Stephen Elliott

What option? From what I've seen he's not even a good target man. Morrison, Elliot and Keane yes, the others would mean moving our team around which is not an idea mid tournament. I'd prefer it if we had Connolly, or hopefully someone better on the bench who could actually play at that level. If there's just two injuries or suspensions we'd be relying on starting Macken and he is just not good enough. He's not Niall Quinn and he wont do what Quinn did against Germany no matter how tall he is, picking players on the basis of what kind of player they are rather than if they're actually upto it or not is daft. I doubt the Brazil manager is thinking "We have Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano and Kaka, wait, hang on a minute, lets leave out Adriano cos he's similar to Ronaldo and bring up Gary Dohertys Brazilian cousin" and I don't see why we should have that mentality that we simply need a big man in the team, if he's good enough, fine, atm we've none good enough. Unless you count Morrison as a target man as he is under rated at holding up the ball.

Slash/Ed, I think you'll admit that Connolly is no Adriano. :) If he was good enough he'd be in there but he hasn't proven to be any better than Macken and Macken offers us more considering our options. Anyway, I've just thought of a new topic to open, lets leave this one to Elliott. :)

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

I must have missed that one. ;)

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Arggh! Might help if I finished my sentences! We all know Drogba plays for Dundee...

What about that young fella Stokes. He could make a late burst for the squad if all the hype is to be believed. He's nearly Seventeen now and is turning heads in a big big way at Arsenal.

Could he be our answer to Owen '98 or Rooney '04?

That Go West song springs to mind..... "I'm the king of wishfull thinking" :)

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Originally Posted by dr_peepee

What about that young fella Stokes. He could make a late burst for the squad if all the hype is to be believed. He's nearly Seventeen now and is turning heads in a big big way at Arsenal.

Could he be our answer to Owen '98 or Rooney '04?

That Go West song springs to mind..... "I'm the king of wishfull thinking" :)

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Still not 17 til June but certainly won't get his chance at Arsenal just yet, he has only broke the reserves this season and hasn't made a Carling cup squad yet. Wenger paid £250k for Lupoli so he and Aliadiere would be ahead in the pecking order.

Tuff Paddy - Connolly has a very good international record. Take away the matches he only came off the bench and the matches he was partnered with Keane (who just can't play with each other) and he has scored 9 in around 18.

Connolly is crap, full stop

High praise for Stephen Elliott from yesterday's Independent on Sunday. An abbreviated version of the same report appeared in today's The Independent (UK paper) under the title "Big Input from Diminutive Elliott".

http://sport.independent.co.uk/footb...p?story=603738

Let me know if you want the actual article pasted.

Elliott

starts: 21 (1 fa cup)
sub: 10 (2 league cup)
goals: 12
assists: 7

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Originally Posted by Tuff Paddy

Lads, sorry to be the one to burst the bubble here . . . but Connolly has been banging in goals in Div1 now for years and when it comes to international level he couldn't hit a cow's ar$e with a banjo . . . never mind score a WC penalty against Spain . . . so aren't we getting a bit carried away by Elliott?
I know it's early days, but there is a hell of a difference between scoring against clubs like Millwall, Rotherham and Preston and hitting the net against France and Switzerland.
Sorry for being honest. I hope I'm wrong here.

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Maybe so, but the guy really looks to have an eye for goal. His performances in the U20 World Cup were fantastic, his finishing lethal. Man City fans who watched him in the reserves rave about him. I have a feeling that this guy will become the real deal in time. But you're right in a sense, there've been many players who were to be the next big thing but it never happened. I remember 10 years ago everyone said Alan McLaughlin was going to be a major star...

another goal for Elliott tonight and what a stunner it was too. :)

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

another goal for Elliott tonight and what a stunner it was too. :)

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I've just seen it on Foxtel here in Australia. Fan-fecking-tastic. Good to see that he's not all tap-ins. :)

:D PP

Chris Kamara, on sky, gave him MOTM though McCarthy oddly took him off with 20 minutes to go.

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Originally Posted by Slash/ED

Chris Kamara, on sky, gave him MOTM though McCarthy oddly took him off with 20 minutes to go.

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I wouldn't read too much into that, McCarthy's said on more than one occassion that he would have to rest Elliott as some point over the course of the season. Didn't he get dropped/rested for 2 games or so over December to prepare him for the Christmas games? Some goal too, be fantastic for him if he scores on Wednesday. As an aside, I pass through Royal Oak Estate on my way to work, where he's from. There's a few cars with Sunderland Elliott window-sticky things in there, loads of flags flying the day he made his debut too

I can't believe nobody has commented yet on Stephen Elliott's goal on Friday (or have I missed it?). He came on after 75 mins and made one great run from the touchline beating a few players before forcing the 'keeper into a decent save from outside the box.

