Baldock To Charlton

[Bar BS3]

I think Quite a lots been read into Davies visiting Derby whilst it wasn't the wisest move on his part, he was probably visiting friends in the area. He was also injured at the time and we had what was then a meaningless game. I'm sure SO'D knew about it and gave it his blessing, otherwise we would of probably heard more about it by now

I agree. Which is why if it was innocent, then why not make a statement or just tweet something clearing up any misunderstanding..?

[Gol]

I agree. Which is why if it was innocent, then why not make a statement or just tweet something clearing up any misunderstanding..?

I agree if he would of done that there would be no issue for most people though I don't think he thought anything of it.

[Monkeh]

I agree. Which is why if it was innocent, then why not make a statement or just tweet something clearing up any misunderstanding..?

Paul scholes went to watch Oldham every chance he got when he wasn't playing did it mean he was going to sign for them?

Players will go and watch there boyhood clubs all the time they don't have to issue statement every te they do that just to please a few fans

[Dorset_Cider]

I've never understood the obsession with strikers that run around a lot but don't score. That I can understand in midfield or defence

It seems we have a lot of fans that prefer a forwards work rate over goals. I am the exact opposite when it comes to strikers.

What was your opinion on Brett then?

Even B'mth fans had to have Eddie Howe explain that he seemed to not do much and that's the second time around.

I think I agree with you.... a stiker can be seen as lazy (and even might be ) but if they know where the net is and get the service + goals then then they can be judged by that.

It is very rare to get a Maynard type that can just create goals from just having the ball at their feet?

Plus regarding Brett it was nice to know if we got a penalty awarded we probably would get a goal from it.

[You Do The Dziekanowski]

Any "poacher" relies on service and in particular the ball being in the oppositions penalty box......can you honestly say we either provided that service or had the ball in that area enough for him to do what he's good at?

Why will that creative spark change?

I just feel people will be disappointed when he struggles to 10 next season, The teams will get weaker by going down a league but that doesn't mean he'll suddenly learn how to finish

[TRL]

What was your opinion on Brett then?

Even B'mth fans had to have Eddie Howe explain that he seemed to not do much and that's the second time around.

I think I agree with you.... a stiker can be seen as lazy (and even might be ) but if they know where the net is and get the service + goals then then they can be judged by that.

It is very rare to get a Maynard type that can just create goals from just having the ball at their feet?

Plus regarding Brett it was nice to know if we got a penalty awarded we probably would get a goal from it.

I liked Brett, natural instinctive striker. Looked lazy but made some very good runs to get into scoring positions, I mean clever little movements, not channel running like so many strikers ala steady. Brett had one thing in his mind, find the space to get a shot off.

He is what we have been missing for years, and he was dropped for not working hard enough, or not being able to play up front on his own!

What a waste of a player. A more natural goal scorer you couldn't have wished for. Hard work and running around out of goal scoring positions has been a problem for ages. I just find it frustrating manager after manager would rather not score, but instead look busy up top. I could understand it if we had goal scoring midfielders, but we don't!

No wonder all these managers get sacked

[!james]

Paul scholes went to watch Oldham every chance he got when he wasn't playing did it mean he was going to sign for them?

Players will go and watch there boyhood clubs all the time they don't have to issue statement every te they do that just to please a few fans

since when was Davies a boyhood Derby fan?!

[ThOmO]

If you look at baldock a record in league 1 its pretty impressive on a goals for games ratio

Last 3 seasons before he joined west ham

10 from 15 starts = 31 a season ratio

14 from 25 starts = 26 a season ratio

4 from 4 before joining whu = messi ratio

Therefore if fit for a whole season and that's the big if it wouldn't be unrealistic to expect a return of at least 20 goals.

The lad has a point to prove and maybe if fit could see a season return not seen since super bob

[You Do The Dziekanowski]

since when was Davies a boyhood Derby fan?!

Since his Boyhood I believe

[stephenkibby.]

I liked Brett, natural instinctive striker. Looked lazy but made some very good runs to get into scoring positions, I mean clever little movements, not channel running like so many strikers ala steady. Brett had one thing in his mind, find the space to get a shot off.

He is what we have been missing for years, and he was dropped for not working hard enough, or not being able to play up front on his own!

What a waste of a player. A more natural goal scorer you couldn't have wished for. Hard work and running around out of goal scoring positions has been a problem for ages. I just find it frustrating manager after manager would rather not score, but instead look busy up top. I could understand it if we had goal scoring midfielders, but we don't!

