Adam Armstrong

[CB Fry]

2 hours ago, Warriorsaint said:

I do wonder whether he'll struggle in that position given that Saints have Redmond, Djenepo, Walcott, Tella and, possibly, Diallo competing with him. Perhaps, Hassenhuttl does see him as centre forward.

What kind of Blackburn fan is writing a sentence like this? "Tella and possibly Diallo" 

Do me a favour.

[Mr X]

He has huge potential don't get me wrong but It's unlikely he is going to come straight into the team and be a double figure goal scorer.  We saw from Che that it can take some time to adapt and develop the skills and confidence needed for the premier League.  So that leaves us relying on who up front? Che and tella? Che and dare I say it........ Long? 😱

[Minsk]

50 minutes ago, Mr X said:

He has huge potential don't get me wrong but It's unlikely he is going to come straight into the team and be a double figure goal scorer.  We saw from Che that it can take some time to adapt and develop the skills and confidence needed for the premier League.  So that leaves us relying on who up front? Che and tella? Che and dare I say it........ Long? 😱

Should we sign AA and Broja (which does seem very likely, but neither have been confirmed on the OS yet) I have every confidence that Adams, Armstrong, Broja and Tella will at least match the 22 goals scored by Adams, Ings and Tella last season. 

Then, of course, there are also the likes of JWP, Stuey, Theo and Redders who should get around 15/16 goals between them (they scored a combined 17 last season and could feasibly achieve the same this time). And I am sure the likes of Djnepo, Romeu, Diallo, KWP, TIno, Perraud, Bednarek will chip in with the odd goal or two as well.

[austsaint]

7 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

I think Armstrong will definitely play as one of the two up top.

Can see Che being a good partner for AA, just as he was with Ings.    Good hold up play, an eye for a pass, looks for others in the box.

[Disco Stu]

Shane Long has all the physical attributes to make it at elite level. He's very fast, has superb jumping reach, stamina, strength and work rate. He's actually pretty good at finding space and making chances for himself, however he can't finish. That's always been his crutch and the reason he never really made waves at this level.

If they're saying Armstrong has those attributes but can also finish, that sounds very promising to me.

 

 

Edited 10 August, 2021 by Disco Stu

[Saint Scott]

Let's hope the club get this done in time for the opening game so Armstrong can feature in some respect. Not overly keen on obafemi or long being the impact subs from the bench 

[beatlesaint]

11 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Shane Long has all the physical attributes to make it at elite level. He's very fast, has superb jumping reach, stamina, strength and work rate. He's actually pretty good at finding space and making chances for himself, however he can't finish. That's always been his crutch and the reason he never really made waves at this level.

If they're saying Armstrong has those attributes but can also finish, that sounds very promising to me.

 

 

Its funny but a friend of mine who supports Barnsley where AA was on loan and who has watched him ever since said he was like a "clinical Shane Long would be"

Edited 10 August, 2021 by beatlesaint

[TWar]

9 hours ago, Warriorsaint said:

Another Rovers fans view.  This one might be a little controversial but don’t shoot the messenger.

 

Armstrong's strength, in my opinion, is to make a yard, with his pace, and strike a fierce shot. He doesn't need to beat defenders and is confident having a strike.

I would hesitantly and very generally compare Adam Armstrong to a young Shane Long, mostly, in terms of their somewhat stocky frame and burst of pace. A potential difference is that Armstrong has got a long-range strike in him, as evidenced by a couple of goal of the season awards in his career, which, I'm not sure Long has, so much. I'm sure others might correct me on this comparison, as it is based on very limited knowledge of Shane Long.

The problem Armstrong may have is if he's asked to play as a wide forward, rather than the centre forward. He'll have to work a lot harder and won't have the luxury of waiting on the shoulder of defenders so much. I do wonder whether he'll struggle in that position given that Saints have Redmond, Djenepo, Walcott, Tella and, possibly, Diallo competing with him. Perhaps, Hassenhuttl does see him as centre forward.

Regardless, I think Armstrong's an intelligent player and could adapt, with the right manager.

