Kamaldeen Sulemana

[Saint86]

10 minutes ago, LeBizzier69 said:

Fair play to him, did really well last night. Can’t shoot for toffee mind.

Yeah, and he also doesn't cross. So he's demonstrated some fantastic pace, close control, and good running... but sadly no end product when we need it most. As much of a bright spark as his performance was yesterday (in a very grim season), it still isn't good enough 😕

And the really frustrating part is that had he found a couple of crosses last night we'd have been out of sight - there was at least one occasion where Fernandes when absolutely mental at him as well 😂. In another world we would have got a 2nd or 3rd goal last night and be 7points from safety, a bit of life breathed into the faint hope that we have, and possibly able to attract a decent CDM or striker in the transfer /loan market. Sad times  

[LuckyNumber7]

If only he could finish. I guess then he wouldn't be at Saints.

[Midfield_General]

Did much better by his own previously very low standards. Looked like he was trying at least. But zero end product unfortunately. He’s still young so if he works hard maybe he can add that to his game. But at the moment he’s a £22m sprinter. 

[austsaint]

On 15/01/2025 at 18:35, pimpin4rizeal said:

Nah he has good games but people just don’t like to remember them the  3-3 Tottenham game and Liverpool games last time we where in the prem. wasn’t there a championship match he got three assists ?

the Tottenham game I mentioned he made a couple of great runs from a central position so it’s interesting that he played so well from a central position this time . When he runs at defenders from central he has more option to go either side instead of hugging the touch line ..  

Think you deserve a few pats on the back and a few retractions from those who rubbished your long standing support for Sulemana.  He was brilliant last night and his performance is a tick for Juric and a colossal fail for Martin who didn’t have the vision, man management or coaching skills to get the best out of the lad.   Similar story with Les Ugochukwu;  Juric saw and encouraged, in a few days what Martin ignored for half a season.

Edited January 17 by austsaint

[Chez]

2 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Yeah, and he also doesn't cross. So he's demonstrated some fantastic pace, close control, and good running... but sadly no end product when we need it most. As much of a bright spark as his performance was yesterday (in a very grim season), it still isn't good enough 😕

And the really frustrating part is that had he found a couple of crosses last night we'd have been out of sight - there was at least one occasion where Fernandes when absolutely mental at him as well 😂. In another world we would have got a 2nd or 3rd goal last night and be 7points from safety, a bit of life breathed into the faint hope that we have, and possibly able to attract a decent CDM or striker in the transfer /loan market. Sad times  

He was excellent last night. Showed what some of us could see was there. He might not reach those heights again, but it was great to watch. I love pacey forwards like him. 

No end product? How is getting the ball on the half way line. Beating the full back all ends up and getting a shot on target that the keeper makes a great save not end product?

We have literally created nothing over the last month and while he single handedly tore United's defence a new one you want to point out one missed pass? I guess you are correct, but not sure why you are so keen to describe the negative rather than the positive.

[Saint_clark]

5 minutes ago, Chez said:

He was excellent last night. Showed what some of us could see was there. He might not reach those heights again, but it was great to watch. I love pacey forwards like him. 

No end product? How is getting the ball on the half way line. Beating the full back all ends up and getting a shot on target that the keeper makes a great save not end product?

We have literally created nothing over the last month and while he single handedly tore United's defence a new one you want to point out one missed pass? I guess you are correct, but not sure why you are so keen to describe the negative rather than the positive.

He needs regular game time to improve his decision making. I'd start him every game and try to keep him next season. Hopefully Juric stays as he seems a proper motivator.

[Osvaldorama]

9 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Think you deserve a few pats on the back and a few retractions from those who rubbished your long standing support for Sulemana.  He was brilliant last night and his performance is a tick for Juric and a colossal fail for Martin who didn’t have the vision, man management or coaching skills to get the best out of the lad.   Similar story with Les Ugochukwu;  Juric saw and encouraged, in a few days what Martin ignored for half a season.

One game doesn’t change everything, but it’s looking increasingly like this is correct. 
 

