Callum Doyle (26 Viewers)

[rob9872]

Sakamoto is not a weak leak. Going past players is one of the reasons lots of us love football. Him and EMC do it in different ways, both are good, EMC has a more natural strong physique, Saka just needs more protection by shit refs.

 

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[KenilworthSkyBlue]

Sakamoto is not a weak leak. Going past players is one of the reasons lots of us love football. Him and EMC do it in different ways, both are good, EMC has a more natural strong physique, Saka just needs more protection by shit refs.

He's not a weak link per say but his output fundamentally needs to be better. As a side looking to achieve promotion one of your starting forwards has to score more than 4 goals over a full season. It isn't good enough.

 

[TomRad85]

Sakamoto is not a weak leak. Going past players is one of the reasons lots of us love football. Him and EMC do it in different ways, both are good, EMC has a more natural strong physique, Saka just needs more protection by shit refs.

Agree you can't sum up his technical ability with some arbitrary number on a piece of paper. I enjoy stats don't get me wrong and they have worth but people need to start watching with their eyes again, which was funnily enough how he was spotted in the first place.
We do need competition for him really though.

 

[robbiethemole]

The fact that Jellyfish have survived for over 500 million years without a brain, must give hope to a lot of people

 

[skybluegod]

In 23/24, both Simms and BTA hit double figures playing predominantly upfront on their own in a 4-2-3-1. This narrative they can only play in a front 2 is false. They both had bad seasons last year and the coaching staff need to understand how to get 2 players back to their form previously. If there's no improvement, then next season you'd think they'll be offloaded. Either way, neither of them are first choice so putting more investment into a 2nd/3rd string player doesn't make sense.

There's a lot to like about Sakamoto, but there are just far too many games where he is a complete non-factor as an attacker. He has the hallmarks to be a great role player but not a top player in his position. Again, Thomas had significantly more shots and and xG than a winger.

You're right, looking at the starting 11, Sakamoto and CB is where you'd look to improve right off the bat. In ideal world, I'd like to have 4 quality wingers who can spread the workload and chip in with 6-8 goal contributions each as a minimum and the starters hitting 12-15. EMC's suggest he's capable of hitting 12-15 goal contributions, the numbers suggest Sakamoto couldn't.

Is it really that improbable for sakamoto to get 3 more than last year and 2 more than the his first season with us? Considering he did his back in the first season and clearly wasn't fully mentally there after it last season.

Unless you mean pure goals of course?

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I have stated several times that Wright should start in the middle. There were several on here trying to prove yourself and I wrong on the matter.

My problem is Wright hasn't been properly fit since he got injured. He will have to get his match fitness back before he will be at his best. If he has another setback we would be down to what you have called sub strikers. I'd go as far as substandard for BTA. All effort no end product. The problem with Simms seems to be his confidence is shot. We've had to replace a GK for the same reason.

Which, to go full circle, both Simms and BTA have proven in previous seasons they can lead the line and score goals at least in Wright's absence.

To manage people's expectations, how many goals do people expect from a sub striker over a season? Looking at the top 6, the only 2 second choice strikers scored 5+ goals; Mayenda and Simms with both failing to score from the bench. Cannon struggled at Sheff U, Leeds and Burnley didn't have good options for strikers from the bench and Armstrong at Bristol scored 3 goals all season. Anyone who expects a striker to be predominantly 2nd choice and score 10+ goals, you're in cuckoo land.

Too many people are reading too much into Haji's injury record in 2025. He had a significant injury, was rushed back at a critical point of the season and is being carefully managed ahead of the season.

In terms of impact players, with 5 subs you ought to have the ability to replace you wingers, a midfielder, a striker and a spare. The obvious gap is not a 'quality striker', it's we have no depth out wide and these are positions that clubs are increasingly reliant on for goals. In the Top 6, ourselves and Sunderland had the lowest scoring winger department.

 

[rob9872]

Which, to go full circle, both Simms and BTA have proven in previous seasons they can lead the line and score goals at least in Wright's absence.

To manage people's expectations, how many goals do people expect from a sub striker over a season? Looking at the top 6, the only 2 second choice strikers scored 5+ goals; Mayenda and Simms with both failing to score from the bench. Cannon struggled at Sheff U, Leeds and Burnley didn't have good options for strikers from the bench and Armstrong at Bristol scored 3 goals all season. Anyone who expects a striker to be predominantly 2nd choice and score 10+ goals, you're in cuckoo land.

