Shane Long - Official: Leaves Club

If we can offload Long and Rodriguez for a combined £25Mn this summer that will be a fantastic start.

I actually really really like Schlong - I think we should play him and Gabbi together TBH

 

Schlong's runs off the ball into the channels are excellent and on the counter he is fantastic - unfortauntly we play slow ponderous posession football at the moment

 

 

 

hasn't really had a run in the team or a start recently though so hard for him to score no?

 

has come on 22 times and only started 9 games?

 

He is never going to be a 20 goal a season striker but his all round work is benefical to the team IMO

Totally this. He excelled under Koeman's counter attacking football with Mane.

I actually really really like Schlong - I think we should play him and Gabbi together TBH

 

Schlong's runs off the ball into the channels are excellent and on the counter he is fantastic - unfortauntly we play slow ponderous posession football at the moment

 

 

 

hasn't really had a run in the team or a start recently though so hard for him to score no?

 

has come on 22 times and only started 9 games?

 

He is never going to be a 20 goal a season striker but his all round work is benefical to the team IMO

I'd like to see Long/Gabbiadini together from the start at least once.

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£25m! I reckon we'd be lucky to see £10m for the pair. We won't get more than a couple of million for J-Rod. I'd like to see him stay. I think a new manager who played to his strengths could still get more out of him. Sadly you know he'll go somewhere else and hit form.

Totally this. He excelled under Koeman's counter attacking football with Mane.

Behave he had a couple of chances to break on Arsenal last night but his first touch let's him down again and again. He ends up killing the counter attack before it even gets started because of his inability to control the ball either he squirts it 6ft in front of him or ends up shanking it in some random direction.

£25m! I reckon we'd be lucky to see £10m for the pair. We won't get more than a couple of million for J-Rod. I'd like to see him stay. I think a new manager who played to his strengths could still get more out of him. Sadly you know he'll go somewhere else and hit form.

Jrod is a busted flush I'd rather get rid and give Gallagher a go. I doubt Jrod will ever be anything but a 5-6 goals a season type player now the injury ruined him sadly.

Jrod is a busted flush I'd rather get rid and give Gallagher a go. I doubt Jrod will ever be anything but a 5-6 goals a season type player now the injury ruined him sadly.

Long has 5 this year. A busted flush too then.

Long has 5 this year. A busted flush too then.

did it ever work?

Probably best for them and the club if they move on in the summer. They get little game time as they no longer fit our style and there are surely better, younger lads out there who can be sort of our future.

In any case this feels like the end of an era, next season we will probably have a new owner, a new board, a new manager and new coaches so let's have good old fashioned clear-out as the prelude to building a new winning side without baggage.

There is much to like about Shane Long but when the team is not creating many chances his wastefulness really does undermine his outstanding qualities elsewhere.

Long has 5 this year. A busted flush too then.

Pretty much. Sadly it looks like last season was the high point of Long's career. He has a 9% shots to goals conversion rate this season which for a striker pretty awful.

We need more quality upfront long and Jrod have had more than enough chance this season to impress and failed badly. Time to freshen up our front line this summer.

Hopefully the return to the high pressing game will work in Longs favour, thats certainly his strong point. Seems to be very keen to get going this season to.

Long was amongst the first batch of players to report back to Staplewood Campus for the start of pre-season under Mauricio Pellegrino.

And the Irishman is keen to use the early stages of the campaign to impress the new boss.

“For me, last season was a bit disappointing,” he continued.

“I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to and felt I didn’t get the chances that I deserved at times, so I want to hit the ground running this year.

“It’s the first pre-season in a long time that I’ve been here from the start, so I want to show the manager what I have got and leave an impression on him come the start of the season.”

Needs to show the manager he can get the ball into the back of the net on a regular basis. Just imagine what a player he would be if he could bury all those chances.

Long's best attribute is running. In fact, probably his best 5 are physical rather than anything technical with a football.

His finishing is woeful and for that reason he will always be massively limited. You just can't rely on him to score goals and thats what a striker needs to do.

