The club should be looking for another 20 goals a season player to play along with May.
Exactly, we've gone from 6 months ago supposedly trying to sign Clarke-Harris or Aaron Collins to play with May, to not signing either and now possibly selling May. And in those 6 months we also lost CBT and Dobson.
Honestly i still have faith in Jones and trust what he wants to do, but if May does leave i think Jones is definitely going to have to pull some rabbits out of a hat to avoid losing that faith and trust.
NJ has done a pretty good job of getting the fans onside from the outset.
Success is difficult when this is not the case.
Seems strange he would allow the division's top scorer to be sold to a promotion rival.
If it happens, NJ will be starting the new season on a minus, and if the replacement is not getting a goal every 2 games, the tide will turn against the owners and management team.
When we sold Parker in Chelsea Richard Murray stated that while the fee received was acceptable it would not purchase another Parker nor is there a guarantee that whoever came in would adequately replace him. So it is with Alfie, fine the club receives a good fee, after Cheltenham take their cut, but where does the club find replacements that will replicate Alfie's goal tally, even if they do bring in a couple of strikers there is no guarantee that they will settle and show the needed form. Add to this selling Alfie to a promotion contender seems rather short sighted and a big risk. If NJ is a good manager then he should be able to adjust his tactics to include Alfie and also be man enough to sort out his relationship with our top striker
NJ has done a pretty good job of getting the fans onside from the outset.
Success is difficult when this is not the case.
Seems strange he would allow the division's top scorer to be sold to a promotion rival.
If it happens, NJ will be starting the new season on a minus, and if the replacement is not getting a goal every 2 games, the tide will turn against the owners and management team.
Put simply, this would be a kamikaze decision.
I disagree. If we are in the promotion mix and achieve that aim, I couldn't care a jot who is top scorer and how many they get.
NJ has done a pretty good job of getting the fans onside from the outset.
Success is difficult when this is not the case.
Seems strange he would allow the division's top scorer to be sold to a promotion rival.
If it happens, NJ will be starting the new season on a minus, and if the replacement is not getting a goal every 2 games, the tide will turn against the owners and management team.
Put simply, this would be a kamikaze decision.
We don't necessarily need a 20 goal striker although of course it would help. Last season the top scorers in all three EFL leagues were for clubs who finished in the bottom half. The Championship top scorers side (Blackburn) were very nearly relegated.
The key to getting anywhere near the play offs is improving our defence. Look at last season, both Portsmouth and Derby scored less goals than all 4 sides in the play offs. But they also conceded 10-15 goals less than the play off sides which is what made the difference. Winning tight games, winning 1-0 on the road, nicking a game when not playing that well.
Derby's top league scorer got 14 goals and no one else got into double figures. So it's a bit of a myth that you need a 40-50 goal strike partnership to get promotion.
If the owners & management intend to make a serious attempt at promotion 2024-25, I'm sure we can agree the team needs a solid defence, an active midfield and proven goal scorers. It also needs a credible Plan B to cover inevitable injuries, suspensions and loses of form during the season.
Alfie may not fit Jones' image of an ideal striker, but he is a proven goal scorer at this club, and that statistic has value because we have seen all too often players who have excelled at other clubs but have been decidedly meh for us. There is no guarantee that any replacement we are likely to bring in would be better. Time for Jones to put personal prejudices (or whatever) to one side and to start a new season with a fresh sheet?
Now it might be that Jones brings in some excellent forward players this summer, and that Alfie ends up filling the Plan B role. In that case, maybe the situation will need review in December/January, but until we are confident we have a functioning replacement I think now is too early to sell a reliable goal scorer.
NJ has done a pretty good job of getting the fans onside from the outset.
Success is difficult when this is not the case.
Seems strange he would allow the division's top scorer to be sold to a promotion rival.
If it happens, NJ will be starting the new season on a minus, and if the replacement is not getting a goal every 2 games, the tide will turn against the owners and management team.
Put simply, this would be a kamikaze decision.
