Current Player #39 Gatlin O'Donkor

OxfordNondie said:
The boy could be the real deal, however what frustrates me is some of his decision making.
Having a football brain is the difference between a prem to an average player.
Hopefully with time and playing this will develop
Plus let's be honest, playing with some of his team mates is never going to be easy.
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In my humble some of what seem poor decisions are because he`s further ahead than his more experienced colleagues.

And others are just brain farts. :ROFLMAO:
 
OxfordNondie said:
The boy could be the real deal, however what frustrates me is some of his decision making.
Having a football brain is the difference between a prem to an average player.
Hopefully with time and playing this will develop
Plus let's be honest, playing with some of his team mates is never going to be easy.
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Look at say Kevin De Bruyne or Mohammed Salah’s decision making from the age of 18 to now - they’ve both improved massively in that area. It’s one thing which often comes with age and experience
 
We don't always see eye to eye, but @RyanioBirdio has a fair point. In an ideal world, both GO'D and TG would have spent a year in the National League playing week in, week out. They would have benefitted from the physicality of player 40-50 games and gained the confidence from scoring/creating a bucket load of goals. They would then hopefully come back in the summer ready for leading roles at the club next season. And I'm sure that's exactly what their development plans looked like 12 months ago.

However, due to other issues within the club, both have been elevated into first team action this season and neither have let us down. However, you do wonder if either have done enough to really cement a regular place next season after the inevitable rebuild. GO'D is closer, and I'm more convinced every game that he's the real deal. But we should ideally be looking to bring in at least 2 new strikers in the summer, and he may find himself getting cameo spells off the bench rather than starting.

I'm a big fan of TG and love the energy that he brings and that he plays with a huge smile on his face. But again, we need to be looking at starting options on the wings that are better than what we have, or the ones that we do have need to play better. Unfortunately, I'm not yet sure that TG is an option to be starting every game in league one, and is more likely to be on the bench or sent out on loan which maybe delays his progression by a further 6 months at least.

We have some fantastic prospects, but we also need some fantastic players for the here and now. Ideally, they absolutely smash preseason and stake a claim for a genuine starting role at the club. Or both get a 6 month loan to a league 2 side that will give them regular football and we can then bring them back in January for our promotion push! Either way, I hope that there's a way to see them both flourish in the first team but we all know that there are no guarantees.
 
Scotchegg said:
We don't always see eye to eye, but @RyanioBirdio has a fair point. In an ideal world, both GO'D and TG would have spent a year in the National League playing week in, week out. They would have benefitted from the physicality of player 40-50 games and gained the confidence from scoring/creating a bucket load of goals. They would then hopefully come back in the summer ready for leading roles at the club next season. And I'm sure that's exactly what their development plans looked like 12 months ago.

However, due to other issues within the club, both have been elevated into first team action this season and neither have let us down. However, you do wonder if either have done enough to really cement a regular place next season after the inevitable rebuild. GO'D is closer, and I'm more convinced every game that he's the real deal. But we should ideally be looking to bring in at least 2 new strikers in the summer, and he may find himself getting cameo spells off the bench rather than starting.

I'm a big fan of TG and love the energy that he brings and that he plays with a huge smile on his face. But again, we need to be looking at starting options on the wings that are better than what we have, or the ones that we do have need to play better. Unfortunately, I'm not yet sure that TG is an option to be starting every game in league one, and is more likely to be on the bench or sent out on loan which maybe delays his progression by a further 6 months at least.

We have some fantastic prospects, but we also need some fantastic players for the here and now. Ideally, they absolutely smash preseason and stake a claim for a genuine starting role at the club. Or both get a 6 month loan to a league 2 side that will give them regular football and we can then bring them back in January for our promotion push! Either way, I hope that there's a way to see them both flourish in the first team but we all know that there are no guarantees.
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I’m simply not sure that I believe the best thing for these young players is to be playing at L1 level because I don’t think they’re ready. Yet. I think they would be getting far more from (hopefully) having starring roles against full-time professional footballers a couple of divisions down, where they can learn the fundamentals while hopefully getting more confidence from impacting games in a big way. Then if that goes well, they step up to L2 for half a season etc. It’s really standard in terms of development pathways and we’ve never been any good at it.

Also, even if playing at L1 level this season does ultimately help them long term, it certainly doesn’t help us in the here and now. The best thing for Gatlin O’Donkor might be to be playing for Oxford United, but the best thing for Oxford United is not for Gatlin O’Donkor to be playing. Not right now. It’s nothing to do with his potential, his effort or anything remotely negative towards the kid or his character. He is simply not the optimal choice for any team in our position, particularly when we’ve let the likes of Taylor go out.

He might well end up scoring the goal that keeps us up in the coming weeks, but I’ve seen him miss both an open goal and a free header against Lincoln recently, before scuffing two free shots against Derby from in and around the six yard box. Then yesterday he did everything right bar cutting the ball back towards Joseph, and instead passed the ball straight to their keeper from an impossible angle. He’s arguably cost us vital points lately if people want to be really brutal and honest. He should be improving his decision making and his composure on someone else’s time, not while we’re fighting for our lives in the third division. It’s not fair on either him or the team.

