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Current Player Thread Gatlin O'Donkor

Player Photo

39.Gatlin O'Donkor

Position: Forward
Nationality: England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Departed: DATE
Previous Clubs: Bristol Rovers (Loan), Barnet (Loan), Oxford City (Loan)
Instagram: gatlin._
 
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I thought that he was teriffic in the secind half
Generally good touch and pace. For a player so young he was strong and gave the Fleetwood defence all sorts of problems.
If he keeps on developing , he has some future
 
Made it worth going tonight. Great to see his goal and he looks like a player, irrespective of his age. Also loved Henry’s precise long ball to him for the shot that was blocked.
 
Foley said:
He implied in his interview afterwards that he was finding the physicality challenging.
So I can see why he was given half a game
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Three games in seven days against big , experienced centre halves would be tough but so glad he is getting the chance to show his worth while getting great experience instead of being sent out on loan to a non league club .
 
Oxford1996 said:
Shame it wasn’t the first half.
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If a player is suffering from fatigue and has half a game in him, obviously you don't give him the first half. The hope would have been we would have played like we knew each other in the first half, been winning, and he wouldn't have been needed at all.
 
SteMerritt said:
If a player is suffering from fatigue and has half a game in him, obviously you don't give him the first half. The hope would have been we would have played like we knew each other in the first half, been winning, and he wouldn't have been needed at all.
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not certain about this claim of fatigue thats being bandied about..... he's on a full pro deal, ....some wouldve been happy if he was punted out on on loan to a national league level club - who play as many , if not more, games than we do



go back a few ( well, ok more than a few ) seasons, some highly rated youngsters were getting very regular game time at PL & championship level.... so why is it now/ these days promising youngsters, who have made the step up, are fatigued- haven't training techniques improved year on year, so presumably as have fitness levels

and, what happened to the all signing , all dancing sports science programme at OUFCfrom a few seasons ago- when unfit/ injured players got fitter quicker, and recovered from injuries faster ?
 
Sarge said:
not certain about this claim of fatigue thats being bandied about..... he's on a full pro deal, ....some wouldve been happy if he was punted out on on loan to a national league level club - who play as many , if not more, games than we do



go back a few ( well, ok more than a few ) seasons, some highly rated youngsters were getting very regular game time at PL & championship level.... so why is it now/ these days promising youngsters, who have made the step up, are fatigued- haven't training techniques improved year on year, so presumably as have fitness levels

and, what happened to the all signing , all dancing sports science programme at OUFCfrom a few seasons ago- when unfit/ injured players got fitter quicker, and recovered from injuries faster ?
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Gonna be honest.

The whole defending of not starting O’Donkor is weird to me. The fatigue excuse is a load of b*****s.

He came on and chased lost causes. Looked full of energy for the 45 minutes he was on. Deservedly got MOTM. Not for one second did I think he looked tired. He’s 18 years old and played 60 minutes last Tuesday at Pompey and the same at Bolton Saturday.

Browne who came in for him. There’s a man who looked tired & uninspired to play. Playing out of position.

O’Donkor should’ve started.
 
Oxford1996 said:
The whole defending of not starting O’Donkor is weird to me. The fatigue excuse is a load of B*****s.
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Robinson is happy to play players coming back from injury from the start, I don't believe he finally learnt his lesson last night, the more likely scenario is that he thought Browne would do the business for him up front, unfortunately once again he was proven incorrect in his quest to reshape players and their positions.

Hopefully GOD starts on Sunday, we don't need any more experiments, let the kid enjoy the limelight, got to be one of the only players with an ounce of confidence at the moment.
 
I was really impressed by Donks last night. He bullied the centre-backs, held the ball up and brought others into play, and capped his performance with a poacher's goal. Agree on the comments re. fatigue. Just more Robbo bull$hit to justify his omission. These 18-yr-old kids have energy and fitness to burn
 
Oxford1996 said:
Gonna be honest.

