TRL

I keep hearing baldock has missed 22 one on ones. Anyone care to list them. The most I have actually seen listed is 8.

I'd hate to think he was getting chastised for a number pulled out of someone's backside.

Serious question - for those writing him off, given the chances he has certainly had, how many goals do you believe he should have had at this stage of the season, for you to have been happy with his finishing ratio?

I've seen some experts mentioning 30 :laugh:

Sorry but that's utter crap, I won't slag off Baldock because he scored 2 albeit simple goals today but if he had taken the first 2 chances instead of his last 2, we would have taken 3 points today. What people seem to forget is that as a defender you can't take back a mistake that leads to a goal or 2 once they have been scored. As a striker it seems ok that you can miss a hatful of chances as long as you make up for it in the second half. Baldock put extra pressure on the defence today by not taking at least 1 of the 3 guilt edge chances he had in the first 15 minutes. At say 2 or 3 nil people could forgive us conceding the first goal but at 0-0 its magnified 10 fold as the reason we didn't get 3 points imo.

It is just as crap as blaming the striker for missing, by your reckoning Baldock should be scoring a hattrick every game due to defensive frailties not being the problem of thse making mistakes, that i am  afraid is utter crap as you so eloquently put it

Two ways of looking at it today.

 

Baldocks poor finishing cost us 3 points.

Baldocks 2 goals got us a point.

 

Both Fully accurate.

More accurate, our defending cost us a win, score 2 goals at home you should win.

Baldock's header miss was a big blow but the one on ones weren't as simple as they might have been. Not a good angle and covering defenders made it hard for him to go across the keeper.

Scoring two out of five chances is a normal return for a striker so why people make such a big deal about it is beyond me. I said at the start of the season he'd break 20 - and only two strikers since Taylor have done that for us in the league - and he will.

JET wasn't at his best but I'd make two points. One: He still created a lot - sprung the offside trap for Baldock four times I think and started the move that led to his good chance in the first half. Two: On the two or three prominent times he lost the ball he was carrying it out of defence, with no passing options in front or level with him, and being challenged by two or three opponents together.

To be honest I think some people watch too much Premier League. You can't expect a striker to score every chance and when they've got 33 goals between them just over half way through the season complaining about either of them is complete nonsense.

Indeed.

 

It seems people want to go back to the good old days when our top striker manged 8 goals!

 

Where we need to improve is the team as a fully function unit in defence and attack, we seem to be getting the parts, we just need to fit them together into some sort of consistent cohesive unit

You can't honestly say he can finish, He taps it home, Yes fair play he gets in those positions but fora striker I expect him to have more to his game

The way every one on one goes straight at the keeper is so frustrating, His chance conversion rate is terrible! And he's scored 15 what does that tell you? It tells me if we had a natural finisher upfront he would have 30 odd and we would be higher up the table

It tells me he gets in the positions to score,something we haven't had for years. You always have a chance then.

 

If w ehad a bloke that was getting 1 chance every game and had a 1 in 2 conversion ratio I would be far more worried.  They guy like you says has the ability to get into goal scoring chances, many strikers cannot do that.  That in itself put the opposition on the back foot.

Beyond belief isn't it. Just beyond the halfway point and conceivable he could finish the season on 25, yet every week berated for his wastefulness. Only OTIB.

 

Never mind the fact that we concede in EVERY SINGLE GAME, with woefully inadequate defending.

Indeed, hey ho, he could end up with 30 and still be shit.  Ah well never mind if 15 goals before the end of January is not good enough. I guess the 18 before the end of January for jET is also shit.  Should get Taylor back, he scored today!

....consistently. Finish for his first was great.

No he just can't finish, 15 goals this season tells you that

I know, both Thorpe and Anderson were annonimous when we were relighted under Benny.

I Spose the goal against the Gas helped!!

I don't even think of that period, that was just a mess, i look more at Thorpe when he was first choice under Wilson.

 

Thorpe was the forgotten man until the fantastic 3 took charge!   Anderson was a cracking finisher, unfortunately for him massively under utilised and pushed out wide,in Benny's early attempts of finding the right formula

Massively over rated and amazed he gets in the team.He was missing one on one's and chances back when we played Coventry.Yet never dropped and worse than that he is our captain.I think his headline in the article he did for the Post was "it's just another game". Well Baldock you're right on that at least . You cost us points again.

Who is to blame for the 2 concede then?  if we hadn't we would have won 2-0!!

I didn't know Donald Rumsfeld was a City fan.  

Calling me an american is about the wort insult I have had on here, and I have had a few

Classic response from someone who wasn't there. If you were, you'd agree that he cost us points today. And I say that as a complement as I know you aint stupid.

I don't need to be at the game to know the type of finisher Baldock is.  he is a scorer of goals, he is not a good finisher. If i am there to witness it or not it matters not. If he hadn't scored 2 we would have lost 2-0, if he had scored the ones he missed we could of won, if MK dons had scored 2 sitters they missed we could have lost, it matters not, he scored 2 goals,if he hadn't we would have  lost 2-0. So he may have actually got us a point.

Had much more confidence in Thorpe. Far more natural finisher.

Having said that, I've always been of the opinion that if a striker scores he's pretty much done his job.

Baldock is frustrating but goal tally so far is as much as anyone could have asked of him.

A testament to the team I think, as a natural finisher he is not. (IMO).

It is funny,lots of people say Thorpe was good,but the bloke never hit 20 league goals in a season for us once, even in what could be deemed as a very good team at the level it was at.

 

Another hugely overrated player by fans imo,   Another that you couldn't blame for the price tag, but often looked back at with roe tinted specs.

Well if he finished better than he did, he wouldn't be a league 1 striker would he?  He seems to have good effort and approach to the game, if he had the lot he wouldn't be here would he?!

 

Well on course for a 20+ season in a relegation threatened team

so how did El Abd look?

i'd imagine 5'11 and bald!

 

I have only heard what others have said, he looked a little shakey, didn't look like he knew what he was doing in a back 3

or rested?

He was injured against watford. He is on the bench today, could be still suffering. But rested I wouldn't have thought so seeing he missed games through suspension and injury recently

Looks like Williams has be dropped for el abd

Bit strong for a family forum. **** would be better, **** better still.

You have go to be **** joking. What planet do you **** come from?

Whatever you want it to be

Even ****?

A young Nick Higgs?

Kenneth at his fittest isn't it?

It's a no go. Wouldn't cope with crosses....

Quite the opposite, surely he would be nailed on to get on the end of one?

Smith was a cracking player, ultra reliable. But as per many players back then, you had one chance before the lancashire surrey and yorkshire failures were put back in the team.

Smith should have been picked a good 4 years before he was. Typical England selectors balls up of the past.

That said surprised he got picked by Glos considering their piss poor attitude for years with selection. More about who you knew rather than talent... before Bracewell turned up.

I think fans should not have any say in the running of a football club. And if this forum is anything to go by, if I was chairman then I wouldn't bother replying to any of you either!

Ah yes. Well maybe if they had answered many of the placid letters, maybe just maybe people wouldn't be so angry now.

At last we have his attention. Unfortunately for him it needn't have got to this stage.

Can anyone confirm if they have ever received a response to any letter from a board member during SLs tenure?

Of not, this facade of approachability is nonsense.

Never. Sent several. So I wouldn't hold out much hope for those wanting a coffee. That is far more expensive than a stamp.