Tom Cannon F Sheffield Utd b.2002

[SkStu]

Injury time winner for the lad against Sunderland. Twenty yard blemmer. Will impress the manager… ;)

I think that makes it 10 goals in the first half of the season…

[pineapple stu]

Missed a penalty last week I see - so properly an Irish player!

I think him and Parrott may be our main options up front at the moment, given Ferguson's struggles.

[mark12345]

Injury time winner for the lad against Sunderland. Twenty yard blemmer. Will impress the manager… ;)

I think that makes it 10 goals in the first half of the season…

"Blemmer" its a long long time since I heard that one

[Eirambler]

Interesting that Steve Cooper is one of the favourites to be the next Stoke manager. When Cannon was Leicester's only fit striker at the beginning of the season he told the media that Leicester had "no fit strikers", so it might be a quick exit for Cannon if Cooper is the next man in.

[seanfhear]

Interesting that Steve Cooper is one of the favourites to be the next Stoke manager. When Cannon was Leicester's only fit striker at the beginning of the season he told the media that Leicester had "no fit strikers", so it might be a quick exit for Cannon if Cooper is the next man in.
Mini-Cooper taxi for Cannon !

[Demesne Lad]

Interesting that Steve Cooper is one of the favourites to be the next Stoke manager. When Cannon was Leicester's only fit striker at the beginning of the season he told the media that Leicester had "no fit strikers", so it might be a quick exit for Cannon if Cooper is the next man in.

Mark Robins is the bookies' favourite according to the 'Stoke Sentinel' this morning.

[Eirambler]

Seems to be a bit of a transfer battle going on for Cannon this week, although also possible that he'll end up staying at Stoke. But Sheffield United apparently have an offer in for him for a permanent transfer with Sunderland also interested. Those two, along with Leeds and Burnley are well clear of the rest in the league now, so a chance to play at a promotion chasing team rather than one near the relegation places will likely interest him.

Has done well at Stoke despite getting very little service from midfield, as the team overall have been poor.

[CraftyToePoke]

From the Ireland fan angle in this window, we want him to stay put at Stoke or move, what we don't want is Leicester to recall him, return the Edouard loan which has been a disaster, in order to bring a different loan in. He would purely be recalled in a number crunch with no real prospect of playing much.

[Eirambler]

A report this evening that Sunderland have offered £13m for him, dependent on them getting promoted. Seems like crazy money for someone who has never started a top flight game, but goalscoring strikers are in short supply. It would be the highest ever transfer fee for an Irish striker who isn't Robbie Keane.

[pineapple stu]

What did Leicester sign him for? I've £9m in mind but that could be complete nonsense. Still, with 19 Championship goals in his career to date, you're looking at a million quid per goal so far. It does seem a bit mad

[Eirambler]

They paid £7.5m apparently.

[Eirambler]

Recalled by Leicester. So he'll almost certainly be going somewhere else in the Championship before the end of the month.

[Eirambler]

Both Sunderland and Sheffield United now reported to be offering £13m for him (£10m up front + £3m add-ons), no longer dependent on promotion to confirm the transfer. Up to him to choose which club he joins. Crazy money for the second tier but another eight figure transfer fee for an Irish international on the way it seems.

[Eirambler]

Burnley as well now apparently. Their location in the north west of England, where his family are based, might give them the edge if they make a serious bid.

That's three of the four automatic promotion chasing teams. Leeds might as well have a go at this point while they're all at it.

[Demesne Lad]

I thought young Cannon was a lad who really wants to score since viewing a clip of him scoring for Everton U-21s v Man Utd U-21s, and contorting himself in an attempt to connect with a ball delivered just behind him as he closed in on the goal. I'm sure that - barring serious injury - he will eventually have a better scoring record than Idah or Parrott. Some of the stats cited on Football League World, however, suggest that Cannon is perhaps not Premier League material: Dribbling success - 13.3%; Passing accuracy - 61%. I don't know how his total of 71 touches in the opposition box (average of 3.3 touches per game) compares with most other Championship forwards, but Latte Lath (Boro) has played 313 minutes less so far in 2024/5 but has a total of 109.

