To clarify I'm not trying to justify the decision to sell him. I was simply saying I don't believe he'll go on to play regularly in the Championship because he's not suited to being a lone striker and Championship clubs wouldn't sign him to play him in any other position.
I am shocked that that wasn’t understood. It’s like people are arguing two different points that nobody disagrees on.
To answer Prague’s question directly: there are players in this league that will offer goals in the third tier and more of an all around game than Alfie does.
Their names are Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes.
At 15 & 5 Million quid I would hope so.
Goalposts moved for the seventh time…
So you're telling us that there are better players who offer goals & have more of an all round game than Alfie & then offer up the names of the 2 most expensive players in the history of the 3rd Division & you claim that the goalposts have moved ? Well you've lost me on that one.
Point is the goalposts have moved so far now that we aren’t even arguing the original point that was made.
People try to have a nuanced view about why he might not be playing for Birmingham and get it thrown in their face with yet another goalposts moving question.
We sold him - we decided against trying to find a direct replacement because the manager wanted someone who could contribute more in other ways.
The only measure of whether that will be a good decision is at the end of the season. I’ve got a feeling we just might do better than you expect.
Well our Yank capital is duller than the dullest dullard from dullardsville Arizona
You're right actually. Our Yank Capital Is Duller (And Therefore Less Morally Corrupt) Than Yours
I'd take an ownership of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Benjamin Netanyahu with Osama Bin Laden as Director of Football if they could oversee the assemblance of a squad capable of nicking a win at Stevenage.
Well our Yank capital is duller than the dullest dullard from dullardsville Arizona
You're right actually. Our Yank Capital Is Duller (And Therefore Less Morally Corrupt) Than Yours
I'd take an ownership of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Benjamin Netanyahu with Osama Bin Laden as Director of Football if they could oversee the assemblance of a squad capable of nicking a win at Stevenage.
Well our Yank capital is duller than the dullest dullard from dullardsville Arizona
You're right actually. Our Yank Capital Is Duller (And Therefore Less Morally Corrupt) Than Yours
I'd take an ownership of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Benjamin Netanyahu with Osama Bin Laden as Director of Football if they could oversee the assemblance of a squad capable of nicking a win at Stevenage.
Alfie is suffering from a certain kind of lower league poacher problem. Scoring lots of goals in the third and fourth tier, but never going to be the main man for a genuine promotion contender or established Championship side because the rest of his game lags behind the goal tally.
“Just imagine how much better he could be in a team of better players!”
Unfortunately for him, he got the move to a team of better players. And now can’t get a start because the better players are better than him.
There are many before him… Tom Eaves at Hull, Joe Pigott at Ipswich…
Selling a proven goal-scoring striker must be one of the easiest transactions in professional football. Replacing him with someone better is one of the most difficult tasks in professional football, even if you are ready to spend a lot more than you received for the one you sold.
While I wait for someone to answer my previous question, here is another one.
What do we think we have received for May, and how much have we forked out for Ahadme? (Godden was a free, if I recall.) And then what do we think was Alfie's wage here, and what do we think we are paying Ahadme and Godden?
I have a very ominous feeling that the answer isn't favourable for the P&L....
Seen it reported as £775,000 for May, I doubt Ahadme is anywhere near the reported 1m, that is maybe with add ons including promotion, goals etc. Godden undisclosed.
Well our Yank capital is duller than the dullest dullard from dullardsville Arizona
You're right actually. Our Yank Capital Is Duller (And Therefore Less Morally Corrupt) Than Yours
I'd take an ownership of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Benjamin Netanyahu with Osama Bin Laden as Director of Football if they could oversee the assemblance of a squad capable of nicking a win at Stevenage.
Well our Yank capital is duller than the dullest dullard from dullardsville Arizona
You're right actually. Our Yank Capital Is Duller (And Therefore Less Morally Corrupt) Than Yours
I'd take an ownership of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Benjamin Netanyahu with Osama Bin Laden as Director of Football if they could oversee the assemblance of a squad capable of nicking a win at Stevenage.
Alfie is suffering from a certain kind of lower league poacher problem. Scoring lots of goals in the third and fourth tier, but never going to be the main man for a genuine promotion contender or established Championship side because the rest of his game lags behind the goal tally.
“Just imagine how much better he could be in a team of better players!”
