Should Stokes be dropped?

Exactly.

 

Aye.

You only need to think back a couple of seasons when Vennegoor and McDonald played together. They scored 51 goals between them in their first season and people were wanking over it, they were the bees knees and it was everyone elses fault that we never played well.

They never stopped to think that the reason we were really boring and others werent scoring was the team was set up for people to go down the wings and cross it into them and they were to head it it or knock it down and get goals and they did.

But that style of play was * to watch, McGeady and Nakamura were hampered by playing without any freedom and the centre-mids were basically defenders standing in the middle of the park. The rest of the team were slagged a lot but no-one complained about McDonald or Vennegoor even though the whole set up of the play was for them to get goals and thats what made us *.

Now, we have a team that is set up to play creatively and with freedom with players swapping position, floating about, centre-halves that join the attack and it works well, we are cruising games and dominating teams.

 

Yes, my child?









:icon_mrgreen:

 

Expected that

 

He should play just off Leigh when comes into the team, with Commons behind them.

Griffiths Stokes
Commons
Johansen Mulgrew Brown​

If he doesn't perform then for a few games, then yes he should be dropped. His movement and work rate are vital for the way Lenny likes to play though.... even if he's not scoring.

 

My opinion in short -

I think its very important to have irish players in the team, and i really want Stokes to do well. But in my opinion, it's times up now. He was decent with hooper beside him, but now its time to give another striker the chance, before they all get * and * off.

 

so refreshing to see someone with common sense.

 

Agreed, we have a far more fluent style of play now. With everybody getting on the goalsheet, although the strikers do need to step it up there is no doubting that. Stokes has been playing well and involved himself in a lot of the play but he hasn't got his shooting boots on, which is a bit strange. Same amount of goals as he scored last year and he was only fit for about 2 months last year.

There's something odd going on with him infront of goal, he's not getting the luck just now. Even today there was five or six times he could have been found in the box and the ball didn't get by the first man, and when it eventually did he cocked it up.

Something weird going on there and I suspect Griffiths will be getting in and onto the score sheet right away which will be a good thing but I'm happy with Stokes' all round play just now, not passing to Boerrigter today aside.

 

Now its the opposite of that, its everyone else fault we're playing well but its Stokes/Pukki that are * because they arent scoring :smiley-laughing002:

 

Think he has been off the boil for a wee while now but question is, is it enough to bring someone else in.

Personally I would like to see Balde get a decent run to see to what he can do. Also Griffiths going to have to get game time.

In the end at least he has options even if some are not totally convincing.

 

He's probably low on condfidence in front of goal, its funny to me that I came on here after when I came in and people were slagging him for being too greedy. Yet the guys behind me in the first half were moaning that he wasnt shooting and kept passing the ball :smiley-laughing002:

He should have probably 5 more goals than he does at the moment but hes never been a great goalscorer, he missed more than a few easy chances. He's always been more of a creator and link player. Like a poor mans Bergkamp or a player like that. Nocunt would have played Bergkamp as a lone striker and if they did they'd probably have slagged him for not scoring enough goals but with Bergkamp up front you'd imagine the "Commons" who played off him and other players would have scored more than they usually would because his play would have helped them.

 

Aye, I agree but I'm awaiting on the hysterics to some of the absolute tools on here about saying Bergkamp up there.

 

This

 

:smiley-laughing002:

I know I couldnt think of other well known players, I was going to say Prso but that might have went down worse

I bet everyone in our team likes to play with Stokes. If you took out Stokes and played Balde, Commons and Forrest and that would probably think "fucksake". Knowing they can't really link-up with him, so they'd need to play off each other and would have to basically provide for Balde, compared to someone like Stokes those 3 know they can all roam and rotate and just play naturally knowing they are good enough to get goals.

 

Commons gets a lot of goals playing with Stokes, would be interesting to see the figures of his goals with Stokes and without Stokes, his movement creates a lot of room and Commons fills the gaps, it is clever and very enjoyable.

I personally think that's the reason Balde isn't playing, Commons is on fire just now and its yet to be seen if Commons can adapt his play to play off of a target man and not be the one that's the main point of the attack.

If you are talking about comparisons its why Benzema played at Real Madrid and Higuian was on the bench, despite having a better record and being a better goalscorer.

 

How is it important to have Irish players in the team ? We should be signing the best players we possibly can for every position regardless of their nationalities.

However I think it is very important to have Celtic men in the team. If that is what you meant then I agree with that.

 

This season and last season overall:

55 apps, 43 starts, 14 goals, 15 assists.

Not prolific enough.

 

So he's contributed 29 goals, in 43 starts, 55 appearances all in? I presume that doesn't include stuff like the game he could sent off against Motherwell? Where he played a massive part in all 3 goals?

 

You could tell with that effort at the end today his confidence is shot to *. Looked to me like he was in 2 minds whether to lay Derk off or go round the keeper, then at the very last second decided to go round and made a hash of it.

Couple of seasons ago he would have finished it no bother, just shows the what effect playing alongside Hooper had on him mentally.

 

Couple of seasons ago, infact at the start of the season when he scored about 5 in 5 he wouldn't have buried it, he'd just have passed the * ball. It's preying on his mind, which we can't really afford.