Hopefully the return to the high pressing game will work in Longs favour, thats certainly his strong point. Seems to be very keen to get going this season to.

 

Long was amongst the first batch of players to report back to Staplewood Campus for the start of pre-season under Mauricio Pellegrino.

 

And the Irishman is keen to use the early stages of the campaign to impress the new boss.

 

“For me, last season was a bit disappointing,” he continued.

 

“I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to and felt I didn’t get the chances that I deserved at times, so I want to hit the ground running this year.

 

“It’s the first pre-season in a long time that I’ve been here from the start, so I want to show the manager what I have got and leave an impression on him come the start of the season.”

He didn't get the chances he deserved? He played more minutes than any of our other strikers and converted the least number of goal attempts.......

Long's best attribute is running. In fact, probably his best 5 are physical rather than anything technical with a football.

 

His finishing is woeful and for that reason he will always be massively limited. You just can't rely on him to score goals and thats what a striker needs to do.

Maybe that's partly what pre-season training is about - not only fitness but extra technique training for those that need it?

Hopefully the return to the high pressing game will work in Longs favour, thats certainly his strong point. Seems to be very keen to get going this season to.

 

Long was amongst the first batch of players to report back to Staplewood Campus for the start of pre-season under Mauricio Pellegrino.

 

And the Irishman is keen to use the early stages of the campaign to impress the new boss.

 

“For me, last season was a bit disappointing,” he continued.

 

“I didn’t play as much as I would have liked to and felt I didn’t get the chances that I deserved at times, so I want to hit the ground running this year.

 

“It’s the first pre-season in a long time that I’ve been here from the start, so I want to show the manager what I have got and leave an impression on him come the start of the season.”

Good to see he sounds motivated. Was worried he might want a fresh start somewhere after a horrendous season in front of goal.

Think it will help that he will have had the summer off rather than coming back after euros.

Hopefully he can get on a run like 2 seasons ago where he was an important player in our success.

Don't think he would be sorely missed if he left. Find his comments quite outrageous.....he was utter gash last year and his finishing was beyond woeful. and this is even before the fact he was offside way too much.

Very limited player who runs around a lot and therefore gets adulation from the crowd........

It´s a tough one. Perhaps it´s all too easy to forget the season he had a couple of years ago (especially the second part of it) when he was one of our best players... but he does not score enough and I´m not convinced that all of his running leads to much either... 10 mil and I would sell..

From 2005 Long has played at Reading,WBA,Hull & Saints

Scoring 85 goals over 12 seasons

That's an average of just 7 per season!!

He's never been a big goal scorer, not sure how he has been valued so highly for just running incredibly fast!

Always one of the first to perk up for a new manager, selling himself as a poor soul who didn't get the opportunities during the previous season.

A speedy Irish troubadour with an ear for a tune and a cheeky grin!

Time to freshen up the striking pack and move him on like Jay Rod

Nice fella,I'm sure...but anything north of £10m and I'd be inclined to take it!!

I like the guy - will be happy for him to have another season here, especially if he has one like he did under Koeman in his second season.

Long's best attribute is running. In fact, probably his best 5 are physical rather than anything technical with a football.

 

His finishing is woeful and for that reason he will always be massively limited. You just can't rely on him to score goals and thats what a striker needs to do.

I would say it was putting defenders under pressure tbh

It´s a tough one. Perhaps it´s all too easy to forget the season he had a couple of years ago (especially the second part of it) when he was one of our best players... but he does not score enough and I´m not convinced that all of his running leads to much either... 10 mil and I would sell..

Thought his interview yesterday was interesting. Effectively saying that he was very frustrated that he wasn't given more of a run in the team and that the stop start approach affected his performance

Thought his interview yesterday was interesting. Effectively saying that he was very frustrated that he wasn't given more of a run in the team and that the stop start approach affected his performance

There isn't really very many ways he could have spun it.

"I was awful - manager was right not to play me much"...... Nope

OR:

"I really enjoyed the few minutes here and there that I was only required to play, to pick up my pay cheque"..... Nope.