Then in the last minute he scored a really good goal, taking it early with his left foot and placing it with power just inside the post. The work of a natural goalscorer. This lad gets all kinds of goal: tap ins, 20 yarders, headers, right foot, left foot, one-on-ones...

I saw the Sunderland vs Ipswich game recently and he scored with his first touch.

FIFA put him in as sub in their team of the World Youth Cup in 2003(?), their techincial sassessment being that he has a real talent in front of goal.

I didn't see Elliott's goal but he seems to be the type that likes to come off the bench and grab a goal.

I seen the first half of the Wigan match on Saturday morning and the commentator said he doesn't think there's a better passer of the ball than Kavanagh outside the top flight. Kav took the free kick that the goal was headed in from and what a free kick it was. He has a superb technique, a bit like Ronan O'Gara stepping up for a conversion. :)

Look out forv Elliott's goal. It was real quality.

This is what The (UK) Times said about Kavanagh at the weekend:

“It is the type of pressure the lads will really enjoy,” Graham Kavanagh, the white-haired wizard of the Wigan midfield, said.

Kavanagh, whose superb reading of the game allows him to break up so many opposition moves and who dictates the tempo of the Wigan attacks, was first to admit that this was not a vintage performance. “We didn’t play, we had to scrap it out, but we have still got Premiership football in our grasp,” he said.

Kavanagh is one of three £1 million-plus players at a club bankrolled by Dave Whelan, no Roman Abramovich maybe, but with a personal fortune estimated at nearly £300 million quite capable of indulging his passion to Wigan’s benefit. But while Kavanagh is the heartbeat of the side and the other big-money signings, Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington, have 43 Coca-Cola Championship goals between them, this is a team based not on superstars, but on brilliant organisation and discipline, with a frisson of flair.

yes i saw the goal, it was a great finish, though i think the keeper could have done better tbh. also the defender let him away to easily, though elliot should strenght and speed holding him off to be fair.


saw kav, he seemed to be getting involved with everything wigan were doing.

Looks like Sunderland are signing Daryl Murphy. It is certain that they'll be signing 1 or 2 strikers for the premiership so its good news if they're Irish.

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

Looks like Sunderland are signing Daryl Murphy.

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They're paying €100,000 for him.
Many Premiership players could have paid that out of their weekly wages.
The eircom League gets raped again! :mad:

No, No, No....The Eircom League does not get "raped again"...anyone in their right mind would not pay a healthy sum for a player who has not proved themselves in a top league. Gone are the days when a pennant would cost £3million.... no doubt hes good, but 100k aint too bad for him

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Originally Posted by livehead1

No, No, No....The Eircom League does not get "raped again"...anyone in their right mind would not pay a healthy sum for a player who has not proved themselves in a top league.

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Agreed, a fair price IMO. If he's anything special then Waterford will have had the sense to put plenty of clauses in i.e. if he's capped or makes 50 appearances etc.

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Agreed, a fair price IMO. If he's anything special then Waterford will have had the sense to put plenty of clauses in i.e. if he's capped or makes 50 appearances etc.

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in fairness mick mac doesnt have much to play with when it comes to paying for players, but 100,000 euro is feck all it really is. what does it pay for realistically especially when the lad had 21 goals or so for them last season.

i hope they do have a load of clauses on everything, goals, appearances and sweaty socks! because it really is pittance

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Originally Posted by livehead1

but 100k aint too bad for him

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If they think he's good enough for a Premiership team then they should pay a decent price.
€200,000/€250,000 at least, with bonuses.

"However, Waterford supporters will be disappointed to learn that the funds are unlikely to be allow player-manager Alan Reynolds to splash the cash, with percentages of the fee due to go to Murphy’s former clubs Luton Town and schoolboy outfit Southend."

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/sport/sto...36&p=y4y76974z

So they wont get all the 100,000 anyway.

Anyway it sounds as though he was brought up in England, was he born
there?

Lets hope Mick listens to Kyle and makes Elliott-Kyle the first choice parntership:

"I think that we will see the best of Stephen Elliott at Premiership level. He has done well for us in the Championship but, in the Premiership, I think he could do even better.

“I do not want to make comparisons but he is that Kevin Phillips-type of player for us. He has the same stature and the same style of play and he will get better and better in the Premiership.

“He is a livewire and he will do well. I really hope he does because he is a good guy around the dressing room and he has been an excellent signing.

"When he came here from Manchester City last summer, he was an unknown and the things he has done this year have surprised everyone. But I still think there is a hell of a lot more to come from him.

"I haven’t had a chance to play with him and I would loved to have had. I think I could have helped him and he could have helped me.

"I could have made him look good and he could have made me look excellent. That’s what Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips did, they complemented each other and hopefully we will get a chance to do that next season.”

