Baldock

[B.W.]

Brighton fans can be so hard to please. We scored more goals than Boro, and earned 89 points.
Injuries are what finally cost us promotion, not individual players.
Forget trying to find scapegoats.

Not trying to find a scapegoat. Just pointing out an obvious weakness in the team. I will be amazed if we don't find a first choice player in Sam's position next season... let's see what happens, but we know the club have been chasing someone in his position for at least a season...

 

[B.W.]

No way are we getting 3 new strikers this summer, so Baldock stays.

Yes he does...



--- to keep the bench warm...

 

[samtheseagull]

So many on here that seem to know more than the management team lol

 

[B.W.]

So many on here that seem to know more than the management team lol

Is that the management team who were constantly searching for a striker to play in Sam's position since last summer?

 

[Justice]

What is the title of this thread?

I didn't ask you that.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

He's hardly going to say "Sam is a great league 1 player, but not great at the level we are operating." is he? Even if it's the case...

No he isn't, but he doesn't have to say anything.

If he didn't like him, he wouldn't play him just about all the time when he is fit.

 

[samtheseagull]

Is that the management team who were constantly searching for a striker to play in Sam's position since last summer?

We all know we need to strengthen our strike force but to single out Baldock is a joke. He was absolutely class before his injuries mid way threw season.
Suppose you didn't rate Barnes either?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Is that the management team who were constantly searching for a striker to play in Sam's position since last summer?

Were they?

 

[1066familyman]

We all know we need to strengthen our strike force but to single out Baldock is a joke. He was absolutely class before his injuries mid way threw season.
Suppose you didn't rate Barnes either?

Oh FFS!, another one.

Can we finally put this lie to bed. People who don't rate Baldock didn't, by default, also not rate Barnes. Is that simple enough for people to understand?

In fact , I'd go so far as to say almost the opposite is true. It appears most people who don't rate Baldock actually rated Barnes very highly.

 

[B.W.]

No he isn't, but he doesn't have to say anything.

If he didn't like him, he wouldn't play him just about all the time when he is fit.

He had little choice TBH, since he failed to bring in the striker he wanted...

 

[B.W.]

We all know we need to strengthen our strike force but to single out Baldock is a joke. He was absolutely class before his injuries mid way threw season.
Suppose you didn't rate Barnes either?

Barnes was bang average, but the dullards on here seem to put him in the same bracket as Ulloa... that said, I'd rather have Barnes than Sam B...

 

[B.W.]

Were they?

Yes, they most definitely were... you know this, unless you've been on another planet since last summer, or just don't want to face the fact that Sam B is not really up to standard in a team trying for promotion... which is it?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Yes, they most definitely were... you know this, unless you've been on another planet since last summer, or just don't want to face the fact that Sam B is not really up to standard in a team trying for promotion... which is it?

Please provide links. I haven't been on another planet, but can't remember much publicity about the club searches.


I love the way you class fans as dullards or being on another planet (alien) who don't agree with your views.

 

[Yes Chef]

Hemed is a much better player when alongside Baldock. Ideally Sam would contribute more goals, but as others have pointed out, it wasn't a lack of goals that prevented us from going up.
Some of our fans' myopia is bewildering though. I was stood next to a gentleman at Ashton Gate when we spanked Bristol City, who continued to berate Baldock EVEN WHEN HE SCORED ( "You're still a w***** ") with no sense of irony.
I asked him if Baldock had slept with his wife, but this may have confused him further

 

[Ecosse Exile]

It's no coincidence IMHO, that Hemeds goals dried up when Baldock was injured. Hemed did well for his first season in England, but would he have done better if Sam had stayed fit? Undoubtedly.

A partnership is just that, a partnership, Hemed may have scored 20-25 if Baldock had been fit, then we would all be raving about what a brilliant striker he is, sadly though, some would still be saying Baldock isn't good enough.

Hemed must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when he realised his strike partner does the work for both of them.

People have already mentioned Ward and Mellor (yes I do remember people slagging Mellor), Emile Heskey and Owen, someone has to do the leg work, and that is Sam Baldock.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Barnes was bang average

No. No he wasn't. He was our natural born 20 goals a season striker with innate positional sense and focussed aggression who was hounded out of the club by the post-Withdean boo-boys. There's not been an Albion striker fit to lick his boots, either this season or last season.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

He was. Had he not been injured over the winter period we would have gone up.

Much as I am critic of his appearance to goals ratio and thats why he will never ever be a top striker. The above is very true.

 

[Pavilionaire]

How the hell does this chap fly under the radar? He runs and runs but never looks like scoring - he cost £1.8m and seems to be the first name on the team sheet. Why?!!

His stats are atrocious (4 goals in 33 appearances)
http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=43055

Baldock, not luck or fate, was the difference between promotion and staying down.

2015/16 - the first time Baldock started a match and ended up on the losing side in the Championship was AFTER the regular season had ended, vs Sheff Wed.

The reason we did not go up is not Baldock - it is because of our horror run that started with Dunk getting sent off and Charlie Austin scoring a late equaliser vs QPR, then we lost 4 in 5. Baldock featured in NONE of these losing matches, and only came on as a sub vs Cardiff when the match was well lost.

I think you've picked the wrong striker. Wilson started in the horror run and the slide stopped only when he was dropped vs Blackpool and Bobby scored the winner to get our season back on track. The lad, although young, was NOT a success.

At a time when Bobby and Wilson have now left I wouldn't be getting rid of Baldock just yet. I totally agree that we need two new strikers, but there will be plenty of matches where we need to protect a single goal lead and someone like Baldock coming on with 20 mins left will be a good option.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

2015/16 - the first time Baldock started a match and ended up on the losing side in the Championship was AFTER the regular season had ended, vs Sheff Wed.

The reason we did not go up is not Baldock - it is because of our horror run that started with Dunk getting sent off and Charlie Austin scoring a late equaliser vs QPR, then we lost 4 in 5. Baldock featured in NONE of these losing matches, and only came on as a sub vs Cardiff when the match was well lost.

I think you've picked the wrong striker. Wilson started in the horror run and the slide stopped only when he was dropped vs Blackpool and Bobby scored the winner to get our season back on track. The lad, although young, was NOT a success.

At a time when Bobby and Wilson have now left I wouldn't be getting rid of Baldock just yet. I totally agree that we need two new strikers, but there will be plenty of matches where we need to protect a single goal lead and someone like Baldock coming on with 20 mins left will be a good option.

Face it, we had four crocked/misfiring strikers this season who were collectively a marginal improvement on the the four fit/misfiring strikers we had the season before. Nowhere near where we need to be.

 

[Urchin]

Face it, we had four crocked/misfiring strikers this season who were collectively a marginal improvement on the the four fit/misfiring strikers we had the season before.

So you think Barnes is better than Hemed? Seriously?