My opinion of Martin was already rock bottom, but seeing the improvement in fitness and technical ability in so many players… truly makes me angry at how inept he was 

[sambosa75]

All fart and no shit.  Nice to see a bit of application last night though.

[Fabrice29]

29 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Think you deserve a few pats on the back and a few retractions from those who rubbished your long standing support for Sulemana.  He was brilliant last night and his performance is a tick for Juric and a colossal fail for Martin who didn’t have the vision, man management or coaching skills to get the best out of the lad.   Similar story with Les Ugochukwu;  Juric saw and encouraged, in a few days what Martin ignored for half a season.

Just the 3 managers who couldn’t get anything out of Sulemana since he’s been here btw. He’s had runs in the team including games where he’s played well like last night. When he’s played well over a long period and actually delivered some goals and assists on a reasonable rate for a team in the bottom of the PL, then some credit can be given but nobody needs to retract anything for pointing out his productivity levels have been appalling.

Edited January 17 by Fabrice29

[SambaMaverick]

Maybe I'm cynical, but suddenly playing like you give a shit when there's a sniff of a move (Ajax, Genoa, etc linked)? Doesn't butter any parsnips for me. 

[austsaint]

1 minute ago, Fabrice29 said:

Just the 3 managers who couldn’t get anything out of Sulemana since he’s been here btw. He’s had runs in the team including games where he’s played well like last night. When he’s played well over a long period and actually delivered some goals and assists on a reasonable rate for a team in the bottom of the PL, then some credit can be given but nobody needs to retract anything for pointing out his productivity levels have been appalling.

Productivity levels which weren’t helped by being ignored and demotivated by Martin for 18 months.  The guy can play.   I’d trust my eyes and Juric’ judgement over your trumped up opinions every day of the week.  Take a bit of wind out of your bellows.

[Fabrice29]

5 minutes ago, SambaMaverick said:

Maybe I'm cynical, but suddenly playing like you give a shit when there's a sniff of a move (Ajax, Genoa, etc linked)? Doesn't butter any parsnips for me. 

Don’t think it’s this to be fair, I think it’s more the teams he’s played against suit him. United came up the field and went man to man by playing Yoro over Maguire and Sulemana enjoys and thrives in those conditions. His real challenge is coming up against low blocks. 

[SambaMaverick]

Just now, Fabrice29 said:

Don’t think it’s this to be fair, I think it’s more the teams he’s played against suit him. United came up the field and went man to man by playing Yoro over Maguire and Sulemana enjoys and thrives in those conditions. His real challenge is coming up against low blocks. 

His real challenge is getting a goal or an assist. Don't rate him, don't like him.

[Fabrice29]

2 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Productivity levels which weren’t helped by being ignored and demotivated by Martin for 18 months.  The guy can play.   I’d trust my eyes and Juric’ judgement over your trumped up opinions every day of the week.  Take a bit of wind out of your bellows.

Yeah okay mate, he’s talented for sure but he’s not been ignored. He played 25 times in the league last season, 0 goals. Doubled the minutes and starts of Rothwell and more than Mara, both who scored more than him. He even put in some decent performances last season but fails to do it consistently and failed to produce goals or assists. Again, I’m happy to back him to do well now especially in the absence of anything else but let’s not rewrite history.

[Midfield_General]

7 hours ago, Chez said:

He might not reach those heights again, but it was great to watch. 

Mate, come on. 

‘Might not reach the heights again’ of zero goals and zero assists in a 3-1 defeat against a team 15th in the table? 

He’s a premier league footballer who beat his man several times and on one occasion got a shot away that was reasonably comfortably saved. 

Phew, mark that one down in the history books, glad I witnessed that history being made. 

He was much better last night and I really hope that after 2 years, a £22m fee and all those wages Juric can get something out of him, and he kicks on and finally makes some sort of meaningful contribution for us, but let’s keep it in perspective eh. 

Edited January 17 by Midfield_General

[austsaint]

4 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Mate, come on. 

‘Might not reach the heights again’ of zero goals and zero assists in a 3-0 defeat against a team 15th in the table? 

He’s a premier league footballer who beat his man several times and on one occasion got a shot away that was reasonably comfortably saved. 