No wonder all these managers get sacked

dead right,in any standerd of football most teams have a greedy,selfish player up top.

you make a run into the box,saying give it to me iv got a tap in.

then he slaps it into the top corner from a ridculoucs angel!

[ThOmO]

Ill grant you those figures do not include sub appearances

So therefore in the pursuit of the purist goals per games ratio in L1 the minutes on the pitch will need to be evaluated and divisible by 4140 minutes and also if he was substituted in the games he started would need to be acknowledged as well as sub appearances

But hey ho I'm not that much of a stato

Just pointing out the guy scores at L1 level if he's fit and stays fit

[Superjack]

I liked Brett, natural instinctive striker. Looked lazy but made some very good runs to get into scoring positions, I mean clever little movements, not channel running like so many strikers ala steady. Brett had one thing in his mind, find the space to get a shot off.

He is what we have been missing for years, and he was dropped for not working hard enough, or not being able to play up front on his own!

What a waste of a player. A more natural goal scorer you couldn't have wished for. Hard work and running around out of goal scoring positions has been a problem for ages. I just find it frustrating manager after manager would rather not score, but instead look busy up top. I could understand it if we had goal scoring midfielders, but we don't!

No wonder all these managers get sacked

Good post. Exactly what I was on about on the Pitman thread.

[mjd]

Good post. Exactly what I was on about on the Pitman thread.

My feeling exactly too

[Mendip City]

I liked Brett, natural instinctive striker. Looked lazy but made some very good runs to get into scoring positions, I mean clever little movements, not channel running like so many strikers ala steady. Brett had one thing in his mind, find the space to get a shot off.

He is what we have been missing for years, and he was dropped for not working hard enough, or not being able to play up front on his own!

What a waste of a player. A more natural goal scorer you couldn't have wished for. Hard work and running around out of goal scoring positions has been a problem for ages. I just find it frustrating manager after manager would rather not score, but instead look busy up top. I could understand it if we had goal scoring midfielders, but we don't!

No wonder all these managers get sacked

Agree. I'm optimistic that SOD won't take the same "don't work hard enough" view that cost Pitman his career here.

[chipdawg]

Agree. I'm optimistic that SOD won't take the same "don't work hard enough" view that cost Pitman his career here.

Pitman is a very talented footballer, but his lack of work rate was a problem whichever way you look at it. We just didn't have the team that could carry him in that respect. I agree that with a stronger midfield platform behind him he'd have scored a hatful in the championship, but that just wasn't there. It's not Brett's fault, but there's no great tradgedy in his failure to establish himself here- it was just wrong player at wrong time. Unless Bournemouth strengthen significantly over the summer, I suspect that he'll struggle again next year

[Kibs]

For clarity,

Baldock spent 2143 Minutes on the pitch last season which equates to 23.8 games.

10 Goals in 23.8 matches for a team bottom of the Championship.

Thats why there is every chance he could bag 20 for us in league 1.

[ricardob59]

For clarity, Baldock spent 2143 Minutes on the pitch last season which equates to 23.8 games. 10 Goals in 23.8 matches for a team bottom of the Championship. Thats why there is every chance he could bag 20 for us in league 1.

Agree, in a Div 1 side, paying the SOD way..

Could well get 20 + goals..

But fear he will be tempted away..

[slartibartfast]

For clarity,

Baldock spent 2143 Minutes on the pitch last season which equates to 23.8 games.

10 Goals in 23.8 matches for a team bottom of the Championship.

Thats why there is every chance he could bag 20 for us in league 1.

Huh, you can prove anything with facts ! :0)

[Nogbad the Bad]

Pitman is a very talented footballer, but his lack of work rate was a problem whichever way you look at it. We just didn't have the team that could carry him in that respect. I agree that with a stronger midfield platform behind him he'd have scored a hatful in the championship, but that just wasn't there. It's not Brett's fault, but there's no great tradgedy in his failure to establish himself here- it was just wrong player at wrong time. Unless Bournemouth strengthen significantly over the summer, I suspect that he'll struggle again next year

I suspect Eddie Howe knows exactly what he's got in Pitman and precisely how vital a natural goalscorer is to any successful team. He will no doubt ensure he builds a team that isn't reliant on his front men being high powered marathon runners, and continue to reap the benefits of incorporating a born goalscorer in his side.

