Wilbraham

[a1canary 0]

I''d be surprised if someone hasn''t raised this already, but can''t see a post so i''ll mention it anyway. Does his regular involvement (and good form) in pre-season suggest he might feature more than we''re expecting this season? Could he be the surprise package?

[alysha 0]

This has crossed my mind too, he has had a good pre season and played some nice stuff in training yesterday. Add that to the fact Vaughan is out, C.Martin may also be injured as he didn''t train yesterday and we are still waiting to see if Holt is fit after his knock/fall yesterday, I wouldn''t be surprised to see him feature more than I first expected.

[Beauseant 0]

I''ve always liked Wilbraham, and the vitriol he attracted on here last season was ridiculous. He''s got an excellent first touch for a big man and shows good awareness to bring others into the game. His Achilles heel is his finishing, but I think he''ll be a really handy squad player this season.

[Joanna Grey 0]

Obviously he is our sixth striker and was in PL''s plans for this year but I genuinely thought he would be off-loaded. He seems more than ready to stake a claim however and the competition can only be a good thing.

[Chris Hugh? 0]

[quote user="Beauseant"]I''ve always liked Wilbraham, and the vitriol he attracted on here last season was ridiculous. He''s got an excellent first touch for a big man and shows good awareness to bring others into the game. His Achilles heel is his finishing, but I think he''ll be a really handy squad player this season.[/quote]

I agree he''s showing like he might actually have a part to play. But that is quite a serious Achilles heel for a Premiership striker...!

[TheGoogler 604]

I''d have him in the side ahead of Chrissy Martin. I know Chrissy is popular, but I think Wilbrahimovic brings  more to the team than Martin does.

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Another thread asked for everyone''s starting 18 for Wigan, and I think mine was the only one to have Wilbraham on the bench. I quite like him as a player, especially after seeing him at Leicester when he capped a very good performance with a slightly lucky goal.

 

With PL favouring attacking benches, I can see him being a regular on the bench as our "fourth striker", and ahead of Chris Martin (whose role I can see developing into more of an attacking midfielder).

 

Vaughan''s injury virtually guarantees Wilby a place on the bench.

[AJ 1,359]

I think people don''t realise that Wilbraham is more like Holt than Morison is. Some of our last gasp goals towards the end of the season involved Wilbraham a fair bit, and it''s a shame he got injured when he did. Nevertheless, he did what he was asked of, and has earnt his chance this season IMO. I think a lot of people will be a bit shocked by what Wilbraham can bring to the side.

[87canary 0]

[quote user="Beauseant"]I''ve always liked Wilbraham, and the vitriol he attracted on here last season was ridiculous. He''s got an excellent first touch for a big man and shows good awareness to bring others into the game. His Achilles heel is his finishing, but I think he''ll be a really handy squad player this season.[/quote]

Agree exactly with this. His finishing might be improving, his strike against Coventry was well taken.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I think pre-season has shown it is probably time to stop considering Chris Martin as a striker but more as the point on the diamond. Would have been interesting to see just how much time Wilbraham would have been given if Vaughan was fully fit.

 

 

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="TheGoogler"]I''d have him in the side ahead of Chrissy Martin. I know Chrissy is popular, but I think Wilbrahimovic brings  more to the team than Martin does. [/quote]Thank the lord you aren''t the manager.  Wheeliebin brings nothing to the team - an awful signing (but hey ho I can''t say that because Lambert is a god not a human being and he gets absolutely everything correct according to most of you on here - apart from when it suits your own agenda of course).

[Lets be aving you! 0]

A lot of us have no agenda, Smudger, we just write what we see.

 

A lot of people saying that they like "Wheeliebin" would suggest that you might, just might, be wrong.

 

I predict Wheelie to figure in the chosen 18 more than Chrissy, that Chrissy will tend not to be played up front anyway but in attacking midfield, and that Lambert will keep us up. But maybe you know better?

[chicken 0]

Well I wouldn''t be surprised to see him start in the cup matches at least.

We still have Jackson, Morrison plus him if Holt, Vaughan and Martin are injured.

Which just proves the point I made at the begining of the summer when people said four strikers was enough in a squad of 25. It clearly isn''t.

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Oh no, Smudge, you must be right: look what''s happened to my user name.

