RVW

[Ivan Easter 0]

Does anybody think that he will fit in to the premier league?

[Surfer 1,547]

yes

[city4eva 242]

yes but not with us while Hughton is here

[Cantiaci Canary 610]

I live in hope that he will hit the net soon and then go on to score the goals to keep us up.

However, I am starting to wonder if we only got Ricky because other Prem clubs didn''t think he could cut it in this league.

[Salopian 1]

Yes, but not necessarily with us. Yesterday, coming from the bench, he perhaps achieved little, partly because the rest of the team were tired and partly because we were concentrating on defence. He had poor service, and like Hooper before him was very isolated.

We are not using either of them to maximum effect, as shown by them having to come deep and long way from goal to get the ball. I hope that Hughton and his colleagues can bring the team to see what is needed, and practice it.

Plenty of people who know more about football than anyone on here were congratulating Hughton on the capture of RvW last summer. We believed them, and expected a very good season. He, and Hooper also, is committed and trying with all his energy. If there is any fault, they are only partly responsible. The reason lies elsewhere, either with the triumvirate or with colleagues who can''t play to order, or both.

[Cantiaci Canary 610]

IF (!) we stay up what will the club do about our appalling scoring record (under 2 goals in 50 / 63 league games!!!).

1. Blame CH and his coaches and dismiss them.

2. Blame the strikers and buy some new faces.

3. Blame misfortune and ''settling in'' and go again with what we have.

4. Blame the midfield and buy a some new faces.

5. Bring in a new coach to aid Hughton in that department.

6. Something else.

[SYG 0]

Not a chance, he''s awful

[Dubai Mark 0]

This is one I keep changing my mind on and right now I''m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. That said, even though Hooper has been isolated, he still does look a threat, as he did yesterday,and has been unlucky not to notch at least two or three more goals this season....unfortunately other than in probably three games RVW hasnt looked a serious consistent threat.....he has though shown glimpses of class, sure they have been glimpses, but its not like he has shown nothing since his arrival, plus his injury kept him out for a long time and getting back up to speed mid season is I understand a challenge..........

[Nexus_Canary 1,206]

[quote user="city4eva"]yes but not with us while Hughton is here[/quote]I think he will have a much better season without Hootan as manager to be fair. Not playijng to his strengths one bit.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

He does cut a forlorn figure at the moment. He badly needs a goal. Think the Toure thing showed just how frustrated he is at the moment. Its one of those things perhaps that if he gets a goal then things might start to go his way. In most games though we dont create too many chances, so he has to take his opportunities. Maybe he needs to covert a penalty to start a run going. Perhaps this makes the Snodgrass penalty incident all the more significant. If he''d have taken that and scored might have been just what he needed. I dont know what I think about him as a player. We''ve seen only snatches of him still, even at this stage of the season. Got to believe he''s a good player from the reputation that preceded him, but we''ve seen very little direct evidence of this. I wonder if part of his problem is that he probably had hopes of going to the world cup and thought coming here and scoring a few goals would improve his chances, whereas now he has no chance at all

[Wiz 0]

Sadly he looks a bit of a dud to me I do hope for oursakes I''m wrong.

[Alex Moss 2,167]

He is clearly very much a confidence striker, and he really needs a goal or 2 to get going. It''s obvious that confidence here is the overiding issue. If anyone thinks it''s down to lack of ability they would be mad, a lack of confidence i feel has given him slightly lead boots (i''ve been there in Sunday league football as i''m sure a few of you also have), a quick recap of his videos on YouTube etc will quickly remind you that he''s got a varied armoury to his finishing irrespective of what you may judge the previous leagues in - you can''t fake technique. I can understand some peoples disappointment that he''s not hit 10+ goals so far, but hopefully if Fer gets to play with more freedom as seen against Man City then Ricky will finally benefit from some killer through balls, i think he needs this to get him going, maybe a scrappy penalty (which we''re due)

He''s no dud, just got low confidence at the moment i suspect - still hope he''ll be a massive success here just as i hoped Iwan would after his first season, and we all know how that turned out...

[lake district canary 4,831]

RVW is a class striker and will score goals.  End of.   As usual the gainsayers are rubbishing him because he hasn''t scored much, but injury, confidence and adapting to the premiership are all issues that are affecting him and as Alex says, he just needs a goal or two to set him off.   We should be patient and give him encouragement, so - GO FOR IT RVW!  THE FORCE IS WITH YOU! I know, players don''t read the forums...........much.

