Marley Watkins

[Dullmoan Tone]

In fairness few players hit the ground running - if he had put his header on target in the first half we may have been able to forgive him hiding in the second half.

Let's not write him off yet.

[Olé]

28 minutes ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

In fairness few players hit the ground running - if he had put his header on target in the first half we may have been able to forgive him hiding in the second half.

Let's not write him off yet.

I would tend to agree mate but he also put a free header from five yards wide at Bolton. 

[JBFC II]

1 hour ago, Ivorguy said:

Re Watkins.  All the recruitment staff had to do was visit the Norwich fans forum.  They were amazed we paid a million for a player who was a dead loss with them.

How come our recruitment can be so poor?  Answer he played for LJ before joining Norwich, so a player LJ 'can trust'. That ball is firmly in the back of Johnson's own net

Let's be honest, forums probably aren't the best place for scouting...

Watkins was played out of position in a Norwich team who played 5 at the back, he was brilliant at Barnsley where he was played in his natural position, on the wing

[Super]

Very disappointing.

[Red Skin]

Should have played Liam Walsh in a three man midfield instead.

[Northern Red]

He may come good, he may not.

Writing him off as a poor signing after 2 and a bit games is utter lunacy though. Yet perhaps not that surprising given the state of this place.

[Harry]

3 hours ago, headhunter said:

Waste of a wage. Reminds me of Stephen Pearson and he was dog*hit IMHO

Overheard someone say this in Spanish Bar after the game. Not sure if it was you, but if not that’s 2 people who thought exactly the same. 

[aa_bcfc]

3 hours ago, leadman said:

begs belief that we make no effort to get a big striker in.

We had Duric!!

[BobBobSuperBob]

36 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

He may come good, he may not.

Writing him off as a poor signing after 2 and a bit games is utter lunacy though. Yet perhaps not that surprising given the state of this place.

Think that’s a fair comment

 

Felt sorry for him to a large degree today- bonkers to play him up top IMHO

 

Initial views

Looks to have some pace and some ‘power’

Thought his touch poor though 

 

Would like to see him have a couple of games wide before making a better view

[aa_bcfc]

1 hour ago, JBFC II said:

Let's be honest, forums probably aren't the best place for scouting...

Watkins was played out of position in a Norwich team who played 5 at the back, he was brilliant at Barnsley where he was played in his natural position, on the wing

He certainly wasn’t brilliant today though. In fact he was aweful. Should have been subbed off for Eliasson, at least he can beat a man and get a cross in. 

[BobBobSuperBob]

1 hour ago, JBFC II said:

Let's be honest, forums probably aren't the best place for scouting...

Watkins was played out of position in a Norwich team who played 5 at the back, he was brilliant at Barnsley where he was played in his natural position, on the wing

Did you watch him lots at Barnsley then ?

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, Northern Red said:

I can't comment on today as I haven't seen it, but thought he looked useful when he came on against Bolton.

I thought he did reasonably v Bolton, but very ineffective today.  Would’ve been better if him and Weimann had played the other way around, or just play him LW and kept Pato and Weimann together.  I sort of get the logic of his physicality, just expected it to come from wide.

2 hours ago, Ivorguy said:

Re Watkins.  All the recruitment staff had to do was visit the Norwich fans forum.  They were amazed we paid a million for a player who was a dead loss with them.

How come our recruitment can be so poor?  Answer he played for LJ before joining Norwich, so a player LJ 'can trust'. That ball is firmly in the back of Johnson's own net

That’s bollox Ivor.  Our own OTIB is hardly the best judge of a player either is it.  I assume you were being facetious though Re Norwich’s Forum.

[Northern Red]

15 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Think that’s a fair comment

 

Felt sorry for him to a large degree today- bonkers to play him up top IMHO

 

Initial views

Looks to have some pace and some ‘power’

Thought his touch poor though 

 

Would like to see him have a couple of games wide before making a better view

Agreed. Like I said earlier, I haven't seen today's game, but making a definitive judgement when he's being played out of position, through no fault of his own, is harsh. 

Definitely need to see him out wide, although there's a hell of a lot of competition for those spots.

[pongo88]

25 minutes ago, aa_bcfc said:

We had Duric!!

He was rarely fully fit with us and had a couple of operations. So when he should have been fit this season he was sold! To me this defies logic. Maybe he wanted to go, but he could have been persuaded to stay 

[Swede]

4 hours ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

The idea of playing Watkins up top against Flint & Co was simply incredible 

And people wonder why many of us have or see little faith in Johnson

I thought that was obvious, to have a bit more physical presence than just Weimann. We don't have anyone else good enough.

We have played two teams at home with vastly superior budgets. We have lost three of our most influential players plus two more in Mags and Duric.

Its effectively a new team.

We have effectively become the victim of our own success.

