[Archived] Nikola Kalinic

[booth]

Another good display from Grabbi mark II

[BigUts]

It seems a lot of the idiots that where doubting him when he hardly even played are having to eat their words.

Good times!

[Mozzer]

it was always going to take him abit to settle in and i think sam allardyce has managed him well - not thrown him straight in at the deep end

hes looking worth 6million and in a few years time he will cost double that if he continues to improve ..

[JC4LAB]

Reminds me of Matt Jansen..a bit naff when he first arrived then became a star..

[den]

Well...now that's he started scoring goals, playing well and starting on a regular basis.

I hope you don't think that bit was aimed at you! (it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular)

No probs LeChuck.

He has only scored once in the Prem, let's not get carried away though.

For me - I've consistently said that he's got the knack of getting into scoring positions. That evidence is there to be seen as pretty much all of his goals have been tap ins. Nothing wrong with that at all and that's to his credit rather than to his detriment. The other positives are his work rate and attitude.

I still see weaknesses LeC. O2G's is right when he says he's not good in the air, in fact he's poor - IMO. He's also very lightweight as shown by the number of times he's throwing himself at the central defenders and going to ground looking for free kicks. Nor is he anything more than one paced.

One question: Why does Sam keep saying he's 20 yrs old? He's said it in his last two interviews. Is WIKI wrong?

[Hughesy]

If Kalinic scores ten before the end of the season I'll eat the Walkersteel.

Oh dear!

he is a centre forward who can't score,when he kicked fresh air in the 1st half i felt sorry for him,we have 4 forwards that can't do the job of SCORING

Past tense....CAN do the job!

As was the case, dare I say, with Grabbi-Rovers fans are willing him to be better than he really is. Mainly due to the fact he appears to run around a lot and tries hard, (doesn't perform the double tea pot if the ball is not laid on a plate to him) and partly because he cost so much. I doubt we will ever part with £6 million on one player again, so I get the feeling we are a little more forgiving, desperate for him to be a success, which I am beginning to doubt he will. Not with us anyway.

Oh dear....

Just some stats to prove his worth so far.....

League – 3 starts 1 goal

Fa Cup – 1 start, 1 goal

League Cup – 6 starts, 4 goals

Kalinic is now the joint top scorer with Dunn

He also has 2 more than Benni, 5 more than Di Santo & 3 more than Roberts

Fletcher (22) – 24 starts, 9 goals = 2.67 games per goal

Rodallega (24) – 23 starts, 7 goals = 3.29 games per goal

Kalinic (22) – 10 starts, 6 goals = 1.67 games per goal

Kevin Doyle (26) – 18 starts, 5 goals = 3.6 games per goal

Tuncay (28) – 9 Starts, 4 goals = 2.25 games per goal

Frazier Campbell (22) – 10 starts, 3 goals = 3.33 games per goal

Christian Benitez (23) – 19 starts, 3 goals = 6.33 games per goal

£6m Flop??

[Ozz]

You forgot to mention the times he has hit the woodwork too, another one last night.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Oh dear!

Past tense....CAN do the job!

Oh dear....

Just some stats to prove his worth so far.....

League – 3 starts 1 goal

Fa Cup – 1 start, 1 goal

League Cup – 6 starts, 4 goals

Kalinic is now the joint top scorer with Dunn

He also has 2 more than Benni, 5 more than Di Santo & 3 more than Roberts

Fletcher (22) – 24 starts, 9 goals = 2.67 games per goal

Rodallega (24) – 23 starts, 7 goals = 3.29 games per goal

Kalinic (22) – 10 starts, 6 goals = 1.67 games per goal

Kevin Doyle (26) – 18 starts, 5 goals = 3.6 games per goal

Tuncay (28) – 9 Starts, 4 goals = 2.25 games per goal

Frazier Campbell (22) – 10 starts, 3 goals = 3.33 games per goal

Christian Benitez (23) – 19 starts, 3 goals = 6.33 games per goal

£6m Flop??

You have far too much time on your hands.

Im not going to start dancing around about Kalinic just yet, he's clearly a good player but i think he still needs time. He looks like a really good find but whether he'll be as prolific as the likes of Roque/Benni were we'll have to wait and see. Dont get me wrong Im not saying he wont do as well as those two, i just think that its early to get too carried away.

