Was reminded by a Telegraph article that Charles Vernam is a Town player.  Remember those heady days of excitement about signing him.  

I was far from excited :-/

Still think Vernam will turn into a good player for us, he was obviously carrying this injury at the start of the season and now he’s paying the price for playing through it. Not his fault and I can’t understand the stick he’s had for it either.

Quoted from LondonMariner43

Was reminded by a Telegraph article that Charles Vernam is a Town player.  Remember those heady days of excitement about signing him.  

No

I was never excited by him signing, we needed a striker with a better match to goal ratio.

Never excited me and I couldnt understand the OTT reaction when he did re-sign, especially on a 3 year deal, But he's a town player and when he returns from injury, I hope he makes me look a fool

One of hurst’s worst signings , gold plated 3 year contract for a serial under achiever. It seemed we had to have him at any price

One thing is for sure - when he’s fit, and selected, he needs to prove himself and perform. A couple of flashes of greatness in a sequence of little contribution shouldn’t wash. I hope he does show us all what a good player he is. And he ain’t the only one.
Quite a few need to up their standards, markedly.

Think he falls into the same bracket of a few of the signings made. ' What if ' he could recapture that form he had a couple seasons ago at Bradford. Same story with Eisa, it was a case of what if he could get back to his Scunny days and to be fair to him he was flying but obviously performances regressed with the whole squad. That's why they're playing L2 football, if they were Mr Consistent they wouldn't be here I suppose.

Still a good player in my book. Some good form doesn't make you a world beater and the opposite is also true with bad form. Went under the radar a little that he was coming back from an injury (knee I believe) during the start of the season.

Think he's proven in the right environment with his head down he can be a real asset at this level, once he's over his injury hopefully the new management team can get the best out of him.

Quoted from male private Nale

One of hurst’s worst signings , gold plated 3 year contract for a serial under achiever. It seemed we had to have him at any price

Slightly harsh in my opinion given we've seen so little of him.  Admittedly his early season form wasn't brilliant but as we suspect he was carrying an injury.  Better to judge him once he's fit.

And I think he'd slip way down the list of Paul Hursts worse signings.

A decent enough leage 2 player when fit and I wish we had him fit and available now because nobody else out wide is contributing much are they?

Think he just needs a manager to believe in him, give him confidence and allow him to be attack-minded to get the best out of him.

We've seen what he CAN do in the past. Say what you like about Holloway but he was getting a tune out of Vernam with how he set us up to play pre-covid and how he man-managed CV.

Someone said he is a striker, I thought he was a winger, slightly evidenced by his 'supergoal' which started with him picking the ball up somewhere near to our penalty area, not a place I would expect to see a striker.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Having watched a video of the goal, he was actually on the 18 yard line when he set off to receive the ball then proceeded up the field to score.

With a more adventurous manager in place I think we’ll see a different CV .

When’s he due back? Not sure he’s even back in training….?

Quoted from chaos33

When’s he due back? Not sure he’s even back in training….?

Not until around the turn of the year, I think.

Quoted from 123614

Someone said he is a striker, I thought he was a winger, slightly evidenced by his 'supergoal' which started with him picking the ball up somewhere near to our penalty area, not a place I would expect to see a striker.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Having watched a video of the goal, he was actually on the 18 yard line when he set off to receive the ball then proceeded up the field to score.

Possibly the best Town goal in 10 years can't think of one better in that time?

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Possibly the best Town goal in 10 years can't think of one better in that time?

Don’t get me wrong, this was a very good goal, but every time I watch it back the defending and goalkeeping get worse and worse.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Possibly the best Town goal in 10 years can't think of one better in that time?

I preferred Luke Waterfall’s ET goal at Wrexham…

I guess it has to be up there as an individual goal, but also I agree the defending was appalling.

The best team goal for Town I can recall has to be John Cockerill’s in the 4-0 “just like watching Brazil” win v Huddersfield.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Possibly the best Town goal in 10 years can't think of one better in that time?

Me neither.

