no robinson

[skintmanblues]

i see robinson hasnt even made the bench today unless he is injured
how negative is that hawkins and livermore in front of him NO STRIKERS on bench kuipers is even there when not fit adams must go.

 

[Trigger]

And rightly so, he's not good enough.

 

[John Byrne]

Can't wait till the end of the season when the useless git gets chucked out....

 

[BensGrandad]

Can anybody give me 1 GOOD reason why after Tuesday nights performance he should have been included for inclusion for this game.

 

[John Byrne]

There isn't one!

 

[dougdeep]

It could have had something to do with his piece in the Argus.

 

[Trigger]

Can anybody give me 1 GOOD reason why after Tuesday nights performance he should have been included for inclusion for this game.

 

[johnny jigsaw]

He was sat looking VERY dejected on his own, with his hood up in the away end today. Looked a very forlorn figure.

 

[Djmiles]

And rightly so, he's not good enough.

Not what people were saying after he thumped 3 past Huddersfield.

 

[Spider]

Not what people were saying after he thumped 3 past Huddersfield.

I don't see what one performance over 2 years ago has to do with his recent form. He's lost it, everyone knows that now. Thanks for everything Jake - the Blue Square Premier is waiting for you.

 

[BensGrandad]

Not what people were saying after he thumped 3 past Huddersfield.

That was in 1 game 1 or 2 years ago, cant remember exactly although I was there. He hasn't maintained the standard and has been found wanting since then. I would keep him until the end of the season and then let him go to Orient or Barnet or some other Div 2 club and he will probably do well for them.

 

[grummitts gloves]

How many managers have we had since Jake first broke into the 1st team? They can't all be wrong? He is a tryer, I wish he could cut the mustard, being a local lad, I really hoped he was going to crack it. Could definitely do a job for someone, probably in Div 4.

 

[Djmiles]

I don't see what one performance over 2 years ago has to do with his recent form. He's lost it, everyone knows that now. Thanks for everything Jake - the Blue Square Premier is waiting for you.

It wasn't just ONE performance though was it. From what I can recall, around that time is the only extended run in the first team he has had. He also scored against Boston and Northampton, making it 5 goals in 3 games.

All well and good criticising a player for not performing, but that was his first start for 8/9 months. If any other player came in to the frame without a first team game in 9 months, I can guarantee they would have got off lighter than Jake has.

 

[Scotty Mac]

He was sat looking VERY dejected on his own, with his hood up in the away end today. Looked a very forlorn figure.

he DEFINITELY needed a cuddle

felt really saw for him

 

[BensGrandad]

His problem, and I am not trying to decry him, but what is his position, he doesnt take enough chances and is too easily bundled off of the ball to be a striker and he doesnt go past players well enough to be a winger. He cant tackle so he is not an attacking midfielder. So what is the answer.

 

[Beach Hut]

I am sorry to say he is only a Conference player, perhaps a loan to Lewis would be useful.

 

[TonyW]

Jake is potentially one of the most exciting young(ish) players around.

He's lightening quick, can score from thirty yards out and puts the fear of God in defenders.

For some reason (and I very much doubt they're football related) he isn't doing it here any more.
I would love to see him fulfill some of the early promise as he really could become a superb attacking player.

I just have a feeling that he will do, but at another club.
Unless of course Micky can sort things out with him and get him in the team and wanting to play.

 

[dougdeep]

I am sorry to say he is only a Conference player, perhaps a loan to Lewis would be useful.

He's a local boy, I'm sure he'd rather stay in this country.

 

[Gritt23]

I know this flies in the face of general opinion, but I think we found the role for Jakey last season; bringing him off the bench to inject some pace, and running at defenders when they were tiring. Sometimes, it wasn't even his play that made the difference, but the pace and energy he brought to the play just had us suddenly moving the ball around faster.

