Connolly really ?

Glover_elbow said:
The fact he is starting when hes is way off match fitness in front of watmore. The high press from the front two has been a key feature in our success under wilder. It didn't happen at all on Monday and i think it was a significant factor in our dreadful first half. Until he puts the effort in without the ball watmore should start in front of him.
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He does seem a little short of sharpness, I wouldn't say he didn't put effort in at all. He closed down plenty. Watmore had covid over christmas, hasn't started a game in a month, and is reported to be 'managing' knee issues, so we don't know how sharp he is either.
 
DanBoro4499 said:
I terms of Sporar i'm not sure I agree with that statement personally (sorry to sound like a d**k).

I've seen a lot of positives in Sporars game especially his technical ability. He does try and link up play and hold the ball up etc, I noticed he was dropping a bit deep against Blackburn the other night to try and get involved.

Rhodes for example scored some really important goals for us but apart from that, his touch/general play was absolutely horrific. He was an outright poacher, Sporar is a much better player than some of the dross we've had up there in recent times.
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No fair play, that probably was a bit harsh. I think what I meant is he naturally looks to get in the box more instinctively than Watmore or Balogan - and same with Connolly, i just don't see them as a pairing; indeed I don't see Connolly as a pair with anyone as I think he's living off the back of a couple of opportunist goals v Spurs and some premature Match of the Day exposure. As others have said, I'm not sure e he's got the ability or the movement to make it at top Championship level, let alone Premiership. I too don't have a grudge - married to an Irishwoman I always want to see Irish players succeed,- but alas I just can't see it here.

And as others have also said, I also feel really indignant Watmore has been sacrificed for the Connolly experiment. I'll happily eat my hat if Connolly comes good but I really hope Watmore starts this weekend. he always worries opposition defenders with his movement and trickery, and despite his haphazard finishing. you always fancy him to pop up with a goal. He seemed to have a developing partnership with Sporar so you'd hope he's back in because we need to bounce back. Coventry will likely sit deep and look to counter. We need players drilled in the combined press to put them under first half and hopefully get ahead, not have someone wandering around a bit lost like Connolly was on Monday. Let him prove himself off the bench.
 
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newyddion said:
I did. A few balls he sent into no man’s land wound me up against Blackburn.. there’s a decent player in there but number one priority shouldn’t be getting a tattoo of yourself and making a TikTok video. Harder the f**k up!
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I think you've highlighted something I suspected here, people were waiting to jump on him because of how he lives his life off pitch. As long as he isn't going out getting hammered every night and works hard on his game I don't really care too much that he and his gf like to brag about their life on line. Like you say, there is a player in there.
 
BoroMart said:
I think you've highlighted something I suspected here, people were waiting to jump on him because of how he lives his life off pitch. As long as he isn't going out getting hammered every night and works hard on his game I don't really care too much that he and his gf like to brag about their life on line. Like you say, there is a player in there.
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And that's my fear Mart - I'm not sure there is a player in there.
I really hope I am wrong as Wilder doesn't tend to chop and change a lot.
 
Fans like their players giving interviews in the programme or club TV
rather than appearing on channels like social media. They want their heroes to like steak and chips not filet mignon.

We can’t dictate how a footballer runs his life off the pitch as long as he is fit and trained on it. That said I do worry as Indeedido says that he hasn’t got what it takes and what we need. I want to be so wrong.
 
BoroMart said:
I think you've highlighted something I suspected here, people were waiting to jump on him because of how he lives his life off pitch. As long as he isn't going out getting hammered every night and works hard on his game I don't really care too much that he and his gf like to brag about their life on line. Like you say, there is a player in there.
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I'd have him on the bench and in the Under 23s until it pops out.
 
BoroMart said:
He does seem a little short of sharpness, I wouldn't say he didn't put effort in at all. He closed down plenty. Watmore had covid over christmas, hasn't started a game in a month, and is reported to be 'managing' knee issues, so we don't know how sharp he is either.
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*So far* he has been a bit of a downgrade on Watmore but, as you say, we don't know what Watmore's fitness is and we do know that Connolly has hardly played in the last 12 months; it takes time to get match sharp. He might be a lot better than Watmore in the long run but football games are won in the short run. On the pitch he looks stressed and lacking in confidence leading him to over-compensate. My read on him is that if he doesn't score and put in a good performance in his first few games that he could completely nosedive, get himself sent off and spiral into failure. I reckon it's finely balanced right now.

Completely different to Balogun who is possibly over-confident. In Balogun's cameos you can see him trying to build patterns of play with Taylor and Tav and you can see that Balogun completely believes in his own ability.
 
Neither Watmore nor Connolly are going to score regularly and reliably. Neither has ever done anything to suggest otherwise. If someone else was likely to score 25+ goals per season it wouldn't be so critical. But there is no prolific scorer and Boro are desperately short of goals so neither should be starting. Try another combination, especially at Man Utd since that's effectively a free hit game.
 
He hasn’t had a good start but I’m not really surprised given the lack of game time and the tough circumstances in which he’s come into the team. He’s got something about him, I just hope he starts showing it sooner rather than later. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him start again on Saturday.
 
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Paulroddam7 said:
I wouldnt say writing him off but, realistically, is he going to offer us a great deal more than Hernandez would have? I’m not so sure.
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Good point
For me, Hernandez offered much more than Connolly when playing in that position even though it wasn’t his natural position of CF. Hernandez was firing shots at goal because he had some tricks to make space, Connolly doesn’t
I don’t personally dislike the lad it’s just plain to see if he’s not scoring he is limited
 
Uwefuchs said:
Feels like a section of our fans have been waiting for him to fail since the moment we signed him.

Give him a chance ffs, he's lacking match practice and he's played 2 games for us .
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Its not fans wanting him to fail thats just such a lazy cliche. As you say hes lacking match practice thats why in my opinion he shouldn't be near starting in first team. He looks as off the pace as payero did when he first signed and he had to wait weeks for an opportunity. I suspect he has only been thrown straight in because of pressures to play him as part of his loan. I believe that fans are more upset he has taken watmores place with half watmores work rate than anything he posts online. If he was playing well then people wouldn't give a toss about his social media profile
 
Glover_elbow said:
Its not fans wanting him to fail thats just such a lazy cliche. As you say hes lacking match practice thats why in my opinion he shouldn't be near starting in first team. He looks as off the pace as payero did when he first signed and he had to wait weeks for an opportunity. I suspect he has only been thrown straight in because of pressures to play him as part of his loan. I believe that fans are more upset he has taken watmores place with half watmores work rate than anything he posts online. If he was playing well then people wouldn't give a toss about his social media profile
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You have written him off already
 
Diego said:
You have written him off already
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If he turns it round and starts regularly playing well and scoring plenty of goals then i will happily hold my hands up. However i suspect he hasnt got it or by the time he gets upto speed the seasons will be over. Signing an unfit striker low on confidence is a bad short term loan option regardless of talent
 
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