[Tom]

Reminds me of Matt Jansen..a bit naff when he first arrived then became a star..

The same Matt Jansen that scored a spectacular goal on his debut and became an instant favourite?

[Ewood and I Would]

Sam got lucky that the substitution wasn't before the corner was taken.

I wouldn't say Sam was lucky, it's standard management protocol to not make the sub til after the corner.

[Tom]

I'd say he got lucky as had it gone out for a goal kick and he took Kalinic off parts of the crowd would have gone mental I think

[Bobby G]

Has anyone hit the post more than this guy has this season?

[Hughesy]

Has anyone hit the post more than this guy has this season?

Its incredible that he has 6 goals in 10 starts when you consider also could have been given the Chelsea goal & had the non offside goal at United.

As for the post - he hit the post twice against Villa, once against Wigan - any more?

[Bobby G]

I could swear that there had been at least one more shot against the post in the last few weeks...Cant figure out who or when though.

[47er]

I'd say he got lucky as had it gone out for a goal kick and he took Kalinic off parts of the crowd would have gone mental I think

Parts of the crowd ARE mental.

[Hughesy]

I could swear that there had been at least one more shot against the post in the last few weeks...Cant figure out who or when though.

I think there was....was it Fulham?

I remember Ffan was impressed with him, as were the Villa fans.

[philipl]

There are plenty in the game impressed by him. Unfortunately, he won't be at Ewood long.

[CrazyIvan]

There are plenty in the game impressed by him. Unfortunately, he won't be at Ewood long.

How long is long? You are really on a downer these days.

[Hughesy]

How long is long? You are really on a downer these days.

Time of the month or something!

[Amo]

My sympathy is growing for Niko. I feel this guy could be a 20+ goals a season striker, if we had a decent midfield. A lot of the time he has to chase aimlessly and hope he'll get the rub of the green. He's clearly not that style of player. I can't believe Sam was looking at Ruud van Nistelrooy (a proverbial fox in the box) when we've nobody who can open up defences.

[DE.]

Niko's being forced to adapt to a role he isn't really built for... it's inevitable that he's going to be ineffective if all we're going to do is punt it up to him. I have sympathy for him, but I get the feeling Sam will want Niko to adapt to his system, rather than adapting the system to fit Niko.

Judging from Sam's tactics, Kalinic will be far more effective at home - where we are a little more attacking - than away, where against basically every team we sit back and leave the front man isolated. Arguably Di Santo would be better suited to such a tactic, as despite his finishing issues he showed earlier in the season he can be an effective hold-up player.

[den]

Niko's being forced to adapt to a role he isn't really built for... it's inevitable that he's going to be ineffective if all we're going to do is punt it up to him. I have sympathy for him, but I get the feeling Sam will want Niko to adapt to his system, rather than adapting the system to fit Niko.

I'll go along with that

[RibbleValleyRover]

I do fear for him. He can play a lone striker role if the ball isn't aerial all the time and he has support but if you wanted to get the very best out of him and make the very best use of his talents he needs a striker partner in my opinion.

Being linked to Beattie has me worried, i could see it working with Niko if both are played up top but Sam seems to favor the lone striker option. I can't see Niko working in the hole, or playing on the wing in a 4-3-3 style of system. From what i've seen Niko is a poacher as he gets in the right places at the right time, we should be taking advantage of his qualities and build the side around that.

[Amo]

I can't understand Sam's logic. He signs a player like Kalinic, and instead of building the team around him (which is understandable, since he's our most expensive signing for some time) he wants to mould him into another Kevin Davies? I'm sorry, but that's counter-productive. You can understand adapting players' strengths into new positions, like Sam did with Hierro at Bolton or when he used Samba as an emergency striker. But trying to turn Kalinic into something he's not is just depressing to watch and will probably see him chopped again if Beattie comes along.

[Dufflite]

I cant believe these posts on Niko and I think your understanding of Sams intentions are wide of the mark.

He has no intention of making Niko into a Davies. Currently if he needs a lone striker for a game there is no bugger else to pick! He knows Roberts is dog shoddy and that Di Santo isn't on form so what else is he supposed to do?

This is great experience for Niko andit will make him tougher.

Sam maybe many things to some of you but he isnt as stupid as many of you would like to think.