[Albion] Aaron Connolly - joining Hull permanently

[Blue Valkyrie]

I don't think we'll see him in the stripes again. If he doesn't do well then he'll come back and be sold to a lower Championship or League One team. If he does well for them then he'll want to stay and not come back to the haters here.

Any "haters" will gladly change their minds if he starts putting in the graft and gives a return on the wages they fund rather than taking the piss with serial off pitch issues.

No "hater" will not be joyously delighted if he sorts out his attitude.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

If we’d had another senior option in the squad the past couple seasons, Connolly could have been out on loan and played 80 games at a more appropriate level and MIGHT now be the type of player we need without having to blow a transfer fee. Instead he’s been stagnant on the field plus had issues off it by all accounts.

Hopefully has the attitude to take a step back, to move forward long term but we’ll see. I worry he’s ‘ruined’ by being thrown too much too early and not suiting that as a personality type. Am sure he used to come across as ‘hungry’ on the pitch when first broke into the squad.

 

[Icy Gull]

Am sure he used to come across as ‘hungry’ on the pitch when first broke into the squad.

Agreed but he was getting plenty of support from the stands initially rather than collective groans and abuse shouted at him when he falls over, loses the ball, gets outmuscled. Can’t help can it?

 

[The Fits]

Good luck to him. This feels like a really important moment in his career. Hopefully he can focus on his football, score some goals and we can see where we are in the summer. There’s definitely a very decent player in there.

 

[portslade seagull]

Hopefully he will get games. Boro seem to be doing fine without him

 

[Hugo Rune]

Hopefully he will get games. Boro seem to be doing fine without him

Local Tees rag:

“Connolly will add competition up top for Wilder's squad who currently have Andraz Sporar, Duncan Watmore, Onel Hernandez and Uche Ikpeazu competing for two starting berths. But with Wilder appreciative of the fact that players will have to leave next month too, it's not certain that all of those four strikers will remain by the end of January, with plenty of interest from elsewhere in Uche Ikpeazu in particular.”

 

[Swansman]

GP confirming the intention is to loan him out so must be close to a done deal now.

 

[Justice]

I don’t really care tbh he’s lived off two goals against Spurs for long enough imo.

 

[B-right-on]

Connolly is just under 4 years younger than Ivan Toney. On his 22nd birthday (Connolly is 22 in a few weeks) he was playing for Scunthorpe United in L1.

He’s also 4 years younger than Ollie Watkins. When Watkins was 21/22 he was in his first season at Brentford where he scored 10 goals in 45 appearances.

Why? Do you think Glenn Murray was a PL striker when he scored 3 goals in League Two at the age of 22?

Please do not bring into the Anti-Connolly thread, any facts that support any opposition to their views that Connolly is anything other than a no hoper who, despite being relatively young, had zero chance of ever improving at any point in the future. Ever.

 

[OzMike]

I hope he does alright, was promoted too soon to first team and can't be blamed for that.
He will progress I think, but won't want to come back I expect.

 

[Rugrat]

I don’t really care tbh he’s lived off two goals against Spurs for long enough imo.

Agree. Sadly I suspect the move to Boro will be a stepping stone to oblivion. Hope the lad proves me wrong

 

[GT49er]

He's off to Middlesbrough then. Good luck young Aaron.

Not the move I'd have chosen for him - there's a lot of competition fir the front places at 'Boro, and they're doing pretty well anyway, so he may not get the game time he needs. I'd have preferred him to go to League 1 - or even League 2 - to be almost certain of starts and banging in the goals to re-establish himself as a hot young prospect again - and then have a season in the Championship next season. But hey ho, for better or worse, Middlesbrough it is - hope it goes well and proves my reservations to be groundless. Good luck Aaron..

 

[Milano]

He's off to Middlesbrough then. Good luck young Aaron.

Not the move I'd have chosen for him - there's a lot of competition fir the front places at 'Boro, and they're doing pretty well anyway, so he may not get the game time he needs. I'd have preferred him to go to League 1 - or even League 2 - to be almost certain of starts and banging in the goals to re-establish himself as a hot young prospect again - and then have a season in the Championship next season. But hey ho, for better or worse, Middlesbrough it is - hope it goes well and proves my reservations to be groundless. Good luck Aaron..

The difference between the EPL and the Championship is huge, he doesn’t need to drop into L1.

 

[Rugrat]

The difference between the EPL and the Championship is huge, he doesn’t need to drop into L1.

We don't really know how good he is. He's still young and I agree with [MENTION=12935]GT49er[/MENTION], better off dropping down, being 'prolific', getting his confidence sky high and then moving up vs either stalling or not getting game time at Boro and then confidence and desire being sapped out. Who knows, but I fear this is the wrong move for him

 

[Hugo Rune]

We don't really know how good he is.

Yes, we don’t know how good he’ll get but recently, he looked good against Southampton and was a level or two above the Swansea defenders when we played them in the cup at the Amex, they could not live with him.

 

[GT49er]

The difference between the EPL and the Championship is huge, he doesn’t need to drop into L1.

Your opinion. Not mine.

 

[Milano]

Your opinion. Not mine.

Errrr, yes, it is.

 

[Whitechapel]

He's off to Middlesbrough then. Good luck young Aaron.

Not the move I'd have chosen for him - there's a lot of competition fir the front places at 'Boro, and they're doing pretty well anyway, so he may not get the game time he needs. I'd have preferred him to go to League 1 - or even League 2 - to be almost certain of starts and banging in the goals to re-establish himself as a hot young prospect again - and then have a season in the Championship next season. But hey ho, for better or worse, Middlesbrough it is - hope it goes well and proves my reservations to be groundless. Good luck Aaron..

If that’s the case then why have they been playing Onel Hernandez upfront in their last two games? They’ve got three strikers; a bloke who played for Billericay last season, a big immovable lump who clearly won’t be a Wilder player & Sporar. If Connolly gets his head down and works hard then he’ll start.

Wanting to a player with nearly 50PL appearances to league two is proper mental.

 

[John Byrnes Mullet]

Agree. Sadly I suspect the move to Boro will be a stepping stone to oblivion. Hope the lad proves me wrong

Agreed. My only way of thinking is Connoly was a great player in his attributes and inner belief but this was coached out of him. They tried to make him a different player and it shouldn't have happened. His record as a youth player was amazing. Sadly the whole association with club and fans has turned toxic.

 

[SeagullsoverLondon]

Agreed. My only way of thinking is Connoly was a great player in his attributes and inner belief but this was coached out of him. They tried to make him a different player and it shouldn't have happened. His record as a youth player was amazing. Sadly the whole association with club and fans has turned toxic.

I don't know how you coach out inner belief from anyone. If there is a failure in the coaching team, I suspect it is not helping him get to the next level in taking his chances against a higher level of defenders than he met when he was scoring for fun at U23 level. I remember last January him scoring a lovely goal against Wolves before going off injured and then he never quite looked the same after that last season. I do wonder whether he had stayed fit and got a run of games he may have finished the season scoring 5-10 goals.
And in fairness he hasn't had much of a chance this year, but again partly through injuries and Covid.
I for one would like him to have a great loan spell and come back stronger next season for the Albion and also for Ireland, from whom if anything he has been even more frustrating than he has for Brighton.

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