Ollie Watkins

[foreveryoung]

Always said he used to be a right pest for defenders, strong too, holding the ball up. He still gets the odd goal and makes some decent runs, but as some one has already said, he hardly worries defenders, that side of his game is none existent, in most games.

Wouldn't be missed, just wish the media would pick up on it and get some insight from them. But I guess he ain't Salah ior Lukaku s he.

[Demitri_C]

As effective as digging a hole with a pencil.

Shite 

Edited March 19, 2022 by Demitri_C

[Chine]

30 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

As effective as digging a hole with a pencil.

Shite 

Not saying I totally agree , but that’s funny

[Keener window-cleaner]

If we would get 30M I'd sell. I like him and am thankful for what he has done, great season last season, works really hard for the team and despite what ppl say I do think his attitude is really good. He wouldn't get picked in front of INgs if he wasn't working hard in training.

But, It's clear to me now that he has reached his level, and would take the next step. His ball control, technique and awareness is simply not good enough for a striker in a top PL team. 

[Demitri_C]

Why does he always hit a ball straight at the opposition player? I cant tell you how frustrating i find it how regularly he does this.

[M_Afro]

8 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

If we would get 30M I'd sell. I like him and am thankful for what he has done, great season last season, works really hard for the team and despite what ppl say I do think his attitude is really good. He wouldn't get picked in front of INgs if he wasn't working hard in training.

But, It's clear to me now that he has reached his level, and would take the next step. His ball control, technique and awareness is simply not good enough for a striker in a top PL team. 

I would also sell him for £30m if we can get a better replacement. I think we may struggle to sell him though. Will he want to leave? Who would be prepared to pay £30m and match his wages?

I can’t see anybody above us signing him. Who below us needs him or could afford him? Maybe Newcastle but I suspect they will be looking for better. Leeds if they stay up? Maybe. I think we are probably stuck with him to be honest.

I think off loading Ings may be easier, although his wages will also be prohibitive to potential purchasers. 
 

[WallisFrizz]

11 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

I would also sell him for £30m if we can get a better replacement. I think we may struggle to sell him though. Will he want to leave? Who would be prepared to pay £30m and match his wages?

I can’t see anybody above us signing him. Who below us needs him or could afford him? Maybe Newcastle but I suspect they will be looking for better. Leeds if they stay up? Maybe. I think we are probably stuck with him to be honest.

I think off loading Ings may be easier, although his wages will also be prohibitive to potential purchasers. 
 

Brighton need a goal scorer, Everton if they sell DCL. Think you’re right tho, his stock will have plummeted after this season. 

[M_Afro]

1 minute ago, WallisFrizz said:

Brighton need a goal scorer, Everton if they sell DCL. Think you’re right tho, his stock will have plummeted after this season. 

I hadn’t thought of Everton. That might be a decent shout.

[useless]

Why  would we sell a player for £30m that we signed for £32m from the championship, after that player has proven himself at Premier League level and become an international striker, you have to pay close to £30m for some championship strikers, Brereton Diaz would probably cost a cool £25m plus and he's had one good season at championship level. Also if Watkins is as bad as some are making out then why would Brighton, Everton, or Arsenal want him, the first two probably couldn't afford him even if we just wanted our money back which I doubt.

We might strengthen our attack in the summer but that doesn't mean to say that Watkins has to be sold, we're trying to build a squad, I think Ings is more likely to be sold than Watkins, makes sense age wise, and more clubs would be able to afford him but we'd still get a decent fee.

[paul514]

1 hour ago, useless said:

Why  would we sell a player for £30m that we signed for £32m from the championship, after that player has proven himself at Premier League level and become an international striker, you have to pay close to £30m for some championship strikers, Brereton Diaz would probably cost a cool £25m plus and he's had one good season at championship level. Also if Watkins is as bad as some are making out then why would Brighton, Everton, or Arsenal want him, the first two probably couldn't afford him even if we just wanted our money back which I doubt.

