2008 Dele Adebola Recruitment Mistake

[HengroveReds]

As we are in a good position and driving seat for a play off charge, I know situation different etc, but surely Lansdown and co wouldn’t make the same mistake by going into the 2nd half of the season without a known / goal scoring striker. 

We are one top striker away from excelling in this league I believe.

2008 he signed Adebola who hadn’t had the best goalscoring record previously, and ultimately did cost us by gaining automatic promotion back then. 

With 4 strikers currently (Wells, Mayulu, Armstrong, Cornick) on the books I can’t see it happening unless 2 go out, but it’s evident we need someone with the cutting edge. 

Go get a loanee Steve..

Edited January 5 by HengroveReds

[headhunter]

Mistake - Adebola meant we changed our style as we had someone to play it long to upfront as opposed to the Nahki Wells-esque Darren Byfield who was top scorer that season with 9! We made play offs with +1 goal difference.

Adebola had a decent record as a Championship striker with 1 goal every 3.5-4 games.

Hull City made the right signing that window in Frasier Campbell who's goals aided their late play off run and who set up Windass for the Wembley winner.

In Jan 2018 we went for the infamous Diony who in playing for us made MAYULU look a player

[bcfcredandwhite]

I’m not sure the Adebola signing on its own cost us promotion. 
In the playoff final, McCoombe went down with an ‘illness’ and then Orr had his nose and cheekbone smashed (right in front of me - it was horrible!)

GJ was forced to move players around to cover Orr and McCoombe which weakened us in other areas. 
Don’t forget that up to that point, our top scorer was Byfield on about 14 goals - and we got to the Playoffs with a GD record of zero!!

Maybe Adebola wasn’t the answer, but we were all aware that scoring goals was our Achilles heel and it needed to be addressed. 

[HengroveReds]

No not the signing costs us, but if he would’ve signed a goalscoring striker in Jan I think we would’ve went up automatically 

[bcfcredandwhite]

3 minutes ago, headhunter said:

Mistake - Adebola meant we changed our style as we had someone to play it long to upfront as opposed to the Nahki Wells-esque Darren Byfield who was top scorer that season with 9! We made play offs with +1 goal difference.

Adebola had a decent record as a Championship striker with 1 goal every 3.5-4 games.

Hull City made the right signing that window in Frasier Campbell who's goals aided their late play off run and who set up Windass for the Wembley winner.

In Jan 2018 we went for the infamous Diony who in playing for us made MAYULU look a player

We posted at the same time!! I thought our GD was zero but that’s going from memory and at 58 it’s a bit fuzzy at times!!!!!

[petehinton]

**** me, cost us promotion?!?

 

Scored huuuuuuge goals to win massive games against Sheff Wed, Hull and Norwich just off the top of my head. 
 

Would hate to see what a proper dud is, if Adebola ruined our promotion chances. 

[Kodjias Wrist]

If we are looking at what ifs….what if we signed Rickie Lambert instead of Trundle? I’m sure there was an offer rejected for similar amount to the Trundle fee?

[BS15_RED]

I heard a rumour at the time that loan  deals were lined up for both David Nugent and Leroy Lita, but GJ was happy with what he had!

[Top Cat]

If we signed Rickie Lambert he'd probably be as 'successful' as the next striker we signed from that lot.

[RUSSEL85]

I liked Dele, held the ball up well, chipped In with a few goals. A good championship striker, but not an out and out goal scorer.

[GrahamC]

39 minutes ago, petehinton said:

**** me, cost us promotion?!?

 

Scored huuuuuuge goals to win massive games against Sheff Wed, Hull and Norwich just off the top of my head. 
 

Would hate to see what a proper dud is, if Adebola ruined our promotion chances. 

******* bizarre.

Byfield started well but wasn’t the same player after Xmas, Trundle (for all his fans on here) never proved himself at Championship level.

We certainly didn’t change style either, GJ’s teams always mixed it up whoever was up top.

Dele had an excellent career at Championship level & was a very good signing for us, his partnership with Maynard the following season was one of our best at this level.

We signed Nick Carle the same window, he was someone we got far less out of, though did make a profit on him when he joined Palace that summer.

Fraizer Campbell was on a season loan loan at Hull, he DIDN’T join in January.

Edited January 5 by GrahamC

[Davefevs]

39 minutes ago, petehinton said:

**** me, cost us promotion?!?

 

Scored huuuuuuge goals to win massive games against Sheff Wed, Hull and Norwich just off the top of my head. 
 

