Dembele

Quoted from RichMariner

Glad that he got off the mark today - think we might see a bit more from him in the coming weeks and months now.

I must admit, while his talent has never been in doubt, I was just starting to wonder about his lack of end product. His trickery and skill on the ball has always impressed, but he'd yet to dictate play or take control of a game.

He's still young though - I'm absolutely certain he'll only get better.

Couldn't agree more. When he hit the post against Col U I was gutted for him because I thought it might have boosted his confidence no end. Hopefully this goal will have that effect. I agree about him needing to know when to release the ball too. I will hopefully give him the confidence to take a shot on when he can now rather than an extra touch.

Hard not to speculate about his future, but for now let's enjoy watching his skills light up what can often be a dull affair in league 2. Worth the admission fee and he plays with a smile on his face. He is a rare talent hope we enjoy him for as long as possible.

It reminds me of John Oster when he got in the first team at a young age.  He also had brilliant ball skills and could make seasoned professionals look idiots.

He was going to stay at Town to learn for a season or two but Everton saw his talent and he was gone after a handful of games.

Quoted from ginnywings

When he produces end product consistently, that's when the bigger clubs will come knocking. Right now, he's just a prospect. We also have no idea about his contract situation and how much he earns. He may not want to sign an extended deal for all we know.

That'd be what you'd expect ginny, but there's always a club with enough money to be able to take a gamble on a player like this in case they can show that vital ingredient further down the line.

If there's a Championship/League1 club able to afford such a luxury, they'll take a punt on him early, because

a) they'll get him for less £££ before he's reached the level of producing consistently, and

b) they might be able to actually get him before he reaches a level where bigger clubs than them would be in for him.

We'll see. He seems a good kid and prepared to work hard so good luck to him, and let's hope we can develop him as much as possible while he's here.

Quoted from chaos33

Again, massive overstatement. 'He could play in the championship now'. 'Could go on to play in the premier league'. 'He is way too good for us'......

I repeat, he has scored 1 goal in a dozen games in L2. Couple of assists maybe. I get the general enthusiasm about him - he looks really impressive on the eye when you watch him - great touch, quick feet, works hard, can pass and dribble, but he's got loads and loads of things to learn, and will need to produce much, much more, and much more often if those statements above are to have any real credibility. You have to 'earn the right'. Relatively speaking, Dembele has done nothing yet.

Good Grief! do you go to matches or are you just blind

Quoted from Garth

Good Grief! do you go to matches or are you just blind

One goal and just a few chances created in a dozen starts with (according to the GTFC stats) just 3 shots on target during this period! Danny Collins, a central defender, has scored twice as many goals and had more efforts on target this season.

That's the point. It doesn't matter if you can dribble past a couple of players if you don't make a chance or score a goal at the end of it. He's got the ability to be a very dangerous player, but he's yet to apply it consistently and that's what any manager looking at him will consider. The idea that teams will be queueing up to sign a player with such a modest record at present is just silly.

When I remember the reason why I like football in the first place (the very first place, not all the accumulation of social reasons that keep me going when it's deadly dull) I'm less bothered by whether Dembele has the 'end product' on a consistent basis. Or whether we'll keep him or make pots of money off him. Yes all that would be good. But for now he's good to watch.

Enjoy! 😃

Quoted from Maringer

Sestanovich had bags of ability allied to pace and power.

It takes a lot more than ability to make a successful professional footballer.

Not that I'm in any way equating Dembele's attitude to that of Sestanovich, of course!

I agree the mental side is more important

With a player with the skills of Dembele you have to give him as much of the ball as possible, he was the outstanding player for us on Saturday yet I think it was 20 minutes before he had a decent pass.

Quoted from Garth

Good Grief! do you go to matches or are you just blind

No, I'm not blind. What you've done is isolate a relative phrase and then take it out of context. Don't be silly. We have all seen how impressive he is and what skill and potential he possesses. That is implicit in the overall post. The point is - take a look at the L2 leading scorers and assisters stats.....is he on there? No. Is he almost on there? No. Until his blatantly obvious talent translates into goals and assists, he's just a work in progress and some way behind other players in league two who are producing both, week in week out.