Ollie Watkins

[N'ZMAV]

lets get a better one in and stop the debate

[Sexual Ealing]

It was but it isn’t always like that, which is more my point. He’s never going to be elite level, but he’s a good striker and when he’s in form he’s better than he was today. He’s comfortably good enough to play at the level we’re at at the moment.

That's the thing though, he had an off day, and it happens to them all. But when, say, Coutinho or Kamara are having bad games (and they do, as we all know) they receive the ball like they know what they ought to do with it. It's second nature. When Watkins is off it he looks like a competition winner.

[PaulWinch again]

It was but it isn’t always like that, which is more my point. He’s never going to be elite level, but he’s a good striker and when he’s in form he’s better than he was today. He’s comfortably good enough to play at the level we’re at at the moment.

We want to be higher than the level we're at though, surely, and to get there we'll need somebody a bit more consistent. It sounds a bit harsh after a 4-0 win, but he was far and away our worst player today.

He was, and if that is how he always plays then I’d agree but it isn’t. He’s better than he was today. Don’t get me wrong medium/long-term we’ll want to transition beyond him as an automatic starter, but we’re not at that point.

[Risso]

It was but it isn’t always like that, which is more my point. He’s never going to be elite level, but he’s a good striker and when he’s in form he’s better than he was today. He’s comfortably good enough to play at the level we’re at at the moment.

We want to be higher than the level we're at though, surely, and to get there we'll need somebody a bit more consistent. It sounds a bit harsh after a 4-0 win, but he was far and away our worst player today.

He was, and if that is how he always plays then I’d agree but it isn’t. He’s better than he was today. Don’t get me wrong medium/long-term we’ll want to transition beyond him as an automatic starter, but we’re not at that point.

As I said before though, to get to that point, you need better players.

[PaulWinch again]

Yep but my point is that I don’t think we can probably attract the level of striker who is definitely consistently better than Watkins at the mo. We might be able to get a young prospect who might end up being better, but they’d be inconsistent as well.

When he’s off it Ollie looks rough, but across a season he’ll deliver a good level and I reckon he’ll get near 20 league goals if he stays fit.

[Aldridge Villa]

I dispute your reckoning Paul but happy to be proved wrong.

[pablo_picasso]

To move one as a club, we need better quality than Watkins as first choice. Backup, maybe. But not first choice.

His goals come in feast or famine levels of form & when he is shit, he really looks shit.

Still works hard, but I imagine we could get a lot of players in who would work hard, if thats all we are after.

[Taylor]

It was but it isn’t always like that, which is more my point. He’s never going to be elite level, but he’s a good striker and when he’s in form he’s better than he was today. He’s comfortably good enough to play at the level we’re at at the moment.

We want to be higher than the level we're at though, surely, and to get there we'll need somebody a bit more consistent. It sounds a bit harsh after a 4-0 win, but he was far and away our worst player today.

“By far and away our worst player”. Really? Do you keep a tally of this dubious accolade? Olly worked his nuts off today, and will score a load this season. I don’t know who this mythical striker is who we can get in to replace him, coz they are not easy to come by.

[PaulWinch again]

But that’s reductive isn’t it? He doesn’t just work hard. He scores goals as well, and players that do both of those things or the latter to a consistently better level are high cost/probably playing in the Champions League.

[Risso]

It was but it isn’t always like that, which is more my point. He’s never going to be elite level, but he’s a good striker and when he’s in form he’s better than he was today. He’s comfortably good enough to play at the level we’re at at the moment.

We want to be higher than the level we're at though, surely, and to get there we'll need somebody a bit more consistent. It sounds a bit harsh after a 4-0 win, but he was far and away our worst player today.

“By far and away our worst player”. Really? Do you keep a tally of this dubious accolade? Olly worked his nuts off today, and will score a load this season. I don’t know who this mythical striker is who we can get in to replace him, coz they are not easy to come by.

I'm just giving my opinion on what I saw today.  I've already said he ran all day, but as is quite often the case, his first touch and quality in front of goal were disctinctly lacking.

[PaulWinch again]

I’d agree with that he was poor today. Where I think I differ with others is for me today is not representative of what he brings and whilst I do think if we’re playing Champions League etc at some point we’ll need a better starting striker. I think currently we’ll struggle to get a much better player in until we show we can sustain our trajectory.

[pablo_picasso]

It was but it isn’t always like that, which is more my point. He’s never going to be elite level, but he’s a good striker and when he’s in form he’s better than he was today. He’s comfortably good enough to play at the level we’re at at the moment.

We want to be higher than the level we're at though, surely, and to get there we'll need somebody a bit more consistent. It sounds a bit harsh after a 4-0 win, but he was far and away our worst player today.

“By far and away our worst player”. Really? Do you keep a tally of this dubious accolade? Olly worked his nuts off today, and will score a load this season. I don’t know who this mythical striker is who we can get in to replace him, coz they are not easy to come by.

Jonathan David...

Why are replacement players for peoples favourites always "mythical"?

[Sexual Ealing]

To move one as a club, we need better quality than Watkins as first choice. Backup, maybe. But not first choice.

His goals come in feast or famine levels of form & when he is shit, he really looks shit.

Still works hard, but I imagine we could get a lot of players in who would work hard, if thats all we are after.

Feast or famine is right. He's the striker equivalent of Dean Smith. And Dean Smith is right up there in terms of our managers in modern history, and I love him, but he ultimately wasn't equipped to take us to the top. Nor is Watkins.

[PaulWinch again]

To the top? No he’s not, but I’d guess we can’t get a striker who will do that currently.

[pauliewalnuts]

But that’s reductive isn’t it? He doesn’t just work hard. He scores goals as well, and players that do both of those things or the latter to a consistently better level are high cost/probably playing in the Champions League.

Isak at Newcastle is, for me, significantly better than Watkins.

He cost twice as much.

Maybe that’s the key - spend more money, get a better player.

They signed him when they were nowhere near the champions league.

Diaby is a step in the right direction. If we can replace Watkins with a similarly costly and better player, we should do.