Phew, mark that one down in the history books, glad I witnessed that history being made. 

He was much better last night and I really hope that after 4 years, a £22m fee and all those wages he kicks on and finally makes some sort of meaningful contribution for us, but let’s keep it in perspective eh. 

Four years?  He signed in Feb 2023 - played under the Managerial genius of Nathan Jones and Reuben Selles.   Before being subjected to a season and a half of Russell Martin’s walking possession Football, completely unsuited to his game.   He had a much better game last night than you’re giving him credit for, and he’s much more likely to make the sort of meaningful contribution you’re looking for playing for a decent Manager with a style of play which suits him.

[Fabrice29]

22 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Four years?  He signed in Feb 2023 - played under the Managerial genius of Nathan Jones and Reuben Selles.   Before being subjected to a season and a half of Russell Martin’s walking possession Football, completely unsuited to his game.   He had a much better game last night than you’re giving him credit for, and he’s much more likely to make the sort of meaningful contribution you’re looking for playing for a decent Manager with a style of play which suits him.

Apart from the fact that Sulemana put in exactly the same performance as last night against Liverpool in the cup last year under Martin, is your argument really that an attacker couldn’t thrive in a lesser league despite getting the double the minutes and starts as others who did more than him and despite the team scoring quite a lot of goals, because of the tactics? 

[Saint Fan CaM]

I think there’s a decent player in there, but a lot is based on potential. He needs more game time granted and also some strict coaching to learn when to release the ball when bearing down on goal. He’s far too selfish at the moment in my opinion, but that characteristic can change especially if he gets a stronger bond with his teammates.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

He was excellent last night. Showed what some of us could see was there. He might not reach those heights again, but it was great to watch. I love pacey forwards like him. 

No end product? How is getting the ball on the half way line. Beating the full back all ends up and getting a shot on target that the keeper makes a great save not end product?

We have literally created nothing over the last month and while he single handedly tore United's defence a new one you want to point out one missed pass? I guess you are correct, but not sure why you are so keen to describe the negative rather than the positive.

Agree and so does Ally McCoist who was about to name him Man of the Match until Diallo's late hattrick.

[redkeith]

2 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

One game doesn’t change everything, but it’s looking increasingly like this is correct. 
 

My opinion of Martin was already rock bottom, but seeing the improvement in fitness and technical ability in so many players… truly makes me angry at how inept he was 

I watched the Tamworth Spurs match last week and the commentator said that Tamworth only trained 2 days a week. 

My immediate thought was that is more than Saints did under Martin. 

[Saint86]

3 hours ago, Chez said:

He was excellent last night. Showed what some of us could see was there. He might not reach those heights again, but it was great to watch. I love pacey forwards like him. 

No end product? How is getting the ball on the half way line. Beating the full back all ends up and getting a shot on target that the keeper makes a great save not end product?

We have literally created nothing over the last month and while he single handedly tore United's defence a new one you want to point out one missed pass? I guess you are correct, but not sure why you are so keen to describe the negative rather than the positive.

I'm merely highlighting that people are buzzing over something that fundamentally isn't good enough. He has to do better - multiple times last night (the whole team does). There is no point trying to dress up 3 missed points as anything but a failure sadly. He's on that pitch to score and make goals. I agree with you, great approach play fantastic pace and running at the defender. But sulemana and fernandes in particular wasted a plethora of very good chances / attacking positions. As well as they played, it just isn't good enough 😢. "We" scored one goal... A scrappy own goal. 

What is so frustrating is that we blatantly need a bit of quality in the form of natural goalscorer and a proper cdm - give it to juric and I think he could start to pick up wins. But we're now over halfway through January and there seems to be no intent from the board to even fight this relegation. The squad just isn't good enough. 

Edited January 17 by Saint86

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, austsaint said:

Four years?  He signed in Feb 2023 - played under the Managerial genius of Nathan Jones and Reuben Selles.   Before being subjected to a season and a half of Russell Martin’s walking possession Football, completely unsuited to his game.   He had a much better game last night than you’re giving him credit for, and he’s much more likely to make the sort of meaningful contribution you’re looking for playing for a decent Manager with a style of play which suits him.

