Burnley looking at Sakala. ?

23, turning 24 in a few months. Sakala was 24. There really wasn't much between them in age. I'd suggest Tav is a pretty different player now to what he was when he signed.
That's true. A bit of a differnt scenario though imo.

Tav got the game time he needed to aid his development because be was still our best option in his position at the time.
 
Was Jamie Vardy not signed from non league football at the age of 25 ?

Folk saying Skala cannot develop is nonsense. He has the tools, raw pace, he can finish and his attitude is excellent, but he needs game time.
I'd prefer he went somewher on loan if Gio isn't going to play him. We might regret selling him.
 
A player that contributed 17 g/a last season. It’s clear now that he’s a back up and he’s extremely grateful to be at Rangers, won’t get much better than that for a back up.

Infectious character and will play a part in our season 100%.

Katic, Roofe, Helander etc should all be moved on before him. Punting Sakala is the least of our concerns.

I don’t get the criticism of the guy when he tries 100% when he is on the field and has contributed in big moments. Absolutely not the worst guy to be sitting on our bench.
 
That's true. A bit of a differnt scenario though imo.

Tav got the game time he needed to aid his development because be was still our best option in his position at the time.
He was also bought to initially help us out of the Championship, Sakala was bought for many different reasons
 
A player that contributed 17 g/a last season. It’s clear now that he’s a back up and he’s extremely grateful to be at Rangers, won’t get much better than that for a back up.

Infectious character and will play a part in our season 100%.

Katic, Roofe, Helander etc should all be moved on before him. Punting Sakala is the least of our concerns.

I don’t get the criticism of the guy when he tries 100% when he is on the field and has contributed in big moments. Absolutely not the worst guy to be sitting on our bench.
He won’t get near our bench with, Colak, Wright, Roofe, Hagi, Lowry, Tillman, Alfie, Kent, Arfield all able to play across our front line this season
 
Was Jamie Vardy not signed from non league football at the age of 25 ?

Folk saying Skala cannot develop is nonsense. He has the tools, raw pace, he can finish and his attitude is excellent, but he needs game time.
I'd prefer he went somewher on loan if Gio isn't going to play him. We might regret selling him.
Pace aside he really doesn’t.

Anyway it’s a shame Gio isn’t as clued up as most on this thread. Wish someone would send him the wee Goals vs minutes spreadsheet so he can realise what a massive mistake he’s making.
 
Pace aside he really doesn’t.

Anyway it’s a shame Gio isn’t as clued up as most on this thread. Wish someone would send him the wee Goals vs minutes spreadsheet so he can realise what a massive mistake he’s making.

The boy can finish, and he creates chances when he's played.
Gio rates him enough to have brought him on in the EL final and a lot of other key games, and our football dept saw enough to give him a 4 yr contract.
If he's as pish as you imply, surely we'd have bitten Burnley's hand off for 3M?
 
The boy can finish, and he creates chances when he's played.
Gio rates him enough to have brought him on in the EL final and a lot of other key games, and our football dept saw enough to give him a 4 yr contract.
If he's as pish as you imply, surely we'd have bitten Burnley's hand off for 3M?
Lol, or you could say Gio doesn’t rate him so much that he actually preferred to start a midfielder up front with our two other strikers injured. And he can finish, as most strikers can, he’s not exactly clinical though and he wastes some amount of opportunities to actually create something when he’s got the ball in great positions.

But trying to make a case for Gio “rating”
seems absurd going off of what we’ve seen last season and what we’re seeing so far this season.
 
Lol, or you could say Gio doesn’t rate him so much that he actually preferred to start a midfielder up front with our two other strikers injured. And he can finish, as most strikers can, he’s not exactly clinical though and he wastes some amount of opportunities to actually create something when he’s got the ball in great positions.

But trying to make a case for Gio “rating”
seems absurd going off of what we’ve seen last season and what we’re seeing so far this season.

You wouldn't bring a player on in potentially the biggest game of your managerial career if you didn't rate him at all, would you?

I think Fashion has the ability and attitude to carve a very successful career. Hopefully it's with us, we'll find out soon.
 
It’s a strange one with Fashion, he’s clearly a talented player and anyone saying otherwise is lying to themselves.

But, he needs work, and he seems like the type of character who will learn if given the opportunity to learn. The fact is at football clubs some people are there for their influence, and while his influence is different to a Tav or Arfield, there is no way the squad doesn’t benefit from having his smile and personality around every day and Gio will see this.

For me he contributes more than some others do, an we need to appreciate that. His goal contributions last year alone are way ahead of some fan favourites.