I disagree. If we are in the promotion mix and achieve that aim, I couldn't care a jot who is top scorer and how many they get.
100%, as someone who really likes May i agree with this completely.
I said it someway back but will repeat, If he sells May and we get promoted or play-offs the majority of fans (who arent personal friends or family of Alfie's) will not even be talking about him come next end of the season.
However, if he sells him and we struggle again quite rightly fans will be asking serious questions. The fact of the matter is managers live and die by their decisions and if NJ doesn't want him he is better failing on his own terms than appeasing fans.
I like May, his workrate is great, his goal return better but sometimes his touch is terrible. If we are offered 1.5 Million that can be used elsewhere then we would be mad to say no.
He scored 23 goals in a shit team in a shit season.
I like May, his workrate is great, his goal return better but sometimes his touch is terrible. If we are offered 1.5 Million that can be used elsewhere then we would be mad to say no.
He scored 23 goals in a shit team in a shit season.
“Used elsewhere”????
We need to keep him and build a squad around him.
If he wants to go, thats another matter.
Building a squad solely around one player at elite level is a bad idea,
To do it at league one is even more foolish.
I like Alfie and hope he stays but everyone (EVERYONE) at this level has a price and it would be mad to turn down 1.5 Million for a 31 year old instead of using that cash to build a robust squad that can actually challenge for promotion. If we build a squad around Alfie as you say and he gets injured, has a bad run of form or plays well enough to get championship offers in Jan we are up the creek without a paddle.
Also worth noting whilst May's goalscoring was great last season of his 23 league goals, 6 of them were pens. Which, of course, still count but do rely on some luck actually winning the pens to begin with.
I like May, his workrate is great, his goal return better but sometimes his touch is terrible. If we are offered 1.5 Million that can be used elsewhere then we would be mad to say no.
He scored 23 goals in a shit team in a shit season.
“Used elsewhere”????
We need to keep him and build a squad around him.
If he wants to go, thats another matter.
Building a squad solely around one player at elite level is a bad idea,
To do it at league one is even more foolish.
I like Alfie and hope he stays but everyone (EVERYONE) at this level has a price and it would be mad to turn down 1.5 Million for a 31 year old instead of using that cash to build a robust squad that can actually challenge for promotion. If we build a squad around Alfie as you say and he gets injured, has a bad run of form or plays well enough to get championship offers in Jan we are up the creek without a paddle.
Also worth noting whilst May's goalscoring was great last season of his 23 league goals, 6 of them were pens. Which, of course, still count but do rely on some luck actually winning the pens to begin with.
During the 1997/1998 season Clive Mendonca 25 percent of his goals were from the Penalty spot
If he goes , that video of him phoning people up asking fans if they will be renewing their season tickets and telling them that he’s staying , is going to be an extremely embarrassing.
Can remember Lennie asking for us to buy ST, then disappearing up north the next day.
I like May, his workrate is great, his goal return better but sometimes his touch is terrible. If we are offered 1.5 Million that can be used elsewhere then we would be mad to say no.
He scored 23 goals in a shit team in a shit season.
“Used elsewhere”????
We need to keep him and build a squad around him.
If he wants to go, thats another matter.
Building a squad solely around one player at elite level is a bad idea,
To do it at league one is even more foolish.
I like Alfie and hope he stays but everyone (EVERYONE) at this level has a price and it would be mad to turn down 1.5 Million for a 31 year old instead of using that cash to build a robust squad that can actually challenge for promotion. If we build a squad around Alfie as you say and he gets injured, has a bad run of form or plays well enough to get championship offers in Jan we are up the creek without a paddle.
Also worth noting whilst May's goalscoring was great last season of his 23 league goals, 6 of them were pens. Which, of course, still count but do rely on some luck actually winning the pens to begin with.
During the 1997/1998 season Clive Mendonca 25 percent of his goals were from the Penalty spot
Yes thats my point, excellent and cant be overlooked but that season he scored 23 and around 25% were pens (ill take your word for it cant be bothered to look it up) the next season he scored 8 and the season after 9.