[tetsujin1979]

Big difference between playing for Boro and playing for Stoke at the moment. Finn Azaz has the second most assists in the Championship at the moment with nine, just behind West Brom's Tom Fellows' ten, as well as Ben Doak with six, and Riley McGee with five. Stoke's top assister(is that a word?) is Bae Jung-Ho, also with five but they've nobody else in the squad with three, or more.
Cannon has 11 goals for Stoke, and could conceivably finish the season as their top scorer - nobody else has more than five.

[Eirambler]

Cannon's strengths generally seem to be his strength (strong lad for his age) and his finishing. I've also heard a few different reports that he's an excellent professional, one of the hardest workers in training etc.

His weaknesses would be that he's not especially quick or tall. Also maybe some questions around his involvement in general play - though that could be to do with how Stoke have instructed him to play (basically stay forward as a target rather than dropping back).

Comparing him to Parrott, who is arguably our other most in form forward at the moment - neither are particularly quick, Parrott is better technically, but Cannon is a better finisher. I'd have the current order for us as Ferguson, then Szmodics, then Cannon and then Parrott, with the rest (Robinson/Idah/Connolly/Obafemi/Keane/Armstrong) after that. That's assuming Vata is selected as a wide player, though he can play centrally also.

But his goals rate relative to the strength of the team he's been playing for has been excellent this season. Reminiscent of Azaz's level of performance at Plymouth last season - and similar to Azaz it's going to lead to him getting a good move it seems.

[elatedscum]

Cannon's strengths generally seem to be his strength (strong lad for his age) and his finishing. I've also heard a few different reports that he's an excellent professional, one of the hardest workers in training etc.

His weaknesses would be that he's not especially quick or tall. Also maybe some questions around his involvement in general play - though that could be to do with how Stoke have instructed him to play (basically stay forward as a target rather than dropping back).


I really don't agree with that. Cannon is definitely quick. Either him or Idah would be our fastest striker. Obafemi is faster than both by a long way but he's basically gone completely out of contention. He's also got genuinely quick feet on the ball. He's not that tall at all (same height as Shane Long) but he's pretty good in the air, so I don't think it's a huge issue.

[Demesne Lad]

Soccer reporter Alan Nixon claims Leicester have accepted an offer from Sheffield Utd and have given permission for the Blades and Cannon to discuss. (Stoke Sentinel, 17 Jan)

[Eirambler]

I really don't agree with that. Cannon is definitely quick. Either him or Idah would be our fastest striker. Obafemi is faster than both by a long way but he's basically gone completely out of contention. He's also got genuinely quick feet on the ball. He's not that tall at all (same height as Shane Long) but he's pretty good in the air, so I don't think it's a huge issue.

Interesting, I'll look at it again the next time I watch him. But I wouldn't have said he's as quick as Idah (he's far more effective though).

[Eirambler]

Looks like it will be Sheffield United he joins, fee is £10m + £3m add-ons with Everton getting £2m of that total due to a sell-on clause, which means they'll have earned £9.5m in total for a player who hardly played for them.

Leicester will make almost no profit once Everton's cut is taken out, but seemingly it's beneficial to them in terms of FFP rules to sell him on.

[Demesne Lad]

Having a medical assessment at Sheffield today, according to the Sheffield Star.

[Eirambler]

Transfer to Sheffield United confirmed.

[SkStu]

Fantastic move for him. A great chance we see him in the Premier League next year.

[Demesne Lad]

Looks like it will be Sheffield United he joins, fee is £10m + £3m add-ons with Everton getting £2m of that total due to a sell-on clause, which means they'll have earned £9.5m in total for a player who hardly played for them.

Leicester will make almost no profit once Everton's cut is taken out, but seemingly it's beneficial to them in terms of FFP rules to sell him on.