Unfortunately for him, he got the move to a team of better players. And now can’t get a start because the better players are better than him.
There are many before him… Tom Eaves at Hull, Joe Pigott at Ipswich…
Is that the Alfie may who has 4 in 7 for the team at the top/promotion contender.
I think he'd have done just fine as their man main had they not signed a 12 million pound striker.
But they had him and decided to sign that striker. It wasn't an accident, they looked at the striker options they had and brought in two new ones over the one they'd just bought because they wanted better. Birmingham aren't a good case study for normal behaviour this season but you can tell they're wanting to blow L1 away and they've decided that despite his goals May is a squad player for that, not an essential piece. I'll bet he's fuming, I wonder what they told him his role would be when they signed him. You'd have to assume they kept the whole 'we'll immediately also buy Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes' thing fairly quiet.
I think he'd have done just fine as their man main had they not signed a 12 million pound striker.
But they had him and decided to sign that striker. It wasn't an accident, they looked at the striker options they had and brought in two new ones over the one they'd just bought because they wanted better. Birmingham aren't a good case study for normal behaviour this season but you can tell they're wanting to blow L1 away and they've decided that despite his goals May is a squad player for that, not an essential piece. I'll bet he's fuming, I wonder what they told him his role would be when they signed him. You'd have to assume they kept the whole 'we'll immediately also buy Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes' thing fairly quiet.
To be fair to Birmingham though, clubs tend to make purchases based on what's available, rather than what might available - Early on in the window they knew they could get May so he was always their No.1 striker for the season, those plans changed the moment Stansfield become an option.
Its another reason why you can see why players aren't overly loyal to clubs anymore. One minute they're the first choice in their role, and unless they're a Messi / Mbappe / Ronaldo type figure, there is always the risk that the club will sign someone better and relegate their role, and ultimately their career.
I think Stansfield was always an option for them, they tried right at the beginning of the window but just didn't bid enough. If they'd bid the fee they paid on the 1st July then they'd have got him on 1st July. The bidding thing sounds like it was quite reminiscent of Will Grigg going to Sunderland. Stansfield is obviously a better player than Grigg and will probably have a much better career too
I think May would struggle to score goals with what we are creating at the moment.
It would be more challenging for sure. For instance I’m sure his goals to games ratio would have been at its peak with CBT in the team (how I miss CBT…). But I do think May has a knack of being in the right place at the right time and would have scored a few already this season despite the appalling levels of creativity in the squad. In some ways having a clinical goal scorer like May would have been more important in a team devoid of creativity as the few chances created would have a higher conversion rate.
I think May would struggle to score goals with what we are creating at the moment.
It would be more challenging for sure. For instance I’m sure his goals to games ratio would have been at its peak with CBT in the team (how I miss CBT…). But I do think May has a knack of being in the right place at the right time and would have scored a few already this season despite the appalling levels of creativity in the squad. In some ways having a clinical goal scorer like May would have been more important in a team devoid of creativity as the few chances created would have a higher conversion rate.
He scored 16 goals in the 23 games leading up to January and 8 in the 23 post January. CBT got 6 assists for us last season, not sure how many were for May but would be the majority you'd think
Birmingham probably wouldn't have bothered with May but when they realised we were happy to take such a pitiful sum it was a no brainer for them. He'll be back on loan to League One next season for sure.
I think he'd have done just fine as their man main had they not signed a 12 million pound striker.
But they had him and decided to sign that striker. It wasn't an accident, they looked at the striker options they had and brought in two new ones over the one they'd just bought because they wanted better. Birmingham aren't a good case study for normal behaviour this season but you can tell they're wanting to blow L1 away and they've decided that despite his goals May is a squad player for that, not an essential piece. I'll bet he's fuming, I wonder what they told him his role would be when they signed him. You'd have to assume they kept the whole 'we'll immediately also buy Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes' thing fairly quiet.
To be fair to Birmingham though, clubs tend to make purchases based on what's available, rather than what might available - Early on in the window they knew they could get May so he was always their No.1 striker for the season, those plans changed the moment Stansfield become an option.
Its another reason why you can see why players aren't overly loyal to clubs anymore. One minute they're the first choice in their role, and unless they're a Messi / Mbappe / Ronaldo type figure, there is always the risk that the club will sign someone better and relegate their role, and ultimately their career.
