So Freddie is out on loan again, this time at Scunthorpe. There was a time when we expected our striking wonderkid to do a Jermaine Defoe and transfer his talents easily from the demands of youth and reserve football to those of the Premiership; but those days are long gone.
Loan spells at Crystal Palace and Coventry suggested the boy's promise, except in one vital area, putting the ball in the net. True, he did have a perfectly good goal disallowed at Palace, when the referee failed to spot that the ball had not only crossed the line but hit the back stanchion and rebounded out, but that apart, he was as lethal in front of goal as a overweight Egyptian in a West Ham shirt.
Well, last night, Freddie, by all reports had an exciting debut for Scunthorpe. True it was only the Championship and true, Preston are struggling, and true Freddie went yet another game without scoring; but he did do the next best thing, firing in a shot that rebounded off the post and into the path of a team mate, who netted.
What's better, to score with a shot that rebounds out and results in a goal not being given, or to set up a goal inadvertently by hitting the post? Freddie must still be yearning for that first senior goal in the league but the signs are there that it will come soon. And hopefully Freddie Sears goals will be like London buses, you wait and wait and wait and wait, and then ten come along at the same time!
I still believe in the kid. He will come through. All he needs is to build up confidence. He is a natural and there are not so many of them around these days.
ReplyDeleteThere you go, having a pop at referees again. First Mr Clattenburg, now poor old Rob Shoebridge gets it in the neck for failing to notice that Freddie's shot had actually crossed the line. What is it you want from referees, exactly? Next you'll be saying that Keith Hackett was wrong to send off Tony Gale in the Forest semi. It's people like you who are ruining the game.
ReplyDeleteBut is he a natural Sav? Naturals have the ability to be in the right place at the right time; Sears doesn't. I wonder how intelligent he is as a player.
ReplyDeleteI remember writing how he was impetuous when playing allongside Bellamy. Bellyache was lacing defenders and looking to pull the back for Sears but, rather than hold his run and so make the pass for the Welshman, the kid repeatedly ran hell for leather into the six yard box, making a pass impossible and, because of his lack of height making a cross impractical.
Subsequently, he has appeared scared to get into the box and into goal scoring positions. I hope you are right and I am wrong but, if he is a natural, wouldn't Zola have got more out of him? If any player was best suited to coaching from Zola, surely it would be a diminutive striker!