[Archived] Yakubu

[HATRIX]

yakubu and roberts upfront.Tis the future!

[den]

The question that needs answering is:

Yakubu or Roberts?

No it isn't Gav. That's a totally irrelevant question.

No good being better than Roberts, if it's still not good enough.

[Majiball]

yakubu and roberts upfront.Tis the future!

Roberts and Yakubu, the yin and yang strike-force.

One a busy hard working lad who can't score in a brothel, the other a couch potato pimp who scores at will.

[imy9]

That's because he cherry picked names that suit his point. What about Portuguese International Sa who went to Fulham on a free or DJ Campbell (proven PL player) who went to QPR for £1.2m? What about Adebayor who went free on loan (and don't say he wouldn't have come to us as nor would Aguero in his original post) or Niklas Bentdner who went to Sunderland for the season. What about Leroy Lita (again has a good PL record) who moved this window. That's just a few he's missed this window let alone the last.

I'm not saying they're all better than the Yak, the point I'm making is if you're going to draw up a comparative list make sure it's a complete one.

Orlando Sa: 11 goals in 52 games- in Portuguese league

DJ Campbell: PL record 13 goals in 42 games. (281 games out of 323 have been in the lower leagues)

Adebayor: Last season 6 goals in 22 games, costing a big loan fee PLUS wages.

Bentdner: Last two seasons, 40 games 8 goals.

Lita: PL record 8 goals in 47 games.

You have named one top class striker, who would have been out of reach and the rest have records that are not exactly glowing. Yakubu's last 3 seasons at Everton where he was coming back from a serious injury/was out of favour his record stood at 10 goals in 53 games, compared with the strikers mentioned thats similar. Now look at his record before and after, he CAN score goals and I am confident he WILL score goals and at £1.5 million is worth a gamble.

I find it interesting that Kean mentions Ibi as a player he may look to sign in January- I feel he needs to prove his fitness before we move further with him.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Quote from an article on Everton in todays Guardian. " Yakubu is no great loss to Moyes. The Nigerian striker was never the same player after an achilles injury ".

[den]

The Nigerian striker was never the same player after an achilles injury ".

The stats seem to back that up Tyrone.

[Ricky]

11 in 20 seems a pretty good stat though Den. That's what he's produced when he's been given a run of games instead of sub appearances here and there.

And don't give me the 'it was only the championship' line otherwise Bellamy should have scored 40 last season!

[Ripleys love child]

11 in 35 for Bellamy in championship

[den]

And don't give me the 'it was only the championship' line

Why not? It was in the Championship. Obviously it's a lot easier to score goals in lower leagues.

However, Tyrone pointed out that a Guardian reporter said that the Yak hasn't been the same player since he ruptured his Achilles. I said the stats seem to support that - and they do seem to support it. He went from being an £11m goalscoring striker, to a striker who couldn't get in the Everton side and was allowed to leave for £1.5m.

I'm not supporting the Yak, nor criticising him, simply pointing out some facts.

.

[JAL]

11 in 35 for Bellamy in championship

Yet another ageing, injury prone striker. Not surprised by those stats.

Why not? It was in the Championship. Obviously it's a lot easier to score goals in lower leagues.

However, Tyrone pointed out that a Guardian reporter said that the Yak hasn't been the same player since he ruptured his Achilles. I said the stats seem to support that - and they do seem to support it. He went from being an £11m goalscoring striker, to a striker who couldn't get in the Everton side and was allowed to leave for £1.5m.

I'm not supporting the Yak, nor criticising him, simply pointing out some facts.

.

..and the sorry sad fact is that some dummy signed him for us.

[chris]

If Hughes would have signed Yskubu 28 we probsbly all think he's done it again as he tuend Bentley, Cruz's Belamy's careers around.

The problem is 90% of us think Kean is a idiot, who basically set himself up to fail by claiming CL football in as little a three years, a big budget and constanting over doing every interview cslling Goodwillie a new Rooney and Formica a potential Batistuta.

The problem is Kean as much as Yakubu, unless he turns out to be extremely lazy, 1.5m is pretty cheap. Its Kean lies about the budget that make Yakubu look worse.

[Ripleys love child]

Does any one know if we lose him to the African nations cup for Nigeria in jan?

[True Blue & White]

The problem is 90% of us think Kean is a idiot

Which means 10% of our fans are idiots too.

[patrickvalery]

Which means 10% of our fans are idiots too.

If only it were that low.

[True Blue & White]

Orlando Sa: 11 goals in 52 games- in Portuguese league

DJ Campbell: PL record 13 goals in 42 games. (281 games out of 323 have been in the lower leagues)

Adebayor: Last season 6 goals in 22 games, costing a big loan fee PLUS wages.

Bentdner: Last two seasons, 40 games 8 goals.

Lita: PL record 8 goals in 47 games.

You have named one top class striker, who would have been out of reach and the rest have records that are not exactly glowing. Yakubu's last 3 seasons at Everton where he was coming back from a serious injury/was out of favour his record stood at 10 goals in 53 games, compared with the strikers mentioned thats similar. Now look at his record before and after, he CAN score goals and I am confident he WILL score goals and at £1.5 million is worth a gamble.

I find it interesting that Kean mentions Ibi as a player he may look to sign in January- I feel he needs to prove his fitness before we move further with him.

Woosh!

[mike at picture]

I know this the Yak thread but if you still support Kean and have some belief left in him you are apparently an "idiot" which says a lot for the decline of this forum of late.

