I thought Wolves should have kept Gary O'Neil?

Not good enough today and really poor to be losing at home to such a bad team. Gueye is a pathetic excuse of a striker summed up by that shot he did. Cantwell is a talented player but missed a sitter (not for the first time) and needs to do far more in the final third. Dolan did nothing, ACD was our only real threat and actually runs at players and excites. Eustace's changes felt like throwing enough shit hoping some will stick. Buckley is a waste of time.

But how could we have given him them minutes without taking one of the other 2 out?

Is the "purple patch" @Paul Mani mentions a rush of goals? I just cant see it. He just is as far removed as you can be in terms of a natural in front of goal. Tells you a lot when "goal contributions" is the phrase being used.

How would it have meant that we would have made the play offs, because he wouldnt have scored a similar number of goals? Unless the issue is using him more off the bench? Bowyer was not a very good manager but not playing King over those 2 was the right call.

He had 2 players ahead of him who scored 20 goals plus a season.

He is tidy enough and he does undoubtedly work hard. I wouldnt disagree with either of those things but I would want a lot more than that. Lacks pace, doesnt beat players, doesnt score, isnt creative. You mention his goals and obviously one stands out but they are so infrequent that they are an exception to the rule. Mokoena scored a couple of great goals but that wouldnt be mentioned if you was to say what he is good at. You also mention his versatility but I just dont think he is good enough to warrant a regular place in his actual position but we always have a small squad so he likely will find game time somewhere.

Crap relative to the level then. Did you think Jason Lowe and Hope Akpan were crap?

That front 4 perhaps shows how well Eustace is doing to have us where we are. Id personally have ACD in there for a bit of spark instead of Hedges. You have one wide man who doesnt do anything in attack and a left back either side of potentialy a striker with a solitary goal. What does or even before injuries did Hedges offer in attack?

Of course any opinion is only based on what we have seen to date. If Gueye does end up with 8 or 9 goals this season then of course that massively changes the discussion. I personally cannot see that happening but its not beyond the realms of possibility for him to score 7 or 8 in 24 games. If he does then any judgement on him as a striker will change.

Sigurdsson is injured. And crap.

Is it defending him to the hilt to suggest that hes a below average Championship striker when fit, which he doesnt actually seem able to do anymore? My issue is with all of this hyperbole which is an approach youve again led with by describing him as one of our worst strikers in memory. Some names of strikers in the Venkys reign of terror. Makhtar Gueye, Niall Ennis, Semir Telalovic, George Hirst, Leon Best, Chris Brown, Luke Varney, Jack Vale, Tony Watt, Simeon Jackson, David Goodwillie, Dom Samuel. He is clearly not one of the very worst strikers we have had. You criticise his goal tally which as I have said is below average, prior to last season when he didnt play very much, he scored 8 or 9 in each of the 3 seasons prior. Below average. You "judge a striker primarily on goals scored." Yet you compare Gueye favourably to him who approaching the new year has a solitary league goal. That proves that you are not able to compare without allowing your bias against him to play a part in your analysis.

😂

Onuachu will be on massive wages. And has played some minutes recently.

Quite the opposite, people including yourself just lost all perspective on him. We had a team that felt on the cusp of a top 6 finish. We wanted a better striker because he isnt at that level, and it perhaps made us think that anyone would be better. We since signed Telalovic, Hirst, Ennis and now Gueye. None have even been as good. He is what he is, when fit. A below average Championship striker. Not the most technically gifted, not always the most imposing, but quite quick, strong, a tireless worker and as proven in the 3 years prior to his injury riddled one last season, good for 8 or 9 goals a season. I dont rate him, like I said when fit hes a lower end Championship striker. But hes not hopeless and devoid of all contribution and as we have seen, we could do worse. He filled in at right back for about 5 minutes amidst some tactical changes. Lets not make out like it was a constant change.