If that’s me slagging him off or writing him off like some people seem to assume, I don’t know what to tell them. Not everything is black and white or as linear as people make out. I think he’s got a chance of making it here and becoming a regular in the next 18 months, but in the here and now we have made a rod for our own backs pushing him so high up the pecking order.
 
RyanioBirdio said:
I’m simply not sure that I believe the best thing for these young players is to be playing at L1 level because I don’t think they’re ready. Yet. I think they would be getting far more from (hopefully) having starring roles against full-time professional footballers a couple of divisions down, where they can learn the fundamentals while hopefully getting more confidence from impacting games in a big way. Then if that goes well, they step up to L2 for half a season etc. It’s really standard in terms of development pathways and we’ve never been any good at it.

Also, even if playing at L1 level this season does ultimately help them long term, it certainly doesn’t help us in the here and now. The best thing for Gatlin O’Donkor might be to be playing for Oxford United, but the best thing for Oxford United is not for Gatlin O’Donkor to be playing. Not right now. It’s nothing to do with his potential, his effort or anything remotely negative towards the kid or his character. He is simply not the optimal choice for any team in our position, particularly when we’ve let the likes of Taylor go out.

He might well end up scoring the goal that keeps us up in the coming weeks, but I’ve seen him miss both an open goal and a free header against Lincoln recently, before scuffing two free shots against Derby from in and around the six yard box. Then yesterday he did everything right bar cutting the ball back towards Joseph, and instead passed the ball straight to their keeper from an impossible angle. He’s arguably cost us vital points lately if people want to be really brutal and honest. He should be improving his decision making and his composure on someone else’s time, not while we’re fighting for our lives in the third division. It’s not fair on either him or the team.

If that’s me slagging him off or writing him off like some people seem to assume, I don’t know what to tell them. Not everything is black and white or as linear as people make out. I think he’s got a chance of making it here and becoming a regular in the next 18 months, but in the here and now we have made a rod for our own backs pushing him so high up the pecking order.
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Bookmark it - I agree with you!

(but Roger Cook?! What were you thinking!!!)
 
As far as GO'D goes I think it's fairly straightforward. He absolutely should be in the squad for the remainder of the season because we don't have anyone else that does what he does. We shouldn't be in the position where we need to be relying on him, but that's just the result of leaving Robinson in charge for so long.

Should we retain our League 1 status then next season it'd be best for him to go out on loan to a level where he'll play every single week, and it's more likely a possibility as you feel Manning will be able to put a good squad together at this level that means we won't be reliant on youth teamers. The same could apply for Goodrham, he's another fantastic prospect but again he'd benefit from starting every game at a competitive level. Oxford City are third in the National South. If they make it into the National League then that could be the perfect destination for both GO'D and Goodrham for next year.
 
RyanioBirdio said:
I’ve seen him miss both an open goal and a free header against Lincoln recently, before scuffing two free shots against Derby from in and around the six yard box. Then yesterday he did everything right bar cutting the ball back towards Joseph, and instead passed the ball straight to their keeper from an impossible angle. He’s arguably cost us vital points lately if people want to be really brutal and honest.
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Now do Long, Murphy and Wildschut, from yesterdays game alone.

If we’re pointing out players who’ve cost us vital points and made unforgivable and glaring errors then I’ve got a long, long list I’d like to talk about before we even get close to Gatlin O’Donkor, completely irregardless of his age.
 
I like the loan model but timing is everything. I don’t know what G’OD would gain from a loan to the national league now. I think that ship has almost sailed because he isn’t far off the level required. He’s already spent this year in and around men’s football, albeit an extremely toxic environment for the most part, but that in itself is life in the lower leagues and an education of sorts. It’s been a baptism of fire but we are where we are. I’m all for players going out on loan but primarily for those that aren’t adding to our own chances. But I think if he went, we would only end up loaning someone equally raw and perhaps less experienced from the premier league. We now have a very useful player on our hands that’s starting to look comfortable at this level. Whether it’s luck or judgement is irrelevant now, we should push him on.

Regular football is the next step for him and I’d give him that now and see what he can do. Beyond that a lot depends on what’s available in the summer and what system we go with. In a front 2 system I’d keep him around. If he’s going to be competing with 2 or 3 others for a lone striker role, we’d be holding him back and I’d try and get him a short loan for the start of next season but I think the NL is beneath him already.

If we’re in L2 next year I’d build around him as I think he’s got the ability to score 25/30 down there in a promotion-chasing side.
 
RyanioBirdio said:
I’m simply not sure that I believe the best thing for these young players is to be playing at L1 level because I don’t think they’re ready. Yet. I think they would be getting far more from (hopefully) having starring roles against full-time professional footballers a couple of divisions down, where they can learn the fundamentals while hopefully getting more confidence from impacting games in a big way. Then if that goes well, they step up to L2 for half a season etc. It’s really standard in terms of development pathways and we’ve never been any good at it.

