Craig Mackail- Smith

[Beach Hut]

He was a marque signing for the dawn of the Amex to show we meant business sadly he never did that business for us.

 

[fcportaloo]

Please can he go. The pointless and ineffectual running about is painful to watch.

 

[Codner's Wallop]

Perhaps not Gus's signing so much then?

Gus liked patient, slow, considered, intelligent, disciplined, composed, passing football. CMS is the exact opposite of pretty much every single one of those words.

He liked to sign considered patient, intelligent, slow, composed players...like Craig Noone and Lua Lua?

 

[portlock seagull]

We all Love him. Fact. But at this level he's distinctly below average. Another fact.

Value for money? That's all subjective. But he's not been great. A further fact.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Does he offer the potential to get better than he is now?
In all probability, no.
On that basis move him on for the maximum value we can get.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

We all Love him. Fact. But at this level he's distinctly below average. Another fact.

Value for money? That's all subjective. But he's not been great. A further fact.

worth a thumbs up.....fact.

 

[perseus]

So why did he spunk so much money on him? He was a vanity signing for the club's new dawn at The Amex.

I think the idea was to stay in the Championship after we got promoted. We needed a main striker.

 

[jimbob5]

I'd be astonished if he's not on considerably more than that.

why

 

[janee]

Was he someone Gus actively pursued, or the first of the players bought without consideration to the style/formation the manager would play?

I have a friend close to Gus who says That Macca was not Gus' signing. When I've posted this on here before, I've been lambasted!

 

[Beach Hut]

I have a friend close to Gus who says That Macca was not Gus' signing. When I've posted this on here before, I've been lambasted!

I stand by what I posted earlier he was never one Gus wanted

 

[AZ Gull]

I have a friend close to Gus who says That Macca was not Gus' signing. When I've posted this on here before, I've been lambasted!

I stand by what I posted earlier he was never one Gus wanted

Ah, so the club paid two-and-a-half times their previous record transfer fee on a player that Poyet never wanted, and then released a statement announcing his arrival with quotes apparently from Gus that were actually made-up bullshit (see post #59). And our timid manager played along.

Righto.

 

[janee]

Ah, so the club paid two-and-a-half times their previous record transfer fee on a player that Poyet never wanted, and then released a statement announcing his arrival with quotes apparently from Gus that were actually made-up bullshit (see post #59). And our timid manager played along.

Righto.

Don't think Gus wasn't happy when Bloom signed CMS as his marquee signing. However, over the season Gus didn't think he was up to it. Just that he wasn't his signing it was Bloom's.

 

[Mellotron]

He liked to sign considered patient, intelligent, slow, composed players...like Craig Noone and Lua Lua?

Great, two examples out of how many?

Lopez
Orlandi
Bruno
Vicente
Kishishev
Harley
Dobbie
etc etc etc

 

[Brighton Mod]

Try and get rid in January, in order to make way for someone that can lead the line and score goals.
There are too many similarities between CMS and Baldock. The latter is younger, tied up for four years, and his runs are more intelligent. Which one is the better goalscorer is yet to be determined but for the sake of both B&HA and Baldock, let's hope it's Baldock.

Baldock, like CMS will fail to score many goals currently due to the way the team is set up, Brighton is a strikers graveyard.

 

[Brighton Mod]

I would be inclined to sell,him and Ulloa would have been a good partnership but it was not to be..

We have a habit of getting strikers that have done ok and then they come here and don't perform subsequently they move on and do ok again and i don't just mean when we have been in the Championship..

We have never got world beating forward players but there have been quite a few and i am at a loss as to whether it is coaching,tactics,pressure of playing for this club,the distractions that Brighton can offer a player outside of the game,i just don't know,but when they come here things just do not seem to click..

Sell and good luck CMS,sorry it did not really work out here as it could have had.

I can remember only one game when Ulloa and CMS played together and we scored four goals, I think it was against Blackburn but will stand corrected. They never played together again after that.

 

[Tubby-McFat-Fuc]

I can remember only one game when Ulloa and CMS played together and we scored four goals, I think it was against Blackburn but will stand corrected. They never played together again after that.

Which is why so many of us are longing for a manager who will play a striking partnership, not an isolated striker and 5 in midfield

 

[Tubby-McFat-Fuc]

Rumour at the time was we beat Leicester & West Ham to his signature. However he was our marquee signing when we moved to the Amex. All was forgiven for offloading Murray we now had CMS coming in off the back of a glorious run in league 1 where he notched over 30 goals the season before he joined us. However since his move its not really worked out for him or us. He was victim of a one upfront system under Poyet and Garcia and of course had the horrific injury last season which has meant we have not seen the best of him imo. We have suffered with lack of goals over the last 3 seasons and haven't really ever found that one player (Ulloa aside) capable of notching 25+ goals for us and in turn has been one of the major reasons why we have struggled in front of goal- He must be on massive wages as well. I believe his stats read 88/20 goals scored


What I want to know is do we offload CMS or is he worth signing up on an extended contract?

over to you

Sell him and get what we can. We are not going to change the boring one up front system any time soon, so there is no point in having him around.

However get a manager who will play to his strengths and play him in a striking partnership, then give him another 3 years.




He and COG are appartently on our maximum wage (12k) so as that appears what we now pay everyone that (surely if COG gets it everyone else in the squad must!!) then keep him as a squad player!

 

[Codner's Wallop]

Well you can discount Dobbie and Harley, who I admit was slow....but 'composed and intelligent?!!' Really?

Even Buckley (who isn't on the list) relies more on his raw speed than his calm, intelligent, build-up play.

Ulloa, a dominant target man with great heading ability and an eye for goal. Not him, nope.

When scrutinised, only Vicente, Orlandi and Lopez fit that bill. And they are all Spanish. And let's face it, how many Spaniards hare about the pitch like CMS?

Point is, I don't get your point (if you know what I mean).

 

[Codner's Wallop]

Great, two examples out of how many?

Lopez
Orlandi
Bruno
Vicente
Kishishev
Harley
Dobbie
etc etc etc

Sorry, forgot link

Well you can discount Dobbie and Harley, who I admit was slow....but 'composed and intelligent?!!' Really?

Even Buckley (who isn't on the list) relies more on his raw speed than his calm, intelligent, build-up play.

Ulloa, a dominant target man with great heading ability and an eye for goal. Not him, nope.

When scrutinised, only Vicente, Orlandi and Lopez fit that bill. And they are all Spanish. And let's face it, how many Spaniards hare about the pitch like CMS?

Point is, I don't get your point (if you know what I mean).

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Hate to say it, but shocking waste of money. And a squad number. Anybody else's heart now sink when CMS comes on for a second half cameo and proceeds to just run around stupidly fast all over the place without ever looking remotely like a striker?