underestimating the significance of Aluko

[General]

He's gone to reading and they've been as unspectacular as we have been so far this season but I wanted to draw from an article how significant a loss he was and how poor a decision it was from Tony khan and kline, especially with cairney out.

According to this article..

http://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/championships-top-creators-dribblers-passers-eight-games/

Sone's Aluko is one of the leagues best dribblers and chance creator averaging 4 chances created per game and just over 3 dribbles a game.. when you think how significant that is and can be during the course of a game in regards to added opportunities to score and keep opposition on the back foot it shows how significantly he is missed and how much more potent we would be with him in the squad.

I know people hark on about 7.5 million fee but for an average team style without finished product and the possibility of having gotten into the premiership had he stayed i think it was extremely poor business decision from those in charge of such decisions.

Also.. adding to that seeing malone hardly get any game time and knowing how much of a threat he was when marauding down the line for us in have to say we are far worse off this season for it as a team with an end product and it's showing severely. Especially with only cairney the reliable replacement out of action.

The fact for me that we're still playing with a vast majority of possession still over most opposition shows its not the tactics in the ability to understand oppositions weaknesses and strengths and nullify them but purely the players we have available to make that count which is a clear difference from last season.

Sad times to see such promise get buggered around by Senior management when they could've and should've just listened to the manager.

[filham]

I too was shocked at the departure of Aluko and there is no doubt that both he and Malone have been badly missed this season

However I have listened to the point of view of others on this board and it would seem that Aluko was asking for extra wages and an extended contract well beyond that which the club thought reasonable. Now the club has to have a wage policy and should not be seen to give the earth to one player as the result of a good season, I believe Alkuko was offered a new contract but rejected it as inadequate.

So it may not be entirely unreasonable for the clu to accept the Aluko move and be grateful for the generous transfer fee received.

However we have seen no replacement signing for Aluko, the money is probably nicely ageing in the bank and the team is less strong for the deal. This is not good team management.

[hovewhite]

The fact is if he saw better money and longer contract we did the right thing in selling him.

[Luka]

The fact is he's picked up at Reading where he left off with us.
He missed a great opportunity yesterday. In front of goal he chokes, but now for them and not us.

[Baszab]

We're missing Aluko Malone Cairney Piazon now Ayite (and Martin) - thats half the successful team from last year

Bit of a clue as to why we're drifting off from the top (as Glanville said today in the Sunday Times)

But never mind, we have another 5 wingers we can play

No forward thinking by the Board

Next thing will be an injury to a CB --   then were really stuffed

What a chance we had to kick on from last season - so disappointing

PS - thought they played well yesterday though

[Tonywa]

His scoring record for us was comparatively poor for someone playing in his position, but he was one of those players who would come up with an important goal out of nothing or a piece of skill to turn a game. I do think we miss him more than many think.  Malone much less IMHO.

[Marcel_Gecov]

We're missing Aluko Malone Cairney Piazon now Ayite (and Martin) - thats half the successful team from last year

Bit of a clue as to why we're drifting off from the top (as Glanville said today in the Sunday Times)

But never mind, we have another 5 wingers we can play

No forward thinking by the Board

Next thing will be an injury to a CB --   then were really stuffed

What a chance we had to kick on from last season - so disappointing

PS - thought they played well yesterday though

With respect to label those 5 is quite misleading. Piazon wasnt a starter in the first 11 if all were fit. Martin played 58% of our games and there is evidence to suggest Kebano is stronger than Ayite so we are talking about 3 players. Malone has been improved upon by Soares (I've watched him at Rio Ave and he was brilliant).

Cairney is of course a huge loss and nothing can be taken away from that. Agree about your CB point - I think it would be wise to get Djalo on the pitch asap so he isnt overawed if thrown in.

[Jimmy Hill]

I don't think we particularly miss either malone or Aluko just need to finish our chances.

[RaySmith]

They both wanted to go, and have - what's the point in going on about them now.

We have replacements, just need to get on with it and move forward.

[Marcel_Gecov]

They both wanted to go, and have - what's the point in going on about them now.

We have replacements, just need to get on with it and move forward.

+1 We've lost better players historically.

[toshes mate]

For my money Ayite is a class act and will be missed as is Piazon.  It isn't just what they bring to the table in performance terms it is the fact they knew the system played, their colleagues in the side, and the way we exploited possession.  We have had to relearn that for this season and a lot of points, like last season, have been lost as a result. 

We had a settled side last season where Malone, Aluko and Martin were pretty much fixtures and yet the 'board' chose to sell two of them on and have pretty much left us with a team still getting to know each other as a result.  And all this talk of 'better replacements brought in' is pure hogwash until they prove they are better by eclipsing last season's points total.  I still hope they do that and in style but spare me the rash judgements because we have had far too many of those in the recent past.

[filham]

The fact is if he saw better money and longer contract we did the right thing in selling him.

OK but the point is we should have replaced him with an equivalent or better player.

[filham]

They both wanted to go, and have - what's the point in going on about them now.

We have replacements, just need to get on with it and move forward.

+1 We've lost better players historically.

We certainly have and the historical facts are that we don't replace these players with other players of real quality and it looks as if this practice is to continue.

[Mullers OG]

He's gone - end of.

To my mind selling him was the best piece of business of the summer.  Let him fritter away chances at Reading instead of the Cottage. Now we've got room for three from Ojo, Ayite, Kebano and Fonte.

There was nothing particularly wrong with Aluko but nothing particularly right either.  He looked like the free transfer he was - FFC have had a real coup in getting good money for him. 

[Fulham Joe]

Ok, well I might as well share my opinion.
I thought selling Aluko was a disgraceful decision, and I despair at supporting a team where people with no idea about football decide transfer policy.
Aluko was a massive part of what made us such a handful last season.

[filham]

He's gone - end of.

To my mind selling him was the best piece of business of the summer.  Let him fritter away chances at Reading instead of the Cottage. Now we've got room for three from Ojo, Ayite, Kebano and Fonte.

There was nothing particularly wrong with Aluko but nothing particularly right either.  He looked like the free transfer he was - FFC have had a real coup in getting good money for him. 

Did you never hear the buzz of expectation from the crow when Aluko received the ball in an advance position and can't you remember those runs at goal when he beat two or thee players. We are not witnessing such things now.

[AlexW132]

Can I just point out he missed an open goal on Saturday.