Xisco's back

[David28]

Would rather see him than Ameobi come on up front.

 

 

Seems Hughton is more keen to play him on the wing for some reason. He came on to replace Jonas yesterday with Carroll and Shola up front.

 

The reason might be that Hughton doesn't have anyone else for the (left) wing.

[JJ7]

Didnt think he did too bad when he came on. Would like to see him given a start against either Villa or Accrington alongside Carroll.

[Exiled in Texas]

At least he tried to take players on.....Jonas was worthless last night (except for one cross-field run).  Stood around most of the timeand did nothing. Frustrating to watch the play surge up through the middle with barton and watch him looking for the through ball, only to see Jonas standing still waiting for the give-up-sideways pass. At least Xisco was taking players on.

 

[oh, and the "let's all have Xisco, Let's all have a Xisco chant was funny at the game on ESPN last night]

[Shak]

Hughton  "Xisco has been good in pre-season. We have six strikers who have all been fit in pre-season so it's been a case of shifting them around to give them the minutes they need.

 

"The difficulty for him is he's playing in a position where we have a lot of options. All he can do is to force the decision. He can put himself in a position to perform and train well.

 

"I suppose it's a little bit like Leon Best when he came in January with Andy Carroll and Peter Lovenkrands scoring goals for fun. It made it difficult for him to get the minutes on the pitch.

 

"Xisco played more regularly back in Spain last season, now he must continue to do well in pre-season and force the issue."

 

Xisco has also been shunted wide to get his chance.

 

Hughton added: “It is an unfamiliar position for Xisco on the left.

 

“We want to make sure we make the most of him.

 

“The difficulty for him is he is playing in a position where we have a lot of options. All he can do is to force the decision. He is older now. When he came in it was a difficult period for him.

 

“Sometimes coming here with other strikers in front of you, you don’t get a real rhythm.”

 

Old post I know, but this interview does lend some credence to a theory I've been working on in which Chris Hughton is actually a robot.

 

Stay tuned.

 

As for Xisco I tend to agree with Ronaldo that there's a good player in there somewhere, I just think if he realises that potential it's going to be at another club.

 

If we could move him on and go back in time and not sign Best then it'd be great to get in a quality strike partner for Carroll. It's going to be a very tough year if we don't add another good striker to the squad.

[ponsaelius]

I'd rather play Xisco alongside Shola/Carroll than play them two together. We need to forge somekind of partnership desperately.

 

He should definitely start against Accrington.

[Guest Heneage]

How on earth is he ever expected to show his ability as a striker if he's played on the fucking left wing. Shola's had chances Hughton you cretin.

[Ronaldo]

[LucaAltieri]

Wait, what? We're not allowed to do gay jokes any more? Harsh.

[Dave]

Wait, what? We're not allowed to do gay jokes any more? Gay.

[Guest prestonj1989]

Impressed again in the short time he was on.

[Ronaldo]

Great player.

[TRon]

Looks a good footballer even if he's not a front line striker. Lovely pass for Carroll's hatrick.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Played one good ball, I'll give him that.

 

Before that he wasn't bothering to close people down who were 5 yards away from him, and fouled everyone he did bother to close down. Don't get carried away, please.

[Thespence]

Would of been nice when he broke away he had of kept going & scored.

[Fatwax]

You could hear Nolan shouting at him at one point to get in position during a throw-in.

 

Lovely through ball, good eye for the pass.

[wyn davies]

hopefully that excellent ball will boost his confidence

[Guest firetotheworks]

He was poor, but that assist absolutely made up for it. Great ball.

[Keefaz]

Great player.

 

You're a fucking loon.

[Optimistic Nut]

Played one good ball, I'll give him that.

 

Before that he wasn't bothering to close people down who were 5 yards away from him, and fouled everyone he did bother to close down. Don't get carried away, please.

 

Was just thinking that.

 

I'm all for giving him a chance, but his first touch he missed a header, then clattered their player. His next moment was to run 50 yards and not have a clue what to do with it. Nice assist I'll give him that.

[Bad Mongo]

Great player.

 

You're a fucking loon.

 

TBF, he's part joking. And part hoping to get another "I told you so" moment in a couple of years.

[Ronaldo]

Course i'm kidding. But it's very good to see him back in the fold, he's a good player.

[TRon]

Played one good ball, I'll give him that.

 

Before that he wasn't bothering to close people down who were 5 yards away from him, and fouled everyone he did bother to close down. Don't get carried away, please.

 

Was just thinking that.

 

I'm all for giving him a chance, but his first touch he missed a header, then clattered their player. His next moment was to run 50 yards and not have a clue what to do with it. Nice assist I'll give him that.

 

|The run itself was excellent, there was nobody to pass to so he hesitated. We could do with more runners not less.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Aye the run was decent, but I think his lack of confidence showed once he got near the area and he wasn't sure what to do afterwards. Apparently he did a fair bit of running/carrying with the ball in Spain, so be interesting to see if that's carried over.

[Guest Heneage]

Has to get ahead of Ameobi.

[Gallowgate Toon]

He looked pretty nervous and over-eager when he came on but if anyone caught his reaction after the 6th went in, you know that assist did a lot for him, he was going absolutely mental, i think it will do a lot for his confidence.