Too many people are reading too much into Haji's injury record in 2025. He had a significant injury, was rushed back at a critical point of the season and is being carefully managed ahead of the season.

In terms of impact players, with 5 subs you ought to have the ability to replace you wingers, a midfielder, a striker and a spare. The obvious gap is not a 'quality striker', it's we have no depth out wide and these are positions that clubs are increasingly reliant on for goals. In the Top 6, ourselves and Sunderland had the lowest scoring winger department.

I wouldn't mind if Simms was our sub striker but he played 43 games last season and scored 6. It wasn't enough however it is spun.

 

[TomRad85]

I wouldn't mind if Simms was our sub striker but he played 43 games last season and scored 6. It wasn't enough however it is spun.

Also it's not the goals scored is it? It's the numbers thing again, but to watch he's just frustrating and doesn't offer much.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

None of those top 3 were missing their starting striker for 4 months. Can you call Simms a sub striker if he played more minutes than Wright? Both him and BTA were around the 360 mins per goal mark last season. If they were actually sub strikers over the course of the season and got on for 20 mins a game, that works out at 2.5 goals over the season. We need better than that.

For reference, who do you have in mind because there wasn't a single second choice striker in the top 6 who scored more than 5 goals from the bench. Even Keiffer Moore who had a lot of minutes from the bench scored all of his goals as a starter and and his non-penalty goals per minute was worse than Simms.

If Haji is in good health and plays 35-40 games this season, there is literally no need for another striker. BTA and Simms are more than capable of filling in for Haji.

Is it really that improbable for sakamoto to get 3 more than last year and 2 more than the his first season with us? Considering he did his back in the first season and clearly wasn't fully mentally there after it last season.

Unless you mean pure goals of course?

Sakamoto's xG was more or less the same in 23/24 and 24/25 and he massively outperformed his xG in 23/24 which suggests to me that this is an anomaly. There's a lot to like about Sakamoto, but being a big attacking threat isn't one of them and its an area we need more goals.

EMC scored more goals than Sakamoto whilst underperforming his xG in a significantly less game time.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I wouldn't mind if Simms was our sub striker but he played 43 games last season and scored 6. It wasn't enough however it is spun.

* appeared in.

His MPG (minutes per game) was 53 minutes, which is closer to 27 games rather than 46 (all comps). His minutes per goal was 346.5 last season (slightly better than 1 in 4 over 90m) which isn't too bad. Using his MPG, it's around 1 in 6.5 appearances which checks out really.

Given that he underperformed his xG considerably, my gut feeling is that he could have a good season next year.

 

[skybluegod]

For reference, who do you have in mind because there wasn't a single second choice striker in the top 6 who scored more than 5 goals from the bench. Even Keiffer Moore who had a lot of minutes from the bench scored all of his goals as a starter and and his non-penalty goals per minute was worse than Simms.

If Haji is in good health and plays 35-40 games this season, there is literally no need for another striker. BTA and Simms are more than capable of filling in for Haji.



Sakamoto's xG was more or less the same in 23/24 and 24/25 and he massively outperformed his xG in 23/24 which suggests to me that this is an anomaly. There's a lot to like about Sakamoto, but being a big attacking threat isn't one of them and its an area we need more goals.

EMC scored more goals than Sakamoto whilst underperforming his xG in a significantly less game time.

But it's not an anomaly if he's shown he can get c. 10 goal contributions in both seasons with us?

I'm not saying I disagree that Tata should have more competition I do think he needs it, but if the bar is to get just 2 more goal contributions then I'm not sure it's worth a significant outlay.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

IS DOYLE SIGNING OR WHAT THEN

 

[WebbCCFC]

For reference, who do you have in mind because there wasn't a single second choice striker in the top 6 who scored more than 5 goals from the bench. Even Keiffer Moore who had a lot of minutes from the bench scored all of his goals as a starter and and his non-penalty goals per minute was worse than Simms.

If Haji is in good health and plays 35-40 games this season, there is literally no need for another striker. BTA and Simms are more than capable of filling in for Haji.



