Shaq

[peterstebbings]

This is a question, not a criticism, but is he going to be any good for us?

Disclaimer: I'm abroad so haven't seen him in the flesh. But seems several on here have said he spends a bit too much time throwing himself to the floor and sounds like he's hardly had a sniff at goal.

Perhaps he'll come into his own as a foil to Akinde.

But in which case we are still too reliant on the big man.

[Barnetchris]

It's a good question and the truth is I'm not sure, a career record of 1 goal every 5.5 games isn't great. It is early days but it maybe that either he needs to get used to the system more or he isn't particularly good.
We haven't had the easiest of games to start so let's see if he has his scoring boots on when we play the "weaker " teams especially at home. He could get some longer studs for his boots though , but to his credit he is a willing runner and playing with Akinde may help them both out.

[Modernist]

[quote="peterstebbings"]This is a question, not a criticism, but is he going to be any good for us?

Yesterday was my 1st game since pre season and the above was a conversation we had. Shaq was a willing runner and as has been noted we were generally short of ideas in the final third.

Shaq appears to me to be similar to Akinola in that he may not be suited to play in a central striking role. He unable to get the ball out of his feet quick enough and was too easily dispossessed before he could make a telling contribution. He does fall over rather too easily. On this limited view it may be that he is better suited to a wider role or one in behind Akinde if/when he returns. I can't imagine he will be a prolific scorer for us but he may well be used to greater effect.

JLAA looked good but faded badly second half and as last season looks to be unable to sustain his performance over 90 minutes.

[Mem Beespod]

To me he is a striker and his movement and workrate is excellent so I don't see the comparisons with Akinola.
He's clearly not the finished article but there is a player in there.
For me the first thing he needs to do is change his studs. He slipped at two key moments yesterday, one where he could have scored and then we were punished up the other end. Slipping over once or maybe twice is bad luck, more than that and there's an issue. He's been slipping over in every game he's played. Not having the right traction on your feet doesn't help holding off a 6ft 2+ Div 2 defender!
Leads onto the 2nd thing, his hold up play. It's really bad. In a passing side, the ball HAS to stick up top to allow the team to come up and support. He lost the call countless times and kept falling over (see my first point). It made us hugely disjointed and we struggled to put together anything meaningful


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[Modernist]

[quote="Mr Smart"]To me he is a striker and his movement and workrate is excellent so I don't see the comparisons with Akinola.

Akinola has been described as a forward /winger and I think if he is have any impact at the club it will be from playing from a wide position, not more centrally as previously tried.

Shaq may be described as a Striker but for me (on the basis of yesterday) he also appeared to be one who might be better used from a wide position, that being the comparison for me. I think playing wide left (ish) may possibly see us get more out of him.

Time will tell obviously, no doubting his effort though.

[#Beebot]

Obviously we won't find another Akinde, at least not in the short term anyway, but we need someone who can stand in for him who has similar attributes in his game. Amaluzor is the most obvious call but RE seems reluctant. I don't think it's a great idea to play two support strikers up front. We need a centre forward.

[hoofer2]

I hope he does not end up being another Dani Lopez. Lot's of tricks when things ticking well, but blames everyone but themselves when things are not.
The pitch, the ref, falling over / diving for no reason, expecting ball to feet 100% of time and not grafting to get it back etc.
He was very pedestrian for a debut, and I would have expected more running to get a goal.

Let's see how he performs during the grisly Winter period.

[WinchyBee]

In any league (away from the Premier League) anyone thinks that they can win any game. At the start of the season this is even more of the case with all out, gung-ho tactics with end-to-end games where the ball retention is low, this normally means that those who like to 'play' a little can struggle to influence matches.

Hopefully we'll see a little more from Shaq who has been made to chase a lot of games to no avail. No doubt there's some real talent in there and hopefully a three behind Big John of Shaq, JC and another would work well?

[WhetstoneBee]

Obviously we won't find another Akinde, at least not in the short term anyway, but we need someone who can stand in for him who has similar attributes in his game. Amaluzor is the most obvious call but RE seems reluctant. I don't think it's a great idea to play two support strikers up front. We need a centre forward.

