Could Maynard Hitting Form Signal The End For Dele?

[Bris Red]

Ive posted a topic before about Dele and i got slated for it by most people (in hine sight it probably was a bit harsh on bola) but i have to say when Dele came on last night i started to wonder were does he actually fit in?

With Maynard looking good and starting to get some goals this will almost certainly mean we will revert back to 4-4-2 on a regular basis with Stern John partnering NM. IMO Adebola has been getting in the side recently primaraly because he is the only striker at the club that can affectivly play as a lone front man. He first touch yesterday was in all fairness embarassing and shows that he cannot be versatile, what i mean by this is when he came on he was put in quite a deep position in fact that is probably the deepest he has played for us since joining. I have always wondered how he would cope in this sort of postition and to me he looked well out of his comfort zone, my main problem with Dele is that when the ball is at his feet his touch is so poor that in some cases it completly breaks down an attack. Yesterday for example he came on and his first imnvolment he tryed realeasing Maynard down the left hand side, i think the majority of people in AG held there breath not knowing what to expect, the pass quite frankly was dterrible for a proffesional player. He almost tripped over the ball and it went out for a throw in, it felt like a Bas Savage moment which to be quite frank i thought we had moved on from a long time ago.

I'm not a Adebola Basher and i love his work rate, but he is very one dimentional and yesterday showed he can only do one thing and that is having balls pumped up to him to hold up or to flick on. I still think there is a place for him in the squad but if we are to be playing 4-4-2 a lot more often i really am struggling to see were he would fit in..........

[worthy]

Gd point, but Maynard is a completly different player to Adebola so you cant compare the two as they both have differnt rolls to play.

If your ganna compare anyone to Dele it should be John, but everyone knows that John is a class act but on the other hand he didnt have the greatest game agaist Watford

[Riaz]

Gd point, but Maynard is a completly different player to Adebola so you cant compare the two as they both have differnt rolls to play.

If your ganna compare anyone to Dele it should be John, but everyone knows that John is a class act but on the other hand he didnt have the greatest game agaist Watford

Its not about comparing. At the beginning of the season Dele and Maynard had a run in the side to together and the partnership did not produce goals. Maynard was dropped because of this.

Dele went on to keep his place and still did not produce. Point is it should have been dele dropped as he wasnt doing enough and NM needs a strike partner that will provide opportunitys.

You say John didnt have a good game, but surely he deserves a run in the side before judging and he did more in that game than dele has in most games.

[Portland Bill]

Ive posted a topic before about Dele and i got slated for it by most people (in hine sight it probably was a bit harsh on bola) but i have to say when Dele came on last night i started to wonder were does he actually fit in?

With Maynard looking good and starting to get some goals this will almost certainly mean we will revert back to 4-4-2 on a regular basis with Stern John partnering NM. IMO Adebola has been getting in the side recently primaraly because he is the only striker at the club that can affectivly play as a lone front man. He first touch yesterday was in all fairness embarassing and shows that he cannot be versatile, what i mean by this is when he came on he was put in quite a deep position in fact that is probably the deepest he has played for us since joining. I have always wondered how he would cope in this sort of postition and to me he looked well out of his comfort zone, my main problem with Dele is that when the ball is at his feet his touch is so poor that in some cases it completly breaks down an attack. Yesterday for example he came on and his first imnvolment he tryed realeasing Maynard down the left hand side, i think the majority of people in AG held there breath not knowing what to expect, the pass quite frankly was dterrible for a proffesional player. He almost tripped over the ball and it went out for a throw in, it felt like a Bas Savage moment which to be quite frank i thought we had moved on from a long time ago.

I'm not a Adebola Basher and i love his work rate, but he is very one dimentional and yesterday showed he can only do one thing and that is having balls pumped up to him to hold up or to flick on. I still think there is a place for him in the squad but if we are to be playing 4-4-2 a lot more often i really am struggling to see were he would fit in..........

Dele is a top class championship player. Hes the sort EVERY manager would like in his team/squad. Defenders never have an easy time against him. His job IS to hold onto the ball up front or flick on! thats what target men do!!!!!!.

[Riaz]

Dele is a top class championship player. Hes the sort EVERY manager would like in his team/squad. Defenders never have an easy time against him. His job IS to hold onto the ball up front or flick on! thats what target men do!!!!!!.

Do the defenders had a hard time though? its been easy this season.....

How often does he hold the ball up less than 30 yards from goal.

You say flick on's, but that somehow suggests his headers have direction - how often when he wins the ball in the air does it results in us retaining possesion - not very often.

Stern Johns flick on to Nicky Maynard - how often has dele done that this season?