I think the club have underestimated the value in morale in losing those three players. The signings hardly inspire or are "put bums on seats" players but paradoxically we have improved. Webster looks very assured on the ball, Hunt looks really decent at right back (mistakes aside today) and Weimann's movement is very good. 

I feel we are short in several departments particularly in the spine of the team.

Part of the continual problem is wages and we won't break that structure.

Getting rid of LJ won't solve the situation as he is just the Head of the coaching staff. Eventually he will be replaced by Jamie Mac anywhere . So saying you want LJ sacked means the whole coaching structure would have to go as well which simply won't happen.

Its the Barnsley format we are using of promoting from within.

Teams like Boro and Forest are paying top dollar and wages for players.

Boro are no Wolves, far from it but I have been disappointed with the club's stance on recruitment though. Waiting for Dhiediou to come back is risky. He was struggling playing twice a week last season so what happens if he picks up an injury? 

I think it will come good, we do have good players. We need a few loans to help bide the time until Dheidiou comes back in.

[BobBobSuperBob]

2 minutes ago, Swede said:

I thought that was obvious, to have a bit more physical presence than just Weimann. We don't have anyone else good enough.

Agreeing the obvious that we have no physical threat as a tactic up top 

1 Play a player out of position who , although bigger / taller is going to lose out to Flint and the lad playing alongside him all day long and clearly is not suited to playing with his back to goal

or

2 Accept that we aren’t going to outmuscle them or cause them a moments unrest physically , at the back and play a side and formation with quick agile players that will cause them a different problem

Ill take you back to when we were at our best last season 

Reid up front with Patterson in behind him

 

You decide

 

 

If I was managing I know where I would  have gone

[JBFC II]

1 hour ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Did you watch him lots at Barnsley then ?

No I didn’t, just going off what their fans saying, showing that when he’s played in his natural position he can be a decent player

1 hour ago, aa_bcfc said:

He certainly wasn’t brilliant today though. In fact he was aweful. Should have been subbed off for Eliasson, at least he can beat a man and get a cross in. 

Exactly, he’s played out of position and he’s poor, something Johnson is missing there...

[BobBobSuperBob]

2 hours ago, JBFC II said:

Let's be honest, forums probably aren't the best place for scouting...

Watkins was played out of position in a Norwich team who played 5 at the back, he was brilliant at Barnsley where he was played in his natural position, on the wing

 

1 minute ago, JBFC II said:

No I didn’t, just going off what their fans saying, showing that when he’s played in his natural position he can be a decent player

 

 

Am I missing something here ?

[JBFC II]

10 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

 

 

 

Am I missing something here ?

Yes you are, what it shows is that when played as a winger he is a decent player, but then played as a wing back or striker, in the formation played at Norwich, he's crap. 

Therefore, anybody writing him off after game as a striker should at least have some patience... 

[BobBobSuperBob]

2 minutes ago, JBFC II said:

Yes you are, what it shows is that when played as a winger he is a decent player, but then played as a wing back or striker, in the formation played at Norwich, he's crap. 

Therefore, anybody writing him off after game as a striker should at least have some patience... 

But ...........you’ve suggested  it’s not a good idea to form opinion on a player from a forum

 

And then put forward an opinion , ................by fans on a forum 

[CityCiderEd]

33 minutes ago, Swede said:

We have effectively become the victim of our own success

What success is that Swede........from January on we've been shite. 

[JBFC II]

Just now, BobBobSuperBob said:

But ...........you’ve suggested  it’s not a good idea to form opinion on a player from a forum

 

And then put forward an opinion , ................by fans on a forum 

No they aren't, and I haven't formed an opinion on him from either forum. Instead, what I'm saying is you can't base his ability over what Norwich fans have said, and instead by looking at how well he did at Barnsley, in his natural position, its obvious to see that there may be a talented footballer there when played as a right winger

[BobBobSuperBob]

8 minutes ago, JBFC II said:

No they aren't, and I haven't formed an opinion on him from either forum. Instead, what I'm saying is you can't base his ability over what Norwich fans have said, and instead by looking at how well he did at Barnsley, in his natural position, its obvious to see that there may be a talented footballer there when played as a right winger

I’m going to leave this now

You made claims about how brilliant he was at Barnsley

I asked if you’d watched him and you said no

Si your claims are based on what 

Stats ?

Fans opinions ?

Stats indicate he had a reasonable return goal wise .......

