Ollie Watkins

[Smirker]

Where is the rewriting of history? The numbers are:

54 apps
17 goals

Not a good goal return.

I'm talking about goals.

His goalscoring, has never been great.

But the previous point was even by the logic of the Watkins Worshippers, when you add assists, this season has still been disastrous.

G/A as a unified metric is a modern phenomenon that's came about post Messi/Ronaldo. Nobody measured 'goal contributions' before that. Why not go further and add pre-assists? Strikers have always been judged on goals, and Ollie doesn't score enough. Clutch all the straws you want.

[paul_e]

I give up, you're not worth the effort on this topic, I genuinely can't understand why someone would get themselves of being this determined to shit on the record of player who has been so good for us, it's just fucking weird.

[brontebilly]

Where is the rewriting of history? The numbers are:

54 apps
17 goals

Not a good goal return.

I'm talking about goals.

His goalscoring, has never been great.

But the previous point was even by the logic of the Watkins Worshippers, when you add assists, this season has still been disastrous.

G/A as a unified metric is a modern phenomenon that's came about post Messi/Ronaldo. Nobody measured 'goal contributions' before that. Why not go further and add pre-assists? Strikers have always been judged on goals, and Ollie doesn't score enough. Clutch all the straws you want.

This season has been a disastrous one for Watkins so far, there aren't many disputing that. Maybe Emery or even you spotted that decline towards the back end of last season but there weren't many complaining about Watkins after his performance v Newcastle for example. Turned the game v Southampton, winner at Bournemouth, assist v Tottenham. Solid performances down the stretch bar that collapse on the final day. Club have been open to letting him go for 12 months so maybe Emery was concerned but we are where we are.

Far too much focus on metrics for sure but it's useful for Watkins as he wasn't just a penalty box forward. He always contributed to our general play and the assist count highlighted that.

If strikers are judged solely on goals then take Van Nistelrooy at Man United as an example. He scored a crazy amount of goals but Man United were a more successful team before and after him.

[Somniloquism]

This seems to be the first season that Ollie won't get into double figures for us since we signed him. No one has stated it is anything other then disastrous for us or the player. Only one person is cheering that on or calling his previous seasons "average".

For comparison, our previous top scorers per season. (Prem only). Only one person has ever matched his consistent scoring each season we had them, and that was Benteke. And even he didn't match the overall contributions in the best seasons.
Saunders 13
Saunders 10
Saunders 15
Yorke  17
Yorke 12
Joachim 14
Dublin 12
Dublin 8
Vassell / Angel 12
Dublin 10
Angel 16
Angel 7
Moore/Baros 8
Gabby 9
Carew 13
Gabby / Carew 11
Gabby 13
Bent  9
Bent 9
Benteke 19
Benteke 10
Benteke 13
Ayew 7
Championship years.
Grealish 8
Watkins 14
Watkins 11
Watkins 15
Watkins 19
Watkins 16.

[Drummond]

We'll be on here in 10 years bemoaning the fact we've not had anyone as good since.

[Nii Lamptey]

Ollie has always seemed to be either 'on' or 'off' for us - No in-between.

I thought he looked amazing preseason, but form fell off a cliff the second that opening whistle blew against Newcastle. The worry is that he has rarely looked even close to getting a chance to score/set up a goal - By far his worst spell in a Villa shirt.

Hopefully, it's his 'out of form' periods condensed into one long spell, and he'll be on fire from now till the end of the season. But on present form, we're pretty much playing with 10.

[Sexual Ealing]

It doesn't really matter what he's done before. He's been totally shit this season, which is kind of what's important.

[LeeB]

It doesn't really matter what he's done before. He's been totally shit this season, which is kind of what's important.

Correct, and he was mostly shite last season too, a worrying trend for a player about to hit 30.

[Monty]

To knit some threads together, it's surely a part of why we're not creating the better chances we want to. Malen does manful work and has a welcome goal in him, but he's not so far replacing the Ollie of a couple of years ago, and it's starting to look like neither will the Ollie of now. What we do about that is beyond my paygrade.

[Somniloquism]

It doesn't really matter what he's done before. He's been totally shit this season, which is kind of what's important.

Correct, and he was mostly shite last season too, a worrying trend for a player about to hit 30.

Not sure where you got that from. Has you account been hacked by Smirker?. 24 goal contributions last season when he played a lot less minutes total then he had the season before. Yes he missed some chances but most strikers do.

[Somniloquism]

It doesn't really matter what he's done before. He's been totally shit this season, which is kind of what's important.

Yes. But being as the people now on his back seem to be rewriting history that he was average or "shite" last season, people will look and wonder what they are smoking by looking at those stats and posting them.

[Sexual Ealing]

Again though, it doesn't really matter what people on this thread are saying. There's a great big sulking absence (that costs £200k a week) on the pitch where a footballer ought to be.

[Monty]

I really don't think he's sulking, and I don't think he's quite 'an absence' either. But I don't really care, I enjoy the hate for its own sake.

[Nii Lamptey]

The PSG Villa Park highlights popped up on YouTube the other day for me, and it reminded me how unplayable Rashford was that night.

The media saying it knocked Ollie's nose out of joint being dropped for that one, but Unai is no mug. No way would Ollie have had the impact Rashford had that night - A league above any player in our squad and why he now plays for Barca.

[brontebilly]

It doesn't really matter what he's done before. He's been totally shit this season, which is kind of what's important.

Correct, and he was mostly shite last season too, a worrying trend for a player about to hit 30.

On what basis was he shite last season? He looked worryingly poor when Duran was going well early on but once he got back in he was decent. More of a Euros hangover I thought at the time. I'm not sure there was much call for him to be dropped for Rashford when it happened. He finished the season strong when Rashford got injured. Missing sitters and a ropey first touch are part of the package with Ollie.

The club have been open to moving him on for 12 months though so I'd be interested if others, Emery aside, spotted a decline in him back then.