Villan_of_oz Posted December 19, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2020 1 hour ago, Stratvillan said: Theres always a trend on VT for players ability to increase when they're not playing see Keinan for an example. It's strange that Conor who has (whether you rate him or not) been a key player in our recent history, his ability seems to decrease week by week. Hes off the pace in training, hes aged horribly etc I think in terms of our midfield the order is Grealish McGinn, Luiz Ramsey, Hourihane, Nakamba Lansbury Grealish is so far ahead of everyone else its ridiculous. McGinn and Luiz are both 2 and 3rd choice (in a 3 man midfield) To say that Conor has no future, is below our level is premature. He is 1 of 3 vying to be first back up. We would like him to be below our level, we are not there yet. If we sell Lansbury and hourihane in jan, we would end up relying on Ramsey and Nakamba as starters in a reasonable amount if games. That's dangerous imo. I think 2 of our first 3 midfield options will leave in the summer. Players such as hourihane will provide the professionalism and character we've so often lacked outside the first team, to ensure some degree of consistency. Where's Barkley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 He was never going to come in for Luiz as he isn't a holding/defensive midfielder. I think he would have been disappointed not to start against Wolves but Ramsey offers more energy so can see why we went with him. We are not yet in a position to think he is no linger needed. We have 3 games in 6 days coming up after WBA and I expect he'll get some game time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratvillan Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 25 minutes ago, Villan_of_oz said: Where's Barkley? I forgot him! But he isnt ours ( a poor defence!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughable Chimp Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 10 hours ago, Stratvillan said: It's strange that Conor who has (whether you rate him or not) been a key player in our recent history, his ability seems to decrease week by week. Conor isn't out injured, he's being purposely left out of the first team by Smith to the point of changing the formation and even bringing in a youth player. And Smith currently has the backing of most of this forum, so they trust that he's made the right decision here. This makes it so that the idea of wanting Conor in the team doesn't sit easy with the level of support that Smith currently has, so people rationalize it by playing down Conor. If we start going on a bad run and Smith persists on not playing Conor, I'm guessing you'll see a lot more support for him to be in the team. He is also a weird player because in games where he doesn't score or assist, he is virtually anonymous and this is frustrating to watch. And he's not going to score or assist every game or two, so it feels like most of the time he's a waste of space on the pitch. Compare that to our other players who are usually always actively involved in some way. I remember calling it the Conor cycle last season, because we went through that phase where he'd score or assist and this forum praising him, be anonymous for the next couple of games before popping up with another goal or assist and the cycle repeats itself. Its not luck that Conor has been such a vital player in our history. Its because he is one of our main attacking threats and not only from set pieces which I think is focused on more because its one of the most obvious ways we can see his contribution. But last season he had as many goals and assists from open play combined as he did from set pieces. Per minute, Conor had the best assist per minute ratio out of entire squad last season even including Grealish. And his goals per minute ratio is among the top too and the best out of all our central midfielders. Even this season he's already had a goal and an assist to his name despite only playing 236 minutes so far. Its not as if he's started off with a dry spell. There's not much evidence of him regressing significantly as a player as of yet. Yet it seems like people are all too quick to disregard him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Can see a case of him starting tomorrow. Could be a real similar game to the Burnley game and Conor for all his faults is more of a goal threat than most of our midfielders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 (edited) 12 hours ago, Laughable Chimp said: Conor isn't out injured, he's being purposely left out of the first team by Smith to the point of changing the formation and even bringing in a youth player. And Smith currently has the backing of most of this forum, so they trust that he's made the right decision here. This makes it so that the idea of wanting Conor in the team doesn't sit easy with the level of support that Smith currently has, so people rationalize it by playing down Conor. If we start going on a bad run and Smith persists on not playing Conor, I'm guessing you'll see a lot more support for him to be in the team. He is also a weird player because in games where he doesn't score or assist, he is virtually anonymous and this is frustrating to watch. And he's not going to score or assist every game or two, so it feels like most of the time he's a waste of space on the pitch. Compare that to our other players who are usually always actively involved in some way. I remember calling it the Conor cycle last season, because we went through that phase where he'd score or assist and this forum praising him, be anonymous for the next couple of games before popping up with another goal or assist and the cycle repeats itself. Its not luck that