very Blair Witch Project. It was quite hard to watch more than once. Loads of unsettling camera angles.]
Goal 1: yeah, cool. Great work from Jevani Brown to slice open the defence, perfectly weighted pass. Does well to stay level/onside, finishes with aplomb. Good goal.
Goal 2: Fair enough - he's being hugged all over. Strong lad, pokes it in. I'd say that's a fairly run of the mill goal you'd expect most strikers at this level to score though if they get the ball in that position.
Goal 3: Unmarked tap-in. Defender has had a mare. Again, pretty bog standard.
Goal 4: Great header. Alfie May ain't scoring those.
Goal 5: Defensive error; Brown plays him through; slides it under the keeper from a tight angle. Not sure that sort of shot always goes in, but hey, good finish.
Goal 6: Defence and keeper hand it to him on a plate. He has a bit of a turn of foot but I don't actually think he is THAT quick in this particular clip. The mix-up is what gifts him the goal here.
Goal 7: Penalty against us
Goal 8: Winger makes that goal in my humble opinion. Good that he finishes it but the ball is placed perfectly onto his foot and even while he's holding off the man, it'd be a far worse miss than good goal. Again, strikers at this level should score those.
Goal 9: Defensive error and good work from Jay Stansfield who plays a really good weighted ball. I'd say he has a turn of foot - but milk turns quicker than that centre back. Okay finish over the keeper. Maybe not every L1 striker gets to that ball to be fair.
Goal 10: He's left unmarked from the initial cross which is poor. Ball fumbles its way toward him and he has a couple of bites at the cherry. Dustbin. Another day and the defenders successfully block that.
Goal 11: Nah that's class.
Goal 12: Route one, absolute gift central.
Goal 13: Shot blocked, keeper out of position, slots it into a cavernous gap between two defenders. Every centre back should be scoring opportunities like that!
Goal 14: Again, a gift. Beats a defender on pace and slides it into an open goal.
Goal 15: Good finish. Not too many score those.
Goal 16: Couldn't ask for an easier goal after some pinball.
Goal 17: Penalty.
-------------------------
Positives:
- Knack of being in the right place at the right time. Tends to just "stand there" in the box and tracks the ball, only moving when close in range. Having not seen his non-goals, this feels like it is extremely effective, but I wonder if we'd get frustrated at him not moving onto crosses sometimes, or anticipating ball movement.
- Turn of foot that, in this league, does just about enough. I don't think he is rapid but he's obviously got a decent enough first 15 yards.
- Couple of lovely finishes in there.
- I found another video from 2019/20 which has pleased me lots. He clearly works hard. Look at the tracking back here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-wJn0kxz84
Negatives:
- Seems quite right-footed.
- He feels like a "reactive" rather than proactive player. Latches on to mistakes, waits for the ball to be in an opportune place in the box - not quite sure he always goes fully after the ball in attacking situations. But I could be wrong.
- A lot of these goals have come from high expectation scenarios (two penalties, at least three if not four tantamount to "open" goals with keepers nowhere). I think this is an indicator more of luck that he gets into these situations, more than manufacturing. I would expect some regression in terms of chance quality - how many times are you gonna latch onto terrible back passes? - but hey, he's on the right trajectory and has improved in each of his last two seasons.
- In the second highlights video (the MK Dons one) he ain't really scoring loads! But hey that seems to have come since.
------------------------
So - like, if he signs, welcome. Seems to want to prove himself, seems like a good lad, seems like he works hard. And hard work is something I think is going to be very important for any Dean Holden side.
I'm not excited but neither am I greatly underwhelmed. Hopefully I am pleasantly surprised!
- I'm not an Exeter fan and am basing what I've said off not that much.
- I really AM unfamiliar with his all-round play which appears to be a huge asset.
- We look like we might be signing a poorer team's best player, which will allow him to further shine when surrounded by May/Leaburn/Fraser/Taylor/whoever else, a la the Powell promotion year.
So I'll be very happy if I end up with egg on my face!
A fourth Striker on loan from the Premier League (target man) so that Aneke is a luxury if he's ever available
Right-Back to challenge Asiimwe if Egbo is one of those who may disappear before the end of the Window
Backup Left-Back to Edun
Only other area, and it's less important because we could potentially always get an emergency loan would be a 3rd choice keeper.
Holden had a dream
To build a football team
He had some money so didn't have to sign them on loan.
If your team scores 70 goals you’ll end up with around 70 points.
So with the prospect of Nombe and May, and a cautionary assumption that their scoring return might dip by 10%, that would be 35 goals between them less 10% which could mean they get us 32 points next season.
By my very crude and simplistic calculation even with Nombe and May playing we need another 60 goals from elsewhere in the team (according to the Stuart Pearce notion anyway) for automatic promotion.
https://twitter.com/richcawleyslp/status/1684513617570320384?s=46
Cawley is now cooling it down, but hasn't completely extinguished the flame, he claims an agreed fee hasn't been made, but we definitely have interest
He had no money but then we were taken over,
We build from the back,
Taylor's three year contract,
We're Charlton Athletic, we're on our way back!