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Came on as late sub today in last friendly before league resumption, as did James, as Udinese returned to full strength. League restarts early Jan but probably has not made the breakthrough we’ve been hoping for.
Loose/not validated link to mid table serie A team Salernitana, which would be a great loan move if he can get game time
The Salernitana loan move gaining some traction with more mainstream Italian papers, nothing official yet. Would be an amazing move IF he plays
Could do with updating the thread title actually
Done, and done
Came on for the last nine minutes against Empoli. Abankwah an unused substitute again
14 players named on the bench. That's mad stuff
I thought bench sizes were at least some way standardised?
Very decent cameo, beating his man a few times, playing a good pass into the box for one of his forwards and a decent cross - hopefully did enough to merit more minutes (or that loan move to Salernitana). Only four more to pass Robbie Keane and become the Irish player with the fourth most appearances in Serie A. English commentator on Fubo TV seemed to pronounce his name as though he were Italian - something like Eh-Bowe-Zillay.
Not risked today against juve, time for a loan Festy
Two sub appearances in the last couple of weekends against Verona and Torino put Festy within one Serie A appearance of Robbie's number (albeit with few minutes played) - if an upper-mid-table Serie A team considers him a good impact sub option, at what point should we view him in a similar manner?
Now. He’s a player with obvious talent and potential. Needs to be integrated into the squad sooner rather than later.Quote:
Originally Posted by samhaydenjr
I'd say a good impact sub would be making more of an impact than 40mins in five appearances.Quote:
Originally Posted by samhaydenjr
I actually think he should have been called up a year ago when he was doing well at Derby.
He was called up a year ago wasn't he?
Fairly sure he was either on the bench or named in the squad but missed out on the matchday 23
Agree with JR89 that 40 minutes across the season to date doesn't constitute an impact sub
It indicates a young player at decent club playing in a top European league, who is making progress. We'd all love to be in a position where we are only picking established players, playing every week at top clubs in the best leagues, but we don't have those players. If Festy had stayed at Derby he'd be playing every week alongside Knight, who is a regular starter for us. It was highly unlikely that he was heading straight into the first team at Udinese, but how many of our older players who are in the squad would even be making the bench at a Seria A club?
Its hard to tell if hes better, the same or worse than he was this time last year. It would be nice to see him get a few more minutes. But for a regular competitive game squad who would you call him to replace at this stage and why?
Given the size of Serie A benches - 12 named in many cases - I think a lot of our squad would be able to make it there.Quote:
Originally Posted by third policeman
40 minutes over a season does not constitute "playing in a top European league" in any meaningful sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by third policeman
Festys problem is that his main rival for the right back position is a player who was on the bench in La Liga this weekend
So why are they toiling away playing in the Championship, League 1 or SPL then?Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I would definitely call Festy up, need to help his development along. Massive ceiling although struggles technically, can be trained.
Has he really made progress with Udinese? Yesterday looks like the Argentinian right wing back must have been injured? And Festy’s fellow Nigerian was selected ahead of him. At least it meant Festy got a bit more than usual with 20 minutes. But if I’m assessing this right, he is potentially their 3rd choice right wing back currently?
By that logic James Abankwah should get a call up to the seniors rather than the U19s next month.Quote:
Originally Posted by third policeman