PS. Saints memories - Marians Pahars' goal in our Roy Hodgson/Brian Kidd relegation season. From what I remember, it was a late goal that made relegation all but certain. Especially, painful as Pahars was one of my favourite non-Rovers players.

This one may be a little confused as to how we play, seems like they think we play a front 3 with a wide forward but he will more be in a front two where being on the shoulder of the last defender and then winning space with pace is very much encouraged.

[ErwinK1961]

Really can't see us bidding £8m for Armstrong, to then agree a deal for £21m in total.

Suspect we will never know the actual amounts.

[saintwbu]

2 minutes ago, TWar said:

This one may be a little confused as to how we play, seems like they think we play a front 3 with a wide forward but he will more be in a front two where being on the shoulder of the last defender and then winning space with pace is very much encouraged.

I’ve seen a lot of Blackburn fans saying he’ll struggle because he won’t lead the line well on his own for us, which is fine because he’ll never have to as we play two up front…

[TWar]

4 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Really can't see us bidding £8m for Armstrong, to then agree a deal for £21m in total.

Suspect we will never know the actual amounts.

I think it'll be £15m then Obafemi to them might be a bit cheaper than it would otherwise have been.

[TWar]

5 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

I’ve seen a lot of Blackburn fans saying he’ll struggle because he won’t lead the line well on his own for us, which is fine because he’ll never have to as we play two up front…

Yeah, I think a front two but with one player playing a bit deeper and holding it up/providing more, and the other playing a bit further forward as a poacher/9 off of his partner is not that common anymore. Some of our fans didn't even understand how our strike partnership worked last season.

[iansums]

Confirmed

[iansums]

Fail, Broja, not Armstrong

[tajjuk]

1 hour ago, Mr X said:

He has huge potential don't get me wrong but It's unlikely he is going to come straight into the team and be a double figure goal scorer.  We saw from Che that it can take some time to adapt and develop the skills and confidence needed for the premier League.  So that leaves us relying on who up front? Che and tella? Che and dare I say it........ Long? 😱

Pukki and Watkins stepped up straight away from the Championship, and they probably played for teams in the Championship who created more chances than Blackburn do. He should be confident as he's basically had the best season of his life. 

The issue with Che i think was that goal didn't come early and IIRC he got a bit unlucky early on, hitting the woodwork I think a few times, so good saves, bad decisions etc. and then it started to weigh on him and his confidence dropped. 

We've also seen quite a lot of teams come straight up and do well because they are confident and used to winning. Like Leeds and Sheff Utd the season before. I also don't think these days there is a huge amount of difference between the bottom half of the PL and the top hal8-10 of the Championship just because of how clubs there have parachute money and have basically many PL level players. 

[EwoodPark]

Greetings. Thought I'd look at your opinion of the Armstrong signing and then decided to sign up to give my view.

Arma is quick enough. Not the quickest player you'll ever have seen but quick enough. If he get's clear of the defence he isn't getting caught. 

We had him in league one (on loan) and then brought him in permanently once we got promoted. He played the first two seasons as a wide attacker to allow us to play Danny Graham down the middle with Dack playing off him. He was OK in this role but certainly not a premier league player. Gradually over the last two seasons he has been moved to play up top (generally on his own but with 'wide forwards' supporting him including Sam Gallagher which really doesn't work).

In 2019/20 he scored 16 league goals (although he wasn't always starting up front) and then last season he scored 28 when he played every game as an out an out striker.

He's got a powerful shot on him for a little guy and can score his fair share of goals from outside the area. He also has a nack of being in the right place at the right time in the box. I know you've checked out his goals from last season, but his 2019/20 probably look a better selection of goals - see Youtube video here.

His weaknesses? He can go missing in games, especially if you are not creating much. Also his finishing isn't the most clinical. It's a testament to how often he gets the ball in good positions by how many times you think "he should have scored that one". Bear in mind we aren't the most creative side. Towards the second half of last season he also shot from distance A LOT - often when there were much better options on. By that point our season was practically dead so whether he was just trying to be the Championship top scorer, or make himself look good on Youtube videos I don't know but it became a bit frustrating. He also isn't tricky, tending to go past defenders by knocking it past them and sprinting after it.