From what I've seen of both players I'm convinced that Pitman will score more than Baldock at any level.

As I've said many times Pitman could, and should, have been City's next Bob Taylor and we won't see such an instinctive one touch finisher in a City shirt again for a very long time.

19 goals in 26 league games for B'Mouth shows clearly that the problem at BCFC lay with City's managers, and the inadequacies of his team mates, not with Pitman.

A 'tragedy' successive City managers couldn't create a team to allow him to flourish here? In a footballing sense not far off!

[bcfcnick]

How many penalties did Baldock score out of his 10 goals? Including penalties really distorts things in my view. If Skuse was the penalty taker it might make him look a prolific midfield goal-scorer although Cole would probably pass it sideways - very elegantly mind you! Pitman is a class finisher.

I genuinely think the main damage McIness did was selling Pitman and Bolasie and that's not from hindsight. A front line of Pitman, Stead and Bolasie with the money spent on Baldock / Davies directed into a creative midfielder and and central defender would have made for a very different season. The fleeting times Pitman needed to be played to his strengths and getting him to be track back and be a workhorse or, more ludicrously, playing him on the wing, just negated his strengths. I get the feeling that if even we had Messi some of our past managers would play him in central defence.

Much as I like him, Albert would have been on the bench as the impact player as Bolasie effects the game more directly and it's hard to accommodate both in the same team. Forget the issue about Bolasie wanting to be in London - the lad needed to feel valued, wanted and played. Simple as that. He scored a wonder goal in the run-in when we avoided relegation and was never given a proper run. We wasted an opportunity with these two and retaining Edwards would also have made a difference as well but not to the same extent.

[Kibs]

How many penalties did Baldock score out of his 10 goals? Including penalties really distorts things in my view. If Skuse was the penalty taker it might make him look a prolific midfield goal-scorer although Cole would probably pass it sideways - very elegantly mind you! Pitman is a class finisher.

I genuinely think the main damage McIness did was selling Pitman and Bolasie and that's not from hindsight. A front line of Pitman, Stead and Bolasie with the money spent on Baldock / Davies directed into a creative midfielder and and central defender would have made for a very different season. The fleeting times Pitman needed to be played to his strengths and getting him to be track back and be a workhorse or, more ludicrously, playing him on the wing, just negated his strengths. I get the feeling that if even we had Messi some of our past managers would play him in central defence.

Much as I like him, Albert would have been on the bench as the impact player as Bolasie effects the game more directly and it's hard to accommodate both in the same team. Forget the issue about Bolasie wanting to be in London - the lad needed to feel valued, wanted and played. Simple as that. He scored a wonder goal in the run-in when we avoided relegation and was never given a proper run. We wasted an opportunity with these two and retaining Edwards would also have made a difference as well but not to the same extent.

If thats the case then Frank Lampard isn't half the player people think and should probably have his Chelsea all time goalscorer record removed!!

Any striker worth his salt should be trying to get on the pens!!

[chipdawg]

I suspect Eddie Howe knows exactly what he's got in Pitman and precisely how vital a natural goalscorer is to any successful team. He will no doubt ensure he builds a team that isn't reliant on his front men being high powered marathon runners, and continue to reap the benefits of incorporating a born goalscorer in his side.

From what I've seen of both players I'm convinced that Pitman will score more than Baldock at any level.

As I've said many times Pitman could, and should, have been City's next Bob Taylor and we won't see such an instinctive one touch finisher in a City shirt again for a very long time.

19 goals in 26 league games for B'Mouth shows clearly that the problem at BCFC lay with City's managers, and the inadequacies of his team mates, not with Pitman.

A 'tragedy' successive City managers couldn't create a team to allow him to flourish here? In a footballing sense not far off!

And Eddie Howe may well construct a midfield platform that Pitman can operate in front of, but we didn't have that here when he played for us. Like I said, it's not really Pitman's fault that he failed here- it wasn't through lack of talent- but a struggling team is not the place for a player with his skill set. While you can use it as evidence of many things, the fact that he's dropped down a division and scored a hatful in a dominant team kind of reinforces my point; in a team that's on top, he will score a lot of goals. A better test of my hypothesis will be next season win Bournemouth are likely to find life a bit tougher

Bob Taylor actually reinforces my point too; he was an instinctive finisher with great awareness in the box, but he was also strong as an Ox and would always put a shift in. I don't think it's a criticism of Pitman to say he's not that kind of player, but it did allow Super Bob to operate in a wider variety if situations than Brett

[The Kaiser]

Since his Boyhood I believe

Are there many kids knocking around Merseyside supporting Derby County?!

