Bearing in mind the reported Deeney/Ivic debacle, Pearson, for one, may not have had a choice. At the time I didn't get it but I have felt more sympathetic towards Pearson since the Ivic sacking. Not a straightforward task as a Watford manager being able to pick a best XI whilst Deeney is here. I'm not saying Gray should get his place back from Pedro next game, unless Xisco wants to rotate, but from what I have seen of Deeney in the last 12-18 months or so he hasn't necessarily deserved an automatic starting spot.
Fair point but I suspect Percia when fit might get a go first . Gray didn’t help himself by having a party 2 days before a key game - that won’t have good down well with Pearson. Welbeck would have been a better option .
Of course. I'm less anti-Gray than most. I think he's a confidence player and seems to have lost confidence and maybe a bit of drive. I really thought he might recapture his form this season and score a hatful. However Ivic's defensive slow build didn't play to his strength. His touch has never been great and he needs to be in a team that attacks at pace so he can find space to get on the end of chances. I still feel that if he scores 1 or 2 he might go on a run but at present he gives the impression that he's just killing time with us, waiting to be paid off and released on a free.
A decent striker manages to create some chances for himself, no matter how poor the team is playing. I'm not aware of any such ability from Andre...
It's a pity the stands are empty. The collective groans of everyone might get through to Andre that he is a terrible footballer. Appalling.
This guy has got to go Someone needs to organise a crowd fund to buy him out of his contract, I reckon we would actually get the money we need to do it as well. However, if we fell short maybe EJ would make up the difference, just to get him out of our club!!!
I actually thought he played alright in the first half but yet again missed a sitter. I won't even mention the second half because he was completely anonymous apart from not bothering to get onside for his disallowed goal. He's going to start costing us games if he can't put away the easiest of chances, therefore I can't see why he should be anyway near the squad when Perica and Success are fit.
Andre Gray's skillset is best suited to balmy 3pm Saturday kick offs. It's not fair to judge him on a windy Tuesday night.
I thought the front 3 were lively at times tonight. Just lacked the cutting edge of getting the 2nd goal that's all. 3 more points, on we go to Friday.
Presume the front 3 doesn't include Andre? The only thing remotely lively for him was how busy he kept the lino with his constant offsides.
Well he worked harder than in previous matches. I honestly feel sorry for him but again he has proved he's a liability. I can forgive for the one Sema put through because it was pure Instincts. A shanked effort with his left as usual and the effort at the end of the impressive break 1st half was nothing more than embarrassing. Caught in two minds maybe. The most annoying thing was the goal he did score was him being caught offside. He should of been alive that the defenders were quickly pushing out. Ok it's a win but it should of been sown up before the break.
He did ok without scoring. Same as Deeney (didnt score in open play). Pedro and Deeney i would think will start Friday. Sarr did ok too.
If these stats check out, no one has been offside more in the Championship per 90 mins having played more than 500 minutes than Andre Gray: https://www.footballcritic.com/cham...layer-stats/all/errors/offsides-p90/292/44690
Gray's selection last night can be justified if it's seen as an educational exercise for JP and Zinc. "Watch Gray's runs and do the same sort of thing, and you'll get lots of goals as you can actually play football."
The more I think I believe Pedro was rested for the Stoke game. No doubt he will replace Gray on Friday.
I'm sure every striker has done it, it amazes me that it happens. It's just switching off which shouldn't happen.
Not the greatest of Deeney fans atm but he was better and showed improvement. He was trying to play first time balls in behind for Gray and Sarr. He must think about the penalties now though far to predictable.
He’s always been better in a 10 with a more advanced striker in front, a strong part of his game has always been link up play.
Yes they miss an occasional chance however You will also have seen the above 3 score a bucket loads of goals . Whereas very occasionally our no. 18 shanks one in .
Well done on comparing Andre Gray to those 3 international, Top 6 strikers. They truly are comparable. May as well through Messi and Ronaldo in there too, sure I’ve seen them miss a chance before as well.
How many of those minutes were off the bench though? We are reliably informed by @Manatleisure that we can discount those minutes as they are Gray’s strong point.
When in the PL this is correct. I have already said I don't want either Deeney and Gray here anymore as I feel they are past their best. They have both contributed in the PL in their own particular circumstances. I feel I have made this point more than once. Which part of this do you not understand? Let me know and I will be happy to go through it with you again.
