Ike Ugbo

[hodgkiss]

Which could also be a blessing for him too - a clean slate with a new manager. It shows you that it's not just the performance of one player...

[Corazon]

Mama Balde who has 8 goals for Troyes this season (next highest player has 3 goals) left this game injured early on and after getting his 9th goal.  I have no idea the extent of the injury or if it's just precaution.  But this could open up a chance for Ugbo to get an opportunity or at least make the bench again.  Unless, he's fallen that far down in the coach's mind.

[narduch]

45 minutes ago, Corazon said:

Mama Balde who has 8 goals for Troyes this season (next highest player has 3 goals) left this game injured early on and after getting his 9th goal.  I have no idea the extent of the injury or if it's just precaution.  But this could open up a chance for Ugbo to get an opportunity or at least make the bench again.  Unless, he's fallen that far down in the coach's mind.

And they are losing 3-1 to Toulouse (the original TFC).

Edit: They ended up losing 4-1. Toulouse are one of the newly promoted sides. Troyes are a mess.

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by narduch

[WheatsheafSK]

The manager clearly does not rate Ugbo - attitude or otherwise.  He has barely given him any chances since arriving in November.  The only win they have this year is one where Ugbo got 17 minutes (they were winning when he came on).  In fact, the entire team is sliding.  I doubt that Ugbo is the only one suffering from an alleged attitude problem.  I can only assume that the team has not bought into this manager, and his days are numbered.  Troyes tried to keep the team together in the summer to help them beat the large drop in Ligue 1 this year.  They will need to act fast if they have any hope of getting out of the relegation fight.  

[narduch]

Made the group for their match today v Lyon.

[narduch]

Made the bench 

[narduch]

An unused sub in a 3-1 loss.

Troyes will be in the relegation zone of Ajaccio win tomorrow 

[Corazon]

Can’t wait for a new coach and hopefully a new opportunity to impress for Ugbo because it looks like the writing is on the wall with this coach.

[Bertuzzi44]

He's unimpressed 2 coaches in a row (and possibly Herdman too tbh), so maybe Ugbo has to look inside and start working harder.

[jonovision]

1 minute ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

He's unimpressed 2 coaches in a row (and possibly Herdman too tbh), so maybe Ugbo has to look inside and start working harder.

I haven't watched a lot of his club matches, but between club and country I've never been impressed.

[narduch]

Unused sub again today. Troyes lost 4-0 to Reims.

1 point up on the relegation zone

[DeRo_Is_King]

4 hours ago, narduch said:

Unused sub again today. Troyes lost 4-0 to Reims.

1 point up on the relegation zone

That's the third-straight game Troyes has lost by two goals or more, and Ugbo has not played a second in any of them.

Hopefully, Kisnorbo will look at this drubbing, realize the current guys aren't getting it done and gives Ugbo another shot. 

[narduch]

An unused sub again today. 

Troyes lost 1-0 to Montpellier. 

Troyes have now dropped into the relegation zone.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

An unused sub again today. 

Troyes lost 1-0 to Montpellier. 

Troyes have now dropped into the relegation zone.

Hate to see Troyes and Ugbo struggle, but maybe dropping down a level would lead to him getting starts, as a number of players would probably leave for greener pastures than Ligue 2. I think Ugbo is better than Ligue 2, but you gotta show and prove. Having a big season in the second tier would be good for his confidence and it is a decent level of play.

Going out on loan or getting sold outright would be best, though. I want to see a Championship move, but if not scoring a bunch of goals to help them go back up would be a good thing. 

[InglewoodJack]

18 hours ago, Obinna said:

Hate to see Troyes and Ugbo struggle, but maybe dropping down a level would lead to him getting starts, as a number of players would probably leave for greener pastures than Ligue 2. I think Ugbo is better than Ligue 2, but you gotta show and prove. Having a big season in the second tier would be good for his confidence and it is a decent level of play.

Going out on loan or getting sold outright would be best, though. I want to see a Championship move, but if not scoring a bunch of goals to help them go back up would be a good thing. 

I don't know if this would make sense for him- I doubt the club that made him a big acquisition in the offseason would trust him to be their guy if they move down a level, but I also don't think it's a skill issue with Ugbo. He seems to be in a similar spot where Larin was with Brugge in that he can't get into the lineup to even prove whether he's good or not, and at this point, I think that relationship with the club is irrepairable.

