Simon Church

[andrew1957]

Come back to me at the end of the season and tell me who is better and has scored more goals.

I stick by my comments. I've seen plenty of both of their games and Church has been the more impressive as far as I'm concerned. They are the best or second best combination we could put out IMO and seem to be beginning to complement each other reasonably well.

Church is the future and playing him this season will pay dividends in the next one. Rasiak is a stop gap, nothing more.

We definitely need a new striker in to give us a decent option off the bench or replace one of them in the starting line up though. Which one is replaced is dependent on the nature of the incoming player though, not who has most goals or is playing best.

+1

I think the speed of Church's development from the Academy to now has been outstanding. He is only 20 and now shows genuine signs of becoming a class player. He is about two years younger than Kevin Doyle was when he came here and I think he can go on to emulate Doyle's rise to PL standard.

Yes he has a lot to learn and needs to increase his on target shot ratio but he is potentially a class player.

Rasiak will do a job for us in a completely different target man role. I think their partnership will get better and better but we clearly need more options up front with Hunt and Long injured and Mooney (it seems) disregarded by both Coppell and Rodgers.

[papereyes]

How many managers must disregard a player in order for him to be thought of as merely 'a bit rubbish'.

[Sarah Star]

How many managers must disregard a player in order for him to be thought of as merely 'a bit rubbish'.

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.


apologies

[Sun Tzu]

How many managers must disregard a player in order for him to be thought of as merely 'a bit rubbish'.

I suspect a fairly large number of managers could disregard a player and he could still go on to be a very decent player !

[Broxroyal]

Nah, it's impossible given they're on the same number at the moment and Church has looked fair to very good in all his performances, compared to Rasiak looking to ok.

Rasiak holds the ball up better, is better in the air and is a better finisher than Church and certainly hasn't been 'shit to ok' in every game. He's had several good games in fact and although Church will improve and shows promise, he is still the weaker of the two given his finishing needs a hell of a lot of work, which is a problem given strikers are there to score goals.

Church is better on the end of crosses. Shame he can't be paired with the legendary Les Chapel (Chapple). What a player he was!!

Personally I don't think a Church / Les Chappell combination would have been a good one. Chappell would have paired better with Rasiak (in terms of style) and Church with........Robin Friday.

I rate Church highly, am not a fan of Rasiak, but think the combination has a decent chance of working. We need more options though with Long and Hunt out.

[Royalee]

I made a bet today with my mate that Church would score more goals come the end of the season than Rasiak.
I think I just won £10.

Sure about that?

[Ian Royal]

I made a bet today with my mate that Church would score more goals come the end of the season than Rasiak.
I think I just won £10.

Sure about that?

What!? It's 4 and 3 for christ sake.

[winchester_royal]

As soon as this guy hits a purple patch he's going to get a sackfull.

[Royalee]

I made a bet today with my mate that Church would score more goals come the end of the season than Rasiak.
I think I just won £10.

Sure about that?

What!? It's 4 and 3 for christ sake.

Don't get me wrong, I like Church and think he's going to be an exceptional player...but Rasiak's a goalscorer and Church isn't. Look at Rasiak's goals to starts ratio...he didn't sign until a month into the season pretty much and he already has 4 goals from 6 starts.

[Ian Royal]

Rasiak will plod along scoring goals if he's given chances certainly, and it's maybe a season too soon to see Church scoring regularly, but it's pretty early doors and relatively level pegging. Church could find his range and fill his boots with goals quite easily.

I can't see Rasiak getting more than 10 - 12. Similar with Church, but with the possibility of something crazy like 18 if it clicks for him.

[Royalwaster]

Rasiak will plod along scoring goals if he's given chances certainly, and it's maybe a season too soon to see Church scoring regularly, but it's pretty early doors and relatively level pegging. Church could find his range and fill his boots with goals quite easily.

I can't see Rasiak getting more than 10 - 12. Similar with Church, but with the possibility of something crazy like 18 if it clicks for him.

Agree - I think Church could turn out to be even better than Kevin Doyle. Has got great physique and good pace - just needs to learn to hit the target. Has been a bit unlucky recently and once his luck turns you never know.

[Royal We]

As soon as this guy hits a purple patch he's going to get a sackfull.

Maybe we could paint the penalty areas purple just to give him a start.

[rhroyal]

A lot of Rasiak slating on here. The FFC podcast once compared him to Goater - slow, lazy and unpopular, but very capable of scoring goals. In his last 2 starts and 1 sub appearance he has 2 goals - from where I am he can be as pathetic as he wants for 85 minutes a game if he keeps that up.

[Royalee]

He contributes far more than Goater ever did - he actually puts more than 0% effort in, is capable of holding players of and using the ball and will score goals even if they aren't laid on a plate for him.

[ZacNaloen]

I like 'em both, and as long as they both continue to contribute I can't find any reason to complain about eithers attributes.

[moo]

I'd rather have Doyle. Lets swap.

[Alan Partridge]

As soon as this guy hits a purple patch he's going to get a sackfull.

Gets a sackful most weekends from the sounds of it.

Church worked hard for the cause yesterday on his own but he has all the composure of John McCririck on heroin. Shame he got injured but it affected the result. That they could bring Rasiak on to score the winning goal.

[winchester_royal]

As soon as this guy hits a purple patch he's going to get a sackfull.

Gets a sackful most weekends from the sounds of it.

Church worked hard for the cause yesterday on his own but he has all the composure of John McCririck on heroin. Shame he got injured but it affected the result. That they could bring Rasiak on to score the winning goal.

Would rather he got into positions where he could score, than be like Hunt/Long and run around pointlessly for 90 minutes.

[Alan Partridge]

As soon as this guy hits a purple patch he's going to get a sackfull.

Gets a sackful most weekends from the sounds of it.

Church worked hard for the cause yesterday on his own but he has all the composure of John McCririck on heroin. Shame he got injured but it affected the result. That they could bring Rasiak on to score the winning goal.

Would rather he got into positions where he could score, than be like Hunt/Long and run around pointlessly for 90 minutes.

Noel Hunt got what 14 goals last year? Despite missing big chunks of the season with injury. I don't think Hunt is partciularly great but if he was fit he'd be in my side with the current options available alongside Rasiak. He isn't and so Reading have to go and get another forward in.

Rasiak will score more than Church even if he is given half the game time, I have absolutely no doubts about that. Especially as Ian Royal disagrees

[Ian Royal]

You're awfully cocky given the situation.