[Fiale]

I have no idea what formation we will be playing next season, but both Cardiff and Hull got promoted with strikers scoring less than 10 a piece this season - most of their goals coming from the rest of the team incl midfield, wingers, L/R backs and CBs - surely this is a much better thing than pinning hopes on a 20 a season striker, as one player having an off day/week/season will not dry up all your goals.

If you look at goals scored - Watford and Crystal Palace have both had nearly all thier goals scored by 1/2 players - all their eggs in a small basket, the top scorers list is full of teams however that are nearer the bottom/relegation (which seems common for all the divisions) with Murrays, Van Persie type players being pretty rare - I like to see a hard working forward/striker running those channels, behind defence creating for others as well as bagging a few himself.

[GrahamC]

How many penalties did Baldock score out of his 10 goals? Including penalties really distorts things in my view.

4 penalties, making it a rather pitiful 6 other goals all season.

I don't buy this "it was all down to the midfield" stuff either, against Brum and Bolton he missed at least 3 very easy chances, all set up for him by clever play by Steven Davies.

I know he had lost confidence by then but I've lost count of the number of times over the season that he failed to score when one on one with the keeper, and overall felt he was a huge disappointment, with the understandable focus on our dreadful defensive record masking just how poor he actually was.

I'd sell him for anything over £600k myself.

[Esmond Million's Bung]

4 penalties, making it a rather pitiful 6 other goals all season.

I don't buy this "it was all down to the midfield" stuff either, against Brum and Bolton he missed at least 3 very easy chances, all set up for him by clever play by Steven Davies.

I know he had lost confidence by then but I've lost count of the number of times over the season that he failed to score when one on one with the keeper, and overall felt he was a huge disappointment, with the understandable focus on our dreadful defensive record masking just how poor he actually was.

I'd sell him for anything over £600k myself.

Whether you buy into it or not, it is a factor. 3 of mainstays of our midfield Killkenny, Skuse and Kelly who played 70 games between them never scored a goal between them or even got an assist between, that is astounding especially as SOD is bigging up Killkenny in particular.

PS:-Baldock is IMO overrated however.

[Monkeh]

How many penalties did Baldock score out of his 10 goals? Including penalties really distorts things in my view. If Skuse was the penalty taker it might make him look a prolific midfield goal-scorer although Cole would probably pass it sideways - very elegantly mind you! Pitman is a class finisher.

I genuinely think the main damage McIness did was selling Pitman and Bolasie and that's not from hindsight. A front line of Pitman, Stead and Bolasie with the money spent on Baldock / Davies directed into a creative midfielder and and central defender would have made for a very different season. The fleeting times Pitman needed to be played to his strengths and getting him to be track back and be a workhorse or, more ludicrously, playing him on the wing, just negated his strengths. I get the feeling that if even we had Messi some of our past managers would play him in central defence.

Much as I like him, Albert would have been on the bench as the impact player as Bolasie effects the game more directly and it's hard to accommodate both in the same team. Forget the issue about Bolasie wanting to be in London - the lad needed to feel valued, wanted and played. Simple as that. He scored a wonder goal in the run-in when we avoided relegation and was never given a proper run. We wasted an opportunity with these two and retaining Edwards would also have made a difference as well but not to the same extent.

you can't blame him for Bolasie, he handed in a transfer request because Palace tapped his agent up

[Monkeh]

Are there many kids knocking around Merseyside supporting Derby County?!

plenty knocking around Bristol supporting Liverpool,

[GoingUp]

Whether you buy into it or not, it is a factor. 3 of mainstays of our midfield Killkenny, Skuse and Kelly who played 70 games between them never scored a goal between them or even got an assist between, that is astounding especially as SOD is bigging up Killkenny in particular.

PS:-Baldock is IMO overrated however.

[GoingUp]

Wow that is an incredibly damning statistic on our midfield scoring prowess last season, marv only got 3 or 4 as well I think.still if I remember rightly doncaster scored a lot through midfield when SOD was manager, coppinger, stock etc so hopefully this will and has to be an area that is way more productive next season.