[Albion] Time to back Aaron.....

[Commander]

No issues with him on the playing side. Clearly he isn’t quite good enough yet, but that’s not his fault and you can’t question his effort. It seems obvious to almost everybody that a loan would do him the world of good, but for whatever reason the club haven’t done it, so it’s up to him now to seize this opportunity. All he has to do is stop being a dick off the pitch and he will have mine (and 99% of other Brighton fans’) full support.

 

[Baldseagull]

Happy he is here, I think it is his choice to be here and not out on loan because he believes in his own ability. I don't think the "shags who he wants chant" does him any favours mentally though, appears to me that he doesn't like it, or at least he does not want to be seen to like it. I think he needs to stop looking for the foul quite so much, get smarter with his pressing and not worry too much about scoring. It isn't a brilliant strike rate that sees Maupay getting more game time, it's the rest of his game.

 

[Skuller]

The OP bravely suggested we all re-baseline our views on Mr Connolly and judge him on what he does from now on. I think that an excellent idea. It seems clear from many of the replies that people are having difficulty with that. I do urge you all to give it a try. Forget everything that’s happened up to now and give him a chance. Imagine he’s just turned-up at the club from a Hungarian club we’ve never heard of as part of the transfers in the window. So he needs to be given the chance to settle in and to make early-days errors. We need to think of him like we do about Cucurella. We don’t know much about him but we’re prepared to support him and develop our views based on what he does from now on rather than what he’s done in the past.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Excellent OP. Aaron has shown us he has talent, for one reason or another he has not been able to fully realise it. If Connolly can take confidence from the backing of the manager and we can get behind him he could be a crucial player for us.

I've always believed he has the ability to succeed, just need him to believe it too.

 

[Meade's Ball]

There'll always be spiteful clowns with squeezable flowers of bile to squirt with nefarious glee, but i am sure they are repeatedly trained to ignore such fiendish twaddle and concentrate on their game. If i were him i would train, train, train and train to get back into that zone where confidence and touch combine for nets to bulge, or at least woodwork be pinged. Maybe it's a coming of age saga for him to go through, and i wouldn't wish it on him, but i hope it'll be gone and forgotten and his upward path continues.

 

[southstandandy]

Still think a season in the Championship would do him good. If he banged in a few goals and got his confidence up he might come back a far better player.

 

[Ecosse Exile]

Lot of people saying they think a season on loan would help him, you might be right, but he isn't having a season on loan, so it's irrelevant, he is having a season as a striker at Brighton, so back him. By that i mean (it's not easy to do) instead of saying to your mates next to you, oh ffs how did he miss? (even though that's what everyone in the crowd is thinking, not just you), it comes across as a groan, get off your seat and yell encouragement, maybe next time he scores.

A good example of this may be playing for England, Patrick Bamford was a comedy figure, loads of games where he worked hard but couldn't finish, he too heard the moans and groans, he got worse and worse. Then he went to Leeds, some will say Bielsa, but the Leeds fans stuck with him, they love someone who is clearly giving their all, Bamford gained confidence, started scoring again and now is expected to play for England.

Aarron Connolly clearly needs to cut out the off-field antics, even if only a few of them are true, it's too many, but while he's on the pitch, support him, really support him.

 

[British Bulldog]

I like Connolly but he just needs to sharpen his brain to keep up with what his body is doing?

 

[DJ NOBO]

I could back you, and sing non stop...... Wouldnt help if you simply weren't good enough for this level, which is 100% the case with Locadia.

Given lack of alternatives , I wouldn’t mind if he was given one more chance.
It’s a real shame we couldn’t get a striker in, although it’s understandable if the club didn’t want to overpay.
We need you to come out of retirement!

 

[jcdenton08]

I disagree. Generally. After the next time he ****s up publicly, falls out with Potter, etc, you'll quietly agree with me but always have that nagging sadness knowing you were wrong in this thread.

He's not good enough to be starting in the PL. We could play my Nan up front and give her all the polite applause and cheers of encouragement in the world, but she's not going to score 10 goals a season in the PL.

Get a grip.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think it's Aaron Connelly that needs to make changes and tell himself "It's time to back Aaron".

With Andone and Zeqiri out of the way he has a wonderful opportunity now to focus 100% on winning a place in our starting XI. A decent performance against Portugal tonight would be a start. The balls in your court, Aaron.

 

[NooBHA]

Would rather have kept Jahanbakhsh

It is interesting that you mention Jahanbakhsh in relation to Connolly.

There was always massive ''narrative'' support from Hierarchy at the club for both Jahanbakhsh and Connolly, so much so that they both seem to get more chances to succeed than others - Some players who have failed at Premier League Level have had nowhere near the same amount of chances that these two have had. Others have been discarded a lot quicker than those two ever have been.

I have absolutely no idea why both of them had the support they have had from certain fractions at the Club - Connolly came along too late - He isn't good enough as a PL striker. Maybe if he had came along when in the Championship he might have made it. Jahanbakhsh, is very different. He had a lot of support as well and people wanted to persist with him as well but I think in the end he just wanted to play every week and he had a ready made saleable market waiting. There really isn't a ready made market for Connolly to be sold into, well not at the type of fee the Club had hoped for when he was being assessed as a teenager. So I think what is happening is that the Club are just waiting and hoping that he eventually ''comes good''

For me, he is taking a place in the squad that could be filled by someone better, just because someone doesn't want to be wrong about the potential that someone thought they saw in him as a youngster. For the exact same reason the Club held on to Jahanbakhsh, for so long, for the same reason. Someone just didn't want to admit they were wrong about what level they thought he was able to play at productively

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

I disagree. Generally. After the next time he ****s up publicly, falls out with Potter, etc, you'll quietly agree with me but always have that nagging sadness knowing you were wrong in this thread.

