Obika

[durrington gull]

A 20-goal-a-season league 1 striker would be brilliant as a loan signing. He is nowhere near that standard.

20 goals a season - Hahaha

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

If you listen to the supporters of the previous club you can tell a lot. Watford fans said Buckley was great - when he was available. Charlton fans seemed to think Stephens would be a big loss as their game came through him.

Very good point, I must admit I do tend to look at the reaction of the selling teams supporters, prior to seeing them play.

 

[fosters headband]

How long did you give Paynter before accepting he was shit?

While he was poor straight away, he looked like a footballer, just a poor one, i'm not sure Obika does. He certainly doesn't look like he's going to be able to perform meaningfully in the next month and as we've only got him till mid-April, it seems a bit odd.

I think this has been a problem for him with most of his loans if this report is anything to go by:

Spurs recall Obika from Swindon loan.

Tottenham have recalled Jon Obika from his loan spell with Swindon Town, six weeks after he joined the club for the rest of the season.

20 year old Obika joined struggling Swindon on the 8th of February and has since played five times, but failed to score, continuing a disappointing run of loan`s since he finished the season with Yeovil in 2008/09, where he scored four in ten in an impressive spell.

Since that time he has struggled to establish himself at any of his loan spells including a return to Yeovil, where despite scoring six in 24 games (10 from the bench) he failed to live up to the initial hype and was often used in a support striking role or on the wing, when he wasn`t left on the bench that is.

Since then he has had spells at Millwall (Last season), Peterborough and Crystal Palace before joining Swindon, but in that time has only made three starts (all for Swindon) and twenty-four sub, in the last 12 months, Obika has only managed to hit the net three times (2 for Millwall, 1 for Posh).

Now the fact that Spurs have recalled the player, is unlikely to be because they intend to use him for our first team, but either due to him struggling or being unhappy at The County Ground or because they feel he would be better served playing elsewhere for the remainder of the season, as there is little point in having a player sit in the stands and not playing league one football, despite Swindon sitting 2nd from bottom of the division. Perhaps the reason is quite simply because Paul Hart the new Swindon manager doesn`t fancy Obika, either for his playing style or just a lack of experience as he tries to keep the club in the division.

Jon is at that decisive age where he really must start to produce the goods on a loan or be under real pressure to be considered worth keeping on at Spurs. Obviously it isn`t all about goals, but quality of performance and when he has returned for development games with Spurs he has scored regularly and seemingly played quite well, but questions again have to be asked, if you can`t score in league one, what chance do you have in the Premiership


Read more: http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7508054#ixzz2tl7m7paQ

I feel a little sorry for Obika because he didn't ask to come here and I would put money he didn't ask to go on all his other loans, but it is obvious he has not found his level but League 1 and Yeovil has seen his most success. The Peterborough knack of finding lower league players on loan and turning them into million pound strikers Gayle, CMS and others failed with Obika and in fact he had only one game with them during his loan spell. I am sure Spurs are using him currently just get money from loan deals and I would be really surprised if he is offered another deal at the end of the season. I do hope he finds a club and level that suits him, but I honestly don't think it is here at Brighton.


The thing about us signing Obika to me is, all this claptrap we were told about how the club uses a data base to track players careers to insure we don't get players who have history of injuries (Agustein) not fitting in and insuring they fit our style. I would ask the managers of this database, what in Obika's playing career made him such a hot signing for us during the last two transfer windows?

 

[B.W.]

Personally, I would beg Spurs to recall him. Then I would attempt to sign a striker on loan who can actually make a positive contribution to our FIRST TEAM. Wickham at Wednesday springs to mind. Fryatt, Macheda, etc. etc. (and that's just off the top of my head). If other clubs further down the Championship table can make effective loan signings of strikers, then why can't we? Not good enough (Obika and our scouts).

 

[B.W.]

The thing about us signing Obika to me is, all this claptrap we were told about how the club uses a data base to track players careers to insure we don't get players who have history of injuries (Agustein) not fitting in and insuring they fit our style. I would ask the managers of this database, what in Obika's playing career made him such a hot signing for us during the last two transfer windows?

Nathan Jones is the man responsible here. He appears to get too much say in our acquisitions.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Mr Barber. Please travel up to Hull on Monday, pay for Mr Bruce and the crazy owner chap to have a LOVELY dinner out at a NANDO's after the match and ask NICELY if we can borrom Matty Fryatt for a bit.

Let them have extra sides if that will swing the deal in our favour.

 

[B.W.]

Mr Barber. Please travel up to Hull on Monday, pay for Mr Bruce and the crazy owner chap to have a LOVELY dinner out at a NANDO's after the match and ask NICELY if we can borrom Matty Fryatt for a bit.

Let them have extra sides if that will swing the deal in our favour.

Agreed. Just the sort of loan we should be chasing. Not a 10-time failed loanee form Spurs who is chums with Nathan.

 

[ROSM]

Agreed. Just the sort of loan we should be chasing. Not a 10-time failed loanee form Spurs who is chums with Nathan.

Spot on BW

Can we claim back Nandos as an infrastructure expenditure thus avoiding ffp?

 

[B.W.]