He is NOTHING without Whitehouse...🤣

Quoted from Tommy

Think he just needs a manager to believe in him, give him confidence and allow him to be attack-minded to get the best out of him.

We've seen what he CAN do in the past. Say what you like about Holloway but he was getting a tune out of Vernam with how he set us up to play pre-covid and how he man-managed CV.

Agree Tommy 100%

I was not the biggest fan of him re-signing in truth , but to effectively write him off after a handful of games (potentially carrying an injury?) Seems a bit premature and maybe even a tad unfair .

My wider issue (pardon the pun) is that we have ended up with what 4 players (Eisa , Khan, Clifton , Vernam ) who's best position is from the left ; with Eisa playing so well that means 3 have to either play (when fit) somewhere else ,where they are not as effective or not play at all - it's left us with a fairly unbalanced look imo .

Quoted from Poojah

Don’t get me wrong, this was a very good goal, but every time I watch it back the defending and goalkeeping get worse and worse.

Ryan giggs goal in the semi final against arsenal was massively overrated in a similar way imo. He picks the ball up midway in his own half and no one tries to gets near him until 2 defenders fall over at the edge of the box and he hits it straight at seaman who almost bends over backwards trying to save it and makes it easy for the ball to over him. Lauded as one of the greatest ever goals in the cup but nothing like as good as Ricky villa in the final all those years ago. Now that was a great goal.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Still think Vernam will turn into a good player for us, he was obviously carrying this injury at the start of the season and now he’s paying the price for playing through it. Not his fault and I can’t understand the stick he’s had for it either.

Absolutely agree. Charles is a quality footballer, clearly was carrying an injury. I suspect he had a problem when he signed, which raises the question of his medical. Hope to see him before the end of the season playing without the Hurst brakes on, we saw how good he can be when Holloway let him run at defences at this level. He was unplayable.

Quoted from 123614

Someone said he is a striker, I thought he was a winger, slightly evidenced by his 'supergoal' which started with him picking the ball up somewhere near to our penalty area, not a place I would expect to see a striker.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Having watched a video of the goal, he was actually on the 18 yard line when he set off to receive the ball then proceeded up the field to score.

For me, he's a wide left player in a three. Can do a job centrally, or even wide right, but nowhere near as effective as wide left.

Vernam is a very talented player. However, he has struggled with injury. Will he ever be able to achieve his potential? Piece of string question. The raw talent is there, but will he ever be able to put the rubber to the ground. Mmmm...time will be the judge of that.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I preferred Luke Waterfall’s ET goal at Wrexham…

I guess it has to be up there as an individual goal, but also I agree the defending was appalling.

The best team goal for Town I can recall has to be John Cockerill’s in the 4-0 “just like watching Brazil” win v Huddersfield.

That was 30 years ago lol

Quoted from Posh Harry

Ryan giggs goal in the semi final against arsenal was massively overrated in a similar way imo. He picks the ball up midway in his own half and no one tries to gets near him until 2 defenders fall over at the edge of the box and he hits it straight at seaman who almost bends over backwards trying to save it and makes it easy for the ball to over him. Lauded as one of the greatest ever goals in the cup but nothing like as good as Ricky villa in the final all those years ago. Now that was a great goal.

It looks staged as in a film.

Wasn't happy when he signed to be honest. over rated and imo been very fortunate to get longish contracts at various clubs. Seemed to make his name on that one solo goal away from  home  for us ..before that was really just mediocre. Not seen anything since to change my mind.

While since we've had a go-in on Vernam.  Thought he might get a bit of a break whilst injured.

Slade and Jolley both used Vernam down the middle, a position he clearly isn't going to excel in.  Limbrick identified that he could have far more impact on the left of a front three/midfield five.  Holloway then worked further on that and the lad really flourished.  

That's the only spell we should be referencing from his previous time here as for the previous 18 months he was played out of position.  He was excellent in his true position, a genuine threat with goals to his name.  

He goes to League One with Burton and scores two, assists two from 14 starts in a poor side.  Not setting the world alight but hardly a horrific record, especially as we're not at that level.

