Sharp and McGoldrick

[Edinblade]

For me Sharp and McGoldrick should start every match for the rest of the season unless injured. I don't like the tactics when Maldine plays, far too many long balls played aimlessly towards him and he doesn't have anywhere near as much skill as McGoldrick.
We're more effective when Henderson gives to a defender rather than long ball.
Hogan is OK as back up, but not in the same class as Sharp and McGoldrick.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

Agree with all of the above, but not to be afraid to use Hogan, I think he'll prove to be a really useful addition.

 

[S15Blade]

I think they'll be starting for a while now.

Felt a bit sorry for Hogan last night, he'll be useful. Looks like he needs a goal though

 

[Ricky]

We'll still need Madine as at least 3rd choice because I have no faith at all that Hogan will produce for us. He doesn't suit us and we don't suit him.

 

[BorbokisKS]

Hogan's confidence needs building, he has the attributes but his decision making and composure is lacking!

Agreed on style of play when Madine starts but he played well before the sending off and showed what he can do partnering Sharp.

 

[madeinsheffield]

Illustrates how good they are when we are talking about leaving £15m worth on the bench

 

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

Never start Madine no matter how many starts he has in his loan contract. He should always be a 60-70mins bencher.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Best partnership since Deane and Agana.

 

[wavy-blade]

I am afraid once you have seen these 2 together , I don't think any other come close , not to say all the others are no good , because they are , but these 2 were something else !

 

[Melbourne Blade]

Agreed - Gaz and Hogan were good options for the period of midweek games, however, we only have 1 midweek game for the rest of the season, an international break and other than Easter it's pretty much 1 game a week until the end of the season. Therefore other than tactical changes I think Billy and Didsy should have the energy to start nearly every game.

 

[originaltrueblade]

I was concerned that we would play the long ball against Leeds with Madine the target undoubtedly suiting Leeds. Circumstances have removed that fear

 

[mattbianco1]

Agree with all of the above, but not to be afraid to use Hogan, I think he'll prove to be a really useful addition.

Yeah, I think he's a goal away from getting his confidence back

 

[mattbianco1]

I'd love to see Hogan and Mcgoldrick. I think that would be a fantastic partnership.

Obviously that means Sharp isn't on the pitch, so maybe on 60mins when we're 3-0 up

 

[8lade]

We'll still need Madine as at least 3rd choice because I have no faith at all that Hogan will produce for us. He doesn't suit us and we don't suit him.

Crikey that's a turn round!

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Agree with all of the above, but not to be afraid to use Hogan, I think he'll prove to be a really useful addition.

Is this one of them, "he'll come good eventually" threads?

Let's say it as it is. Hogan hasn't been at all convincing based on what we've seen so far. He needs to buck his ideas up fast and show us why Villa were crazy enough to spend £12M on him - because they have wondered the same thing ever since and no one has seen anything, since he left Brentford, to convince them that he was ever in that category.

Football is littered with "one-hit wonders". Players who have a short period of their careers when they look phenomenal, but then it ends abruptly and it's never reproduced anywhere else. I hope Hogan isn't one of these. I'm sure he hopes he isn't either.

What I've seen is a guy that has a fair bit of pace about him, but is frequently out of the game, or chasing shadows. He doesn't seem to link up well with any of our strikers so far. He seems a bit of a lone wolf tbh. I'll admit we haven't seen much of him to make a judgement, but when you've been watching football for a long time it's hard not to form an impression about some players early on, and my impression is that Hogan will be going back to Villa at the end of the season and we will breathe a sigh of relief that we didn't waste a big transfer fee on him.

 

[ilovesufc]

Well you don't need to worry for 3 matches anyway! Agree Sharp and McG have to be the main partnership but I do think Madine has made a good impact since joining in Jan. Results since speak for themselves...I think it's just the ability for Wilder to shake things up more that has made the difference. I'm not a fan of the long balls either but think back to L1 - Hanson came in and gave us the ability to grind out that last part of the season and keep getting the results, sometimes it wasn't pretty but it did make us more effective and gave Billy some respite too, when our usual style wasn't quite working. At the moment it feels the same to me - that's why I'm so annoyed with Madine for being unavailable!! Hogan just needs that goal to push on, but I don't see him as that "other option" like Madine is.

 

[Chief_Froley]

Sharp and McGoldrick start all day.

Use Hogan as a fast option off the bench for the next 3 Games while Madines suspended and I think we'll start to see his worth (although the jury is still out for me).