Typo - corrected.

Look, I hope you’re right, I’m pleased he’s showing signs of improvement and I really hope that Juric can turn him into the player we all wanted to see when he signed. I personally just need to see more of an all-round game from him, and more meaningful contributions like actual assists and goals, before I join in the high-fiving about what a great player he is and how his underperformance until now has been everybody else’s fault. Maybe this manager and a run in the team will do that. Let’s hope so. 

Edited January 17 by Midfield_General

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

He needs regular game time to improve his decision making. I'd start him every game and try to keep him next season. Hopefully Juric stays as he seems a proper motivator.

If you want to get a tune out of some flair players, the manager has to show them some love. That means playing them in the next game even if in the last game things didn't go well. Managers have to show some of the bravery they themselves talk so much about.  I don't think many of our managers have really done that with flair players over many years. Hard to blame them. They are under pressure to get results and indeed us as fans see a poor performance and are only too happy for that player to be dropped from the next game. 

I get the feeling Juric knew what Sulemena had in his locker and has decided to show him some of that love I mentioned. He perhaps has told him `he is the guy', `he knows he can do it' and he has backed it up with some consecutive games and minutes. It paid off yesterday. Now can he do it again? I suspect Forest will be much tougher and he may offer limited impact. They don't have a stupid five-at-the-back-don't-have-a-clue-what-they-are-doing formation. But if not in that game, let's see if he can do it in the game after. I have a feeling, even if Sulemena doesn't do it at Forest, Juric will pick him again and that confidence in him might be rewarded again. We shall see.  

[Chez]

3 hours ago, sambosa75 said:

All fart and no shit.  Nice to see a bit of application last night though.

Perhaps, but seeing as we ain't even squeezed a buttock the last month or so, I'll take any bowel movement he can offer...Hmm. Instantly regretting this reply.

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

His real challenge is coming up against low blocks. 

True. He tends to dither and ends up passing backwards.

This seems to be a problem for lots of wingers though. For me, if you are going to play pacey wingers. The manager needs to be saying, "every single time you get the ball I want you attempting to beat the fullback. Every single time. I don't want you passing it backwards to keep possession, I want you dribbling down the line and into the box again and again and again no matter if you are successful or not. keep doing it." I don't really want to bring RM into the discussion, but I just don't think this was likely his instruction. 

As soon as a winger starts passing backwards the full back has won the battle and can have the afternoon off.  

[derry]

He needs his own players to step up to the plate and inundate him with through balls behind the defenders or give him the ball quickly in his own half. How he was expected to play under the previous regimes when his pace was really negated by the ball going sideways or backwards was more an example of their stupidity than Sulemana's useless contribution.

The only way to use his pace is get him one on one or the ball in behind the defenders not expecting him to be part of a build up. If that's what you desire don't pick him.  Juric gets it. Hopefully he also now gets Smallbone.

Edited January 17 by derry

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

Mate, come on. 

‘Might not reach the heights again’ of zero goals and zero assists in a 3-0 defeat against a team 15th in the table? 

He’s a premier league footballer who beat his man several times and on one occasion got a shot away that was reasonably comfortably saved. 

Phew, mark that one down in the history books, glad I witnessed that history being made. 

He was much better last night and I really hope that after 2 years, a £22m fee and all those wages Juric can get something out of him, and he kicks on and finally makes some sort of meaningful contribution for us, but let’s keep it in perspective eh. 

I've not seen a defender been made to look that poor for quite a while. He took him to pieces. he was easily the MOTM until the Ahmed show at the end. It was the type of performance that may have turned a few heads, as it came out of nowhere. As I said, he might not do that again. How high you think that `height' was is actually subjective. Mine was a little higher than yours by the sounds of things. 

You are right though, no goals and no assists, but if that is you only measure of a player's performance then I suggest you stick to Fantasy Football.  

I have perspective. He ain't done very much at all since he joined us. He has shown some flashes, beaten some men all ends up (which I love to see), but a lot of shite too. Some of that is on the managers we have had, the majority is on him.

