Chooing Theo Robinson

[MorecambeRam]

IMO we need Graham AND Waghorn. £1m+ suggests that it'll be somewhere between £1m and £2m otherwise it would be £2m+. Given this, if Watford and Doncaster are both serious about what they want for their players then we can forget both of those. It's alright saying that both will probably go for less than that, but let's remember that we aren't going to be the only club interested in either player - Ipswich apparently already lead the race for Sharp and we're assuming that no Premier League teams are going to want to pick them up to fill out their squads.

Robinson's rate of return at championship level is 1 in 5, the rest doesn't really matter.

Waghorn`s return is worse.

[StaffsRam]

1 in 5 in a disrupted season.

Hulse this season 1 in 8. He's crap too.

1 in 5 playing a role similar to the one he's likely to play going forward.

Hulse is already proven at this level, Robinson is not. The better comparable is their respective rates in the lower leagues. Hulse scored 54 goals in 124 games. Again, better than Robinson's rate.

[StaffsRam]

Waghorn`s return is worse.

I'd be concerned if the totality of our business in the striking stakes is Waghorn, Robinson and Ward. Ward is fine, but Waghorn as you say wouldn't provide the firepower that we need on his own, and Robinson, well the argument's already made on that one.

[davenportram]

1 in 5 playing a role similar to the one he's likely to play going forward.

Hulse is already proven at this level, Robinson is not. The better comparable is their respective rates in the lower leagues. Hulse scored 54 goals in 124 games. Again, better than Robinson's rate.

Robinson scored 38 in 122. the bulk of Hulses goals came in one season (27 for Crewe) apart from that fluke (he never got near it before or since) season Robinson's goals per game is on a par.

[davenportram]

I'd be concerned if the totality of our business in the striking stakes is Waghorn, Robinson and Ward. Ward is fine, but Waghorn as you say wouldn't provide the firepower that we need on his own, and Robinson, well the argument's already made on that one.

Robinson will never be a lead striker at a club, but he will score goals over a season. In half a season he has scored 5 this year. More than some established "better" strikers have managed in the same number of games.

[StaffsRam]

Robinson scored 38 in 122. the bulk of Hulses goals came in one season (27 for Crewe) apart from that fluke (he never got near it before or since) season Robinson's goals per game is on a par.

Hulse scored the 27 when Crewe were in league 1, ie. at a similar level to where Robinson's picked up the bulk of his goals. The preceding seasons were when Crewe were in the Championship, and even at that point his RoR was 1 in 3 and 1 in 4 respectively, again better than Robinson's 1 in 5.

Since then Hulse has 1 in 3 for WBA, 1 in 3 for Leeds, 1 in 3.5 for Sheff Utd (in the Premier League), and 1 in 3 for us. All at Championship level or higher.

There's also the fact that Hulse will start games, and can lead the line.

[davenportram]

Hulse has had the luxury of several full seasons at Championship level to prove himself. Robinson hasn't.

The point is Robinson has and will score goals. May not lead the line but he will score goals.

[StaffsRam]

Hulse's first season in the CCC equivalent - 1 in 3

I see that point you're making, but I think you're missing a bit of the context. Robinson's lack of basic ball control is going to get the crowd on his back in about two seconds, which happened against Bristol City. He doesn't strike me as being particularly confident, in fact quite fragile given the circumstances of his departure from Millwall, hence I see him in a similar mould to Clod. Once he's lost the crowd he won't get them back and at that point he becomes a liability.

I don't know if we're intending to pay a fee for him or not, but in wages alone, I'd rather we not take the hit. Why not assess who's available in the summer? This one just strikes me as a response to missing out on targets previously because we weren't quick enough. Only this time I think we're jumping the gun.

[davenportram]

I'd be happy if he was free to sign him and pay lowish wages.

[StaffsRam]

I'd be happy if he was free to sign him and pay lowish wages.

Depends on the wages I guess. If they're low, then fair enough. Just so long as it doesn't impair our ability to bring in other targets by reducing the available wage budget.

[SillyBilly]

Who cares what Hulse has done in previous seasons or this season. Some players (Graham prime example) can't score at one club then can't stop scoring at other clubs. It is all about what they do DCFC. Hulse was a great servant here, almost leading the line on his own at times and carrying a significant burden to score goals in a crap team. Theo won't come close to that. I think it is a bit of an insult to Hulse, who can actually contribute to a game aside from scoring to compare him to a 22 year old who still can't trap a ball. Apparently that comes with practice though. Theo may get 1 in 5, great, possibly worth a punt, but if we had a couple in the Hulse mould playing every week we'd be closer to the top than bottom.

