Le Fondre

[the other bob wilson]

He never wanted to be here, he never could be bothered to put any effort in, he thought he was better than he is.
Couldnt care less if he scores tonight - as we'll score more - and we'll tackle him so hard he'll want to come off asap

My recollection is that LeFondre didn't attract the stick Macheda (who scored more for us than LeFondre) did because it was generally felt that at least he was putting in the effort - both of them were poor signings though.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

My recollection is that LeFondre didn't attract the stick Macheda (who scored more for us than LeFondre) did because it was generally felt that at least he was putting in the effort - both of them were poor signings though.

He blamed our style of play, when I remember him missing twice from a couple of yards, if that!

[Since62]

My recollection is that LeFondre didn't attract the stick Macheda (who scored more for us than LeFondre) did because it was generally felt that at least he was putting in the effort - both of them were poor signings though.

Just looked up Macheda on Wikipedia.

Now playing in Italy for a team in Serie B Novara , not a team I am familiar with. Did OK for them last season , but only 1 goal in 12 appearances so far this season.

While he was with us , I had the view that he was another player that thought he was better than he actually was and didn`t want the effort in because of that (the "I used to play for Man Utd" attitude).

[Pedro de la Rosa]

Just looked up Macheda on Wikipedia.

Now playing in Italy for a team in Serie B Novara , not a team I am familiar with. Did OK for them last season , but only 1 goal in 12 appearances so far this season.

While he was with us , I had the view that he was another player that thought he was better than he actually was and didn`t want the effort in because of that (the "I used to play for Man Utd" attitude).

Novara are quite interesting. It's becoming fairly common in Italy (see SPAL and Benevento this season) whereby a team gets a double promotion into Serie A, gets completely outclassed and goes down again. Novara's last few seasons have been promotion, promotion, relegation, lost in playoff final, relegation, promotion, 9th!

[Keyser Soze]

I remember seeing Le Fondre when he was at Birmingham and thought his game was limited. He had a tendency to score goals when balls were threaded through for him to latch onto, and he was a confidence player. Like a cheap Michael Owen. Back to goal he had the strength of a intoxicated nat, not that strong in the air, not that great taking shots on a cross and had the first touch of a rapist. To Reading's credit they understood his strengths and weaknesses well, signed him, and played the football that allowed him to score goals. Reading were a classic example of finding the right player to suit your style, or moulding a team around the ability of the players. We did neither with our strikers.

So the sale to Cardiff was fairly explainable. Reading needed to sell and we offered good money. Agent buzzed in his ears "Hey Cardiff will pay decent wages, go there." Like any sensible employee he saw the money and came here. And he probably thought that Ole would play decent football for him but couldn't get it going. Chances dried up, his confidence dipped and the rest is history. Slade's tactics would never suit Le Fondre so he is quite right - he didn't stand a chance under Slade as it was long ball, and nobody was capable of threading a decent ball through for him other than Mats Moehler Dahli, who was about as flavour of the month to Slade as a turd sandwich.

He was quite right when he said out style did not suit him, because he was one dimensional. But then again Slade didn't even have half a dimension himself. Awful combination one would say.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

I remember seeing Le Fondre when he was at Birmingham and thought his game was limited. He had a tendency to score goals when balls were threaded through for him to latch onto, and he was a confidence player. Like a cheap Michael Owen. Back to goal he had the strength of a intoxicated nat, not that strong in the air, not that great taking shots on a cross and had the first touch of a rapist. To Reading's credit they understood his strengths and weaknesses well, signed him, and played the football that allowed him to score goals. Reading were a classic example of finding the right player to suit your style, or moulding a team around the ability of the players. We did neither with our strikers.

So the sale to Cardiff was fairly explainable. Reading needed to sell and we offered good money. Agent buzzed in his ears "Hey Cardiff will pay decent wages, go there." Like any sensible employee he saw the money and came here. And he probably thought that Ole would play decent football for him but couldn't get it going. Chances dried up, his confidence dipped and the rest is history. Slade's tactics would never suit Le Fondre so he is quite right - he didn't stand a chance under Slade as it was long ball, and nobody was capable of threading a decent ball through for him other than Mats Moehler Dahli, who was about as flavour of the month to Slade as a turd sandwich.

He was quite right when he said out style did not suit him, because he was one dimensional. But then again Slade didn't even have half a dimension himself. Awful combination one would say.

He's never played for Birmingham? It's wholly unfair to blame Slade for ALF's failures here as well, he couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo. You can blame Slade for a lot but Le Fondre had a plenty of chances and he hardly scored. His record since his spell here is testament to the fact he isn't actually that good. He missed two open goals during his spell here, for whatever reason it didn't work.

[Keyser Soze]

I thought it was Birmingham for some reason. It was some team Northish before he signed for Reading, when he was on a scoring spree, sometime in the mid Noughties.

If you have ever managed or coached football, you will know that strikers, unless blessed with great technical ability, typically needs a style that suits them and many are in the main, confidence players. I would just have to disagree that "just not that good", even if he was limited. He played for a few sides that scored goals before Reading as well as Reading and he was always popping up on television as a regular scorer. Clearly he could score goals. In my view his prior record confirms his ability to score. To me it was style issue, which then turned into a confidence issue. Why he never discovered his old form since could be anything. A minor injury which repeats (Sturridge), loss of motivation, poor diet or maybe poorly managed. It could be anything.

[jon1959]

I thought it was Birmingham for some reason. It was some team Northish before he signed for Reading, when he was on a scoring spree, sometime in the mid Noughties.

If you have ever managed or coached football, you will know that strikers, unless blessed with great technical ability, typically needs a style that suits them and many are in the main, confidence players. I would just have to disagree that "just not that good", even if he was limited. He played for a few sides that scored goals before Reading as well as Reading and he was always popping up on television as a regular scorer. Clearly he could score goals. In my view his prior record confirms his ability to score. To me it was style issue, which then turned into a confidence issue. Why he never discovered his old form since could be anything. A minor injury which repeats (Sturridge), loss of motivation, poor diet or maybe poorly managed. It could be anything.

Was the Northish team Stockport, or Rochdale or Rotherham... or all of them?

I remember when ALF was with Rotherham he had the reputation of a selfish, often lazy, goal poacher. He scored about 1 goal in 3 games and made his name, but was always limited and did very little else for the team.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

I thought it was Birmingham for some reason. It was some team Northish before he signed for Reading, when he was on a scoring spree, sometime in the mid Noughties.

If you have ever managed or coached football, you will know that strikers, unless blessed with great technical ability, typically needs a style that suits them and many are in the main, confidence players. I would just have to disagree that "just not that good", even if he was limited. He played for a few sides that scored goals before Reading as well as Reading and he was always popping up on television as a regular scorer. Clearly he could score goals. In my view his prior record confirms his ability to score. To me it was style issue, which then turned into a confidence issue. Why he never discovered his old form since could be anything. A minor injury which repeats (Sturridge), loss of motivation, poor diet or maybe poorly managed. It could be anything.

Thanks for the patronising pat on the head. He's been poor for all clubs since he left us, bar a good four month spell at Bolton. He missed tap ins. He was totally ineffective for us, devoid of confidence and that's spilled over into his career. For whatever reason, he's not good enough at this level and he hasn't been for quite some time.