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Originally Posted by tricky_colour

"However, Waterford supporters will be disappointed to learn that the funds are unlikely to be allow player-manager Alan Reynolds to splash the cash, with percentages of the fee due to go to Murphy’s former clubs Luton Town and schoolboy outfit Southend."

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/sport/sto...36&p=y4y76974z

So they wont get all the 100,000 anyway.

Anyway it sounds as though he was brought up in England, was he born
there?

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Waterford through and through. Southend refers to the Waterford Junior League side.

He got homesick in Luton so had to come home. Signed for the blues that summer.

Best of luck to him

Stephen Elliott signed a one year extension to his contract with Sunderland before leaving on their pre season tour of the States, a good indication of the faith Mick has in him, hopefully he'll be first choice this season up front for the Black Cats.

More here

hopefully him and stead will form a good partnership think it could work ... think mick might get another forward in though as were a bit light up front with only murphy and chris brown as backup ...

Ah, Elliott. The most overrated Irish player of my generation. He had one good game against a very weakside when every other player was average.

I think he will seriously struggle next season in the Premiership.

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Originally Posted by superfrank

Ah, Elliott. The most overrated Irish player of my generation. He had one good game against a very weakside when every other player was average.

I think he will seriously struggle next season in the Premiership.

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Personally I thought his 16 goals in his first season (and the quality of many of them) and his goals in the World Youth Cup suggest that this guy has a bright future ahead of him.

Next year will be tough alright, but a 20 year old striker having a tough year in a side battling relegation won't go any way to prove or disprove your contention about being so overrated.

I've read nothing into his Faroes performance. He was nothing special up there in my opinion, but my rating of the guy is based on what I saw of him for Sunderland and Ireland U20s.

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Originally Posted by superfrank

Ah, Elliott. The most overrated Irish player of my generation. He had one good game against a very weakside when every other player was average.

I think he will seriously struggle next season in the Premiership.

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overated ? in his first season as a regular starter score 15 goals for sunderland and voted young player of the year ? Very underated imo .... to me will develop into a better alround player than the moan that is robbie keane with time .... quality player who will grace the prem this season..

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Originally Posted by superfrank

Ah, Elliott. The most overrated Irish player of my generation. He had one good game against a very weakside when every other player was average.

I think he will seriously struggle next season in the Premiership.

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I couldn't believe the amount of people in the pub that had hardly heard of Elliott when he was playing against the Faroes. Looks like you're another one of those.

Thats nice but would they not have waited untill the league was finished?

tis gas - it's like when sadlier and lee got capped- no one had a clue who they were.the same will happen when glenn whelan gets called up

people who havent heard of elliot and reckon he' over hyped when they do hear of him clearly only watch whats going on at chelsea/utd/liverpool

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

I couldn't believe the amount of people in the pub that had hardly heard of Elliott when he was playing against the Faroes. Looks like you're another one of those.

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It's the same at Lansdowne Road. It's infuriating.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Personally I thought his 16 goals in his first season (and the quality of many of them) and his goals in the World Youth Cup suggest that this guy has a bright future ahead of him.

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Once again, I find myself agreeing with you.
He has yet to kick a ball in anger in the EPL but some of us want to kick him.
I wish him the very best of luck, coming into a tough league with an average team. I'm looking forward to seeing him this season.

I've heard of him before. I just found it sinister that Macca was building him up as the next best thing for us. ?He has a poor first touch and how he missed that chance I'll never know! :eek:

Yes, he scored 15/16 goals in somnething like 29/30 league games. I don't find that terribly impressive. If he could score 15/16 goals in 29/30 Premiership games next season maybe I'll change my opinion but imo he is overrated.

If he scored that amount of goals last season, he'd be the third top scorer in the league, ahead of

Robert Pires (14)
Jermain Defoe (13)
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (13)
Frank Lampard (13)
Aiyegbeni Yakubu (13)
Andy Cole (12)
Peter Crouch (12)
Eidur Gudjohnsen (12)
Tim Cahill (11)
Robert Earnshaw (11)
Robbie Keane (11)
Wayne Rooney (11)
Didier Drogba (10)

All top players, IMO if he gets into double figures, it'll be seen as a good season for Elliott.

BTW are you basing his "poor first touch" on the one game against the Faroes??

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Originally Posted by superfrank

I've heard of him before. I just found it sinister that Macca was building him up as the next best thing for us. ?He has a poor first touch and how he missed that chance I'll never know! :eek:

Yes, he scored 15/16 goals in somnething like 29/30 league games. I don't find that terribly impressive. If he could score 15/16 goals in 29/30 Premiership games next season maybe I'll change my opinion but imo he is overrated.

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Poor first touch? My arse. Again you're are actually the person judging him on the one game against the Faroes mate. BTW, its pretty difficult to score more than a goal per start in any English division. Robbie Keane scored 24 goals in 67 division 1 league starts for Wolves. Damien Duff was absolutely brutal in division 1 when Blackburn got relegated.