Obviously next season will be a different calibre of defender. Rovers fans are pretty split whether he will make the jump up, or if he's just a very good Championship striker. Having watched Ing's career since his Burnley days, I don't think he's going to be as good as Ings, but could still be improving. He's also fairly level headed too. Good luck to him.

Edited 10 August, 2021 by EwoodPark

[Miltonaggro]

1 hour ago, TWar said:

Yeah, I think a front two but with one player playing a bit deeper and holding it up/providing more, and the other playing a bit further forward as a poacher/9 off of his partner is not that common anymore. Some of our fans didn't even understand how our strike partnership worked last season.

I think that Ralph and the rest of the side often struggled with that too. 

[TWar]

5 minutes ago, EwoodPark said:

Greetings. Thought I'd look at your opinion of the Armstrong signing and then decided to sign up to give my view.

Arma is quick enough. Not the quickest player you'll ever have seen but quick enough. If he get's clear of the defence he isn't getting caught. 

We had him in league one (on loan) and then brought him in permanently once we got promoted. He played the first two seasons as a wide attacker to allow us to play Danny Graham down the middle with Dack playing off him. He was OK in this role but certainly not a premier league player. Gradually over the last two seasons he has been moved to play up top (generally on his own but with 'wide forwards' supporting him including Sam Gallagher which really doesn't work).

In 2019/20 he scored 16 league goals (although he wasn't always starting up front) and then last season he scored 28 when he played every game as an out an out striker.

He's got a powerful shot on him for a little guy and can score his fair share of goals from outside the area. He also has a nack of being in the right place at the right time in the box. I know you've checked out his goals from last season, but his 2019/20 probably look a better selection of goals - see Youtube video here.

His weaknesses? He can go missing in games, especially if you are not creating much. Also his finishing isn't the most clinical. It's a testament to how often he gets the ball in good positions by how many times you think "he should have scored that one". Bear in mind we aren't the most creative side. Towards the second half of last season he also shot from distance A LOT - often when there were much better options on. By that point our season was practically dead so whether he was just trying to be the Championship top scorer, or make himself look good on Youtube videos I don't know but it became a bit frustrating. He also isn't tricky, tending to go past defenders by knocking it past them and sprinting after it.

Obviously next season will be a different calibre of defender. Rovers fans are pretty split whether he will make the jump up, or if he's just a very good Championship striker. Having watched Ing's career since his Burnley days, I don't think he's going to be as good as Ings, but could still be improving. He's also fairly level headed too. Good luck to him.

Thanks for the info, really appreciate it. How is his interplay? Passing, hold up play, running the channels, making space, that sort of thing? We play with a front two so how he interacts and plays around our second forward is pretty important in our system.

Again, thanks for coming over!

[benjii]

3 hours ago, Mr X said:

He has huge potential don't get me wrong but It's unlikely he is going to come straight into the team and be a double figure goal scorer.  We saw from Che that it can take some time to adapt and develop the skills and confidence needed for the premier League.  So that leaves us relying on who up front? Che and tella? Che and dare I say it........ Long? 😱

Looks like a very different player to Adams. Adams is a good, all-round forward, who links play very nicely and has a good eye for a pass. One of his big weaknesses is that he lacks half a yard of movement/anticipation in the box and so struggles to get on the end of crosses. That's why, unless he fixes that, he will never be prolific at the top level. 

Armstrong looks much more like the traditional "fox in the box", looking to play on the shoulder and get early shots away with either foot. With that sort of player, provided they can still find a bit of space, there's no reason why they shouldn't do well. If we create chances, I back him to finish them. I think he's the sort of signing we need - the "poacher" type- to complement the players we've already got, and a proven PL "poacher" is outside our budget (and there aren't many of them anyway!).

[Toadhall Saint]

12 minutes ago, EwoodPark said:

Greetings. Thought I'd look at your opinion of the Armstrong signing and then decided to sign up to give my view.

