Anthony Elanga

[bobbydazzla]

20 minutes ago, Zero said:

It really depends on your POV as a fan or as a management analyst. I perfectly understand why fans want the club to always take the best shot to challenge trophies. Just a simple question: why not? It’s FOOTBALL.

 

on the other hand, in another perspective, especially in financial budgeting, there is another simple question: would you take assumptions that the club can win the league / cup and include the additional money earned? Of course not. It’s BUSINESS. Once you got the equation wrong you would have a disastrous period upcoming. The Anderson case. We should all know this.

 

You both are talking sense imo. It’s just the original position taken that raise the argument.

A disastrous period would be getting relegated and spending season after season in the lower leagues. 
 

A disastrous period is definitely not selling a useful squad player to satisfy some snide financial rules and then frustratingly he turns out to be very good at his next club. 
 

The problem with management analysts is that they’re management analysts. And this is a football club we’re talking about. 

 

 

Edited January 4 by bobbydazzla

[tarie4]

4 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

A disastrous period would be getting relegated and spending season after season in the lower leagues. 
 

A disastrous period is definitely not selling a useful squad player to satisfy some snide financial rules and then he turns out to very good at his next club. 
 

The problem with management analysts is that they’re management analysts. And this is a football club we’re talking about. 

 

 

 

These opinions usually pop up when we're not doing so great. Last season, after the Brentford game, the same folks went wild about it. Once we started winning, got a trophy, and made it to the Champions League, they shut up. Now they're back at it.

 

Talking about long term strategy etc when we literally in the CL, semis of a cup and in the top 24 of the CL. All whilst being 4 points of 5th, which most likely would be a CL place again this season.

 

We are on a bad run yes..but we not in the gutter just yet.

 

 

 

[tarie4]

It's kinda funny how we're still chatting about Big Joe, Anderson, and Miniteh.

 

Folks like TCD, debate endlessly and over and over about how we lost two young players and 100 mill worth etc and how our money situation isn't great, etc. We sold them four transfer windows ago, and what have we done since then? We won a trophy folks and scored a goal at Wembley in a cup final.

 

Some of the players we bought last summer have settled in, some haven't, but are we already calling them bad buys after 6 months? We all know how eddie improves players and how we have been successful with that.

 

As forum posters, it's easy to form an opinion and go all out with it. If it turns out to be wrong, you'll just make another one and go all out with that, over and over again. (Ahem, TCD).

 

The people in charge, like Eddie, don't have that luxury; they don't hide behind a keyboard; they get one shot at it. So far, I don't think they've led us astray. The last four years, which most people are criticizing, have been the most successful in recent memory. Go figure.

[The College Dropout]

1 hour ago, tarie4 said:

Again basing on speculation that someone would pay 100mil for Bruno.. or 60 million for big Joe with 18 months left. Why not wait till the summer and get him for 35.

Also Luiz went for 42 million not 50. And Villa had to buy 2 youngsters from Juvie as part of the deal. Dont let facts get in the way hey 😂

We put that release clause in there for a reason. And it was the right thing to do. All speculation around Bruno ended when it expired and has largely been quiet since. Or we would’ve sold him, solved all PSR issues and would have money to buy a replacement. That was well managed by Ashworth. 
 

Even if we sold Joelinton for £35m in the summer it would’ve meant keeping Anderson who is now a £70m homegrown player atleast and a starter for the next 5-10 years.  
 

In the last 2 years we’ve arguably signed 1 player that has improved the team having spent £250m on players mostly at peak value.  The team that won us the league cup and qualified for the CL was built entirely by the Staveley Ashworth era which has ended. we’ve pivoted hard from the approach that has brought us success which is damaging us on the pitch now and is likely to cause us issues in the seasons to come financially and on the pitch.  

[TRon]

2 hours ago, bobbydazzla said:

Brennan Johnson scored the winner in the cup final of a tournament that meant Spurs earned £26.5m in prize money and also got them back on the Champions League gravy train which allows them to rake in tens of millions this season. 
 

And their fans finally got to celebrate a cup win after 17 years. Which is priceless. And winning a trophy and being back in the CL also makes the club more attractive to potential signings and new fans. And silverware plus CL should help keep their current players relatively happy.

So what if they’ve lost some money on his transfer, the big picture is far more important. 

 

 

 

 

 

Being in the CL every season is the golden ticket. That makes holding onto players rather than selling much easier. 

[bobbydazzla]

14 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

We put that release clause in there for a reason. And it was the right thing to do. All speculation around Bruno ended when it expired and has largely been quiet since. Or we would’ve sold him, solved all PSR issues and would have money to buy a replacement. That was well managed by Ashworth. 
 