I openly admit I'd rather see a pacey dribbler that beats a man all ends up but then hits it into row z, than a guy like Ely that keeps the ball well, perhaps allowing others to do something, but never really hurts the opposition himself. In the worst season of football I have experienced in 40 years of following Saints, I am happy to see anything that resembles actual entertainment provided by a Saints player.

Edited January 17 by Chez

[Fabrice29]

11 minutes ago, Chez said:

True. He tends to dither and ends up passing backwards.

This seems to be a problem for lots of wingers though. For me, if you are going to play pacey wingers. The manager needs to be saying, "every single time you get the ball I want you attempting to beat the fullback. Every single time. I don't want you passing it backwards to keep possession, I want you dribbling down the line and into the box again and again and again no matter if you are successful or not. keep doing it." I don't really want to bring RM into the discussion, but I just don't think this was likely his instruction. 

As soon as a winger starts passing backwards the full back has won the battle and can have the afternoon off.  

I’m not sure instructing someone to do something so extremely as ‘every single time ’ is a great coaching instruction. Not least because it would negate goals like we conceded yesterday and chances we created yesterday when a short pass back a darting run can be combined for a one two but the sentiment of your point stands, he has his qualities and should focus on them but until it translates into productivity then there’s only so long it can be persisted with. Hopefully Juric persists because it produces something rather than  having to turn elsewhere like others have had to.  

[Lord Duckhunter]

I’ll reserve judgement until he’s not plying for a move or playing against a big  club.
 

However, he was pretty impressive last night. He did this amazing thing unheard of during Legoball. He ran at his opponent, quickly. He didn’t fucking turn round and knock it back or sideways. He didn’t play safe or stop his run to wait for the opposing side to get in their defensive shape. He took their full back to the cleaners & back again.

His shooting isn’t great, but he made the keeper make saves. Had Baz been in nets for them, he’d have been walking off with the match ball. 
 

I thought the bloke was fucking pony, last night he wasn’t. The manager actually asked him to play to his strengths…Unbelievable, why didn’t someone think of that earlier in the season. 😂

Edited January 17 by Lord Duckhunter

[Chez]

54 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I'm merely highlighting that people are buzzing over something that fundamentally isn't good enough. He has to do better - multiple times last night (the whole team does). There is no point trying to dress up 3 missed points as anything but a failure sadly. He's on that pitch to score and make goals. I agree with you, great approach play fantastic pace and running at the defender. But sulemana and fernandes in particular wasted a plethora of very good chances / attacking positions. As well as they played, it just isn't good enough 😢. "We" scored one goal... A scrappy own goal. 

Fair enough. I am perhaps being too positive. Like you say, in the end we still got beaten, but the performance from the side and Sulemana was just light year better than it has been recently, so having had all hope knocked out of me (I've openly said we are down and should not spend a penny in this window) it was nice to see us dominate a game AND create guilt edge chances. I'll take any positive I can get at the moment.   

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I’m not sure instructing someone to do something so extremely as ‘every single time ’ is a great coaching instruction. 

I'll give you an example why it can work that you will be all too familiar with "just give the ball to Le Tiss".

OK, `do it almost every single time'. The point is, the game is largely played between the ears and managers need to build the confidence of players and get the best out of them. If what they have is pace and skills you want them utilising and showing them as often as possible not passing it backwards or to someone else who is less qualified to create 

 

[Charlie Wayman]

4 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Yeah, and he also doesn't cross. So he's demonstrated some fantastic pace, close control, and good running... but sadly no end product when we need it most. As much of a bright spark as his performance was yesterday (in a very grim season), it still isn't good enough 😕

And the really frustrating part is that had he found a couple of crosses last night we'd have been out of sight - there was at least one occasion where Fernandes when absolutely mental at him as well 😂. In another world we would have got a 2nd or 3rd goal last night and be 7points from safety, a bit of life breathed into the faint hope that we have, and possibly able to attract a decent CDM or striker in the transfer /loan market. Sad times  

The point is he is improving every match under Juric. Maybe work to do on his decison making but it will come. 

How many other players careers did Martin ruin becasue of his peculiar obsession and their inability or reluctance to subscribe to his idiotic mantra.

[Chez]

59 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Typo - corrected.