Would hate to see what a proper dud is, if Adebola ruined our promotion chances. 

See January 2018 and Summer 2024

[Shauntaylor85]

49 minutes ago, headhunter said:

Mistake - Adebola meant we changed our style as we had someone to play it long to upfront as opposed to the Nahki Wells-esque Darren Byfield who was top scorer that season with 9! We made play offs with +1 goal difference.

Adebola had a decent record as a Championship striker with 1 goal every 3.5-4 games.

Hull City made the right signing that window in Frasier Campbell who's goals aided their late play off run and who set up Windass for the Wembley winner.

In Jan 2018 we went for the infamous Diony who in playing for us made MAYULU look a player

Diony was a better player than Mayulu. I recall him coming on v QPR and he was decent. I don’t think he was that bad.

[roadyred]

I heard this take on the podcast too. Abit harsh on Adebola, he did a great job for us. He was brought in because we had a lightweight frontline and our main signing Trundle had only scored about 3 goals by January. He did well in games, gave us something different and as someone pointed out scored some crucial goals. We were a nightmare to defend against at set pieces with McCombe, Adebola, Vasko and always looked dangerous. 

He was named player of the season the following year!!! 
 

Campbell was already at Hull, they extended his loan in January. In my book Adebola was good business as it gave us another option and way to play. By then a lot of people had had enough of Trundle so we had to bring in someone. 

 

 

 

[Silvio Dante]

I’m not sure we’re in the “driving seat for a playoff charge” for starters…and as has been discussed on numerous occasions, we’re not missing big chances and aren’t set up for reliance on an elite striker. Our goals are broadly our xG which backs this up.

But, that being said. Dele Adebola was by far from the reason we didn’t go up that season. As I say every time this comes up, the reason we didn’t go up, unpopular as it is, was because Lee Johnson got injured against Watford. We subsequently lost 5 of the following 8 games to the end of the season.

Not because Johnson was a great or even very good player, but because the team was greater than the sum of its parts and he played a key role.

Some bizarre revisionism going on here!

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

54 minutes ago, HengroveReds said:

As we are in a good position and driving seat for a play off charge, I know situation different etc, but surely Lansdown and co wouldn’t make the same mistake by going into the 2nd half of the season without a known / goal scoring striker. 

We are one top striker away from excelling in this league I believe.

2008 he signed Adebola who hadn’t had the best goalscoring record previously, and ultimately did cost us by gaining automatic promotion back then. 

With 4 strikers currently (Wells, Mayulu, Armstrong, Cornick) on the books I can’t see it happening unless 2 go out, but it’s evident we need someone with the cutting edge. 

Go get a loanee Steve..

Prior to joining us Dele Adebola had scored 120 goals in 500 matches for other clubs.  The fact that he’d already played 500 games speaks for itself - he was hardly ever dropped by any club he played for - but a goal scoring ratio of nearly 1:4 isn’t that bad, particularly for a big striker who was expected to create chances for others (a la Emile Heskey).  

[NickJ]

1 hour ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

I’m not sure the Adebola signing on its own cost us promotion. 
In the playoff final, McCoombe went down with an ‘illness’ and then Orr had his nose and cheekbone smashed (right in front of me - it was horrible!)

GJ was forced to move players around to cover Orr and McCoombe which weakened us in other areas. 
Don’t forget that up to that point, our top scorer was Byfield on about 14 goals - and we got to the Playoffs with a GD record of zero!!

Maybe Adebola wasn’t the answer, but we were all aware that scoring goals was our Achilles heel and it needed to be addressed. 

Because I can I’m going to bring the Lee Johnson angle into that answer.

Obvious substitution Vasko on for Ort and Carey to right back.

Or, as happened, move the divisional central midfield player of the season, who’d spent all year destroying other teams midfields (Elliot l) to right back and bring Johnson on to replace Elliot. 
 

Lansdown didn’t cost us promotion that season, or even Adebola, Gary Johnson did. 

 

 

[Spoonbed]

Dare I say it, but LJ getting injured was the biggest “factor” in the demise of our 2008 season imho

[TDarwall]

38 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

 

We signed Nick Carle the same window, he was someone we got far less out of, 

Loads on here said we'd regret flogging him to Palace. We didn't.

 

[Henry]

He was a good signing for us.

I remember this game when it was like watching a man force back gale force winds to get us a point.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7815935.stm

[archie andrews]

25 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

I’m not sure we’re in the “driving seat for a playoff charge” for starters…and as has been discussed on numerous occasions, we’re not missing big chances and aren’t set up for reliance on an elite striker. Our goals are broadly our xG which backs this up.