I like May, his workrate is great, his goal return better but sometimes his touch is terrible. If we are offered 1.5 Million that can be used elsewhere then we would be mad to say no.
He scored 23 goals in a shit team in a shit season.
“Used elsewhere”????
We need to keep him and build a squad around him.
If he wants to go, thats another matter.
Building a squad solely around one player at elite level is a bad idea,
To do it at league one is even more foolish.
I like Alfie and hope he stays but everyone (EVERYONE) at this level has a price and it would be mad to turn down 1.5 Million for a 31 year old instead of using that cash to build a robust squad that can actually challenge for promotion. If we build a squad around Alfie as you say and he gets injured, has a bad run of form or plays well enough to get championship offers in Jan we are up the creek without a paddle.
Also worth noting whilst May's goalscoring was great last season of his 23 league goals, 6 of them were pens. Which, of course, still count but do rely on some luck actually winning the pens to begin with.
During the 1997/1998 season Clive Mendonca 25 percent of his goals were from the Penalty spot
Yes thats my point, excellent and cant be overlooked but that season he scored 23 and around 25% were pens (ill take your word for it cant be bothered to look it up) the next season he scored 8 and the season after 9.
Injuries were sadly Clive’s downfall in the Championship winning season. However we did have Andy Hunt with 25 goals
Yes of course the goals have to be better distributed across the team but at the moment we have Alfie 20+ goals, CBT moved on in January, Kanu who most people seem to think should be loaned out, Fraser out of favour because he isn't hard enough in the tackle, Leaburn with injuries 2 seasons running now and most people think won't be here long, Dobbo told not good enough by our clueless dof, centre backs who have no idea where the net is from set pieces, no decent dead ball player, have I missed anything! everyone is bleating we should be spending and buying better quality players and maybe we will, who knows but if Jones and the clueless Scott stick to their word via Cawley that Alfie won't go till we get replacement's in or the buying club meet our price then let's hold them to it, or see if Charlton blink first!
I have an unsupported hunch that Josh Edwards will be an important player for us, if only because of his long throw. Loads of people here decry Scottish football almost as a matter of course, there are decent players there as there always have been. C’mon Josh, be any good.
I like May, his workrate is great, his goal return better but sometimes his touch is terrible. If we are offered 1.5 Million that can be used elsewhere then we would be mad to say no.
He scored 23 goals in a shit team in a shit season.
“Used elsewhere”????
We need to keep him and build a squad around him.
If he wants to go, thats another matter.
You don’t build a team around players like Alfie May, you build a team that includes a player like him who will take an above average percentage advantage of the goal scoring opportunities that they collectively create.
I have an unsupported hunch that Josh Edwards will be an important player for us, if only because of his long throw. Loads of people here decry Scottish football almost as a matter of course, there are decent players there as there always have been. C’mon Josh, be any good.
I have an unsupported hunch that Josh Edwards will be an important player for us, if only because of his long throw. Loads of people here decry Scottish football almost as a matter of course, there are decent players there as there always have been. C’mon Josh, be any good.
Fond memories of Greg Shields as right back.
I remember bumping into Greg in the service station on the way back from the Coventry FA Cup game in 2000. Had a quick chat. Decent bloke.
I like May, his workrate is great, his goal return better but sometimes his touch is terrible. If we are offered 1.5 Million that can be used elsewhere then we would be mad to say no.
He scored 23 goals in a shit team in a shit season.
“Used elsewhere”????
We need to keep him and build a squad around him.
If he wants to go, thats another matter.
Building a squad solely around one player at elite level is a bad idea,
To do it at league one is even more foolish.
I like Alfie and hope he stays but everyone (EVERYONE) at this level has a price and it would be mad to turn down 1.5 Million for a 31 year old instead of using that cash to build a robust squad that can actually challenge for promotion. If we build a squad around Alfie as you say and he gets injured, has a bad run of form or plays well enough to get championship offers in Jan we are up the creek without a paddle.
