| Not to be unkind to Ali... 18:28 - Nov 24 with 11793 views | Zx1988 |
But if we have Hirst or a PL-level backup on the pitch for the last 20mins, we win that. |  |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 11:58 - Nov 25 with 1556 views | WeWereZombies |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 11:40 - Nov 25 by textbackup |
You know that this isn’t the place to maybe mention any negative though.
The board police will go into panic mode and start talking about 2 years ago how we draw at the dog and duck or something. |
Mate, you're having an absolute 'mare this morning. I have no idea why Phil took ElephantInTheRoom off and subbed you on. Now there was a poster who knew how to spread doom and gloom even in the brightest moments. |  |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 12:15 - Nov 25 with 1513 views | WestStanderLaLaLa |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 11:34 - Nov 25 by charlie1 |
I agree that Ali wasn’t particularly effective when he came on, but there needs to be some perspective.
From the bench United introduced
Shaw $30 million,
Zirkzee $36.5 million,
Ugarte $42 million,
Hojlund $72 million
Mount $60 million
While our subs were bought from Sunderland, MK Dons, Peterborough and Barnsley.
That’s the level these teams can go to. |
AFC Wimbledon |  |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 12:41 - Nov 25 with 1460 views | portmanking |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 11:47 - Nov 25 by _clive_baker_ |
I don't think people have any idea how difficult it is to play about an hour of senior football over a c.6 month period and be expected to be match fit in the premier league.
I'm not suggesting he's a Premier league footballer by any stretch of the imagination, he might never be, but the intensity of this level is nuts. He probably needs a run of 5-10 games before we could expect anything from him, but we're not afforded that luxury. Most have come from playing regular football at the level below, he's not even had that. He's not had regular football for a year and that was in L2. |
He just ain't fit though, is he?
You look back through AAH's AFC Wimbledon goal videos and there's a razor-sharp guy with searing pace and power.
The ITFC version of AAH looks like he's running in treacle and a tad too bulky for my liking. If the club came out and said he's doing us a favour covering for Hirst despite not being anywhere near fully fit, you could cut him some slack. But yesterday he looked like a competition winner to come on and play 5-10 mins from a physical perspective. From a technical perspective he linked play alright once or twice, but, man, his physical condition leaves a lot to be desired ATM. | | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 12:43 - Nov 25 with 1449 views | portmanking |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 11:58 - Nov 25 by WeWereZombies |
Mate, you're having an absolute 'mare this morning. I have no idea why Phil took ElephantInTheRoom off and subbed you on. Now there was a poster who knew how to spread doom and gloom even in the brightest moments. |
Is he really having a mare? He's not been overly complimentary, but he's only saying what many around me were saying in those closing stages last night. | | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:09 - Nov 25 with 1387 views | Zx1988 |
I'm a little saddened to see that parts of this thread have descended into outright criticism of AAH - that was never my intent.
I've no issue at all with Ali; he clearly tries his hardest, and I'll never take issue with any player who pulls on the ITFC shirt and gives it their all, regardless of their skill level (Leon Best, take note).
He's been put in a pretty tough position, having only played sporadic first team football since leaving League Two, and not really ever having had enough competitive minutes to acclimatise to the sheer intensity of the way McKenna wants the team to play. His limitations were apparent last night, but none of that is his fault.
He sorely needs to be loaned out to the Championship to get some proper first team minutes at the top end of the English pyramid, and hopefully that will happen in January.
It's such a shame that the club (seemingly, at least) hyper-fixated on the Broja deal towards the tail-end of the summer, leaving us thrashing around somewhat on deadline day trying to find an alternative (Nelson, Latte Lath) which didn't pay off. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:22 - Nov 25 with 1339 views | LA_Tractor_Boy |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:09 - Nov 25 by Zx1988 |
I'm a little saddened to see that parts of this thread have descended into outright criticism of AAH - that was never my intent.
I've no issue at all with Ali; he clearly tries his hardest, and I'll never take issue with any player who pulls on the ITFC shirt and gives it their all, regardless of their skill level (Leon Best, take note).