But, that being said. Dele Adebola was by far from the reason we didn’t go up that season. As I say every time this comes up, the reason we didn’t go up, unpopular as it is, was because Lee Johnson got injured against Watford. We subsequently lost 5 of the following 8 games to the end of the season.

Not because Johnson was a great or even very good player, but because the team was greater than the sum of its parts and he played a key role.

Some bizarre revisionism going on here!

Exactamondo Silvio.....gelled everything together and kept it simple....

[BeggyBlaggers]

Adebola came within a whisker of scoring in the play off final.....if he had scored, we would have gone on to win it i reckon

[italian dave]

39 minutes ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

Diony was a better player than Mayulu. I recall him coming on v QPR and he was decent. I don’t think he was that bad.

Somehow can’t help but feel that in your eyes Bas Savage would be a better signing than any forward signed by the current City management team. As would Harpal Singh be a better signing than Yu, and Tony Dinning would outshine Scott Twine

[CodeRed]

18 minutes ago, NickJ said:

Because I can I’m going to bring the Lee Johnson angle into that answer.

Obvious substitution Vasko on for Ort and Carey to right back.

Or, as happened, move the divisional central midfield player of the season, who’d spent all year destroying other teams midfields (Elliot l) to right back and bring Johnson on to replace Elliot. 
 

Lansdown didn’t cost us promotion that season, or even Adebola, Gary Johnson did. 

 

 

Correct it wasn't bringing LJ on so much as taking Marv out of midfield and moving him to RB. Marv hadn't played RB since his time as a youngster with Millwall. GJ had never played him at RB before, and Marv was the best midfield player of his type - aggressive ball winning, closing down, a huge threat in the opposition box. LJ didn't have any of that in his game.

The sub was all about the Johnson family.

[TDarwall]

42 minutes ago, NickJ said:

Because I can I’m going to bring the Lee Johnson angle into that answer.

Obvious substitution Vasko on for Ort and Carey to right back.

Or, as happened, move the divisional central midfield player of the season, who’d spent all year destroying other teams midfields (Elliot l) to right back and bring Johnson on to replace Elliot. 
 

Lansdown didn’t cost us promotion that season, or even Adebola, Gary Johnson did. 

 

 

Alternatively, Gary Johnson delivered the best season since the Alan Dicks era & deserves huge credit for taking a team from the depths of lg1 to the cusp of the Prem.

Would I have made the same substitution, I dunno, however we didn't lose that game in midfield or due to our right back, it was an incredibly tight affair & we lost to a great strike (whilst one of our defenders was crocked).

We all view events through the prism of our bias (we're all biased) but for me GJ deserves huge credit for that season, not to carry the can for the fact we fell at the final hurdle).

Moot point, but am pretty sure, our good league form coincided with the injury of .... Lee Johnson.

[formerly known as ivan]

If rumours are to be believed, weren’t we in talks with and very close to signing Fraser Campbell but fell through last minute when Hull came in and made everything more convenient for him not having to relocate.

We sent big on an out and out striker in Maynard the season after. He guaranteed goals but we got no where near promotion.

[Natchfever]

2 hours ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

I’m not sure the Adebola signing on its own cost us promotion. 
In the playoff final, McCoombe went down with an ‘illness’ and then Orr had his nose and cheekbone smashed (right in front of me - it was horrible!)

GJ was forced to move players around to cover Orr and McCoombe which weakened us in other areas. 
Don’t forget that up to that point, our top scorer was Byfield on about 14 goals - and we got to the Playoffs with a GD record of zero!!

Maybe Adebola wasn’t the answer, but we were all aware that scoring goals was our Achilles heel and it needed to be addressed. 

I suspect GJ was happy to move the best midfielder in the championship to full back in the final to accommodate another swashbuckling box to box player whose name escapes ne at present..

Ancient history as we were in a great position then and Lansdown did spend big on Trundle.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

11 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

If rumours are to be believed, weren’t we in talks with and very close to signing Fraser Campbell but fell through last minute when Hull came in and made everything more convenient for him not having to relocate.

We sent big on an out and out striker in Maynard the season after. He guaranteed goals but we got no where near promotion.

Even Maynard was third choice though (after Emad Moteb and Michael Mifsud).

