Ex Player Sam Winnall

[tonyw]

Presume that Winnall will start against Cambridge, and get as much of the 90 minutes as he can handle. We'll have a better idea of where he's at after that.

Otherwise, it's a bit tough to judge based on the odd short cameo. I'm sure if Matty Taylor only got twenty minutes at the end of a couple of games when the result was already settled, he wouldn't always look special.

Although, on the negative side, I think Winnall did get caught offside a couple of times within the first five minutes of coming on Saturday.
Which really - to me - just brought into focus how good Taylor is at judging it. He so rarely gets caught, despite spending most of every game right on the edge.......

 

[GreenMachine]

Presume that Winnall will start against Cambridge, and get as much of the 90 minutes as he can handle. We'll have a better idea of where he's at after that.

Otherwise, it's a bit tough to judge based on the odd short cameo. I'm sure if Matty Taylor only got twenty minutes at the end of a couple of games when the result was already settled, he wouldn't always look special.

Although, on the negative side, I think Winnall did get caught offside a couple of times within the first five minutes of coming on Saturday.
Which really - to me - just brought into focus how good Taylor is at judging it. He so rarely gets caught, despite spending most of every game right on the edge.......

Was watching text commentary he made a hatful of fouls deffo not at the races yet.

Needs to get some of that Barnsley form back.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

I stand by my comments - he’s had a grand total of four good seasons in his career, only two of which were very good (20+ goals), and one of those was at League Two level. The most recent of which was four years ago.

Add to that and he’s seemed very poor for every minute he’s played for us and I don’t get what the fuss is about. Obviously hope I’m proved wrong but colour me underwhelmed so far.

 

[GreenMachine]

I stand by my comments - he’s had a grand total of four good seasons in his career, only two of which were very good (20+ goals), and one of those was at League Two level. The most recent of which was four years ago.

Add to that and he’s seemed very poor for every minute he’s played for us and I don’t get what the fuss is about. Obviously hope I’m proved wrong but colour me underwhelmed so far.

Yes indeed hoped he would hit the ground running but he did suffer with injury at shed wed was class at Barnsley.

Think his confidence may have been knocked we will see.

I for one will hope he will find his feet Taylor and winnall up front.

He also was known to prefer staying around the midlands. So hopefully being homesick does not come into the equation.

Tough moving away then getting locked down but although well compensated for this.

 

[Foley]

I stand by my comments - he’s had a grand total of four good seasons in his career, only two of which were very good (20+ goals), and one of those was at League Two level. The most recent of which was four years ago.

Add to that and he’s seemed very poor for every minute he’s played for us and I don’t get what the fuss is about. Obviously hope I’m proved wrong but colour me underwhelmed so far.

He is clearly not match fit. He was terrific for Barnsley against us not that long ago.
As most have said, he can be judged when he is fit.
As an aside when you say he has had 4 good seasons how do you know that? Are you only looking at goals scored?

 

[captainox]

Saw him quite a bit when he was at Derby during the 17/18 season (the last time he was consistently playing regularly) and he looked an excellent player, got 6 goals in 17 appearances and was loved by the Derby fans. He'd have more than likely signed their permanently at the end of that season if he hadn't torn his ACL.

The ACL injury has been an absolute disaster for him, as it is for so many players, and I don't think he'll ever be the player he was just prior to it again.
It would be interesting to see him from the start in a league game to see how he can handle it, I think that would give us a big clue as to whether he'll be a useful asset or not. The odd sub appearance (4 so far) in the league for around 20mins probably isn't that useful for getting up to speed, neither is the stop start nature of games since he has been back around it. Hopefully the hour in the tinpot trophy has put him in the right direction.

 

[Berliner]

At the moment he is on par with George Thorne. Clearly and demonstrably a player and, if fit, far better than L1 standard BUT has to prove himself all over again following a career-altering injury.

He is a mile away from helping us out at the moment as it stands, especially in terms of fitness.

 

[Oufcrealist]

He's as good as it gets at L1 level!!

 

[Oxford57]

I hope he proves me wrong , but from what I have seen so far he’s not got a lot to offer at the moment,

 

[ZeroTheHero]

We signed him up for two years in September - I hope he can get fit enough to make a contribution over the next 18 months, because we can't have one of our (next season) 20 senior squad places taken up by him if not.

 

[oufc1991]

He’s obviously not fit perhaps abit low on confidence aswel but imo mackie offered us more last season and he could barely move sometimes

 

[Mellowyellow]

I stand by my comments - he’s had a grand total of four good seasons in his career, only two of which were very good (20+ goals), and one of those was at League Two level. The most recent of which was four years ago.