He's been put in a pretty tough position, having only played sporadic first team football since leaving League Two, and not really ever having had enough competitive minutes to acclimatise to the sheer intensity of the way McKenna wants the team to play. His limitations were apparent last night, but none of that is his fault.
He sorely needs to be loaned out to the Championship to get some proper first team minutes at the top end of the English pyramid, and hopefully that will happen in January.
It's such a shame that the club (seemingly, at least) hyper-fixated on the Broja deal towards the tail-end of the summer, leaving us thrashing around somewhat on deadline day trying to find an alternative (Nelson, Latte Lath) which didn't pay off. |
Well said. Hopefully we can sign a striker in January and AAH can get his loan move to Derby.
If we stay up, AAH probably moves on in the summer. If not, he'll have Championship minutes in his legs. | | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:23 - Nov 25 with 1337 views | pointofblue |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 11:18 - Nov 25 by WeWereZombies |
Were we the only club chasing Broja ? And now glad we didn't land him ? Maybe a strong No 9 is the rarest commodity in football, especially one who can see out ninety minutes like Haaland. And whilst on the subject of Delap being spent midway through the second half I was worried about how quiet he was for the first twenty minutes of the game, and greatly heartened by the next twenty eight minutes. Think we have to accept that Ashton has a better handle on what is available and what the club can afford than anyone posting on this forum, and McKenna has a better idea of how to train them and when to play them. [Post edited 25 Nov 2024 11:34]
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Why chase Broja for so long, particularly with his injury situation? Why not make an earlier offer for Latte Lath so Boro had time to arrange a replacement? We did a brilliant job with the rest of the squad but the number 9 position, Delap aside, was badly handled. Even Ashton would admit it didn't go to plan, and not for the first time. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:25 - Nov 25 with 1331 views | WeWereZombies |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 12:43 - Nov 25 by portmanking |
Is he really having a mare? He's not been overly complimentary, but he's only saying what many around me were saying in those closing stages last night. |
My post was really aimed at textbackup's 'happy clappers' jibe but,for what it is worth, I think that poster has been pretty one track and not developed his argument too much. And never once threw in jibes about franchises taking over his club.
But if we ever need an easy whoosh in a thread then you're first off the bench... | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:42 - Nov 25 with 1297 views | Churchman |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:23 - Nov 25 by pointofblue |
Why chase Broja for so long, particularly with his injury situation? Why not make an earlier offer for Latte Lath so Boro had time to arrange a replacement? We did a brilliant job with the rest of the squad but the number 9 position, Delap aside, was badly handled. Even Ashton would admit it didn't go to plan, and not for the first time. |
No, they didn’t get all their targets. Does any club beyond those to whom the rules don’t apply?
Maybe I’m missing something, but do we know exactly what happened with Broja beyond the rubbish reported by journalists and rags like the Daily Express? It’s up there forming a judgement on the Delap deal and condemning accordingly (‘badly handled’) without knowing the terms of the deal.
Maybe it was,, maybe it wasn’t but do we really know? Has anyone in depth knowledge of how transfer actually work? Phil and Joe might but anyone else?
What we do know is that this club went into the transfer market/summer at a considerable disadvantage to every club in the Premier League. They were never going to get everyone they wanted and the 12 players they did get were never all going to succeed. Even Alex Ferguson never had a 100% record on that or Guardiola come to that. |  | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:44 - Nov 25 with 1291 views | WeWereZombies |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:23 - Nov 25 by pointofblue |
Why chase Broja for so long, particularly with his injury situation? Why not make an earlier offer for Latte Lath so Boro had time to arrange a replacement? We did a brilliant job with the rest of the squad but the number 9 position, Delap aside, was badly handled. Even Ashton would admit it didn't go to plan, and not for the first time. |
Were we chasing Broja for any length of time ? I only recall a lot of talk on the last day of the transfer window, same for Lath. They are both are better than Al~Hamadi is at the moment (if Broja is not injured) but not, in my opinion, better than Hirst. A No 9 good enough for the Premier League was either not present or already signed up to another team. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:46 - Nov 25 with 1277 views | textbackup |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:25 - Nov 25 by WeWereZombies |
My post was really aimed at textbackup's 'happy clappers' jibe but,for what it is worth, I think that poster has been pretty one track and not developed his argument too much. And never once threw in jibes about franchises taking over his club.
