David Mooney

northstandsteve

I love this guys intelligence,last week against Rovers,as Basey went to take a corner someone commented what was Mooney doing right over the other side near enough outside the penalty box,well for the next 40 seconds he didn't stop moving,turning the defender this way and that and was actually at the near post when the ball was delivered.Last night he knew he was about to be subbed and I watched him as Elliott kicked the ball out of play he jogged over to the far side of the pitch from the dugout,hence wasting more time,it was a deliberate move but that of a thoughtful footballer,i really like this bloke and he was denied a goal by a fantastic save from a header.

WSS

Agreed Steve.

Very intelligent player.

roseandcrown

would love to get him and akpo signed as ours while offloading Dicko, Fleetwood and Izale.

johnnybev1987

Yeah i like him too, very unlucky not to score as you said great save! hope we do sign him and akpo permanentley, although wasnt his best game last night

SE10Addick

yup, really like this guy. runs for every ball and must scare the life out of defenders.

falconwood_1

According to Kevin Watson on SS last night when Izale came on he said 'Any side would love to have a player like him coming on and shows the strength of Charltons squad'

So surely Izale deserves a run in the side, what with him being 'one of ours' an all?

JT

One player you could see last night i imagine.

NorthStandUltra

Izale McClown is shite. End of!

johnnybev1987

Mclown does deserve to come on and is good player to bring on in fairness, dont rate him that much but has pace to worry defenders so will cause problems just needs his confidence then he would be very useful indeed

ColinTat

When Mcleod comes on I think he's going to do absolutely nothing. With the two penalties against Norwich, and the one he won next I can't think of when he's made an impact from the bench; prob the goals came from Andy Redi's passing genius. When you see him make runs their more like a blind horse bolting, always running into obstacles.

Love watching Mooney. First goal against MK you saw him watch the ball coming over his shoulder, their fb made a loon run into the center and where his cd's were. Mooney just watched both the ball and defender drift away from him, straight away the light bulb went on he stopped running took a step back. It's nice to see an attacker have the brains to just stop and occupy space. What happened? The ball boke down bang into his rather large defenderless space. I think this guy in the right team will score goals at least up to champ level. For instance last season when we were creating plenty of half chances at times, a lot of the time he would have had the brains to be in space for breakdowns and also for that bit of gambling/luck you need; totally unlike Varney & Mcleod, whilst Gray needs the perfect cross.

I think he lacks a bit of pace/presence/power unlike say Akpo, but he works and trys to chase down; plus when he get's the ball down he's great at keeping ball in the channels whereas Burton needs support for a layoff. With a bit more energy down the flanks for us this guy could become one of our most influential finds of recent years. I'm still a 4-5-1 fan, but at home Burton and Mooney would be number one choice. He gambles and scores, getting goals our other strikers wouldn't even think about.

Swisdom

He really is Andy Hunt

intelligent, hard working, nest finisher and unselfish. Would love to sign him as I too thunk he can cut it a league above

stilladdicted

Would love to sign him as well.
Extract below suggests that Akpo is wanted back in Sheffield..............

'Akpo’s loan spell is due to come to an end on 11th December meaning that as things stand this Saturday’s home game against Southend is set to be his last for the Londoners.

It would appear that the striker has relished his time down South and he has found some form in bagging two goals but his lack of time on the pitch has perhaps not provided him with as much opportunity to build up his match fitness as the Owls would have liked.'

ValleyGary

Where is that extract taken from SA?

stilladdicted

http://www.sheffieldwednesday-mad.co.uk/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=475222

Mortimerician

It would be a blow to lose Akpo, who I think will be the best of the bunch when he's up and running properly.

Agree with all on Moonie. Shows the difference between a good forward and an also ran. The reason that he gets found by passes and flicks that certain others like McLeod and Dickson struggle with, is that he makes the space for himself, sends defenders and uses his brain. I'd just prefer someone a bit more robust (i.e the complete Andy Hunt clone), who doesn't dive quite as much.

Paddy7

I'm delighted too by Mooney's alertness and ability to pinch a goal. I also feel he's quick enough, if not lightning, but as I've mentioned before, I wish he'd be a bit braver / stronger on the ball, rather than throw himself over. Just holding the ball, and he appears to have decent touch, will often draw genuine fouls from over-eager, clumsy defenders. Take the knocks and get on with it - it's part of a forward's job. Another encouraging game though, and unfortunate not to score.

Medders

Feck me, NSS in positive post shocker!

LargeAddick

looks like I'm in a minority (surprise, surprise), at least on here, in that I can't see what he brings to the side. Once in a while he's in the right position to have an effort on goal (once yesterday) but he has no real pace, is lightweight, can't head, isn't physical enough and doesn't hold the ball up at all.

As I say he's not the worst I've ever seen and I'd play him over Tuna and McLeod at the moment, and Dickson/Fleetwood if they were here, but once Akpo is fit, providing he stays, he offers much, much more.

Ketman

[cite]Posted By: Medders[/cite]Feck me, NSS in positive post shocker!

It's just a smokescreen to oust McCleod from the Club :-)

ThreadKiller

nice work nss, maybe parky does read this site then!