Conor has been such a vital player in our history. Its because he is one of our main attacking threats and not only from set pieces which I think is focused on more because its one of the most obvious ways we can see his contribution. But last season he had as many goals and assists from open play combined as he did from set pieces. Per minute, Conor had the best assist per minute ratio out of entire squad last season even including Grealish. And his goals per minute ratio is among the top too and the best out of all our central midfielders. Even this season he's already had a goal and an assist to his name despite only playing 236 minutes so far. Its not as if he's started off with a dry spell. There's not much evidence of him regressing significantly as a player as of yet. Yet it seems like people are all too quick to disregard him. If you observe our play this season, we are one of the few teams who's pressing stats have increased as opposed to many who have decreased. We are 4th in the pressing league.....it is not without notice than Conor is not his natural self, pressing. As you progress in this league, its clear you have to force errors out of the opposition, that is not Conors natural game either. As we have aspirations for loftier positions, i see him have less game time, he is not the most industrious of players and that too hampers his opportunities. not saying he is a bad player, he has been instrumental in our progress, but as that progress continues its inevitable, players will drop out. Edited December 20, 2020 by TRO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Absolutely redundant now with Traore's set piece delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Let's watch a replay 20 times to see if it's a penalty or not. **** me get rid of this shit please!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 *35 times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 I like Conor but look at Traore, AEG and Trez to see where the bar is now. When you get a chance, you have to seriously up your game and impress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Not a bad word to say about him. Remarkable value. 2 million. Done a great job but this isn't his level. If he doesn't move in January, i think we'll move him on in the summer. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junxs Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Johnnyp said: Not a bad word to say about him. Remarkable value. 2 million. Done a great job but this isn't his level. If he doesn't move in January, i think we'll move him on in the summer. Pretty sure his contract is up in the summer anyway, it's been mentioned a few times on various podcasts I listen to 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Junxs said: Pretty sure his contract is up in the summer anyway, it's been mentioned a few times on various podcasts I listen to Signed a new deal when we got promoted. Be very surprised if we only have him a 2 year deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted December 28, 2020 Moderator Share Posted December 28, 2020 1 hour ago, rodders0223 said: Signed a new deal when we got promoted. Be very surprised if we only have him a 2 year deal. Pretty sure he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilko154 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 People are quite quick to write off Conor, he has a habit of bouncing back. He will still play a part this season with the amount of games to come, injuries and Covid will see him step in some weeks. Knowing Conor he will take his chance and give Smith another headache. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thug Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Good set pieces, decent scoring/assist rate. Not mobile enough for our current style, but for what we paid, and for what he’s costing, he’s a perfectly decent squad option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Worth remembering it was only two months ago AEG was struggling to even make the bench for league. That said think Conor is done here given Ramsey is regularly getting on instead of him and Barkley will obviously come back into the mix very soon. Great servant but he's one of those we could move on for 4-5m and balance the books a little bit after mass spending of last 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 24 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Worth remembering it was only two months ago AEG was struggling to even make the bench for league. That said think Conor is done here given Ramsey is regularly getting on instead of him and Barkley will obviously come back into the mix very soon. Great servant but he's one of those we could move on for 4-5m and balance the books a little bit after mass spending of last 2 years. Unfortunately Conor doesn't have the ability to make the same sort of impact. He's reached his ceiling, and that's fine. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Whatever way it goes he has been great for us. If I was a championship club I would be looking to get him in Jan especially if I was close or in the playoffs. He still has a lot to offer at that level in my opinion. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 4 minutes ago, dudevillaisnice said: Whatever way it goes he has been great for us. If I was a championship club I would be looking to get him in Jan especially if I was close or in the playoffs. He still has a lot to offer at that level in my opinion. sure is teams down the bottom that are desperate for goals. Baggies, Brighton, Sheffield United maybe even Burnley he could do a job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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