[RedM]

I think it's interesting how we all come up with various view points after watching the same game. i thought Dele actually showed us what a hard working 'lump' he is, how much battering he takes and how defenders find it hard to play against him. I think it works better when he starts though, wearing down defenders for 65 mins then being subbed for fresh legs.

To be honest I have been disappointed in John, I expected more from him, seeing as he is well capable and scored pots loads for Southampton last season. Ok he has been away etc but against Watford he looked disinterested on the whole. Yes, I apperciate he isn't getting much service but when he arrived I was hoping he would inspire the rest of the team with his class, maybe it's harsh but he now looks as ordinary as the rest of them. I would hope unless that things change dramatically by January that we won't be pursuing our interest in him.

Maynard is now setting more, he seems to be able to stay on his feet a bit more and his goals have given him confidence. That needs to be encouraged by giving him another run in the side maybe.

What the heck, i might as well give my opinions about the others now I've started!

Brooker. Who?

Trundle. I didn't warm to him right away when he signed. Always felt he was a Swansea Boy at heart. I don't mean that disrespectfully but in the same way as Tinnion and Murray will always be 'ours'. The move must have been an emotional wrench for him. I have grown to appreciate Trundle and what he brings to the team. Without knowing the facts so just pure opinion, it does seem amazingly harsh that after a good performance he doesn't get picked for the next game. He has become a fans favourite and his appearance definitely lifted the crowd on more than one occasion, like maynard, this needs to be worked to our advantage surely?

The striker who has impressed me although I've only seen him twice is Akinde. He is young and raw but seems to have that bit of spark about him and I like that. I hope he isn't 'polished' too much.

[Portland Bill]

Do the defenders had a hard time though? its been easy this season.....

How often does he hold the ball up less than 30 yards from goal.

You say flick on's, but that somehow suggests his headers have direction - how often when he wins the ball in the air does it results in us retaining possesion - not very often.

Stern Johns flick on to Nicky Maynard - how often has dele done that this season?

How many times has he flicked it on to Maynard and Maynard stands and watches because he hasnt read the game?.

Thats what you should have spotted.

Dele has been there done it and in most of our eyes is still doing it, i don't have any problem with the bloke, he gives his all every min of every game he plays, shame we don't have 11 with his atitude.

Perhaps you should contact the defenders who YOU say have had it easy this season, think they will tell you a different story.

[William Stand]

How many times has he flicked it on to Maynard and Maynard stands and watches because he hasnt read the game?.

Thats what you should have spotted.

Dele has been there done it and in most of our eyes is still doing it, i don't have any problem with the bloke, he gives his all every min of every game he plays, shame we don't have 11 with his atitude.

Perhaps you should contact the defenders who YOU say have had it easy this season, think they will tell you a different story.

I think Johnson likes "percentage" players where 90% of the time he knows exactly what he will get from them. I have no problem at all with Dele - for 2 & a bit seasons now all our strikers have struggled to hit big goal tallies.

I think Deles only problem is that he struggles to play 2 games a week. Personally I'd let John return to Saints - I'm more than happy to perm any 2 from Maynard, Dele, Trundle, Akinde & Brooker.

[Riaz]

How many times has he flicked it on to Maynard and Maynard stands and watches because he hasnt read the game?.

Thats what you should have spotted.

Dele has been there done it and in most of our eyes is still doing it, i don't have any problem with the bloke, he gives his all every min of every game he plays, shame we don't have 11 with his atitude.

Perhaps you should contact the defenders who YOU say have had it easy this season, think they will tell you a different story.

Agreed.

Adebola is a class act at this level and has been the one player who has put in a consistently good level of performance this season.

I can't fault the bloke, he's done just about everything asked of him and delivered 3 goals and 5 assists - better than any other player.

Firstly dele was never a class act. what did he ever do at coventry? don't get me wrong up until last season he was a decent target man at this level.

I don't knock his work rate for one minute - but I feel this season he does not effect the game - not like he did last season anyway.

I would use him for the last 10-15 minutes of each game, if we were chasing a game - When we are chucking the kitchen sink - a fresh dele adebola against tiring defenders would be more effective IMO - just don't think Dele has 90 minutes week in week out.

Also the point about NM - He's always making runs behind - but he does not have wings!!

[Riaz]

That's your opinion, mine is the opposite.

fair enough

3 goals and 5 assists says different - name me a City player close to those stats. He most certainly has effected the games. No doubt about it.

Nicky Maynard has more goals than him and has played about half the games - of course the type of striker dele is its more about assists. but are you counting the pass to Marvin Elliott as an assist? cos marv made that goal all by himself!!

I would'nt say 4 assists and 3 goals was great for a forward who has played nearly all the games. If he aint going to score many then he needs to provide more for others.

