Foster

[Silkyskills1]

A centre forward who I've never seen have a shot or header of any type. Looks out of his depth to me.

[Leyland Claret]

Unfortunately I just don’t see a player in him. He’s obviously trying too hard but I watched his movement more closely tonight and he was very statuesque. For balance Twine and Obafemi were just as poor tonight and didn’t do themselves any favours. I hope I’m wrong but those 3 players won’t make the grade.

[sjb]

I've seen nothing yet which justifies his price tag but I'm hoping we have paid for potential and VK's comments seem to support that.

He was very poor tonight but so were Obafemi, Twine & Zaroury.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Yet to see him have a shot and doesn’t look particularly quick and struggles to hold the ball up. Most of his passes were neat but all safety first stuff.

[Burnleyareback2]

Did a lot of the dirty work today, was quick to get back and quick to move the defence about.

Not easy against a 5 man defence but I’m happy so far.

[Transpennine]

Yet to see him have a shot and doesn’t look particularly quick and struggles to hold the ball up. Most of his passes were neat but all safety first stuff.

Sounds like a summary of Robbie Blake's debut 20 years ago.
Give the lad time...

[Pickles]

People saying they're yet to see him have a shot... he had one tonight. Nicked the ball on the half-way line, carried it forward, and then shot. Not the right choice of shot but definitely a shot.

[KlyBfc]

People saying they're yet to see him have a shot... he had one tonight. Nicked the ball on the half-way line, carried it forward, and then shot. Not the right choice of shot but definitely a shot.

He also had another in the second half when slipped in. Again execution was poor but still a shot (albeit scuffed / prodded)

[Pickles]

He also had another in the second half when slipped in. Again execution was poor but still a shot (albeit scuffed / prodded)

Oh yes! It looked a good save from the keeper from where I was. Lacklustre and room for improvement without a shadow of a doubt but stuff like "yet to see him have a shot" is just wrong.

[xxmunkyennuixx]

Would give him more game time. Not much evidence to suggest anything positive but hoping it clicks when he grabs a goal.

[Clarets4me]

Sounds like a summary of Robbie Blake's debut 20 years ago.
Give the lad time...

Really ? Didn't know Foster was due a hernia operation ....

[JohnMac]

Those Stanley Matthews shorts are slowing him down. Hope he comes good obviously and the sooner he scores the better, again obviously!

[scouseclaret]

Those Stanley Matthews shorts are slowing him down. Hope he comes good obviously and the sooner he scores the better, again obviously!

…needs loaning out so he can learn English football somewhere else.

[blatherwickstattoos]

He’s not ready for English football. Miles off it.

[Silkyskills1]

People saying they're yet to see him have a shot... he had one tonight. Nicked the ball on the half-way line, carried it forward, and then shot. Not the right choice of shot but definitely a shot.

More an apology for a shot. Anyway, you know exactly what we mean when saying he hasn't had a shot. No intensity in his game, no drive or desire to get into positions where he might have an attempt.on goal. And he doesn't jump any higher in the air than Weghorst. Was expecting someone a lot more dynamic I'm afraid.

[FCBurnley]

4 year contract. He has a total of 14 league goals. VK must be seeing something I am missing

[Swizzlestick]

Usual overreactions from some. He isn’t ‘miles off it’ and he has had shots. Didn’t have a great game but he’s clearly a confidence player and clearly needs a goal. Thought he showed more in his cameos as the season has gone on. Needs to work in training on some things but he’ll get there.

[agreenwood]

He’s not got going yet, but in his defence his starts are coming when we’re generally looking rusty as a result of multiple changes and his sub appearances mainly when we’re looking to kill a game. It’s not really setting him up to succeed. He wasn’t alone in struggling tonight.

Be patient with him.

[Flying Without Ings]

I do think a goal would improve his all round game massively with some more confidence in him, which is why I think VK kept him on longer than probably warranted. Hopefully we win the title with a few games to spare so he can have a run of games with less pressure.

[chekhov]

More an apology for a shot. Anyway, you know exactly what we mean when saying he hasn't had a shot.

You say he didn’t have a shot when he had a shot. You are objectively wrong. I’m with Pickles on this one.

[Papabendi]

Alarm bells ringing with this one. Possibly our first major recruitment mistake. It’s a lot of dough for a signing who looks lost.

[lucs86]

Hard to really tell what a VK team really wants from the number 9. Almost every game, in possession against teams sitting back, it's been Jay or Barnes dropping deep with back to goal so the forward ball goes to the wings - this doesn't look like Foster's game.

