[Archived] Nikola Kalinic

[47er]

I take heart from Elmander. A bigger donkey I've never seen but seems to be coming round at last under Coyle who will be a great manager in my opinion.

[Miker]

Kalinic has shown signs of promise this season, but he goes to ground too easily for my liking. He needs to be sending the defenders around him to ground, not vice versa.

[joey_big_nose]

Kalinic has shown signs of promise this season, but he goes to ground too easily for my liking. He needs to be sending the defenders around him to ground, not vice versa.

THis could be why he didn't get on the pitch against Stoke. He struggles against physical players. I think Kali will start on Sunday.

That said he just doesn't do well taking defenders on. Excellent lay off play, can work room in the box, but if you isolate him 30 yards from goal he is not going to get behind the defence. I would like to see Kali and Benjani teamed up at some point, especially late in a game. I think they would compliment each other well.

[Hughesy]

I think Kali will start on Sunday.

That said he just doesn't do well taking defenders on.

He should do ok on Sunday as they wont be on the pitch till monday....should give him some time to get past them!

[Exiled_Rover]

Kalinic gets far too much abuse on these boards. He's our best player. He's just not being used correctly. Which isn't a shock as Sam is a tosser.

[roversmum]

Whilst I do not agree with your final sentence, Exiled Rover, I feel there is some truth in your other comments.

[Exiled_Rover]

Allardyce spent £6m on a player, then gives him scraps to feed off. THEN complains that we don't have a striker capable of putting away the (half) chances we create.

He's a muppet of the highest order.

[roversmum]

That's more the way I would have put it lol

[Ozz]

Has anyone ever seen him smile, or even look remotely like he's enjoying his football here?

[Miker]

Has anyone ever seen him smile, or even look remotely like he's enjoying his football here?

I thought most Croatians are like that. I rarely see Corluka or Kranjcar smile either.

[den]

Kalinic gets far too much abuse on these boards. He's our best player. He's just not being used correctly. Which isn't a shock as Sam is a tosser.

Best player, or best striker?

[Miker]

Allardyce spent £6m on a player, then gives him scraps to feed off. THEN complains that we don't have a striker capable of putting away the (half) chances we create.

He's a muppet of the highest order.

Those comments were made last season with Kalinic still getting used to England and being signed at a fairly young age. You only need to look at one of Sam's targets, Kenwyne Jones, to see that having a good quality target man with premier league experience makes a world of difference.

That said, I still have faith in Kalinic to reach the 10 goal mark at least this season. There have been a few strikers recently to come to England and not impress in their first season but do considerably better the next ie. Elmander and Pavlyuchenko.

[herbergeehh]

Kalinic, and whoever else plays up there, needs help. We desperately need creativity from midfield, both in terms of someone to pick passes out and someone to make intelligent runs. For the latter, I thought Olsson did really well for us last season - his runs from midfield gave our lacking strike force a much needed boost. Dunnie can do this too, and I really think Gamst should get more forward as well.

The main thing for me is to get a balance in central midfield, not two defensive midfielders for two positions. Trouble is, our attacking midfielders are either wingers - Gamst, Diouf, Olsson, Emerton - or unfit to put a full shift in - Dunn. I would like to see Jones back in defence alongside Samba, and have Grella or N'Zonzi, alternatively the new guy Goulon, protect the back four.

ONE central midfielder would make a world of difference for Kalinic and the others. Our wingers are actually okay, they just need to have that little bit of freedom - not having to function as makeshift central midfielders because the ones we've got are unable to do the job. If anything, they should help out their fullbacks - Givet has looked poor all season, partly due to lack of protection down the left side.

Big Sam - sort it the (Please don't use that word again) out.

[Dan]

Has anyone ever seen him smile, or even look remotely like he's enjoying his football here?

Would you enjoy playing football at Rovers under Sam 'tactics'? Strikers enjoy scoring goals, strikers love good service, strikers don't like having to feed off scraps. He is lucky if he gets one good chance a match. It's like giving Gorden Ramsey a few biscuit crumbs and a pint of gone off milk and expecting him to make a meal out of it!

Such a waste of a player that looks so promising. If he is still here when we eventually rid ourselves of Sam(when he replaces RFW or Jose) then I am 100% sure he'll do well. I wouldn't blame him if he wants to leave next summer, problem is under the current tactics even Chris Sutton would look like Jason Lee.

