Hountondji

[louieollie]

Let's give the lad a PROPER chance and play him as a striker rather than rely on Jay who if we take the romantics out of the equation has had his day.

[boatshed bill]

As said, a real striker's goal. He gets in front of the defender really well.

[nil_desperandum]

Perhaps worth mentioning that he missed a relatively easy chance for a late winner at Oxford, but in mitigation he had only been on the field a minute or two and it came to him quite quickly and unexpectedly.
He was in just the right place however, and had he mis-kicked it, it may well have gone in!
He scores that and we get all 3 points and he becomes a hero - at least for a few days!

[beddie]

Perhaps worth mentioning that he missed a relatively easy chance for a late winner at Oxford, but in mitigation he had only been on the field a minute or two and it came to him quite quickly and unexpectedly.
He was in just the right place however, and had he mis-kicked it, it may well have gone in!
He scores that and we get all 3 points and he becomes a hero - at least for a few days!

I fully understand what you say but only coming on a minute or two before he’s presented with a great chance does not hack it for me, likewise his opportunity. That’s the difference between an okay striker and a good striker.

[BigGaz]

Dead on Beddie.

It's that exact moment, about 130 minutes into his Burnley playing career, that signaled to me - this forums top football understanderer - that hell be nothing more than a two bob bum and we should be looking to cancel his contract immediately.

Absolute fraud.

[fatboy47]

Dead on Beddie.

It's that exact moment, about 130 minutes into his Burnley playing career, that signaled to me - this forums top football understanderer - that hell be nothing more than a two bob bum and we should be looking to cancel his contract immediately.

Absolute fraud.

quality !!

[CoolClaret]

I fully understand what you say but only coming on a minute or two before he’s presented with a great chance does not hack it for me, likewise his opportunity. That’s the difference between an okay striker and a good striker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDBblDtKllU

[ClaretPete001]

He's 22 and only had one decent season at a Ligue 2 club in France. The season before he was in the French Third Division. He hasn't been through an elite academy and was on loan from another Ligue 2 club.

So, it will be no surprise if it takes him time to settle in and/or if he proves not to be good enough for this division.

Whoever signed him took a gamble on his pace and his goals last season in a league probably not of the quality of the Championship.

Our problem is that we are very dependent upon Lyle Foster so the fact that Hountondji gets treated like a seasoned Pro is understandable if unfair.

[what_no_pies]

He's looked a lot more affective than Foster since they've both been in the building.

[TopCat]

Need to get the ball in the box though!!

[Elizabeth]

There’s really only one issue here. Will he show a lot more than he’s shown so far? Mitigating factors that are being made are not really relevant while we are not scoring goals. Scoring in 2 consecutive internationals must give lead to more hope that he will.

[claretspice]

What Hountondji has shown so far is that whilst he's raw (and is still adapting to a different standard of football in a different country) he's got good physical attributes - he's tall, strong and appears capable of shifting once he gets into gear - and he's shown glimpses of decent movement and an instinct for getting into goalscoring positions. Far too early to right him off, even if he equally probably hasn't earned a place in the starting XI quite yet. Like all up and coming strikers whose game is based around physical presence, he's going to have to learn how to use his body in the hurly burly of English football, and the confidence of a goal or two could be the difference between him looking awkward and being a real goalscoring option.

I doubt we'll see him start many games this side of the FA Cup in January but I'm optimistic he'll increasingly give us an option off the bench over that period.

[Bosscat]

Give the lad service and see what happens ... Too many write folk off on here before we see what they can do.

[boatshed bill]

4 year deal, let's see what SP and the coaching staff can do with a fairly raw player who is taking a big step up.

[bobinho]

If Foster is out, Hountondji starts. Let’s stop messing about…. Keep pressure off him? There is no pressure. He starts in his favoured position and hopefully he seizes the chance and Foster stays on his arse until something drastic changes like an injury or serious downturn in form. That’s how it works, and thats how it should work. That’s how he earns his chance, not by getting five minutes here and there to prove his case. Plenty of good players have become first team regulars by seizing their chance.
I’m damn sure he starts ahead of J Rod whatever else happens.

[boatshed bill]

If Foster is out, Hountondji starts. Let’s stop messing about…. Keep pressure off him? There is no pressure. He starts in his favoured position and hopefully he seizes the chance and Foster stays on his arse until something drastic changes like an injury or serious downturn in form. That’s how it works, and thats how it should work. That’s how he earns his chance, not by getting five minutes here and there to prove his case. Plenty of good players have become first team regulars by seizing their chance.
I’m damn sure he starts ahead of J Rod whatever else happens.