Maybe next season (and against City) the game plan will be different and we'll see the importance of a pacey direct striker. Nicking the ball and getting the shot off bodes well and was something Jay or Barnes probably wouldn't have done. He needs a goal soon though to settle down, he didn't look comfortable to me.

[claretandy]

Reminds me of early Akinbiyi, he's trying too hard, needs a goal, shame his header against Watford didn't go in.

[agreenwood]

Just for context, he’s 22 and has been at the club (and in the country) for 5 weeks as of today.

He may turn out to be a bust, but there’s still ample time for him to come good.

[BurnleyFC]

He’s going to have to show some vast improvement to be anywhere near good enough.

[pushpinpussy]

Can people just wait to judge this lad after a good pre season and when he's had time to settle in the country.

[jedi_master]

He's not been here long enough to make any firm judgments. Clearly he is a ways off as we type, but he's hampered by only coming on when a game is won and we're just playing keep ball, or starting in Cup games with a mish mash team that feels unsettled. Once the 'job is done' I would be keen to see him get a few starts in Barnes position with our proper 'first team' all around him. He is clearly anxious currently, you sense it every time he gets the ball - a goal would do him the world of good, but it won't fix everything as the style we play and the requirements to be in this team seem so large that it's not something a goal alone will fix - he arguably needs the summer pre-season for that (granted, going into the Premier League makes that harder).

[RVclaret]

And just to add more context, Barnes took half a season to learn this system and come good. There were many on here who would have happily seen him leave in January and some 'hoping he never plays for the club again'. Now he's adapted and has been a key player. That's a 33 year old Premier League player. Foster won't have played in such a dominant, possession based system before, like Ash, so perhaps it's worth understanding it will take time. Also it's not his fault VK decided to pay 7m+ for him, so not sure why he has to carry the weight of the transfer fee as a criticism.

[eastcoastclaret]

His last goal was back in November and went 5 games without scoring before joining us. His stats seem to suggest he will often go a number of games without scoring and then sores in consecutive games. He's only young, perhaps expecting to much from him because of the fee.

[Funkydrummer]

We've got to give him plenty of time to get up to speed, but I must confess that, so far,
I've not seen much to get excited about. I get that he has to adapt to completely new
surroundings, players, style of play etc but controlling a ball and holding on to it should be
a given at this standard.

As someone alluded to earlier, shades of Andre Gray at the moment but we shall see in the
fullness of time. Here's hoping for a gem.

[agreenwood]

And just to add more context, Barnes took half a season to learn this system and come good. There were many on here who would have happily seen him leave in January and some 'hoping he never plays for the club again'. Now he's adapted and has been a key player. That's a 33 year old Premier League player. Foster won't have played in such a dominant, possession based system before, like Ash, so perhaps it's worth understanding it will take time. Also it's not his fault VK decided to pay 7m+ for him, so not sure why he has to carry the weight of the transfer fee as a criticism.

The Barnes comparison is a good point. There were times last night (and vs Ipswich in the replay) when watching the team reminded me of the first few months of the season when we were having lots of possession, but lacking the final ball/killer instinct. We now know that some of the deficiencies in those early performances was about a team made up of new players getting used to the system and each other. It was also about existing players getting used to an entirely different style of play. Most of this squad are now performing significantly above the level they were before the World Cup.

Not every signing will be a good one, but hopefully people learned enough from those early months to have some patience with the January signings in particular. Let’s not forget that we’ve played pretty much twice a week since some of them signed. There will have been little meaningful time on the training ground.

[Dark Cloud]

I felt a bit sorry for him last night because whilst agreeing that so far he's looked somewhat short of the standard, he was really struggling against an opposition set up extremely well to defend in numbers and stifle our play and the rest of our team struggled just as much as he did. (Apart from his 1v1 where I felt he tried to be a bit too clever!!!!)

[Quickenthetempo]

I wouldn't play centre forward in this side for all the tea in China.
What run can you make that they will find?
What chances do we create on a repeat basis?

We overplay and ask our wide men to come in and shoot.

It might get easier for them in the Premier league if they get more space but it's still far easier to shine in any of the other 10 positions on the field for us.

[Blue Skies]

Sorry DC, that is absolute tosh. Assuming he trains with the rest of the squad he should know what the aim is and how to achieve it. It is vital that the ball sticks to our front players create space in and around the box for oncoming midfield players. He did or showed neither. Finishing looks way off as well. That game would have been won by HT had Bashley or Tella started.