He doesnt deserve any credit for missing an open goal. Thats not seeking perfection or being a keyboard warrior. A professional striker has no excuse to miss that chance. As you say, I dont think he has ever had a game where you have not defended him even if hes had a stinker. I think the whole messageboard myself included gave him lots of praise for his cameo at Hillsbrough when he was very good and crucially got a goal. Until he actually starts contributing goals though, it feels like a case of people clinging on to anything in the understandable hope that he can become a useful striker. It was harder to make out in the ground and still isnt that clear from the highlights. If he has nodded it down then fair play, its a very important and intelligent knock down.

The thing is your opinion on Gallagher is like what happened with Mowbray where your dislike and the fact that they stayed for so long meant that all semblance of reason long went out of the window. I acknowledged the fitness issues that Gallagher has, so the conversation becomes hypothetical to an extent. Prior to last season when he missed so many games though, he had scored 8 or 9 goals in the prior 3 seasons. You say that neither score enough which is fair but they arent on par in that regard. When Gallagher is fit, he scores more than Gueye. He has scored as many this season and has barely played a minute. Gallagher did do a lot of selfless running and wasnt useless in general play, and he wasnt anywhere near as bad technically as Gueye even though he himself was hardly gifted. If both are fit, big if, and we had both to select from, its not a good choice either way but im taking Gallagher every day. Gueye has the novelty factor, no one ever tried to credit Gallagher because of mishit tap ins or 5 yard passes as proof of his use.

Clearly not true, Gallagher had an injury ravaged last season but scored a combined 11 goals in those 2 seasons. Because he stayed a season or two too long all perspective seems to have been lost on Gallagher similar to what happened with Mowbray. We have had a number of strikers in the last few years alone who have been worse and I think Gueye is one. Gueye has all the hallmarks of being a cult hero and sometimes his presence alone can (often inadvertently) cause problems for our opposition but he is not a very good footballer at all.

The injury situation admittedly skews the comparison, but when fit Gallagher was good for 8 or 9 goals a season. This "goal involvements" thing I keep saying is being compared directly against just the goals of Gallagher. But the main stat is that Gueye has only one goal. He has a few assists but in the main they were very small parts of the goal, eg a knock down for a 30 yard half volley, a missed open goal and on Boxing day it was Batth that won the header and it must have accidentally flicked off his head. And Gueye really does play like bambi most of the time.

Gallagher may be average or even below average at Championship level, even when fit. And his injury record renders any discussion meaningless. But he is definitely better than Gueye. The idea of a director of football picking players without the involvement of the manager who will be the one in charge of actually managing them is ridiculous.

We wouldnt be far worse off in the table without his solitary goal and a few assists, especially when most saw him play only a small role in the goal. He isnt a scapegoat and hes backed as everyone is, hes just a bit crap. Its a hell of a statement at this stage to to say that Leonard is a 15-20 goal striker. Maybe not on par with Buckley being a potential £10m (poor again yesterday and his air kick at the end nearly cost us).

As summed up elsewhere, very good in the first half and should have had a healthier lead. But massively dropped off in the second and it felt like the changes didnt improve us and a goal wasnt going to come. Performance wise, Dolan was bright but obviously missed an absolute sitter. Hedges is not good enough and his tame shot summed up the attacking threat he offers. Right back feels like a position of strength with Brittain having massively improved under Eustace and JRC also being a very capable right back. Baker did ok but is obviously a big downgrade on Travis next to Tronstad. This crap about Gueye not being backed will seemigly continue. The goal involvements stat is always one that has limited use, we have passed christmas and our striker has 1 goal. He has a few assists but its such a limited stat especially when it includes open nets that he missed but made slight contact with. Good to see Ohashi finally end a crazy number of goalless appearances.

Might be modern but doesnt make it logical or effective.

Again incredibly strange to have the manager/head coach not having a say in the players he will be managing and ultimately who will determine how long he stays in employment. Football clubs these days.

So Nixon was talking shit re McBurnie. Who knew.