Just 5 goals so far for Barry Conlon tonight

[Zonnebloem]

7-1 so far.

[Yeadon Bantam]

Double hatrick

[Poulton]

Amazing, i wish id have gone to watch now!

[Parrot]

Just goes to show how much more strength in depth we have compared to last season tup:

[Yeadon Bantam]

Barry to start Sat then?

:D

[Tyneside BCFC]

Well done Barry.

Hopefullly this might get some people off his back. I wonder if Willy Topp will ever score 5 in a game?

[JantjeJR Simoen]

Lol my dad was kicking himself because he didn't go see the game earlier, he's always complaining about how Conlon never scores and that might have been his one chance seeing as how it may never happen again!!!

[BBB]

Well done Barry.

Hopefullly this might get some people off his back. I wonder if Willy Topp will ever score 5 in a game?

against grimsby reserves/juniors ?????? conlon wont get sports personality iof the year for that for christs sake

[London Bantam]

5 goals for Conlon in the reserves, he's finally found his level then.

Get real Conlon Arse Grabbers

[Tyneside BCFC]

against grimsby reserves/juniors ?????? conlon wont get sports personality iof the year for that for christs sake

He may be in 7,113,876th place for 2008 sports personality poll compared to Willy Topps 15,098,987,567,988,890th place, but then again we must love Topp because he's a little different. Condom may not be the best player at the club but at least his hearts in it...

[Jantje]

Whats with the big 'downer' on Topp? If he's injured he can't play. He was on the bench at the start of the season. He showed in pre-season he can do the full 90 minutes. McCall signed him so he must have seen something there. Why not have a go at him for not being able to fit him into the team/

Wait till he's had a decent run in the side before stomping on him.

I don't see the mileage in comparing Topp & Conlon anyway, they are totally different in style. Each can make a contribution over a long season.

I fear its foreign agents stirring it with Topp and its something thats creeping ever further into the game unsettling players is to their benefit after all.

[Lard Arse]

Im not sure whether McCall did sign him ????

[BWWB]

Whats with the big 'downer' on Topp?

I'll tell you why - Because whilst we were desperate for decent signings last season the club were crying the poor tale and refusing to pay money for players with experience in the lower leagues. Despite this we had sufficient cash to splash out £35k for Topp who turned out to be useless and or permanently injured (not much difference in my opinion).

If he's injured he can't play.

No argument there then

Wait till he's had a decent run in the side before stomping on him.

It won't happen

I don't see the mileage in comparing Topp & Conlon anyway, they are totally different in style.

Agreed. Conlon is usually fit and when picked puts in the effort, he has also proved he can score goals (if not enough). Just as important when he played with Thorne last season Thorne looked a much better player than alongside anyone else.
That is not to say I would prefer Conlon to Boulding but he does make a decent replacement for either of the front 2.

As for Topp he has not done anything (unless you count one pass against Shrewsbury) to suggest he can even play the game.

[Jantje]

Im not sure whether McCall did sign him ????

So your saying McCall isn't a strong enough manager to say no to a player he doesn't want but the chairman does?

[Lard Arse]

What im saying is that, I do not believe that this was the managers choice to spend money for the first time in 5 years or so ie £35k on this player. If so why was it spent last year and on a guy who rarely figures in any of his sides ? Also not even sure McCall knows what is Topp's best position.

If he was so keen to spend this Vast (Vast for City) amount of money on one particular player you would have though that he would be at the heart of this side and not some sideshow.

Call me cynical but no I do not believe the manager signed this guy on his own recommendation , I believe this signing was from higher up the city foodchain.

Again as I say my own opinions and no hard facts just my own deluded thoughts

[Northern]

I agree with Lard Arse. One thing I particulary remember is that during the problems we had signing Topp, McCall was interviewed by Simon Parker. McCall was quoted as saying that "he was unsure where Topp would fit into the team, and didn't know whether his style suited this League" - now this was before we signed him, why would Macca sign him if he felt this way? :confused:

[Jantje]

What im saying is that, I do not believe that this was the managers choice to spend money for the first time in 5 years or so ie £35k on this player. If so why was it spent last year and on a guy who rarely figures in any of his sides ? Also not even sure McCall knows what is Topp's best position.

