Sam Szmodics-Your thoughts?

[speeeeeeedie]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Not great news for us, puts a key player who has played lots and could do with a rest in jeopardy of injury. Injury to him or Sigurdsson would be a huge, huge problem.

Very surprised it has taken so long though considering the dearth of talent that Ireland have, well deserved.

I guess he preferred Ireland to Hungary?

Players can get injured anywhere. He'd still be training if he hadn't have been called up. I doubt that he'll play either. He's a solid player, and Ireland are struggling, but he's not up there international quality wise. 

Good luck to him, I think that it will do him good.

Irish football is in a bad spot. The FAI have been under scrutiny for a few years and it seems to have permeated down the pyramid. Long gone are the days of Jack Charlton scouring family tress, and they haven't had a "local" top class talent like Keane, Keane, or Duff for ages.

Edited October 9, 2023 by speeeeeeedie

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Good luck to him and well deserved...Rovers stand out Player for me.

[superniko]

23 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

I guess he preferred Ireland to Hungary?

Players can get injured anywhere. He'd still be training if he hadn't have been called up. I doubt that he'll play either. He's a solid player, and Ireland are struggling, but he's not up there international quality wise. 

Good luck to him, I think that it will do him good.

Irish football is in a bad spot. The FAI have been under scrutiny for a few years and it seems to have permeated down the pyramid. Long gone are the days of Jack Charlton scouring family tress, and they haven't had a "local" top class talent like Keane, Keane, or Duff for ages.

They are optimistic about the future with Evan Ferguson and Nathan Collins, and then potentially the likes of Moran and Kelleher (if he ever leaves Liverpool).

Besides, every other nation around will qualify for these International tournaments soon. 48 teams are going to be at the 2030 World Cup. Surely even Ireland can manage that! 

Hopefully Sammie comes back with no injuries and a nice big boost to his confidence and happiness in the game.

[waynerovers]

Happy for him that he's got an international call up. Thoroughly deserved.

[Blow-in]

Congrats Sammy,

 

Will be a new experience playing with a  struggling team full of kids, a fan base that has lost faith, no real sense of forward momentum, aspiring to mid table... oh wait, you'll be right at home 😂😂😂

 

 

[speeeeeeedie]

18 minutes ago, superniko said:

They are optimistic about the future with Evan Ferguson and Nathan Collins, and then potentially the likes of Moran and Kelleher (if he ever leaves Liverpool).

Besides, every other nation around will qualify for these International tournaments soon. 48 teams are going to be at the 2030 World Cup. Surely even Ireland can manage that! 

Hopefully Sammie comes back with no injuries and a nice big boost to his confidence and happiness in the game.

Ferguson could really help. He has potential to be a top player. I watched a bit of the Liverpool game yesterday, he was anonymous, but ran all over Newcastle a few weeks ago. 

Kelleher looks like he's not bothered about anything but is a good keeper. 

[metalrover]

Finally callup for Sammi. Hope he returns without any injury, he's flourishing under jdt and has now become a key player for us.

Congrats Sammi !!

[Polky]

https://x.com/irelandfootball/status/1711434187968778516?s=46&t=eQpRIP77C9LnHMZexFr0xg
 

Sammie arriving to Ireland training.

[rovers11]

Most improved player in the league over the past 12 months? He's been one of the best players in the championship this season. Certainly been our best player so far. 

First half of last season it felt like Peterborough had done well getting the price they did for him. Now he looks like an absolute bargain. Him, Hyam, and Brittain were all top signings last summer. 

[K-Hod]

Favourite player of mine for a while.

The graft he puts in sets the tone for the rest of the team, he’s become even more of a goal threat this season, too.

What a man.

[TugaysMarlboro]

I thought he really started to settle towards the end of last season and having a whole pre-season with us is paying dividends (Venky's take note for next summers transfer strategy, ha!)

 

What's surprised me is his finishing and that he gets himself into dangerous positions so regularly. I hope he comes back unscathed but he more than deserves a call-up and a cap imo.

 

Watching the videos of training that Rovers put on social media, he's certainly the cheeky chap and seems well liked by the players and staff on the whole. I think his young family have moved up North too so I imagine that's also having a positive effect on him. 

 

Keep it coming Sammie.

[Upside Down]

When he scored on his debut with a quality finish you could tell he was going to be good.

 

[Andy]

1 hour ago, rovers11 said:

Most improved player in the league over the past 12 months? He's been one of the best players in the championship this season. Certainly been our best player so far. 

First half of last season it felt like Peterborough had done well getting the price they did for him. Now he looks like an absolute bargain. Him, Hyam, and Brittain were all top signings last summer. 

Shows the importance of not jumping to early conclusions on new players.

Give them time to settle in and show what they can do.

Just as we're starting to see for most of this summer's signings.

[roversfan99]

This repetitive "wait to judge" rhetoric seems unncessary to me, it only goes one way. No one says that we shouldnt judge Sigurdsson despite some really promising signs in his first 4 games because its early days. Its an internet messageboard, why cant we just have constructive debate as we go, especially when this rubbish is said when a player struggles early doors?

He has gone on to prove an excellent signing, the work rate side should be a given, Bennett always gave 100% and was crap. Szmodics is far more than that. He is a real threat in the final third.