OR:

What he said.

He didn't get the chances he deserved? He played more minutes than any of our other strikers and converted the least number of goal attempts.......

You cant coach instinctive finishing , so sadly he is never gonna have that .....you coach him to shoot straight or stay onside however

I do like the grit and determination he seems to have in spades...doesn't give up a cause...chases back to defend when needed. An honest player. Sure he was not at the top of his game last season, but you could say that of many others under Puels reign. Another season for Long is not the worst decision the club might take - not upskilling in central midfield for example would be worse IMHO.

Was our best player in the 2nd half of 15/16, very poor last year. Optimistic he will have a better season than last.

Was our best player in the 2nd half of 15/16, very poor last year. Optimistic he will have a better season than last.

The Puel-effect. Non of our forward players did particularly well once Puel waved his magic on them.

Was our best player in the 2nd half of 15/16, very poor last year. Optimistic he will have a better season than last.

He just reverted back to his normal self after a 6 month purple patch in Mané's slipstream. He's pretty crap.

The Puel-effect. Non of our forward players did particularly well once Puel waved his magic on them.

Starting to sound like May on the economy fella. Time to move forward. It'll be interesting to see how he fairs this season. He scored little last season yet still bugged the ish out of defenders. There were points in the previous season that I preferred him to Pele..

The Puel-effect. Non of our forward players did particularly well once Puel waved his magic on them.

Yep.

He did a good job developing Barry.

Yep.

 

He did a good job developing Barry.

Lol yep. 6 goals on his first 4 games....

Then Puel gets involved and it was no goals in 9 i think.

Sims was another one. Looked electric on his debut, got dropped for a few months and came back as Mr. Sideways

I rate Long, Yes he isn't the worlds best finisher however the work rate and running he does is immense. He is always a great option to have and causes opposition defenders issues. Yes last season wasn't create alot of our players went backwards and I think it is probably because they became disinterested with the rotation and Puels drab boring tactics. I think Long is the kinda player you want pressing the opposition and driving forwards with the ball and bringing in other players / smashing the net once in a while......

Lol yep. 6 goals on his first 4 games....

 

Then Puel gets involved and it was no goals in 9 i think.

 

Sims was another one. Looked electric on his debut, got dropped for a few months and came back as Mr. Sideways

This was a big disappointment for me re:Puel.....he had a reputation for developing young players, yet many of ours seemed to go backwards after an initial flourish. Not all, but many.

Hope MePo can do a MoPo here.

I do like the grit and determination he seems to have in spades...doesn't give up a cause...chases back to defend when needed. An honest player. Sure he was not at the top of his game last season, but you could say that of many others under Puels reign. Another season for Long is not the worst decision the club might take - not upskilling in central midfield for example would be worse IMHO.

Tbh I wouldn't call Long honest . Consistently looks for contact and always makes a fuss pretending to be injured . There is a reason he doesn't get awarded many free kicks .

He has his uses but it depends on how he is played .

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In the end it became clear that Puel didn't really develop any of our younger players, but instead, just gave them a chance. There's a big difference really. I guess its good exp for them. 2 seasons would have been bad.

So if Stephens had come in under Poch he would have been developed but under Puel he was just given a chance? Simple

Was our best player in the 2nd half of 15/16, very poor last year. Optimistic he will have a better season than last.

You mean apart from Mane, right? Whose goals in the latter half of that season were basically the entire difference between a bottom half finish and qualifying for Europe?

In the end it became clear that Puel didn't really develop any of our younger players, but instead, just gave them a chance. There's a big difference really. I guess its good exp for them. 2 seasons would have been bad.

That's an interesting statement / assumption. You're correct it is easy to give someone a chance to play but there is a difference between developing by playing and being coached/developed outside of competitive play. Puel was dubbed as a coach and as much as I am quite pleased with the change, you cannot always see the effects of training ground coaching immediately. How measure the effect is tricky and in this case only those who saw his training ground coaching will know for sure.

Mané was a miss, there is no doubt.