I think you're right, but it's the other way round with Stansfield and May. Stansfield was always their number one target, they tried to hold out against Fulham's valuation but eventually caved and paid over the odds. May was a bit more opportunistic, it was reported that Huddersfield had had a bid of less than a million accepted and I think Birmingham saw that as a good deal while they tried to get Stansfield in/just in case they couldn't get it over the line. The way Birmingham are chucking money around if May doesn't play another minute they'd probably see £750,000 as worth it for the 10 points he was involved in getting before Stansfield arrived
I think he'd have done just fine as their man main had they not signed a 12 million pound striker.
But they had him and decided to sign that striker. It wasn't an accident, they looked at the striker options they had and brought in two new ones over the one they'd just bought because they wanted better. Birmingham aren't a good case study for normal behaviour this season but you can tell they're wanting to blow L1 away and they've decided that despite his goals May is a squad player for that, not an essential piece. I'll bet he's fuming, I wonder what they told him his role would be when they signed him. You'd have to assume they kept the whole 'we'll immediately also buy Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes' thing fairly quiet.
Yeah they did. Because a 12-million-pound striker is going to be miles better than Alfie May.
I take issue with any idea they looked at May and thought he wasn't good enough or they needed better - when the upgrade they brought in should never be affordable to a team in this league. That's not a judgement on May at all. If anything it's a compliment that his upgrade cost that much.
End of the day we finished 16th with him as our striker and that included a winless run of 16 games. If we finish above that this season, and don't have a catastrophic 3 months, then ultimately we've progressed as a club, whether you like it or not.
I fully believe May in this current set up would only have 1 or 2 goals this season so far, and if we can say the money we got from selling him went towards the strengthening of the whole squad, then realistically it's money well spent.
I think Jones' gamble this season was on a contingent of strikers all getting a few goals each, Ahadme, Godden and Leaburn all getting 10 out so each, and Aneke, Kanu and TC getting 5 or 6 each, with a few more scored by midfield and defence. So far it hasn't really materialised
I think he'd have done just fine as their man main had they not signed a 12 million pound striker.
But they had him and decided to sign that striker. It wasn't an accident, they looked at the striker options they had and brought in two new ones over the one they'd just bought because they wanted better. Birmingham aren't a good case study for normal behaviour this season but you can tell they're wanting to blow L1 away and they've decided that despite his goals May is a squad player for that, not an essential piece. I'll bet he's fuming, I wonder what they told him his role would be when they signed him. You'd have to assume they kept the whole 'we'll immediately also buy Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes' thing fairly quiet.
To be fair to Birmingham though, clubs tend to make purchases based on what's available, rather than what might available - Early on in the window they knew they could get May so he was always their No.1 striker for the season, those plans changed the moment Stansfield become an option.
Its another reason why you can see why players aren't overly loyal to clubs anymore. One minute they're the first choice in their role, and unless they're a Messi / Mbappe / Ronaldo type figure, there is always the risk that the club will sign someone better and relegate their role, and ultimately their career.
I think you're right, but it's the other way round with Stansfield and May. Stansfield was always their number one target, they tried to hold out against Fulham's valuation but eventually caved and paid over the odds. May was a bit more opportunistic, it was reported that Huddersfield had had a bid of less than a million accepted and I think Birmingham saw that as a good deal while they tried to get Stansfield in/just in case they couldn't get it over the line. The way Birmingham are chucking money around if May doesn't play another minute they'd probably see £750,000 as worth it for the 10 points he was involved in getting before Stansfield arrived
I reckon they would see 750k to stop Huddersfield getting him as worth it as well, even if he didn't play another second for them.
End of the day we finished 16th with him as our striker and that included a winless run of 16 games. If we finish above that this season, and don't have a catastrophic 3 months, then ultimately we've progressed as a club, whether you like it or not.
I fully believe May in this current set up would only have 1 or 2 goals this season so far, and if we can say the money we got from selling him went towards the strengthening of the whole squad, then realistically it's money well spent.
I think Jones' gamble this season was on a contingent of strikers all getting a few goals each, Ahadme, Godden and Leaburn all getting 10 out so each, and Aneke, Kanu and TC getting 5 or 6 each, with a few more scored by midfield and defence. So far it hasn't really materialised
Just feels like real progress would have been improving the squad and league position, while also being able to keep the league's top scorer. I appreciate clubs like ours will always be selling clubs, but I had hoped with the new owners we might not have needed to offload our best players just to be able strengthen the squad.
