Will Van Wolfswinkel Be A Success With St Etienne?

[hogesar]

You make it sound like no striker has ever made it in English football without being a tank. I remember a certain diminutive Canadian knocking in plenty for us last time we were here. 

Strength is not everything and had we played to his game rather than sticking him on his own with no support and trying to get him to play like Holt, he would have done fine. 

No - I understand exactly where you're coming from.

If I were to judge him from his time before us - then of course i'd say he looked quality and a capable player in the Premier League. He wasn't any stronger back then yet I was still delighted with the signing.

The reality is last season - and yes you can refer to how we played - I didn't see enough in him to suggest he had it. Now, that could simply be down to a loss of confidence as the season drew on which caused him to get brushed off the ball even easier.

I don't remember that Canadian getting brushed off the ball half as easy as RVW. If it was partly confidence then fair play but even some of his build up play under no pressure was relatively poor, not getting the ball out of his feet nearly quick enough and even such things as that `ghost` pass.

If he comes back to the Prem and proves me wrong then i'm all up for it - seems like a nice guy who also seemed to like NCFC.

 

[Canaryboy]

Well whether letting him go was a mistake or not, and this seems to be a contentious topic, I'm sure most of us wish him the best at St Etienne because he seems like a good guy and is difficult not to sympathise with his loss of face last year. 

 

[bloodwagon]

I don't think you become a bad player overnight, Ricky was a good player in Holland and Portugal and scored some cracking goals, however things just didn't go his way here. I don't care what anyone says, the tactics that were implemented played a key role in him not getting scoring opportunities, we created 9 goal scoring chances for him last year, 9 and that's it, He got injured early and missed important time before Christmas. His confidence took a hit and he wasn't pulling the trigger like he usually would. Yes he needs to put a little muscle on for sure, but that doesn't happen overnight either. You need a little patience, just because he flopped in year one, doesn't mean he'll flop in year two.

If you watched him in Holland or in Portugal, you'll see the guy runs on confidence. He had zero confidence at the end of last season, he was looking to pass when he got into the box, you watch him for Sporting and there is no way he's passing that ball in the box. It's confidence, and sending him away to France is a good way to get that confidence back. We put a ton of pressure on him and then got on his back when it didn't start well. 

Who knows what happens from here, but I think it's off the mark to say he isn't technically a good player. We didn't see it at the end but at the start of the season, his movement was superb. I always wonder what would have happened had Snodgrass let him take the penalty against Aston Villa. He should have been taking that penalty and another goal would have given him a nice confidence boost. 

This I very much agree on. thank you for putting it as i would have liked too

 

[hogesar]

I'm not even sure he was bullied off the ball all that much tbh. I remember him winning the ball back from defenders and giving as good as he got.

I'm sorry but that is simply not true. I couldn't delve into the memory banks well enough to call up every single game but most games he played in we suffered from him getting bullied off the ball. Yes he chased and harried which isn't commendable, it's to be expected if you regularly lose out on tussle's with your opposing centre half.

 

[splutcho]

Yeah, I hope he has a cracking season. This is definitely a sore spot amongst fans for sure. Nice to see us get into three pages with no personal insults mind. High fives all round

 

[Canaryboy]

I don't remember that Canadian getting brushed off the ball half as easy as RVW. 

I do, especially in the Premier League - looked out of his depth in the EPL. Goes to show though, that RVW would probably have bossed this division. I'm not worried though, because Grabban and Hooper probably will too. The time to panic is if we now go and lose Hooper. 

 

[Canaryboy]

Yeah, I hope he has a cracking season. This is definitely a sore spot amongst fans for sure. Nice to see us get into three pages with no personal insults mind. High fives all round

Yes, nothing wrong with a polarised debate as long as it remains civil and respectful, that's what forums are for  B)

 

[mrleelee123]

I'm sorry but that is simply not true. I couldn't delve into the memory banks well enough to call up every single game but most games he played in we suffered from him getting bullied off the ball. Yes he chased and harried which isn't commendable, it's to be expected if you regularly lose out on tussle's with your opposing centre half.

There were a few times, but I think a lot of that was to do with how deep he was having to come just to touch the ball. What was the stat against Everton first game of the season? He touched the ball 6 or 7 times? As the season went on, he was needing to drop deeper and deeper just to get involved in the game. For someone who's known as a box player, it's quite easy to see why he struggled.

By the time Hughton changed things a bit and made us more open (but also created us more chances per game) his confidence was absolutely destroyed, the same with all our other strikers.

I fully believe he will score goals in an open team creating chances for him, i'm just so disappointed it's not with us, because I think we'll be very open this season, creating chances but also letting a few in... (but that's for another thread!)

 

[bloodwagon]

Sorry I dont do insults, with me its " ok if thats what you think, ok , but its not what i think " as with Paul, I dont agree with most of what hes put on this thread, but if thats what he thinks ok by me, but its not what i think.

Thats why I started this poll, as I dont think it was a good idea to loan RVW out for the season. !!!!

 

[BarclayBoy88]

Yeah, I hope he has a cracking season. This is definitely a sore spot amongst fans for sure. Nice to see us get into three pages with no personal insults mind. High fives all round

It's great to be able to have a good conversation, with two sides to the argument without it getting personal. Great work. He's definitely a player who split the base a little, but he wasn't the first and certainly won't be the last. 

 

[bloodwagon]

It's great to be able to have a good conversation, with two sides to the argument without it getting personal. Great work. He's definitely a player who split the base a little, but he wasn't the first and certainly won't be the last. 

I think its more than a little lol

 

[BarclayBoy88]

I think its more than a little lol

Ha, you're right about that.

 

[bloodwagon]

Wow voting is close, 13 votes cast.

1 sack Adams lol

3 silly getting rid of

5 maybe maybe not

3 Not worth the money

1 vote not showing hmmm

 

[Paul Handscombe]

I think  you're all ****!!!!!!///####

 

[bloodwagon]

I think  you're all ****!!!!!!///####

superstars ?? hehehe

 

[BarclayBoy88]

I think  you're all ****!!!!!!///####

Ha, well 54 posts into the thread is still 53 posts better than most forums 

 

[Paul Handscombe]

"Lovely"

bloody predictive text 

 

[bloodwagon]

Ha, well 54 posts into the thread is still 53 posts better than most forums 

But thats not a bad word, Paul just didnt want to put superstars as he didnt want to say we have a good point and he agrees with us lmao

 

[bloodwagon]

OK voting as of 2.30pm

16 votes cast

1 Sack adams lmao

5 silly

6 maybe, maybe not

3 Not worth money

1 vote not showing

Still very tight

 

[skijumptoes]

What a bunch of fence sitters we are!

I'm with Paul on the fact that Hooper will score more in this league... He's a good match for what we'll be coming up against.  If i had a choice between them, i would go with Hooper, in fact i would have Becchio over Wolf.  Actually, come to think of it, the only player i would swap out from the front line for Wolfy would be Lafferty... But he could prove me wrong.

However with Ricky, i was really hoping there was something magical in there... Even if he does well in France we're still not going to know if he would've done it for us this season, it's having that taken from us which is most upsetting.. At least for me.