In fairness, the stick he gets on this board from a minority is hatred and I am sure a poster on this thread said that they hated himFair enough. I don't really think anyone hates him or wants him to fail but I think his criticism has been justified. As you say let's see how he does with more creative players in the squad, should they get game time. For me he doesn't get into the right positions to score goals. Posters reckon we play him as a target man which we may have done when he first arrived but since then he seems to want to play as a deeper 10 role, linking play near the corner flags. He won't score many a season from those positions even when fully fit. Like everything else, just an opinion.
It isn't McBurnie's fault we bought him for a large fee. There is no doubt in my mind that he always gives 100% when he plays( unlike Lundstram in the last 6 months with us) however, it is plain to see that, at the moment, his performances are awful.
Despite this, I think booing him when he came on as a sub last season was a new low for some Blades fans as I believe that, as long as a player gives 100% it is down to the manager to resolve performance issues. Booing a player before even kicking a ball can only adversely affect confidence.
Can he improve ? I hope he can as we may need him due to the injury situation but I have my doubts especially as I can't see the kind of role he should be playing in the team. He isn't a target man but is reasonable in the air but doesn't appear to have the technical ability to be a second striker .
It doesn't help when he appears to be an idiot off the field and this will right cloud some fans' judgement of him on the pitch even if he plays well