I think that was more to do with us than them 
Here is Rory Gaffney scoring a goal that meant they played in the group stages in Europe.
I don’t think I need to say much more
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The vast majority of goals scored are due to some sort of defensive lapse, so it does happen all the time.
If he continues his good form do you not think it warrants another opportunity with us when the window re-opens in January??
I hope and expect the forward additions will be more L2 first team ready than Doug Taylor but I think he could have been a real asset on Saturday when we were tiring and had no forward options after Matt went off. He’s still young enough to improve a lot and playing regular football will do that, i have no doubt.
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Tbf to Gaffney it was only really here that he failed, his record shows that during his time in English football he had a 1 in 4 goal ratio, so not to shabby .
He was pants for us though
I think those stats suggest he’s very good in LoI … less so in England
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16 in 93? Yeah I’d say that was struggling.
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So 1 in 6 roughly is about 8 goals a season at Brizzle, so I agree, not great!
Then he had 1 in 4 at Salford, which isn’t bad, but not prolific.
Almost 1 in 4 for Shamrock, but as Thanny has said, that’s LOI and a different kettle of fish to English league football.
It’ll be interesting to see how DJT does across the next few months at Drogheda but I’m of the same school of thinking that great there, doesn’t mean he’s going to be the same here.
It certainly won’t harm his confidence and development a bit to score a few goals and see some success, though.
I also agree with an earlier post that he seemed to lack something instinctive or ‘know how’ when he was on the pitch for us - almost a bit lost and not sure where to be, what to do or ‘rabbit lost in the headlights’ a little bit at times; he just didn’t react to things like a sharp striker does - maybe that will come with some time, experience and coaching.
I’ve always thought he would be a better wide forward, not quite winger, than an out and put striker, as he has good pace, would run the channels well (!!) and stretch defences / get us up the pitch. The goal at Grimsby alluded to this a bit.
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There must be a lot of players out there like that, probably some that never even get the opportunity.
This isn’t a post to try and put DJT down, but I always put it down to a lack of desire to improve. Or maybe the is phrased wrong actually, not a lack of desire but not enough to really improve. It’s not physical attributes that are holding him back.
It can click though. Saw it with Will Grigg, the difference in him was noticeable, in the runs he made, and how he gambled on balls into the box with better timing. He went from really average to a player other clubs started to take interest in and quickly.
I’m gonna say this as well and some won’t like it but I believe it to be true. Sadler’s style of football isn’t ideal for any player to improve as a footballer, especially forward players. How many times did Knowles or Gordon get balls in the box like the one he scored off last night by getting across the defender? Gordons rarely got off the floor and Knowles hit the upper tier more than anywhere near a Walsall player. Plus all the running that is required, it takes a lot out of players.
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I do not see the last paragraph as necessarily being the case. Hutchinson progressed and Earing seems to have done. The fact that Knowles’ final ball was rarely effective is hardly the result of a style of play. I accept that Gordon, unlike DJ, does not find space in the box is an issue but, again, that is not down to a style of play.
It’s a tough job as a forward when the main part of your role is chasing either the ball into the channels or chasing defenders.
You say that Gordon’s lack of goals isn’t down to a style of play and yet he managed to score 15 in a season for Barrow. Could be an outlier but I’d like to bet at least part of it was style of play and a different role he was playing.
Possibly. He got 1 in 5 for us first time around, 1 in 3 and a half for Barrow, so we might expect him to get a dozen or so goals a season. His second period with us was the anomaly, which gives some weight to your argument, but I do remember him missing a lot of chances and with 21 appearances, his par would have been about 5 last season, which is not so many. Also, did he not take some penalties before?
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Actually closer to 1 in 4 in England
not including Walsall.
I would suggest that if we were linked to a 1 in 4 striker today most people on here would be ok with it.
As I say to dismiss the LOI as poor is naive in my opinion
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I’m not sure. That’s the basement level of what you expect from a striker. We’d probably be ok with it today because this summer we have whittled our options down to virtually nothing. That, and his time at Walsall did exist and was abysmal.
DJT nominated for player of the month award in the Irish league:clap:
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I am really pleased the lad is doing well. Maybe he will make the grade after all if he can become more confident.
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I broke down the main England stats from Bristol Rovers (which is just under 1 in 6) and then Salford (which is 1 in 4) as they would be the most use really.
If you want to look at England as a whole, 166 games with 35 goals is a goal every 4.74… games so just under 1 in 5. Either way, he wasn’t that effective for us and that is probably the main point that concerns us!!
I guess with our predicament, I would agree that if we found / had a 1 in 4 striker, we’d be reasonably happy with that!! Although, to be promoted, unless you are getting lots of goals from across the team, you need a 1 in 3 striker at least.
Nowhere in my post did I say that the LOI was poor, just that is was different to the English football league, which is pretty much a common thought / understanding.
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So about a 9/10 goal a season striker. Not the best. Same sort of goal figures over there with 10 less games to be fair.
Although most of those goals in England came in his peak years, form he’s managing to recreate now in his mid 30’s. Cack league!
Also, Guffney played most of his games for Salford in non league, for a good team that won promotion.
Also had his purple patch for Brizzle in a promotion winning team, then after that it was 1 in 6 for them.
Anyway, for us he was crap. But he did give me the best laugh I’ve had from a player in recent years, apart from the Ngoo pelanty shambles, when he air-kicked a cross on the byline against Pompey. I’m not sure if their fans or our fans were laughing loudest. 
These days we have a squad game. As I posted earlier, our strikers, if we include Oteh’s goals, scored 31 between them last season but Draper was highest with 10. Since Buckley, the only player we have had with 20+ league goals in a season is Lightbourne. If DJ plays a lot of games he might get between 15 and 20 but, generally, goals come from around the team. What matters is that we create chances.