[Fontaineofallknowledge]

I remember dele being unplayable on his day-really strong hold up play! I also remember his day only being 1 in 3-really hoped the play off final was going to be one of the unplayable games alas it wasn't to be

not a dud imo but also not a great signing-somewhere in between 

Edited January 5 by Fontaineofallknowledge

[RED4LIFE]

2 hours ago, headhunter said:

Mistake - Adebola meant we changed our style as we had someone to play it long to upfront 

This is what has always annoyed me about that season.

We were punching well above our weight but with a style of football and an appetite to fight for 90 minutes meant we were always in the game. As soon as we signed Adebola, it felt like he was the easy option for going long and trying to pick up the pieces from there....something that hadn't been an option before.

It was almost as if the players stopped thinking about how to move the ball forwards and reverted to a reflex of hump it upfield to Dele when we were defending. Whether this was coached by GJ I guess we will never know.

[stokes7]

That January we bought Adebola, I did like him but what cost us promotion automatically was not scoring enough goals, Stoke were the team who took 2nd spot and they signed ameobi in the January window, who helped them pip us. 

[The Humble Realist]

Absolutely slanderous to claim big Dele 'cost' us promotion.

We also signed Nick Carle in that period which I'd say had more of a disruptive impact. 

However, ultimately both signings were an attempt to address our lack of goals, we did ultimately make the play offs so not sure what the 'failure' is in this regards if we are comparing it to this season. 

[red84]

2 minutes ago, stokes7 said:

That January we bought Adebola, I did like him but what cost us promotion automatically was not scoring enough goals, Stoke were the team who took 2nd spot and they signed ameobi in the January window, who helped them pip us. 

Yep, I was one of the few who went to Stoke away later on in the season as we battled for 2nd spot. It was very apparent the quality between the sides on that day and we had settled for the play offs. Another example of where City miss out to other clubs when the board haven't properly rolled the dice in January when in a good position. 

As for Adebola, I liked him but as a few said, we did start using him as an easy out ball, which changed our style. We played well in the play off final game but just wasn't our day and that's football! 

[GrahamC]

20 minutes ago, stokes7 said:

That January we bought Adebola, I did like him but what cost us promotion automatically was not scoring enough goals, Stoke were the team who took 2nd spot and they signed ameobi in the January window, who helped them pip us. 

I knew someone would post this.

Adebola 6 in 17 appearances for us (1 as sub) not exactly a goal every 3.5-4 games, but better than 1 in 3.

Ameobi 6 appearances for Stoke (3 of them starts), 0 goals..

Definitely signed the wrong player..

[JAWS]

Think it's wrong to focus on Adebola's individual performances. It was more like he was the wrong type of striker needed. Up until that point we played all of our football on the floor, in fact i'd go as far to say we were the best 'footballing' side in the division & looked a good bet for top two.

What we needed in January was a similar striker to Byfield but better quality. Someone mentioned Frazier Campbell, who Hull signed.

It was apparent after signing Adebola that we started to go long & discarded the style that had served us so well up to that point.

In my view that change was the difference between us finishing in play offs instead of automatic. Carle was inconsistent & another gamble.

We needed to be more ambitious and but remaining consistent with our style of play 

It was another missed opportunity & before FFP.

[Chairman Mao]

3 hours ago, Henry said:

He was a good signing for us.

I remember this game when it was like watching a man force back gale force winds to get us a point.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7815935.stm

Not to mention that header to set us on the way for a fantastic win in front of 4-5k away to Reading around March time in 2009 the next season. Pretty sure that took us up to 4th that day. Good team player. Top bloke. We could do with someone like him now funnily enough!

[MarcusX]

5 hours ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

I’m not sure the Adebola signing on its own cost us promotion. 
In the playoff final, McCoombe went down with an ‘illness’ and then Orr had his nose and cheekbone smashed (right in front of me - it was horrible!)

GJ was forced to move players around to cover Orr and McCoombe which weakened us in other areas. 
Don’t forget that up to that point, our top scorer was Byfield on about 14 goals - and we got to the Playoffs with a GD record of zero!!

Maybe Adebola wasn’t the answer, but we were all aware that scoring goals was our Achilles heel and it needed to be addressed. 

Byfield scored 8 goals

[bcfcredandwhite]

7 hours ago, TDarwall said:

Loads on here said we'd regret flogging him to Palace. We didn't.

 

I have to admit I was very excited by Carle - but I was wrong. He did nothing after leaving us - even Warnock couldn’t get a tune out of him. 

[bcfcredandwhite]

7 hours ago, NickJ said:

Because I can I’m going to bring the Lee Johnson angle into that answer.

Obvious substitution Vasko on for Ort and Carey to right back.