But trying to look on the bright side of things for the forthcoming season, I am hoping that there are significant improvements in certain players. Long being one of them, although hoping that he is suddenly going to materialise into a 20 goal a season striker is a little optimistic to say the least! But I still can't understand how we played him. I think possibly his best game he has had for us was possibly the 4-0 Arsenal boxing day game. Then there were a lot of balls played over the top for him to run on to which he did brilliantly. Last season, you could see him straining on the leash waiting for those same balls to come over the top, but instead they went out to the wings. He often got caught off side when this happened as well. So whose "fault" was that? I am presuming the manager instructed us to play out wide, so it is a bit unfair to blame Long for a poor season when the system wasn't taking into account his strengths.

He is a frustrating finisher as you know that he can put them away. The goal at Anfield in the EFL was a pretty decent finish, and he did get goal of the season 2014/15 with the one against Villa.

I am also thinking Tadic, Forster, Boufal, Hojbjerg in particular have more to show this season than last. Boufal maybe a little harsh as it must be hard coming into a team half way through the season post his injury, but I am very much looking forward to seeing what he can offer, and just hope that he doesn't try and do too much. Hojbjerg - no idea what happened to him. His first couple of appearances he looked really good with a lot of intelligence, but seemed to fizzle away.

So if Stephens had come in under Poch he would have been developed but under Puel he was just given a chance? Simple

Stephens can hardly be considered a young player anymore though. He's about the same age as Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane, Paul Pogba. Different positions, different kind of players of course. But would you consider them youngsters?

Stephens can hardly be considered a young player anymore though. He's about the same age as Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane, Paul Pogba. Different positions, different kind of players of course. But would you consider them youngsters?

You have to allow for his position though. CBs take longer to mature than any other outfield player because of how much of their game relies on experience.

It's astounding sometimes how much Long can get away with poor performances and body language just because he runs around a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Long. He comes across as a top bloke, family man and for the most part a good professional. He does cause defenders problems and for a medium sized striker his ability in the air is superb.

But hard work is only so much- if you wanted just hard work, I'm sure you could find plenty of players who work hard and run around. The difference at this level is technique- people have slated Tadic, Boufal and unbelievably at times Mané; they all have the ability to make that difference and the technique to pull it off. But they're slated when they don't give good displays and Long will be excused it.

Stephens can hardly be considered a young player anymore though. He's about the same age as Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane, Paul Pogba. Different positions, different kind of players of course. But would you consider them youngsters?

well its works for JWP who gets away with being bang average because he is still young....

well its works for JWP who gets away with being bang average because he is still young....

That's probably because he only looks to be about 12.

well its works for JWP who gets away with being bang average because he is still young....

Given he is so average - how do you explain JWP getting called up to the senior England squad - and captaining the U21s?

Given he is so average - how do you explain JWP getting called up to the senior England squad - and captaining the U21s?

The pool of English players is currently very very average.

Given he is so average - how do you explain JWP getting called up to the senior England squad - and captaining the U21s?

Because England are an extremely average footballing side...

It's astounding sometimes how much Long can get away with poor performances and body language just because he runs around a bit.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do like Long. He comes across as a top bloke, family man and for the most part a good professional. He does cause defenders problems and for a medium sized striker his ability in the air is superb.

 

But hard work is only so much- if you wanted just hard work, I'm sure you could find plenty of players who work hard and run around. The difference at this level is technique- people have slated Tadic, Boufal and unbelievably at times Mané; they all have the ability to make that difference and the technique to pull it off. But they're slated when they don't give good displays and Long will be excused it.

Spot on. Long is very limited and not at all reliable in front of goal. IMO he is lucky to play for us.

Expect all international players in our squad to up their game when considering their opportunity for selection/ inclusion in their respective squads for 2018 WC . Along with Shlong.

Expect all international players in our squad to up their game when considering their opportunity for selection/ inclusion in their respective squads for 2018 WC . Along with Shlong.

Could the same not be said about international players at all other clubs, therefore leveling this theory out?