Sakamoto's xG was more or less the same in 23/24 and 24/25 and he massively outperformed his xG in 23/24 which suggests to me that this is an anomaly. There's a lot to like about Sakamoto, but being a big attacking threat isn't one of them and its an area we need more goals.

EMC scored more goals than Sakamoto whilst underperforming his xG in a significantly less game time.

My point was more based on Simms as you labelled him as a sub striker and used last season's goals where he played the most minutes out of any of our strikers to say he's good enough for that role. We need to identify someone who's more suited to Lampard's favoured formation rather than Simms or BTA who clearly aren't up to it. Sell Simms, reinvest in someone who can challenge Haji for the starting role, rather than label them as starters and subs.

 

[quinn1971]

IS DOYLE SIGNING OR WHAT THEN

no

 

[Otis]

Who was good off the bench last night? I turned off at about 65 mins.

Are we a tag team or something? Because that's exactly when I turned the game on.

 

[Lamps]

* appeared in.

His MPG (minutes per game) was 53 minutes, which is closer to 27 games rather than 46 (all comps). His minutes per goal was 346.5 last season (slightly better than 1 in 4 over 90m) which isn't too bad. Using his MPG, it's around 1 in 6.5 appearances which checks out really.

Given that he underperformed his xG considerably, my gut feeling is that he could have a good season next year.

At that rate if he played every minute of every game he would get nearly 12 goals.

How about BTA?

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

But it's not an anomaly if he's shown he can get c. 10 goal contributions in both seasons with us?

I'm not saying I disagree that Tata should have more competition I do think he needs it, but if the bar is to get just 2 more goal contributions then I'm not sure it's worth a significant outlay.

If we're looking at goals, 23/24 was an outlier for Sakamoto because that was his best goal tally in Europe by far and scored a lot of goals that we low xG chances. He had a similar season in the J-League back in 20/21. It's possible he improves his output, just not probable. At his current goal scoring 'run rate', he'd have to get 8-12 assists to get us over the line.

Frankly, it won't be that difficult to invest £4-5m into a striker who can get 12-15 goal contributions.

My point was more based on Simms as you labelled him as a sub striker and used last season's goals where he played the most minutes out of any of our strikers to say he's good enough for that role. We need to identify someone who's more suited to Lampard's favoured formation rather than Simms or BTA who clearly aren't up to it. Sell Simms, reinvest in someone who can challenge Haji for the starting role, rather than label them as starters and subs.

Who do you have in mind? I've just outlined that Mayenda, Simms and Moore were the top scoring 'second choice' strikers of the top 6 and between all 3, only Moore scored a goal from the bench.

If you play 1 striker, by definition you have a 1st and 2nd choice. Wright only played 169 minutes less than Simms all season and Haji Wright started the most games of the lot. That is despite being injured for 3-4 months which exposes just how much we chopped and changed the strikers at their detriment imo.

The only period of time Simms and BTA started for a good run of games, they both came big for us and won us crucial points over Jan-Feb, without their contributions, we wouldn't have made the playoffs.

 

[Grendel]

Quick comparison:

- BTA + Simms = 4374 minutes played, 12 goals

- Sakamoto + EMC = 4842 minutes, 9 goals.

Let’s put aside that we do not have the depth required to play 4-2-3-1 without playing players out of position… 9 goals from 2 attacking players is just not good enough. For context, Leeds had 3 wingers with 9+ goals alone. Even Sheff U had 4 wingers who matched Sakamoto’s goal scoring tally.

EMC’s numbers are generally encouraging and with a trusted role and an injury free season, would reasonably expect to him to hit 12-15 goal contributions. I’m not worried about him at all really.

However, I just don’t get why Sakamoto is viewed as a sacred cow. He’s a good player but it’s an area where we can improve upon easily. He would make a great role/impact player.

The hyper fixation on bringing in a striker is missing the bigger picture really. Haji is the number one guy and he’s proven he’s a top end striker so wanting to replace more fringe players just isn’t a priority compared to areas on the pitch where we lack extra quality as well as depth.

Sakamoto isn’t a sacred cow but again you would have said Hutchison was awful as he was a winger who rarely scored goals

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

At that rate if he played every minute of every game he would get nearly 12 goals.

How about BTA?

BTA played less minutes and scored the same amount of goals (all comps), at least 2 of goals came from the wing (Oxford & Spurs in the league cup).