Alfie is suffering from a certain kind of lower league poacher problem. Scoring lots of goals in the third and fourth tier, but never going to be the main man for a genuine promotion contender or established Championship side because the rest of his game lags behind the goal tally.
“Just imagine how much better he could be in a team of better players!”
Unfortunately for him, he got the move to a team of better players. And now can’t get a start because the better players are better than him.
There are many before him… Tom Eaves at Hull, Joe Pigott at Ipswich…
I think you're doing him a disservice here and from what i've read a lot of Birmingham fans are wanting him to start instead of Dykes. Stansfield you'd assume is always going to start when fit, although he did apparently get a knock at the weekend.
Some people are talking like May has been banished to the reserves and told to find a new club. It's a long season and he'll definitely get his fair share of starts.
I think he'd have done just fine as their man main had they not signed a 12 million pound striker.
But they had him and decided to sign that striker. It wasn't an accident, they looked at the striker options they had and brought in two new ones over the one they'd just bought because they wanted better. Birmingham aren't a good case study for normal behaviour this season but you can tell they're wanting to blow L1 away and they've decided that despite his goals May is a squad player for that, not an essential piece. I'll bet he's fuming, I wonder what they told him his role would be when they signed him. You'd have to assume they kept the whole 'we'll immediately also buy Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes' thing fairly quiet.
Yeah they did. Because a 12-million-pound striker is going to be miles better than Alfie May.
I take issue with any idea they looked at May and thought he wasn't good enough or they needed better - when the upgrade they brought in should never be affordable to a team in this league. That's not a judgement on May at all. If anything it's a compliment that his upgrade cost that much.
You can see it however you want but a team looking to get promoted from the Championship decided they wanted better than Alfie May after having a good look at Alfie May and signed two new players to play ahead of him. You can't leave Dykes out of the conversation either, May has since fallen behind both him and Stansfield in Birmingham's attempt to go straight up. Where has £12m come from by the way? I've only seen £15m rising to £20m with add-ons.
To clarify I'm not trying to justify the decision to sell him. I was simply saying I don't believe he'll go on to play regularly in the Championship because he's not suited to being a lone striker and Championship clubs wouldn't sign him to play him in any other position.
I am shocked that that wasn’t understood. It’s like people are arguing two different points that nobody disagrees on.
To answer Prague’s question directly: there are players in this league that will offer goals in the third tier and more of an all around game than Alfie does.
Their names are Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes.
At 15 & 5 Million quid I would hope so.
Goalposts moved for the seventh time…
So you're telling us that there are better players who offer goals & have more of an all round game than Alfie & then offer up the names of the 2 most expensive players in the history of the 3rd Division & you claim that the goalposts have moved ? Well you've lost me on that one.
Point is the goalposts have moved so far now that we aren’t even arguing the original point that was made.
People try to have a nuanced view about why he might not be playing for Birmingham and get it thrown in their face with yet another goalposts moving question.
We sold him - we decided against trying to find a direct replacement because the manager wanted someone who could contribute more in other ways.
The only measure of whether that will be a good decision is at the end of the season. I’ve got a feeling we just might do better than you expect.
Callum, I’m not trying to enter the debate on why he isnt starting for Brum. My point is quite different. It is that it was always a reckless gamble at this level to sell the highest goalscoring striker in the division, who also has a good fitness record, simply on the alleged grounds that NJ wants a striker with “a better all round game”. I’ll return to that point, but the main thing is that strikers are the most valuable, sought after of all players and consistently good ones are rare. Therefore, selling is the easy bit, all too easy, and replacing him with someone better is hard, damn hard, especially if you are not going crazy with money. And why should you go crazy with money like Brum are? No other club is going to do this, and two of them will go up with Brum. Who are the main strikers of these other promotion contenders, that was my question, and how and why are they better than May? I don’t know, I dont spend hours watching other clubs , so I’m happy to learn. But you didnt answer me.