Even if we sold Joelinton for £35m in the summer it would’ve meant keeping Anderson who is now a £70m homegrown player atleast and a starter for the next 5-10 years.  
 

In the last 2 years we’ve arguably signed 1 player that has improved the team having spent £250m on players mostly at peak value.  The team that won us the league cup and qualified for the CL was built entirely by the Staveley Ashworth era which has ended. we’ve pivoted hard from the approach that has brought us success which is damaging us on the pitch now and is likely to cause us issues in the seasons to come financially and on the pitch.  

[Steve Charlton]

Where is he? 

[The College Dropout]

Injured you would assume.

[Adam P]

I am confident Elanga will come good with time. Its obviously gone pretty badly so far, given his premier league experience. However, the mitigating factors are; we signed him to play with Isak and our system has changed; the plan B system involved starting Wissa, who got injured; playing with Woltemade required even more adaptation (even though his good moments come with Wolte), the team overall is lacking confidence and he seems to specifically be lacking that too; the team has looked disjointed in attack overall and when multiple players are giving the ball away during a game, it makes it hard to integrate for a new player; more teams are setting up deeper against us and his game is best when we are playing on the break; Eddie has had very little chance to focus on him since September; we play a much more complex set of systems and game plans than Forest did and so he has had a lot more to work and think about, if he is overthinking what he is doing this is a performance killer.  

 

He needs more time and given how things have gone so far, the 'it took Gordon half a season' defence is not sufficient in this case. It may be the latter half of this season before he integrates and puts some actual significant output on the board and i do think that he needs a goal to get his confidence back. Long way to go from here but watching his G/A vids from 23/24/25 is still exciting, some great moments.  

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I wouldn't say I'm confident but all your points are right and I really hope he can get his head right to succeed here. 

[Yorkie]

Reintroducing him when the team is in much better form - with both first-choice full-backs and Wissa back in the side - will be interesting. 

[Loki679]

I hope he can turn it around, seems like a proper canny lad. 

[Chris_R]

We're obviously not seeing the same player that Forest fans saw, so that's good IMO. What it takes to get him back to that level is another matter, whether it's physical, mental, personal, a combination of all of that, who knows? But I trust the club to do the right thing and to get him back to where we want him to be.

 

If we bought someone who just wasn't capable, I'd be worried, but I don't see that. 

[Holmesy]

1 hour ago, Adam P said:

I am confident Elanga will come good with time. Its obviously gone pretty badly so far, given his premier league experience. However, the mitigating factors are; we signed him to play with Isak and our system has changed; the plan B system involved starting Wissa, who got injured; playing with Woltemade required even more adaptation (even though his good moments come with Wolte), the team overall is lacking confidence and he seems to specifically be lacking that too; the team has looked disjointed in attack overall and when multiple players are giving the ball away during a game, it makes it hard to integrate for a new player; more teams are setting up deeper against us and his game is best when we are playing on the break; Eddie has had very little chance to focus on him since September; we play a much more complex set of systems and game plans than Forest did and so he has had a lot more to work and think about, if he is overthinking what he is doing this is a performance killer.  

 

He needs more time and given how things have gone so far, the 'it took Gordon half a season' defence is not sufficient in this case. It may be the latter half of this season before he integrates and puts some actual significant output on the board and i do think that he needs a goal to get his confidence back. Long way to go from here but watching his G/A vids from 23/24/25 is still exciting, some great moments.  

I hope you're right and I wish I had your confidence. If anyone can turn him into a player, it's Eddie but he has his work cut-out. How do you teach a £50m experienced international winger how to control a football? 

[Teasy]

18 minutes ago, Chris_R said:

We're obviously not seeing the same player that Forest fans saw, so that's good IMO. What it takes to get him back to that level is another matter, whether it's physical, mental, personal, a combination of all of that, who knows? But I trust the club to do the right thing and to get him back to where we want him to be.

 

If we bought someone who just wasn't capable, I'd be worried, but I don't see that. 

 

I hope he turns it around, obviously, since his success would be ours.  What's shocked me most is his inability to beat a man.  I didn't expect him to have a great touch and be really technically gifted (though his control has been even worse than I expected).  But I thought beating a player with pace would be a real strength of his, he just doesn't do it.

 

 

Edited January 5 by Teasy

[Pilko]

My worry is he's been largely incapable of the absolute basics so far, like controlling the ball and executing short passes with accuracy, never mind beating a man or getting a decent cross in. I don't see how you suddenly lose that moving from one Premier League club to another. 

 

The worst case eventually is we get what I like to call "Alan O'Brien syndrome", where he'll be in space with electric pace to burn, but nobody gives him the ball because they know how frustrating and wasteful he is.