This season, we just seem to have decided very early on that he wasn't part of the plans, and sitting on the sidelines, fully fit, watching while someone else, clearly injured, is playing must be like a dagger through the heart. Lynch had that early doors with Hawkins, and Jakey had to see that against Leeds with Murray.

I for one, will be very sad to see Jake go.

 

[El Presidente]

I'd be sorry to see Jake go too, but still not convinced where to play him, and he seems to have lost some of the qualities he had a few seasons ago. His performances against Huddersfield, and also at Burnley a few years ago in the Championship, when he transformed us after a spectacular display of inertia for the first 45 minutes by Trolley, showed glimpses, but he has often seemed to be a luxury when we need battling performances.

Steve Claridge assessed him very well in the Times a couple of years ago. If his wages are as high as they are rumoured to be, then perhaps Jake is simply happy take home a very good wedge for a 22 year old and not bust a gut.

Some managers would consider Jake Robinson to be a square peg they would struggle to fit into a round hole but Brighton & Hove Albion have struck upon a system in which he can flourish. Sometimes a team plays a formation which makes a player look worse than he actually is but the 4-3-3 Albion have adopted is ideal for Robinson.

He is neither an out-and-out centre-forward nor a natural-born winger, so he doesn't fit comfortably into a conventional 4-4-2. He falls somewhere in between as an attacker playing alongside the big, burly Alex Revell, who acts as a pivot for a trident forward line. I used to hate playing in a front three but it suits the slippery Robinson down to the ground and brings out the best in him.

You can break the 20-year-old's game down into the qualities he has and those he lacks, assets which define him as neither striker nor flank man. His running at players is exceptional, as his low centre of gravity - he is officially 5ft 7in, but he looks far smaller in the flesh - and his pace mark him out as a threat whenever he's on the ball. When you are that size you have to rely upon your strengths, and he boasts pace in abundance.

His strong thighs mean he possesses a fierce shot and needs very little backlift, which is most evident when he switches the play, sometimes hitting the ball 60 yards with minimal effort. He's good at reading flicks when he ventures into the middle and boasts a cultured right foot, offering good quality when he flings crosses into the box from wide positions. Yet his desire to seek one-twos in decent areas might actually mask an underlying reluctance to work harder to create space for himself. At present he is making himself easy to mark for full-backs, whereas a natural winger would move his marker away to exploit the space left behind.

So, if he is not a winger, is he a striker? Certainly, the hat-trick he scored in the FA Cup first-round tie against Northwich Victoria at the Withdean recently, following a similar haul at Huddersfield in a league game a fortnight earlier, would suggest on paper that he is a player who could feature alongside a big man in a front two. But Robinson is far from being an instinctive finisher.

Against Tranmere on Saturday he found himself in a great position late on but he snatched at the opportunity and put it wide. A natural finisher would have tucked it away. The hat-trick against Northwich comprised two blasted goals and a finish at the end of a flowing team move. Neither was a classic centre- forward's goal, but came from Robinson simply being that little bit better than his non-League opponents.

He isn't a player who can hold the ball up as his first touch needs work, although the areas in which he received the ball against Tranmere were not always central so his options were, at times, limited. He can drift in and out of games, like many wingers, and he sometimes finds himself out wide when he should be in the box, preoccupied with making runs as a decoy to open the play up for his fellow forwards which, admittedly, is something you need to do in a 4-3-3.

Yet if he is raw, he also shows promise. Against Northwich he was sensational in a side which was dominant. Tranmere are a far better side and highlighted the fact that despite having registered his first goal at 16 - making him the youngest player ever to score for Brighton - he has only played a handful of games and is a work in progress. He has already shown he can be a real threat against weaker sides. His talent, however, needs to be nurtured further before he is ready to make the progression to a higher level.

Age 20

Born Brighton

Position Striker

Height 5ft 7in

Weight 10st 10lb

From Trainee

Awareness 8/10

Heading 6/10

Control 7/10

Shooting 9/10

Pace 9/10

Responsibility towards team 7/10

Valuation £300,000-400,000