I will form a better opinion after watching him for a few games

but if you are going by stats and facts they may indicate he’s had one decent season in his career to date and we are the only club to pay a fee for him 

 

[Swede]

27 minutes ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Agreeing the obvious that we have no physical threat as a tactic up top 

1 Play a player out of position who , although bigger / taller is going to lose out to Flint and the lad playing alongside him all day long and clearly is not suited to playing with his back to goal

or

2 Accept that we aren’t going to outmuscle them or cause them a moments unrest physically , at the back and play a side and formation with quick agile players that will cause them a different problem

Ill take you back to when we were at our best last season 

Reid up front with Patterson in behind him

 

You decide

 

 

If I was managing I know where I would  have gone

And where are these quick and agile players you're talking about?

You work with what you've got at your disposal. I thought Watkins did a job and won a few balls but the difference is he cost £1M and Boro's striker cost £14 or £15M. A bit of a difference.

The other two strikers are Taylor & Eisa. From what I've seen so far Watkins is ahead of them.

On the face of it we have taken the cheap option once again and it's not Reid we haven't replaced, it's Duric.

All this proves is how hard this league is especially with the disparity of parachute payments.

[marcofisher]

5 minutes ago, Swede said:

And where are these quick and agile players you're talking about?

You work with what you've got at your disposal. I thought Watkins did a job and won a few balls but the difference is he cost £1M and Boro's striker cost £14 or £15M. A bit of a difference.

The other two strikers are Taylor & Eisa. From what I've seen so far Watkins is ahead of them.

On the face of it we have taken the cheap option once again and it's not Reid we haven't replaced, it's Duric.

All this proves is how hard this league is especially with the disparity of parachute payments.

I haven't seen Eisa play yet, but would he really have been worse than Watkins was today playing up front?

[BITW]

Competition winner springs to mind... what’s happened to that team who played with confidence, intensity and aggression last year until January. We look absolutely miles off it at the moment. 

[BobBobSuperBob]

Just now, Swede said:

And where are these quick and agile players you're talking about?

You work with what you've got at your disposal. I thought Watkins did a job and won a few balls but the difference is he cost £1M and Boro's striker cost £14 or £15M. A bit of a difference.

The other two strikers are Taylor & Eisa. From what I've seen so far Watkins is ahead of them.

On the face of it we have taken the cheap option once again and it's not Reid we haven't replaced, it's Duric.

All this proves is how hard this league is especially with the disparity of parachute payments.

All opinion but not sure many thought he did ok (out of position Tbf) today or that it was a good idea

(FWIW) I would have played a 4-5-1 more than even a 4-4-1-1 with Weimann up top and runners from midfield in Josh or Patterson and the wide players in the 5 having the main responsibility  

if hed played Watkins as one of the two wisemen I could have understood that or take your pick from Elliasson COD (And Josh if you play JO) for the two wide spots

It reminded me of the Cardiff (a) game last season when he changed to try and match Cardiffs physicality and failed

If you’re not going to nigh on match them sometimes the cleverest thing to do is the opposite , and what they least want 

[The Constant Rabbit]

Another 'championship experienced' club in the bag innit?

More importantly, cheap as ****.

[Taylor10]

16 hours ago, marcofisher said:

Pato often gets the critics on here for being too ineffective and wasteful with the ball even if for me he was the most creative outlet on the pitch for me today.

 

However my question is, how in the world was Marley Watkins still on the pitch at the end of the match, I appreciate he was probably played to give a bit more physicality. On the other hand I have never seen such an ineffective 90 minutes from a City forward.

I am really at a loss to see what he did, I could have missed it, but until his deflected effort after about 85 minutes I did not see him do absolutely anything. He seemed to lose every header, had absolutely no deft touch, had no movement off the ball and subsequently had no involvement in the game whatsoever. 

People may be critical and say we were not good enough today as a team so it’s unfair to pick out one player. However at least Pato on the other side was dropping in and trying to create even if largely unsuccessful on most occasions today. It was practically like playing with 10 men with him on the pitch today. 

I hope this is just a bad start and not another Kent-esque signing. 

Agree with this.

granted he is not a striker so slightly unfair on him but surely we should still see at least something.....!? He was abysmal. Looked like he didn’t want to be there. Like you I would struggle to recall such an ineffective Performance from a striker? 

Playing him there for a bit more physicality is surely a joke? He was so timid he made Liam Walsh look like Roy Keane. He wasn’t backing into defenders, using his body....hassling....literally nothing. A worryingly lack of desire and fight. We all know Flint will win almost everything against any striker but at least try make life difficult for the two centre half’s surely? I really was puzzled as to how he wasn’t dragged. 

[Swede]

23 hours ago, marcofisher said:

I haven't seen Eisa play yet, but would he really have been worse than Watkins was today playing up front?

You're asking a player to step up two leagues and hit the ground running.

No disrespect, but playing competitive games against the likes of Carlisle centre backs one week and then Middlesborough the next is a tough ask.

He has talent and once up to speed we shall find out. I hope he takes the opportunity but from what I've seen so far he has to be down the pecking order and may not even make the match day squad once Diedhiou is back