 

I bow down to your all-knowingness.

[Smudger 0]

We will see, but my money would be on Chris Martin to score more goals from right back than Wheeliebin would score if played upfront all season long.  An awful player who has nothing to offer at the top level in my opinion.  That is all - we will revist the thread at the end of the season. [H]

[shiplee15 0]

Definitely crossed my mind and i posted a few weeks back that as long as Lambert is happy to have him here then so am i.

I actually wouldn''t mind seeing him have his shot as he was starting to impress me before he got injured last year.

Do i think he''ll cut it? No, Do i think he deserves a chance? Yes.

Just need to wait and see.. In Lambert We Trust

[LeJuge 0]

Wilbraham was brought in last season to add a body to the squad, and he got some minutes as a result. Now that we have enough bodies in his squad, I can only really see two purposes for him. That might mean he will get a bit of game time again. The first scenario that I can envisage him being useful in is if we get to the last 20 minutes of the game, a goal down against a side that we simply can''t pass through. For example, Arsenal. Hypothetically, we could take Hoolahan and Jackson off, shove Morison and Wilbraham on, and then lump balls up to three big men in the area (with Holt). You can''t rule that out as a tactic, this is the Premier League now, we aren''t always going to be playing pretty football with fast and skillful players like Wes and Bennett. The other is to play a big man up front on his own, in a Kevin Davies role, when we need a bit of bite in midfield. One would assume that Chris Martin would be a good candidate for playing as a second striker in that type of game, but I don''t think that Holt is ever effective playing the lone target man role. So I could imagine Wilbraham playing the first 60 minutes against aggressive and strong teams, with perhaps flair players coming into the fold in the last half an hour. As good as we are, we are simply going to have to play some dirty football next year at times in order to win the points we need to stay up. Whether that is pumping balls into the box for the last half an hour hoping to find a goal, or sitting with 10 men behind the ball for the first 60 minutes of a game (or even the whole game, can''t rule that out either). That is precisely where Blackpool messed up last year, they didn''t have the players in the squad to vary their system. You can say that Holloway wanted to do it the right way, but I personally think that he did it the only way his squad allowed him to play. If he had players like Morison and Wilbraham, with tough tacklers like Crofts and Johnson who, I bet we would have seen some uglier football from Blackpool last year too. Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly to stay up, we have to do it too, simple as really. Not saying that we can''t get the ball down and play football, in fact I wouldn''t want to see us do anything other than that at Carrow Road, but if you get to December and your trudging hundreds of miles up North on a freezing cold night then just come back with a point ffs, don''t worry about wanting to play like your Bebeto having a kick around on the beach in Rio De Janiero.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="LeJuge"]Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly[/quote]

 

I would honestly rather be in the Championship than be a team like Stoke.

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Good, balanced post, Le Juge. I agree that Wilbraham will likely figure a good few times in the closing 20-30 minutes of games.

 

A lot of people also forget that Wilbraham had an injury for some of last season, and may well perform better now that it has (hopefully) been sorted out.

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

[quote user="LeJuge"]Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly[/quote]

I would honestly rather be in the Championship than be a team like Stoke.

[/quote]What a stupid comment. They are a smallish club with no debt, conceeded just 48 goals last year, and will be playing in the UEFA cup next year. I don''t really have anything else to say about that, your an idiot. Stoke deserve the success that they have and are one of the few clubs run responsibly in the country. Not sure what else to say, other than that Arsene Wenger would be proud of you.

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="Lambert is no longer god"]

Good, balanced post, Le Juge. I agree that Wilbraham will likely figure a good few times in the closing 20-30 minutes of games.

 

A lot of people also forget that Wilbraham had an injury for some of last season, and may well perform better now that it has (hopefully) been sorted out.

[/quote]Thanks, glad you didn''t take some aspects too literally ;-) If Wilbraham doesn''t get any football next year then it means the strikers we have at the club remain fit and in form, which is great news. If he does get minutes then he was required in the 25, and thus it is a good job we have him. I can only see it as win-win for us, and a win for a player who is at the age where this is his last chance of getting a few games in the best division in the world.

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

[quote user="LeJuge"]Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly[/quote]

I would honestly rather be in the Championship than be a team like Stoke.

