Antoine

[Port Said Red]

I thought leaving him on for the whole game tonight did him a huge favour. He was willing in the first half but his touch and strength were that of a much lesser player. It must have been tempting to take him off at half time, he was that poor. But he seemed to play himself back into form as the game progressed l, his touch improved, he started bullying the defenders more and was still full of running in the final minutes.

Hopefully he will be back to his very best soon.

[And Its Smith]

I know he was nervous tonight so it’s all down to confidence.  It will come soon I reckon 

[W-S-M Seagull]

He seems to have lost his touch recently. 

I think we just need to keep playing the likes of him and Weimann and they will soon start scoring again. 

[Olé]

Good summary @Port Said Red - I thought for someone given his chance he was awful in the first half. Far too easily muscled off the ball for a player with his attributes and bar one occasion unable to get a yard on his marker. The way we played he should have been roaring into space and perhaps bagging a winner, but as you say he kept plugging away and turned out to be influential for our best chances in our best spell with 15 left. Overall I don't think he did himself justice and is capable of more, but after talking about defensive mistakes for weeks, perhaps it's an improvement to talk about he and particularly Weimann wasting chances to win it.

[DT The Optimist]

May or may not have done us a favour last night. Depending on your view point.
 Any premier league sides watching him last night unlikely to be flashing the cash that we here would like to see.. current form does not look like a premier league striker in waiting.

The chance of cashing in on Sem this window drifting away..I would have been happy for a fat fee to enable NP to wheel and deal and find us that dominant centre half.

[BTRFTG]

Semenyo's 1 in 9  record doesn't lie and last night's performance was as per. His first four touches were all miscontrolled and things didn't improve afterwards. Easily marshalled and muscled off the ball, like Weimann, Scott and Sykes he's forever looking to the officials for help neither deserved nor awarded. Given the decent chances that came his way he again squandered them high and wide, adjusting socks and boots afterwards attempting to shift blame to his equipment. His second half run into the box, left to right toward (his) right hand post to meet good quality, pacy ball in from the right -  any striker has two options: inside of right foot/outside of left. Semenyo, in choosing the inside of his left foot served only to send the ball back in the direction from whence it came. Such judgement is why he's a 1 in 9. Like Weimann, for somebody who supposedly puts a shift in, he's as lazy as hell in getting himself back into an onside position. Of Weimann, last night he was wholly anonymous save for his usual first minute argument with the referee (who appeared to put him in his place,)  and his glaring misses, albeit one if not both were miles offside. City struggle to retain possession as it is so its highly frustrating to cede dead ball simply because players can't be arsed to get and stay onside.

Whatever anybody offers for Semenyo (should they be silly enough to make an offer,) we should take it for simple reason he's sub-Championship material.

[And Its Smith]

18 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

Semenyo's 1 in 9  record doesn't lie and last night's performance was as per. His first four touches were all miscontrolled and things didn't improve afterwards. Easily marshalled and muscled off the ball, like Weimann, Scott and Sykes he's forever looking to the officials for help neither deserved nor awarded. Given the decent chances that came his way he again squandered them high and wide, adjusting socks and boots afterwards attempting to shift blame to his equipment. His second half run into the box, left to right toward (his) right hand post to meet good quality, pacy ball in from the right -  any striker has two options: inside of right foot/outside of left. Semenyo, in choosing the inside of his left foot served only to send the ball back in the direction from whence it came. Such judgement is why he's a 1 in 9. Like Weimann, for somebody who supposedly puts a shift in, he's as lazy as hell in getting himself back into an onside position. Of Weimann, last night he was wholly anonymous save for his usual first minute argument with the referee (who appeared to put him in his place,)  and his glaring misses, albeit one if not both were miles offside. City struggle to retain possession as it is so its highly frustrating to cede dead ball simply because players can't be arsed to get and stay onside.

Whatever anybody offers for Semenyo (should they be silly enough to make an offer,) we should take it for simple reason he's sub-Championship material.