Drops back down to Bradford and from 34 starts he scores 10 and makes a further 6.  Bradford are desperate to keep him, their fans are gutted when he goes back up to League One with Lincoln.

6 starts in the league at Lincoln but quite simply it didn't work out, again not at our level so I won't judge his ability to perform at League Two on that.

So to sum up.

Striker at L2 Town - Not great
Winger at L2 Town - Very good.
Winger at L1 Burton - Ok
Winger at L2 Bradford - Very good.
Winger at L1 Lincoln - Disappointing.

Dunno if anyone's noticed but we're at League Two level and we've signed Vernam as a winger.  His previous two spells in this division whilst playing as a winger have been very productive.  

He was written off as soon as he re-signed here by many.  More wrote him off after just 3 league starts for us, even harsher now we know he was carrying an injury.

Genuinely can't get my head round the fact that we've signed a winger who has proved to be effective at this level when used correctly, yet before he had even made an appearance people were determined to tell us he isn't very good.  

A fit Vernam is a pretty good player. That said he came back from injury, allegedly, just before we signed him. He was soon out again through injury so I would have due diligence would wanted him to prove his injury had been completely resolved. A 1-year contract with a 2-year option would have been a better deal for the club.

   He's got a lot to prove for me, if , and it's a big if he comes back and rips it up I'll welcome him with open arms otherwise he's another duffer we've signed.

Quoted from Ruston AT

   He's got a lot to prove for me, if , and it's a big if he comes back and rips it up I'll welcome him with open arms otherwise he's another duffer we've signed.

Not a big fan of assumptions but I assume that Vernam was identified by the recruitment process and that we got an all clear on his fitness before giving him a long term contract?

Love all the people in this thread who weren't excited about him signing and don't even rate him anyway, they must have been away on holiday when we signed him because they sure as intercourse didn't pipe up on here.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Possibly the best Town goal in 10 years can't think of one better in that time?

It's a cracking goal, the steppoverry thing he does when he receives the ball is glorious but there's no way that shot should be sneaking in. Give me McAtee's absolute peach of a volley against Alty or the peak Arsenalesque third away in the reverse fixture the same season. Nathan Arnold's second in the away leg of the Easleigh playoff is an underrated banger for me too. I could reel off quite a few more that I prefer actually but I can see how the general consensus might be to opt for Vernam's.

Quoted from Son of Cod

Love all the people in this thread who weren't excited about him signing and don't even rate him anyway, they must have been away on holiday when we signed him because they sure as intercourse didn't pipe up on here.


It's a cracking goal, the steppoverry thing he does when he receives the ball is glorious but there's no way that shot should be sneaking in. Give me McAtee's absolute peach of a volley against Alty or the peak Arsenalesque third away in the reverse fixture the same season. Nathan Arnold's second in the away leg of the Easleigh playoff is an underrated banger for me too. I could reel off quite a few more that I prefer actually but I can see how the general consensus might be to opt for Vernam's.

Eisa's against Mansfield was a cracker. I do prefer long range, top corner, in off the bar type goals I must admit.

I obviously love all Town goals but I also have a fondness for the 6 yard scramble goals; the ones in which the keeper saves it to his right, gets up and saves it to his left. The follow up hits the underside of the bar and amongst a flurry of arms and legs someone forces it home. The relief!

Most of the names I’m seeing on here as not rating Vernam are the same ones who questioned McAtee last season.

Football is all about opinions, but we seem to have a contingent who don’t like flair players & I can’t get my head round that. Years of ‘hard workers’ under Hurst has clouded some views IMO.

Hell of a player there if we can get him fit and keep him fit, but that's the question.

We're badly lacking in pace and he's pretty quick so would be good to get him back in for that alone. As pointed out in this thread, he's got a pretty decent record when played as a winger at this level, so let's hope he comes back fit as soon as possible and gets the chance to prove his worth.

I was one of those happy to see him sign, and I can’t wait for him to be back and get a run in the team. Anyone who thinks a fit Vernam wouldn’t get in this relegation-fodder team is mental.