LenGlover

Mooney is not Rooney but at the level we are at, and possibly the level above, he is very effective and, as importantly, appears to have the right attitude.

northstandsteve

[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]looks like I'm in a minority (surprise, surprise), at least on here, in that I can't see what he brings to the side. Once in a while he's in the right position to have an effort on goal (once yesterday) but he has no real pace, is lightweight, can't head, isn't physical enough and doesn't hold the ball up at all.

As I say he's not the worst I've ever seen and I'd play him over Tuna and McLeod at the moment, and Dickson/Fleetwood if they were here, but once Akpo is fit, providing he stays, he offers much, much more.

intelligent movement from a forward and you can't see what he brings to the side,christ large you are so so wrong on this one.

LargeAddick

in your opinion Steve, not in mine. That's why football is so great, opinion's differ and non-one is right and no-one is wrong most of the time as it's opinions.

Oggy Red

[cite]Posted By: Paddy7[/cite]I'm delighted too by Mooney's alertness and ability to pinch a goal. I also feel he's quick enough, if not lightning, but as I've mentioned before, I wish he'd be a bit braver / stronger on the ball, rather than throw himself over.

Against Bristol Rovers, it was a brave enough header he put against the bar, against an onrushing keeper leading with his fist.
And it crucially lead to our 3rd goal.

Other than that, pretty much agree with what you say - good assessment.

BlackForestReds

If you look at a couple of his goals they have been tap-ins from a few yards, but all good strikers know how to find space in the box and somehow avoid markers. Overall I like his play - as a couple of people above have said, he's a clever footballer. A good signing and versatile too - he can play the "one" in a 4-5-1 or run alongside Burton in 4-4-2.

I really hope we can sign him full time.

pshrimpt

Agree with most previous comments, he has the potential to do well for us. Although i still would ideally like to see him over the rest of the season (hope we can sign him for longer?), to be able make a better judgement on him but certainly looks good at the moment.

ColinTat

Liike Akpo would be well pleased if he signed long term. Long term I think Mooney is a better investment, but we need pace and power in the front six and Sodje offers this. Sodje's power would be a blow to lose as only Burton and Bailey have that in the front six. Personally if I were Parky I'd be looking at mixing Sodje, Burton and Mooney for starters especially when we're into two matches a week.

I-SAW-POUSO-PLAY

Burton is there to hold up the ball, lay off, win headers whilst mooney is there to poach goals, confuse defenders and make intelligent runs! if we had two players doing the same it would never work! (i.e gray n burton last year) and its no surprise that since Mooney has started games we havent lost and have scored 12 goals in 4 games whilst hes been up there with burton (my POTY).

ColinTat

Hunt and Mendonca, Mendonca and Bright/Leaburn. All the striking units mentioned were the best at holding up ball facing their own players. It can work and will work if at least one player is able to also face up in the box and bang the goals away; generally with a pacey mid. Burton struggles to be prolific in the champ, whilst Gray is only good if the midfield can break to him quick or someone delivers the perfect cross (again preferrably a pacey player like Wade Elliott). But Burton holding up for a six foot drifty weakling out of form, whilst the midfield chug around like Jon Bumstead after a night out won't work. I think Burton and Akpo would be superb in the champ, at an affordable price. I think Burton and Mooney in the champ with this mid may struggle.

We still need pacey physical aggression up front at times. Whilst both Burton and Mooney did well at closing down against BR, their defense was quite happy to go three at the back because they knew they weren't worried by pace or indeed had enough time to pass by/neutralise M&B's closing down. Akpo hustling and bustling will scare the bejesus out of many other avearge league one defenses. It's an excellent asset to have, and one I feel much more suited for Akpo to start in away games whether a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2. I hope we sign Mooney, but I hope some God send allows us to keep Sodje for the whole season; and then sign him if he avoids injury. Three players who can all play together, with different assets! Haven't had that since at least 2005-2006.

AshTray

[cite]Posted By: northstandsteve[/cite]I love this guys intelligence,last week against Rovers,as Basey went to take a corner someone commented what was Mooney doing right over the other side near enough outside the penalty box,well for the next 40 seconds he didn't stop moving,turning the defender this way and that and was actually at the near post when the ball was delivered.Last night he knew he was about to be subbed and I watched him as Elliott kicked the ball out of play he jogged over to the far side of the pitch from the dugout,hence wasting more time,it was a deliberate move but that of a thoughtful footballer,i really like this bloke and he was denied a goal by a fantastic save from a header.

Getting a booking for kicking the ball away wasn't too intelligent was it?

Also he was lucky to not to get a red when he took so long to get off the pitch.

Paddy7

See what you're saying Colin, and without Akpo we certainly lack that classic combination of "power & pace" that the commentators love to trot out. Maybe it was just the injuries that spoiled everything but did Wednesday actually have Deon & Akpo together for long? Looks a good combo on paper with Mooney as a different option. Right now I, in common it seems with many others, would love to offload Dickson, Fleetwood, and McLeod, ideally for reasonable fees, and buy the two loanees. I wonder if that will all seem so ideal further down the road - hope so.