28 May 2015 10:13:35
Good day all.
The search for the "top striker" continues and I'm sure Bacca is the latest name.
Ed01 complained about Ings being unwilling to take responsibility for a penalty, but I remember Bebeto losing Deportivo the league title for refusing to take a penalty, and Eto'o refusing to take a penalty for Cameroon and them missing out of the World Cup
My point is Bebeto and Eto'o were still superb players regardless of those incidents, and if Ings comes in and can develop to be as good as Bebeto/Eto'o, when such critical issues come up, another player can relieve him of the burden.
{Ed002's Note - Whilst Monaco, Spurs, Lazio and Inter (not Milan) have expressed an interest in Bacca, the player says he is happy with Sevilla and the future plans the club has.}
28 May 2015 10:26:04
They are proven players who have handled pressure at the highest level and their teams have several others players equally capable of dealing with that. Ings has had 1 season in the PL and his team are looking to him to deliver. He shied away. He's never played for a bigger club than burnley so if he can't handle the pressure there he has no chance with us.
28 May 2015 10:49:57
@realtofel, do you think Ings is good enough for us? Personally I don't. I don't see him improving our starting line up and I would rather not sign players who don't improve our starting team.
In my opinion, if we sign Ings then it is more squad padding. Europa League or not, most of us want to see our own academy players getting chances and if we keep signing players only good enough for our bench then I don't see them getting chances and I don't see us progressing.
28 May 2015 12:07:29
@Sean, compared to Balotelli/Lambert/Borini/Origi, then yes. I hope Sturridge gets over his injury woes, and I feel Ings is a better backup than those we've currently.
@Swishcleaner, when individuals grow in their careers, they mature and seek more responsibilities. Someone that is 5 years in a career path may not be as comfortable in making decisions as someone with 10 years in that same career path. That's how it's regardless of the career.
Eto'o and Bebeto were highly experienced and had won various trophies prior to having to take those decisions, and they ducked.
I am not saying people should avoid responsibilities, but as individuals grow, they seek those responsibilities. Danny Ings would mature and can be groomed to accept responsibilities when they come.
Sorry for the long post.
28 May 2015 13:36:03
He's a striker and has taken the responsibility of penalties for them before. He just couldn't handle the pressure and said so. This wasn't a cup final, or a survival decider game at that point. He 's 23 not a young 18 year old breaking through.
28 May 2015 13:38:40
handling pressure aside he's simply not good enough. Is he really any better than borini? That striker that helped Sunderland stay up last year and had the bottle to step up when it mattered? He's only a year older than Ings.
28 May 2015 17:31:42
@realtofel, I don't see him as a step up on Borini and he probably isn't a step up on Origi who is joining us already. Borini could go but the fact he barely played indicates that we need better. You think Ings is better and I don't. That's fine, that's opinions.
For me, Borini hasn't been given anywhere near enough chances. He was good enough to play for us this season due to Sturridge being out and Balotelli being a really poor buy. If Borini was at another club would I want us to sign him? No, I would say he's not prolific enough. His work rate really suits us though and even though he isn't prolific he still should have got more games and I still don't think Ings is better.
You are happy to sign backup for Sturridge. I would rather competition - somebody good enough to challenge him if he was fit and somebody good enough to play a full season if he was out like this season. Do I think Ings would have been good enough to get us to the Champions League this season? No, and I'd rather we not pad the squad with decent players.
28 May 2015 18:04:18
I just think we can do better than Ings, tbh. Not saying he`s a bad player, quite the opposite. i just think we have to aim higher.