But last season, questions were still valid. Cost a (relatively speaking) big sum when we didnt sign a striker. He had 2 spells prior in the Championship, once not even a guaranteed starter at Peterborough and he didnt make the grade at Bristol City, despite his goals in League 1. Peterborough fans seemed somewhat sad to see him leave but felt we overpaid. Then for half a season, he simply wasnt very good. He struggled to influence games, he even ended up with the kids. Questions about the signing were valid, not stupid. Thankfully hes kicked on and proved himself as an important player and a very good signing.

[Mattyblue]

‘Judge’* them to your heart’s content on an obscure message board, it doesn’t matter a jot as long as you get behind them at the ground.

*Though it just shows how reactive and impulsive forums are as folk feel they need to dive in with very premature opinions, case in point 2pm every Saturday when the team is announced.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Mattyblue

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

3 hours ago, K-Hod said:

Favourite player of mine for a while.

The graft he puts in sets the tone for the rest of the team, he’s become even more of a goal threat this season, too.

What a man.

The new David Speedie ?

[Upside Down]

2 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

The new David Speedie ?

So 1-0 win in the playoff final with a penalty then?

[Songman]

The effort Szmodics puts in for our shirt means I wish him nothing but the best. Made up for the lad.

[BigBar]

Chuffed for Sammie, well deserved and overdue. He is just as capable as what we have in the squad at the moment. Knight, Molumby, McGrath, Browne, Johnstone, McClean, Cullen. There is no reason he couldn't force his way into the starting 11. 

None of the above mentioned are as much of a goal threat as Sammie and he works just as hard as everyone of them. He would be an ideal player for Ireland because he gives it a everything. Hopefully Stephen Kenny sees this first hand over the next week because he should have been in the squad alot sooner. Congratulations Sammie.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

8 hours ago, Upside Down said:

So 1-0 win in the playoff final with a penalty then?

That’d be nice.

[Eddie]

12 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

This repetitive "wait to judge" rhetoric seems unncessary to me, it only goes one way. No one says that we shouldnt judge Sigurdsson despite some really promising signs in his first 4 games because its early days. Its an internet messageboard, why cant we just have constructive debate as we go, especially when this rubbish is said when a player struggles early doors?

Actually, you're sort of wrong.

There are plenty who continue to doubt high-performing players and expect a drop-off. Examples can be seen in those who don't think Wharton is the second-coming, or the supporters who thought that BBD's goalscoring was a purple patch rather than a sign of development.

[roverblue]

Said it a few weeks ago in the thread but would make a great captain. His work rate, performances and the fact he is so vocal on the pitch make him the most suitable by far.

[roversfan99]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

Actually, you're sort of wrong.

There are plenty who continue to doubt high-performing players and expect a drop-off. Examples can be seen in those who don't think Wharton is the second-coming, or the supporters who thought that BBD's goalscoring was a purple patch rather than a sign of development.

Neither are/were new signings which was what my point was relating to. For some reason when a new signing struggles in early games, rather than people countering with constructive points about what they think the player could offer, instead shutting conversation down suggesting that people shouldnt comment for a set period. That isnt the case with players who hit the ground running.

Take Szmodics. People questioning his signing for the first 6 months werent wrong to do so based on what they had seen.

[DE.]

2 hours ago, roverblue said:

Said it a few weeks ago in the thread but would make a great captain. His work rate, performances and the fact he is so vocal on the pitch make him the most suitable by far.

I think captains/leaders make themselves known on the pitch whether they have the armband or not. Sammie certainly isn't shy about letting his team mates know what he's thinking!

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Neither are/were new signings which was what my point was relating to. For some reason when a new signing struggles in early games, rather than people countering with constructive points about what they think the player could offer, instead shutting conversation down suggesting that people shouldnt comment for a set period. That isnt the case with players who hit the ground running.

Take Szmodics. People questioning his signing for the first 6 months werent wrong to do so based on what they had seen.

Whilst I generally agree with your reasoning, and that we should be able to (and are able to) freely discuss pros and cons of a player as soon as we have seen them, and to an extent before we have seen them, the 'some reason' you allude to is that there's an assumption that a player will take time to bed in. New club, new teammates, new manager, new area, new tactics, often a new league or even new country. It's natural to assume a player will take time to settle in and adapt to all of this, and there is a fair bit of apparent precedent for it.

So if the player struggles, it's easy enough to think it may be down to those factors, and it may be. If a player hits the ground running, it's easy to assume those factors haven't made much difference, or that he's just that good that he's playing well in spite of them, and can only get better or at least is less likely to tail off as any natural change in form may be offset by having settled in. There's logic in this too, although there is certainly precedent of players who have set off on fire at a club and tailed off, perhaps due to adrenaline and hunger when they arrive, starting as an unknown quantity for opposition, or sheer dumb luck.

There's a lot of psychology at play, and I think this is another reason some supporters tend towards saying give them time. It's only a messageboard, and I maintain we can say what we want on here, but if players get a sniff the wider fanbase is criticising them, when they're new, confidence can spiral. So I can see where people are coming from when they say these things. Attempting to shut down debate is something I'm not in favour of though. But I do think people should steer away from comments like 'he's clearly a waste of money' or 'he's shit' or 'he'll never make it here' when it's just been a few games, or even a couple of months really. Comments like 'so far he isn't looking like he'll contribute enough to warrant the fee' however, are totally fair. The problem for me comes from posters who attempt to shut down both types of remarks and don't do balance.