Also worth noting whilst May's goalscoring was great last season of his 23 league goals, 6 of them were pens. Which, of course, still count but do rely on some luck actually winning the pens to begin with.
During the 1997/1998 season Clive Mendonca 25 percent of his goals were from the Penalty spot
Yes thats my point, excellent and cant be overlooked but that season he scored 23 and around 25% were pens (ill take your word for it cant be bothered to look it up) the next season he scored 8 and the season after 9.
Injuries were sadly Clive’s downfall in the Championship winning season. However we did have Andy Hunt with 25 goals
Super Clive didn't play after QPR away in December, if I'm not mistaken.
Comments
Honestly i still have faith in Jones and trust what he wants to do, but if May does leave i think Jones is definitely going to have to pull some rabbits out of a hat to avoid losing that faith and trust.
So it is with Alfie, fine the club receives a good fee, after Cheltenham take their cut, but where does the club find replacements that will replicate Alfie's goal tally, even if they do bring in a couple of strikers there is no guarantee that they will settle and show the needed form. Add to this selling Alfie to a promotion contender seems rather short sighted and a big risk.
If NJ is a good manager then he should be able to adjust his tactics to include Alfie and also be man enough to sort out his relationship with our top striker
The key to getting anywhere near the play offs is improving our defence. Look at last season, both Portsmouth and Derby scored less goals than all 4 sides in the play offs. But they also conceded 10-15 goals less than the play off sides which is what made the difference. Winning tight games, winning 1-0 on the road, nicking a game when not playing that well.
Derby's top league scorer got 14 goals and no one else got into double figures. So it's a bit of a myth that you need a 40-50 goal strike partnership to get promotion.
Alfie may not fit Jones' image of an ideal striker, but he is a proven goal scorer at this club, and that statistic has value because we have seen all too often players who have excelled at other clubs but have been decidedly meh for us. There is no guarantee that any replacement we are likely to bring in would be better. Time for Jones to put personal prejudices (or whatever) to one side and to start a new season with a fresh sheet?
Now it might be that Jones brings in some excellent forward players this summer, and that Alfie ends up filling the Plan B role. In that case, maybe the situation will need review in December/January, but until we are confident we have a functioning replacement I think now is too early to sell a reliable goal scorer.
I said it someway back but will repeat, If he sells May and we get promoted or play-offs the majority of fans (who arent personal friends or family of Alfie's) will not even be talking about him come next end of the season.
However, if he sells him and we struggle again quite rightly fans will be asking serious questions. The fact of the matter is managers live and die by their decisions and if NJ doesn't want him he is better failing on his own terms than appeasing fans.
The club needs to get into the Championship, so the owners needs to invest.
“Used elsewhere”????
We need to keep him and build a squad around him.
If he wants to go, thats another matter.
To do it at league one is even more foolish.
I like Alfie and hope he stays but everyone (EVERYONE) at this level has a price and it would be mad to turn down 1.5 Million for a 31 year old instead of using that cash to build a robust squad that can actually challenge for promotion. If we build a squad around Alfie as you say and he gets injured, has a bad run of form or plays well enough to get championship offers in Jan we are up the creek without a paddle.
Also worth noting whilst May's goalscoring was great last season of his 23 league goals, 6 of them were pens. Which, of course, still count but do rely on some luck actually winning the pens to begin with.
Keep May and bring in players who can play at a higher level.
Bringing in players from Dunfermline does not bode well.
Without St Andrews the future was VERY bleak.
It's often the signings that go under the radar that turn out to be the best...
CBT was released by L2 Tranmere and wasn’t a regular starter.
Impossible to know how Edwards will turn out and he shouldn’t be judged on the club he signed from.
It’ll hopefully turn out to be a good thing that we’re scouting in Scotland rather than only sticking to signing English based players.
Loads of people here decry Scottish football almost as a matter of course, there are decent players there as there always have been.
C’mon Josh, be any good.
Otherwise it's fine.