Arma is quick enough. Not the quickest player you'll ever have seen but quick enough. If he get's clear of the defence he isn't getting caught. 

We had him in league one (on loan) and then brought him in permanently once we got promoted. He played the first two seasons as a wide attacker to allow us to play Danny Graham down the middle with Dack playing off him. He was OK in this role but certainly not a premier league player. Gradually over the last two seasons he has been moved to play up top (generally on his own but with 'wide forwards' supporting him including Sam Gallagher which really doesn't work).

In 2019/20 he scored 16 league goals (although he wasn't always starting up front) and then last season he scored 28 when he played every game as an out an out striker.

He's got a powerful shot on him for a little guy and can score his fair share of goals from outside the area. He also has a nack of being in the right place at the right time in the box. I know you've checked out his goals from last season, but his 2019/20 probably look a better selection of goals - see Youtube video here.

His weaknesses? He can go missing in games, especially if you are not creating much. Also his finishing isn't the most clinical. It's a testament to how often he gets the ball in good positions by how many times you think "he should have scored that one". Bear in mind we aren't the most creative side. Towards the second half of last season he also shot from distance A LOT - often when there were much better options on. By that point our season was practically dead so whether he was just trying to be the Championship top scorer, or make himself look good on Youtube videos I don't know but it became a bit frustrating. He also isn't tricky, tending to go past defenders by knocking it past them and sprinting after it.

Obviously next season will be a different calibre of defender. Rovers fans are pretty split whether he will make the jump up, or if he's just a very good Championship striker. Having watched Ing's career since his Burnley days, I don't think he's going to be as good as Ings, but could still be improving. He's also fairly level headed too. Good luck to him.

Thanks for taking the time Ewood - much appreciated. Sounds like we have good one to work with.

[EwoodPark]

1 hour ago, TWar said:

Thanks for the info, really appreciate it. How is his interplay? Passing, hold up play, running the channels, making space, that sort of thing? We play with a front two so how he interacts and plays around our second forward is pretty important in our system.

Again, thanks for coming over!

Generally OK. He'll happily run the channels and close players down, and will make runs all day hoping for a through ball to get onto which could leave space. His passing is OK. He can thread a decent ball through but I wouldn't put it down as a main attribute. His control can be OK but things can bounce off him a bit at times. I wouldn't expect him to hold it up that well. If it's played into him anywhere other than his feet he'll just lose it. 

Edited 10 August, 2021 by EwoodPark

[LiberalCommunist]

I'm most excited by the fact the boy can take a penalty! We need that prowess desperately! Good times. 

[TWar]

7 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

I'm most excited by the fact the boy can take a penalty! We need that prowess desperately! Good times. 

In the championship last season he scored 5 and missed 3. Not exactly fantastic stats imo. JWP scored 7 and missed 3 in the prem in his career, last season scoring 3 and missing 1. I think JWP based on that will probably remain our pen taker for now.

[northam soul]

1 hour ago, EwoodPark said:

Generally OK. He'll happily run the channels and close players down, and will make runs all day hoping for a through ball to get onto which could leave space. His passing is OK. He can thread a decent ball through but I wouldn't put it down as a main attribute. His control can be OK but things can bounce off him a bit at times. I wouldn't expect him to hold it up that well. If it's played into him anywhere other than his feet he'll just lose it. 

Don’t worry about that some of our players first touch wouldn’t be out of place on the undateables.

[OldNick]

Just now, northam soul said:

Don’t worry about that some of our players first touch wouldn’t be out of place on the undateables.

lol

[mynameisthehulk]

1 hour ago, EwoodPark said:

Generally OK. He'll happily run the channels and close players down, and will make runs all day hoping for a through ball to get onto which could leave space. His passing is OK. He can thread a decent ball through but I wouldn't put it down as a main attribute. His control can be OK but things can bounce off him a bit at times. I wouldn't expect him to hold it up that well. If it's played into him anywhere other than his feet he'll just lose it. 

How do you think he will be at pressing? Do you think he is a smart enough player to know when to lead the rest of the team to press and when not to. This is really key to the way our forwards play. 