But if we ever need an easy whoosh in a thread then you're first off the bench... |
What on earth are you on about? |  |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:54 - Nov 25 with 1259 views | WeWereZombies |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:46 - Nov 25 by textbackup |
What on earth are you on about? |
Are you really that dense ? I don't think you are but perhaps you can't deflect criticism very well so resort to pretence.
It is very straightforward, you seem to think that anyone who challenges the view that Al~Hamadi was hopeless is going to accuse you of negativity but I see nothing in your responses to counter the reasonable arguments put forward, just a retrenchment of the original point. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 14:01 - Nov 25 with 1249 views | textbackup |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:54 - Nov 25 by WeWereZombies |
Are you really that dense ? I don't think you are but perhaps you can't deflect criticism very well so resort to pretence.
It is very straightforward, you seem to think that anyone who challenges the view that Al~Hamadi was hopeless is going to accuse you of negativity but I see nothing in your responses to counter the reasonable arguments put forward, just a retrenchment of the original point. |
As the kids say these days ‘it’s not that deep’
I just don’t think he’s any good. Even when he first arrived and everyone got all excited when he started running about, like a headless chicken, I personally saw very little in the way of quality.
Sounds as though he’s been injured the entire time he’s been here too.
Just a weird situation really. Can’t imagine anyone is massively happy with it. From AAH himself, to KM.
Find it amazing that the ‘there’s a player’ line gets churned out too. No idea what some have seen that I haven’t, would be happy to listen to those thoughts tho. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 14:29 - Nov 25 with 1201 views | pointofblue |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:44 - Nov 25 by WeWereZombies |
Were we chasing Broja for any length of time ? I only recall a lot of talk on the last day of the transfer window, same for Lath. They are both are better than Al~Hamadi is at the moment (if Broja is not injured) but not, in my opinion, better than Hirst. A No 9 good enough for the Premier League was either not present or already signed up to another team. |
We either took too long to decide on a target or too long focusing on someone who wasn't going to come - maybe Ionnadis (sp?) Either way it left us scrabbling during transfer deadline week/day to add depth. Now we have to get through the next six weeks with very little behind Delap and, if he picks up a long term injury, we're in big trouble. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 18:15 - Nov 25 with 1092 views | strikalite |
The drop off was obvious when he came on, the truth is right now if we lose Delap through injury we're in big trouble, it just shows how quickly you can be exposed at this level....Ali is nowhere near good enough for the Prem, but KM got a tune out of Jacko so he may think he can do the same with Ali, to fill a gap when needed, but this is a whole new level that's the thing..
Also, good luck with finding a quality striker to come in and play back up to Hirst and Delap in January...every other side will be desperately looking too.. |  | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 18:27 - Nov 25 with 1079 views | _clive_baker_ |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 12:41 - Nov 25 by portmanking |
He just ain't fit though, is he?
You look back through AAH's AFC Wimbledon goal videos and there's a razor-sharp guy with searing pace and power.
The ITFC version of AAH looks like he's running in treacle and a tad too bulky for my liking. If the club came out and said he's doing us a favour covering for Hirst despite not being anywhere near fully fit, you could cut him some slack. But yesterday he looked like a competition winner to come on and play 5-10 mins from a physical perspective. From a technical perspective he linked play alright once or twice, but, man, his physical condition leaves a lot to be desired ATM. |
Yep, he's nowhere near fit enough. Based on what he showed at Wimbledon and at times last season for us I do think he's a bit of a rough diamond that could be polished up a bit, there's probably enough evidence that he could be playing in L1 or the Championship this season, but even then he would need to get match fit by getting minutes into his legs. He has the attributes we would want in a #9, the question remains whether he's ever going to be good enough at them for us.
I don't think anyone expected or wanted him to be our 2nd choice #9 this year. Even if he was fully fit that would be a hard enough ask of him, but as it is he's barely kicked a ball at senior level for months and months, 10 minutes here and there with weeks in between isn't going to get him up to speed.