 

[Kingokings204]

IS DOYLE SIGNING OR WHAT THEN

maybe . Come back next week

 

[Lamps]

BTA played less minutes and scored the same amount of goals (all comps), at least 2 of goals came from the wing (Oxford & Spurs in the league cup).

So BTA is better than Simms?

 

[WebbCCFC]

If we're looking at goals, 23/24 was an outlier for Sakamoto because that was his best goal tally in Europe by far and scored a lot of goals that we low xG chances. He had a similar season in the J-League back in 20/21. It's possible he improves his output, just not probable. At his current goal scoring 'run rate', he'd have to get 8-12 assists to get us over the line.

Frankly, it won't be that difficult to invest £4-5m into a striker who can get 12-15 goal contributions.



Who do you have in mind? I've just outlined that Mayenda, Simms and Moore were the top scoring 'second choice' strikers of the top 6 and between all 3, only Moore scored a goal from the bench.

If you play 1 striker, by definition you have a 1st and 2nd choice. Wright only played 169 minutes less than Simms all season and Haji Wright started the most games of the lot. That is despite being injured for 3-4 months which exposes just how much we chopped and changed the strikers at their detriment imo.

The only period of time Simms and BTA started for a good run of games, they both came big for us and won us crucial points over Jan-Feb, without their contributions, we wouldn't have made the playoffs.

You're agreeing with my point, they were successful when we went to 5 at the back and played 2 up top. They don't suit the system. I'd be looking in the Salech mould, he's shown he's capable in our formation. Presses well, can hold the ball up and can finish. I've said in the transfer targets thread that I'd be looking at swapping wingers on 60 mins, we could take off Saka and EMC for a new CF and new RW and switch Wright out to the left. But it wouldn't make sense to go for a striker unless we move one of those 2 on.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Sakamoto isn’t a sacred cow but again you would have said Hutchison was awful as he was a winger who rarely scored goals

The game has changed from the 1970s and with that the role and expectations of a winger.

Sakamoto isn't a standout player in any attacking category

So BTA is better than Simms?

No. 23/24 and 22/23 data suggests Simms is a better goal scorer overall. BTA's xG was quite low (remember his wonder goal v Swansea) and despite Simms' poor season, at least he got in goal scoring positions to miss.

The point here is that both players are clearly capable of filling in and making an impact when required. We won't get much better unless we're spending £5-6m for a player who will almost definitely expect to start... Who almost definitely is not better than Haji Wright.

 

[steve cooper]

Sakamoto isn’t a sacred cow but again you would have said Hutchison was awful as he was a winger who rarely scored goals

Yes, he averaged just over 3 goals a season for us, and throughout his career, based roughly on current games per season.

 

[Lamps]

The point here is that both players are clearly capable of filling in and making an impact when required. We won't get much better unless we're spending £5-6m for a player who will almost definitely expect to start... Who almost definitely is not better than Haji Wright.

Our main striker was out for months. The two of them struggled to make it into double figures between them all season. This isn't clearly capable to me.

Simms is a big unit. Can you imagine if he played for the side who scored the most headed goals in Europe?

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

You're agreeing with my point, they were successful when we went to 5 at the back and played 2 up top. They don't suit the system. I'd be looking in the Salech mould, he's shown he's capable in our formation. Presses well, can hold the ball up and can finish. I've said in the transfer targets thread that I'd be looking at swapping wingers on 60 mins, we could take off Saka and EMC for a new CF and new RW and switch Wright out to the left. But it wouldn't make sense to go for a striker unless we move one of those 2 on.

Facts are friendly and both players played as lone strikers in 22/23, 23/24 and scored a good amount of goals so it's more likely that 24/25 was just an outlier. Selling both of them smacks of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Again, name me a striker in the Championship who scored more than 4+ goals from the bench specifically. There wasn't a single example in the Top 6 last year. Salech wouldn't join us to play second fiddle to Haji Wright and given his initial £3.3m fee last year... Cardiff will want a minimum of £5m (probably double that) so this is wishful thinking (borderline delusional) when those funds could be allocated more efficiently elsewhere.

This is an important point to make because your alternatives need to be better than the existing options. Even £10m signing Tom Cannon has struggled in a bit-part role for Sheff U as he struggled to supplant Campbell from the starting lineup.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

Our main striker was out for months. The two of them struggled to make it into double figures between them all season. This isn't clearly capable to me.

