I still maintain he did not get a fair crack at it or a decent run in the team in The Championship with us.
Disagree. Didn't he play the first 12 games and score once? He missed lots of chances in league 1 and he struggled in the Championship.
He actually ended up on the bench at league 1 Brentford that year.
I always did wonder whether he could do it at Champ level but I don't think he got a fair chance. I think what he had done for us before that he deserved more of a chance, he only started 10 games. That is hardly fair for someone who without we would not have been promoted. It seemed as if Powell also doubted whether he could do it and at the first little sign he might struggle that was it he was cast aside.
That's just not true though. A few months back I looked into the stats to see if BWP was actually unfairly treated and this is what I posted then:
'He started the first 9 games of the season and scored once. He came on at half time in the game after he was dropped and failed to score. Granted he had an unfairly disallowed goal against Palace but that is the form that gets a striker dropped. Especially when you're the poacher type. We won the game he was dropped for 2-0 and lost the one where he came on 1-0. Results picked up after BWP was dropped, including us scoring 12 goals and getting 13 points the next month. He started in the 4-1 loss against Boro and didn't in the 5-4 win over Cardiff. He came on after 67 minutes and didn't score. Haynes and Hulse did around that time though so clearly there was some kind of service.
Yann was the man who kept the ball up the pitch for us but wasn't expected to contribute as many goals, and he still had 2 by the point BWP was dropped and was badly injured ahead of game 7. Fuller, mostly on as a sub also had 2. Leon Cort had 2 at this stage. We then signed Rob Hulse on loan and he got 2 goals in 3 games, ultimately getting 3 in 15. Danny Haynes also got 2 in 2 and scored 7 overall. Yann then scored on his return from injury. And despite mostly being used as a sub and generally given the same amount of time, if not less off the bench as BWP, Obika managed 3 goals. BWP was given a fair chance and every single striker brought in after him showed more than him immediately. BWP was the 6th most effective striker for us in the league and it showed.'
He got a fair crack, didn't deliver, and was pushed to the back of the queue by players who scored more. It's possible he might have found some form in the Championship if he'd never been dropped (though unlikely given how he played) but saying he was unfairly treated is false.
So 9 games is enough to know if someone can hack it? To me that is harsh. If a manager was sacked after that time everyone would be crying that they aren't given long enough.
9 games when you've just come up from the league below is enough time to decide the player needs to be dropped. We spent that entire season messing about near the relegation spots and you can't have a striker getting 1 in 9 if you want to get results. After that there was no justification for putting BWP back in as every other striker had a better scoring record. That's the point; they were all given a chance and BWP produce the worst goal return. You couldn't justify putting him in ahead of Yann, Fuller, Haynes, Obika or even Hulse because they had proven they were scoring more in that league.
He got a fair chance, fluffed it and then couldn't get back in ahead of other strikers scoring more. He wasn't written off after 9 games.
So 9 games is enough to know if someone can hack it? To me that is harsh. If a manager was sacked after that time everyone would be crying that they aren't given long enough.
Not really the same situation though is it? You can't compare the manager to half a dozen other people doing the same job at the same club at the same time. BWP was the worst striker we had at the time and was deservedly dropped. I will forever take my hat off to him for his goals in League One but as we should all know by now, performing well at a lower level does not always translate to being able to cut it in a higher league.
Also, if you look at his goals throughout his career, he rarely troubled the scorers in anything higher than league one. It wasn't just the games he played for us.
Good job it was Powell that let him go, there would be WW3 had it been anybody else.
Had this conversation countless.times, people who moaned about his laziness don't understand strikers.
It's about conserving energy and being able to be sharp ready to pounce for 95mins
Helps if you're onside when you pounce though.
Maybe it was the shit timing of the 'Hoof' upfield
More like BWP just not bothering to get back onside after a forward run. Play continues, he's offside, the whistle blows, we lose possession.
T Henry made a living out of doing that, all about timing off the pass.
No, it definitely involves being onside. BWP has had a very bad habit of being offside in his career. When we signed him a friend told me that their song for him at Southampton was the same but instead of 'he's better than Shaun' they sang 'he's always offside'. Good player but not good judgment when it came to the line
Good job it was Powell that let him go, there would be WW3 had it been anybody else.
Had this conversation countless.times, people who moaned about his laziness don't understand strikers.
It's about conserving energy and being able to be sharp ready to pounce for 95mins
Helps if you're onside when you pounce though.