The whole defending of not starting O’Donkor is weird to me. The fatigue excuse is a load of B*****s.
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Not defending anything.
O'Donkor himself seemed to suggest he was tired. I am.not sure that is too surprising as he has played few mens games and ran his socks off in the previous 2 games?
Looking at the way that the PL clubs look after young players, not sure why we shouldn't?
 
Foley said:
Not defending anything.
O'Donkor himself seemed to suggest he was tired. I am.not sure that is too surprising as he has played few mens games and ran his socks off in the previous 2 games?
Looking at the way that the PL clubs look after young players, not sure why we shouldn't?
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Don't think anyone's saying that we shouldn't look after GO'D.

But the fact is that we didn't have anyone else to play up front last night.
Baldock injured, Matty suspended, Joseph has shown (and KR has clearly taken note) that he's way, way better as one of the wide forwards, Browne is the same. Even Bodin (KR's bizarre false nine of choice) was suspended.

We should have asked him to go again last night and give us another 60 minutes, in the understanding that he could then get a rest on Sunday when Matty comes back (Yes, I know he's not on form this season, but he at least knows how to play the position).

As it was, we needed GO'D to play 45 anyway, so he didn't get a rest.

Of course, the even worse decision from KR was not to sign another player who was suited to play up front in August, when we knew that Baldock was out for a while.
 
Oxford1996 said:
Gonna be honest.

The whole defending of not starting O’Donkor is weird to me. The fatigue excuse is a load of B*****s.
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Tell you what’s b*****s; the idea that a footballer can’t get tired just because they’re an athlete.

The boy is 18 years old and ran himself ragged in a men’s game twice in 3 days. He’d been kicked around as well and when you get tired, not only does the effectiveness of the press start to fade, you start to lose your touch, you aren’t focused and you’ll start making your runs more sparingly - none of which you want to see from a striker. He looked completely shot at Bolton.

Fleetwood was a winnable game without him and as I always like to remind people - there is 2 sides to every argument. If GO’D had played and got himself injured because he’s been over-played, you’d be straight on KR’s back for that as well. Easy with hindsight to say he should’ve played but anyone with an ounce of common sense that watched the 2 previous games can see why he was rested for the ‘easier’ home game. You could also argue that had he started rather than come off the bench to make the impact he did, would we have lost?
 
Swaby39 said:
Tell you what’s B*****s; the idea that a footballer can’t get tired just because they’re an athlete.

The boy is 18 years old and ran himself ragged in a men’s game twice in 3 days. He’d been kicked around as well and when you get tired, not only does the effectiveness of the press start to fade, you start to lose your touch, you aren’t focused and you’ll start making your runs more sparingly - none of which you want to see from a striker. He looked completely shot at Bolton.

Fleetwood was a winnable game without him and as I always like to remind people - there is 2 sides to every argument. If GO’D had played and got himself injured because he’s been over-played, you’d be straight on KR’s back for that as well. Easy with hindsight to say he should’ve played but anyone with an ounce of common sense that watched the 2 previous games can see why he was rested for the ‘easier’ home game. You could also argue that had he started rather than come off the bench to make the impact he did, would we have lost?
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Wanna try & be in your sixties, working on a building site ,digging 6 foot trenches.
 
when your young, you should be able to run around all day. Especially if your an athlete, it definitely gets harder with age.😂 Excuse the pun.. 🥵
 
I'm not usually one for the hyperbole, but this kid is the real deal (and that isn't based just on tonight).

Excelling for the Youth and simultaneously taking the First Team completely in his stride - I'd be cranking up his appearances big time between now and the end of the season and thinking of giving him a longer-term decent First Team style contract asap (assuming he is on something fairly basic at present).

Can see scouts sniffing soonish as he's got all the qualities to be a really decent EFL centre forward for the foreseeable. Hope we as a club recognise this so we can realise the benefit ourselves (both in terms of goals/performance and transfers).

One of few positives to come out of this season - he could be the main man as early as next.

Keep it coming GO'D.
 
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