I also asked - and it was a question for you and a couple of others on this thread, whose superior tactical awareness I admire- what exactly is it in May’s game that is lacking? Then I want to know whether others see these attributes in Ahadme, especially and also Godden. And I ask because I wanted to believe they have something, especially Ahadme, but with each passing game I don’t see it. Sure, he’s a big and hardworking lad, and contests every high ball, but even if he wins it, he rarely directs it towards one of our players. And of course the one time he got up well to a cross in the box, it was our own fucking box🤣. And it rather looks like if you add fees and wages together, those two have cost more than we got for May and paid him in wages. Do you not see that this is not good business, unless they both reveal attributes that are currently invisible?
And if nobody can really define what was missing in May’s game and how either of those two look likely to provide what’s missing it deepens my worry that in fact all that stuff is guff, and the real reason NJ sold him is that Alfie gave him a bit of lip. And if that is true, I say, you can’t afford to be that way, not in League One. Curbs bought some difficult characters, notably di Canio, and to the surprise of many, di Canio was as good as gold. That’s what I call “management”. But then, I’ve got no time for “fundamentalists” especially not in the management of human talent.
Please, someone, tell me what’s wrong with Alfie May’s all round game, and how either Ahadme or Godden have these mysterious attributes. Ideally before tonight. Because if I don’t see it wih my own eyes tonight I’m going into full meltdown mode.
May could definitely play regularly for a team challenging for promotion, but that’s not the same thing as being a player who’d regularly play at Championship in a team staying up comfortably (or better). Same with various other important players in our recent promotion seasons such as Pearce, Hollands etc.
It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have tried to keep him. Clearly there was some sort of personality clash and/or part of his game Jones didn’t like.
On ability you want to keep a player like him, but I can see there’s a downside if one of the top players doesn’t get on with the manager.
Maybe Jones should have made an exception for him, but rightly or wrongly I can’t imagine he’s that type of manager.
Alfie is suffering from a certain kind of lower league poacher problem. Scoring lots of goals in the third and fourth tier, but never going to be the main man for a genuine promotion contender or established Championship side because the rest of his game lags behind the goal tally.
“Just imagine how much better he could be in a team of better players!”
Unfortunately for him, he got the move to a team of better players. And now can’t get a start because the better players are better than him.
There are many before him… Tom Eaves at Hull, Joe Pigott at Ipswich…
I think you're doing him a disservice here and from what i've read a lot of Birmingham fans are wanting him to start instead of Dykes. Stansfield you'd assume is always going to start when fit, although he did apparently get a knock at the weekend.
Some people are talking like May has been banished to the reserves and told to find a new club. It's a long season and he'll definitely get his fair share of starts.
It makes people feel better by putting him down now he isn't a charlton player. Some don't want to admit we've massively fcked up selling a player that knows where the net is on a regular basis.
To clarify I'm not trying to justify the decision to sell him. I was simply saying I don't believe he'll go on to play regularly in the Championship because he's not suited to being a lone striker and Championship clubs wouldn't sign him to play him in any other position.
I am shocked that that wasn’t understood. It’s like people are arguing two different points that nobody disagrees on.
To answer Prague’s question directly: there are players in this league that will offer goals in the third tier and more of an all around game than Alfie does.
Their names are Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes.
At 15 & 5 Million quid I would hope so.
Goalposts moved for the seventh time…
So you're telling us that there are better players who offer goals & have more of an all round game than Alfie & then offer up the names of the 2 most expensive players in the history of the 3rd Division & you claim that the goalposts have moved ? Well you've lost me on that one.
Point is the goalposts have moved so far now that we aren’t even arguing the original point that was made.
People try to have a nuanced view about why he might not be playing for Birmingham and get it thrown in their face with yet another goalposts moving question.
We sold him - we decided against trying to find a direct replacement because the manager wanted someone who could contribute more in other ways.
The only measure of whether that will be a good decision is at the end of the season. I’ve got a feeling we just might do better than you expect.
Callum, I’m not trying to enter the debate on why he isnt starting for Brum. My point is quite different. It is that it was always a reckless gamble at this level to sell the highest goalscoring striker in the division, who also has a good fitness record, simply on the alleged grounds that NJ wants a striker with “a better all round game”. I’ll return to that point, but the main thing is that strikers are the most valuable, sought after of all players and consistently good ones are rare. Therefore, selling is the easy bit, all too easy, and replacing him with someone better is hard, damn hard, especially if you are not going crazy with money. And why should you go crazy with money like Brum are? No other club is going to do this, and two of them will go up with Brum. Who are the main strikers of these other promotion contenders, that was my question, and how and why are they better than May? I don’t know, I dont spend hours watching other clubs , so I’m happy to learn. But you didnt answer me.
