When Gyokeres sat on the bench for Swansea and Coventry no one thought this would happen there is just no one to blame. Selling was the only thing to do. But I dont see how there was ever a chance of getting him back. Based on how things looked in July we would have said come to our bench and watch Ferguson score 20 goals and Im guessing Gyokeres would have said no. Why would he sit on the bench in the rain in Falmer when he can be hero in Lisbon. Dont know much about the level in Portugal but guessing it is ok like Championship or better? Forward signings from Portugal I only can remember Mario Jardel who I think scored a million goals in Portugal but was awful in the Premier League
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[Albion] Did we try to get Viktor Gyokeres back?
- Thread starter Bozza
- Start date
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Everyone has a DeBruyne lurking in their skeleton cupboard. I know they were never our players, but we turned down / cancelled trials for Ian Wright and Roy Keane.
Ultimately nobody has a crystal ball and duff calls can be made. At the time I was fairly underwhelmed by Gyorkeres in the Championship, so once we got promoted it never looked likely he'd be able to make the step up to that level. But he went down to L1, played regularly there, then in the Championship, honed his skills on a decent learning curve and has emerged as a genuine talent. Maybe thats just what he needed, because he was never going to get those regular games with us being in the PL.
Its good to see one of our former young strikers leave the club and flourish for a change. I can't recall a worthwhile example of a BHA striker ever doing that before, its always been a downward spiral to obscurity. Good luck to him.
Ultimately nobody has a crystal ball and duff calls can be made. At the time I was fairly underwhelmed by Gyorkeres in the Championship, so once we got promoted it never looked likely he'd be able to make the step up to that level. But he went down to L1, played regularly there, then in the Championship, honed his skills on a decent learning curve and has emerged as a genuine talent. Maybe thats just what he needed, because he was never going to get those regular games with us being in the PL.
Its good to see one of our former young strikers leave the club and flourish for a change. I can't recall a worthwhile example of a BHA striker ever doing that before, its always been a downward spiral to obscurity. Good luck to him.
Ian Muir at Tranmere
Psychobilly freakout
HellBilly
Hmmm
He is playing in the Portuguese league where the top five teams are kind of separated from the rest of a very poor league.
He could well be over rated still at this stage, we may not have made a boo boo after all, we will see.
He is playing in the Portuguese league where the top five teams are kind of separated from the rest of a very poor league.
He could well be over rated still at this stage, we may not have made a boo boo after all, we will see.
Milano
Well-known member
They talked a lot about him on Swedish telly during this break. Someone mentioned that he's figured in EVERY game the last four years or so. Don't know if that is correct, but he's never injured (which is quite strange being that physical). A dream for RDZ then ...
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Did well enough there, but primarily in the 3rd/4th tier (with a couple of seasons in the 2nd tier during their halcyon days when Aldridge was the driving force). Hardly a stellar career in the upper echelons after leaving us.
BHA simply don't produce strikers. Never have.
Bobby Zamora had a decent PL career after he left us.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
A product of Bristol Rovers though, straight into our 1st team. He didn't come through our system.
True, but we have a good claim to have developed him - we plucked him out of Rovers' reserves, not their first team..
GingerBeerMan
3-0
- Dec 29, 2011
- 8,118
Give him a few weeks at Brighton, I'm sure we could change that.
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo
I believe in Joe Hendry
- Oct 4, 2003
- 11,820
Spot on, no guarantees he'd have developed as he has if he'd stayed here, in fact had he stayed it's doubtful he'd have gotten the mins needed to develop into the player he has. Dropping down the Championship permanently gave his career the kick start it needed. He'd never set the world on fire in his loan spells, just 3 goals in 30 Championship games, but Coventry saw enough to risk a decent chunk of money for them on him. Obviously the club had the foresight to include sell on clauses, and the possibility of a buy back (although the player ultimately rejected that), so we protected ourselves as much as possible.
Hindsight makes it look like one who got away but allowing him to leave as we did has probably maximised our return for him way more than if he'd stayed.
Precisely. And ditto the rest of your post.
Here is the record of our most illustrious striker who still gets his song sung from time to time, with his top flight post-Albion career (before his loan return) highlighted
And here is the other striker who is regarded a club legend
And here is the last of our trio of strikers who went on to a top flight career
(and who is eschewed by many because of where he had it - and only 9 of his Palarse goals were scored when they were in the EPL
Farehamseagull
Solly March Fan Club
Has been involved (goal or assist) in 73 goals for club and country since the start of last season!
15 goals or assists in just 7 games already this season!
Quite incredible numbers.
15 goals or assists in just 7 games already this season!
Quite incredible numbers.
Si Gull
Way Down South
Definitely file under 'Ones that got away'...
www.theguardian.com
Viktor Gyökeres should be considered Europe’s next elite-level striker
Swedish striker’s versatility at Sporting may lead to his £85m release clause soon looking like a relative bargain
www.theguardian.com
kevo
Well-known member
- Mar 8, 2008
- 9,533
I also remember him playing in an EFL Cup game away at West Brom, watching it on the telly and thinking he was absolute rubbish and would never make it!
Withdean South Stand
Well-known member
- Mar 2, 2014
- 450
He WAS rubbish in that game and that was the final straw really. He definitely seemed to have something about his game, but there was no chance of him fulfilling his potential here. He needed to get out and play. If I were an EFL club I would be keeping an eye on the players Brighton sign because the algorithm has proven itself time and time again and if a player doesn't make it here and is available for transfer, take the punt.
JetsetJimbo
Well-known member
- Jun 13, 2011
- 1,095
The points about the standards of the Portugeuse league are interesting. I must admit I know very little about it, outside of the names of their 4-5 most famous clubs.
But I note that another "one who got away"* for us with experience in Portugal is Darwin Nunez. And while I like him a lot as a Liverpool player, he's not the free-scoring menace he was at Benfica.
And then you look at how many goals players like Undav and Kane are scoring in Germany. Sure, they're natural goalscorers, but their returns are far in excess of anything they could dream of in the Premier League.
What I'm getting at is that the Premier League seems to be a uniquely tough environment for strikers compared with other top leagues. I think we should try and bear that in mind when both criticising our players and praising those elsewhere.
*(And yeah, I also don't think there was ever anything in this, but it's a nice little story)
But I note that another "one who got away"* for us with experience in Portugal is Darwin Nunez. And while I like him a lot as a Liverpool player, he's not the free-scoring menace he was at Benfica.
And then you look at how many goals players like Undav and Kane are scoring in Germany. Sure, they're natural goalscorers, but their returns are far in excess of anything they could dream of in the Premier League.
What I'm getting at is that the Premier League seems to be a uniquely tough environment for strikers compared with other top leagues. I think we should try and bear that in mind when both criticising our players and praising those elsewhere.
*(And yeah, I also don't think there was ever anything in this, but it's a nice little story)
Withdean South Stand
Well-known member
- Mar 2, 2014
- 450
I think there absolutely was something in the Nunez interest but there certainly was in the Luis Diaz interest! Both of them were probably well advised to stay in Portugal and bide their time.