I stopped reading at 1 in 9. So after one sentence. He isn’t a 1 in 9 striker. He doesn’t score one goal every 810 minutes of football.  To use that against him shows any other opinions are loaded 

[Davefevs]

Oh dear.

At least he didn’t call him Flappy.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Davefevs

[Northern Red]

45 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

Semenyo's 1 in 9  record doesn't lie and last night's performance was as per. His first four touches were all miscontrolled and things didn't improve afterwards. Easily marshalled and muscled off the ball, like Weimann, Scott and Sykes he's forever looking to the officials for help neither deserved nor awarded. Given the decent chances that came his way he again squandered them high and wide, adjusting socks and boots afterwards attempting to shift blame to his equipment. His second half run into the box, left to right toward (his) right hand post to meet good quality, pacy ball in from the right -  any striker has two options: inside of right foot/outside of left. Semenyo, in choosing the inside of his left foot served only to send the ball back in the direction from whence it came. Such judgement is why he's a 1 in 9. Like Weimann, for somebody who supposedly puts a shift in, he's as lazy as hell in getting himself back into an onside position. Of Weimann, last night he was wholly anonymous save for his usual first minute argument with the referee (who appeared to put him in his place,)  and his glaring misses, albeit one if not both were miles offside. City struggle to retain possession as it is so its highly frustrating to cede dead ball simply because players can't be arsed to get and stay onside.

Whatever anybody offers for Semenyo (should they be silly enough to make an offer,) we should take it for simple reason he's sub-Championship material.

[Davefevs]

[Numero Uno]

If the lad wants a move he HAS to start doing it soon. I think that bulb will light up in his head soon enough.

[johnheadbcfc]

If selling our young talent gives us more room to improve as a squad in jan then I think it's a must! 

[WarksRobin]

Missed pre-season, made few starts before the World Cup and little time on th pitch in Qatar. Give the lad a break, he needs playing time.

[bcfc01]

9 minutes ago, WarksRobin said:

Missed pre-season, made few starts before the World Cup and little time on th pitch in Qatar. Give the lad a break, he needs playing time.

I saw signs last night that he's coming back into form, give him another couple of games and I think he will be confident and back to his best. Pair him with Weimann (once he recovers from being played out of position) and it could be exciting.

 

[BUTOR]

On his day, he is as close as we have to an unplayable striker. He’s lit up games in a way no attacking player has come close to here since Bobby Reid. He’s worth persevering with and is still a hugely valuable asset, both on the pitch and in terms of a sale. Talent like that doesn’t disappear overnight. I don’t think we should accept peanuts in Jan. 

Perhaps we’d do well to remember he is still a novice in professional terms and has not had the benefit of academy football from a very young age. Imagine a boxer going pro with a small number of amateur fights, they will need to learn on the job, iron out inconsistencies and mistakes over a much longer period of time than someone with a wealth of top level amateur experience. But, as stated before, the raw talent is so high and rare that they are worth the investment. Even on an off night Semenyo will always give defenders lots to think about, to be wary of, to distract them. They had two or three on him on most occasions he had the ball last night. 

Plus, we are not talking about a maverick type who will have one superb game in five, but be generally unreliable the rest of the time. Once he plays himself into form, gets that little nudge of confidence, it sticks, and pays off for us immensely.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Bouncearoundtheground

[Alex_BCFC]

He was improved in 2nd half but twice got cramp so not fitness not there yet. 

[Roger Red Hat]

5 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Weimann (once he recovers from being played out of position)

[tin]

I thought he was poor last night in almost every aspect. Whether that’s down to being rusty or his new agent blowing smoke up his arse is open to debate. But I think his value’s dropping like a stone. 

[Redrascal2]

44 minutes ago, WarksRobin said:

Missed pre-season, made few starts before the World Cup and little time on th pitch in Qatar. Give the lad a break, he needs playing time.

It is a shame when it is at the expense of Nahki Wells though.

