[Albion] Aaron Connolly - Premier League 2 Player of the Season

[wellquickwoody]

I am very confident that 4/5 years of Connolly's wages would be a drop in the ocean compared to going out and buying a replacement.

Is that a replacement that might get us five places further up the league, and earn us lots more money in the process and attract other players too?

 

[Springal]

Right so we should what, cancel his contract because he won't play for us in the next year or two? Give up all that money we've spent developing him to this point? Great business acumen...

Yep.... and good example to set for youth players we want to attract 'if you're not up to it by 20/21 we'll probably cancel your contract 3 years early.

I hope we can get Connolly back on track and Aaron will probably need to accept he needs a step down to step back up. That said, if we can't keep Welbeck, if we're not sure on Maupay - then loaning out Connolly as well means a huge stretch / gamble for this summer recruitment

 

[amexer]

Barnes has got into double figures once..........he’s got 3 this season and 6 last season. Prolific, sign him up

So limited. His contribution to team apart from trying to score is zero. Easy to mark as defenders know he will be looking for ball over top or as he is so one footed will only go to his right. Sorry but coaching staff should by now have stopped him going down all the time. No Champioship clubs will take him unless of course we pay his wages. Get him in Div 2 for a season to see how he stands up to some of those uncomprising CBs

 

[JBizzle]

Is that a replacement that might get us five places further up the league, and earn us lots more money in the process and attract other players too?

It might. It might not. Given our reliability (and others Haller, Wesley, Joelinton) at spending big money on strikers that are actually successful and the relatively low wages of Connolly, I don't see Connolly's staying or leaving having much of an impact either way.

Either way, he's 21. It'd be insanity to write him off at such a young age. Barring your Rooney, Haaland, Owen types, loads of strikers develop late. At 21:

- Thierry Henry was a low-scoring winger at Monaco;
- Harry Kane had only just got in the Tottenham squad;
- Didier Drogba couldn't gat much of a game for Le Mans;
- Jamie Vardy wasn't even in the league at 21;
- Alan Shearer had just finished the season at Southampton after scoring 4 in 36 in the league.

I'm in no way implying that Connolly will reach those levels, more that writing off strikers so young may end up being premature and given the relative low wages he's on, I'd say it's worth the gamble.

 

[Commander]

He doesn't seem to be able to impress Potter enough to get himself the run of games he needs to potentially develop in to what we need him to be. It seems like a bit of a catch 22. We need to either loan him out next season or back him and give him a proper run of games. I can't see how the current situation benefits either party.

Personally I don't think he's going to make it for us if we are to achieve our aim of being a top 10 team. I suspect he'll end up a fairly average Championship striker. But we need to stick with him and have a plan for him for the next couple of years or so, because you never know, he might come good. It's way too early to write him off yet!

 

[Swansman]

So limited. His contribution to team apart from trying to score is zero. Easy to mark as defenders know he will be looking for ball over top or as he is so one footed will only go to his right. Sorry but coaching staff should by now have stopped him going down all the time. No Champioship clubs will take him unless of course we pay his wages. Get him in Div 2 for a season to see how he stands up to some of those uncomprising CBs

We'll see. I think Championship clubs are more likely to take Connolly on loan than to put you in charge of recruitment.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Needs to reduce the haircuts and increase the goals.

But he still counts as U21 next season.. so we can't quite write him off just yet.

 

[vagabond]

Connolly is easily good enough for a Championship loan.

He can’t get enough match time with us, he needs to play. It’s as simple as that.

A championship (or SPL, or other reasonably competitive league) loan would make the situation far easier to conclude. He ends the loan with a poor performance and no or very few goals? We would consider moving him on. Or, he absolutely storms the loan move and bangs in 15-20 goals?Suddenly he looks like a much more appealing prospect to bring back.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I don’t think he will be able to develop as a squad member because he won’t get enough game time. He has potential and is similar in stature to Robbie Keane who kicked off his career in what is now the Championship. A year in the championship would be great for him if he can find a club prepared to give him the opportunity. Whether or not he will come out the other end as a PL forward good enough to play for us in the top half of the PL is another matter.

 

[GT49er]

Right so we should what, cancel his contract because he won't play for us in the next year or two? Give up all that money we've spent developing him to this point? Great business acumen...

Sadly that's something we'll be doing quite a lot of - not all youngsters make it through. This is exactly what could be happening with Walton this summer, and Maybe Molumby too - whether we get back all of what we've invested in them in transfer fees I don't know. maybe, maybe not
Clarke and Ostigard could be off too, for not very large sums.

When we eventually sell White,of course, that will be a big pay-back of money invested in the Academy, but a lot of the time players will leave the academy without generating a profit for us. As a striker with PL experience (yes, he is that, whatever you think of him), we could probably trade in Connolly now and get our investment back - but I hope we send him on loan and get back the lad that played Spurs.

 

[blue-shifted]

It might. It might not. Given our reliability (and others Haller, Wesley, Joelinton) at spending big money on strikers that are actually successful and the relatively low wages of Connolly, I don't see Connolly's staying or leaving having much of an impact either way.

Either way, he's 21. It'd be insanity to write him off at such a young age. Barring your Rooney, Haaland, Owen types, loads of strikers develop late. At 21:

- Thierry Henry was a low-scoring winger at Monaco;
- Harry Kane had only just got in the Tottenham squad;
- Didier Drogba couldn't gat much of a game for Le Mans;
- Jamie Vardy wasn't even in the league at 21;
- Alan Shearer had just finished the season at Southampton after scoring 4 in 36 in the league.