Also, even if playing at L1 level this season does ultimately help them long term, it certainly doesn’t help us in the here and now. The best thing for Gatlin O’Donkor might be to be playing for Oxford United, but the best thing for Oxford United is not for Gatlin O’Donkor to be playing. Not right now. It’s nothing to do with his potential, his effort or anything remotely negative towards the kid or his character. He is simply not the optimal choice for any team in our position, particularly when we’ve let the likes of Taylor go out.

He might well end up scoring the goal that keeps us up in the coming weeks, but I’ve seen him miss both an open goal and a free header against Lincoln recently, before scuffing two free shots against Derby from in and around the six yard box. Then yesterday he did everything right bar cutting the ball back towards Joseph, and instead passed the ball straight to their keeper from an impossible angle. He’s arguably cost us vital points lately if people want to be really brutal and honest. He should be improving his decision making and his composure on someone else’s time, not while we’re fighting for our lives in the third division. It’s not fair on either him or the team.

If that’s me slagging him off or writing him off like some people seem to assume, I don’t know what to tell them. Not everything is black and white or as linear as people make out. I think he’s got a chance of making it here and becoming a regular in the next 18 months, but in the here and now we have made a rod for our own backs pushing him so high up the pecking order.
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I disagree about yesterday. From where I was, Joseph was not in a good enough position to receive the ball. He wasn't quite up with GO'D and had two defenders in his way. GO'D took the only option available to him. I thought he was excellent yesterday and his composure and decision making was pretty good, I thought he was our best player in the second half. Admittedly it is only 45 mins but he did more than enough to start on Monday.
 
Start of the season/summer my view was that God should be out on loan a couple of levels down for at least half season if not all...

...but that Goodrham was good enough and strong enough to warrant one of our regular four winger spots within the squad. Part of this thinking is also that he's already had a few loan spells, so not sure whether another would help more than being in and around our first team.

Incidentally, I also felt that sending out spasov again was a bit pointless and that he'd be more useful as a regular bench player to come on to allow tired forwards a rest and or add a bit of bulk up top late on...but....
 
Swaby39 said:
I like the loan model but timing is everything. I don’t know what G’OD would gain from a loan to the national league now. I think that ship has almost sailed because he isn’t far off the level required. He’s already spent this year in and around men’s football, albeit an extremely toxic environment for the most part, but that in itself is life in the lower leagues and an education of sorts. It’s been a baptism of fire but we are where we are. I’m all for players going out on loan but primarily for those that aren’t adding to our own chances. But I think if he went, we would only end up loaning someone equally raw and perhaps less experienced from the premier league. We now have a very useful player on our hands that’s starting to look comfortable at this level. Whether it’s luck or judgement is irrelevant now, we should push him on.

Regular football is the next step for him and I’d give him that now and see what he can do. Beyond that a lot depends on what’s available in the summer and what system we go with. In a front 2 system I’d keep him around. If he’s going to be competing with 2 or 3 others for a lone striker role, we’d be holding him back and I’d try and get him a short loan for the start of next season but I think the NL is beneath him already.

If we’re in L2 next year I’d build around him as I think he’s got the ability to score 25/30 down there in a promotion-chasing side.
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He is never going to score 25/30 goals next season in league 2 even if we have a title chasing team, he doesn’t look a natural goalscorer to me, more a powerful forward who can bring others into the game with his attributes.
 
holdsteady said:
He is never going to score 25/30 goals next season in league 2 even if we have a title chasing team, he doesn’t look a natural goalscorer to me, more a powerful forward who can bring others into the game with his attributes.
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His goals at youth level suggest he is a goal scorer but I appreciate it’s not always a seamless transition at senior level and it’ll take time. But he knows where the net is.

I think in a more positive team that gets the ball in the box with quality, he will score goals. I don’t think this season has taught us anything about his goal scoring given we spent 35 games hoofing it to nobody and the last 3 or 4 playing for clean sheets.

I think he’d comfortably get 20 in a LM side over a season. He’s still learning where to be and when but that knowledge did Matty Taylor no good here and he was proven to score 20+ goals a season. The team doesn’t create.

G’OD is having to show another side of his game because of who we are as a team right now. He’s doing it better than Joseph.
 
He’s some assist to the club
If he continues to progress and be level headed. The likes of Ferguson or Connelly are within his reach.
 
Nadi- said:
He’s some assist to the club
If he continues to progress and be level headed. The likes of Ferguson or Connelly are within his reach.
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I'm not sure on that..Ferguson looks a generational talent.

Gatlin definitely has a career, I feel he would thrive even more alongside someone like Taylor who knows the dark arts/positioning etc.

Cheers Karl
 
We haven’t had anyone since Jason seacole or jamie Brooke’s, come through the ranks. Blackstock was off loaded early.
This guy could be something, he’ll have ups and downs but.
Others will be watching.
 
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