Tombola back to sutton

On a 3 month loan..shame really.

Good for them.....

But the useless paceless Kelly remains

Good luck to the lad, couldn’t fault his work rate or effort but sadly I don’t think he was quite up to the standard needed for this level. If he had end product then he would have played higher up the ladder for sure.

Bloody Hell that's another club I will have to follow now.

I guess he needs games but it's fairly clear Sladeball don't rate him as he's fifth choice on the wing.

Better to have him playing regularly than sat warming the bench week in and week out
Personally I don't think he's ready yet for a regular place but if we have 3/4 injuries in next few weeks then he will be fit and ready to go
As has been mentioned before on here the fact we don't have weekly reserve games in England or a league structure of any kind makes it almost impossible for fringe players to progress unless they go out on loan

Doesn't mean he's finished at GTFC though

Hes half way through a 3 yer deal isnt he ?

Good player.
Would rather him be here and be playing.
Slade knows intercourse all.

Clearly Slade doesn't rate him. Not getting near the team now out on loan.

Looks like Slade does not value real pace up front.

Or at the back.

Could understand a one or maybe two month loan but three months suggests to me game over at town. IMO a mistake, especially given quality of current squad, as he can contribute significantly as an impact sub.

One of the few players who had me sitting up in anticipation last season and whilst I agree end product was not always quality at least he offers something different.

Have to say I am starting to err towards the lethargic/losing interest group of fans and if no improvement by Christmas fixture v Mansfield I think my attendance levels will drop to reflect my interest level.

Ran derby ragged despite us losing ☹️

Pace, power and unpredictability. He's got attributes others don't have, so whilst it's no surprise, it's a shame. He's far from the greatest winger we've ever had, but he's far from the worst, and he's far from the worst in this squad.

A sad indictment of the coaching staff's lack of ability to turn raw talent and pace into the finished article..

Trying to remain objective ...

he isnt playing, he isnt even warming the bench and clearly not in the managers plans so as long as they are contributing to his wages then business sense.

However.....i like him...direct, strong and never really given a full tilt at proving himself IMO...a player who could actually get the crowd on their feet so although he didnt feature much i am overall saddened at the prospect of losing a genuine impact player whilst keeping the as yet to demonstrate any ability Kelly.

Quoted from Abdul19

Pace, power and unpredictability. He's got attributes others don't have, so whilst it's no surprise, it's a shame. He's far from the greatest winger we've ever had, but he's far from the worst, and he's far from the worst in this squad.

Absolute this, particularly the bit at the end.

To be honest Slade as a big squad perhaps too big not sure he wants an out and out attack minded player on the flank which is a great pity.

I like Tombola he was a real threat with pace and strength.

He won more than one penalty for us as a impact sub.

We have a weak flank that Slade does not or will not address the lack of pace on that flank with Dixon Woolford exposes us  but Slade thinks by having two players sitting deeper strengthens our defence?

This mindset is stifling us imho.

Good Luck Tom you have been the forgotten man you deserve better.

Hope they've got a big gate  

Another player who seems to have turned into a very good player whilst not in the team.

Not a league footballer imo and at 27 (?) he ain't gonna improve much either

Good luck to him

He's better than some of the dross we seem lumbered with.

A bloke we work with is a big Sutton fan (goes to most games home and away) and he couldn't speak highly enough of Bolarinwa and was very surprised he wasn't getting even in our squad. I'd imagine he'll be delighted that he's returning.

You might say that this looks to be the last we'll see of him, but then the same thing was said about Berrett and Summerfield last season!

Quoted from Maringer

A bloke we work with is a big Sutton fan (goes to most games home and away) and he couldn't speak highly enough of Bolarinwa and was very surprised he wasn't getting even in our squad. I'd imagine he'll be delighted that he's returning.

You might say that this looks to be the last we'll see of him, but then the same thing was said about Berrett and Summerfield last season!

So Tom will be back when we change manager again  

Quoted from Maringer

A bloke we work with is a big Sutton fan (goes to most games home and away) and he couldn't speak highly enough of Bolarinwa and was very surprised he wasn't getting even in our squad. I'd imagine he'll be delighted that he's returning.

You might say that this looks to be the last we'll see of him, but then the same thing was said about Berrett and Summerfield last season!

Well unless Slade leaves then i cant see it....Summers and Bez were brought back into the fold by Slade not shipped out by Slade.

Only at gtfc.