Or, as happened, move the divisional central midfield player of the season, who’d spent all year destroying other teams midfields (Elliot l) to right back and bring Johnson on to replace Elliot. 
 

Lansdown didn’t cost us promotion that season, or even Adebola, Gary Johnson did. 

 

 

I have read this argument a lot - from many people - and the nepotism row will always haunt the Johnsons. 
I’m not disagreeing entirely, and sending Marv to defence was a mistake - Vasko would have been a far better option, but if GJs motivation was purely around his son then why not win the bloody game and then play your golden child in the Prem?

Error, yes. Blatant nepotism - hmm - maybe - but misguided if it was. 
 

Whatever, I think most of us can agree that the signing of Dele did NOT cost us promotion. It was down to ‘other’ factors. 

Edited January 5 by bcfcredandwhite
Add words

[TDarwall]

4 minutes ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

I have read this argument a lot - from many people - and the nepotism row will always haunt the Johnsons. 
I’m not disagreeing entirely, and sending Marv to defence was a mistake - Vasko would have been a far better option, but if GJs motivation was purely around his son then why not win the bloody game and then play your golden child in the Prem?

Error, yes. Blatant nepotism - hmm - maybe - but misguided if it was. 
 

Whatever, I think most of us can agree that the signing of Dele did NOT cost us promotion. It was down to ‘other’ factors. 

My thoughts too, would GJ really give up a chance at managing in the Prem just so he could give his lad a run out? I may be misremembering but hadn't Vasko been out injd prior to the final? We'd already lost McCombe & Orr, do you then risk someone maybe not fully upto speed?

If we got overun in MF or slaughtered down the right flank there would be some justification to the argument, but we didn't, they just edged a very tight encounter when both sides cancelled each other out.

This really is my point about we all view events through the prism of our bias, anyone that views GJ as a negative influence, in my view can only be doing so down to personal dislike. Before he came we were conceding 7 at Swansea in League 1 & he established us in the Championship.

That doesn't mean he was perfect, I think he was better with less ££ to spend & I think his man mgmt was best described as old school, but overall he did a brilliant job for us.

[Mr Popodopolous]

4 hours ago, JAWS said:

Think it's wrong to focus on Adebola's individual performances. It was more like he was the wrong type of striker needed. Up until that point we played all of our football on the floor, in fact i'd go as far to say we were the best 'footballing' side in the division & looked a good bet for top two.

What we needed in January was a similar striker to Byfield but better quality. Someone mentioned Frazier Campbell, who Hull signed.

It was apparent after signing Adebola that we started to go long & discarded the style that had served us so well up to that point.

In my view that change was the difference between us finishing in play offs instead of automatic. Carle was inconsistent & another gamble.

We needed to be more ambitious and but remaining consistent with our style of play 

It was another missed opportunity & before FFP.

Imagine somehow okay all sides could do this, Maynard in the 2007-08 side..the movement, pace, Goals indeed all type of Goals.

[Super]

8 hours ago, RUSSEL85 said:

I liked Dele, held the ball up well, chipped In with a few goals. A good championship striker, but not an out and out goal scorer.

His performance at Palace was one of the best I've seen from a City striker. Sadly he has poor at Wembley but wasn't the only one.

[Tinmans Love Child]

What a chant as well "do do do, Dele Adebola"

[bcfcredandwhite]

41 minutes ago, TDarwall said:

My thoughts too, would GJ really give up a chance at managing in the Prem just so he could give his lad a run out? I may be misremembering but hadn't Vasko been out injd prior to the final? We'd already lost McCombe & Orr, do you then risk someone maybe not fully upto speed?

If we got overun in MF or slaughtered down the right flank there would be some justification to the argument, but we didn't, they just edged a very tight encounter when both sides cancelled each other out.

This really is my point about we all view events through the prism of our bias, anyone that views GJ as a negative influence, in my view can only be doing so down to personal dislike. Before he came we were conceding 7 at Swansea in League 1 & he established us in the Championship.

That doesn't mean he was perfect, I think he was better with less ££ to spend & I think his man mgmt was best described as old school, but overall he did a brilliant job for us.

As someone has mentioned earlier in the thread; I don’t think LJs presence on the pitch was an issue but more that Marv was moved. 
Marv and LJ had a good partnership for the most part of that season. 

[AG City]

Shame that we couldn’t get Steve Brooker fit. If he had played 40 games rather than 4 that season I think we would have made it. 

[The Constant Rabbit]

All very well talking about 'going and getting a decent striker'.....but who? And how much?

 

£30K - £40K+ a week might do it - but that smashes the wage ceiling that's kept finances stable.

