TOPIC: What's happened to Jabo?

Pretty poor on Saturday.

14 goals in first 20 games, 1 goal in next 20.

Bit of a puzzle!

I've heard he's back down south next season.

Cannae be too disappointed at that news on recent form

He was hailed as the next Messiah at the start of the season.

I think the worry about his kid will have affected him and Curles plan to drop any forward who hasn't scared for 3 games wont help his confidence. Isilngton Assasin, hmmm. Plus poor service into the box and one forward at home at times don't help.

PADDOCK wrote:

Dancingbear wrote:

What I did notice a lot on Saturday is when ever he got the ball to feet he had at least 3 of their players surrounding him.

I think he benifited at the start of season from our crazy 3-3-4 formation. The sheer volume of players we had in the final 3rd meant Jabo often only had one player to beat to the ball or in some cases found himself with a free shot or header at goal in the penalty area. This isn't happening as much.

Go back to those gung ho tactics I say. All or nothing between now and May.

This heading almost seems too polite like polo or cricket.

As the size of the goals hasn't changed since the beginning of the season, shouldn't it be

What the f*cks happened to Jabo!

Or Grainger, or Raynes, or Ellis, or Kennedy, or Gillespie come to that...

PADDOCK wrote:

I blame ibogaine for his charity donation pledge. 1 goal since that was set up

I think he has been crushed by the weight of expectation. When we signed him we knew he was big and strong and could hold the ball up and hold off defenders but he was never viewed as a striker. Consequently he often found himself unmarked on the edge of the box and could fire a shot in at goal with fairly good accuracy. Now long balls are played up to him expecting him to bring the ball down, beat his man and shoot at goal while surrounded by 3 defenders with no-one to support him. I've said before I think he tries too hard. He had a certain laziness about him at the start of the season but more than made up for it by excellent positioning and confidence in striking the ball. I think he needs to calm down more and try and regain the confidence he used to have. His miss at Portsmouth he would have buried in the back of the net 6 months ago.

Hetherington 87/88
Reeves 94/95
Graham 08/09

This sort of thing has happened before.

To be fair to Brent and Danny, we were awful in those years and to get as many as they did at all was good work.
Reeves was always about more than just goals, and was fantastic for almost all of that season.
Jabo - injury, plus floods, plus daughter's illness, plus lack of a creative midfielder have taken their toll.
Maybe we should get him to put on 2 stone, twine about doing a full days work, let him take the pens, and then some people would want him to sign a 5 year deal....

Yes he was in a real groove and could do no wrong in front of goal.
He's lost form, fitness, confidence and we haven't been playing very well.
I think his performances have been poor but the lack of service has also been poor.
.
The way we've been playing recently he looks very ineffective.
A sad decline, but it happens unfortunately.

2 things have gone wrong for him
1) fitness. He was in the best shape of his life following a really tough pre season, comes out and scares the crap out of every centre half we played with power, intensity and finishing. Pulls his hammy against Newport, loses sharpness then we get the same results from him as every other club he has played for.

2) tactics. Start of the season we were pulling players around with the way we move the ball around, we were then hitting the big man in the box from very advanced positions. From after the Notts County game we have been playing in straight lines and hitting him with 60 yard balls around his neck.

Before he came to us he wasn't the most prolific of strikers, so teams may not have set up to defend greatly against him, similar to Vardy for Leicester at the start of this season.

Once he'd started banging them in teams will have taken him seriously, hence having 3 men on him now. The only benefit that should give us is that it leaves 2 of our players unmarked, so we should try and take advantage of that.

Seems the Eastleigh rumour is still about. Apparently they want him for next season...

That's a great benefit in itself.........providing our two unmarked players actually move off the ball.

CCU wrote:
Well tell em 50k and hes yours

After all they have form for paying way over the top for fading over the hill ex leage has beens.