Whether or not Tombola would ever have cemented a regular plaice(!) in the team is debatable.
What I think is undebatable is 1) He provided more impact from the bench than anyone else in the current squad
(a case forJaiyesimi could be argued ) 2) The lack of proper regular reserve team football vis-a-vis the old Central
League, is surely missed.
Such an environment under Town’s watchful eye and control would help more than just Tombola (McAllister ?) - a proper competitive league where youngsters play and learn alongside those fighting for a plaice(!),those returning from injury and those dropped to recover their form.
The Central League as was or the farce of a trophy that attracts 248 fans?
Good Luck to Tom.

Bit of a shame he hasn't had more of a chance, but, in the interests of accuracy - he was signed by Hurst, who promptly seemed reluctant to start him, as did Bignot, who also used him as an occasional sub, and the same goes for Slade. To make out that Slade has failed to coach him into an asset is just daft. Seems to me that all of the last 3 managers haven't really rated him enough to command a starting place in a middling L2 team, and therefore that the player himself probably isn't good enough at 27 years old, despite, IMO, looking quite an effective impact sub. Makes his 3 year contract look a a farce, and it wasn't Mr Slade who gave him that. It was your ear cupping Yorkshire jester Mr Hurst.

Not sure what to make of this one.. imo he is better than some in the team , but slade seems to be having a mini clear out, could be saving on wages ready for someone lined up in the next window, or maby they just dont like gardening  

Never really saw what a lot of others saw in him tbh . A player who knocked around a lot of very moderate southern non league teams to the age of 25 and never looked more than an average non league player with pace but not enough else to really trouble half decent L2 defences .
Good luck in the future but can’t think he’ll really be missed .

Agree with Cloudy, Chaos and louth_in_the_south.

At best would be an impact sub. Can remember him winning us a couple of penalties last season but that'd be the extent of any end product. Good work-rate and attitude it seems, but poor technically and lacks football intelligence.

I think if he was a regular starter there would soon be moans and groans of poor crosses, poor control, running the ball out of play or dribbling down blind alleys.

Good luck to him, hope he does well in the conference and enjoys getting some games.

Agree Tommy. Still can't believe he got a 3 year deal. What was Hurst thinking?

Quoted from Tommy

poor technically and lacks football intelligence.

This.

Found him infuriating in recent cameos; failing to make runs, failing to keep up with play, failing to work well with fullbacks or midfielders.

He has pace and some strength and unfortunately that's about it. A (presumably cheap) gamble by Hurst that didn't work out.

Quoted from ginnywings

Agree Tommy. Still can't believe he got a 3 year deal. What was Hurst thinking?

Maybe he saw something in him others didn't.......But three years?!

[cough] Padraig Amond. [cough]

Quoted from chaos33

Bit of a shame he hasn't had more of a chance, but, in the interests of accuracy - he was signed by Hurst, who promptly seemed reluctant to start him, as did Bignot, who also used him as an occasional sub, and the same goes for Slade. To make out that Slade has failed to coach him into an asset is just daft. Seems to me that all of the last 3 managers haven't really rated him enough to command a starting place in a middling L2 team, and therefore that the player himself probably isn't good enough at 27 years old, despite, IMO, looking quite an effective impact sub. Makes his 3 year contract look a a farce, and it wasn't Mr Slade who gave him that. It was your ear cupping Yorkshire jester Mr Hurst.

Possibly so but no more of a farce than the 2 year contracts given to Hooper, Kelly, Rose, Dixon or even the 1 year contracts given to Matt and Woolford.

Some say TB didn't have any end product but neither have most of the above.

Quoted from ex-merseymariner

This.

Found him infuriating in recent cameos; failing to make runs, failing to keep up with play, failing to work well with fullbacks or midfielders.

He has pace and some strength and unfortunately that's about it. A (presumably cheap) gamble by Hurst that didn't work out.

That can apply to several of our players that Slade persists in playing.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Possibly so but no more of a farce than the 2 year contracts given to Hooper, Kelly, Rose, Dixon or even the 1 year contracts given to Matt and Woolford.

Some say TB didn't have any end product but neither have most of the above.

This is the main issue for me. We're waiting for ALL the above to 'click'/to get fully fit/to give more than 1 decent performance. You can't build a successful team with so many spluttering performers.
Honestly, I wouldn't care if any/all of the above were let go today out and replaced, quite what Tom has done to be top of the list to go out is beyond me.

Seen him in cup, reserves and off the bench. Tracks back, works hard and gives defences more hassle than Hoops, Kelly, Woolford etc. Real issue is the long contract.

Football is an opinion based sport, and everyone has a different opinion.

Slade isn't keen on Bolly, and you can tell by his signings of Woolford & Kelly.