He's not good enough to be starting in the PL. We could play my Nan up front and give her all the polite applause and cheers of encouragement in the world, but she's not going to score 10 goals a season in the PL.

Get a grip.

If he messes up, I wouldn't have any nagging sadness over this thread at all. Personally I am happy to give him a go, and something might click.

IF he messes up with his personal life or whatever, or with his football, then one might need to think again. But If GP picks him, he obviously thinks he is "in the right place"!

 

[jcdenton08]

There is also the very real chance that, with Jahanbakhsh and Locadia especially, they are being paid well beyond what they would ever be likely to earn elsewhere. The player doesn't want to go if it means a pay cut, no clubs want him if it means matching a high salary for an average player. Stalemate. Termination of contract.

 

[twickers]

I think it's Aaron Connelly that needs to make changes and tell himself "It's time to back Aaron".

With Andone and Zeqiri out of the way he has a wonderful opportunity now to focus 100% on winning a place in our starting XI. A decent performance against Portugal tonight would be a start. The balls in your court, Aaron.

Good shout.

 

[twickers]

How on earth do we have a thread that wants to cancel criticism of a player?

 

[MJsGhost]

I disagree. Generally. After the next time he ****s up publicly, falls out with Potter, etc, you'll quietly agree with me but always have that nagging sadness knowing you were wrong in this thread.

He's not good enough to be starting in the PL. We could play my Nan up front and give her all the polite applause and cheers of encouragement in the world, but she's not going to score 10 goals a season in the PL.

Get a grip.

What kind of promise did your nan show at PL2 level? I guess it was called something else when your nan was in the u23s, but unless she has shown the kind of promise Connolly has, she's unlikely to be given a chance. I'd also respectfully suggest that even if she had the same kind of record in the u23s, at her age there's probably less upside for keeping her on to see if she will fulfill that promise - little to no sell-on fee, so it's a no from me.

Connolly is far from the finished article and from the outside looking in, appears to have a few issues with temperament & application, but he's still young so has a considerable upside if the club can help him become the player he should be.

Is he currently consistently good enough to be the main starter? Nope. He's clearly #3 in the pecking order though, so unless we have sustained injury/suspension problems*, he shouldn't be relied upon that often. If he does let himself & the club down and Maupay & Welbeck are out, there are still other options - Trossard has been used and there's also someone like Ferguson to come in during an emergency. Not ideal, but we still won't be calling upon your nan (no offence to your nan). Anyway, there aren't many clubs that start looking a bit thin up top if their two main striking options are both out.

Would I have preferred an incoming Nunez/whomever? Yep.

Will I get behind Connolly? Of course! Why would I want to reduce the chance of him being a success by getting on his back and adding to the pressure / frustrations / mental block that will hold him back?



* this is a bigger risk given the injury record of Welbeck I accept

 

[Hamilton]

Andone was 25 when he came to Brighton, so four years older than Connolly is now. Maybe somewhere around 300-400 hours of training per year, so lets say 350 x 5. 1750 hours, or 105 000 more minutes of practising those skills. He also had some 110 high level games under his belt when he came.

Things like that make a difference. Players usually improve with practice, which is why you will often find that most starting players in the PL are around 25 years +, rather than around 20.

Perhaps that information should be shared with the recruitment team.

Given your Gladwellesque observations, it would suggest that we were madder than I thought letting Andone go out on loan and keeping Connolly, It should have been the other way round, as Florin is clearly ready to start banging them in given all the practice he has had.

Practice is one thing. Innate ability is another, and I'm yet to be convinced that he has it.

That said, I think he desperately needs a loan spell somewhere at a team that suits his game where he can be tested. The likes of Dominic Calvert Lewin benefited from their time at lower league clubs. He needs that now. Get him out of the door and playing for Plymouth or the like. He needs to play for a half decent team where the expectation will be high (some pressure) and he can earn his stripes. Come back a more insightful footballer with a little more maturity about him.

 

[Danny Wilson Said]

I feel the same frustration watching Connolly as I used to feel about Solly March, because I'd seen him do good things but couldn't get my head round the fact that he wasn't doing them consistently enough. Connolly's goals against Tottenham (the second one), at Burnley, at Newcastle and even that opportunist one against Wolves were all fantastic strikes. And his scoring record at the lower levels suggested that he had that knack of finding the net that just can't be coached. Even when he missed when clean through against Liverpool, his anticipation and the pace he showed were excellent.

The club must surely believe that someone who has shown those abilities is worth persevering with, and there's every sign that they do. I can't believe that Bruno, Billy Reid and the rest haven't sat him down and told him a few home truths. Maybe he needs a bit of what Charlie Oatway used to bring to training ....

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I can imagine Aran Conolley scanning through this thread and thinking, “Well at least they’re not talking about me for once.”



Paul Daniels: “Now that’s gag-gic”