Everton get £625k, according to the 'Liverpool Echo' today.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/exactly-how-much-everton-bank-30854330

[pineapple stu]

Straight in from the start tonight against Hull, though a quiet enough game so far with United 1-0 down after 65.

Ryan Oné on the United bench was a name that jumped out - and he is indeed the son of Armand Oné, who I remember scoring against me more than once in lower-league saves of CM01/02...

[SkStu]

Straight in from the start tonight against Hull, though a quiet enough game so far with United 1-0 down after 65.

Ryan Oné on the United bench was a name that jumped out - and he is indeed the son of Armand Oné, who I remember scoring against me more than once in lower-league saves of CM01/02...

thought you were going to say "...against me more than once in the UCD Budweiser Super League in 01/02" :)

[rebelmusic]

Watched the game last night from when he came on. Got into some good positions but fluffed a couple of chances.

In fairness to the lad, he seemed absolutely desperate to score. He reminds me a lot of Troy and I think part of Troys improvement was recognising that he needed to beef up the rest of his game and that scoring isn't everything.

Case and point that Cannon should have had an easy assist last night, had loads of time to make the decision and choose to strike

Regardless, at least based on last night's cameo display, Cannon is way down the pecking order. He's got time on his hands, but at a min there's 4 players ahead of him for the Ireland squad.

[Eirambler]

It's interesting how quickly these things can change, he was miles ahead of Parrott when they were together at Preston, and he was flying in the first half of this season as well, but it hasn't clicked for him since the January move and after Parrott's performances in the two Bulgaria games it definitely feels like he's ahead now.

Cannon definitely remains a prospect though, and if/when it clicks for him at Sheffield United he'll come straight back into the discussion. He has more goals in him than Armstrong who was in the last squad, and Idah remains a bit hit and miss and is by no means a certain squad pick if everyone is available and firing.

But obviously there's Szmodics and Ogbene to come back in as well, though arguably he's not in direct competition with either of those two. It's a long time since we've seen this level of competition in the forwards and with us seemingly sticking to just the 23 players in each squad we're going to be constantly leaving out decent options.

Realistically we can probably accommodate seven wingers and forwards in each squad, eight at the absolute most. If we work on the basis that, at the moment, Ferguson, Parrott, Azaz and Ogbene are near certain picks when fit, then that leaves the following players (at a minimum) fighting for three/four spots:

Idah
Szmodics
Johnston
Ebosele
Cannon
Armstrong
Vata
McAteer
Robinson

So you're already leaving five of those out before you get to the likes of Connolly and Obafemi and we likely won't see Will Keane called up again. No wonder Ronan Hale gave up on it!

[Olé Olé]

It's interesting how quickly these things can change, he was miles ahead of Parrott when they were together at Preston, and he was flying in the first half of this season as well, but it hasn't clicked for him since the January move and after Parrott's performances in the two Bulgaria games it definitely feels like he's ahead now.

Cannon definitely remains a prospect though, and if/when it clicks for him at Sheffield United he'll come straight back into the discussion. He has more goals in him than Armstrong who was in the last squad, and Idah remains a bit hit and miss and is by no means a certain squad pick if everyone is available and firing.

But obviously there's Szmodics and Ogbene to come back in as well, though arguably he's not in direct competition with either of those two. It's a long time since we've seen this level of competition in the forwards and with us seemingly sticking to just the 23 players in each squad we're going to be constantly leaving out decent options.

Realistically we can probably accommodate seven wingers and forwards in each squad, eight at the absolute most. If we work on the basis that, at the moment, Ferguson, Parrott, Azaz and Ogbene are near certain picks when fit, then that leaves the following players (at a minimum) fighting for three/four spots:

Idah
Szmodics
Johnston
Ebosele
Cannon
Armstrong
Vata
McAteer
Robinson

So you're already leaving five of those out before you get to the likes of Connolly and Obafemi and we likely won't see Will Keane called up again. No wonder Ronan Hale gave up on it!

If everyone is fit you'd probably have to go with 3 central strikers and then 4/5 attacking midfielders/wingers.