If he was so keen to spend this Vast (Vast for City) amount of money on one particular player you would have though that he would be at the heart of this side and not some sideshow.

Call me cynical but no I do not believe the manager signed this guy on his own recommendation , I believe this signing was from higher up the city foodchain.

Again as I say my own opinions and no hard facts just my own deluded thoughts


Not having a go at you, you might be right and Macca is just Lawns puppet. He must have seen some merit in Topps signing or i believe he would have stood his ground and said no.

Look at the facts, we agreed a fee, then his club(Catolica) get in on the act wanting their cut, agents come out of the woodwork, it turns out he has a medical problem with his hammys or whatever. He has surgery to cure the problem, comes back and does a full pre-season despite all the doubters saying he wouldn't even return from Chile.
Let the lad get in the team for a decent run and see if he can cut it. Then is the time to judge him, not when he's not even playing.
Even in his cameo appearances last year he showed more footballing skill than anyone else in the team

[Lard Arse]

I cant honestly see him getting in the team.
Obviously unlucky that he is out for some weeks now.

Our first choice by a mile up front are Thorne/Boulding (M).
If anything happens to Thorne you have Conlon (Please dont debate the pro's and con's enought threads) as back up. Then if Boulding (M) injured you have his brother (R). I then think if anything further happens there then McCall may even play Daley before him through the middle with Thorne, by then Brandon hopefully back in the equation in midfield.

Which I beleive brings back to our first argument ahem ! debate are you sure this was McCalls signing ??????

Just hope the kid comes through this Ok for city, as a long season and you never know what is round the corner. We all want the ultimate and that is promotion from this league to further our ambitions.

I believe that if we are roughly where we are now at Xmas and the next Transfer window is open that funds maybe in place for a signing our two to push for an automatic and again who knows if another striker could come in then.

I know is all guess work but he ho ,onwards and upwards hopefully.

Ps. Dont believe McCall is Lawns puppet but on this occasion he let things go. If things like that became more regular ie Richmondesque then who knows

[Jantje]

All very fair comments.

I honestly think McCall sees Robbie Blake in his style but doesn't know how to accommodate him as Robbie was a better goalscorer than Willy who appears to be more of a provider than taker of chances.

Agree re Rory Boulding, i think he could surprise a few people who only thought he was a makeweight in the Michael deal.

[BWWB]

All very fair comments.

I honestly think McCall sees Robbie Blake in his style but doesn't know how to accommodate him as Robbie was a better goalscorer than Willy who appears to be more of a provider than taker of chances.

Agree re Rory Boulding, i think he could surprise a few people who only thought he was a makeweight in the Michael deal.

How anyone can compare Topp and Blake in the same sentence is beyond me.

Blake played in over 150 league games for City (109 + 44 sub) and scored 40 goals. Every one of these matches were in the top 2 divisions.

Not only did Blake score goals but his partnership with Mills was the possibly the best since the 1920's (allowing for the fact that the Campbell/McNiven partnership was in a lower division.

As for Topp one pass in a dozen appearances is hardly the stuff of legends

[Parrot]

How anyone can compare Topp and Blake in the same sentence is beyond me.

Blake played in over 150 league games for City (109 + 44 sub) and scored 40 goals. Every one of these matches were in the top 2 divisions.

Not only did Blake score goals but his partnership with Mills was the possibly the best since the 1920's (allowing for the fact that the Campbell/McNiven partnership was in a lower division.

As for Topp one pass in a dozen appearances is hardly the stuff of legends

I'd say Topp and blake are very similar in style if not ability.