[Jordan Tansley]

personally i think dele is best when he has the ball at his feet, facing the opposition goal dribbling at the centre halves with pace and power. rather than facing his own goal having balls wacked at him

[Riaz]

I'm getting the stats from the OS, I have no idea if the perfectly weighted pass which put a shot on a plate for Elliott is counted or not. But he is the only one weighing in with assists and worth his place on that alone.

Perfect pass? no. Marvin did'nt hit it first time - he had to take a touch.

Like the entire midfield ?

Who have been bypassed by our long ball most of the season?

[Portland Bill]

Perfect pass? no. Marvin did'nt hit it first time - he had to take a touch.

Who have been bypassed by our long ball most of the season?

Thats Dele's fault as well then .

Why do people have to continually slag off our players.

Perhaps giving them positive vibes may actually help

[William Stand]

Thats Dele's fault as well then .

Why do people have to continually slag off our players.

Perhaps giving them positive vibes may actually help

Whilst most claim to be purely objective, this is beyond most of us (me included). Therefore we have favourite players & not so favourites. We accentuate the good in the players we like & only see the bad in the others.

[Riaz]

Thats Dele's fault as well then .

Why do people have to continually slag off our players.

Perhaps giving them positive vibes may actually help

I'm not slagging him off - I don't make a habit of critizing for the sake of it - Its my opinion that him leading our forward line is the reason we are average this season..... and I'd take average for this season.

Although I don't rate him, he gets my support when he plays, because he gives 100%

Please don't mistake me for these people that jeered MM & LJ. and I don't have anything against Dele.... I was delighted when he played well against So'ton and I would be delighted if he went on to play well and prove me wrong.

[Samh]

I wouldn't say one average game from Maynard would warrant the 'hitting form' tag.

Apart from the goal and a couple of neat touches he was flagged countless times and had 2 clear cut chances which he spooned.

He got Man of the Match as he was the pick of a bad lot.

Come the end of the season Dele would have been the regular not Maynard.

[Olé]

i have to say when Dele came on last night i started to wonder were does he actually fit in?

You have to be kidding me!? You wonder where Dele Adebola fits in? No offence but do you understand the roles some of these players play? Stern John was hopeless half the time on Tuesday and certainly couldn't hold the ball up which is a fundamental need of the team if we want to develop attacking possession of our own rather than invite the opposition to do so.

That's why a poor Watford side beat us on shots on goal and possession, on our own home ground, just as Reading did, a game Dele also didn't play in. This stuff is not a coincidence, Adebola holds the ball up and retains possession for us, rather than giving it to the opposition. To say you started to wonder where Dele fits in is laughable, we were absolutely crying out for him.

I'm sure Riaz will jump on this now for our usual argument but really at this point this isn't even me making a case for Dele, more a reaction to the incredible view that Maynard hitting form spells the end for Adebola... because clearly Maynard is someone who plays the role of holding the ball up!?! Good or bad, Adebola 'fits in' to that massive gap where our ability to hold the ball up is!!

[Riaz]

I'm sure Riaz will jump on this now for our usual argument

:noexpression: no, I've had my say above

[Bris Red]

You have to be kidding me!? You wonder where Dele Adebola fits in? No offence but do you understand the roles some of these players play? Stern John was hopeless half the time on Tuesday and certainly couldn't hold the ball up which is a fundamental need of the team if we want to develop attacking possession of our own rather than invite the opposition to do so.

That's why a poor Watford side beat us on shots on goal and possession, on our own home ground, just as Reading did, a game Dele also didn't play in. This stuff is not a coincidence, Adebola holds the ball up and retains possession for us, rather than giving it to the opposition. To say you started to wonder where Dele fits in is laughable, we were absolutely crying out for him.

I'm sure Riaz will jump on this now for our usual argument but really at this point this isn't even me making a case for Dele, more a reaction to the incredible view that Maynard hitting form spells the end for Adebola... because clearly Maynard is someone who plays the role of holding the ball up!?! Good or bad, Adebola 'fits in' to that massive gap where our ability to hold the ball up is!!

Youve missed my original point, what i was saying is that with Maynard hitting form this would mean us playing a 4-4-2, Adebola IMO is very one dimentional and is not the best partner for Maynard. Imo john or trunds would be ahead of Dele in terms of partnering NM thats why i think as long as we carry on playing 4-4-2 Dele is going to struggle to get in the side on a regular basis.

Also ''holding the ball up'' requires good footwork, lots of people seem to get caught up in the hold big target man thing. Just beacuse Dele is big dosnt mean he can hold the ball up well, his basic footwork skills imo are laughauble and John and Trundle can hold the ball up in a different way, for example trundles fotwork as we all know is expectional meaning he can buy him self and the team a bit of extra time same with John.

Like ive said countless times before i love Deles work rate and he seems a nice guy, but he is pushing 34 and i think he deffinetly is starting to show his age.