I would say that Ferguson, Idah, Parrott, Azaz, Szmodics, Ogbene are nailed on and I think you start Azaz, Szmodics and Ogbene behind one of the first 3. After that, Johnston is the most likely although Ebosele offers something different and the cover at right back.

[Olé Olé]

And, yes, Obafemi and Connolly have a LOT of work to do over a sustained period of time to get back in. It wouldn't be a run of a few games and few goals that would get them back in. Whereas before, that might have done the trick.

[liamoo11]

It's interesting how quickly these things can change, he was miles ahead of Parrott when they were together at Preston, and he was flying in the first half of this season as well, but it hasn't clicked for him since the January move and after Parrott's performances in the two Bulgaria games it definitely feels like he's ahead now.

Cannon definitely remains a prospect though, and if/when it clicks for him at Sheffield United he'll come straight back into the discussion. He has more goals in him than Armstrong who was in the last squad, and Idah remains a bit hit and miss and is by no means a certain squad pick if everyone is available and firing.

But obviously there's Szmodics and Ogbene to come back in as well, though arguably he's not in direct competition with either of those two. It's a long time since we've seen this level of competition in the forwards and with us seemingly sticking to just the 23 players in each squad we're going to be constantly leaving out decent options.

Realistically we can probably accommodate seven wingers and forwards in each squad, eight at the absolute most. If we work on the basis that, at the moment, Ferguson, Parrott, Azaz and Ogbene are near certain picks when fit, then that leaves the following players (at a minimum) fighting for three/four spots:

Idah
Szmodics
Johnston
Ebosele
Cannon
Armstrong
Vata
McAteer
Robinson

So you're already leaving five of those out before you get to the likes of Connolly and Obafemi and we likely won't see Will Keane called up again. No wonder Ronan Hale gave up on it!

Parrott is much more technical clever footballer. Cannon may be a better finisher. I have no doubt that parrott adds much more to our side than Cannon will

[rebelmusic]

We've not had options like this since 2012 I'd argue...and even then Simon Cox was making the squad.

[seanfhear]

We've not had options like this since 2012 I'd argue...and even then Simon Cox was making the squad.If one or two of these turns out to be high level ~ There could be an argument, that we have never had this much strength and depth in the forward / striker department !

[Demesne Lad]

Starts up front with Keiffer Moore in the crucial game away to Burnley this evening - and scores "from a difficult angle".

[tetsujin1979]

First goal for Sheffield United
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[seanfhear]

First goal for Sheffield United
1914366645264343337
Beautiful Goal !

[Eirambler]

Rattled ot in nicely. Looks like it will be the playoffs for Sheffield United so hopefully he will be in the running to start those games now.

[rebelmusic]

Delighted for him.

I think Bristol City is probably the promotion that would suit us best with 2 players consistently playing and Armstrong coming up.

Id bet money Azaz will be bought over the summer, Leeds a likely place he'll land. Cannon needs another season in the championship so I'd be worried if Utd went up. I don't see Wilder trusting Cannon much in the PL

[Olé Olé]

Weird celebration. Seems to have an issue with people talking. About what? Him not having scored on the back of a heftily priced transfer?

[Jolly Red Giant]

Delighted for him.

I think Bristol City is probably the promotion that would suit us best with 2 players consistently playing and Armstrong coming up.

Id bet money Azaz will be bought over the summer, Leeds a likely place he'll land. Cannon needs another season in the championship so I'd be worried if Utd went up. I don't see Wilder trusting Cannon much in the PL
I agree - Bristol City would be the best because we would get to see if Knight is a PL player. Azaz has been linked with Crystal Palace and I do expect him to be in the PL next season. Cannon get niggling injuries - not good for a striker.

[rebelmusic]

Got a start today. His teammates are going out of their way to try and get him a goal and he's missing some real easy opportunities. Having the premier league 2 next year could be the best thing for him to be able to build back up his confidence. It's shattered at the moment