As far as the Yak goes, I'm gradually coming around to his signing. I didn't realise he'd been such a success at Leicester and he would have had to pass a medical for us to get insurance etc.

Mind you, if he's 28 then I'm a Calvin Klein underwear model.

[patrickvalery]

I know this the Yak thread but if you still support Kean and have some belief left in him you are apparently an "idiot" which says a lot for the decline of this forum of late.

As far as the Yak goes, I'm gradually coming around to his signing. I didn't realise he'd been such a success at Leicester and he would have had to pass a medical for us to get insurance etc.

Mind you, if he's 28 then I'm a Calvin Klein underwear model.

It does speak volumes. The way people are hounded for being extreme supporters or critics of Kean is laughable. He has made some questionable choices during his time here which has been heightened by them running in parrallel to even more bizarre choices made by our new owners. But if he was at another club i suspect most supporters would view the situation from a different perspective. Young British coach with european experience and good football ethos. Unfortunately for Kean he has too many question marks surrounding him about how he got the gig in the first place. If you can look objectively at him as a manager and overlook any opinions about him personally, then some of his strenghts might become clearer. The facts are that our results dipped significantly under his stewardship. However, another fact is it's his first management job and that begs the question, why should we expect better from him? The odds were always that our results would suffer after he replaced a seasoned, well respected manager like Allardyce. I still believe that he has the ability to succeed as a manager at a good level. Whether he'll achieve that is anyones guess because the same could be said for a number of managers who make ends meet lower down the footballing scale. The fact remains that Kean is learning as he goes. I just hope he makes a fist of it.

In a desperate attempt to move this back on topic, i think Kean did well on the last day of the window, and as part of that, the Yakubu deal could be a shrewd move. His flurry of goals on loan at Leicester indicate he was in need of a decent run of games. If he can get and stay fit, he has the proven ability to score goals at this level. I think the pang of disappointment most felt was born out of the other more exotic names we were linked with beforehand. In hindsight, i think £1.5m on a striker who has done it at this level but may have an injury issue, is better than £6m on a striker who has never done it at this level and also has a questionable injury record. We shall see. However, i fully expect to pull my hair out at his lack of effort. I like to see my strikers hassle and chase down from the front. I know full well i'm not going to get that from the Yak, but i'll forgive him for a decent goal haul.

[roverandout]

well you like to see your strikers hassle and close players down? well thats roberts and we all know what we think of him, i would rather have a lazy but talented striker who can produce a moment of magic (ie yorke, mccarthy) than a workhorse talentless load of crud (ie well you know who im talking about) any day of the week.

[patrickvalery]

well you like to see your strikers hassle and close players down? well thats roberts and we all know what we think of him, i would rather have a lazy but talented striker who can produce a moment of magic (ie yorke, mccarthy) than a workhorse talentless load of crud (ie well you know who im talking about) any day of the week.

I didn't realise it was one or the other. I seem to remember Shearer doing his fair share of closing down up top. Anyway, i thought my last line acknowledged the fact i'd overlook lack of effort for a decent return in terms of goals.

[Hughesy]

Goals for us is all that matters - lets get behind the lad and give him a chance....he cant be any worse than Jason Roberts...

[Guest TheArtistFormallyKnownAsJB]

I may be of the extreme minority but I am very happy about our summer transfer business. First time in years we have spent near to the amount we sold - considering we only got 8m of the Jones money upfront, I think we have replaced him with a more seasoned player for half the price we will eventually get for Jones.

Vuckevic signed cheaply, could be a blinder, could be a troublemaker. Petrovic looks like an intelligent midfielder in the short time I have seen him, and Goodwillie could be another player who could go either way. To guarantee top division performances, you generally have to splurge a lot of cash. We seem to have spent wisely on internationals/prem experienced players who could really galvonise the squad.

Remember though, money does to guarantee quality... 35m for the slowest liverpool number 9 I have ever seen and 50m for a world cup winner, who seems to have forgotten how to play football..

To bring this back to context; Yakubu

In my opinion, this could have been extremely risky. Yakubu's work rate has been questioned in the past and the obvious fact his wages are high, and his fitness has a few question marks over it. This would be made more problematic if the transfer fee was 5m+. For 1m pounds, we have basically picked up another international proven goalscorer, who has shed loads of top flight experience in this country.... and that my friend's has to be worth the gamble.

Kalinic 6m - less than a goal in 10?

Grabbi 7.5m... Say no more

There are better players out there we could have signed, but I think we will be pleasantly suprised by Aiyegbeni. I think he could make a good partnership with roberts ie; Roberts bundle's the ball through 2 players into the box, Yakubu taps it in the corner..

[roverandout]

i would have thought we would be bringing yakubu into replace roberts not to play with.

[RevidgeBlue]

Is Yakubu really still only 28? I assumed he was 31/32.

If he is, then bringing him in for 1.5m looks an extremely astute piece of business at face value.

Of course, he could still turn out to be absolute bobbins, we'll have to wait and see.

[DP]

Is Yakubu really still only 28? I assumed he was 31/32.

If he is, then bringing him in for 1.5m looks an extremely astute piece of business at face value.

Of course, he could still turn out to be absolute bobbins, we'll have to wait and see.

Probably just that but there were a number of rumours circulating a couple of years back that Yakubu was much older than his passport claimed to be, and nobody knew his exact age.

My Everton supporting mate reckons he's 41!....

[T4E]

If he's 41 then he scored 21 goals in a season for Everton at the age of 38. A little unlikely.

Even if he is, by 38 he would have lost most of the physical attributes he was going to, so being 3 years older wouldnt make a huge difference anyway.