Low cost, low risk,, very experienced..can see him more in the role behind the front 2. Unfortunately the role suited to DKD.
I appreciate the humour. It’ll certainly be funny in months to come to look back at this thread, one way or another.
Questions on the thread about high press, low block etc. They aren’t anything new. Just maybe new more fashionable terms used. High press - closing defenders down when in possession in their own half. Stepping up to allow little space immediately in front of the ball (but plenty in behind). Quickly trying to regain the ball. Low Block - ten or eleven men behind the ball - positional discipline making it difficult to play through or around - what you might also call ‘parking the bus’. Or as I like to see it. High press is what we say we are going to do. Low block is what we actually do a lot of the time (particularly if we happen to be in front with half an hour to play).
So Conor gets to choose a player, like a manager and not a Head Coach. Lets have a manager back, get rid of Mladen and put his salary into the managers budget. McGoldrick is a player we know about unlike some we have been given in recent years, at his age we wont make much from him so a change in direction, amazing how this can all happen when you are friendly with the Crynes.
Proof is in the pudding. Your last sentence fits in with what I saw under Clarke. Not so much Hourihane. But we’ll know more across the first dozen games or so, after a pre-season where you’d hope he’s been able to get his messages across. I like direct, high pressing football. Something between Stendel and Ismaël would suit me. But in reality, I just want to see hard work, an attacking mindset and harder to beat. If that comes through tippy tappy nonsense, I’ll take it.
Maybe some of us just want to be off our seats ,a bit like the game against Wednesday when we won 4 2. Cracking game .
The proof will come at the end of the season but references to Wilkinson and Hendrie overlook the fact they were 32 and 33 when they joined and were retired by the age of 35. He’s actually older that Adam Hammill. He may be a great player but age can’t just be discounted.
Well im convinced he will get more than 9 this season ,which is an improvement on Humphry. And it's a one year deal on a free, what is not to like about this.
My thoughts Age catches up everyone. McGoldrick has gone on much longer than most. Well done to him, he's clearly a supreme athlete and made of steel. But age will catch up with him too. Usually, if players continue into their mid 30s, they gradually drop down the leagues. This is exactly what McGoldrick has done. As such, he's maintained a high level of performance for the quality of league he is in, but the quality of league has dropped off as his performance has dropped off. I would have expected his next move to be to an ambitious conference club desperate for promotion. But instead, he's another year older but stepped up a level. His level of performance will have dropped off further but he's competing against better quality than last year. I don't think that's going to work and I'm not expecting anything out of him at all. Because age catches up with you. I hope I'm wrong.
He's exactly the type of signing that we needed last summer or in January to keep our playoff push alive. Like you say a quality target man could make the world of difference to Phillips, DKD and Russell.
I agree with your points above - can he play another year at a higher level than last year - its a good question. At least in these days of 5 subs he can be used in 30 or 60 minute bursts which should help but Im not convinced - we will soon find out and he will in any case be a useful addition in terms of experience for our younger strikers, as long as he plays unlike a certain experienced midfielder we signed last summer
I thought the same initially, but what seems evidently clear from the comments from Notts County fans is that he was playing below his level for them. Arguably, when he signed for them, he was probably still good enough for the bottom end of the championship. I get he's another year older now, but I reckon this is probably about his level. I certainly don't see him hitting 20 goals like he did for Derby a couple of seasons ago at this level, but I don't think it's a bad thing having him in rotation with another forward, someone who can learn from him.
I'm somewhat bemused that his ability to run around a lot is the mark by which we're judging him given some of the players we've had upfront who have done only that, but not scored. He clearly knows how to finish. Some crackers in that highlights reel. Headers, left foot, right foot, penalties, free kicks etc. Just what we needed to help out upfront.
Paul Wilkinson was 31 when we signed him from a Premier League club. A league above where we were playing.* John Hendrie was 32 when we signed him from a Premier League club. A league above where we were playing. David McGoldrick is 37. We have signed him from a League 2 club. A league below where we are playing. *We sold Wilkinson for £150,000. He was still a financial asset.
Wilkinson and Hendrie also played in an era where players were more often in the pub than the gym. Lars Leese's book had details about the drinking that went on at the time. Age can't be discounted, but neither can form or results. He's coming off a seventeen goal season where he made the League Two team of the season and was his club's player of the year. He's better than Norwood was when he signed for us. I reckon he's going to be good for at least 10-12 goals this season which is great considering our paucity of firepower.
He's a known player approaching the twilight of his career and we don't have a dedicated coach for the strikers since Stead left (or did I miss that announcement). I might be putting 2+2 and getting 17, but I think he'll make mostly cameo appearances, knock in 10-12 goals and get some coaching in of the younger players. Which seems to me like a good move all round.
I suppose we had a high level of expectation for Conor when he signed. Just played 47 games in a team winning promotion. A player who played at the highest level and seemed to keep himself fit.