Evan Ferguson F Roma (loan from Brighton) b.2004

[Eirambler]

Literally not a single poster on this forum today writing him off.

[rebelmusic]

Delighted for him, hopefully the spark for a good run now leading up to March. I think it would be a huge risk to start both of them but great option to spring from the bench.

Tom Cannon also breaking his duck this weekend so could very well be the three of them as our squad options. Would love to see a direct challenge on Idaha's squad place and see if he can raise his game as well.

Going to be a very interesting few months!

[John83]

Remember.. we'd Parrot written off at 20.. strikers could be mid 20s before they really mature.. hopefully the manager will give him time to mature, because he's potentially a serious striker..
I don't know how many people had him written off. Not none, mind, but plenty of people were saying he needed to develop. Then he did. I don't think anyone's writing off Ferguson. It's reasonable to be anxious about where his long term fitness is going and how that might impinge on his development. Should they not discuss that? Is this a forum or a cheerleading section?


Love the fact that even when he scores, he's effectively being written off by some of the doom merchants yet again.

Its great to see him score and almost add a second.
You know, I never liked tets old habit of insisting that posters **** or get off the pot, but I'm really tired of this.

[pineapple stu]

I think we need a tets-style ultimatum. 24 hours to show any posts writing Ferguson off (especially specifically since he scored)

[Nesta99]

A Tet offensive!

[nigel-harps1954]

I think we need a tets-style ultimatum. 24 hours to show any posts writing Ferguson off (especially specifically since he scored)

A sh!t Sunday night after a few pints. I'm happy to retract the statement that anyone was writing him off.

[pineapple stu]

Hmmm. You must be new here Nigel - that's not how things work online:p

[SkStu]

Yeah...the only acceptable thing to do is double-down and obfuscate.

I'm disappointed in your overly-reasonable response here and, therefore, am calling for an immediate ban.

[nigel-harps1954]

Hmmm. You must be new here Nigel - that's not how things work online:p

I disagree entirely.

[John83]

Yeah...the only acceptable thing to do is double-down and obfuscate.

I'm disappointed in your overly-reasonable response here and, therefore, am calling for an immediate ban.
Nigel banned. Nigel, and his children, and his children's children. For three seconds.

[Nesta99]

Yeah its all to rational and civil, Sooo one goal a goalscoer doesnt make, useless!

[Eirambler]

Taken off at half time at home to Napoli after a poor first half. He looks very one dimensional as a striker these days to be honest. When teams sit deep as Napoli did in the first half he seems to just succumb to it, he did more or less nothing other than run in a straight line from half way to the Napoli box and back all half. Not much effort to drop wide to get on the ball more or anything like that. Now, he could be being told to play that way, but it's been a feature of his game over the last year or so playing for Brighton, West Ham and Roma. At this point I'd like to see him drop down to a lower level where he can be more effective and then hopefully build himself back up over time, as Parrott is doing. Whether his contract/wage allows that to happen is questionable though.

[Razors left peg]

Taken off at half time at home to Napoli after a poor first half. He looks very one dimensional as a striker these days to be honest. When teams sit deep as Napoli did in the first half he seems to just succumb to it, he did more or less nothing other than run in a straight line from half way to the Napoli box and back all half. Not much effort to drop wide to get on the ball more or anything like that. Now, he could be being told to play that way, but it's been a feature of his game over the last year or so playing for Brighton, West Ham and Roma. At this point I'd like to see him drop down to a lower level where he can be more effective and then hopefully build himself back up over time, as Parrott is doing. Whether his contract/wage allows that to happen is questionable though.

He was very poor yesterday. I wonder how much of it is the constant stop start. Hes hasnt got a run of games together in what seems like 2 years and that has to have hindered him. Everything I always thought he was brilliant at seemed to be missing yesterday. He seemed to react rather than anticipate to balls coming forward, his movement in the box was non existent and his touch was poor when he did receive it. He looks nothing like the player he was.

Not willing to write him off by any means, I just hope he stays injury free for the rest of the season now and lets see what that brings

[rebelmusic]

I'm convinced at this point he needs to follow Parrots example and go play in a smaller league with less expectation on his shoulders. He looks almost afraid of the ball these days unless he's playing for Ireland. The performance drift between club and international with him reeks of confidence issues and possibly being over trained psychologically. He needs to get back to basics

[Fixer82]

I was at the Armenia game and found Ferguson's drifting back into midfield quite frustrating. He just wanted the ball but when the ball broke, he wasn't up the field where he needed to be.