[Asanovic]

I'm probably one of his biggest critics but for the first time I saw a small amount of promise in him against Burnley last week.

He could be a half decent impact player, but I wouldn't want him leading our line week in, week out. If we want to compete with forest, Leeds, Swansea etc, we need to have similar standard players.

He may be a late developer, but at 22 the basics should all be in place and there seem to be big holes in his abilities.

I still think he could have a succesful career in Leagues 1 and 2, purely because of his pace, but I don't think he can compete with clubs trying to get in to the Premiership.

[blackNwhites]

Can't we beer him instead of chooing him?

[rammieib]

What has Robinson done in his ten or so games for us that has shown us that he will be good enough to make us a top six team? He cannot control a ball, he hasn't won a single header for us, he hasn't got any game awareness, he has scored two goals (where he needed to be in the 6-yard box!) and any time he has had a sight of goal from more than 6 yards, he has sliced it horribly wide.

If a player isn't good enough, I don't want to sign him even to warm the subs bench up.

Clough likes to play two defensive midfielders (Which I hate, every successful team has centre midfielders who pose a scoring threat) but if Clough continues to do this, then the other 4 'attacking' players must posess both a creative and scoring threat. Do you really believe Robinson is capable of this?

[blackNwhites]

As has been said, Robinson will cause in panic in opposition defenses because of his pace. He's good at closing them down to, which limits their options to pass to.

He's not a lone center forward, good cover for the attacking wide players. I reckon he'll progress next season, worth it for a cheap fee.

[Gary Teale]

I think he is usefull as a impact player off the bench or someone who may be usefull at times away from home when playing on the break. He isnt brilliant but sometimes different sorts of players are needed. Clough has been comparing us to QPR, maybe he is going to go for Warnocks tactic of having a squad packed full of forwards.

[davenportram]

What has Robinson done in his ten or so games for us that has shown us that he will be good enough to make us a top six team? He cannot control a ball, he hasn't won a single header for us, he hasn't got any game awareness, he has scored two goals (where he needed to be in the 6-yard box!) and any time he has had a sight of goal from more than 6 yards, he has sliced it horribly wide.

If a player isn't good enough, I don't want to sign him even to warm the subs bench up.

Clough likes to play two defensive midfielders (Which I hate, every successful team has centre midfielders who pose a scoring threat) but if Clough continues to do this, then the other 4 'attacking' players must posess both a creative and scoring threat. Do you really believe Robinson is capable of this?

Robinson will not make us a top 6 team. No single player will.

In a disrupted season he has scored 5 goals in 25 games. I think given a full preseason and given an injury free season he will score 10+ goals

[Ambitious]

If he is signed as a first team regular, I will be disappointed and I make no apology for that.

HOWEVER, if he is signed for a small fee and he is used as a back-up player then I will be happy because I think he will score his fair share if he is used as a second half impact sub, when I say fair share I don't mean 15-20 but more like 5-10.

I do agree he isn't a gifted player by any stretch of the imagination, however he opens doors because the opposition defence HAS to deal with him in this sense I mean we know he isn't the best finisher or has the best touch, however if the ball is allowed to slip through the defence and he is running through, people get worried because he is going to be the first to the ball.

plus, he is still very young.. give him a break, he has made more of an impact on games than bueno despite the massive gulf in ability between the two players.

[p.shilton]

I agree, I don't think he will ever be a player of the season but he hasn't had a fair crack yet- 5 goals this season, wouldn't that make him our joint top scorer, or thereabouts, if he had been here all season? He looks scared to death most of the time to me and needs time to settle in (without people booing him preferably) and I think we will see a lot more composure/control next season.

You can't compare him to Hulse as they are completely different players- Hulse hardly used to stretch the defence did he? Just used to stand in the middle while people pinged balls at his head which is what his job was. Theo has been brought in to cause panic and pull defenders out of position- I can see him winning us a fair few penalties next season also. He is also useful for eating up the seconds at the ens of the game by running the ball to the corners.

Now QPR are up, I reckon Hulse would be up for grabs again- who'd have him back ( I would)? I really don't know what went on with his departure and whether it was amicable or not?

[peakram]

I have to be honest and say I was amazed people booed the substitution all those weeks back as I thought he was awful judged on that game and my opinion hasn't changed markedly since.

He's not good enough and if Clough signs him it will show he isn't either imo, we would be going back to the days of Izale McLeod, to whom he is very similar, and not sure he has gone on to make any great waves in the game.

He has pace yes but can't control the ball, has no real dribbling skills and doesn't even try to jump for the ball when it is in the air, apart from that he's OK lol.