Bruce 1,525 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 17 minutes ago, Denzel Zanzibar said: I reckon it'll be Connolly and Sporar starting again with Balogun on the bench. I would have thought so originally but Balogun did look like he offered a lot better balance down the left when he came on. Originally I thought the two roles would be Sporar/Balogun as the link up forward with Watmore/Connolly as the pressing forward. I suspect it depends on training and covid recovery. I also thought Connolly was trying too hard and ended up offering less to the team than Watmore does. I think you're probably right but as we have lacked threat down the left I wonder if we might see Balogun start with Sporar. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Downsouth 6,175 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 McGree should be available for this game before he hops over to Australia Link to post Share on other sites
Denzel Zanzibar 6,931 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Just now, Downsouth said: McGree should be available for this game before he hops over to Australia I doubt he will be, it'll already be the 25th in Australia when we kick off, and the flight is what, 18 hours? Link to post Share on other sites
TeaCider24 12,401 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Balogun also came on in a different position to Connolly. He was playing as a winger in a 4-2-4, Connolly was playing as a striker in a 5-3-2 with 10 Reading players behind the ball. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Naisby 736 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 I think that players have to be released and available for training by international teams about 5 or so days before the game, arrangements can be made between clubs and country for a bit of flexibility though. But if in doubt national teams can use FIFA to force the issue. Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce 1,525 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 19 minutes ago, TeaCider24 said: Balogun also came on in a different position to Connolly. He was playing as a winger in a 4-2-4, Connolly was playing as a striker in a 5-3-2 with 10 Reading players behind the ball. True that and, ironically, part of why we won the race to sign Balogun was because we wanted to play him down the middle rather than wide left. I thought Connolly did ok and showed promise but he seemed to be winding himself up. While Balogun is with us to make a step up from U23s and show what he can do, Connolly has stepped down because he has been failing over the last year. It's hard to know which way things will go with Connolly; if he gets his head and performances right he will be some player at this level. He could just as easily flame out if he doesn't score in his first few matches. Balogun has all the necessary self-confidence; if his team play and work ethic matches it then he'll be one hell of a player at any level. I was impressed by the way he showed for the ball and retained it when he came on. Link to post Share on other sites
Dynamo Kev 1,552 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 12 minutes ago, Bruce said: True that and, ironically, part of why we won the race to sign Balogun was because we wanted to play him down the middle rather than wide left. I thought Connolly did ok and showed promise but he seemed to be winding himself up. While Balogun is with us to make a step up from U23s and show what he can do, Connolly has stepped down because he has been failing over the last year. It's hard to know which way things will go with Connolly; if he gets his head and performances right he will be some player at this level. He could just as easily flame out if he doesn't score in his first few matches. Balogun has all the necessary self-confidence; if his team play and work ethic matches it then he'll be one hell of a player at any level. I was impressed by the way he showed for the ball and retained it when he came on. dont get how connolly can be some player at this level. he's only been on of brightons no scoring strikers and a back up on at that. how does that mean he'll be some player at this level? i dont see it. he looks bang average to me. even his highlights are bang average. i dont believe he will be a success here. judging on what hes got. mind you i was thinking jls was going t obe good so what do i know. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
BoroBoy1989 229 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 10 minutes ago, Dynamo Kev said: dont get how connolly can be some player at this level. he's only been on of brightons no scoring strikers and a back up on at that. how does that mean he'll be some player at this level? i dont see it. he looks bang average to me. even his highlights are bang average. i dont believe he will be a success here. judging on what hes got. mind you i was thinking jls was going t obe good so what do i know. Connolly has some good finishes in his highlight videos. Don’t think he’ll be prolific here, but got to give the guy a chance. I’ve no idea why everyone was so hyped up when we signed JLS, as his “highlight” videos really are bang average (although those videos are never a good marker anyway, obviously) Link to post Share on other sites
Dynamo Kev 1,552 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 3 minutes ago, BoroBoy1989 said: Connolly has some good finishes in his highlight videos. Don’t think he’ll be prolific here, but got to give the guy a chance. I’ve no idea why everyone was so hyped up when we signed JLS, as his “highlight” videos really are bang average (although those videos are never a good marker anyway, obviously) i think its because he was playing for rennes and in the champions league what got me hyped. though i did watch full 90 games he played in. he actually looked okay though. i think he was struggling for fitness and now has no doubt totally lost all confidence. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce 1,525 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 20 minutes ago, Dynamo Kev said: dont get how connolly can be some player at this level. he's only been on of brightons no scoring strikers and a back up on at that. how does that mean he'll be some player at this level? i dont see it. On the plus side he has pace, aggression, strength on the ball and, at least when he broke through, an eye for goal. He has that low centre of gravity that makes someone really hard to play against. 18 months ago he was roughly where Balogun is now: scoring for fun in the U23s but he wasn't able to maintain his good start in senior football. Maybe he's simply not good enough for the Premier league and just got lucky for a while or maybe he had that slump that most young players need to work through. His record in the cups implies that he will be prolific against teams below the Premier league in which case, if things go well in his first few games, I can see him doing really well for us. It is too early to tell. I hope it works as it would be great to have options if Sporar, Watmore, Balogun and Connolly all start to fire well. Link to post Share on other sites
Downsouth 6,175 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 We are so due a victory against Blackburn and simply I do not want to see them get the double against Boro. Would I take a draw at this time possibly yes but really this game is a bench marker for all concerned. Am sure TM will say some good things about Boro and will recognise the efforts of CW but this has to be our time Link to post Share on other sites
Tom 2,492 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 20 minutes ago, Downsouth said: We are so due a victory against Blackburn and simply I do not want to see them get the double against Boro. Would I take a draw at this time possibly yes but really this game is a bench marker for all concerned. Am sure TM will say some good things about Boro and will recognise the efforts of CW but this has to be our time We drew with them at the Riverside, Al! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Downsouth 6,175 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 5 minutes ago, Tom said: We drew with them at the Riverside, Al! Yep that is true did they not beat us last season at out place? but it has been a while since we beat them I am sure Link to post Share on other sites
Downsouth 6,175 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Just now, Downsouth said: Yep that is true did they not beat us last season at out place? but it has been a while since we beat them I am sure Aso I do not want to see Blackburn do a double draw against us😀 Link to post Share on other sites
Tom 2,492 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Yeah, we are long overdue a win against them, for sure. Link to post Share on other sites
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