I also asked - and it was a question for you and a couple of others on this thread, whose superior tactical awareness I admire- what exactly is it in May’s game that is lacking? Then I want to know whether others see these attributes in Ahadme, especially and also Godden. And I ask because I wanted to believe they have something, especially Ahadme, but with each passing game I don’t see it. Sure, he’s a big and hardworking lad, and contests every high ball, but even if he wins it, he rarely directs it towards one of our players. And of course the one time he got up well to a cross in the box, it was our own fucking box🤣. And it rather looks like if you add fees and wages together, those two have cost more than we got for May and paid him in wages. Do you not see that this is not good business, unless they both reveal attributes that are currently invisible?
And if nobody can really define what was missing in May’s game and how either of those two look likely to provide what’s missing it deepens my worry that in fact all that stuff is guff, and the real reason NJ sold him is that Alfie gave him a bit of lip. And if that is true, I say, you can’t afford to be that way, not in League One. Curbs bought some difficult characters, notably di Canio, and to the surprise of many, di Canio was as good as gold. That’s what I call “management”. But then, I’ve got no time for “fundamentalists” especially not in the management of human talent.
Please, someone, tell me what’s wrong with Alfie May’s all round game, and how either Ahadme or Godden have these mysterious attributes. Ideally before tonight. Because if I don’t see it wih my own eyes tonight I’m going into full meltdown mode.
Rant over, thank you for reading to the end😉
Prague, these questions have been answered countless times you just never seem to see them! The main thing isn't actually attacking at all but defensive. May has all the energy and legs in the world but he has never been a disciplined presser and the way NJ plays you need to be a good presser. I'm assuming TC and Ahadme will start tonight, watch the way they press and how it will hopefully cause issues for their CB's. We might not win the ball directly but it makes us hard to play through and therefor create chances.
The other thing that is hard to notice over a stream (not a dig, I have to watch most games via a stream too!) is how much May and Jones were arguing towards the end of last season. There were constant digs at each other virtually all match and NJ needs players with 100% buy in. That's super important on the training ground. Combine the two issues here and you have a problem. 9/10 of your outfield players are pressing in a certain way to create problems for the opposition but they have an easy channel to play through because your striker is having a barney with the gaffer on the sidelines, that's never going to go well.
The other thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that Alfie had a propensity to just shoot from anywhere when he wasn't being given big chances. Sometimes that's a strength and he's scored some stunning goals like that but 90% of the team you just lose the ball and, again, piss off your teammates.
In terms of the new strikers attributes, Ahadme is more of a physical presence than May ever will but needs to work on some of his technique. He always seems to stick to the gameplan though and works himself into the ground. Godden has the poachers instinct of May but the added benefit for NJ that he will follow instructions and has shown quality to play in a division higher than May. He was successful in the Championship too. TC (not new but new to the position) is pacy, disciplined and a great dribbler who needs some work on his finishing.
Most of our strikers are young and need developing but with the correct development could have higher ceilings than May. Currently, they are not as good as May but I think this team is more of a work in progress than we would like.
I think he'd have done just fine as their man main had they not signed a 12 million pound striker.
But they had him and decided to sign that striker. It wasn't an accident, they looked at the striker options they had and brought in two new ones over the one they'd just bought because they wanted better. Birmingham aren't a good case study for normal behaviour this season but you can tell they're wanting to blow L1 away and they've decided that despite his goals May is a squad player for that, not an essential piece. I'll bet he's fuming, I wonder what they told him his role would be when they signed him. You'd have to assume they kept the whole 'we'll immediately also buy Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes' thing fairly quiet.
Yeah they did. Because a 12-million-pound striker is going to be miles better than Alfie May.
I take issue with any idea they looked at May and thought he wasn't good enough or they needed better - when the upgrade they brought in should never be affordable to a team in this league. That's not a judgement on May at all. If anything it's a compliment that his upgrade cost that much.