[TWar]

Surprise he hasn't been announced yet.

[beatlesaint]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

Surprise he hasn't been announced yet.

6pm to take the heat off the fans forum 🤣

[badgerx16]

14 minutes ago, TWar said:

Surprise he hasn't been announced yet.

Still filming the 'reveal' video for the OS.

[Matthew Le God]

 

[TWar]

 

[SuperSAINT]

Possible Solent Forum Propaganda announcement 🚨 🚨

 

 

[Lighthouse]

Official now, on Twitter.

[Verbal]

Announced.  Good signing!

 

[Streaky]

I'm getting optimistic now that we won't have a terrible season. Could we stretch to a holding midfielder now please.

[SuperSAINT]

3 minutes ago, Streaky said:

I'm getting optimistic now that we won't have a terrible season. Could we stretch to a holding midfielder now please.

If I’m being greedy, centre-back & deputy left-back? 

[Ex Ringwood Saint]

Just realised he is doing a reverse Shearer.. Newcastle Blackburn Saints ... Let's hope he had the same impact!

[Baird of the land]

Great to get replacement sorted. Hopefully there’s some cash left to strengthen squad elsewhere.

[nta786]

 

[TWar]

2 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

If I’m being greedy, centre-back & deputy left-back? 

Sell vest, go nuts and replace him with a quality CB for £25m. Back up fullback and we are done. Wouldn't complain about shifting Ely/Redmond and bringing in a new AM but thats a bit greedy.

 

[nta786]

2 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

If I’m being greedy, centre-back & deputy left-back? 

we need a centre-back only if Vestegaard leaves I'd say.

Delaney/CDM and one more full-back I'd be happy with. 

I'd like to offload some like Shane Long and Elyounoussi too but I think just in case anyone hits a bad run of form we will need every option we can get!

[Edmonton Saint]

Bit less gloomy with this signing. Welcome Adam, Let's hope for an immediate impact on Saturday !
 

[Streaky]

5 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

If I’m being greedy, centre-back & deputy left-back? 

Yeah would rather not have djenepo in there, recipe for disaster. Is brandon williams still available.

[The Fat Controller]

7 minutes ago, Ex Ringwood Saint said:

Just realised he is doing a reverse Shearer.. Newcastle Blackburn Saints ... Let's hope he had the same impact!

Doing. Beattie - that went alright

[Warriorsaint]

On 09/08/2021 at 12:41, suewhistle said:

Anybody any idea how good he is at bringing other people into play which is where Ings was good, although I can see Adams taking on more of that role?

Hi Sue, yeah Ive had a chat with a few Rovers and it appears not one of his strengths. More  of a head down striker and shoots a lot from distance. Best comparison us Shane Long with a better goal return.

[Saint_Tony]

2 strikers in within a week of Ings leaving, can't really knock that. Glad we've got these done before the season starts. Feeling a bit more optimistic for the season now

[S-Clarke]

I think the deal has been hanging on the completion of the Ings sale, we possibly tried to get it done before but we couldn't make it close to watch Blackburn wanted without a sale. As soon as we sold Ings this was pretty much done and dusted, there was never a risk of him going elsewhere as I think he was set on coming here.

I can't say that I've ever seen him live, but just watching some of the videos you'd be mistaken for thinking it's Ings. Similar sort of height, similar movement, similar pest-type attributes of the front press. He seems absolutely perfect for us in that sense.

He's obviously not going to be an Ings replacement from the off, but Ralph develops players and I wouldn't be surprised to see him reach those levels at some stage in his career.

[ally_uk]

Happy days hopefully some of our fanbase will stop acting like absolute melts 

[Badger]

20 minutes ago, nta786 said:

 

Good signing, pleased with this news.

Hope we see his 'angel of the north' celebration a few times next season and beyond.

Should have added one stipulation in his contract though, shave the beard off, might resemble a 'sawn-off Charlie Austin' too much with it.

[Teddeer]

Very happy with this signing and if he can just score one more goal than last season I'll be even happier.