[jedi 0]

This is getting ridiculous now, he''s a good player. He''s in a new league, a under performing team who lack clear cut chances and has been hit with a long injury. Only great saves and a bit of bad luck has kept his goal tally down also I can think of at least 4 occasions when the wingers could have played him in and instead shot or pulled back a bad cross. We don''t play enough early balls behind the back four, now Fer is playing higher up field I think we''ll see more chances created and taken.

[ZLF 335]

Lol - even after a great team effort there are still trolls looking to knock a player.   He will come good,  form is temporary only.

 

He looked no less likely to score than Hooper on sat and its a team responsibility to improve on the 19 we have scraped together;  we do need to get more players into the box and we need to improve our decision making and delivery,    Redmonds blazed effort over the bar first half was the right choice to shoot but he wrong choice of shot (he should have gone across the keeper),   his delivery of the late cross was poor being behind both of the city players in the box,  poor choice also from pilks with his effort just over the bar;   ricky in a far better position to score than the tight angle pilks was faced with (hart almost certainly had any on target effort covered) 

[Syteanric 1]

Ricky is not good enough.

we paid money for him to hit the ground running.. the chances he has had he has have never looked like scoring... I always think back to Spurs away when he simply needed to roll the ball into an empty net.. instead he took 3 touches allowing the goalkeeper and Danny Rose to recover and make the block....

That could have been down to confidence, but if ricky doesnt have the self belief then he might as well pack up and go home now.. because a striker without self belief and confidence is never going to cut it in the premiership.

I always think hoops looks like he will score with a half chance.. Ricky looks like he could shoot all day and never find the net.

Sooner or later we are going to have to say we signed a dud.... how many more chances does he realistically get?

[GJP 79]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

He looked no less likely to score than Hooper on sat

[/quote]

Indeed.

 

Unfortunately what I''m noticing around me is that RVW gets criticised (and quite vocally by some) for things that Hooper doesn''t get criticised for.

 

And I suspect that until he starts to score goals everything he does will be wrong in the eyes of some.

[lake district canary 4,831]

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]

Ricky is not good enough.

we paid money for him to hit the ground running..

the chances he has had he has have never looked like scoring...

I always think back to Spurs away when he simply needed to roll the ball into an empty net.. instead he took 3 touches allowing the goalkeeper and Danny Rose to recover and make the block....

That could have been down to confidence, but if ricky doesnt have the self belief then he might as well pack up and go home now.. because a striker without self belief and confidence is never going to cut it in the premiership.

I always think hoops looks like he will score with a half chance.. Ricky looks like he could shoot all day and never find the net.

Sooner or later we are going to have to say we signed a dud.... how many more chances does he realistically get?

[/quote]That is a very negative view.    Why so negative?   He is technically - as a striker - one of the best.   Accurate and clinical at his best with either his head or foot.   Why do we have to write him off just because he hasn''t succeeded yet?   Adebayor spent seasons in the doldrums yet is proving his worth now.   RVW has had a difficult season with fitting into a new league, a new country, a team struggling to find form, a fairly long term injury.  He works hard and gets himself in good positions.  He will score, so isn''t it more realistic to say he hasn''t succeeded yet than say "not good enough"? 

[bloodwagon 0]

I like him and i think he will go far, heres what a friend said about him....He got a good cross in the box for his first goal, that wasnt a fluke

it was because someone provided for him.. to get the best of him i think

they need to have people like whitaker RW/RM and jonas LW/LM because

they aint selfish and like to

cross the ball and look for the people that have made scoring goals

their livelihood! The 3 in question: Pilks, Snoddy and Redmond need to

realise its not all about them and they cant score them all. This is why

i would love to see them maybe play a 4-2-3-1 and have Wes in and

create chances!

[Norfolk Mustard 106]

"Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent"...

[unique 466]

"Hegot a good cross ....for his first goal"

Whittaker was taking a shot and it sliced off his boot. RVW placed a good header from it.......but if it wasn''t for a flukey cross, he would still be sitting on a nil return.......

