SIGNED - Nick Blackman

[loyalroyal4life]

Brian confirmed he cost £1 million

3x more than Akpan

[Pepe the Horseman]

Brian confirmed he cost £1 million

3x more than Akpan

Clever girl

[The Rouge]

Brian confirmed he cost £1 million

3x more than Akpan

Clever girl

3.3333 to be fair

[Royal Ginger]

[RoyalTank]

Really struggling to see why we have signed this one.

[Royals-lad14]

Really struggling to see why we have signed this one.

has potential but no way near premier league quality.

[P!ssed Off]

Really struggling to see why we have signed this one.

has potential but no way near premier league quality.

He hasn't shown any potential whatsoever when playing for Reading. If your judging him on his Sheffield United days then fair enough.

[winchester_royal]

Tbh, while I don't understand the hate he gets on here, McDermott counting him as one of 4 signings that made us the second most active team in the window, along with a guy who was completely unfit and a 21 year old Crawley midfielder, when we're in a real relegation dogfight is a prime example of why he got shot.

[Royals-lad14]

Really struggling to see why we have signed this one.

has potential but no way near premier league quality.

He hasn't shown any potential whatsoever when playing for Reading. If your judging him on his Sheffield United days then fair enough.

saw him play for united a few times and was by far their best player, he is nowhere near premier league quality and is struggling to adapt IMO

[Ouroboros]

Tbh, while I don't understand the hate he gets on here, McDermott counting him as one of 4 signings that made us the second most active team in the window, along with a guy who was completely unfit and a 21 year old Crawley midfielder, when we're in a real relegation dogfight is a prime example of why he got shot.

They shot McDermott?

[P!ssed Off]

Tbh, while I don't understand the hate he gets on here, McDermott counting him as one of 4 signings that made us the second most active team in the window, along with a guy who was completely unfit and a 21 year old Crawley midfielder, when we're in a real relegation dogfight is a prime example of why he got shot.

Akpan was heavily involved in both our goals, when he came off the bench, on his Prem debut. The fact that even he's not even good enough currently for the Prem shows how far behind Blackman is.

[Ian Royal]

My thoughts on Blackman.

He's not a winger: He's got ok control, but his crossing isn't great and doesn't seem to know how to beat a man.
He's not striker: He's not even shown the barest hint he might score a goal.
He's not an attacking midfielder: His passing and awareness isn't good enough.

He's had the odd decent moment in matches, but has generally been a massive lump of underwhelming mediocrity. I have never seen a professional footballer conceed a foul throw by stepping onto the pitch whilst throwing it. It's not like it was just his toe. If the ball had been as far over the line against Liverpool as his foot was today we'd have two extra points.

[Ouroboros]

My thoughts on Blackman.

He's not a winger: He's got ok control, but his crossing isn't great and doesn't seem to know how to beat a man.
He's not striker: He's not even shown the barest hint he might score a goal.
He's not an attacking midfielder: His passing and awareness isn't good enough.

He's had the odd decent moment in matches, but has generally been a massive lump of underwhelming mediocrity. I have never seen a professional footballer conceed a foul throw by stepping onto the pitch whilst throwing it. It's not like it was just his toe. If the ball had been as far over the line against Liverpool as his foot was today we'd have two extra points.

Southampton, and 0 more points.

[andrew1957]

Feel sorry for Blackman.

It was a very strange signing and a huge step up from League 1 to PL survival battle. He will be very tarnished by this end of season struggle and it will be hard for him to come back and make a long term career at RFC.

[winchester_royal]

Would you agree that signing him was very poor management from McD Andrew?

[andrew1957]

Would you agree that signing him was very poor management from McD Andrew?

The Jan window was a poor one for RFC but we have no idea who was to blame for that.

Brian - lack of targets?
Hammond - failing to do deals?
Anton failing to stump up serious cash? - yes we made a few bids that were never going to happen but there seemed no serious intent to splash the cash - which makes me think the decision to sack Brian had already been made then.

[winchester_royal]

Would you agree that signing him was very poor management from McD Andrew?

The Jan window was a poor one for RFC but we have no idea who was to blame for that.

Brian - lack of targets?
Hammond - failing to do deals?
Anton failing to stump up serious cash? - yes we made a few bids that were never going to happen but there seemed no serious intent to splash the cash - which makes me think the decision to sack Brian had already been made then.

Brian always had final say on targets. Do you not think that spending 1.2m on Blackman that could have gone elsewhere was a bad piece of management?

[P!ssed Off]

Would you agree that signing him was very poor management from McD Andrew?

The Jan window was a poor one for RFC but we have no idea who was to blame for that.

Brian - lack of targets?
Hammond - failing to do deals?
Anton failing to stump up serious cash? - yes we made a few bids that were never going to happen but there seemed no serious intent to splash the cash - which makes me think the decision to sack Brian had already been made then.

Brian always had final say on targets. Do you not think that spending 1.2m on Blackman that could have gone elsewhere was a bad piece of management?

Blackman in League 1 this season: 28 games, 11 goals. Woahhhhhh this is amazing for a young player, he's only 23!!!! I see potential, bargain for £1.2 million etc.

Er, no. Who's top scorer in League 1?: Yeovil's Paddy Madden 34 games, 23 goals. And the kicker, he's 4 months younger than Blackman.

Joint second top scorer in League 1?: Walsall's Will Grigg 36 games, 19 goals. Age: 21.

Conclusions: Blackman was signed on the basis of one decent season. A quick glance at League 1 top scorers table shows there are at least two strikers in League 1 who are A: much more prolific. and B: younger. I would also imagine they would be much cheaper than £1.2 million.

Blackman was a terrible buy.

[BraisingsteakRoyal]

Agreed that he's been utter dump so far but Adkins will try him a few times in the chump next year before we decide to loan him out/sell him at a loss.

HRK >> NBlackman in every department, and he's our nearest equivalent (no racist).

[Wimb]

Can't believe he's being written off already. He's played what five games for a team that's got one of the worst points totals in Premier League history, one that's been constantly changing teams, formations, strategy etc.

He's got potential and age on his side. It took Longy until he was about 23/24 to really start putting it together so don't be too quick to dismiss him.

Of course he could turn out to be a bust but I don't think you can blame our relegation on £1.2m going to Blackman, who else was it going to go on to keep us up.