CONFIRMED Conor Hourihane signs on loan

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cocomelon said:
He’s always been a top set piece taker and can actually score from distance, so definitely will add something there. Worrying reading Swansea’s forum though. Said he’s lazy, slows everything down and was rubbish other than the first month. On the other side Villa fans love him. So hopefully we get the villa version!
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So he's weak, can't tackle and slows play right down with every touch, sounds like he will fit in perfectly with the rest of our midfield
 



SufcBilly said:
Literally been linked with him all summer so not exactly “last minute.com”
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He's been linked with us for years. It obviously is lastminute.com given we've waited until the day before the end of the transfer window to sign him. If we were really keen we could have done this last month, could we not?
 
I believe the reason we didn't move for him earlier was because Slav didn't realise how poor Fleck and Norwood had become. Obviously he does now and although Hourihane is a start totally agree that we still need an athlete in the middle of the pitch or an enforcer. My ideal would be Milivojevic fellow Serbian to Slav, currently not playing for Palace due to personal reasons. Obviously can't afford him however with Hourihane and someone who is mobile like Jed Wallace we begin to see a team
 
I think he played a fair bit under Heckingbottom at Barnsley. So i think there will have been some input there.
 
robbiez666 said:
He's been linked with us for years. It obviously is lastminute.com given we've waited until the day before the end of the transfer window to sign him. If we were really keen we could have done this last month, could we not?
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Depends, on other potential deals, we don't know if he was first choice or 3rd choice, and the deal is done because others delayed, failed etc
 
Streets ahead of the John Fleck & Oli Norwood of the last 18 months and a much needed goal threat, so a yes from me.

Assume Geurdioura signs, then at least we've a midfielder who can assist / score and one that can tackle. Better than the sickly passive beige Fleckwood have been dishing up.

Those claiming its a short term plaster over a big gaping wound are absolutely right. But it is exactly what's needed until we can offload the deadwood as contracts run down over the next 24 months.

The legacy of shite recruitment and bad contract management was never going to be fixed overnight.
 
Champagneblade said:
From 462 games across all divisions he has 161 goal contributions split pretty evenly across goals and assists, 81 being goals. 30% in the Championship, 28% in League Two, 20% in League One and just under 5% in the Premier League.

Fleck has played in 452 matches across divisions, so very comparable and has 73 assist and 24 goals if I recall. 47% of his career has been in League One, 23% Championship, 14% Premier League.

So over the course of a 46 game season Hourihane contributes to 16 goals and Fleck to about 10.

In his time with Swansea he scored 5 in 24 and assisted twice.

He's certainly a good alternative to Fleck and probably just the right level to give him a rocket to address his performances.
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You can firmly stick me in the meh camp with this signing. Seems the sort I'd move youd make on Championshio manager looking at stats rather than how he actually plays?

He is a totally different player to Fleck and more like Norwood of the three we have had playing.

If he plays instead of Fleck then we will have three slow, static midfielders. Only Berge can carry it and does it rarely.

We are crying out for pace, athleticism, bite and a ball carrier either by dribbling or passing.

Hourihane is none of these. He is weak in the tackle, slow and his only real attribute is set plays and the occasional long range goal. Granted that is more than the others.

I would have no issues with this as a short term loan as a cover/squad player but he is not going to dramatically change the fundamental issues in the way we play, get up the pitch. His set plays of course could be useful if we had any players who are a threat aerially (don't give me McBurnie or Egan...scored one header between them in a year)

We are crying out for some power and bite in a very agricultural League where we are a soft touch and have now signed (assuming he signs) two physically weak players in him and Davies so still leaves big holes to fill?

The only reason to like this signing is he is someone different and probably can't do any worse?

Him and Norwood playing together I am not sure works at all?

I'd be all for another midfielder coming in and both Norwood/Fleck being dropped though. They need a huge kick up the backside.
 
Good signing

But Is he better than fleck ? Probably If it’s Jimmy fleck and not John

Still think we need some pace I think Norwood hourihane & Fleck are all similar types of players
 
Speedracer said:
Ah but which one? If we are talking the real John Fleck then no chance, but as he has disappeared & left Jimmy in his place then you are probably right. ;)
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Better than both types of John Fleck, in the 18/19 season he had 20 goals contributions in comparison to Flecks 12. As is with many of our players his best season statistically was in league one.
 
Also a myth he doesn’t win tackles, in the same season 18/19 he out performed fleck in this area, in-fact Duffy, Mcgoldrick and Norwood out performed Fleck.

Fleck strength over hourihane is/was his abilty to intercept the ball high up the pitch, almost 50% more effective at this. But fleck doesn’t score as many goals, win as many tackles or contribute more at set plays.
 
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Deadbat said:
You can firmly stick me in the meh camp with this signing. Seems the sort I'd move youd make on Championshio manager looking at stats rather than how he actually plays?

He is a totally different player to Fleck and more like Norwood of the three we have had playing.

If he plays instead of Fleck then we will have three slow, static midfielders. Only Berge can carry it and does it rarely.

We are crying out for pace, athleticism, bite and a ball carrier either by dribbling or passing.

Hourihane is none of these. He is weak in the tackle, slow and his only real attribute is set plays and the occasional long range goal. Granted that is more than the others.

I would have no issues with this as a short term loan as a cover/squad player but he is not going to dramatically change the fundamental issues in the way we play, get up the pitch. His set plays of course could be useful if we had any players who are a threat aerially (don't give me McBurnie or Egan...scored one header between them in a year)

We are crying out for some power and bite in a very agricultural League where we are a soft touch and have now signed (assuming he signs) two physically weak players in him and Davies so still leaves big holes to fill?

The only reason to like this signing is he is someone different and probably can't do any worse?

Him and Norwood playing together I am not sure works at all?

I'd be all for another midfielder coming in and both Norwood/Fleck being dropped though. They need a huge kick up the backside.
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Would it work for you if we say had

Berge DM

with Hourihane in front?

For me, he can't play the Fleck Role. He has zero defensive attributes and whilst we malign Fleck I think we'd be in for a shock is Freeman or Hourihane played there. I can see him maybe fitting into a Duffy role.

One of the confusing aspects for me is I don't know how we're going to play. 3 or 4 at the back. Wide forwards, wingers of 5-3-2.
 
In his last season and half in this league he’s contributed 13 goals and 13 assists. Our current midfield 3 would not match that combined between them in 3 seasons so it’s a “I’ll take it” signing from me.

Hopefully an athletic midfielder coming in as well to play alongside him 🤞🏻
 
I'm not overly enthusiastic about this signing to be honest as he's another one of those midfield players with an incredible ability to simply go "missing" in games. However, it's another body in there for competition at the very least and I really hope I'm proven wrong and he ends up being exactly what we needed and helps to make us tick again.
Now if we could add a Swift or a Jota too or maybe a ball winner to give us some extra bite in the middle too and . . . . . Sorry, getting greedy now aren't I (plus the squad would be getting too big as well perhaps!!)😁.
 
I'm not unhappy about this signing - it adds to the squad experience/quality and if nothing else provides much needed competition for places where we most need to improve. If it means Fleck, Norwood, Sander 'up their game' to be included in the first 11, I'll take that right now!!
 
Zone Man said:
Now if we could add a Swift or a Jota too or maybe a ball winner to give us some extra bite in the middle too and . . . . . Sorry, getting greedy now aren't I (plus the squad would be getting too big as well perhaps!!)😁.
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No, it's not getting greedy. It's the minimum a club in our position - just been relegated with parachute payments and 24m from a recent sale - should be expecting. The bare minimum.
 



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