They are not fast wingers like Bolly, and he obviously dosn't like fast wingers.

I honestly believe Slade knows he messed up with Kelly, like a lot of managers do. they sign players and it just doesn't work out for one reason or another.
Hurst made plenty, Buckley made plenty, it happens

However if he shipped Kelly out, he would also get stick for signing someone and letting them go straight away...

Personally, I am losing a bit of patience with Slade. Seeing Woolford amble down the line with not a chance of beating his man Is a waste of a place. Kelly, well who knows but the signs are not good. I would have kept Bolly in preference to Kelly Dixon and Woolford and so I guess this speaks volumes about how I feel about slades recruitment policy UTM

Slade in his first stint he pulled off a masterstroke converting a raw pacey forward with little end product into arguably the best attacking fullback/wingback in the division in Gary Cohen.Buckley had done the same with Macca and Croft I am amazed RS hasn`t gone down this route to get some pace in the side on the flanks unless he has tried it in training but Tombola not upto it?

Gotta love The Fishy.

Bolly is OK. He’s raw, and unpredictable but lacks end product and ultimately, whilst useful, is probably not good enough for this level. This has pretty much been the unanimous opinion of him on here. Until yesterday when Slade decided to loan him out.

Slade gets bashed if he ever take off Dembele. He gets bashed for not playing DJ enough. Last time I checked we can only really play two wingers at a time. I’m pretty sure Bolly is a right winger and has barely played on the left ever? Fair enough wingers often swap these days and I know Woolford hasn’t exactly set the world alight, but I still think he’s a better option than Bolly, and even then, people want DJ to play so..

“Slade doesn’t like fast wingers”
See Dembele and DJ

“I’d rather get rid of Dixon”
Dixon is a left back, Bolly is a right footed winger…

Quoted from sam gy

Gotta love The Fishy.

Bolly is OK. He’s raw, and unpredictable but lacks end product and ultimately, whilst useful, is probably not good enough for this level. This has pretty much been the unanimous opinion of him on here. Until yesterday when Slade decided to loan him out.

Slade gets bashed if he ever take off Dembele. He gets bashed for not playing DJ enough. Last time I checked we can only really play two wingers at a time. I’m pretty sure Bolly is a right winger and has barely played on the left ever? Fair enough wingers often swap these days and I know Woolford hasn’t exactly set the world alight, but I still think he’s a better option than Bolly, and even then, people want DJ to play so..

“Slade doesn’t like fast wingers”
See Dembele and DJ

“I’d rather get rid of Dixon”
Dixon is a left back, Bolly is a right footed winger…

for christ's sake sam, i think i've warned you before about bringing facts into an argument. you're going to upset people like Tagg, who know that a 27 year old who's only ever played a handful of league games is a good player and that Slade, who's managed hundreds of pro matches knows fook all (see post 8 of the thread).

I think this would have been inevitable even if Slade wasn't the manager. I do like Tombola because you never know what will happen when he gets the ball and he does have some use in scaring defences that it can cause them to make mistakes. The problem is that something useful happens when he gets the ball maybe 25% of the time and the rest he kinda lumbers around with clumsy legs and loses the ball somehow.

Had he adjusted to this level things would have probably been different and he'd be a regular starter but he's not managed that under any manager. Hurst said early on that he didn't feel he had the fitness levels to see out a full game after seeing him get blown up after 15 minutes. I don't think he's really improved as a footballer since signing for us and while entertaining in short bursts he's probably just not good enough for league football.

At least he'll be able to play and will probably be happier. He's probably better off dropping down a league where pace and raw power can be successful.

Quoted from Zmariner

Personally, I am losing a bit of patience with Slade. Seeing Woolford amble down the line with not a chance of beating his man Is a waste of a place. Kelly, well who knows but the signs are not good. I would have kept Bolly in preference to Kelly Dixon and Woolford and so I guess this speaks volumes about how I feel about slades recruitment policy UTM

Personally, Woolford, Dembele, DJ & Osborne when he returns are ahead of Bolly in the pecking order.

And with Osborne close to returning, this makes sense...

All about opinions, for me we are very poor going forward as it is borne out by Goal scored. I would Try to off load Woolford and Kelly and given Bolly a run as We create next to nothing utm

I suspect the reason it's Bolarinwa leaving and not Kelly is because a club actually wanted to sign him.

Quoted from forza ivano

for christ's sake sam, i think i've warned you before about bringing facts into an argument. you're going to upset people like Tagg, who know that a 27 year old who's only ever played a handful of league games is a good player and that Slade, who's managed hundreds of pro matches knows fook all (see post 8 of the thread).