 

That's if there is a proven Championship centre-forward, fully fit and with the right attitude waiting in the wings.

 

And if there is..........you can bet other clubs with bigger budgets and a more attractive pedigrees will also be watching them as well.

 

So again - who?

 

 

[Pickle Rick]

I remember when Dele Adebola. Glad he made a full recovery.

[Mr Popodopolous]

16 minutes ago, The Constant Rabbit said:

All very well talking about 'going and getting a decent striker'.....but who? And how much?

 

£30K - £40K+ a week might do it - but that smashes the wage ceiling that's kept finances stable.

 

That's if there is a proven Championship centre-forward, fully fit and with the right attitude waiting in the wings.

 

And if there is..........you can bet other clubs with bigger budgets and a more attractive pedigrees will also be watching them as well.

 

So again - who?

 

 

Our Revenue once we strip out the non Parachute Clubs is very competitive. Pedigree a bigger problem and we don't want to overpay or overpay much anyway.

Budget that's a different aspect but moving towards the new system as we are again our Revenue should be rather competitive outside of Parachute Clubs.

My 3 random names..

Cannon- Loan perhaps, albeit we don't want to go too big.

Riis- Contract up come Summer 2025 as it stands..Preston aren't huge payers but he might be a sought after free.

Yates- Could be a useful system fit, 28 so certainly not past it..an undervalued gem like Dickie? Presently on loan at Derby from Swansea, 6 Goals and 2 Assists 23 Games  none penalties.

[pillred]

10 hours ago, petehinton said:

**** me, cost us promotion?!?

 

Scored huuuuuuge goals to win massive games against Sheff Wed, Hull and Norwich just off the top of my head. 
 

Would hate to see what a proper dud is, if Adebola ruined our promotion chances. 

 Adebola got a pretty favourable review in this match report. The 2008 Championship play-off final revisited: Why Bristol City failed to beat Hull City - Bristol Live

[Fordy62]

There’s no player I owe an apology to more than big Dele. I was so underwhelmed when he signed but he was absolutely brilliant. 

If I ever meet him I’ll defo apologise. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

36 minutes ago, pillred said:

 Adebola got a pretty favourable review in this match report. The 2008 Championship play-off final revisited: Why Bristol City failed to beat Hull City - Bristol Live

We made a fairly common mistake, a slightly lazy one judging by that report.

"We have a big striker, so let's hit it long." It happens so often in football, even of the big striker has other strings to their bow.

*If we had Zlatan in his prime under say LJ more than GJ, we still probably would at times default hit it long as he is big. Sure his touch and control better than many so perhaps it works better than a lot of cases, but it would still have been a great waste.

*I'm probably exaggerating slightly to make a point but I wonder how many we've done that with down the years.

Edited January 5 by Mr Popodopolous

[JAWS]

8 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

We made a fairly common mistake, a slightly lazy one judging by that report.

"We have a big striker, so let's hit it long." It happens so often in football, even of the big striker has other strings to their bow.

If we had Zlatan in his prime under say LJ more than GJ, we still probably would at times default hit it long as he is big. Sure his touch and control better than many so perhaps it works better than a lot of cases, but it would still have been a great waste.

That was the problem. He gave us an option we didn't previously have but it didn't suit us & we became less effective because of it.

[Fordy62]

18 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

There’s no player I owe an apology to more than big Dele. I was so underwhelmed when he signed but he was absolutely brilliant. 

If I ever meet him I’ll defo apologise. 

Update, I’ve just emailed big Dele to Apologise!  

[Mr Popodopolous]

9 minutes ago, JAWS said:

That was the problem. He gave us an option we didn't previously have but it didn't suit us & we became less effective because of it.

Albeit the Report states some lovely lay-offs etc but yes some of our football especially at Home prior to Christmas was really good. Remember the games that we played Noble behind the striker 4-4-1-1..technically strong and felt relatively stable too with the 1-1 in a League full of more orthodox 4-4-2s. Sheffield United under the lights absolutely sticks in the mind.

I digress though, we could have perhaps played it to feet somewhat more than we did with Adebola given some of the technical attributes mentioned but it's easy and lazy to hit long.

