Convey has been struggling in Reading but thinking back many Yanks have had initial problems in England and then went on to have really great years, Freidel and Lewis are the ones that come to mind. On the other hand we've also had players go in and start really good and then end up on the bench for years. JMM and Kirovski come to mind. The bottom line for Convey is not that he can't have a difficult first year, but rather that he have a good second year. Bobby, if you're reading this, keep cool. We're behind you, just keep your chin up and be ready to take the the opportunity when it comes.
Should be coming over the C'mas holiday when the fixtures really start to mount and it's almost a certainty he will be called upon.
The move was necessary, just like DMB and LD. It was time for them to test their skills on a higher level and see if they can adapt. For DMB and Convey, their main challenge will be to prove they can't be muscled around. Realistically, they need this year to take the bumps and lumps, do the UnderArmour thing during the offseason (i.e. get thicker) and come back in 2005-06 ready to make everyone pay. At their ages, I can't see how it can't be a good learning experience. It's not time to get worried yet.
Now you did it. Get ready to get flamed when the Turkey wears off. BTW - I din't see it either, but this type of statement will brand you an auto Bobby hater for life. Damn results on the field. They get in the way...don't they?
Plenty of time for Convey to prove himself yet. Either he does or he doesn't. No tragedy. Maybe Bobby not as good as some think or maybe he starts playing like Bobby vs. Brazil in 2001...we'll see... I do think that Bobby's eyesight problem is a bigger problem then he lets on and/or he never noticed how much it effects him (except now he's at faster level in which less time to make decisions, etc. Those time bits of information one can get from corner of the eye...well, I think Bobby doesn't get that (on one side of his face). Not trying to be too melo-dramatic, but vision (good vision) very, very important in soccer. I'm amazed he has accomplished what he has (given the handicap)... Bobby not a big guy, so he can't use bulk to overcompensate for anything either..
That question has been talked about on the USA Mens boards and the MLS boards plenty of times. Finally, everyone agreed that ................
Do you think these guys actually read this stuff? If so I love all the USMNT and the metrostars members no matter whatever I said about you I said it out of frustration and anger and you're all awesome . Anyways, back on topic, even though his performance right now can be described as a bit frustrating I think we all just have to keep in mind that it's a new country, new city, new team, new lifestyle and some take longer to adjust than others (which is why I get kinda annoyed when people compare him to DMB because they're two different people). I agree that his second year will probably be more of something to look at than his first. But really I think what it is is that while he was over here with the nats reading won and continued winning and it doesn't make sense for the coach to change something that works just so bobby can play. Maybe he'd see more time if the team wasn't trying to get promoted this year and they were able to give him more time on the field, but if you're trying to get into the EPL and you have something that works until you're like 10 points above everyone else experiementing probaby isn't the best idea. Also I think there was some frustration from Bobby and the coach of him kinda being there one day and not being there the next and when he wasn't there he wasn't playing for the nats, he was just kinda there. But since we don't have anymore games for awhile the only reason he'd probably come back here is for Christmas so spending that much time with reading, without coming over here for national team stuff, should give him the real time he needs to settle in, get comfortable, and play the way we all know he can play (and hopefully do it all the time).
I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK I sleep all night and I work all day I cut down trees I skip and jump I go and pick wildflowers I put on woman's clothing Just like my dear mama!
Not really, flashes of promise but to be honest he had some of the ugliest shots on goal of any MLS player I've ever seen. Hell, he had ugly shots on goal during national team games as well. He has had some nice chippy passes and some decent runs with a great workrate. Again, he didn't exactly light up MLS with dazzling displays of skill and goals but obviously he must have done something right to get the shot a the pro career he has. He will eventually work out the kinks he has with Reading and become a starter, but its no suprise to me that he has struggled to get first team action.
Whoever can make that man finish I swear I will love them forever. I remember one shot he took like right before he left, that game where Jason Kreis scored his 89th goal. The goalie came all the way out of the net to kick the ball and runs out to the halfway line and Bobby had the ball and he's just running with it and at the 18 he took a shot and it went so far wide of the goal I just sat there speechless, I could have made that shot, there were no defenders or anything just Bobby and the goal, I was just sitting there with my mouth hanging open for the next 3 minutes wondering how he missed that. Anyways you're right, he wouldn't be in England if he wasn't good so he's deffinately doing something. He does make some pretty good assits though.
This isn't quite the case. Reading won the game when Bobby was away with the nats (3 wins and 2 losses before he left). When Bobby returned he was a sub in the Reading loss. Then Reading won 3 games in a row, then 2 draws and a win. The team has been playing better, but it was a couple weeks after Bobby went to the USA that it happened. I put up the whole schedule and Bobby's involvment on the version of this thread on the USA Mens Forum. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152934 I also disagree that Bobby's 2nd year should be the one we use to judge him if only because Reading paid more for Bobby than anyone else before him. They need him to produce this year for the transfer to have been a good one. Again I mildly disagree because the Championship League is not a development league. Teams have reserve squads to develop players, and if Reading feel Bobby's not ready to play with the first team, he shouldn't have been bought in my book.
