[Archived] Nikola Kalinic

[booth]

I’m really not sure he can finish joey, we’ve seen numerous times his inability to score from open play, as you say he is lightweight, loses his footing, lacks pace, can't beat a man and simply for me on that evidence alone isn’t good enough.

People compare him to Roberts in terms of deserving a place, but for all Roberts failings, and he has many, at least Roberts puts himself about and gives defenders something to think about, Kalinic doesn’t even offer the team that.

Nobody wants him to be a success more than me, but he’s not up to it, Allardyce alluded to it when lambasting the strikers at the club, and Kean is seeing it now.

First paragraph fair enough, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it.

Second paragraph... You lost me. You can't question someone else's post then go on to labour the point by using Jason Roberts as an example. It's Jason Roberts, the continual disappointment Jason Roberts. The Jason Roberts that has been continually poor for many seasons. Jason Rubber Legs Roberts who struggles to control the most basic of passes. Jason Roberts, the man who has missed literally 100's of chances when one on one with the goalie. Jason Roberts, the man who struggles to walk, never mind run, kick and head the ball. Jason Roberts, the man who is goal dyslexic, he thinks the goal is somewhere in the upper tier. Jason Roberts, who has less football intelligence than the average goat. Jason Roberts, the man who runs for ten minutes, giving the impression of effort, then when his own lack of talent is realized he becomes lazy sod Jason Roberts who mooches around the pitch for the rest of the game.

And if you're going to talk about Allardyce allusions, then as far as I remember only one striker was frozen out at the start of the season. And that was Jason Roberts.

Kean is seeing what now? The implosion of the team he's managing at his hands. Kean can't see anything, he has no clue. Have you seen the video of him training with the squad on Sky Sports? He looks like a three year old on his first trip to the zoo. If you really think Steve Kean knows who his best strikers are, or his best eleven, you are severely deluded. He probably struggles to work out what his shoes are and what are his slippers.

[Majiball]

Kean is seeing what now? The implosion of the team he's managing at his hands. Kean can't see anything, he has no clue. Have you seen the video of him training with the squad on Sky Sports? He looks like a three year old on his first trip to the zoo. If you really think Steve Kean knows who his best strikers are, or his best eleven, you are severely deluded. He probably struggles to work out what his shoes are and what are his slippers.

Do you have a link to that video?

[Gav]

Second paragraph... You lost me.

Let me help you then, people are harping on about why Roberts gets a place instead of Kalinic, I've pointed out the reasons I believe Roberts is picked before Kalinic, simple really, you may not agree, but that’s what I see.

I wanted so badly for Grabbi to be a success, it clouded my judgement, he was useless, Kalinic is better than Grabbi, but sadly not good enough for the premiership, in my opinion.

[booth]

Do you have a link to that video?

It keeps getting cut into interviews with Kean on SS. It'll probably get used again and again.

He was walking through the players who were all training, and he looked really giddy and excited, eyes wide open. The only one smiling notably, but perhaps that's a bit unfair as the others will have been concentrating on what they were doing.

Not of course that I'm trying to say Mr Kean doesn't concentrate. Perish the thought!

Let me help you then, people are harping on about why Roberts gets a place instead of Kalinic, I've pointed out the reasons I believe Roberts is picked before Kalinic, simple really, you may not agree, but that’s what I see.

I wanted so badly for Grabbi to be a success, it clouded my judgement, he was useless, Kalinic is better than Grabbi, but sadly not good enough for the premiership, in my opinion.

I'm still lost, you're using a continually poor player to justify the lack of inclusion of in your opinion another poor player. I don't know how that works. If you were to say Santa Cruz on the basis of his past glories at Rovers it would still be flawed but fair enough, as there is a quality player somewhere there. But Roberts shouldn't be keeping a three legged dog out of the team.

On paper they are all poor but Kalanic happens to be the best of a bad bunch. And to be fair, he hasn't had a decent run in the team as Roberts has. He scored in the Villa game then hasn't been given a chance. We have to ask the manager why that is. Or we can just assume he's a serial idiot.

[Majiball]

It keeps getting cut into interviews with Kean on SS. It'll probably get used again and again.

He was walking through the players who were all training, and he looked really giddy and excited, eyes wide open. The only one smiling notably, but perhaps that's a bit unfair as the others will have been concentrating on what they were doing.

Not of course that I'm trying to say Mr Kean doesn't concentrate. Perish the thought!

Thanks I'll keep an eye for it, always interested to see what they are doing.

[den]

I'm still lost, you're using a continually poor player to justify the lack of inclusion of in your opinion another poor player. I don't know how that works. If you were to say Santa Cruz on the basis of his past glories at Rovers it would still be flawed but fair enough, as there is a quality player somewhere there. But Roberts shouldn't be keeping a three legged dog out of the team.

On paper they are all poor but Kalanic happens to be the best of a bad bunch. And to be fair, he hasn't had a decent run in the team as Roberts has. He scored in the Villa game then hasn't been given a chance. We have to ask the manager why that is. Or we can just assume he's a serial idiot.