I’d like to see him get some game time but I also trust the staff, let’s see what happens.
 
You wouldn't bring a player on in potentially the biggest game of your managerial career if you didn't rate him at all, would you?

I think Fashion has the ability and attitude to carve a very successful career. Hopefully it's with us, we'll find out soon.
You would if your other 2 strikers were injured and you’d gone into extra time with a midfielder up front. He got subbed back off again by the way, remember that?
 
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You would if you’re other 2 strikers were injured and you’d gone into extra time with a midfielder up front. He got subbed back off again by the way, remember that?
I'll never effing forget it, because he takes penalties for Zambia. So I'd rather he had stayed on, and taken the penalty instead of Ramsey. I think Gio is FAR better a manager than SG - but IMO, that was a serious mistake (OK, I know it's hindsight).
 
I like Sakala as he puts in a lot of effort on the pitch and he contributed a decent amount of goals last season. Unless we get a decent offer for him then I would be inclined to keep him in the short term as we can’t rely on Roofe due to his injuries and Sakala gives us another option up front. I recognise his shortcomings such as poor technical ability, poor positioning and lack of football intelligence but I would keep him until January as I wouldn’t imagine he is a massive drain on our wages bill at the club.
 
I'll never effing forget it, because he takes penalties for Zambia. So I'd rather he had stayed on, and taken the penalty instead of Ramsey. I think Gio is FAR better a manager than SG - but IMO, that was a serious mistake (OK, I know it's hindsight).
Ramsay takes penalties for Wales and without the benefit of hindsight it was a no brainer. I was calling for them to bring it on. Our big marquee signing gets the winning goal to win us the Europa league. It was written for that moment. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way.
 
You would if your other 2 strikers were injured and you’d gone into extra time with a midfielder up front. He got subbed back off again by the way, remember that?

A big mistake by Gio, as i think we all knew Ramsay was missing, but cest la vie.
I'd have backed Fashion to put his away, but we'll never know.

Anyway, i pointed out that Vardy was signed from non league football at the same age Sakala is now. You implied he was too late to develop as a player. There's an example right there, a non league player at 25, became an EPL winner and regular England international.
 
It’s a strange one with Fashion, he’s clearly a talented player and anyone saying otherwise is lying to themselves.

But, he needs work, and he seems like the type of character who will learn if given the opportunity to learn. The fact is at football clubs some people are there for their influence, and while his influence is different to a Tav or Arfield, there is no way the squad doesn’t benefit from having his smile and personality around every day and Gio will see this.

For me he contributes more than some others do, an we need to appreciate that. His goal contributions last year alone are way ahead of some fan favourites.

I’d like to see him get some game time but I also trust the staff, let’s see what happens.

This pretty much nails it. He might not get as much game time as last season, but he'll contribute on and off the pitch, and I get the feeling he's only going to improve as a player. If he can work on his composure and finishing, he'll be a very useful domestic player.

I accept that he's behind Lawrence, Matondo and Kent for the wide positions, but Lowry and Tillman (and Lawrence most of the time) should be played centrally and he should be on par with Arfield and Wright for me. A couple of injuries and we'd definitely regret letting him go.
 
A big mistake by Gio, as i think we all knew Ramsay was missing, but cest la vie.
I'd have backed Fashion to put his away, but we'll never know.

Anyway, i pointed out that Vardy was signed from non league football at the same age Sakala is now. You implied he was too late to develop as a player. There's an example right there, a non league player at 25, became an EPL winner and regular England international.
Vardy actually did have the tools though, and picking one example that really is a complete anomaly means nothing. The chances that Sakala would be a similar success story are absolutely minimal.

As for the Ramsey penalty, piss easy to say that now, but I bet very few were thinking that before the shootout started.
 
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He already is a cult figure based on the number of people who seem to see a great player in him. He's a reasonable player but if he played against us for Hearts or Livingston, we'd not be particularly worried about him.

Really? Since losing Bassey and Balogun we probably have one of the slowest defences going. Martin Boyle ripped us to pieces with his pace at times last season so I think you're a bit wide of the mark there.
 
I don’t see £3m as enough to make us want to sell him.
As others have said with Roofe almost always injured we don’t have a great deal of cover up front.
Sakala is one of those players who can be frustrating, a Nacho Novo type but one capable of something out of the ordinary.
 
Gio clearly doesn’t rate him so I wouldn't be surprised. He doesn’t see him as a number 9 and he doesn’t contribute enough defensively when he plays him out wide.
Tell me an instance where a goals been caused because of him not helping out defensively
 
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