Ahhh, but he is an MLS star the likes of DMB and LD (at least promoted as such). A Nats regular (?) and an U20 standout. Doesn't this justify the purchase? Yes/No. Always comes down to the same thing as you posted before. A little too much hype for his accomplishments, but some nice play and skill whick makes you see what he might be. Potential. When will he reach it? Will he reach it? I do firmly believe that the Boxing Holiday schedule will give him a lot of quality minutes. The amount he contributes this year will come down to how he performs in this stretch IMO. There will be no more excusese (Nats call up, settle in, blah, blah, blah) or conjecture after that. It will be fairly easy to say that this is what he is right now. A contributer, or someone who needs work. Getting close.
Yes, those things justify the purchase! of course! But... (there's always a but isn't there ) if he's not a regular first teamer and playing well ... then he may not be considered a good buy due to the amount paid for him in comparison with their other players. Hindsight is 20/20. I know I won't consider it a good buy from Reading's point of view... and I've been a Reading supporter for much longer than Convey's been there. Of course he could go on and do great things... but I expect these "record signings" to make a quick impact.
Convey simply did not distinguish himself in MLS. I never understood why Arena has been so committed to him. In my opinion, he was barely an average MLS player, despite Apoo's and the opinions of a few others around here who felt he had "mad game". Laughable really. He's young, he can work out eventually, but the fact that he's barely broken into the squad this year should not come as a surprise to anyone, and many of us said so at the beginning, it's not just hindsight. P.S. And it's not "the boxing holiday".
Personally, I think it's great that a team like Reading was willing to spend transfer dollars on a player/prospect like Convey. It's not that long ago that American players needed to do an awful lot of "proving themseves" to get a shot anywhere. Play four years of college, then two years of MLS, then maybe you get a U.S. callup and then maybe... Nowadays both the U.S. team and other foreign clubs are willing to "take a chance on talent," so to speak, and see what they can do with it rather than wait for all of our players to be 26 before they get a chance to show themselves. Serious question: How much transfer market interest has there been for youth-eligible American players under contract to MLS since the league's inception? Apart from Beasley and Convey, the only one that comes to mind is Adin Brown in his rookie season...
Seems like the reverse situation is playing out to that of JMM and Mathis, i.e. too many round here were ready to proclaim the latter two as 'burning up' leagues in Europe based on a few months play at best. Now after a few months Convey is being harshly written off by some. Why such a short attention span? There's plenty of time and opportunity for Convey to make it (or not as the case may be).
In the FWIW department.... The EPL Preview show had a bit on Spanish players in England, and Arsene said you have to figure it'll take a half year for a player to get settled into a new style league. He said that's why they bought Reyes last winter, figuring he'd be contending for a regular place this season.
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/exclusives/455378.html Having played the role of a substitute in his team's recent league matches, Convey finds himself in an odd situation. "You don't know what to say, because you can't train harder. It's not that you're doing poorly. I know my situation. I was a starter before I went back with the National Team and we (Reading) just haven't lost since. So there's nothing I can do. I know I wasn't brought in here to be a sub, but you can't complain when the team is winning. That's just one of those things that's different here. It doesn't matter who you are if the team wins and does well without you. It doesn't matter if you started the last twenty games.” Pretty good article, not sure if has been posted before, it is all about bobby's transfer to Reading.
JMM had a severe knee injury at the end of his first 1/2 season, of which he likely never fully recovered. His decline was precipitated by a major knee injury, not loss of form. Clint's coach- the one who brought him over- got fired after 7 games. Clint had 4 goals in first 7 games. Hannover for the rest of season played a very defense oriented, safety-first style (in order to stay up). That meant less goals scored, but also less given up. The GM also subsequently left (end of the season). The newly hired coach played him in a different role and the new coach had a completely differently mindset about how to play the game. Over the summer, he made one major purchase, a player specifically hired to take the job Clint formerly had. Things are not near as simple as you would like to make them. Valid, extenuating circumstances in both cases. You are right that Bobby has time on his side, and can still crack Reading's lineup, and go onto to bigger and better things. In fact, the US has a plethora of young players (15-22) that will be moving on to much bigger things (in Europe) over the next few years...
That article was from November 3rd... Unfortunately, he's not quite right after he returned fromnational team duty at the beginning of Sept... the team lost (with him playing as a sub) on the 11th... The team had also lost on Oct 30th... but it's possible the interview was done before that. 1 - Brighton - win - on bench 2 - @ West Ham - loss - subbed in after 34 minutes due to injury 3 - @ Sheffield U - win - started - went 73 minutes 4 - Rotherham -win - started - went 90 5 - @ Millwall - loss - subbed in after 14 mintues due to injury (here he basically played 4 full games so may be where people think he was a consistent starter) 6 - Sunderland - win - not on bench (this may be when he was with the national team) 7 - @ Derby - loss- subbed in 76th min 8 - Preston - win - subbed in 73rd min 9 - Gillingham - win - on bench - never entered 10- @ Watford - win - on bench - never entered 11- @ Ipswich - draw - subbed in 82nd min 12 - Burnley - draw - subbed on 71st min 13 - @ Stoke - win - subbed on 81st min 14- Leeds - draw - subbed on 81st min 15- Crewe - win - subbed on 71st min 16- @ Coventry - loss - subbed on 57th min 17- @ Plymouth - draw - started - subbed off after 63 min 18- Stoke - win - on bench - never entered 19- Cardiff - win - subbed on 80th min 20- @ Nottingham - loss -on bench - never entered