[bcfc01]

10 minutes ago, tin said:

I thought he was poor last night in almost every aspect. Whether that’s down to being rusty or his new agent blowing smoke up his arse is open to debate. But I think his value’s dropping like a stone. 

Couple more games and he'll be back to his best imo.

[phantom]

15 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

I know he was nervous tonight

I'm curious on how you know this?

Just now, bcfc01 said:

Couple more games and he'll be back to his best imo.

Has he been at his best this season?

[TV Tom]

His mere presence on the pitch frightens centre half’s, the more minutes he gets on the pitch the more effective he’ll become

[Out of his pie crust]

Didn’t think he had a great game tbh, but as op says, perhaps minutes on the pitch will help him rediscover some form. Would like to see him focusing on hitting target even if that means taking 10/15% power off the shot

[And Its Smith]

54 minutes ago, phantom said:

I'm curious on how you know this?

Has he been at his best this season?

Friend of a friend 

[real_bristol]

I think to say he was poor int he first half is unfair. I thought he had a good game considering he’s been off for a month. He got bullied a little in the first half and the challenge from their captain early on probably shook him up a bit. I actually think he was targeted a little in that respect and he’s a little way off his best which won’t be resolved by sitting on the bench.
For his one-on-one with the keeper he should have used his toe rather than let it bounce up so he could get his laces on it but that’s with the benefit of super slow-mo on the replay.
The 1 in 9 stat is influenced by his run of games when he first started making the team when he didn’t score for ages. He’s a confidence player but aren’t they all. I thought he was played too centrally yesterday he’s better when he runs in from the channel. I’d be tempted to start him behind the front two so he can pick it up and run at them. Also distribution to him wasn’t great. 
With regards to his value, keeping him under the radar has its benefits and might nudge him towards signing a new contract. First striker on the team sheet for me and hope he starts v Cov if recovered. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by real_bristol

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, tin said:

I thought he was poor last night in almost every aspect. Whether that’s down to being rusty or his new agent blowing smoke up his arse is open to debate. But I think his value’s dropping like a stone. 

Good, nobody will want to buy him

I think he started poorly, and improved as the game wore on…he started to time his backing-in and then touch to roll his man (on a deliberately heavy watered quick-pitch).  That was off first half, and made me hark / harp (?) back to watching Fam when his timing was out.

Looks like he will start again at Cov, and I think game time will benefit him and us.

[tin]

27 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Good, nobody will want to buy him

I think he started poorly, and improved as the game wore on…he started to time his backing-in and then touch to roll his man (on a deliberately heavy watered quick-pitch).  That was off first half, and made me hark / harp (?) back to watching Fam when his timing was out.

Looks like he will start again at Cov, and I think game time will benefit him and us.

Hopefully. I thought his first touch was back to its abysmal worst, he gave away needless free-kicks, his finishing was dire, and worst of all IMO I didn’t see much effort, but I agree he was better in the second half. Last night’s behind us now, I hope he’s back at it asap.

[TV Tom]

Millwall fans were impressed with him

[1960maaan]

17 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Good, nobody will want to buy him

I think he started poorly, and improved as the game wore on…he started to time his backing-in and then touch to roll his man (on a deliberately heavy watered quick-pitch).  That was off first half, and made me hark / harp (?) back to watching Fam when his timing was out.

Looks like he will start again at Cov, and I think game time will benefit him and us.

I would not have wanted to split Tommy & Nahki, but Semenyo strikes me as one of those players that need games to get up to speed .
I thought he was way off to start, but by the time Wells came on he started to make an impact. Conway works his nuts off but relies on service, AS can make his own chances. I think rotation makes sense, get him to the form he has shown, like around the Fulham game , and he can be un playable. Wells is the real experienced goal scorer, so I would rotate Conway & Semenyo, let one run himself out and add fresh legs when (hopefully) the chances happen. On the last 15 minutes V Millwall I'd start Wells & Antoine at Cov

[Davefevs]

12 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

On the last 15 minutes V Millwall I'd start Wells & Antoine at Cov

I get the impression from Nigel’s post-match presser that’s the plan.