Maybe a smaller league would suit him where he can just concentrate on being a striker who scores when he gets the opportunity.

[Eirambler]

Gazzetta dello Sport apparently reporting that Roma's game tomorrow against Cagliari will be Ferguson's last chance to make an impression before a decision is taken whether to terminate his loan in January or not.

[John83]

Anyone know if they're a credible paper or a gossip rag? Not the finest sign either way.

[tetsujin1979]

Reports in England that Brighton's Greek striker Tzimas will be out for a few months and Brighton are looking at bringing Ferguson back to replace him

[Eirambler]

This all appears to be heading towards Ferguson warming the Brighton bench for the second half of the season. Hopefully not, but it looks the most likely outcome right now.

[Buckett]

A bit unfair of them to say this is his last chance and he's on the bench!

[pineapple stu]

Anyone know if they're a credible paper or a gossip rag? Not the finest sign either way.
It's the main sports paper in Italy isn't it? Would have thought that'd give it a fairly good standing, though wiki says "With some 24-28 pages out of 40 devoted to the sport on a daily basis, much of the journalism is speculative and sensationalist rather than the pure reporting of matches", which I guess makes sense.

That said, it wouldn't be particularly surprising if it was the case. He's not really made much of an impression so far, even for a team that's generally struggling for goals.

[Eirambler]

Half an hour and no goals for him today. Arguably mitigating circumstances in that Roma were down to 10 men, but it's still another blank to add to his miserable stats. Will be interesting to see if that's his last outing in Italy.

[tetsujin1979]

Saw the last twenty minutes or so of the game. Roma were already down to ten, and Ferguson had come on. They didn't really create anything, and he struggled with two players on him anytime the ball came near him.
Wouldn't blame him for the result.
Playing Celtic on Thursday night in Glasgow.

[Colbert Report]

I read he's been sent back to Brighton.

[tetsujin1979]

Named in the squad to face Celtic tomorrow
https://www.asroma.com/it/notizie/74442/i-convocati-giallorossi-per-celtic-roma

[Eirambler]

I read he's been sent back to Brighton.

He can't be sent back/recalled until January, but that does seem the most likely outcome here. Based on his performances to date, you can't really blame them for that decision.

[Fixer82]

He needs to score every time he touches the ball from now on to have a chance of staying

[pineapple stu]

Wasn't there something at the start of the season about an expectation of 20 goals or they wouldn't be invoking a right-to-buy clause at the end of the season? Or am I completely imagining things/making them up?

Still a huge disappointment, especially given pre-season seemed to go so well.

[Exgrad]

Gasparini questioning his attitude in his latest comments, not a good look.

I think Ferguson got the hump at Brighton when he came back from injury and wasnt starting all the time, and not sure hes got his head right since.

[the 12 th man]

Ferguson : 10 appearances with 408 minutes played 1 Goal

In Comparison

Soule 14 apps with 1000 minutes played 4 goals
Dybala 10 apps with 506 minutes played 2 goals
Dovbyk 10 apps with 323 minutes played 2 goals

So nobody on the team exactly ripping up trees on the goal front so maybe being scapegoated a bit.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Gasparini questioning his attitude in his latest comments, not a good look.

I think Ferguson got the hump at Brighton when he came back from injury and wasnt starting all the time, and not sure hes got his head right since.

Gasperini's Roma are having a major problem scoring goals - they have got 15 in 14 Serie A games (Inter a place above Roma have scored 32) - Soule has scored 4 and eveyone else is on 2 or less. It is clearly bugging Gasperini and he cannot figure out how to fix the problem so he is focussing on defending rather than attacking - and blaming the strikers for the problem (a couple of weeks ago Gasperini green-lighted the sale of Dovbyk for €25m). Don't forget that Ferguson hurt his ankle in October and - again - in November.

Brighton rushed Ferguson back from his ankle injury because they were short of strikers. I think they didn't manage the injury properly and he has continued to have problems with it. I don't think it is an issue of Ferguson getting 'the hump' - but a breakdown of trust between the two.

The problem now is that Ferguson's contract with Brighton runs to 2029 and he is reputed to be on somewhere between £50K-£60K a week. Clubs are going to want proof he can get the job done - taking into the account a transfer fee and his salary. Brighton really should be trying to do whatever is necessary to develop Ferguson into the player he can be - because he could run out his contract for the next three years, pocket £8m-£9m in the process, and then pick and choose where he goes as a free agent - and he will still only be 25 years of age. Time is on his side.