I remember when we signed Robbie Blake, he made his debut away at Southend (I think?) and he looked promising but he didn't start to play with any consistency or a regular goalscorer for a good few seasons and his form was up and down like a brides nightie.

Maybe Topp needs similar patience and understanding from the Club that Robbie got then we may see him fulfill his talents?

[Zonnebloem]

McCall chose to sign Topp. McCall did his best to persuade Billy to sign for City and not anybody else.

Topp agreed to sign for City because he liked Stuart and the City set-up.

Stu is open and honest enough to wonder out loud, to whoever's listening, his thoughts about how to fit him into the team.

I think the Blake comparison is spot on regarding his style of play. This does not mean to compare them side-by-side for ability but describes the type of player he is.

I don't see why he should be considered not worthy because he is not English. There are talented footballers all over the world and what is wrong with snapping up an eligible non-Brit when the opportunity arises? What sort of an argument is it to question signing him when there are English players available?

It's a global market place and City should recruit players based on ability, not on Englishness.

[BWWB]

For the record Blake made his debut as a sub against Portsmouth 0n 29 March 1997 although his first start was at Southend on the 12th April. (Notable for the free travel organised by Richmond).
It is correct that it took some time (8 months - not a few seasons) for him to become a regular. (Kamara prefered Craig Ramage and Blake had to wait until Jewell became manager to get an extended run in the team).
However from 26th December 1997 until we got promotion 18 months later Blake was a regular.

Topp has now had his 8 months and is no nearer a first team place than when he first signed. His record for the reserves is nothing to write home about and most of the time he is injured.

This is nothing to do with him being South American or even foreign it is purely that like most of the population of the World he is not good enough even for the fourth division.

[Parrot]

For the record Blake made his debut as a sub against Portsmouth 0n 29 March 1997 although his first start was at Southend on the 12th April. (Notable for the free travel organised by Richmond).
It is correct that it took some time (8 months - not a few seasons) for him to become a regular. (Kamara prefered Craig Ramage and Blake had to wait until Jewell became manager to get an extended run in the team).
However from 26th December 1997 until we got promotion 18 months later Blake was a regular.

That was the game I was on about!.......Me and rlass took advantage of BFGs free travel down to Sarfend, Edinhio scored our equalizer in what was then a relegation battle.

My point was that It took Blakey a while to get going and he wasn't burdened with moving from South America to a 3rd world City like Bradistan! :)

Given him time Im sure he'd come good just like Robbie did ;)

[Tallinnbantam]

Topp has not scored a first team goal for all the teams he has played for (4 including us), yet he still managed to get signed up for us. Prior to this, he was also offered a trial with Man city, and had played for the Chilean under 17's.

So I think this says two things: He's not a goal scorer, but he must have something about him. Man City are no mugs, the national selectors are no mugs, and Stuart is no mug.

I think he's just been played out of position, because there is no postion in our current formation for him to be effective.

[beerbantam]

Topp has now had his 8 months and is no nearer a first team place than when he first signed. His record for the reserves is nothing to write home about and most of the time he is injured.

.

Topp signed in December, so take out the close season he's had barely 6 months + he was injured.

Give the lad a chance ffs, rate him after he's played consistent games.

[Lard Arse]

Give the lad a chance ffs, rate him after he's played consistent games.[/quote]

As i have mentioned before, I think we are unfortunately not going to see Topp play too many games

[BantamLad89]

Didn't Topp play like 7 games last year? 2 from the start?

He had his chances to score but he fluffed them, but he did get himself into that position to score, like that brilliant dummy and run, remember that? Now that was class.

With games under him Topp will be able to do that sort of skill every week and develope a end product intp his game.

Remember people, the lads 22, thats the same age as Colbeck!

An awful injury added.

I think where being really harsh on him and the best is yet to come, his performances v Coventry and WBA in the reserves where they had some good players playing he was brilliant, and I meen absouloute class.

Give him time and he'll be our League 2 Robbie Blake.