Will Osula

[KaKa]

Just now, TRon said:

 

I googled it. It doesn't really change anything, still a remarkable coincidence that he's suddenly decided Osula's ready after barely giving him even five minutes off the bench for half a season.

 

Not that I'm complaining, I thought he should have been given longer spells as sub anyway, we've been overly cautious IMO. I don't agree with playing Gordon as a striker instead, he's not got the physical presence and it disturbs the balance of other areas of the team.

 

Oh, I see. So you're saying he's lying then? Interesting.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Nothing’s changed, people seemed to think Howe thought Osula was shit but actually he’s just developing him cautiously as he likes to do. Fans will never completely agree because we think differently. 

 

 

Edited December 13 by AyeDubbleYoo

[Lush Vlad]

1 hour ago, KaKa said:

 

Oh, I see. So you're saying he's lying then? Interesting.

I mean. He does lie an awful lot in press conferences  

[TRon]

Just now, Lush Vlad said:

I mean. He does lie an awful lot in press conferences  

 

He's also quite diplomatic. He's not going to say "Will Osula's too raw, I don't have much confidence in him, I'm only bigging him up because Wilson's injured and there's no other alternative". But there's a fair chance that's what it is.

[KaKa]

Um ... Wilson has been injured all season and he didn't find a reason to big up Osula, as he is quite happy to use Gordon upfront.  So, nah.

[TRon]

1 minute ago, KaKa said:

Um ... Wilson has been injured all season and he didn't find a reason to big up Osula, as he is quite happy to use Gordon upfront.  So, nah.

 

He also didn't find a reason to give Osula any minutes on the pitch, actions speak louder than words. I still think he'll play Gordon ahead of Osula FWIW.

[KaKa]

8 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

He also didn't find a reason to give Osula any minutes on the pitch, actions speak louder than words. I still think he'll play Gordon ahead of Osula FWIW.

 

Yeah, we know he didn't play him. Because he clearly didn't think he was ready. Wilson was still injured back then too.

 

So you saying he only speaks about how hard Osula's been working and the improvements he's made, because Wilson is injured again doesn't really add up.

[Matt1892]

Probably trying to build his comments after those he made 2 weeks ago, when he said he played Gordon up too as he had no natural striker.

[TRon]

16 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

Yeah, we know he didn't play him. Because he clearly didn't think he was ready. Wilson was still injured back then too.

 

So you saying he only speaks about how hard Osula's been working and the improvements he's made, because Wilson is injured again doesn't really add up.

 

He's barely even been used as a sub for almost half a season. Do you think he's suddenly gone from that, to being ready to throw into the fray in the space of a week?

[wyn davies]

22 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

Probably trying to build his comments after those he made 2 weeks ago, when he said he played Gordon up too as he had no natural striker.

After Howe realised he cocked things up, so can't/won't do it again .

[BergenMagpie]

Guess it’s one Lewis Hall thread a year then

[KaKa]

39 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

He's barely even been used as a sub for almost half a season. Do you think he's suddenly gone from that, to being ready to throw into the fray in the space of a week?

 

If the guy that hasn't used him has come out and said so, when he hasn't felt the need to previously, then yeah! 

 

And it's not in the space of a week. They've been working with him since August! 

[Teslact]

I thought he showed real promise in his cameo today. Good pace and strength - against an admittedly soft defense - and a decent layoff for the Barnes chance that he snatched at. No sign of his finishing ability yet, but the rest of the game looked in the mould of the Wilson we saw a couple of years ago.

[Yorkie]

Showed his physical attributes again but thought he demonstrated his rawness very aptly with that botched breakaway late on. Slip it through to Gordon and that's 5-0. Look forward to seeing more of him though; he's got talent and he's in very good hands. 

[Newcastle Fan]

He's got potential for sure, one thing i noticed is that despite his height he doesn't win many balls in the air, maybe we can work on that aspect of his game.

[Barnes23]

Needs to learn to play with his head up - you can see why Howe isn't giving him minutes aside from in very secure circumstances.