Whereas Larin had eyepopping xG and G/90 stats given how little he played, that isn't exactly the case with Ugbo, but his goals per 90 this year is pretty much on par (0.22) with their top 5 scorers, save for Balde who is way ahead. He's second in xG per 90, again to Balde, and while those numbers aren't good at all, he's more or less at the same pace as the guys who are playing over him, which tells me it's a club issue, not a skill issue. I also think that there are more than enough teams elsewhere who could use his service- he's apparently in high demand with the championship, I think it would be hard to believe that no team in Belgium would offer him a spot either. I mean, hell, we saw how Larin somehow went to a better team when he wasn't playing, so maybe a team that gets promoted to Ligue 1 this year needs a cheap scoring option for their otherwise defensively sound squad (see: valladolid), and he's that guy.

[narduch]

Still think the manager will eventually get fired. Even if he was just hired in November.

Hopefully the replacement gives Ugbo a shot this season.

Unless things change Ugbo probably doesn't get called for the March window.

If you need a 4th striker take whichever MLS guy is performing the best in the early part of the season (Akindola, JRR, etc)

[The Real Marc]

I still think Ugbo gets called. We're not in a position to leave behind a Tier 1 striker and this guy needs some games for us. That being said, he's had two good seasons - and one of those was a Brymesque season in the Dutch second tier. So maybe expectations were too high.

[jonovision]

I'd rather select Brym than Ugbo at this point.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

2 hours ago, narduch said:

Ugbo on the bench for Troyes v Ajaccio. 

Massive relegation battle

A battle that Troyes do not win.

The last time Troyes won a match was about 8 weeks ago, on January 2nd.

Prior to his 16 or so minutes played today, I think that was also the last time Ugbo got any playing time.

I think he may not get the call for CNL in late March.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[narduch]

17 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

A battle that Troyes do not win.

The last time Troyes won a match was about 8 weeks ago, on January 2nd.

Prior to his 16 or so minutes played today, I think that was also the last time Ugbo got any playing time.

I think he may not get the call for CNL in late March.

Terrible result. Ajaccio leap frog them in the standings and Troyes are 2nd last.

I predict the manager doesn't last the week.

Maybe the replacement will play Ike.

[narduch]

Noticed Troyes best player Balde got red carded.

Perhaps Ugbo may actually start next week.

[footballfreak]

9 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

A battle that Troyes do not win.

The last time Troyes won a match was about 8 weeks ago, on January 2nd.

Prior to his 16 or so minutes played today, I think that was also the last time Ugbo got any playing time.

I think he may not get the call for CNL in late March.

The only way he doesn’t get called is if Troyes asks us not to call him. Struggles or not, he’s still 3-4 on the #9 depth chart.

David

Larin

Ugbo >= Cavallini

Akinola

After that we’re looking at guys like Brym or Enin unless Herdman uses a winger at 9 or we bring Jebbison into the fold. I just don’t see that happening in such important games.

[Ally McCoist]

27 minutes ago, footballfreak said:

The only way he doesn’t get called is if Troyes asks us not to call him. Struggles or not, he’s still 3-4 on the #9 depth chart.

David

Larin

Ugbo >= Cavallini

Akinola

After that we’re looking at guys like Brym or Enin unless Herdman uses a winger at 9 or we bring Jebbison into the fold. I just don’t see that happening in such important games.

I don't ever want to see Akinola on any CanMNT striker depth chart. Holy what a fall from grace this guy has had. 

[kacbru]

33 minutes ago, Ally McCoist said:

I don't ever want to see Akinola on any CanMNT striker depth chart. Holy what a fall from grace this guy has had. 

For Akinola, I see it as less of a fall from grace and more of him being overhyped.  Take out his 5 goals in the 3 glorified preseason MLS is back games from 2020, and his goals per appearance doesn't change much across his career. Seious injuries haven't helped.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

24 minutes ago, Ally McCoist said:

I don't ever want to see Akinola on any CanMNT striker depth chart. Holy what a fall from grace this guy has had. 

He was just overhyped after a good run of form in 2020-2021.

Also, some guys are just never the same after a long-term injury.

 

1 hour ago, footballfreak said:

Ugbo >= Cavallini

If Cavallini has a good run of form in the next three weeks that isn't necessarily true.

I suspect we will see Jacob Shaffelburg back with the team and some new face like Tani Oluwaseyi or a new defender or two. We don't need to call as many forwards as in the past.