Jonathan Kodjia - SOLD

[Toronto Villa]

It's literally stunning. No other word for it.

[old man villa fan]

And our forwards have only scored in 3 of our 11 games so far this season. And if you back to the end of last season, no forwards scored in our last 4 games, including play-offs. It's almost an impressive achievement to have so much talent at your disposal and yet have them being so ineffective.

And another stat, by my reckoning, since Hogan scored against Burton on Feb 3rd, strikers owned by Aston Villa have scored in 3 of the last 30 games in all competitions.
Hogan v Reading last season and Kod v Ipswich and Brentford this season.

That is a remarkable statistic.

[Duncan Shaw]

Makes you want to weep

[Toronto Villa]

That's why I don't blame Kodjia. It's just incredible how Bruce has destroyed the attacking intent of this team. Something that seemed to be improving under Agnew but he's killed that too.

[paul_e]

That's why I don't blame Kodjia. It's just incredible how Bruce has destroyed the attacking intent of this team. Something that seemed to be improving under Agnew but he's killed that too.

I think it makes it tough to draw conclusions about any of our attacking players because the whole thing looks so disjointed and has pretty much since he arrived other than a couple of patches where a player or 2 hit a run of form, Kodjia in the first season, Adomah, Grealish and Snodgrass at times last year (and Grabban to an extent as well).  This isn't saying the Bruce played no part in those spells but that it's all inconsistent and once the form drops off he seems clueless as to how to resolve it.

It's all so typical of how Bruce works, his only answer is buy players, or if the window is shut to just keep shuffling the team around until he gets a win or 2 and then try to claim that the team/formation he used was the plan all along but he'd just not been able to do it before.

[RussellC]

I really think we need to get Hogan back into the team as soon as possible. As others have said, Kodjia has been crap in the last few games, and he's not the type of player to put a shift-in when he's not playing well. I really think Hogan's movement and work-rate would work well with Abraham, and there's also the potential of a developing a good understanding with McGinn who likes to look for an early forward pass.

I'd be more than happy to ship Kodjia out in January and bring in someone like Nick Powell, whilst making a profit at the same time.

[eamonn]

Surely Powell would cost more?  His star is on the ascent. There's question marks over Kodjia and he's a fair bit older.

[RussellC]

Powell's out of contract in the summer, and by all accounts isn't going to sign a new one. Therefore Wigan will need to cash-in in January, or face losing him for nothing in June.

[Drummond]

I'd like us to keep him and see what a new manager does. Same with Hogan. They have both scored goals at this level and can do it again.

[RussellC]

I’ve always felt that Kodjia’s goals come to the overall detriment of the team. By-and-large, for every bit of brilliance there’s an act of selfishness or a wrong decision that potentially costs the team a goal. The team’s that have gone-up in recent years and the ones that have shared the goals around the team, not relied on one prolific scorer. As others have said, Kodjia is now too long in the tooth to drastically change the way that he plays, and I just don’t see that being compatible with a team pushing for promotion. 

As an aside I would have hauled him off after he attempted that ‘rabona’ cross against Rotherham the other week, in much the same way that Mancini did when Balotelli tried that pre-season back heel in front of goal. Granted he did produce an assist in that game, but that’s about the only one that I can think of in a Villa shirt…

[SoccerHQ]

Thought he was great in the Brentford game and looked to be warming up nicely for a repeat of 16/17.

Not sure what's happened since.

[Risso]

Brucey "having a go" at two up top has happened since.

[Brend'Watkins]

Brucey "having a go" at two up top has happened since.

Brucey sticking Grealish out on the wing doesn't help either.

[Drummond]

Bruce doesn't help. Kodjia can be majestic in full flow but selfish too.

I read this yesterday....

"Van Nistelrooy: overrated? ⁦Man Utd⁩ won 3 straight titles before he arrived and straight after he left. In the meantime, just one title in five seasons."

He was undoubtedly a great player but didn't fit the team.

Have we got a similar issue with Kodjia? (barring the obvious bit about actually winning anything).

[Monty]

He's a real talent, but I don't think Bruce helps him curb his less useful tendencies at all. In attack, Bruce's football has absolutely no structure or plan, the hope being that individual talent will get him through - and you can see how that sort of football doesn't exactly encourage a guy like Kodjia to be more of a team player.