You can see it however you want but a team looking to get promoted from the Championship decided they wanted better than Alfie May after having a good look at Alfie May and signed two new players to play ahead of him. You can't leave Dykes out of the conversation either, May has since fallen behind both him and Stansfield in Birmingham's attempt to go straight up. Where has £12m come from by the way? I've only seen £15m rising to £20m with add-ons.
I think you're seeing it how you want. You want to see Brum spending £12-20m on a striker in League One as some kind of indictment of May's ability. I disagree because that's seems plainly illogical to me, but won't argue more because we'll just go round in circles.
Comments
People try to have a nuanced view about why he might not be playing for Birmingham and get it thrown in their face with yet another goalposts moving question.
We sold him - we decided against trying to find a direct replacement because the manager wanted someone who could contribute more in other ways.
The only measure of whether that will be a good decision is at the end of the season. I’ve got a feeling we just might do better than you expect.
“Just imagine how much better he could be in a team of better players!”
Unfortunately for him, he got the move to a team of better players. And now can’t get a start because the better players are better than him.
There are many before him… Tom Eaves at Hull, Joe Pigott at Ipswich…
Its another reason why you can see why players aren't overly loyal to clubs anymore. One minute they're the first choice in their role, and unless they're a Messi / Mbappe / Ronaldo type figure, there is always the risk that the club will sign someone better and relegate their role, and ultimately their career.
I take issue with any idea they looked at May and thought he wasn't good enough or they needed better - when the upgrade they brought in should never be affordable to a team in this league. That's not a judgement on May at all. If anything it's a compliment that his upgrade cost that much.
I fully believe May in this current set up would only have 1 or 2 goals this season so far, and if we can say the money we got from selling him went towards the strengthening of the whole squad, then realistically it's money well spent.
I think Jones' gamble this season was on a contingent of strikers all getting a few goals each, Ahadme, Godden and Leaburn all getting 10 out so each, and Aneke, Kanu and TC getting 5 or 6 each, with a few more scored by midfield and defence. So far it hasn't really materialised
Some people are talking like May has been banished to the reserves and told to find a new club. It's a long season and he'll definitely get his fair share of starts.
I also asked - and it was a question for you and a couple of others on this thread, whose superior tactical awareness I admire- what exactly is it in May’s game that is lacking? Then I want to know whether others see these attributes in Ahadme, especially and also Godden. And I ask because I wanted to believe they have something, especially Ahadme, but with each passing game I don’t see it. Sure, he’s a big and hardworking lad, and contests every high ball, but even if he wins it, he rarely directs it towards one of our players. And of course the one time he got up well to a cross in the box, it was our own fucking box🤣. And it rather looks like if you add fees and wages together, those two have cost more than we got for May and paid him in wages. Do you not see that this is not good business, unless they both reveal attributes that are currently invisible?
Rant over, thank you for reading to the end😉
It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have tried to keep him. Clearly there was some sort of personality clash and/or part of his game Jones didn’t like.
On ability you want to keep a player like him, but I can see there’s a downside if one of the top players doesn’t get on with the manager.
Maybe Jones should have made an exception for him, but rightly or wrongly I can’t imagine he’s that type of manager.
The other thing that is hard to notice over a stream (not a dig, I have to watch most games via a stream too!) is how much May and Jones were arguing towards the end of last season. There were constant digs at each other virtually all match and NJ needs players with 100% buy in. That's super important on the training ground. Combine the two issues here and you have a problem. 9/10 of your outfield players are pressing in a certain way to create problems for the opposition but they have an easy channel to play through because your striker is having a barney with the gaffer on the sidelines, that's never going to go well.
The other thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that Alfie had a propensity to just shoot from anywhere when he wasn't being given big chances. Sometimes that's a strength and he's scored some stunning goals like that but 90% of the team you just lose the ball and, again, piss off your teammates.
In terms of the new strikers attributes, Ahadme is more of a physical presence than May ever will but needs to work on some of his technique. He always seems to stick to the gameplan though and works himself into the ground. Godden has the poachers instinct of May but the added benefit for NJ that he will follow instructions and has shown quality to play in a division higher than May. He was successful in the Championship too. TC (not new but new to the position) is pacy, disciplined and a great dribbler who needs some work on his finishing.
Most of our strikers are young and need developing but with the correct development could have higher ceilings than May. Currently, they are not as good as May but I think this team is more of a work in progress than we would like.