Obika

[spring hall convert]

You say that like giving a player who has had to get match fit after a long injury, while also getting used to playing in a new team more than two games before passing judgement is a bad thing.

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?290837-Conway ("Has there ever been a worse loan signing than this shit limp? What a waste of breath, he should walk out of the ground now and begin his long journey back to South Wales as he is as useful as Ryan Harley" ... "Poor first half like most of our midfield except for Ince. Two good crosses in the 2nd half inbetween a number of bad passes and poor touches. Buckley and Kazenga can't come back quick enough for me")

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?289230-Conway-not-good-enough ("No pace Doesn't get in behind his man Poor delivery As a winger I don't see the point of him. Surely we'd be better off this season bringing through young talent that we actually own. Rather than this guy" ... "Not doing enough at the moment. Expect far more from a player who has come from Cardiff City and has played international football. Ashley Barnes looked better than him on the left when he moved out there." ... "Thought he offered nothing, may as well have just fielded 10 men from kick off" ... "He is woeful. He's got no pace or skill, his delivery is average at best and worst of all he just doesn't want to be here. He doesn't go looking for the ball and he doesn't get stuck in, which is the very least a player with minimal talent should be doing. He just waits for it to come to him, which it rarely does. I really cannot see why we are paying money for this waste of space rather than giving March a try in that position or just abandoning the idea of having a left-winger and bulking up the midfield instead")

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?288685-Craig-Conway ("Based on his performances so far, we haven't got much to look forward to. One of the worst loanees I've seen for some time" ... "The weakest loan signing so far. I can see something in all the others - including Agustien who has clearly not been fit - but can't see the point in Conway when we have Buckley, KLL, March and even Dickenson. " ... "So far he has been. Paynter was rubbish for us, I'm sure he knows it too. But at the very LEAST he put himself about and worked hard. He is clearly a pretty poor player, but he gave it a go. He wasn't lacking effort, just ability. Craig Conway, however, has shown very literally NOTHING so far. No spirit, no fight, no desire and no determination at all. He has looked like a classic loan signing - some random player signed who really doesn't care.")

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?288817-Craig-Conway ("A a lot of people on here think he is amazing because he was our best player against yeovil. but when a winger has the stats he did at Cardiff yes he played 26 games but he only scored one goal and two assist surely this tells you something??")


Give him game time, give him a chance to get to know his team mates, our system and he puts in the sort of performances that lead to...


http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?292423-Conway-How-Quickly ("How quickly can he be bought back by loan or by permanent transfer ? Any chance of him being in place for Bournemouth ? " ... "He was poor to start with but, having settled in, played really well towards the end of his loan spell. He was a key part in Cardiff's promotion and could be an important part of a promotion push for us too if we get him back." ... "Conway the only winger we have had that can cross the football shame all his time here coincided with ulloa being injured. Good winger good crosser him and ulloa could be the watson/zamora partnereship should we resign him in jan." ... "Conway proved he was quite a classy little player, it took him a while to settle but he was very influential after that. ")

http://www.northstandchat.com/showt...we-may-struggle-to-be-able-to-get-Conway-back ("I think we should sign him because he's an above-average Championship player that is: -- consistent -- to the best of my knowledge, and unlike our wingers, relatively injury-free, and -- an excellent crosser of the ball, again unlike Buckley and especially KLL, which plays to our greatest strength in Ulloa's heading ability.")

http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?294133-Conway-Will-Join-This-Week-or-not ("Hope you are right, we miss him. Also hope he can Carry on from were he left off with us" ... "Great news if true" ... "Assuming this is true, I'm glad he's gonna be back. He'll prove to be a backbone player if he shows the consistency at the end of his loan spell" ... "Not counting my chickens but great news if it comes off")


Amazing how opinions change when you give someone a little time, even when they look like they don't know anything about football at first.

Or the "What Does He Do?" thread.

 

[fosters headband]

When we signed him countless fans from his previous clubs rushed to laugh at such a cack loan, I thought to myself can he really be that bad? He confirmed my worst fears when presented with a delightful drifted cross when away at Derby. As the ball floated towards him at chest height I thought he's going to control it and shoot or go for a diving header, what he actually did was neither of these, instead opting to do some wierd head/knee scissor attempt and completely missed the ball. Unforgiveable. He is not a footballer, hell I'm not even sure he's an athlete, just a fella in a football kit.

This is his tenth loan and we are his seventh loan club. Three of the loan clubs have sent him back early and not one of those clubs have tried to buy him.

 

[symyjym]

I realise the point you are making, however.......

Do you not think Obika trains with his teammates all week? Movement into open space and basic control are not rocket science, nor should they be beyond the limits of a professional footballer.

Re Conway - Other than one may be two games Conway was poor and whilst I may have been in the minority, an alright or ok signing is not what we should be aiming at. The vast difference to Obika is that he had a degree of ability, albeit with only his right foot....... Solly could have been given an earlier opportunity, though of course hindsight is a wonderful thing. I can't help thinking that Obika, is preventing Dickenson and Goodwin being given a chance.

Of course if Obika turns it round (and I hope he does), I'm quite happy for all my comments to be bounced, as hopefully it will mean we have won.

Blimey, good job you have it in your heart to forgive Ulloa for missing the easiest opportunity of the game. Would have been different if Obika missed that one.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Blimey, good job you have it in your heart to forgive Ulloa for missing the easiest opportunity of the game. Would have been different if Obika missed that one.

Nobody is denying that Ulloa should have scored that, but he can be forgiven as he had already scored a great goal and has proven on many occasions that he is a very good player, not just for us but for Almeria too. Obika on the other hand has done very little in his limited time demonstrate that he has any natural ability, this includes his long list of loan clubs at which he has failed to make an impact.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Nobody is denying that Ulloa should have scored that, but he can be forgiven as he had already scored a great goal and has proven on many occasions that he is a very good player, not just for us but for Almeria too. Obika on the other hand has done very little in his limited time demonstrate that he has any natural ability, this includes his long list of loan clubs at which he has failed to make an impact.

