out of interest, who gets the match ball in that game. Both scored hat tricks so does it go to the 1st player to have done so, the home team's player ( our ground therefore our ball), toss of a coin or just give them 1 each (does it really matter if its not really the match ball, as I'm pretty sure in most games there are a number in use during a match & who's to say which particular ball you scored with)
out of interest, who gets the match ball in that game. Both scored hat tricks so does it go to the 1st player to have done so, the home team's player ( our ground therefore our ball), toss of a coin or just give them 1 each (does it really matter if its not really the match ball, as I'm pretty sure in most games there are a number in use during a match & who's to say which particular ball you scored with)
Seems to be the player who scored the first Hat-Trick
Another hat trick tonight but Sheff Utd still lost 4-5.
Clarke might have scored 8 goals in his last 3 games but he's still a poor man's Josh Magennis.
Apart from the fact that he appears to be a shit-hot finisher. His movement looks excellent every time I see him now. At this rate, he'll be Championship POTY. Sadly, I remember him plugging away in an easy win at Chesterfield and thinking he doesn't want to be at Charlton.
Clarke had a major bust-up with the Swindon manager, Paolo di Canio, and Powell acquired him for the 2012-13 season. Played only seven games, without scoring, yet scored 11 in 15 games on loan at Scunny. The following season Clarke scored an impressive 23 goals in 34 games for Coventry.
Powell didn’t want him in the first place and was candid that he would be behind the strikers he already had. Jimenez saw him as better value than Benson in terms of a future fee, which is why he was acquired. Unusual deal.
Another hat trick tonight but Sheff Utd still lost 4-5.
Clarke might have scored 8 goals in his last 3 games but he's still a poor man's Josh Magennis.
Apart from the fact that he appears to be a shit-hot finisher. His movement looks excellent every time I see him now. At this rate, he'll be Championship POTY. Sadly, I remember him plugging away in an easy win at Chesterfield and thinking he doesn't want to be at Charlton.
I was being slightly ironic in my comment but his efforts with us are rather in keeping with his career. Scored 28 in 43 for Coventry then 3 in 42 for Wolves and Wigan. Now 39 in 77 for Sheffield United. If he feels comfortable in his surroundings and how he is being played he will score goals and that is true of a lot of strikers.
Clarke was never moody about being with us, was just a shame one of many Charlton managers wasn't willing to persist with him.
Is it a shame though? We were in the Championship and there wasn't anything until this year to really indicate that he was of Championship quality. Sometimes players just go on to do good things after they leave you.
We signed him during the L1 championship winning season as a straight swap with Swindon for Paul Benson, was behind BWP, Kerm, Haynes and N'Guessen in the pecking order and, as Airman says, Chris Powell never wanted him and I think he only started once for us - he'd had a major falling out with di Canio at Swindon and looked unfit and disinterested in the handful of sub apps he made for us
Clarke becoming so prolific in the Championship at the age of 32 is a surprise, his record suggests someone who's scored goals in L1 but never was prolific at a higher level.
Some players do improve with age I guess, and I assume Sheff Utd are creating a lot of chances for him?
Clarke becoming so prolific in the Championship at the age of 32 is a surprise, his record suggests someone who's scored goals in L1 but never was prolific at a higher level.
Some players do improve with age I guess, and I assume Sheff Utd are creating a lot of chances for him?
They have created a lot of chances but some of his goals have been as a result of him doing the hard work - he has frequently shown an ability to create his own opportunity to get a shot away so he's certainly not a one trick pony. In fact, some of his goals are ones that you would expect to be scored with a lower centre of gravity - e.g. his strike partner Billy Sharp.
And in saying that we probably have THE biggest difference between the Sheffield United side that went up last season and the one we currently have - a combined record of 98 goals in 181 appearances for Clarke and Sharp (0.88 per game) as opposed to the record of our two most prolific players, Magennis and Holmes, who have scored 33 in 112 (0.29 per game).
Sharp is 31 and Clarke 32 - vastly experienced and neither would have cost an arm and a leg but who offer a meaningful threat as individuals and as a pair. So proven strikers are out there. The trick is to persuade them to come to the club and make them fit in - something that Wilder (who signed Clarke) has clearly succeeded in doing.
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Some players do improve with age I guess, and I assume Sheff Utd are creating a lot of chances for him?
12 in 15 in the championship this season.
Looking at his record, his current form suggests it's just a purple patch
And in saying that we probably have THE biggest difference between the Sheffield United side that went up last season and the one we currently have - a combined record of 98 goals in 181 appearances for Clarke and Sharp (0.88 per game) as opposed to the record of our two most prolific players, Magennis and Holmes, who have scored 33 in 112 (0.29 per game).
Sharp is 31 and Clarke 32 - vastly experienced and neither would have cost an arm and a leg but who offer a meaningful threat as individuals and as a pair. So proven strikers are out there. The trick is to persuade them to come to the club and make them fit in - something that Wilder (who signed Clarke) has clearly succeeded in doing.