 

Someone said this a few posts back but him coming back into a team that's gradually starting to get some wins during a run of home games might be the kickstarter. Frankly, my expectations are so low for him at the minute I'd settle for some Almiron style performances where he grafts hard, is good defensively and is neat and tidy without providing any cutting edge before I worry about him contributing from an attacking sense.

 

He's got time on his side and the fee means we've got no choice but to persevere with him, but I'm still not at all convinced he'll be any good. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[McCormick]

I’ve said this before, but if ball control were genuinely an issue, Forest fans would have flagged it long ago.
 

It feels more mental than technical in that sense. I’ve also noticed that as fan frustration has grown, his performances have dipped further, which is a concern in itself.
 

The lad’s obviously still adapting to how we want to play, and with the punishing schedule he’s not getting much one-to-one time with Eddie to remedy that. Okay, he’ll never have the technical ceiling of someone like Maddison (or really the footballing iq), but if he keeps things simple, presses relentlessly, and rediscovers the devastating transition threat he was at Forest, he can definitely be a very effective Howe-coded winger for us. 

[TRon]

15 minutes ago, McCormick said:

I’ve said this before, but if ball control were genuinely an issue, Forest fans would have flagged it long ago.
 

It feels more mental than technical in that sense. I’ve also noticed that as fan frustration has grown, his performances have dipped further, which is a concern in itself.
 

The lad’s obviously still adapting to how we want to play, and with the punishing schedule he’s not getting much one-to-one time with Eddie to remedy that. Okay, he’ll never have the technical ceiling of someone like Maddison (or really the footballing iq), but if he keeps things simple, presses relentlessly, and rediscovers the devastating transition threat he was at Forest, he can definitely be a very effective Howe-coded winger for us. 

 

 

This. 

 

His poor first touch has been a real concern for me, but that is probably linked to nerves. My main concern now is if he's actually up to performing on a stage as big as this. Some players are better suited to small clubs.

 

I've seen enough in his game to suggest he's capable of a lot more than we've seen so far. 

[Dr.Spaceman]

26 minutes ago, Pilko said:

My worry is he's been largely incapable of the absolute basics so far, like controlling the ball and executing short passes with accuracy, never mind beating a man or getting a decent cross in. I don't see how you suddenly lose that moving from one Premier League club to another. 

 

The worst case eventually is we get what I like to call "Alan O'Brien syndrome", where he'll be in space with electric pace to burn, but nobody gives him the ball because they know how frustrating and wasteful he is.

 

Someone said this a few posts back but him coming back into a team that's gradually starting to get some wins during a run of home games might be the kickstarter. Frankly, my expectations are so low for him at the minute I'd settle for some Almiron style performances where he grafts hard, is good defensively and is neat and tidy without providing any cutting edge before I worry about him contributing from an attacking sense.

 

He's got time on his side and the fee means we've got no choice but to persevere with him, but I'm still not at all convinced he'll be any good. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

I was going to write something but saw this which perfectly sums up my feelings.

 

Alan O'Brien is a decent comparison. I was going to say Shane Ferguson but then I think I was more excited by Shane 

[Big River]

Alan O'Brien  I'm convinced he was the fastest professional footballer on planet earth

[Superior Acuña]

He's going to score the winner for us in the FA Cup final.

[Adam P]

I'd have expected us to play him on the break in games like at PSG. A successful start would have seen the team aligned on how to work the trigger for the break against elite teams. Not seen any evidence we are near that yet like but i assume something like this is how we want to use him. 

[Pilko]

37 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

 

I was going to write something but saw this which perfectly sums up my feelings.

 

Alan O'Brien is a decent comparison. I was going to say Shane Ferguson but then I think I was more excited by Shane 

 

Shane Ferguson was a decent enough technician. AOB is the perfect comparison in this case because he was absolutely rapid and could probably catch pigeons, but had no touch or technical ability to speak of. 

[The College Dropout]

I rarely read Froggy's posts and would like him banned from the forum.

 

But he was spot on about Elanga.

[bobbydazzla]

21 minutes ago, Pilko said:

 

Shane Ferguson was a decent enough technician. AOB is the perfect comparison in this case because he was absolutely rapid and could probably catch pigeons, but had no touch or technical ability to speak of. 

 

Alan O'Brien never made it as a top flight player, Elanga's just coming off the back of a couple of strong seasons in the top flight at Forest.

 

He's not shit. He's just been playing shit for us. Probably because he joined a squad that was in confusion due to Isak being a cunt, the team then got off to a slow start so fans were frustrated and Elanga's been struggling for form and had some sections of fans on his back during games. 

 

He might turn it round here, he might not. Time will tell.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5 by bobbydazzla