 

[BladeFisher]

I'd love to see Hogan and Mcgoldrick. I think that would be a fantastic partnership.

Obviously that means Sharp isn't on the pitch, so maybe on 60mins when we're 3-0 up

....and Moore to replace Hendo as the 3rd sub?

 

[LondonBlade89]

We'll still need Madine as at least 3rd choice because I have no faith at all that Hogan will produce for us. He doesn't suit us and we don't suit him.

What makes you say that? I completely disagree.

 

[lakedistblade]

After all the excitement of January we are back to Billy and Didsy as our clear first choice strikers at least for next three games which are so crucial ( thanks Gary ). Sharps influence, workrate and fright power for defences is immense. Wish Didsy was less one footed and made better decisions with final ball. Defensive quality alone won't get us top two.

 

[sitwell]

Is this the David McGoldrick who was only good for about 15 games a season ?

 

[Fanny magnet]

Thought all the front three looked lethargic and sloppy the other night ,afforded time and space by Brentford defence they couldn't give them the ball back quickly enough up to madine sending off

 

[MobileBlade]

I am afraid once you have seen these 2 together , I don't think any other come close , not to say all the others are no good , because they are , but these 2 were something else !

Silent Blade WalthamstowBlade - only another 80 views and we are at 15,000!! Think this latest push may help

 

[LJBlade]

I'd love to see Hogan and Mcgoldrick. I think that would be a fantastic partnership.

Obviously that means Sharp isn't on the pitch, so maybe on 60mins when we're 3-0 up

Hogan and McGoldrick started together against Rotherham. I thought they'd maybe make a good partnership but they didn't seem to on that showing.

I don't think our style of play suits Hogan at all. He likes the ball played through the middle which we very rarely do.

 

[mattbianco1]

Hogan and McGoldrick started together against Rotherham. I thought they'd maybe make a good partnership but they didn't seem to on that showing.

So they did..I missed that game though as I was ill

 

[Grecian2000]

What makes you say that? I completely disagree.

Whilst not wishing to answer for Ricky, I agree with him because Hogan looks to be the sort who plays on the shoulder of the last man and darts onto through balls using his pace.
We don't play like that, we prefer to go down either side and work ways of getting into the box from wide positions or pass around teams keeping it very much "to feet".

Not saying we haven't got players (certainly Norwood and Fleck are more than capable) of slipping him through, but, at the moment, we aren't doing it. We either change to suit the personnel (longer ball game when Madine starts for instance) or play the players (Sharp and McGoldrick) who better suit our current style (slower players liking balls to feet not running on to).

 

[LondonBlade89]

Whilst not wishing to answer for Ricky, I agree with him because Hogan looks to be the sort who plays on the shoulder of the last man and darts onto through balls using his pace.
We don't play like that, we prefer to go down either side and work ways of getting into the box from wide positions or pass around teams keeping it very much "to feet".

Not saying we haven't got players (certainly Norwood and Fleck are more than capable) of slipping him through, but, at the moment, we aren't doing it. We either change to suit the personnel (longer ball game when Madine starts for instance) or play the players (Sharp and McGoldrick) who better suit our current style (slower players liking balls to feet not running on to).

I hear you. But did you not think that the Hogan-Madine partnership worked very well when they played against Reading and we won 4-0?

I don't buy that "playing on the shoulder" doesn't work in our system. The number of times we have the ball in the final third and look to slip balls through - particularly if Duffy's on the pitch - suggests it absolutely does. If played alongside Didsy, you've got someone dropping deep anyway. We don't play a system which calls for both strikers to drop deep or hold the ball up.

 

[Mace W]

Considering Madine is out for the next 3 games, I feel that us still having an 'plan B' in terms of attacking is important (hence our results since he joined). I'd like to see a 'plan B' in terms attacking that suits slipping Hogan in an using his pace to pull teams apart. If this was to prove effective it would ultimately give us 3 approaches for the last 6 games, keeping teams guessing and keeping us flexible.

 

[BigBed]

Fuck Hogan and Madine, play Duffy instead, I still don't understand why he's on the bench so much, what a waste. should also have started v Wendy!

 

[Akinbiyi]

It's no coincidence that we've only started to get positive results in these 'big games' away since we've signed and used Madine.

Started v Norwich - drew 2-2
Started v Villa - 3-0 until he went off and our defence collapsed
Came on at WBA - won 1-0

He's got a big part to play for the rest of the season. Much more useful than Hogan for our style of play.