I'm in no way implying that Connolly will reach those levels, more that writing off strikers so young may end up being premature and given the relative low wages he's on, I'd say it's worth the gamble.

You could take it further.

Calvert Lewin, Ings, Bamford, all strikers doing well at the moment, weren't where Connolly is at the moment at that age. Salah had been released by Chelsea

I get it's frustrating, but we can't judge yet

 

[vagabond]

You could take it further.

Calvert Lewin, Ings, Bamford, all strikers doing well at the moment, weren't where Connolly is at the moment at that age. Salah had been released by Chelsea

I get it's frustrating, but we can't judge yet

True, he needs to play, but are we in a position to guarantee him match time every week right now? I’m not sure. Hence why a competitive loan does seem to be the right next move for his development.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Loan to the championship next season makes most sense, hopefully get the goals flowing and the confidence back. But that's all assuming one of the main target strikers comes in. I'm sure this time last year, AC being in the squad wasn't plan A – I'm guessing the main targets weren't achieved, so we went with a known quantity, rather than spend out more money on a random (relatively speaking) punt. He's got it in him to be a top, top player, but needs game time and he's only really going to get that by dropping down a level.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

You could take it further.

Calvert Lewin, Ings, Bamford, all strikers doing well at the moment, weren't where Connolly is at the moment at that age. Salah had been released by Chelsea

I get it's frustrating, but we can't judge yet

I'm going to stick my neck out a bit here...but at 21 years old with 43 senior appearances and 6 international caps - I'll judge he has a lot of promise. He's got pace, he has the skills, it's whether all the tricky stuff like mentality, composure, confidence can all be knitted together. Will be interesting to see what the club decide to do.

 

[blue-shifted]

I'm going to stick my neck out a bit here...but at 21 years old with 43 senior appearances and 6 international caps - I'll judge he has a lot of promise. He's got pace, he has the skills, it's whether all the tricky stuff like mentality, composure, confidence can all be knitted together. Will be interesting to see what the club decide to do.

I think his miss the other day was not the sort of miss I mind my striker making. OK, it was miles off, but the run in behind and first touch were spot on. Similarly he's had a couple, I think Liverpool at home, also the non penalty at home to Man U where he's run in behind and looked like he knows what he's doing.

I believe the finishing will come. He's excelled at his age levels. I don't think he'll be Michael Owen, but he might turn out to be a Callum Wilson sort of level. That's good enough to show some perseverance.

I'm going to go against the grain and say I don't think a Championship loan is what he needs. He needs to learn to hold it up against top level defenders and put it past top level keepers. I believe, we should be looking for a season loan at a mid table Spanish or Italian team ... a Valladolid or a Udinese, someone at that level.

 

[GT49er]

Loan to the championship next season makes most sense, hopefully get the goals flowing and the confidence back. But that's all assuming one of the main target strikers comes in. I'm sure this time last year, AC being in the squad wasn't plan A – I'm guessing the main targets weren't achieved, so we went with a known quantity, rather than spend out more money on a random (relatively speaking) punt. He's got it in him to be a top, top player, but needs game time and he's only really going to get that by dropping down a level.

Should have gone out on loan last season - I think there were quite a few of us thinking that a loan was what was needed at the time (plus the usual 'he's shit, get rid of' squad).

I'm going to stick my neck out a bit here...but at 21 years old with 43 senior appearances and 6 international caps - I'll judge he has a lot of promise. He's got pace, he has the skills, it's whether all the tricky stuff like mentality, composure, confidence can all be knitted together. Will be interesting to see what the club decide to do.

43 appearances (well, let's say 41, and forget the disastrous loan to Luton) - was surprised it was so many, A lot would have been as a substitute, of course - but regardless of how many appearances (significantly less than the season before), it's clear to anyone that he's gone backwards spending most of this season bench-warming.

 

[herecomesaregular]

All this talk of loans but wasn't it reported he refused to move on loan?

 

[Swansman]

Should have gone out on loan last season - I think there were quite a few of us thinking that a loan was what was needed at the time (plus the usual 'he's shit, get rid of' squad).



43 appearances (well, let's say 41, and forget the disastrous loan to Luton) - was surprised it was so many, A lot would have been as a substitute, of course - but regardless of how many appearances (significantly less than the season before), it's clear to anyone that he's gone backwards spending most of this season bench-warming.

Not to me, as previously said.

I think if you are 20-21 years old, like Connolly this season, and spend 150+ hours practising something, you dont go backwards in that area (football in this case) - even if the 700+ minutes in the games werent all that impressive.

That said, he is now entering the age where senior level match experience starts to get more important and I wouldnt mind see him loaned out somewhere.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

Should have gone out on loan last season - I think there were quite a few of us thinking that a loan was what was needed at the time (plus the usual 'he's shit, get rid of' squad).



43 appearances (well, let's say 41, and forget the disastrous loan to Luton) - was surprised it was so many, A lot would have been as a substitute, of course - but regardless of how many appearances (significantly less than the season before), it's clear to anyone that he's gone backwards spending most of this season bench-warming.

Is it backwards? We signed Danny Welbeck which has obviously cut down his first team chances, losing your place to DW doesn’t mean you’ve backwards though I don’t think.

He may well be improving but the team has improved as have other players. Lot of factors at play before concluding this that or the other.

 

[Marshy]

We were much better with him in the side yesterday thats for sure. Our business in the summer will determine if he stays or gets a loan.

I personally like him a lot and think he will be excellent for us.