Edited January 6 by Mr Popodopolous

[Red & Gold]

Although i didn't think Dele was a bad championship level player, and did pretty well for us, my thoughts at the time, and even more now, are that we had a great chance of promotion which may not had come around again. as proven since. We were on a quest of momentum in a league which was poor with many of the ‘bigger’ teams  having off seasons. So like the original poster suggested I wanted us to have a bit more of a go for it when getting what we clearly needed, a striker.  As I say Dele wasn’t a bad player but he was a bit of a journeyman champ striker, (just checked his age, and he was 33) who wasn’t first choice for a 21st placed Coventry side. He had 4 championship goals in the league at the time. Whereas our rivals took a bit more of a risk/ambition.  Stoke, who we were competing for 2nd place with at the turn of the year, signed Shola Ameobi, who seemed far more ambitious back in 08 having broken through at Newcastle (as well as spending quite a bit on Shawcross, Court, and Whelan). Dele felt like a player to fight relegation rather than take the team to the next level. We were already a hardworking team, we just needed some X factor.  It would be us signing someone like Will Keane from Preston,  The fact that we changed the way we play felt significant at the time the time, but perhaps teams were already working us out and we needed some variety.  Some power up front was not a bad idea, but for a top two promotion chasing side, i had expected a Dele in his prime type signing, or a top premiership academy player (like Hull with Campbell), not an gaining one. 

 

I understand that GJ didn't want to disrupt the team morale and bring someone in on huge wages. That was a close knit quad, many who had played at lower levels, but given the next 15 years I am not sure id make the same signing if I did it again.  

 

 

 

[Harry R]

Dele was excellent for us. Particularly good at receiving the ball out wide and running at goal.

Edited January 6 by Harry R

[Bar BS3]

The irony is the a Dele Adebola of 2008 is probably exactly the type of player that we do need right now.!

[Redrascal2]

19 hours ago, HengroveReds said:

As we are in a good position and driving seat for a play off charge, I know situation different etc, but surely Lansdown and co wouldn’t make the same mistake by going into the 2nd half of the season without a known / goal scoring striker. 

We are one top striker away from excelling in this league I believe.

2008 he signed Adebola who hadn’t had the best goalscoring record previously, and ultimately did cost us by gaining automatic promotion back then. 

With 4 strikers currently (Wells, Mayulu, Armstrong, Cornick) on the books I can’t see it happening unless 2 go out, but it’s evident we need someone with the cutting edge. 

Go get a loanee Steve.

That is exactly what Lansdown won't do and never has. Crying out for a striker to give us a chance of the play offs but he will not. Having said that Tinnion and Manning have had money to sign strikers and look what they did with it. Two strikers worse than Cornick. And now never playing Cornick presumably because it would further demonstrate their poor signings.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

1 hour ago, Redrascal2 said:

That is exactly what Lansdown won't do and never has. Crying out for a striker to give us a chance of the play offs but he will not. Having said that Tinnion and Manning have had money to sign strikers and look what they did with it. Two strikers worse than Cornick. And now never playing Cornick presumably because it would further demonstrate their poor signings.

Cornick has scored three goals for us in 50+ games.  Shocking record.  If he was the answer, of course Manning would already be picking him.

[2015]

21 hours ago, petehinton said:

**** me, cost us promotion?!?

 

Scored huuuuuuge goals to win massive games against Sheff Wed, Hull and Norwich just off the top of my head. 
 

Would hate to see what a proper dud is, if Adebola ruined our promotion chances. 

He changed our playing style a little bit, but you are right to say Adebola was never a dud. His goal record wasn't that bad for us at all.

[2015]

18 hours ago, stokes7 said:

That January we bought Adebola, I did like him but what cost us promotion automatically was not scoring enough goals, Stoke were the team who took 2nd spot and they signed ameobi in the January window, who helped them pip us. 

+1 Goal difference.

We were not that good.

[2015]

16 hours ago, JAWS said:

Think it's wrong to focus on Adebola's individual performances. It was more like he was the wrong type of striker needed. Up until that point we played all of our football on the floor, in fact i'd go as far to say we were the best 'footballing' side in the division & looked a good bet for top two.

What we needed in January was a similar striker to Byfield but better quality. Someone mentioned Frazier Campbell, who Hull signed.

It was apparent after signing Adebola that we started to go long & discarded the style that had served us so well up to that point.

In my view that change was the difference between us finishing in play offs instead of automatic. Carle was inconsistent & another gamble.

We needed to be more ambitious and but remaining consistent with our style of play 

It was another missed opportunity & before FFP.

This is exactly how I remember it. 

I remember a game on Sky vs Sheffield United. Absolutely bossed them. Noble pulling strings, football out from the back on the floor. High tempo. Caught teams by surprise and many sides couldn't live with it.

Suddenly in Feb and March we were going out to McAllister at LB who was hurling balls forward to Adebola. Teams had sussed us out a little.