[Lancasterclaret]

On the plus side last night he had three good chances to score

His link play and hold up play needs some work (that will come with more experience)

I have to be honest, I'm not sure playing him when he's clearly struggling is the best way for him to settle

[RVclaret]

Sorry DC, that is absolute tosh. Assuming he trains with the rest of the squad he should know what the aim is and how to achieve it. It is vital that the ball sticks to our front players create space in and around the box for oncoming midfield players. He did or showed neither. Finishing looks way off as well. That game would have been won by HT had Bashley or Tella started.

Both of your usernames seem opposite of the messages you are delivering

It’s fine to suggest with Barnes we’d have done better last night… but what about the Barnes of early season, when no one wanted him in the team because of his, checks notes, poor link up play, awareness, lack of movement and crap finishing?

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Not every signing will be a good one, but hopefully people learned enough from those early months to have some patience with the January signings in particular. Let’s not forget that we’ve played pretty much twice a week since some of them signed. There will have been little meaningful time on the training ground.

Such naivety to think people will learn and show patience

[warksclaret]

We all want him to improve and be a key part of the team, and to justify his fee. My concern though is that he has played quite a few minutes, and has yet to show a glimpse of what he is about. By contrast Churlinov and Dervisigoglu have actually played less minutes but had quite an impact when they have come on, particularly last night. The time to give him game time is when we have mathematically won the Championship, when there is no pressure. We had this debate earlier in the week when lots of posters were saying to start him last night so he could score and get his first goal. I disagreed and last night will have had a big impact on his confidence, and he will have seen the improvements in our play when he was substituted . Its a big call for VK now on how he uses him, bearing in mind we also have Jay returning, and Dervisoglu showing he should be considered in future games even if only on the bench

[Lord Beamish]

I’m gonna trust Vincent Kompany on this and give Foster time.

[Andreshotboots]

He's been here just over a month!!!

[Lancasterclaret]

On the plus side last night he had three good chances to score

His link play and hold up play needs some work (that will come with more experience)

I have to be honest, I'm not sure playing him when he's clearly struggling is the best way for him to settle

Just to clarify this, I thought he was showing positive signs in his cameo performances before this one, but this was quite a big drop on that

Goes without saying that we have to support him, and that we totally trust what VK has in mind for him

[claret2018]

I’m gonna trust Vincent Kompany on this and give Foster time.

Hmmm not sure if I trust Kompany over randoms on a message board

[CrosspoolClarets]

He looks a bit terrified to me, if he settles down we may see a different player. He is also adapting to a new home, a new country, new friends, new social outlets etc. He looks a quiet lad. We see with other clubs it can be a slow adaptation, off the pitch and by extension on it.

Let’s give him time.

[Stayingup]

Unfortunately I just don’t see a player in him. He’s obviously trying too hard but I watched his movement more closely tonight and he was very statuesque. For balance Twine and Obafemi were just as poor tonight and didn’t do themselves any favours. I hope I’m wrong but those 3 players won’t make the grade.

VK has obviously seen something in Foster and IF its there he'll bring it out. As for him Twine and Obafemi last night they didn't shine, but against a deep organized defence not easy. Twine (and Foster) should have scored.

[midsummersday]

He looks a bit lost at present,and to be honest has shown nothing at all so far.All we can do is hope there is a good player in there,someone must
have seen potential but he has not looked good up to now.However early days and we have staff who will get the best out of him,so as most clarets
supporters have said give him time yes......but needs to start showing more ,he is far below his team mates so far.

[daveisaclaret]

I agree he's trying too hard. As soon as he missed the chance he made for himself he was all over the place, in other players' way, putting too much on passes, trying to pull off ridiculous fancy flicks. Just needs a bit of man management/coaching which doesn't seem like a problem.

[quoonbeatz]

Foster looked better last night than he has done previously, he was much more involved, had 2 good chances that he should have buried and found decent positions. He's trying a bit hard and still adapting to the system so he made a few poor decisions and got in the way a few times, although that was partly due to how congested things were in the final 3rd.

He's played what, about 4 hours of football with us? Plenty of time for him to properly settle and come good. Only playing games will do that.

[Hedontplayforyou]

I reckon he will score on Saturday . Let him settle in. A bit like Churlinov being written off by quite a few. He’s barely featured due to injury , is of a similar age, and has never played in England before. Some take longer than others to settle.

[Silkyskills1]

You say he didn’t have a shot when he had a shot. You are objectively wrong. I’m with Pickles on this one.

Not wishing to further the futility of this argument I will agree and say he's had one shot then. Maybe I should have said something like 'never looks like scoring' as was demonstrated by his chance last night. Hope that suffices.

[Lancasterclaret]

Not wishing to further the futility of this argument I will agree and say he's had one shot then. Maybe I should have said something like 'never looks like scoring' as was demonstrated by his chance last night. Hope that suffices.

He had two, and a header