We might strengthen our attack in the summer but that doesn't mean to say that Watkins has to be sold, we're trying to build a squad, I think Ings is more likely to be sold than Watkins, makes sense age wise, and more clubs would be able to afford him but we'd still get a decent fee.

I'd take 40 for him and try again.

[Laughable Chimp]

2 hours ago, useless said:

Why  would we sell a player for £30m that we signed for £32m from the championship, after that player has proven himself at Premier League level and become an international striker, you have to pay close to £30m for some championship strikers, Brereton Diaz would probably cost a cool £25m plus and he's had one good season at championship level. Also if Watkins is as bad as some are making out then why would Brighton, Everton, or Arsenal want him, the first two probably couldn't afford him even if we just wanted our money back which I doubt.

We might strengthen our attack in the summer but that doesn't mean to say that Watkins has to be sold, we're trying to build a squad, I think Ings is more likely to be sold than Watkins, makes sense age wise, and more clubs would be able to afford him but we'd still get a decent fee.

The reason why players like Watkins came to us for 30m because he was an outstanding Championship player with the potential to be able to do it in the prem. That would be the case for any other outstanding and young championship player. We're paying for their potential, not for how good they were in the Championship.

In a sense, that 30m figure we paid is already taking that into account. If a player goes into the Prem and then performs decently, his value doesn't go higher than that just because he's "Prem" proven. The player needs to be outstanding to increase their value.

This is why we bought Targett for around the same figure we're rumoured to letting Newcastle purchase him for. 2 and a half decent seasons of being Prem proven didn't increase his value by much than what we paid because the initial price we paid already had that built into it.

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Laughable Chimp

[Zatman]

57 percent pass accuracy yesterday from 14 passes

[AntrimBlack]

A bit like Ramsey, he would benefit from being taken out of the limelight.

He was great last season and you don't lose that, it's just sometimes it stops working for a while and you go into a slump. He is producing some tired, listless performances.

A few games sat out on the bench, then reintroduced gradually, and you will see the old fire return.

[CVByrne]

Not Watkins fault yesterday. Totally isolated and zero support. 

[IrishVilla10]

6 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Not Watkins fault yesterday. Totally isolated and zero support. 

He has to take some blame for yesterday. He was as abysmal. The ball bounced off him any time he got near it. I think our first chance came from him trying to take on a defender and losing the ball and it falling to Mcginn. I’ll be shocked if he starts over Ings who’s clearly the better footballer 

[nick76]

6 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Not Watkins fault yesterday. Totally isolated and zero support. 

But when he was involved he was useless so I understand he didn’t get much support but when he was involved, his first touch was really poor, his movement was not there, he didn’t get himself involved and he had no fight, urgency or desire.  

The last part could be said about a lot of our players but Ollie’s first touch was awful and his famed movement and stretching the defenders wasn’t there.  He did nothing when he was involved.

[sparrow1988]

15 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Not Watkins fault yesterday. Totally isolated and zero support. 

This is very true. He wasn’t very good but he didn’t have any support. It was a poor performance all round but I suppose there’s always a need to pinpoint the root cause of a poor or even a good team performance.

[PaulC]

18 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Not Watkins fault yesterday. Totally isolated and zero support. 

Exactly, he gets so much unfair stick on here. 

[VillaParkAvenue]

3 hours ago, Zatman said:

57 percent pass accuracy yesterday from 14 passes

He was bad yesterday but looking at pass completion for strikers is pointless, their job isn’t to make passes but to receive them. Strikers often have 50-70 percent for the few passes they attempt.

[Laughable Chimp]

1 hour ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

He was bad yesterday but looking at pass completion for strikers is pointless, their job isn’t to make passes but to receive them. Strikers often have 50-70 percent for the few passes they attempt.

Strikers on average have more than 70 percent passing accuracy per game. Modern strikers are very much involved in linkup play.

This shouldn't be the metric which we judge every striker, but in Ollie's case I do think it's a valid metric to judge him. We rely on him to win our long balls up the field, hold it up and pass it to a teammate rushing up the field. All too often he is failing in all 3 of these steps.