That side was workmanlike.

[Mr Popodopolous]

26 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Cornick has scored three goals for us in 50+ games.  Shocking record.  If he was the answer, of course Manning would already be picking him.

3 Goals, 2 Assists in 1,856 League Minutes (as per WhoScored).

Still when chasing a game in certain conditions or even with energy off the bench to press etc when a goal ahead I'd rather Cornick. I was a little dismayed when Mayulu came on Saturday.

Edited January 6 by Mr Popodopolous

[beaverface]

Two distinct events jump out at me during 2008 that ultimately cost us.

The first was our line up away at Stoke. We had a chance at getting 2nd spot, but - and forgive my sketchy memory - Gary Johnson decided to play Brian Wilson on the right wing! We proceeded to go 2nil down, and it was only after we took him off we started to look the better side, but then it was too late.

The other event was the injury to Orr in the play off final. Losing a Right Back was a disruption, but moving your best midfielder to RB then basically meant you weakened two areas of the pitch, namely CM and RB.

I liked LJ as a player, but he was the wrong sub to make during the final.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

I think what ultimately cost us was the injury to Bradley Orr; the length of time it took to realise he was seriously injured (during which Hull scored); and the way GJ dealt with the substitution.  He should have brought on Tamas Vasko and moved Louis to right back, but instead he brought on his son and moved Marvin Elliott, our most influential midfielder, to right back.  Ah well…

[Fordy62]

For those following this unimportant saga, I now have made peace with myself. 

[Redrascal2]

1 hour ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

Cornick has scored three goals for us in 50+ games.  Shocking record.  If he was the answer, of course Manning would already be picking him.

Surely worth a try with the inability of the two new strikers to take chances and score goals.

[The Swan and Cemetery]

22 minutes ago, Redrascal2 said:

Surely worth a try with the inability of the two new strikers to take chances and score goals.

Agree, and in fairness, don’t think anyone is suggesting Cornick will come in and start bagging a brace every time he plays. More that he’s got the ability to cause defenders problems, particularly late in games, that others (apart from Nahki) don’t seem to have. And in fairness to him, he’s only played the equivalent of just over 20 full games, still hardly a stunning goal scoring record, but better than 3 in 56 appearances implies. 

[JAWS]

2 hours ago, 2015 said:

This is exactly how I remember it. 

I remember a game on Sky vs Sheffield United. Absolutely bossed them. Noble pulling strings, football out from the back on the floor. High tempo. Caught teams by surprise and many sides couldn't live with it.

Suddenly in Feb and March we were going out to McAllister at LB who was hurling balls forward to Adebola. Teams had sussed us out a little.

That side was workmanlike.

Yeah I remember that game too. A joy to watch. Introduce a target man and the temptation to go long exists. It was almost as if he was the best we could get/afford/want to pay, and we were prepared to compromise our style because of it. Very frustrating and annoying. 

We just can't seem to fully grasp an opportunity when it arises. 

 

[GrahamC]

14 hours ago, TDarwall said:

My thoughts too, would GJ really give up a chance at managing in the Prem just so he could give his lad a run out? I may be misremembering but hadn't Vasko been out injd prior to the final? We'd already lost McCombe & Orr, do you then risk someone maybe not fully upto speed?

If we got overun in MF or slaughtered down the right flank there would be some justification to the argument, but we didn't, they just edged a very tight encounter when both sides cancelled each other out.

This really is my point about we all view events through the prism of our bias, anyone that views GJ as a negative influence, in my view can only be doing so down to personal dislike. Before he came we were conceding 7 at Swansea in League 1 & he established us in the Championship.

That doesn't mean he was perfect, I think he was better with less ££ to spend & I think his man mgmt was best described as old school, but overall he did a brilliant job for us.

Looked it up, Vasko’s last start for us was on March 22nd when he was hooked at HT when we lost at Cardiff.

After that he had come on once as a sub (for 2 minutes, up front) when we lost at Stoke.

There’s always been a massive amount of revisionism about that final, losing McCombe the night before, Wilson was unwell so not on the bench (the obvious RB replacement) then of course Orr, killed us. Vasko was dropping out of contention long before & wouldn’t have been involved if McCombe or Wilson were available.

I am sure if GJ had his time again he would have kept Marv in midfield but it’s not as illogical as is now being suggested 16 years later.

As for the Rickie Lambert suggestion he had scored 8 goals in the fourth division the year before, no one saw how his career would go then & it is hindsight to say otherwise.