https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...-flop-15409119
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No bombshells then.
No, but I wouldn't expect any, he was just a kid thrown into what was something of a powder keg of a club at the time - we only got to hear about what was said about him in public, but I wouldn't mind betting there was a lot worse being said in private.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wales-Bales
He was put in for training with the youngsters for a reason as his first touch was horrendous. He was a a figure of ridicule amongst the youngsters.Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
What on earth was Malky thinking or did he panic.
Why on earth didn't we go for Troy Deeney back then!!
His career before and since suggests that there was a lot more to him than we ever saw. The management have to take some blame for not getting the best out of him.Quote:
Originally Posted by binman
We didn't play to his strengths at all. And by the time he was back from his ankle injury we were pretty dysfunctional as a team.
His prolonged ankle injury. Wales Online reported he was back in training weeks before we saw him again. It was a very strange saga, I think Malky was just trying to delay the inevitable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rjk
And yet, he's played in Serie A, Ligue 1, the Champions League and played in a World Cup Finals tournament for a top ten in the world team - not sure any of the City youngsters who were ridiculing him five years ago have managed that yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by binman
If I remember rightly, Cornelius may well have been our first signing of the summer of 2013, so I don't think it was panic which drove Mackay to go after him - he was a disastrous signing who was completely wrong for what we needed at that time, but I think his subsequent career has shown that he's not as bad as he looked most of the time while he was here.
He's proved he's not a top level striker. He flopped at Atalanta, and he's not scored for Bordeaux. According to Bellamy, he had a bad attitude and there's a reason he came to us and not a bigger club, something Fulham are finding our now about their "star signings". I've also heard stories about him being a figure of ridicule amongst the kids, which is why Mackay changed his tact about him being "one for the future". Good luck to him but we certainly haven't missed him. His "header" against Man City is still the worst/best thing I've ever seen for City.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rjk
Still, he's ahead of Zohore in the Denmark striker rankings, which says a lot more about Ken's form than it does about Cornelius.
He's scored twice for Bordeaux, and last season scored 6 times from 13x 90 minutes for Atalanta.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa
I'm not saying he's a world beater but he's better than we saw
I seem to recall the Fulham manager (was it Martin Jol?) saying around the time that they had looked at him and that they thought that he had some potential. However, he believed that something nearer £500k was a more realistic price and was astounded at what we paid.Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
It's amazing how history has been re-written regarding the signing Cornelius.Quote:
Originally Posted by binman
When he arrived at Cardiff, as the first signing of the 2013/14 season, he had just turned 20 year of age. He had finished the previous season as top scorer in the Danish League with 18 goals, he'd scored for Copenhagen in the Europa League and he'd already made 5 appearances for the Danish national side, scoring in a 3-0 World Cup qualifier victory over the Czech Republic. He'd won the Danish League's Player of the Year award and the Danish Young Talent of the Year award, ahead of players such as Southampton's Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (who was at Bayern Munich at the time) and Chelsea's Andreas Christensen.
He'd previously been linked with Everton and Stoke and was given glowing recommendations by that great judge Ole Gunnar Solsksjaer, who reckoned Manchester United should take a look at him.
I can remember how excited some of the contributors on this board were when he signed as they believed Mackay had bagged one of Europe's most promising youngsters. I also remember being told I was an idiot who was merely bitter about the re-brand when I dared to suggest the reported fee of £8.5 million was a bit steep for a player with his lack of experience.
He got 3 league goals last season. I was looking at some out of date figures but he's scored 1 goal in nearly 400 league minutes this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rjk
Clearly he is better than what we saw, he didn't look like he should be getting paid to play! He's certainly not one that got away either.
He's scored once, a couple of weeks ago against Lyon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa
What he actually said was: "He (Cornelius) was on our shadow list, but I thought it was not only too much, but we couldn't afford to buy him."Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueToujours
The same ones who used to slate him left, right and centre are probably the same ones that sing Danny Ward's name religiously whilst he's warming up. Couldn't make it up!
So you’re counting the goals he got as a sub, but not his substitute appearances :hehe:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rjk
Nice manipulation of stats.
Couldnt make what up?Quote:
Originally Posted by SunderlandBluebird
Whats Ward got to do with Cornelius.?
No, I am counting his substitute appearances.Quote:
Originally Posted by J R Hartley
If you add up all of the minutes he played last season and divide it by 90 it comes to just over 13. So he played the equivalent of 13 full games.
It is the only sensible way to look at that kind of data for players who are on the bench a lot.
He flopped, he's not the first and won't be the last.
But I still think the club and Tan were completely wrong in releasing that press release about him.
In 924 minutes, he scored 3 Serie A goals. That's 308 minutes per goal, or a goal every 3.5 games. League goals are the best judge of players, certainly not Europa League games vs Everton's reserves who are already out of the competition by the time you come on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rjk
I don't think anyone can deny that. Tan acted like that for the best part of 3 seasons so we shouldn't be too surprised.Quote:
Originally Posted by lardy
That's still not too shabbyQuote:
Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa
Yeah very harsh on someone who was still a young kid at that point. Fortunately he doesn't seem that bitter about it now.Quote:
Originally Posted by lardy
Exactly, he was a teenager, probably away from home for the first time in his life and, apparently, he had kids his own age at the club taking the piss out of him - unless he said to City I'm not signing for you unless you pay me 45 grand a week I don't think I'll be joining in with those who still want to slag him off even after all of this time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rjk
Agreed, this revisionism with regards to Cornelius is ridiculous, people just want to look clever by slating him now as if the majority weren't excited by his signingQuote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
If this is true its probably the perfect example of how toxic the club was at the timeQuote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
Was he really just 20 at the time? Tbf, I didn't want to support that version of the club so can't criticise players who either a) didn't want to play for it or b) couldn't handle all the off-the-field nonsense. We could have got more money back from him if Tan hadn't destroyed his reputation publicly.
Think a lot has been made of his price tag but £6-9 million didn't even buy you Mitch then for a striker so while he was in the upper bracket of that it really wasn't that much money, although more than we perhaps could spend on such a gamble. Why didn't we have a RB who could play as a striker a the time?
Went off him after he shot that kid on the dirt bike in the desert in breaking bad.
Let's face it, he came to a club where the owner was in open warfare with the manager and the fans. If he'd succeeded it would have been a miracle. Mr Tan was trying to use his transfer as a means of demonstrating financial skulduggery. If we trawl around the premier league there have been much bigger failures. I, for one, wish the lad every success with his career except if he plays against us on Friday. In which case I hope he falls on his arse and can't hit a barn door from 5 yards out.
Him and his agent must’ve been pissing themselves when we agreed to pay him 40 big uns a week