Simms is a big unit. Can you imagine if he played for the side who scored the most headed goals in Europe?

If only...

Wait, he scored 4 headed goals which would probably be up there as one of the highest in the division. More than the likes of Morris and Moore who fans were pining over for this specific reason i.e. headed goals.

 

[rob9872]

* appeared in.

His MPG (minutes per game) was 53 minutes, which is closer to 27 games rather than 46 (all comps). His minutes per goal was 346.5 last season (slightly better than 1 in 4 over 90m) which isn't too bad. Using his MPG, it's around 1 in 6.5 appearances which checks out really.

Given that he underperformed his xG considerably, my gut feeling is that he could have a good season next year.

Yep so you agree. Not often a few mins as sub, but often taken off after an hour for playing shite!

 

[rob9872]

If only...

Wait, he scored 4 headed goals which would probably be up there as one of the highest in the division. More than the likes of Morris and Moore who fans were pining over for this specific reason i.e. headed goals.

So with his feet he got 2 in 43 then

*edit - and Jeremy Beadle dropped one of them for him, can't remember the other.

 

[TomRad85]

Yep so you agree. Not often a few mins as sub, but often taken off after an hour for playing shite!

Let's be honest here, Robins and also tbf the majority of this forum though the Wright, Simms, Sakamoto front 3 would be our golden ticket last season. The biggest reason that wasn't the case was the useless unit in the middle.

 

[TomRad85]

So with his feet he got 2 in 43 then

*edit - and Jeremy Beadle dropped one of them for him, can't remember the other.

Swansea away.

 

[WebbCCFC]

Facts are friendly and both players played as lone strikers in 22/23, 23/24 and scored a good amount of goals so it's more likely that 24/25 was just an outlier. Selling both of them smacks of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Again, name me a striker in the Championship who scored more than 4+ goals from the bench specifically. There wasn't a single example in the Top 6 last year. Salech wouldn't join us to play second fiddle to Haji Wright and given his initial £3.3m fee last year... Cardiff will want a minimum of £5m (probably double that) so this is wishful thinking (borderline delusional) when those funds could be allocated more efficiently elsewhere.

This is an important point to make because your alternatives need to be better than the existing options. Even £10m signing Tom Cannon has struggled in a bit-part role for Sheff U as he struggled to supplant Campbell from the starting lineup.

Piroe got 4 goals from the bench last season for the team that finished top... Michael Smith got 5 off the bench for Wednesday if you want to look further down the league.
Exactly why I said someone in the Salech mould rather than him... If Cardiff can find him for £3m from abroad then why can't we who can have that impact. We shouldn't sign someone and tell them you're going to be a sub, it's a squad game and they should be fighting for a starting place.
BTA played in a West Brom side that soaked up pressure and countered which suits his style -> not how we play.
Simms (under a different manager) was nowhere near good enough in the league for 75% of that season and his numbers were heightened due to goals in the FA cup and a hat trick vs Rotherham. He only has goals in 14 games out of 89 in the league for us.

 

[mrfr]

So is he signing or what? If not, can someone rename this thread to ‘Literally every player except Callum Doyle including Tom Cannon for some reason’.

 

[SkyBlueCharlie9]

Simms needs to work much harder but I think there is player in there. Sadly confidence affected him too much and not helped after he was dropped by MR game after scoring away at Watford.
To be slightly fair he is always being manhandled by defenders and could say he creates distraction/space for Rudoni coming in late.
Simms needs to work on movement in box and anticipating where wingers can mix putting the ball as near post option rarely attacked enough . Corners/crosses have lead to us being amongst most headed goals in Europe though so can't all be bad.
As for BTA, I don't know what system or position rwally suits him. He struggles to control ball or pass sometimes but there is a player in there too.
Suspect we will stick with both but worth looking at Kone and European options.

 

[rob9872]

He only has goals in 14 games out of 89 in the league for us.

I wouldn't mind if he was like Cyrille who also wasn't prolific, but the thing here in the 75 games out of 89 that Simms didn't score he looks immobile, doesnt win headers, doesnt show pace or hold it up or win lots of flick ons in the air, may aswell have a traffic cone as all he does is occupy a defender. Would love for him to ram these words back at me but it's just not enough offered.