Spot on BW

Can we claim back Nandos as an infrastructure expenditure thus avoiding ffp?

I think we might just get away with it, as long as Football-Head doesn't overdo the peri-peri chicken! ;-)

 

[Acker79]

How long did you give Paynter before accepting he was shit?

While he was poor straight away, he looked like a footballer, just a poor one, i'm not sure Obika does. He certainly doesn't look like he's going to be able to perform meaningfully in the next month and as we've only got him till mid-April, it seems a bit odd.

While Paynter was here he featured in 10 of 11 games, starting six of them and playing more than 20 minutes in three of his four sub appearances. So was given an extended run and game time to show that he can look like a footballer (albeit a poor one). Obika has not had that time. Out of 8 games he has been here for, started one (v Port Vale where he scored), and four of his six appearances came in the last ten minutes of the game (one of them was the last minute of normal time).

I don't think I ever thought he was shit, per se. My view of players tends to be

-World class,
-great,
-very good,
-good,
-I just don't get his appeal,
-average,
-could be better,
-needs the right system/not suited to this system,
-not sure we saw all they have to offer, for whatever reason
-'well, he's made it to professional level which is more than I have ever done, he must have something, just needs to find the right team/set up but I don't know what it is'.
-Not seen enough to judge

I think Paynter was in that second last category. Obika is, for me, in that last last category, given how little I think we will see of him, I imagine he will end up for me in the third last category.

 

[Algernon]

He must've been chuffed when Spurs signed him but the poor bloke must be gutted having been loaned out so many times, seemingly unwanted. I would expect his self confidence to be low at the moment, each failed loan/match appearance dragging it lower.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Obika is a young 23 year old footballer learning his trade, and we have not seen enough of him to form a valid opinion. It's too easy for fans to consign players to the donkey meat farm based on 10 mins of play when he was isolated up front.

No one in life as well as football is the finished article at 23. I mean have you improved with age or have you always been perfect? Genuine question

At what age does it become unacceptable to use a players age as an excuse for being crap? 23 ffs, he's not a kid anymore, I wouldn't expect him to be the finished article but at least be able to demonstrate that he has a slither of talent. You could persevere with Obika until he was 33 and he'll still be pony as he doesn't possess the natural/basic ability to play at a good competitive level.

 

[Nathan]

At what age does it become unacceptable to use a players age as an excuse for being crap? 23 ffs, he's not a kid anymore, I wouldn't expect him to be the finished article but at least be able to demonstrate that he has a slither of talent. You could persevere with Obika until he was 33 and he'll still be pony as he doesn't possess the natural/basic ability to play at a good competitive level.

Agree. The age thing is ok when they are teenagers but 23? Ashley Barnes is 24 and you could say he is a proven championship player.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Agree. The age thing is ok when they are teenagers but 23? Ashley Barnes is 24 and you could say he is a proven championship player.

Absolutely. Barnes is a cracking example, a few months older than Obika but a lot of people had written him off as he would never improve, yet Obika is still learning his trade?

 

[symyjym]

At what age does it become unacceptable to use a players age as an excuse for being crap? 23 ffs, he's not a kid anymore, I wouldn't expect him to be the finished article but at least be able to demonstrate that he has a slither of talent. You could persevere with Obika until he was 33 and he'll still be pony as he doesn't possess the natural/basic ability to play at a good competitive level.

I'm not that bothered really, this debate is about some saying his career is over and I am saying I want to see more of him before I make a judgment.

 

[Grassman]

Agreed. Just the sort of loan we should be chasing. Not a 10-time failed loanee form Spurs who is chums with Nathan.

Don't you get bored slagging off Jones at every available moment?

 

[B.W.]

Given his track record before joining us (9 ineffective loan spells), his 'friend of Nathan' status (is Jon really here on merit?), and based on the admittedly limited time on the pitch I've seen him play, I am confident we should beg Spurs to take him back.

If we're going to loan a striker, then make sure it is one who is good enough to make a positive contribution when we play (like other teams in our league do - see examples in my earlier post). Otherwise, don't bother. Lita was never really given a chance here, presumably based on what he did in training, and now we're following the same path with Obika. What's the point? Can we really afford to spunk the money up the wall?

 

[B.W.]

Don't you get bored slagging off Jones at every available moment?

Not really. I especially dislike his inane pre- and post-match comments ("It's going to be a tough game" is my personal 'favourite'), and I really don't want to hear what 'the monkey' thinks, I want to hear from 'the organ-grinder'. Still, to each his/her own.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Not really. I especially dislike his inane pre- and post-match comments ("It's going to be a tough game" is my personal 'favourite'), and I really don't want to hear what 'the monkey' thinks, I want to hear from 'the organ-grinder'. Still, to each his/her own.

I agree. It just struggle with his involvement. He may well be respected at Charlton and Yeovil, but so far his comments are repetitive to say the least, his ability to 'spot' a player remains questionable as well.

The worrying thing is, I have a feeling Oscar will be gone at the end of the season and Jones will be the successor. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[itszamora]

Who's that man from North West London
Who's that man we all abhor,
Johnnie Obika is his name
And he'll never score again,
And we won't mention McCammon anymore

Shit song. White Hart Lane's in North EAST London.