Add to that and he’s seemed very poor for every minute he’s played for us and I don’t get what the fuss is about. Obviously hope I’m proved wrong but colour me underwhelmed so far.

If you've managed to get those stats, surely kr and recruitment would have been able to as well. Why then was he signed in the first place? Wasn't he the "as good as it gets player?"

 

[Paul Cannell]

Quotes by posters who usually post sense:

Saw him quite a bit when he was at Derby during the 17/18 season (the last time he was consistently playing regularly) and he looked an excellent player, got 6 goals in 17 appearances and was loved by the Derby fans. He'd have more than likely signed their permanently at the end of that season if he hadn't torn his ACL.

We signed him up for two years in September - I hope he can get fit enough to make a contribution over the next 18 months, because we can't have one of our (next season) 20 senior squad places taken up by him if not.

At the moment he is on par with George Thorne. Clearly and demonstrably a player and, if fit, far better than L1 standard BUT has to prove himself all over again following a career-altering injury.

He is a mile away from helping us out at the moment as it stands, especially in terms of fitness.

I take issue with the notion that he's 'demonstrably a player' - he may have demonstrated he was a player once but he's demonstrated here that he's off the pace and unfit, his touch is unimpressive and his movement is nothing to mention.

I wish him the best and hope he proves me wrong, but there's no way even a half-decently managed L1 club would have given him a 2-year contract. Another symptom of the shambles that is our recruitment. Sack the committee!

 

[RyanioBirdio]

At the moment he is on par with George Thorne. Clearly and demonstrably a player and, if fit, far better than L1 standard BUT has to prove himself all over again following a career-altering injury.

Apart from the fact that with Thorne we were told in no uncertain terms that the guy was finished and would always break down (still no club - funny that) and went for him anyway. That's not the case with Winnall.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Usual suspects moaning again, I see

 

[Gregortheox]

Its been over 3 months since Winnall signed. Right now he looks a little heavy and off the pace and I am a little confused to why that is.

With a serious injury you have to improve your body around the site of the injury if you want to get back to the level you once were, otherwise you will keep breaking down. That looks to me what is happening with Winnall right now. I want him to come good because Im an OUFC fan - but I am rightly concerned.

 

[GreenMachine]

Reading through everyone's replies.

I think there is deffo a player there.

Fitness and confidence they are key.

When he finally gets match fit we will see if he still has it hopefully he will show KR on the training pitch.

If he gets some games under his belt and scores a couple the the confidence will come.

If he goes on a run of not scoring or has lost the knack of finding the net, being in the right place right time. Then we could be in trouble with him.

Abit more time needed and maybe an arm round the shoulder from KR may do the trick.

A figureative arm of course stay safe..

I really hope the gamble pays off with him for one.

 

[bazzer9461]

J

He's as good as it gets at L1 level!!

Just need for him to get fit

 

[bazzer9461]

Could the signing be a hit like the Ricky Holmes syndrome?

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Winnall is quality. No doubt about it. However, he is suffering from a few things: ring rust, lack of match fitness, lack of game time in order to connect and form relationships with players (like Long and Henry have done, and also like Henry and Taylor have). 20 minutes off of the bench is not enough to a) improve match fitness and b) make a real impact. If you come on with 20 minutes to go, you are under pressure to make something happen and that’s the vibe I get when I’ve watched him. It feels very try hard and borderline, reckless. Giving away silly fouls, getting caught offside, moving out of position in order to be a part of play. All of the things you do when you are low on confidence and under pressure.

You have to remember, football is a confidence game. If you’re struggling, it will effect your performance and the decisions that you make. In midfield, you have other players around you to compensate for your short comings. Henry has had a few bad performances this season and luckily, since Gorrin has come back, Gorrin has been there to clear up his mess. The same goes for Liam Kelly. Below par for the most part but when he is out battled, loses possession and he is about to commit his 9th foul in 4 minutes, our midfield are there to rescue him. Up top, in a system that is built around a lone striker, you’re on your own.

If you’re not getting the service (which, in fairness, he hasn’t), what can you do? We need to improve on our end product from not only our full backs, but our midfield as well.

Playing in a Taylor/Winnall role is such a difficult thing to do, at the best of times. It’s especially hard when the team aren’t putting the ball in the areas that they KNOW they need to.

Im not shifting the focus from Winnall but having played in his position, I know how hard it is to make something from nothing.