Look, I hope you’re right, I’m pleased he’s showing signs of improvement and I really hope that Juric can turn him into the player we all wanted to see when he signed. I personally just need to see more of an all-round game from him, and more meaningful contributions like actual assists and goals, before I join in the high-fiving about what a great player he is and how his underperformance until now has been everybody else’s fault. Maybe this manager and a run in the team will do that. Let’s hope so. 

No one is high-fiving about what a great player we have. 

A few, including myself, have said in the past that we like the player and therefore are pleased to see him have a good game.

Past displays are down to him. Past managers may not have helped, but in the end it's him that has to make it happen on the pitch.
 

[Chez]

9 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

The point is he is improving every match under Juric. Maybe work to do on his decison making but it will come. 

He has played well in the last two games. Not sure Juric has improved him as a player, more encouraged him to do the things he can like take players on. Good decision making may take years to evolve...

[Fabrice29]

19 minutes ago, Chez said:

I'll give you an example why it can work that you will be all too familiar with "just give the ball to Le Tiss".

OK, `do it almost every single time'. The point is, the game is largely played between the ears and managers need to build the confidence of players and get the best out of them. If what they have is pace and skills you want them utilising and showing them as often as possible not passing it backwards or to someone else who is less qualified to create 

 

I’m holding out major praise for the kid until he starts doing it against deep defences and teams that aren’t set up one against one against him. Sunday will be interesting. I think he’s put in the sort of displays we saw yesterday before, including Liverpool last season then failed to back it up. Hopefully Juric can help him back them up this time. 

[davefizzy14]

Sulemana was so good last night, power, pace and skill, constantly ripping their right hand side to shreds. Jurić certainly seems to be getting the best out of him 😊

Edited January 17 by davefizzy14

[Lord Duckhunter]

32 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I’m holding out major praise for the kid until he starts doing it against deep defences

Who the fuck is going to set up like that against us 😂😂. 
 

“Southampton this week lads, let’s make sure we’re defending in numbers and get behind the ball, if we aren’t solid defensively we’ll come away with nothing”. 

[Colinjb]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

He didn’t play safe or stop his run to wait for the opposing side to get in their defensive shape. He took their full back to the cleaners & back again.

And this made the game last night exciting.

That's the first time i've felt truly excited by how we have played for a very, very long time. F**k possession based styles, I want to see that.

[Chez]

42 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I’m holding out major praise for the kid until he starts doing it against deep defences and teams that aren’t set up one against one against him. Sunday will be interesting. I think he’s put in the sort of displays we saw yesterday before, including Liverpool last season then failed to back it up. Hopefully Juric can help him back them up this time. 

Yeah, I'd be very pleasantly surprised if he managed to be effective against Forest. They look far better organised than United. Gakpo got very little change out of Aina the  other night.

[Turkish]

2 good games in two years, to be fair he was excellent last night but would have been a bit of a shock to Man United as he's not shown anything like that sort of level before. Maybe there is a player in there but i'll reserve judgement until he plays against a team who know what he can (or cant) do

[S-Clarke]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

2 good games in two years, to be fair he was excellent last night but would have been a bit of a shock to Man United as he's not shown anything like that sort of level before. Maybe there is a player in there but i'll reserve judgement until he plays against a team who know what he can (or cant) do

This is where I'm at to be honest, even though he had an eye-catching in-game moments he still flattered to deceive as nothing came of them. He'd need to do a hell of a lot more than that over a longer period of time to convince me he's any cop.

[Chez]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

2 good games in two years,

It's nitpicking, I know, and I don't want to create the next Gaston, but he's had more than two decent games hasn't he?

He did pretty well in the 45 minutes in his very first game against Brentford for example. Certainly not MOTM material mind you. He was good against Chelsea that season and Spurs I think. The Liverpool game of course. To be honest I am not sure about the other games in 2023 - I try to blank that season out of my memory. There were a lot of defeats, so I am sure he wasn't all that in most, but he played 80 minutes in the 1-0 win against Leicester, so maybe did OK then?