[Canary On The Wire 0]

''RVW is technically one of the best''

....Just no LDC. I still rate Ricky and I do blame Hughton''s approach restricting him to limited opportunity to get off the ground and believe he is a very talented striker, but I could comfortably name fifty worldwide who are superior.Your comments on NCFC are often intelligent, but your superlatives give your detractors easy ammunition

[lake district canary 4,831]

[quote user="Canary On The Wire"]''RVW is technically one of the best''....Just no LDC. I still rate Ricky and I do blame Hughton''s approach restricting him to limited opportunity to get off the ground and believe he is a very talented striker, but I could comfortably name fifty worldwide who are superior.Your comments on NCFC are often intelligent, but your superlatives give your detractors easy ammunition[/quote]

Well we''ll have to disagree on that one.  If RVW proves himself - as I believe he will - he may well be seen as one of the best header''s  as well as one of the best strikers of the ball.  For whatever reason, he has not done it this season - and there are several reasons why imo - but I think he will prove himself beyond what some seem to think. 

[Simple Jack 0]

One goal, six months ago. The header against Everton might turn out to be the only one he ever won in a City shirt. Best striker of the ball? He''s fluffed very chance he''s had. Yes, he''s certainly turning out to be a quality acquisition and well worth very penny of the £8.5 million.

[skeps 0]

no way to light weight, would give him next season because if you invest money you have to invest time, but against mancity he got caught in the net and nearly burst into tears, needs to hit the gym bigtime.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

The question is what happens to him at the end of the season? Lets assume for the moment not much changes with Ricky and he finishes the season with his solitary goal or perhaps two or three. What then happens? Do the club keep the faith with him and try to get the players in that will bring the best out of him? Do the fans keep their patience with him? Or does he get written off as a bad job and sold on for a cut price fee? I think he''s a player that could wel ldo really well under different circumstances. Think we need to keep him and work hard on getting the best out of him. Think to sack him off after one season would be very misguided

[Helsinki canary 302]

IMO He really seems to have a severe confidence problem, he clearly lacks self belief, we needed a strong physically and mentally ready striker for 8.5mil to help us stay in the prem, I fear he is not going to deliver, maybe best to send back to a softer more technical league on the continent, the young Murphy boys appear more mentally equipped for the premier league, he clearly is technically gifted but lacks on the other fronts.

[Holtcantshoot 0]

[quote user="GJP"][quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

He looked no less likely to score than Hooper on sat

[/quote]

Indeed.

 

Unfortunately what I''m noticing around me is that RVW gets criticised (and quite vocally by some) for things that Hooper doesn''t get criticised for.

 

And I suspect that until he starts to score goals everything he does will be wrong in the eyes of some.

[/quote]Well as a striker he is neither scoring or creating chances for others. So yes, until he starts doing that he will be criticised. Not everything he does is wrong, but quite a lot is at the moment.

[Buzz Killington 0]

RVW is undoubtedly a quality striker. He''s scored goals at every other club he''s been at. I''d say his ability is not the problem, but our inability as a team. I can''t remember how many times I''ve seem him lurking on the penalty spot waiting for a chance, when Redmond has cut inside, and blasted over (again), or Snodgrass has just held onto the ball too long forcing him to come and look for it. If we can play to his strengths, he''ll be quality. If we can''t, he''ll be off.

[Stone 0]

Like most I really want RVW to be a success, I''ve been trying to give him the benefit of my doubt for a long while now. Trying to take positives out of his performances, wondering how we could play to his strengths, trying to figure out what his strengths actually are.

I''m struggling to see what he brings to the team. Yes, he''s scored well in Portugal and Holland but those leagues lack the physicality and intensity of the Premier League which is making Ricky appear very lightweight. He''s not particularly pacey and his touch (particularly in the penalty area) has been woeful. His movement and awareness are probably his best assets but without the strength or pace to compliment them he wont score goals in the Premier League. We could play more to his strengths by employing wingers who are more likely to pick him out smartly but the chances he has had don''t inspire confidence.

I did think that a lengthy absence due to a TOE injury may have given him the opportunity to have bulked up in preparation for his return. Yet he''s still as slight as ever. He looks like a 16 year old youth team player we''re persevering with in the first team.

Gary Hooper has been superior to RVW in every department; bigger goal threat, higher work rate, better outlet.