 

Has talent though for sure, definitely a Howe type of striker in terms of his profile. 

[Lotus]

Looked like the game was a little too quick for him and I think that’s something that can only be cured by getting more minutes.

[David Edgar]

He looked so raw. Sheesh. 4 months of training and that's where we are at? 

[Ikon]

Looks a bit headless and poor technically imo. Has showed some good things and has great physical attributes. Hopefully the rest will come with time. Not impressed so far but still very early days. 

 

 

Edited December 15 by Ikon

[Lush Vlad]

3 hours ago, Teslact said:

I thought he showed real promise in his cameo today. Good pace and strength - against an admittedly soft defense - and a decent layoff for the Barnes chance that he snatched at. No sign of his finishing ability yet, but the rest of the game looked in the mould of the Wilson we saw a couple of years ago.

I went the other way. I’ve been saying he needs more game time for ages and thought he showed something in the limited minutes he’d had. But I thought he looked terrible. Although replacing Isak isn’t easy and not a fair comparison.  
 

Only way he’ll improve is with more minutes. So hopefully we can get a few more scorelines similar to yesterday. 

[CallumG6]

Get him started against Bromley. 
 

I feel like he rushed a lot of the things he did but that’s probably just eagerness to show his ability.

 

He dispossessed one of their CB’s at one point through his pressing which was good to see. But as many have said, still a lot of development to go yet. 

[Lotus]

8 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

I went the other way. I’ve been saying he needs more game time for ages and thought he showed something in the limited minutes he’d had. But I thought he looked terrible. Although replacing Isak isn’t easy and not a fair comparison.  
 

Only way he’ll improve is with more minutes. So hopefully we can get a few more scorelines similar to yesterday. 

I do agree but I think EH needs to be a bit braver and not wait for massive score lines or the last 5 mins of a game. Isak needs protecting and Osula desperately needs some game time. Isak really seems to fade after 70 minutes anyway so I think we have to bite the bullet and make the sub. 
For all the training in the world, in the end it’s up to the player and that way we find out if he’s got anything about him.

[Heron]

He'll be a good addition in time. There's a multitude of components here. If he plays him when we aren't playing well and consistently then there's a higher likelihood he too will not play as well and any important chances that come may result in misses and more pressure, more criticism and the kids confidence being shot. It never takes long for any football fans to get on a players back these days.

 

I think Howe may have said one or two things which could have knocked the lads confidence in recent weeks and furthermore playing Anthony Gordon CF probably didn't help things from Osula's point of view. That isn't AGs best position but he can play there and be effective given his energy and pressing capability which also suits the team.

 

That being said, I think historically for EH and NUFC it's difficult to point out many (if any) bad signings, and I don't think any player has done anything but grow under Eddie Howe. Lewis Hall being a great example. I said at the start of the season he was our defensive weak link. Yet, with him and Burn striking a bond and seemingly, somewhat him and Gordon, the right introduction to the team at the right times and now the right amount of game time (albeit perhaps induced by Botmans injury), Hall has been our best player this season (followed by Burn).

 

I think we'll see Osula used more as we gain more consistency and hopefully as we play 'lesser' opposition. Providing we do what needs to be done early on and don't continue to make stupid mistakes. 

 

 

Edited December 15 by Heron

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I would’ve brought him on 10 mins earlier but otherwise I was really pleased for him. 
 

In the warmup he always looks amazing, full of tricks and thunderbastard shots. 

[TRon]

4 hours ago, Yorkie said:

Showed his physical attributes again but thought he demonstrated his rawness very aptly with that botched breakaway late on. Slip it through to Gordon and that's 5-0. Look forward to seeing more of him though; he's got talent and he's in very good hands. 

 

If that's the move where he eventually put Barnes through instead I think it's a harsh criticism. It did looked like he should have passed earlier, but it was a great piece of close control to slip Barnes through instead. If Barnes hadn't let it roll too wide long it should have been 5-0 anyway.