This - perfectly put.

 

[symyjym]

Nobody is denying that Ulloa should have scored that, but he can be forgiven as he had already scored a great goal and has proven on many occasions that he is a very good player, not just for us but for Almeria too. Obika on the other hand has done very little in his limited time demonstrate that he has any natural ability, this includes his long list of loan clubs at which he has failed to make an impact.

Obika is a young 23 year old footballer learning his trade, and we have not seen enough of him to form a valid opinion. It's too easy for fans to consign players to the donkey meat farm based on 10 mins of play when he was isolated up front.

No one in life as well as football is the finished article at 23. I mean have you improved with age or have you always been perfect? Genuine question

 

[El Presidente]

Who's that man from North West London
Who's that man we all abhor,
Johnnie Obika is his name
And he'll never score again,
And we won't mention McCammon anymore

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Obika is a young 23 year old footballer learning his trade, and we have not seen enough of him to form a valid opinion. It's too easy for fans to consign players to the donkey meat farm based on 10 mins of play when he was isolated up front.

No one in life as well as football is the finished article at 23. I mean have you improved with age or have you always been perfect? Genuine question

You are right, on the other hand he may have reached his peak!

 

[ewe2]

Obika needs our support !..........

 

[symyjym]

You are right, on the other hand he may have reached his peak!

Perms peaked in the late 70's early 80's but Darren Freeman went on for a couple more decades.

 

[Acker79]

I realise the point you are making, however.......

Do you not think Obika trains with his teammates all week? Movement into open space and basic control are not rocket science, nor should they be beyond the limits of a professional footballer.

Re Conway - Other than one may be two games Conway was poor and whilst I may have been in the minority, an alright or ok signing is not what we should be aiming at. The vast difference to Obika is that he had a degree of ability, albeit with only his right foot....... Solly could have been given an earlier opportunity, though of course hindsight is a wonderful thing. I can't help thinking that Obika, is preventing Dickenson and Goodwin being given a chance.

Of course if Obika turns it round (and I hope he does), I'm quite happy for all my comments to be bounced, as hopefully it will mean we have won.

It wasn't that long ago Ulloa was being criticised for terrible first touches throughout his time on the pitch. In fact it was against Leeds. His first touch was awful throughout that game. I'm sure he trains with the squad all week, too.

Movement into open space isn't just "ooh, there's a space, I'll run into it". There has to be consideration to offsides, where the ball is and how it can come to you if you move into that space, whether you and your team mate are on the same wavelength about passes/runs - an understanding that develops and improves with time.

I would also imagine that often times training involves the same team that is going to be starting the game, since Obika is often on the bench, he isn't often played with the main team in training, so doesn't have as much time working with the players he played with in 7 of his nine appearances, and the other two appearances are with a team that is a mixture of first team and second.

I'm also sure there is a big difference between the controlled, low-pressure environment of training, and a competitive full speed match in front of tens of thousands of expectant fans when you come on with ten minutes remaining and are supposed to slip right into a system he has little competitive experience with as if you haven't only just stepped on the pitch.


Goodwin wasn't given a squad number at the start of the season, so I'm not sure he would have been deemed ready or the step up, Dickenson didn't even make it on to the bench when we had no Lita no Obika and No Ulloa, and has since gone out on loan, so I don't think he would have been given the opportunity to step if Obika wasn't here, either.


I am certain he is better than he has shown, that the supposed lack of basic skills is not an actual lack of those skills, just lack of match practice/result of unfamiliarity with he system and team mates. Give him a run of five or more 80+min appearances and we'd see him come on leaps and bounds, as most posters seem to agree Conway did. Having said that, I think it is incredibly unlikely he will get that run, and that it is more likely he will get a few 5-15min appearances at the end of games, possibly disappear from the bench altogether if/when rodriguez gets up to speed and finds form and we have Ulloa, Rodriguez, CMS, Buckley, Lualua, March, Ince, Orlandi, Lopez, Andrews, Ince, fit and fighting for places.

 

[Eksman]

Well hopefully he improves..... In time for him to go back

 

[A mex eyecan]

I can't decide who is the worst ever player to wear a Brighton shirt, Obika or Harley .......

Harley had more chances to show something than Obika has of yet, so it's still Harley ... Useless lump

 

[trueblue]

I can't decide who is the worst ever player to wear a Brighton shirt, Obika or Harley .......

Harley had more chances to show something than Obika has of yet, so it's still Harley ... Useless lump

Presumably by "ever" you actually mean "in the last three seasons".

 

[BrianWade4]

In trying to summarise 11 pages..... The general consensus is that Obika is rubbish

 

[A mex eyecan]

Presumably by "ever" you actually mean "in the last three seasons".

Why last 3 seasons, is that all you've ever attended? (Joking)

 

[Seagull on the wing]

He has played a total of 177mins. That's less than two whole games, and he came to us shortly after returning from injury. It's far too soon to write him off, and we should keep reviews of him in this context.

Less than two games....scored one goal...average strike rate for a forward...not overally impressed but like to give him a chance....remember...how many of our strikers are on double figure scores this season....er!...

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

I would rather have Goodwin or Dickenson on the bench than Obika.

 

[Hugo Rune]

In a comparison to Bamford (who has hit crucial goals in 1-0 wins netting at least 4 undeserved points for Derby) Obika looks poor.

 

[BensGrandad]

IMHO he is poor and I can see why many clubs have seen potential and taken him on loan to be then let down by his performances