This. We had one and we let him go on a free. Both Akinde and Coulthirst want to be playing on the last shoulder and running in behind. If they are going to work as a partnership then one of them (probably Akinde) is going to have to sacrifice their natural game. What we need is a Michael Gash - someone to do the grunt work, hold the ball up and win the flick-ons and by doing so let the more out-and-out strikers do what they do best. I still think letting him go was a terrible decision, highlighted by the lack of any back-up for Akinde.

[Mem Beespod]

Obviously we won't find another Akinde, at least not in the short term anyway, but we need someone who can stand in for him who has similar attributes in his game. Amaluzor is the most obvious call but RE seems reluctant. I don't think it's a great idea to play two support strikers up front. We need a centre forward.

This. We had one and we let him go on a free. Both Akinde and Coulthirst want to be playing on the last shoulder and running in behind. If they are going to work as a partnership then one of them (probably Akinde) is going to have to sacrifice their natural game. What we need is a Michael Gash - someone to do the grunt work, hold the ball up and win the flick-ons and by doing so let the more out-and-out strikers do what they do best. I still think letting him go was a terrible decision, highlighted by the lack of any back-up for Akinde.

Couldn't agree more. Saturday's game was crying out for Gash to hold the ball and protect it. The ball was given away so cheaply in the final third.

[Stuart]

i agree, neither Champion or Gash should have been let go. I know there was a fitness issue with Gash but we should have given him a short-term contract.

Without Togwell I can't understand the Champion decision. Every team needs one of these experienced game readers.

As for Shaq, in two games I've been far from impressed with his first touch and awareness ( which might improve with game time) but more concerning, his lack of real pace

Given his apparent early brilliance at Spurs maybe he has something that we can retrieve?

[dawat]

Agree that a Gash type player would be an asset at the moment. Letting him go may have been a poor decision, but so could keeping him have been, who was to know. At Barnet we have had more than our fair share of Kabba's to be honest and I can understand the reluctance on the part of our club to hang onto a player that will perhaps contribute little but cost a wage.
We obviously all hope and assume that our Elliot will recover fully sooner rather than later and rejoin the team, but is that really a certainty? What if his recovery falters or he returns a lesser player? I honestly do not believe that this will be the situation in his case, but what if? It is easy to question decisions like Gash taken by the club, but it's a lot harder when you are the one making them and picking up the bill if you were wrong.

[becbee]

Given the new legislation this season, if Shaq does dive too easily then he's risking a retrospective ban. That would probably sort out the problem.

[becbee]

Agree that a Gash type player would be an asset at the moment. Letting him go may have been a poor decision, but so could keeping him have been, who was to know. At Barnet we have had more than our fair share of Kabba's to be honest and I can understand the reluctance on the part of our club to hang onto a player that will perhaps contribute little but cost a wage.
We obviously all hope and assume that our Elliot will recover fully sooner rather than later and rejoin the team, but is that really a certainty? What if his recovery falters or he returns a lesser player? I honestly do not believe that this will be the situation in his case, but what if? It is easy to question decisions like Gash taken by the club, but it's a lot harder when you are the one making them and picking up the bill if you were wrong.

Leyton Orient decided Gash wasn't a risk worth taking , clearly nobody else did either or he'd not now be with Kings Lynn. I really hope he returns to full fitness but we couldn't re-sign him purely on sentiment.

[Bee Reasonable]

Letting Gash go was only a terrible decision if he was, or very nearly was, fully fit and capable of the form he showed pre-injury. Judging from his current circumstances, this is not very likely. The problem with signing a decent Akinde-style player is that he would not expect to displace the real Akinde and would be looking at a season of bench-warming.

JAA could maybe be used more centrally to improve the hold-up play, but he may not be as potentially dangerous running behind the defence onto through balls, which, I suspect, is what RE would like to see more of than we have so far this season.

Or we could just wait until JA is fit....