I take it that you and Sam gy don't get to many games.

Quoted from arryarryarry

I take it that you and Sam gy don't get to many games.

I’ve been to enough games to form the opinion that whilst Tom is an OK player, he’s ultimately probably never going to be a regular starter, so I won’t be losing sleep over a 3 month loan deal whilst he’s not in the frame. Hurst, Bignot and Slade have all watched him in training every day and it would seem that they all would agree on this.

I’ve also seen enough games to form the opinion that whilst Dixon isn’t the best left back we’ve ever had, I wouldn’t see getting rid of him instead of Bolarinwa as a very wise move.

Quoted from sam gy

I’ve been to enough games to form the opinion that whilst Tom is an OK player, he’s ultimately probably never going to be a regular starter, so I won’t be losing sleep over a 3 month loan deal whilst he’s not in the frame. Hurst, Bignot and Slade have all watched him in training every day and it would seem that they all would agree on this.

I’ve also seen enough games to form the opinion that whilst Dixon isn’t the best left back we’ve ever had, I wouldn’t see getting rid of him instead of Bolarinwa as a very wise move.

Which games have you seen Bolarinwa play in?

As for Dixon, who has suggested that we should get rid of him instead of TB?

Are you happy that Woolford starts every game?

Thought he was/is the ideal substitute, lots of pace and trickery for the final 10-15 mins. Rarely had a good 90 mins when he did play, but good for small cameos

The thing about Tom is he does not know what he is going to do next so the defenders have no chance .

He is better suited to non league where he will be a success,

He did score one of the best goals seen at the Park last season though.

Cohen definitely did not play right back or wing back. Was a decent player though.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Which games have you seen Bolarinwa play in?

As for Dixon, who has suggested that we should get rid of him instead of TB?

Are you happy that Woolford starts every game?

Personally, I am losing a bit of patience with Slade. Seeing Woolford amble down the line with not a chance of beating his man Is a waste of a place. Kelly, well who knows but the signs are not good. I would have kept Bolly in preference to Kelly Dixon and Woolford and so I guess this speaks volumes about how I feel about slades recruitment policy UTM

post number 38 from Zmariner

Quoted from mariner91

Cohen definitely did not play right back or wing back. Was a decent player though.

I can remembering him playing 1 or 2 games at right back towards the end of the season when McDermott was injured (Newey must've been injured too as I'm guessing Croft played left back).

Cohen certainly played right back on several occasions. Away at Notts County, for one, where we won despite the fact that we had Tom Newey playing in central defence and Cohen, nominally a striker, at right-back. Just had a quick look in The Grimsby Town Story and the stats there seem to think he played right-back four times that season.

Fact is that last season, Bolarinwa won three penalties alone from getting beyond his full back with pace, the FB panicking and taking him down. We now have no one capable of doing that.

Bolly played down the middle once as I remember and looked a handful. Kelly and Woolford are poor signings along with Matt and JJ and shows why Slade has never won anything.
Mills out wide right and Dembele out left IMO would be a  more potent pair.

Quoted from Abdul19

I suspect the reason it's Bolarinwa leaving and not Kelly is because a club actually wanted to sign him.

post of the week ...........

Mills is a flipping defender and has never shown anything to indicate he'd be effective as a wide player. He isn't particularly quick and isn't particularly tricky. A decent full-back but my mind boggles at the idea of playing him as a winger!

I understand Bolarinwa did sometimes play through the middle for Sutton so that's something we might perhaps have tried on occasion. As has been noted in the past, we don't have any other players with his combination of strength and pace so it's a pity we've not had him on the bench as a different option.

I do wish people wouldn't keep continually writing Matt off as a bad signing. He's got a good record at this level so can obviously do the job even if he didn't get off to the best of starts with us. Let's hope that he can kick on and start performing on the training pitch well enough to make the teamsheet a bit more often to show us how he achieved this good record. We could certainly do with more mobility up front. I think Hooper would probably do OK playing off the main striker as well, though he certainly doesn't have the attributes to be a target man. With Jones doing OK in the scoring stakes, he's not likely to get much of a look in but this may change if there are some injuries during the coming months. For that matter, Jones hasn't scored in the past 5 games either, so it's by no means certain he'll keep his place indefinitely.

Quoted from Maringer

Cohen certainly played right back on several occasions. Away at Notts County, for one, where we won despite the fact that we had Tom Newey playing in central defence and Cohen, nominally a striker, at right-back. Just had a quick look in The Grimsby Town Story and the stats there seem to think he played right-back four times that season.