I think he's going to have to be seen as a necessary stop gap over the next 5 or 6 games or so to take some of the load off Delap until Hirst comes back, then there will be some trading in Jan and that'll be the last we see of him this season. Perhaps ever. |  | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 19:07 - Nov 25 with 1026 views | portmanking |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 18:27 - Nov 25 by _clive_baker_ |
Yep, he's nowhere near fit enough. Based on what he showed at Wimbledon and at times last season for us I do think he's a bit of a rough diamond that could be polished up a bit, there's probably enough evidence that he could be playing in L1 or the Championship this season, but even then he would need to get match fit by getting minutes into his legs. He has the attributes we would want in a #9, the question remains whether he's ever going to be good enough at them for us.
I don't think anyone expected or wanted him to be our 2nd choice #9 this year. Even if he was fully fit that would be a hard enough ask of him, but as it is he's barely kicked a ball at senior level for months and months, 10 minutes here and there with weeks in between isn't going to get him up to speed.
I think he's going to have to be seen as a necessary stop gap over the next 5 or 6 games or so to take some of the load off Delap until Hirst comes back, then there will be some trading in Jan and that'll be the last we see of him this season. Perhaps ever. |
But I'm not sure whether it's 'fitness' per se.
I think he's still seriously injured. He looks impaired when he's running. | | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 19:43 - Nov 25 with 990 views | Leaky |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 18:33 - Nov 24 by reusersfreekicks |
Not sure if we win it but he would have made a big difference. Al Hamadi is not at this level. |
If he doesn't get minutes we will never know |  | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 20:40 - Nov 25 with 920 views | Kieran_Knows |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 19:07 - Nov 25 by portmanking |
But I'm not sure whether it's 'fitness' per se.
I think he's still seriously injured. He looks impaired when he's running. |
Might be just me, but found it a little strange he went away with Iraq over the past couple weeks as well. Was on the bench for 1 game which he didn’t come on and then didn’t get in the squad at all for the next game.
Surely his time would’ve been better spent at the training ground, building his fitness etc up, rather than travelling the globe for, well very little in the way of game time - albeit I appreciate it’s an honour to be called up for your country. |  |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 20:46 - Nov 25 with 911 views | hype313 |
Poor lad looks completely unfit, he seriously needs a loan in the lower leagues.
Clearly a guy brought in with a view to help out in the championship in time, however, we've progressed far quicker than he has.
Not his fault, Clearly the club feel the same which is why they tried to get another striker in.
From the limited times I've seen him, he looks exactly like a League 2 player, which he was. Obviously he's young enough to improve and McKenna saw something, so we have to trust his judgement on this one.
But he won't be around here in January. |  |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 20:49 - Nov 25 with 891 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 20:46 - Nov 25 by hype313 |
Poor lad looks completely unfit, he seriously needs a loan in the lower leagues.
Clearly a guy brought in with a view to help out in the championship in time, however, we've progressed far quicker than he has.
Not his fault, Clearly the club feel the same which is why they tried to get another striker in.
From the limited times I've seen him, he looks exactly like a League 2 player, which he was. Obviously he's young enough to improve and McKenna saw something, so we have to trust his judgement on this one.
But he won't be around here in January. |
I know we do and have to trust KM on his inclusion but it really doesn't make sense when you know KMs requirements not only from his strikers but the intensity if all his players.
I could understand seeing a player who's trying to be developed but when it comes to the detriment of the team its not correct.
Honestly you don't need to be a football manager to see Ali is miles away from fitness to be able to play champ football let alone prem football. |  |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 21:25 - Nov 25 with 833 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 13:23 - Nov 25 by pointofblue |
Why chase Broja for so long, particularly with his injury situation? Why not make an earlier offer for Latte Lath so Boro had time to arrange a replacement? We did a brilliant job with the rest of the squad but the number 9 position, Delap aside, was badly handled. Even Ashton would admit it didn't go to plan, and not for the first time. |
The Broja thing annoys me as we were chasing an injury prone striker to provide cover to a striker who's recently been injured alot.
People say we couldn't get another one if we were after Broja. Why not.. we've seen how good delap is but he had played alot wide. So who's to say he wouldn't have been as good playing that role with another striker uptop and then as and when hirst or broja were fit you've then got cover.