Last season he was good against Leeds and Birmingham. Think he was pretty dangerous in the Millwall away game too, but I might be mistaken. After the initial injury he started the season quite well, but then was injured and did absolutely jack in the run in. Swansea and United this season...yeah, not terribly impressive. 

[saintwbu]

He was great last night, that’s the first time i’ve ever said that after a game of his. I’m not even going to be irked by the lack of final product because we currently have a lot of players that lack the final product but also lack the other bits too - at least he tore his man apart all night, even if he lacked the finishing touches, it was fun to watch.

However it’s not true to say he was ‘ignored’ by the previous manager, he played 25 games last season, 9 less than Sam Edozie. Sulemana delivered a total of zero goals and three assists, which I think I might be right in saying actually all came in one game against Leeds? Sam Edozie scored 6 goals and 3 assists, with most people deciding he was crap, despite being younger and far less experienced.

Sulemana has had chances, plenty in fact, but he has only looked decent in 3 games ever really, and really good in one which was last night. Hopefully that is the standard he can maintain going forwards, but time will tell.

Also fair play to the manager for going without a striker, Russell tried it against Bournemouth and got slaughtered because it didn’t work, but given the poor quality of our strikers it is a good idea - there is no chance Archer, Paul or Armstrong provide anywhere near the threat that Sulemana/Dibling posed last night, which is incredibly damning when it comes to our recruitment but we know that already. 

Edited January 17 by saintwbu

[Midfield_General]

3 hours ago, Chez said:

You are right though, no goals and no assists, but if that is you only measure of a player's performance then I suggest you stick to Fantasy Football.  

I do think those are fairly important measures when the player in question is an attacking forward who cost £22m, yes. 

Guess I’d best stick to Fantasy Football with crazy high expectations like that. 

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

I do think those are fairly important measures when the player in question is an attacking forward who cost £22m, yes.  

£22m isn't a particularly big fee for the PL in 2025.

Assists can be a flawed stat to judge someone on. A one yard pass can be an assist. Coming off you backside can be an assist. Plus sometimes a pass or dribble before the assist is the key part in the build up to a goal.

Edited January 17 by Matthew Le God

[Barsiem]

4 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

I do think those are fairly important measures when the player in question is an attacking forward who cost £22m, yes. 

Guess I’d best stick to Fantasy Football with crazy high expectations like that. 

Whilst I don't disagree that he needs more output, I don't think we should judge a player on his pricetag.  We should judge the board on price paid.  

I've always had a soft spot for Sulemana, I think partly because he's always been given such a hard time on here!  Really hoping he continues putting in solid performance, especially if he adds a few goals with it

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

This is where I'm at to be honest, even though he had an eye-catching in-game moments he still flattered to deceive as nothing came of them. He'd need to do a hell of a lot more than that over a longer period of time to convince me he's any cop.

True and I also think the Man United badge flatters a lot of what we did last night. If we’d gone to Wolves or Palace, 15th in the league having lost their last three at home, and played the exact same game, I think there’d be much harsher criticism for the way we failed to take chances and capitalise. As good as some of our attacking play looked last night, ultimately none of them got it into the net and our only goal came from their defenders bundling a corner in by themselves.

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

and our only goal came from their defenders bundling a corner in by themselves.

From the bloke who could hardly contain himself when Ched Evans headed one in Preston’s net last season. 
 

Things are looking up, Premier league goal from a corner. Something lacking under Legoball. 

[saintant]

19 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

£22m isn't a particularly big fee for the PL in 2025.

Assists can be a flawed stat to judge someone on. A one yard pass can be an assost. Coming off you backside can be an assist. Plus sometimes a pass or dribble before the assist is the key part in the build up to a goal.

Just to be pedantic we didn't buy him in 2025 🙂

[saintant]

11 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

True and I also think the Man United badge flatters a lot of what we did last night. If we’d gone to Wolves or Palace, 15th in the league having lost their last three at home, and played the exact same game, I think there’d be much harsher criticism for the way we failed to take chances and capitalise. As good as some of our attacking play looked last night, ultimately none of them got it into the net and our only goal came from their defenders bundling a corner in by themselves.

Yeah and if me aunty had a pair of balls she'd be me uncle.