Gav's saying that at least Roberts lets defenders know they're in a game. He knocks them around - and he does.

[booth]

Gav's saying that at least Roberts lets defenders know they're in a game. He knocks them around - and he does.

I'm sure Jason would be brilliant at Rugby but unfortunately goals and assists win games.

[tony gale's mic]

I’m really not sure he can finish joey, we’ve seen numerous times his inability to score from open play, as you say he is lightweight, loses his footing, lacks pace, can't beat a man and simply for me on that evidence alone isn’t good enough.

People compare him to Roberts in terms of deserving a place, but for all Roberts failings, and he has many, at least Roberts puts himself about and gives defenders something to think about, Kalinic doesn’t even offer the team that.

Nobody wants him to be a success more than me, but he’s not up to it, Allardyce alluded to it when lambasting the strikers at the club, and Kean is seeing it now.

I'm not saying Niko is a world beater, or even that hes definitely Premier League standard. And I'm someone who stuck up for Roberts quite a lot in the past.

But anyone who has followed Rovers will surely know Roberts speciality is as an impact player. Most of his best displays for us have come as sub. 2 of his 3 goals this season have come as sub. I'm sure his previous couple of seasons will tell a similar story. Even then he's 33 now and that pace is diminishing and the finishing is getting no better.

Kalinic on the other hand has shown this season he knows where the goal is. 1 goal every 180 minutes this season and I think all those goals came from a starting role. He was already making big strides from a difficult first season. 4 in 6 games too before Kean inexplicably dropped him and didn't play him again.

Like with everything else, the facts are there, you're just choosing to ignore them.

[Gav]

I'm sure Jason would be brilliant at Rugby but unfortunately goals and assists win games.

So we've got 2 poor strikers, one offers nothing at all and the other gives the defenders something to think about, on that basis alone I'd pick Roberts over Kalinic, but we all see things differently booth, they're both cr@p

What did you think after Grabbi had that great game at home to Man Utd? Good finisher, great touch and movement?

[booth]

I'm not saying Niko is a world beater, or even that hes definitely Premier League standard. And I'm someone who stuck up for Roberts quite a lot in the past.

But anyone who has followed Rovers will surely know Roberts speciality is as an impact player. Most of his best displays for us have come as sub. 2 of his 3 goals this season have come as sub. I'm sure his previous couple of seasons will tell a similar story. Even then he's 33 now and that pace is diminishing and the finishing is getting no better.

Kalinic on the other hand has shown this season he knows where the goal is. 1 goal every 180 minutes this season and I think all those goals came from a starting role. He was already making big strides from a difficult first season. 4 in 6 games too before Kean inexplicably dropped him and didn't play him again.

Indeed, Roberts can run about "roughing up the opposition" for approximately ten minutes. Which is great for the final moments of a game. However after that he tends to lag. So if he starts a game, in my view, it's a waste of a place.

On the other hand Kalinic does have potential and for whatever anyone thinks of him, he hasn't been given a fair chance. Especially as he has scored this season and not been played in the following matches. The sending off at West Brom, which was his best game for us, was an absolute disaster looking back. But Steve Kean should have had the foresight to recognize we had potential there. Instead he's frozen him out. And he's still scored as a sub, then been frozen out even more!

You don't get points for "roughing up the opposition" any more than we got points for Kalinic's continual hitting the woodwork last season. However I'd take a striker being unlucky over a totally misfiring striker any day. That luck will come good over a period of time.

So we've got 2 poor strikers, one offers nothing at all and the other gives the defenders something to think about, on that basis alone I'd pick Roberts over Kalinic, but we all see things differently booth, they're both cr@p

What did you think after Grabbi had that great game at home to Man Utd? Good finisher, great touch and movement?

Answer this Gav. Has Kalinic scored goals this season? Has he been given a chance after scoring those goals?

[Gav]

Answer this Gav. Has Kalinic scored goals this season? Has he been given a chance after scoring those goals?

Ok I'll answer that, he was dropped after he scored, not sure why, so if you look at that 1 game out of 50 then its a mystery, happened to Roberts last season also, he was dropped after scoring 2 in 2 wasn't it.

What about my Grabbi question? what did you think after that Utd game?

[booth]

Ok I'll answer that, he was dropped after he scored, not sure why, so if you look at that 1 game out of 50 then its a mystery, happened to Roberts last season also, he was dropped after scoring 2 in 2 wasn't it.

What about my Grabbi question? what did you think after that Utd game?

What the heck has Grabbi got to do with it? The same as you I wanted Grabbi to be a success, he showed some bright moments but couldn't score and showed no sign of doing so. End of, waste of money. As for Kalinic, he has showed signs of scoring and has scored. You do understand that Kalinic has scored more goals for Blackburn Rovers than Grabbi don't you, in a shorter period of time. Last season he hit the woodwork on numerous occasions which showed he was getting in the right places, he was just very unlucky.

