Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
View From The Moon

Earnshaw and January

Recommended Posts

This is not meant to be a criticism but his has been on my mind since Tuesday.  I know Earnie is our top scorer and everything but watching the game I was thinking that from a team perspective he can be very frustrating.  At a time when our defence is under pressure and the ball is cleared, very rarely does it stick up top and he never seems to be willing to run after lost causes - aka the Everton diver - who busts his chops for the good of the team.  Earnie is our finisher but he needs decent service to score so maybe at this moment in time he is a luxury that we can''t afford when the chips are down and we are under pressure and need a free-kick or something on the half way line so we can push the defence up. 

If he were to go surely we could get any two from Eastwood/Sharp/Hayter etc and have two players who would not only contribute in terms of goals but provide an outlet for the team when we need to clear our lines.  I know this may not be a priority but I like to think it would show a sign of our intent and what we''re looking to achieve by bringing in younger, hungry players and then hopefully build from there.

Any thoughts?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I disagree.

If Earnshaw wants to leave Carrow Road in the style of Dean Ashton then there''s not a lot the club can do about it but if we were to voluntarily sell him that would be utter madness. What would be the point of selling the Championship''s leading scorer ? Yes he misses a lot of chances, and, if he had Craig Bellamy''s one-on-one finishing skills he''d score a lot more. But surely, whilst he''s at the club, we need to build round him as he must be our main hope of climbing the table.

I must also disagree that he doesn''t chase lost causes. If some other members of the team put in half his effort we''d not be looking nervously over our shoulders at the wrong end of the table. Agreed he doesn''t win many in the way Leon McKenzie did but he seems to care more about our club than some.

It''s not Earnshaw''s fault that he''s not a man mountain .........we need to pass the ball to him, not lump it upfield as we all know he''ll never win a game of '' hoofball ''.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

he is our top scorer yes...

but a striker that takes chances to score, or spend the money on a striker who will score with his only chance... i know which one id take, especially in the premiership....

I wouldnt voluntarily sell Earnie, but i wouldnt be gutted if he went, as long as the money was spent wisely.. I have said from day 1 he isnt as good as people make out....in the top flight he wont get 10 chances and score one of them.. he will get one chance... and blasting it straight at the keeper isnt going to be good enough.

jas :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for your reply ''and Smith must score'',

Maybe I worded it a bit wrong but it was mainly my thinking that the system that we play at the moment does not play to Earnie strengths which is not his fault in any way.  Some of the players we have at the present time are not good enough to give him good enough service/through balls where nine times out of ten I would think he would score.  On Tuesday it was evident that Earnie was playing on the shoulder of the last defender as any good striker would look to do and was looking for the ball to run on to, instead the play was slowed down and played into his feet and then he was trying to make a half chance at best.  In fact one of the few times in recent memory I can remember Earnie running onto a throughball and scoring was the Leicester game last season from Safri''s pass.  If we''re not looking to do this and play to his strengths then as I said he is being wasted by us. 

It is to his credit that he has scored 9 goals this season playing up front on his own trying to suit his game to our needs but its not good enough from a team perspective.  Many people have slagged Dion Dublin off but when he came on as a sub on Tuesday everyone could see the difference not just in the team but in Earnie who was trying to play off the knockdowns rather than being the one who had to try to compete for everything.  However he''s not the answer every game for 90 minutes.  Bit out of context but seeing Shevchenko at Chelsea is a similar scenario where they are not playing to his strengths and at times it shows but he is doing a job for the team but there comes a time when a decison has to be made for the benefit of the team.  We''ll see in January.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It could become more to do with what he wants. With the Hummer still parked at Dunston Hall almost a year after he signed for us maybe he doesn''t see this move as a long term thing - or maybe I''m just  being uncharitable and a suitable property just isn''t on the market.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To be honest I firmly believe that any rebuilding of this side will have to be done via the selling of Earnshaw - do not believe for one minute that we have the resources to fund a three or four player incoming without any resources from player sales and Earnshaw would bring us in the most wth around 4 million.  A two million striker would then leave two million on two other players and hopefully with the selling of others that do not cut the grain here would then provide enough for another player of decent quality - we shall see

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Earnie is not the best footballer in the champs, his movement lacks intelligence at times, his ability to hold a ball up is frustraingly poor and his acual shot to goal ratio is the worst in the league.   Playing him as a lone striker on that basis is madness as you are right - the ball never sticks and we lose possession too easily.

Howver by passing and moving more effectivly from midfield the system could work.  However we lack quality in the deliver of the ball to earnshaw which is only highlighting his limitations

We should be looking to play to his strengths,  which is his ability to score (despite poor shots to goal ratio) and his pace.  We have to adapt our style of play to get the best from Earnie, who is probably the best goal scorer in the league.

The way we are using him now is as shockingly misguided as the way we tried to make the footballer Ashton a carthorse target man and wondered why his performance suffered; 

We have to play to our strengths - not make good players fit into a desired system. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can I just ask how you are sure he will not leave? Not a criticism, just curious.

I think this could be one of the most difficult decisions Peter Grant has to make. I guess it all boils down to one thing, did Delia & Co hold back money from Wothington to be used in the event of a new manager coming in? If they did then there should be no reason to sell Earnie, if they did not then PG may have to bite the bullet and make a very unpopular decision in order to raise funds to overhaul the squad. I''ve said it elsewhere, the next few months could be very interesting!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I''m pretty sure Earnshaw will leave as he is about the only piece of family silver left to sell.

I think he has done remarkably well considering the overall situation......but he is somewhat of a luxury and not the sort of player Grant likes in his team.

If he goes I will have due respect for what he has done at CR......and maybe he will have re-booted his career during his short time with us.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...