[67splitscreen]

Would you enjoy playing football at Rovers under Sam 'tactics'? Strikers enjoy scoring goals, strikers love good service, strikers don't like having to feed off scraps. He is lucky if he gets one good chance a match. It's like giving Gorden Ramsey a few biscuit crumbs and a pint of gone off milk and expecting him to make a meal out of it!

Such a waste of a player that looks so promising. If he is still here when we eventually rid ourselves of Sam(when he replaces RFW or Jose) then I am 100% sure he'll do well. I wouldn't blame him if he wants to leave next summer, problem is under the current tactics even Chris Sutton would look like Jason Lee.

Never

[Tom]

I like Niko but I am starting to have doubts as to whether he will ever make it here.

He has talent but his style doesn't suit our game at all, I think he may end up leaving in summer and going back to the continent.

Benjani looked more like scoring in the few minutes he was on.

[G Somerset Rover]

I agree his style doesn't suit our play but seriously how is the man supposed to score with the service we give him? I've said it before, its a losing battle being the Rovers frontman. Niko's not one whose going to take on three defenders and smash it in so we've got to play to his strengths more, because what is clear is that we can't afford to leave a 6 million pound man out of the side. Apart from Drogba I can't think of another Prem striker who would look any good with our service right now.

[Tom]

It's not solely his fault, but look at Benjani today, he may have missed wildly when he got his shot in but he made the yard of space himself.

This is something I haven't seen Kalinic do and when playing up front alone you need to create a chance for yourself at times.

[DE.]

He tried today, and you can't deny his effort, but square peg/round hole. He's not physically strong enough to play the role Allardyce wants him to play. We can see now why Sam wanted Kevin Davies. Kalinic would, conversely, probably play far better for Bolton in the role Klasnic currently occupies.

[Dan]

I like Niko but I am starting to have doubts as to whether he will ever make it here.

He has talent but his style doesn't suit our game at all, I think he may end up leaving in summer and going back to the continent.

Benjani looked more like scoring in the few minutes he was on.

I'm starting to feel the same, but he has no service at all. A 6 million pound striker isn't going to create chances from nothing these days. I dare say Torres would do badly in our team. I know 442 is frowned upon on here, but him and M Diouf could play well together. Playing as the lone striker is a difficult role if your midfield is uncreative. Though we don't help ourselves playing a big lump of a centreback in midfield!

[sam_rovers]

Niko must be finding it difficult- The service he gets is pretty poor and when he finally gets the ball down and controls it, the support from Diouf, Pedersen, and Emerton isn't coming in fast enough..

He doesn't have the body strength someone like Kevin Davies has to hold up the ball for a long period of time.. the support from the wings has to come in faster if we are going to be effective on the offense

[BPF]

Signing Kalinic was a terrible mistake on Sam's part.

Six million is a massive amount for this football club and to waste it on a player that was never going to fit into your style of play is an unforgivable error.

[Miker]

He tried today, and you can't deny his effort, but square peg/round hole. He's not physically strong enough to play the role Allardyce wants him to play. We can see now why Sam wanted Kevin Davies. Kalinic would, conversely, probably play far better for Bolton in the role Klasnic currently occupies.

Actually, I've seen him play games where he has shown his physical strength to be quite good, he seems to be ridiculously clumsy on the ball though and he falls over way too easily. I don't think physical strength has anything to do with him falling over constantly, more to do with really poor balance and clumsiness. Sometimes there's no one pressuring him at all and he falls over anyway.

[Amo]

Signing Kalinic was a terrible mistake on Sam's part.

Six million is a massive amount for this football club and to waste it on a player that was never going to fit into your style of play is an unforgivable error.

Looks like a panic buy. Sam was missing out on all his top targets (Bent, Crouch, Davies, Jones etc.) and signed Kalinic as a last resort. Trying to turn a Filippo Inzaghi-like striker into Emile Heskey is never going to work.

[roversfan99]

Kalinic shows flair and excellent control on the ball, he did very well for example at one stage in the first half but Emerton yet again failed to play a good ball. Id play Kalinic alongside a targetman like Benjani or Roberts but it wont happen under Sam.