Maybe it was the shit timing of the 'Hoof' upfield
More like BWP just not bothering to get back onside after a forward run. Play continues, he's offside, the whistle blows, we lose possession.
T Henry made a living out of doing that, all about timing off the pass.
Not talking about being fractionally off because a pass came later than expected and you've already begun your run. I'm talking about being yards offside due to still walking (slowly) back from your last run whilst the opposition back line are somewhere between the penalty box and the halfway line.
During our League 1 winning campaign B W-P actually went 14 matches without scoring. He still ended up with 22 goals that season.
Towards the end of that season he missed a number of one on ones - visible signs that he had, to a degree, lost his confidence and dare I say the sort of "arrogance" you need in front of goal.
He's now got that confidence back. And he might have still been good enough to be ultimately successful in the Championship but SCP didn't and clearly he wasn't inundated with offers from Championship Clubs either.
I'm sure B W-P isn't sorry either as he's carved out a new career the likes of which he, in all probability, wouldn't have been able to here. A fresh start with fresh challenges.
Wasn't he injured for a while? Maybe his knee was not really up to it and now it is sorted. I watch quite a bit of MLS and BWP has been playing very well as well as scoring the goals.
Nearly all in the box, just goes to show give him the service and he'll score, something we didn't do enough of in the first few games in the championship
Nearly all in the box, just goes to show give him the service and he'll score, something we didn't do enough of in the first few games in the championship
Nearly all in the box, just goes to show give him the service and he'll score, something we didn't do enough of in the first few games in the championship
Or was he part of the reason we didn't create enough chances? We got better when he wasn't in the team.
Vetokele looks a similar type of player but far quicker, stronger and probably better in the air than BWP. That helps us keep possession better and opens up more options for passes.
The other strikers that season all scored more than BWP. They also caused more problems for defenders outside the box.
Nearly all in the box, just goes to show give him the service and he'll score, something we didn't do enough of in the first few games in the championship
Or was he part of the reason we didn't create enough chances? We got better when he wasn't in the team.
Vetokele looks a similar type of player but far quicker, stronger and probably better in the air than BWP. That helps us keep possession better and opens up more options for passes.
The other strikers that season all scored more than BWP. They also caused more problems for defenders outside the box.
In my eyes he was the person you pass to last as he is clean through on goal, yes he missed a fair amount of one on ones but we didn't give him enough opportunities. Think of Bent, he'd get 3 or 4 opportunities in a game and 2 would be pants, but the third would be a goal or we'd get a corner at the very least.
He was a confidence player and I don't think we played to his strengths at times, but luckily for us we had players who came in and stepped up, but I'm glad he's doing the business in the MLS
He has scored to have New York Red Bulls leading at half time in the last game of the regular season against Sporting Kansas City. He currently is top goalscorer in the MLS with 26 against today's opponents striker Dom Dwyer who we were linked with in January. would either add anything to our attack at the moment?
Let's not get into the whole should we or shouldn't we have given him more of a chance and instead just congratulate him on a fantastic season out there.
Comments
He got a fair chance, fluffed it and then couldn't get back in ahead of other strikers scoring more. He wasn't written off after 9 games.
Also, if you look at his goals throughout his career, he rarely troubled the scorers in anything higher than league one. It wasn't just the games he played for us.
Had this conversation countless.times, people who moaned about his laziness don't understand strikers.
It's about conserving energy and being able to be sharp ready to pounce for 95mins
They've come a long way since Pawel Abbott and Paul Hayes.
2011–2013 Charlton Athletic 82 (31)
2013 → Brentford (loan) 15 (5)
2013– New York Red Bulls 28 (19)
Good stats.
Towards the end of that season he missed a number of one on ones - visible signs that he had, to a degree, lost his confidence and dare I say the sort of "arrogance" you need in front of goal.
He's now got that confidence back. And he might have still been good enough to be ultimately successful in the Championship but SCP didn't and clearly he wasn't inundated with offers from Championship Clubs either.
I'm sure B W-P isn't sorry either as he's carved out a new career the likes of which he, in all probability, wouldn't have been able to here. A fresh start with fresh challenges.
Vetokele looks a similar type of player but far quicker, stronger and probably better in the air than BWP. That helps us keep possession better and opens up more options for passes.
The other strikers that season all scored more than BWP. They also caused more problems for defenders outside the box.
He was a confidence player and I don't think we played to his strengths at times, but luckily for us we had players who came in and stepped up, but I'm glad he's doing the business in the MLS
Made up for him as he's such a lovely felle.