Just to make things clear for you though about who our best strikers are, here's the stats page on the Rovers site: http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/Statistics/

Someone may want to send that to Steve Kean as well.

[Gav]

What the heck has Grabbi got to do with it? The same as you I wanted Grabbi to be a success, he showed some bright moments but couldn't score and showed no sign of doing so. End of, waste of money. As for Kalinic, he has showed signs of scoring and has scored. You do understand that Kalinic has scored more goals for Blackburn Rovers than Grabbi don't you, in a shorter period of time. Last season he hit the woodwork on numerous occasions which showed he was getting in the right places, he was just very unlucky.

Just to make things clear for you though about who our best strikers are, here's the stats page on the Rovers site: http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/Statistics/

Someone may want to send that to Steve Kean as well.

As you say, from time to time Grabbi looked like a class act, especially that Utd game at home, I thought we had a gem, backed him all the way, only to be let down in the end.

I can see striking similarities between what people are saying about Kalinic and what I said about Grabbi.

Lets hope I’m wrong.

[booth]

As you say, from time to time Grabbi looked like a class act, especially that Utd game at home, I thought we had a gem, backed him all the way, only to be let down in the end.

I can see striking similarities between what people are saying about Kalinic and what I said about Grabbi.

Lets hope I’m wrong.

Grabbi scored two goals in something like three years didn't he?

At least Kalinic has looked like scoring when he hasn't, he's also bagged 6 this season, 5 in the league. Last season he scored 7 goals in all competitions. This is despite not getting a run in the team when he has shown some promise. On top of that his confidence must be zero.

[Kelbo]

Grabbi scored two goals in something like three years didn't he?

At least Kalinic has looked like scoring when he hasn't, he's also bagged 6 this season, 5 in the league. Last season he scored 7 goals in all competitions. This is despite not getting a run in the team when he has shown some promise. On top of that his confidence must be zero.

Maybe Kean should watch his International performances, two goals the other week, wonder which system Croatia played and what role Kalinic played within that system, surely by watching that or even videos, should provide some clues, even to Kean!!

[booth]

Maybe Kean should watch his International performances, two goals the other week, wonder which system Croatia played and what role Kalinic played within that system, surely by watching that or even videos, should provide some clues, even to Kean!!

It makes you wonder what exactly is going on at Ewood if these things are being overlooked.

There's still matches to play this season, if Kalinic scored another few we'd be saying with all things considered, not a bad season for him, and he must start next season. But in Kean's world, it's all about signing Santa Cruz.

If it was just one gripe I could handle it, but it seems nothing that is being done at the moment is right or logical.

Would love Bilic to be our manager.

[Blue blood]

Well given how shocking the performances of Roberts, Santa Cruz and Benjani were, and they have to rank up there as the three most ineffective and appaling performances of all times by a bunch of strikers, there is no way Kalanic cannot be involved in the next game.

Unless he has the wrong agent or something. Seriously those three offered nothing on Saturday so how Kalanic cannot be involved in light of that (not to mention the fact all three duds have offered nothing many times this season) there seems to be no logical way he cannot be involved.

[Tom]

Well given how shocking the performances of Roberts, Santa Cruz and Benjani were, and they have to rank up there as the three most ineffective and appaling performances of all times by a bunch of strikers, there is no way Kalanic cannot be involved in the next game.

Unless he has the wrong agent or something. Seriously those three offered nothing on Saturday so how Kalanic cannot be involved in light of that (not to mention the fact all three duds have offered nothing many times this season) there seems to be no logical way he cannot be involved.

Benjani did fine for me, hustled the defenders, made a couple of chances, one of which he scuffed admittedly but Niko wouldn't have had the strength to makes the chance, and then could have had a penalty.

Good showing from him in the time he got, so far he's been a better transfer than Kalinic in the circumstances.

[92er]

Kalinic has fallen off the bench because Benjani is doing so well in training where he is banging in goals-Kean on Radio Lancs today.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Which wouldn't be a surprise - Benjani has been round the block a few times. When he's good he's very good in my view, it just doesn;t happen too often.

[gumboots]

Which wouldn't be a surprise - Benjani has been round the block a few times. When he's good he's very good in my view, it just doesn;t happen too often.

And is partial confirmation of what i told you a few weeks ago.

[alexanders]

But why the f*** is Kalinic not playing for the reserves?

[Exiled_Rover]

Kalinic has fallen off the bench because Benjani is doing so well in training where he is banging in goals-Kean on Radio Lancs today.

So why is Roberts on the bench then?

[Dan]

So why is Roberts on the bench then?

My thoughts too, Roberts was anonymous on Saturday. Having him and Benjani on the pitch together spells relegation to me.

[tony gale's mic]

Kalinic has fallen off the bench because Benjani is doing so well in training where he is banging in goals-Kean on Radio Lancs today.

Good to see Kean values goals in training more than goals on the pitch.