[/quote]What a stupid comment. They are a smallish club with no debt, conceeded just 48 goals last year, and will be playing in the UEFA cup next year. I don''t really have anything else to say about that, your an idiot. Stoke deserve the success that they have and are one of the few clubs run responsibly in the country. Not sure what else to say, other than that Arsene Wenger would be proud of you. [/quote]In fact the two games against Stoke are precisely the type of game that strong and slightly aggressive players like Wilbraham and Bradley Johnson will be absolutely essential, I for one would not like to see Simeon Jackson up against Ryan Shawcross.... whereas I suspect Holt would happily battle with him.

[alysha 0]

I really don''t understand all the criticism surrounding Wilbraham last season, what were people expecting? Lambert knew he wasn''t going to set the Championship alight with goals, nor did Wilbraham himself, but he was brought in for a small fee to hold the ball up, put himself about and make a nuisnace of himself, which I think he did well; he was involved in a lot of the build up play for some of our late goals last season. I understand those who say that he won''t cut it, fair enough, but last season I think he did everything that was asked of him, and it seems pointless harshly criticising a player who is probably playing to the best of his ability, with the manager expecting nothing more of him.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

[quote user="LeJuge"]Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly[/quote]

I would honestly rather be in the Championship than be a team like Stoke.

[/quote]

What a stupid comment. They are a smallish club with no debt, conceeded just 48 goals last year, and will be playing in the UEFA cup next year.

I don''t really have anything else to say about that, your an idiot. Stoke deserve the success that they have and are one of the few clubs run responsibly in the country.

Not sure what else to say, other than that Arsene Wenger would be proud of you.
[/quote]

 

Football is a sport, which is for entertainment - when watching Stoke I am not entertained but I am bored.

 

Don''t call me an idiot you know nothing about me. I didn''t attack you personally in my post so what do you expect to gain by throwing insults around?

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"][quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

[quote user="LeJuge"]Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly[/quote]

I would honestly rather be in the Championship than be a team like Stoke.

[/quote]What a stupid comment. They are a smallish club with no debt, conceeded just 48 goals last year, and will be playing in the UEFA cup next year. I don''t really have anything else to say about that, your an idiot. Stoke deserve the success that they have and are one of the few clubs run responsibly in the country. Not sure what else to say, other than that Arsene Wenger would be proud of you. [/quote]

Football is a sport, which is for entertainment - when watching Stoke I am not entertained but I am bored.

Don''t call me an idiot you know nothing about me. I didn''t attack you personally in my post so what do you expect to gain by throwing insults around?

[/quote]Most people will be much more entertained in 2012/13 if Arsenal are coming to Carrow Road instead of Brighton, I can assure you of that. It would have helped if you had taken my post in context, which clearly stated that I don''t want to see us do anything other than attack at Carrow Road. If you think we can go all out attack in every game next year and stay up then you are living in a dream world, we can''t go to places like Tottenham and Arsenal and play with two wingers, two strikers, and Wes behind the forwards. I hope that you don''t sit near me mate, because if we go 1-0 up against Chelsea at Carrow Road and Lambert puts 11 men behind the ball for the last 10 minutes of the game then I am supporting that fully. At no stage have I advocated playing super defensive football like Stoke next year, but neither would I be happy if Lambert does a Holloway next year and tries to out pass Arsenal mate because it just isn''t going to happen.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"][quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

[quote user="LeJuge"]Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly[/quote]

I would honestly rather be in the Championship than be a team like Stoke.

[/quote]

What a stupid comment. They are a smallish club with no debt, conceeded just 48 goals last year, and will be playing in the UEFA cup next year.

I don''t really have anything else to say about that, your an idiot. Stoke deserve the success that they have and are one of the few clubs run responsibly in the country.

Not sure what else to say, other than that Arsene Wenger would be proud of you.
[/quote]

Football is a sport, which is for entertainment - when watching Stoke I am not entertained but I am bored.

Don''t call me an idiot you know nothing about me. I didn''t attack you personally in my post so what do you expect to gain by throwing insults around?

