Dr_Pangloss Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 11 minutes ago, terrytini said: Whilst he hasn't fired yet we only have two players in the whole club who can shoot properly, and Ross is one of them. He is a genuine natural goal scorer as well as having a good football brain. Whilst him and Kodja together may not work it hasn't been given much time, and in any case with still half a season to go we are likely to need more than Kodja. I think letting him go - considering we don't need the money ? - makes no sense. The problem is that it doesn't seem like Bruce will ever pair McCormack with Kodjia. Bruce has a particular style, to my mind McCormack seems incompatible. Over Bruce's managerial career it seems he likes his forwards to be a presence up top, forwards who can stretch defences and be versatile enough to operate on the flanks, McCormack can't do this. The one exception that comes to mind was when Blues had Christophe Dugarry, but McCormack is no Dugarry. I'd be very surprised if McCormack is given a key role this season under Bruce, and I'd be very surprised if he's here next season. If McCormack can be used as a make weight for a player Bruce believe will improve the first team then that would be good business IMO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 4 minutes ago, wilko154 said: This would be such a Villa thing to do, in our quest to bolster the midfield to supply our striker more effectively we exchange our striker for a midfielder. But if we then go and sign a forward (e.g. Rhodes on loan) then it's no problem really is it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 22 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said: The problem is that it doesn't seem like Bruce will ever pair McCormack with Kodjia. Bruce has a particular style, to my mind McCormack seems incompatible. Over Bruce's managerial career it seems he likes his forwards to be a presence up top, forwards who can stretch defences and be versatile enough to operate on the flanks, McCormack can't do this. The one exception that comes to mind was when Blues had Christophe Dugarry, but McCormack is no Dugarry. I'd be very surprised if McCormack is given a key role this season under Bruce, and I'd be very surprised if he's here next season. If McCormack can be used as a make weight for a player Bruce believe will improve the first team then that would be good business IMO. Someone somewhere (possibly Steve Bruce thread? Not sure) suggested that Bruce likes to implement a 4-4-2 formation rather than 4-3-3 or whatever the heck we generally play. Now, IF that happens, I think we'll see a lot more from McCormack. Apparently, according to our friends at WhoScored, he has more "key passes" per game then anyone else in our squad - by quite a distance, too. He's the type of forward who likes to play with another and thrives off the space created. I actually think Kodjia playing more forward with McCormack drifting in and around would be our best partnership - we just haven't seen it yet as we don't have the players to make it work; particularly in the centre of the park. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnock1984 Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 If Bruce plans to utilise 4-4-2 more frequently then I think him and Kodjia up top would be great! if not, and we continue with 4-3-3, then it's not going to work for him here. If that's the case then a straight swap for Brady would give us the left midfielder we need and create space for a striker Bruce wants (Rhodes or Hernandez?) Add those two to Johnstone, Bree and Lansbury and that would be a pretty decent window! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 5 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said: The problem is that it doesn't seem like Bruce will ever pair McCormack with Kodjia. Bruce has a particular style, to my mind McCormack seems incompatible. Over Bruce's managerial career it seems he likes his forwards to be a presence up top, forwards who can stretch defences and be versatile enough to operate on the flanks, McCormack can't do this. The one exception that comes to mind was when Blues had Christophe Dugarry, but McCormack is no Dugarry. I'd be very surprised if McCormack is given a key role this season under Bruce, and I'd be very surprised if he's here next season. If McCormack can be used as a make weight for a player Bruce believe will improve the first team then that would be good business IMO. That then shows Bruce's lack of adaptability when really he should look at the squad and say right. We have two proven goalscorers so we need to find a system so they can both play together. Its a much smaller scale but that's exactly what Enrique did when he signed Suarez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Not sure I have ever seen someone miss so many sitters! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 What makes a talented player look so poor for us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 6 minutes ago, Xela said: What makes a talented player look so poor for us? He doesn't look interested to me. Looks completely out of shape as well. Terrible signing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted January 14, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted January 14, 2017 9 minutes ago, Xela said: What makes a talented player look so poor for us? The squad we have isn't set up to play the way McCormack needs to succeed. He needs a strong midfield behind him. We barely have one. McCormack isn't a player that will flourish with balls punted up to him, he's short and slow, and that's our main outlet at the mo. Until there's a better midfield behind him, he'll do nothing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Having no Grealish or Ayew around him is setting him up to fail. He's hardly a player that's going to thrive on crosses. He did well to get space in the box and Amavi's cross was a tad behind him (not blaming the cross, did well to get it in). But as @Chindie says, having Jedinak and Tish isn't helping. Neither are anywhere close to good on the ball. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 He's missed a lot of sitters, irrespective of who is behind him. How has he managed to score so many in other teams? Set pieces where he has loads of time? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 got burned for fun then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 What a waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keener window-cleaner Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 He must be so frustrated to play with these players, in the first half, of our 4 midfielders and 2 strikers I'd say that only McCormack and Tshibola can pass the ball properly, and Adoma to a certain extent. He had almost no service during the whole game. He had our only chance with his header, should have had a penalty when Baath pulled his shirt towards the end (on the replay the ref stood perfectly in line, looked in that direction and you could clearly see how his shirt was pulled, unbelievalbe how the ref ignored that). McCoremack also regularly contributed to the build up play. What did Gabby do during the game? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I said when we were first signing him we were over paying. He has been ridiculously shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I still think theres a good player there but maybe not for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Xela said: What makes a talented player look so poor for us? A missing midfield. He needs service and the ball played through him. He's clever player but surrounded by the brainless. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villanun Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Sometimes it doesn't matter how good a player is; they're just not a good fit for a certain team. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 16 minutes ago, Keener window-cleaner said: He must be so frustrated to play with these players, in the first half, of our 4 midfielders and 2 strikers I'd say that only McCormack and Tshibola can pass the ball properly, and Adoma to a certain extent. Tish is pretty crap in possession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Appalling signing, when he gets chances he misses them, should sell him this window if we have the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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