I think Matt Harrold was a really good signing. I don't see him as a 90 minute player, nor a regular starter (at least not at this stage of his career), but I think he's an excellent player to be able to bring off the bench, and you need players who can do that.
His height and aerial ability add an extra dimension to our play which is handy when we get desperate and start launching it and on more than once occasion this season he's caused panic in the opposition defence.
Whilst defending a lead he wins lots in the air, has a decent touch and is relatively mobile, which means the ball doesn't come straight back at us. His added height at set pieces also makes us defensively more secure.
The stats back this up. He has made 18 sub appearances this season.
Out of those, in every game in which we were winning (5 out of those 18) we held onto our lead, didn't concede and in one game we stretched our lead further (by 2 goals). Job done and no further comment needed.
In 11 games we were trailing.
In 7 of those we were trailing by a single goal:
Against West Brom in 18 minutes he scored the equaliser as we went from 0-1 to 1-1
Against Stoke in 10 minutes we went from 0-1 to 1-1
Against Leicester he only played 4 minutes but set up McCormack's equaliser for 2-2
18 minutes against Leeds from 0-1 to 0-2
5 minutes agaisnt Wolves, already losing 0-1
8 minutes against Derby, already losing 0-1
11 minutes against Palace already losing 0-1
So he rescued a point when one goal down in 3 out of 7 chances, a pretty good return for a total of just 74 minutes action!
In four of those games, we were losing by two or more goals:
Against Norwich in 26 minutes he inspired a comeback from 3-1 down to 3-3
Against Spurs in 22 minutes he won us the penalty to get it back to 1-2, although Spurs later scored again
21 minutes against Sunderland, game already over, was losing 0-2 lost 0-4
29 minutes against Birmingham, game already over losing 0-3 to 0-4
So out of 4 games in which we trailed by 2 goals, he inspired us to a point in one game, and got us back into a second game. I'd say that was a pretty impressive return as well.
His other sub appearances were
7 minutes on debut against Sheff Wed, couldn't break a 0-0 deadlock
10 minutes against Luton, drew 0-0 but Freddy hit the post in the dying seconds for what would have been a massive win
All in all, I'd say that was an exceptional return from a substitute in a struggling team. I'm not sure what more you could expect from a sub.
Use him as an impact player and he does an excellent job.
His height and aerial ability add an extra dimension to our play which is handy when we get desperate and start launching it and on more than once occasion this season he's caused panic in the opposition defence.
Whilst defending a lead he wins lots in the air, has a decent touch and is relatively mobile, which means the ball doesn't come straight back at us. His added height at set pieces also makes us defensively more secure.
The stats back this up. He has made 18 sub appearances this season.
Out of those, in every game in which we were winning (5 out of those 18) we held onto our lead, didn't concede and in one game we stretched our lead further (by 2 goals). Job done and no further comment needed.
In 11 games we were trailing.
In 7 of those we were trailing by a single goal:
Against West Brom in 18 minutes he scored the equaliser as we went from 0-1 to 1-1
Against Stoke in 10 minutes we went from 0-1 to 1-1
Against Leicester he only played 4 minutes but set up McCormack's equaliser for 2-2
18 minutes against Leeds from 0-1 to 0-2
5 minutes agaisnt Wolves, already losing 0-1
8 minutes against Derby, already losing 0-1
11 minutes against Palace already losing 0-1
So he rescued a point when one goal down in 3 out of 7 chances, a pretty good return for a total of just 74 minutes action!
In four of those games, we were losing by two or more goals:
Against Norwich in 26 minutes he inspired a comeback from 3-1 down to 3-3
Against Spurs in 22 minutes he won us the penalty to get it back to 1-2, although Spurs later scored again
21 minutes against Sunderland, game already over, was losing 0-2 lost 0-4
29 minutes against Birmingham, game already over losing 0-3 to 0-4
So out of 4 games in which we trailed by 2 goals, he inspired us to a point in one game, and got us back into a second game. I'd say that was a pretty impressive return as well.
His other sub appearances were
7 minutes on debut against Sheff Wed, couldn't break a 0-0 deadlock
10 minutes against Luton, drew 0-0 but Freddy hit the post in the dying seconds for what would have been a massive win
All in all, I'd say that was an exceptional return from a substitute in a struggling team. I'm not sure what more you could expect from a sub.
Use him as an impact player and he does an excellent job.