Can't remember how the situation ended.. but I swear we had this when hirst joined Blackburn and we ended up with little back up.. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 23:57 - Nov 25 with 775 views | pointofblue |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 21:25 - Nov 25 by FrimleyBlue |
The Broja thing annoys me as we were chasing an injury prone striker to provide cover to a striker who's recently been injured alot.
People say we couldn't get another one if we were after Broja. Why not.. we've seen how good delap is but he had played alot wide. So who's to say he wouldn't have been as good playing that role with another striker uptop and then as and when hirst or broja were fit you've then got cover.
Can't remember how the situation ended.. but I swear we had this when hirst joined Blackburn and we ended up with little back up.. |
It seems to be a reoccurring theme. In 22/23 we spent an age chasing Hirst, failed to get him, and ended up signing Ahadme at the death just because Woolfenden and Burgess were challenged by him at Burton. We went through the first half of season with him, Freddie and John-Jules as our strikers. Hirst then joined in January.
A similar thing happened last year. Other than finalising Hirst’s permanent arrival, we failed to get another striker through the door until transfer deadline day in Dane Scarlett. Al-Hamidi and Moore arrived in January.
Then, this year, we managed to bring in Delap but did nothing else in terms of striking options. It is a case of year after year under Gamechanger we appear to struggle to add depth up front in the summer window. Every other position? Great. But up front is an issue. | |
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| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 08:14 - Nov 26 with 658 views | Churchman |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 23:57 - Nov 25 by pointofblue |
It seems to be a reoccurring theme. In 22/23 we spent an age chasing Hirst, failed to get him, and ended up signing Ahadme at the death just because Woolfenden and Burgess were challenged by him at Burton. We went through the first half of season with him, Freddie and John-Jules as our strikers. Hirst then joined in January.
A similar thing happened last year. Other than finalising Hirst’s permanent arrival, we failed to get another striker through the door until transfer deadline day in Dane Scarlett. Al-Hamidi and Moore arrived in January.
Then, this year, we managed to bring in Delap but did nothing else in terms of striking options. It is a case of year after year under Gamechanger we appear to struggle to add depth up front in the summer window. Every other position? Great. But up front is an issue. |
Or maybe it’s an indication of the difficulty in acquiring forwards at the right calibre, who are available at a price, that want to come here. Everyone is chasing a Delap.
If you are Man City, United, Arsenal, Liverpool you can click your fingers, offer £60m and £300k per week and the world is your lobster. You don’t even have to obey the rules. Bit different for us further down the food chain. We don’t even have the spending power of Leicester and Saints under FFP.
As for 22/23 and 23/24, I seem to remember that while those seasons could have been better (first not second), they finished ok. I’m not quite sure what more you expect Gamechanger to do - by them I presume you mean the Ipswich Board and CEO, Recruitment Team and KM. | | | |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 08:20 - Nov 26 with 635 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Not to be unkind to Ali... on 08:14 - Nov 26 by Churchman |
Or maybe it’s an indication of the difficulty in acquiring forwards at the right calibre, who are available at a price, that want to come here. Everyone is chasing a Delap.
If you are Man City, United, Arsenal, Liverpool you can click your fingers, offer £60m and £300k per week and the world is your lobster. You don’t even have to obey the rules. Bit different for us further down the food chain. We don’t even have the spending power of Leicester and Saints under FFP.
As for 22/23 and 23/24, I seem to remember that while those seasons could have been better (first not second), they finished ok. I’m not quite sure what more you expect Gamechanger to do - by them I presume you mean the Ipswich Board and CEO, Recruitment Team and KM. |
Erm. They finished ok because we got reinforcements in January.
Just like this season could finish OK once we get reinforcements.
Just praying delap doesn't get Injured between now and when ever we get another striker as we could be well and truly fked and not getting that striker in the summer will I'm afraid be a massive contributor.
But.. let's stick to what's happening at the moment which is things are flowing nicely. Just lots of praying weekly for delap lol.
And remember we didn't need another delap. Just someone fitter than Al Hamadi. Now that there were plenty of. | |
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