[/quote]

Most people will be much more entertained in 2012/13 if Arsenal are coming to Carrow Road instead of Brighton, I can assure you of that. It would have helped if you had taken my post in context, which clearly stated that I don''t want to see us do anything other than attack at Carrow Road. If you think we can go all out attack in every game next year and stay up then you are living in a dream world, we can''t go to places like Tottenham and Arsenal and play with two wingers, two strikers, and Wes behind the forwards.

I hope that you don''t sit near me mate, because if we go 1-0 up against Chelsea at Carrow Road and Lambert puts 11 men behind the ball for the last 10 minutes of the game then I am supporting that fully. At no stage have I advocated playing super defensive football like Stoke next year, but neither would I be happy if Lambert does a Holloway next year and tries to out pass Arsenal mate because it just isn''t going to happen.
[/quote]

I wasn''t taking any context from you post or suggesting you prefer one thing or another, all I was saying is I would rather we never played like Stoke - even if it meant relegation. Don''t be so senstive, sheesh.

 

Anyway you won''t have to worry about sitting near me, I''ll be in the Press seats getting paid to be at the game.

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"][quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"][quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

[quote user="LeJuge"]Stoke and Wolves were willing to play ugly[/quote]

I would honestly rather be in the Championship than be a team like Stoke.

[/quote]What a stupid comment. They are a smallish club with no debt, conceeded just 48 goals last year, and will be playing in the UEFA cup next year. I don''t really have anything else to say about that, your an idiot. Stoke deserve the success that they have and are one of the few clubs run responsibly in the country. Not sure what else to say, other than that Arsene Wenger would be proud of you. [/quote]

Football is a sport, which is for entertainment - when watching Stoke I am not entertained but I am bored.

Don''t call me an idiot you know nothing about me. I didn''t attack you personally in my post so what do you expect to gain by throwing insults around?

[/quote]Most people will be much more entertained in 2012/13 if Arsenal are coming to Carrow Road instead of Brighton, I can assure you of that. It would have helped if you had taken my post in context, which clearly stated that I don''t want to see us do anything other than attack at Carrow Road. If you think we can go all out attack in every game next year and stay up then you are living in a dream world, we can''t go to places like Tottenham and Arsenal and play with two wingers, two strikers, and Wes behind the forwards. I hope that you don''t sit near me mate, because if we go 1-0 up against Chelsea at Carrow Road and Lambert puts 11 men behind the ball for the last 10 minutes of the game then I am supporting that fully. At no stage have I advocated playing super defensive football like Stoke next year, but neither would I be happy if Lambert does a Holloway next year and tries to out pass Arsenal mate because it just isn''t going to happen. [/quote]

I wasn''t taking any context from you post or suggesting you prefer one thing or another, all I was saying is I would rather we never played like Stoke - even if it meant relegation. Don''t be so senstive, sheesh.

 

Anyway you won''t have to worry about sitting near me, I''ll be in the Press seats getting paid to be at the game.

[/quote]Blimey, that''s some ego you have there! You saw the opportunity (somehow) to squeeze in a boast, and you took it with both hands, like Toldo coming out to catch a corner. Personally I very much enjoy paying for my seat, on my day off, as it means I can have a drink, a bet, and call the ref a wanker. Seeing as us self-employed people can work where and when we want, I think I''m off to the pub to take advantage of their wi-fi. Cheerios.

[zak123 0]

Who went tonight?

From the 10 or so minutes that he was on the pitch he looked a completely changed man... Looking very confident on the ball, and passing with intent and power, moving around much faster than ever before as well as showing us he is more of a flick on and first touch guy. Having seen that Morison is quite a bit different to Holt I do now think Wilbraham is much more like Holt, just Holt is better.

I know I can''t really judge on 10 minutes but a good attitude always comes through no matter how long people play and he really showed that tonight as well as a willingness to get to the ball.

I am not saying he should be starter but as a guy in the 25, I am very pleased to have him in there.

[Graham Humphrey 13]

I agree with that.  The short time he was on the pitch he caused their defence several headaches.  A real handful and certainly a welcome member of our 25 as far as I''m concernred.

[GJP 79]

Yup, he did his bit when he came on. Got stuck in and battled to something on the ball.

 

To be honest he had started to play like that last season after he''d had time to get himself up to speed. He looked off the pace when he first arrived but it wasn''t long until he started being a handy player for us and then unfortunately he got injured.