taiwo atieno and the kenyan national team

[bixieupnorth]

i really think this deserves its own topic

as mentioned in the post about our pitifully small squad, someone posted a link to an article about tai being called up for ANC qualifier in nairobi at the end of the month, and mentions that he would be needed from today

this is the link http://www.futaa.com/football/article/t ... tars-squad" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

obviously if he goes this has a massive effect on our recent great run, as you know rene missed saturdays match, and theres no guarantee that he'll be fit again for tomorrow night or even saturday

our other options are chris mcphee, who has thus far not been given a run out in the side, and the opinion of many many people on here is that he is just not up to the challenge ahead of him. despite him being a fairly prolific goalscorer in the conference before he re-signed for us. will he do a tai, and prove everyone wrong??

will tai decide to forego his international career for the sake of a supporting role to rene

will martin bring an emergency loan in??

will he use one of the younger pros and see what they do?

is this the end of our play off/promotion challenge??

[popside_yidlad]

Im hoping tai will be allowed to stay until after chelts game which buys us time with rene or getting loanee. If not when mcphee came in upfront he played reasonably, held the ball up well and looked a threat aerially. Would certainly be a game to put Nathan Craig on the bench at the least. In my opinion would replace morris in starting line up as morris gives it away too much while Craig rarely does and has a fantastic cross particularly from set-plays. This would suit what is our best chance of a goal

[kittiwake]

I understand he only needs to be there a week before the match (29th) so the first Torquay game he'd miss would be Gillingham.

[Parry]

The saving factor for us is that unlike some clubs, we're not too dependent on our strikers to get us goals.

[AustrianAndyGull]

No, No, No and No Bix. If Tai gets a call up for Kenya he must take the opportunity, i would die to play for my country ( Austria obviously ) whilst most England players HAVE! Either that or they were unconscious . We,ve got Nathan Craig and McPhee so if we're not gonna use them when needs must then what's the bloody point in having them here? We should give them a run out and then see where we are after a few games. Surely they can't balls our whole season up in a couple of games?! I don't think Tai going will have a detrimental effect on our chances of promtion short term. Like i've said before, Martin has managed key absentees admirably thus far and i trust him to do so again should need be. This is Martin not Buckle, he'll take the most sensible and common sense option to benefit the team.

[Southampton Gull]

I understand he only needs to be there a week before the match (29th) so the first Torquay game he'd miss would be Gillingham.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Isn't it nice that others are now seeing in Taiwo what we knew all along?

[Dave]

Some of us did try , no one would listen

[AustrianAndyGull]

I think Tai would be better suited playing with another striker who could take on the goal burden as Tai is hardly prolific but does a lot of hard graft and work. It may be the system we play that doesn't afford him more chances to score. I have to give him immense credit for making me view him ( like Stevens also ) in a more positive light; however, my opinions on him being a productive goal threat at this level haven't changed although my views saying he wasn't up to league football have i must admit. Happy to admit when i've got things wrong but also i'm happy to stick by my guns when i feel i'm right.

[kittiwake]

Thanks for clearing that up.

Isn't it nice that others are now seeing in Taiwo what we knew all along?

It is indeed, Southampton Gull!

Being a Tai supporter primarily (and a Torquay fan as a result) I have watched with interest the many, mainly critical, posts over the past few months. Fair enough he was off-form over the autumn but I did try to tell you there was more to come! Amusing to see AA Gull slowly coming round from comparing Tai''s play to various forms of excrement to admitting he has something to offer! No offence Andy - I do admire your honesty and enjoy your spirited posts!

For the record he does prefer playing with another striker up front.

[AustrianAndyGull]

It is indeed, Southampton Gull!

Being a Tai supporter primarily (and a Torquay fan as a result) I have watched with interest the many, mainly critical, posts over the past few months. Fair enough he was off-form over the autumn but I did try to tell you there was more to come! Amusing to see AA Gull slowly coming round from comparing Tai''s play to various forms of excrement to admitting he has something to offer! No offence Andy - I do admire your honesty and enjoy your spirited posts!

For the record he does prefer playing with another striker up front.

No worries kittiwake. I love those birds by the way, not sure if that is why it's your username because you love them too? We get them inland even in Yorkshire competing with ducks for food. It's great seeing them. Anyway, ornithology aside i'm glad you don't feel that i have some sort of vendetta against Tai. I honestly don't and would like nothing more than to see him succeed as he is a Torquay player. I suppose i have a very blinkered view on strikers which may or may not be right but for me strikers are there to score goals just like a defender is there to stop them at the other end. Yes a player can run around all day which i greatly appreciate; however, he must also be able to find the net with consistency for me to consider them a good striker. Although Tai has scored three times this season and his performances generally have been workmanlike it is still not enough of a goals to games ratio that i consider to be acceptable for someone paid to do a job. An example of a player like this is Connor Sammon at Wigan, he runs around a bit but NEVER scores and that puts pressure on the rest of the team who have there own jobs to do. Now IMO Sammon is not even a Championship quality striker so he needs to drop down the divisions a bit to find his level where he can be prolific again.I know strikers can't score each time they take to the field but it is all about consistency even at our level. People could shoot me down in flames and say that Tai is at this level because he is inconsistent and that would emphasise my point even more that he is not yet proven as a league footballer (striker). The sympathy i have with Tai is that he has been in and out of the side and often has a lone role and that obviously has a great impact on his chances of scoring goals. I'd like to see him in a more close partnership with someone to really make my mind up. Tai has done so well recently and forced me to re-evaluate my opinion of him but i'm not totally convinced yet. The call up to the Kenyan squad will be well deserved and might give him more confidence too. Either way i sincerely hope he does well and thanks once again kittiwake for the kind comments about my posts.

[kittiwake]

Thanks for your detailed response Andy. The choice of kittiwake stems from my love of Cornwall by the way.
On the subject of Tai scoring, I can't really join your argument because I don't understand the game well enough! However, it is interesting to note that when Tai left Luton Town in January last year he was top scorer for the number of minutes spent on the pitch. There are goals in there so it's frustrating they're not coming for Torquay. However, he's happiest when he's a regular starter and playing 90 minute games, so let's hope the confidence keeps building.

[AustrianAndyGull]

The good thing is that when they have come they have been vital so thanks Tai!

[ferrarilover]

He's getting better, but has a long way to go to convince me that he's reached his potential. Once again on Saturday, he looked lazy and disinterested a number of times while in possession and have away the ball for the sake of bothering to hit his passes properly.
Doubtless, the potential to be absolutely brilliant, but still far, far too casual when it really matters. The Rovers incident a key example, made half a dozen defenders look very silly indeed, then took the finish for granted, didn't bother to apply himself, and made an arse of it.

Making progress for sure, anywhere near his potential, certainly not.

Matt.

[Glostergull]

So Do we now have a new song for taiwo. Taiwo for Kenya da dada da

[CP Gull]

Came on as a substitute for Kenya this afternoon for the last 5 minutes of their 2-1 win over Togo (without the "absent" Adebayor it seems). Sure is a long way to go for 5 minutes of action but fair play to him as it should always be an honour to represent your country and it's another international cap to add to his collection.

Safe journey home Taiwo, and hope you are not too jet lagged for Crawley on Saturday.