[Archived] Nikola Kalinic

[JMillZz]

Roberts always is made to look better than Niko with the way the ball is played to/around him. Emertons ball into the box was so superb it made Roberts a great opportunity to score. Kalinic's movement is mostly very good but in the second half when Niko is off we play half decent football sometimes but when Niko is playing we hoof the ball to him and it limits his opportunities to show his ability.

[67splitscreen]

Yep, we've done Drogba before. Drogba was a late developer but because of these circumstances:

"When Drogba finished school he switched cities to study accountancy at college and he had to change clubs, becoming an apprentice at Ligue 2 club Le Mans. However, his first two years there were marred by injuries and he was physically struggling to cope with the training and match schedule.[9] Former Le Mans coach Marc Westerloppe later remarked that "it took Didier four years to be capable of training every day and playing every week". Furthermore, Drogba's complicated family life meant that he had never attended a football academy and only began daily football training as a fully grown adult."

This original discussion was about Paul Gallagher, when I mentioned that at his age [22 I think he was at the time] he wouldn't improve much. Loads of people totally disagreed with that.

Fair and informative reply, can't argue with that.

I still think there is some mileage in Kalinic, given the right additives.

I'll leave it at that.

[den]

I still think there is some mileage in Kalinic, given the right additives.

I'll leave it at that.

I hope so as well.

Like yourself, I'll leave it at that.

I'm taking no further questions.

[47er]

Roberts always is made to look better than Niko with the way the ball is played to/around him. Emertons ball into the box was so superb it made Roberts a great opportunity to score. Kalinic's movement is mostly very good but in the second half when Niko is off we play half decent football sometimes but when Niko is playing we hoof the ball to him and it limits his opportunities to show his ability.

There were 2 or 3 examples on Saturday when Kalinic failed to control the ball when it was delivered to his feet and it bounced off his shins. We were in a good position at the time too. On other occasions when he had the ball under control he took the wrong option and the attack broke down. I can remember Emerton having a go at him when Kalinic underhit a simple pass which would have sent Emo clear.

Kalinic tries his heart out as Di Santo did but mostly with the same result.

[OJRovers]

Kali just scored for Croatia in the Euro qualifying game

[emerton]

It wasn't a bad header either, had to adjust his body position well to direct it.

Hopefully he can gain a little bit of confidence out of this one and look to bring it to ewood on sunday

[michaelthomas]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-SgYvlbVw&feature=related

good header

[JMillZz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-SgYvlbVw&feature=related

good header

Great movement, jump and header. Let's hope for some of the same on Sunday!

[Tom]

Diego Forlan - Not good enough for Old Trafford but went on to become one of the world's best strikers.

I'm not saying Kalinic is in the same league as Forlan, but our fans are turning their back on him too quickly.

Maybe but I'd still rather have the man in your avatar than Kalinic .

Both showed glimpses of quality and both (as of yet with Niko) fail to reach that promise.

I hope Niko can live up to his promise though he certainly has some ability.

[RevidgeBlue]

Does anyone feel there is any way back for Kalinic?

Recent team selections whereby he has invariably been behind the out of favour Roberts and even Benjani in the pecking order seem to indicate Sam has lost all faith in his ability.

[BRFC1995]

Does anyone feel there is any way back for Kalinic?

Recent team selections whereby he has invariably been behind the out of favour Roberts and even Benjani in the pecking order seem to indicate Sam has lost all faith in his ability.

can't see any future here for him....just about when he leaves and how much depreciation we incur

[Tom]

Does anyone feel there is any way back for Kalinic?

Recent team selections whereby he has invariably been behind the out of favour Roberts and even Benjani in the pecking order seem to indicate Sam has lost all faith in his ability.

How do you mean 'even' Benjani? When fit (which is the problem) Benjani has shown to be a better option and has looked far more threatening.

For me Niko has to do more to secure a place when given his chances. Too often he has zero impact on the game.

Obviously strikers need service but they need to be able to make chances themselves and Roberts and Benjani are both better than him at that.

I think he'll be gone in summer and that would be best for all parties.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Does anyone feel there is any way back for Kalinic?

Recent team selections whereby he has invariably been behind the out of favour Roberts and even Benjani in the pecking order seem to indicate Sam has lost all faith in his ability.

Probably not. When you have two rubbish forwards like Roberts and Benjani in front of you then you are in trouble.

Allardyce comes across as a system manager i.e. having a set system and then try and get your current players to work with it as opposed to having a group of players than devising a system around their talents and abilities. That shouldn't detract from what he has done for Rovers however flexibility when it comes to tactics is not one of his strengths imo.

I think Niko has the talent to play at this level, but I can't see him working out here. We would have been better signing up a Carew, Janko or Zigic type of player for Sam's system by the looks of it.

[philipl]

Of course there is a future for Kalinic. Depends on who we sign in January.

[Jackson]

Of course there is a future for Kalinic. Depends on who we sign in January.

No chance under the current manager.

Poor Kalinic suffers the affliction of actually possessing a bit of creativity.

It'll never work.

[alexanders]

Is he injured? Was he injured for the game against Untied?

[47er]

No chance under the current manager.

Poor Kalinic suffers the affliction of actually possessing a bit of creativity.

Its the current manager who signed him! Its the only reasonable sized transfer fee he's been allowed to pay!

Do you think he wants to sign freebies and hopefuls?

You made your views clear on the Allardyce thread so I know there'll be no change from you. But:

We have played some good stuff this season as well as some bad.

[Tom]

No chance under the current manager.

Poor Kalinic suffers the affliction of actually possessing a bit of creativity.

It'll never work.

Nonsense thats just Sam bashing for the sake of it.

Anyway Niko does a bloody good job of hiding this creativity most of the time. He would work better in a 442 but he isn't good enough to build the team around.

He's had as much chance as others and shown less signs of delivering so far.

I imagine he'll get a start on sat and it's about time he snatched that chance.

[Jackson]

Its the current manager who signed him! Its the only reasonable sized transfer fee he's been allowed to pay!

Do you think he wants to sign freebies and hopefuls?

We have played some good stuff this season as well as some bad.

Some good, but the vast majority, bad.

[John]

I think he has talent but seems to find it difficult to stay on his feet.

[Jackson]

He's had as much chance as others and shown less signs of delivering so far.

I imagine he'll get a start on sat and it's about time he snatched that chance.

They didn't invade Iraq with one tank.

[Blue blood]

Niko is a decent player, with massive potential to be a good/very good player imo.

Problem is he totally doens't suit our style. It's a bit like if Kevin Davis was to play for Arsenal. Rather than being the lynchpin of the team (or one of them) he'd be utterly pants because they don't play to a style that'd suit him. Same problem with Niko, he's not a lone target man.

Truth be told I can think of a few quality forwards who'd struggle as the lone frontman, especially the smaller ones. However it also depends a lot on the midfield supporting you and our striker isn't blessed with the most offensive of midfields supporting them.

[AggyBlue]

I think he has talent but seems to find it difficult to stay on his feet.

He plays like he's wearing stiletto's

[Amo]

Still very much reminds me of Filippo Inzaghi. Would he have any joy playing the Allardyce way?

[Neil Weaver]

Is he injured? Was he injured for the game against Untied?

Yes. From the official site

"We are without Steven Nzonzi, Martin Olsson, Vince Grella, Niko Kalinic and Keith Andrews."

From Sam the man.