[the 12 th man]

Starts against Celtic tonight.

[Eirambler]

Ferguson : 10 appearances with 408 minutes played 1 Goal

In Comparison

Soule 14 apps with 1000 minutes played 4 goals
Dybala 10 apps with 506 minutes played 2 goals
Dovbyk 10 apps with 323 minutes played 2 goals

So nobody on the team exactly ripping up trees on the goal front so maybe being scapegoated a bit.

None of the others' stats are good...but they're all comfortably better than Ferguson's. Which says it all really.

That said, if there was ever a night to have at least one good outing in a Roma jersey before they send him on his way, tonight is it - starting against a shaky Celtic team adjusting to a new manager and setup.

[Eirambler]

Liam Scales has now scored as many goals for Roma this season as Ferguson has.

[Eirambler]

Thankfully that stat was only true for half an hour. Celtic are a mess under the new guy so if he was ever going to pad out his numbers this is the night. Should be plenty of gaps in behind now as well - Celtic can't really just sit in and take their beating in front of their home fans.

[rebelmusic]

Beautiful second goal tonight. He needed this.

[the 12 th man]

Just the 2 tonight so far for him.

[passinginterest]

Lovely touch and finish for his second. Nice of his Ireland teammate Scales to make it fairly easy for him too.

[rebelmusic]

He hit the lost earlier as well. Go on and get the hat trick now

[Eirambler]

Turns out all he actually needed was to have Scales marking him for a night.

Unfortunately Serie A defenses aren't as accomodating as Celtic's is. But, in all seriousness, he could engineer a January loan to Glasgow out of this and it mightn't be the worst thing to ever happen to him.

[SkStu]

A move to either side of Glasgow right now would be a terrible decision.

[Eirambler]

Don't know about that, when you look at how much better he is when the standard of opposition is lower. Bulgaria, Hungary, Armenia, Celtic - at a lower level he scores goals. Could be just what he needs.

[SkStu]

Celtic look like they are going to be a shambles under Nancy and Rangers as bad. Another strange decision from Celtic hierarchy. Him moving to a toxic environment top to bottom and through to the fans like at Celtic wouldnt be good for him. In my opinion.

[pineapple stu]

Celtic look like they are going to be a shambles under Nancy and Rangers as bad. Another strange decision from Celtic hierarchy. Him moving to a toxic environment top to bottom and through to the fans like at Celtic wouldnt be good for him. In my opinion.
Yeah, I'd go along with that. I still feel he's way too good for Celtic. There's plenty of better clubs out there - but who has the budget and the squad gap is the question.

Great to see the couple of goals though.

[Fixer82]

Watching the videos of O’Neill in the Celtic dressing room after his last game showed what he brought to a team. You could see why players responded to him so well. And why he achieved some great results with a mediocre Irish squad. I couldn’t imagine Kenny having that effect.

Heimir seems to perhaps (I hope) be a mix of both Kenny (tactically aware and knowledgable different systems) and O’Neill (able to make players run through a brick wall for him).

[tetsujin1979]

The two goals make him Roma's joint second top scorer this season, Pellegrini also has three goals in 15 games, Soule still top scorer with 5 goals in 20 games.
Roma playing Como at home on Monday night.

[tetsujin1979]

First Irish player to score in European competition for an Italian club since Robbie Keane scored against Ruch Chorzow in September 2000
(2:17 below)
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[tetsujin1979]

I think this is the only other time an Irish player scored twice for an Italian club
Brady scored the second and third goals for Juventus in a 5-1 win against Bologna in March 1981

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[liamoo11]

I think this is the only other time an Irish player scored twice for an Italian club
Brady scored the second and third goals for Juventus in a 5-1 win against Bologna in March 1981

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Full game tonight and the win for roma. I have a sense that it is one of the rare occasions in his entire club career he has played a full game.

If he goes back in Jan the loan has been very successful, lots of minutes played, definitely fitter and playing at such a massive club with such history with such amazing fan support compared to a club like brighton

[The Fly]

If he goes back in Jan the loan has been very successful, lots of minutes played, definitely fitter and playing at such a massive club with such history with such amazing fan support compared to a club like brighton
Very successful? That’s definitely a green glass half full, with full froth on top, take.

If he continues playing full 90s and scores a couple between now and the end of the loan, it will have been a success (though more of the moderate side) but as of now the jury’s still out.