Stretching it a bit though to claim as someone did that RS took a forward and turned him in to a right back when he only played four games in that position!

Of course he did, remember defence comes first, not losing is the goal, everyone has to be a defender its the russell way

Quoted from mariner91

Stretching it a bit though to claim as someone did that RS took a forward and turned him in to a right back when he only played four games in that position!

I think Cohen would've played more at RB, but seem to recall he got a long term injury?.  He would've made a useful WB, as is the vogue these days

Cohen the chicken with no head 👍

Quoted from mariner91

Stretching it a bit though to claim as someone did that RS took a forward and turned him in to a right back when he only played four games in that position!

Just looked at the results of the 4 games he played at right-back during the 2005/06 season. Won 3, drew 1. Probably should have turned him into a right-back with that record!

Apparently, he's only 33 now. So sad that he developed his injury issues at such a young age as he could have had a really good career otherwise.

Quoted from grimsby pete

The thing about Tom is he does not know what he is going to do next so the defenders have no chance .

He is better suited to non league where he will be a success,

He did score one of the best goals seen at the Park last season though.

We are more than pleased to get Bolly back, he does have an end product if properly coached, we saw that the previous season with us. He got better and better throughout the season, making them runs count, whatever you have done at Grimsby has made him regress because he started off with you OK. We will get that final product back.

As for non league, as you will know there is very little difference between the top of the National and average teams in EFL2.

        

Quoted from SUFC

We are more than pleased to get Bolly back, he does have an end product if properly coached, we saw that the previous season with us. He got better and better throughout the season, making them runs count, whatever you have done at Grimsby has made him regress because he started off with you OK. We will get that final product back.

As for non league, as you will know there is very little difference between the top of the National and average teams in EFL2.

        

Nothing to do with the step up from when you had him in the Conference South to playing in League Two???

Quoted from SUFC

We are more than pleased to get Bolly back, he does have an end product if properly coached, we saw that the previous season with us. He got better and better throughout the season, making them runs count, whatever you have done at Grimsby has made him regress because he started off with you OK. We will get that final product back.

As for non league, as you will know there is very little difference between the top of the National and average teams in EFL2.

        

That's a myth.

Bolly may have an end product at that level, but he doesn't cut it in League 2.

Quoted from Tommy

Nothing to do with the step up from when you had him in the Conference South to playing in League Two???

Yes, the step up has something to do with it from the Conference South, but Bolly has the pace to get past the majority of players at any level. He came to us with a poor end product, but left us on a upward trend, and when he started for you, he was good enough for EFL2.

The National league is not a pretty league, a lot of big ugly defenders, space is at a premium, if he can find his mojo back at Sutton then he will be able do similar in EFL2.

Lets see, the jury is out..        

Thanks for your thoughts sufc Can you keep us up to date as to how he gets on please? IMHO he's a typical national league player, with league 2 being a step too far, but I'd love to be proved wrong

Quoted from grimsby pete

The thing about Tom is he does not know what he is going to do next so the defenders have no chance .

He is better suited to non league where he will be a success,

He did score one of the best goals seen at the Park last season though.

yeah there hasn't been many mate.

With his attributes you can see why Hurst took a chance, he must have thought he could coach structure into his game. No doubt in my mind if it could have been done then there would be one hell of a player in there so it was probably worth a punt.

Some things just don't work out, fine lines and all that. I don't think he's the worst winger on our books but as others have said maybe he's the only one that someone wants at this present time.

I think Hurst thought he'd found another LJL

People saying he has no end product but used in the right way he did - doesn't need to make a cross or pass, If he kept goin the defenders were so afraid of his pace they would bring him down and he'd win a pen. Scored the odd goal too. Even if that didn't happen he would win corners and throws near the box or at least get us up the pitch with his running.
Way more end product than Kelly, no contest whatsoever. If a goal was needed who would u rather be able to bring on Tombola or kelly?
Not necessarily a starter but decent option from the bench. I don't doubt that we couldn't get rid of kelly on loan anyway tho, who would want him? Sixth tier just maybe. Chambers went to the sixth tier didn't he and he was noticeably better than kelly.

Kelly doesn't have a beginning product never mind an end one!

Quoted from forza ivano

Thanks for your thoughts sufc Can you keep us up to date as to how he gets on please? IMHO he's a typical national league player, with league 2 being a step too far, but I'd love to be proved wrong

Of course I will, he played today, put in a good cross on 8 mins for a goal that was chalked off. One attribute not mentioned here is that his pace can be bloody helpful getting back and saving the day, one great saving tackle today when the fwd was in on goal.

Video in the morning...