Emile Heskey

[Holtenderinthesky]

Just read an article about the big man in the weekends losers section on f365 which went like this:


"Emile Heskey
Supposedly a link man in attack, Heskey's pass completion rate for his 72 minutes of practical anonymity at West Ham was just 57%. Had just three more of his 33 attempted passes gone wayward then he would have slipped below the critical 50% benchmark - critical because, so long as each team has 11 players, it's the percentage a blind footballer with a sense of direction would be expected to achieve."


Now it's been a while since he's played regularly but is it time to say goodbye in the summer or does he have some sort of role still to play at the club?  Personally I think he started the season very well indeed and was fine up until the Sunderland catastrophe and subsequent suspension.  Surely we should be looking to better players for next season than Emile but can we afford to replace him?  Do we need to replace him?

[FatSam]

I thought he did ok against WHU. He certainly won pretty much everything in the air, which immediately puts the opposition under pressure.

[ADVILLAFAN]

Our first goal (that counted) against West Ham came from Heskey winning the ball off Noble.

[TheSandman]

It's bollocks.

[Merv]

I wonder if pass completions include flick-ons? f365 must be struggling a bit for material these days. I'm just pleased one of Heskey's passes was the one which helped to set up Bent's goal: still, I suppose he's an easy target for journos and always has been.

I think he'll move on in the summer, both him and Carew, and we'll replace them with just the one striker, a more physical type to complement Bent, Gabby, Delfouneso and Weimann. He's been largely underwhelming during his time for us, but has had a reasonable season this time around.

[Mazrim]

It is time to replace him but Houllier or whoever is in charge will like the option of a powerful striker to work defenders over. With Carew gone, Heskey is it. Gabby and Bent are strong but not powerhouses.

So if you agree that we need to have one in the squad (and I do) then we need to keep Heskey or better still, upgrade him.
A strong, good finisher with some ability on the ball would be ideal but no doubt expensive.
Carroll would have been ideal but that's gone, obviously. Connor Wickham is a potential player of this type in the near future. I cant think of many others in the Premier League. Kenwyne Jones?
Otherwise we'll be looking abroad. Gignac or Hoarau maybe.

[Caiphus]

Who is in for Lukaku? He is worth throwing at least 20m at imo!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

As Bentman says, it's bollocks. He put himself about well on Saturday and as mentioned above, won the ball leading up to our goal.

No complaints here.

[Mazrim]

I dont see why he's in the lsoers section either. Not only did his team win but he was directly involved in one of the goals.

Fucken joyks!

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I've always been critical of him and he'll be gone in the Summer, but at the start of Houllier's reign, he was playing really well.

Needs to play Saturday to combat Stoke's bully boy shit, he'll be needed to defend their set piece attacks.

[Matt Collins]

I think we need a physical option. I'd like a better one than Heskey, but I think summer transfer priorities will be elsewhere (in goal, right back, left back, centre back, defensive midfield, replacement for Young . . . )

[Pete3206]

How long is left on his contract?

[Concrete John]

These Heskey debates have been going on as long as he's been playing football.  He's a handful to the defence, but lacks any real goal scoring edge.  He won't change so you either accept what he gives you and live with his faults or you don't play/sign him.

Personally, I think it's time to move him on.

[darren woolley]

I thought he did ok on saturday we do need him or a player like him in the team his strength and the way he plays is a good option for us.

[curiousorange]

I don't disagree with the highlighting of Heskey's weaknesses but we all know them. F365 is so anti-Villa it may as well be edited by Craig Gardner.