This is absolutely how it should work.

[blatherwickstattoos]

I’ve not read the thread but I find it highly unlikely he will be starting Saturday given the amount of travel and possibly the fact he won’t be back in training until tomorrow or Friday.

I’d start him over Jay with flemming behind. But knowing what SP is like he’ll go with Jay and be cautious

[Newcastleclaret93]

I’ve not read the thread but I find it highly unlikely he will be starting Saturday given the amount of travel and possibly the fact he won’t be back in training until tomorrow or Friday.

I’d start him over Jay with flemming behind. But knowing what SP is like he’ll go with Jay and be cautious

I agree, I doubt he will be in the eleven (potentially not even the squad given the travel).

He certainly won’t be in training until Friday

[NewClaret]

If Foster is out, Hountondji starts. Let’s stop messing about…. Keep pressure off him? There is no pressure. He starts in his favoured position and hopefully he seizes the chance and Foster stays on his arse until something drastic changes like an injury or serious downturn in form. That’s how it works, and thats how it should work. That’s how he earns his chance, not by getting five minutes here and there to prove his case. Plenty of good players have become first team regulars by seizing their chance.
I’m damn sure he starts ahead of J Rod whatever else happens.

Could not agree more.

We should not write him off if he has one bad game, as ClaretPete neatly summarises, this is a guy unearthed from relative obscurity, but an international striker in goal scoring form when we have few other options should be given the chance to earn his place. It’s how careers are made and hopefully for him and us he seizes it.

[NewClaret]

What Hountondji has shown so far is that whilst he's raw (and is still adapting to a different standard of football in a different country) he's got good physical attributes - he's tall, strong and appears capable of shifting once he gets into gear - and he's shown glimpses of decent movement and an instinct for getting into goalscoring positions. Far too early to right him off, even if he equally probably hasn't earned a place in the starting XI quite yet. Like all up and coming strikers whose game is based around physical presence, he's going to have to learn how to use his body in the hurly burly of English football, and the confidence of a goal or two could be the difference between him looking awkward and being a real goalscoring option.

I doubt we'll see him start many games this side of the FA Cup in January but I'm optimistic he'll increasingly give us an option off the bench over that period.

Agree with your point about attributes. That’s probably how we came to identify him.

He does look very raw but to be honest I don’t think you need to be the best technically in the Championship to score goals, so I’d throw him in and give him his chance while Foster is injured. Suspect he’ll go with Flemming though, which is a bit of a round peg/square hole scenario for me.

[CrosspoolClarets]

Certainly not ideal that we have Hountondji and Hannibal both coming back from south or east Africa and Foster injured. That’s before we get to the other players.

Bit of a banana skin this one on Saturday as a result.

[ClaretPete001]

Sheffield Wednesday is not a bad game to have this problem. They are at home and a big club with a decent support and won't be allowed to park the bus.

I would think he will go with Flemming and rely on the pace of the wingers to get at Wednesday's back four as we did to some extent against Leeds.

They've lost 4 games already so we will be the better side. I would bring Hountondji on after an hour if we need a goal and give him a good run in the team or earlier if the plan isn't working.

Away from home we should be able to suck them in and then use the width to get behind them...! I don't see this being a repeat of Oxford United or the two East Lancashire derbies against teams who do not want to lose away from home in a derby game.

That would be my thinking anyway.

[Colburn_Claret]

I fully understand what you say but only coming on a minute or two before he’s presented with a great chance does not hack it for me, likewise his opportunity. That’s the difference between an okay striker and a good striker.

Every top striker misses sitters. They just do it a lot less than mortals. Nobody bothers because all they remember is the 30 goals they did tuck away.
To decide any player is not good enough, after so little game time, is laughable.

[Alan Young]

What Hountondji has shown so far is that whilst he's raw (and is still adapting to a different standard of football in a different country) he's got good physical attributes - he's tall, strong and appears capable of shifting once he gets into gear - and he's shown glimpses of decent movement and an instinct for getting into goalscoring positions. Far too early to right him off, even if he equally probably hasn't earned a place in the starting XI quite yet. Like all up and coming strikers whose game is based around physical presence, he's going to have to learn how to use his body in the hurly burly of English football, and the confidence of a goal or two could be the difference between him looking awkward and being a real goalscoring option.

I doubt we'll see him start many games this side of the FA Cup in January but I'm optimistic he'll increasingly give us an option off the bench over that period.

He’s looked woefully out of his depth in his appearances (albeit brief) so far. I’d say a loan move out in January would be more likely than him making an impact with us.