72 bus blythspartan I don’t believe we gave him a fair chance tbh. He looked a stand out player for Coventry in league 2 and he always looked like he had the talent to step up. Strikers are all about confidence and he was never given a decent run of games for us.
It’s not his fault if he was offered a good 4 year contract, which helped to secure his future. Not sure why none of the managers have rated him but none of them have been much good either so maybe it was easier to make him a scapegoat.
He did not get a decent run in the side unlike Puscas.
Mcnulty 15 games one goal
Puskás (this season) 24 games one goal.
Like Puskás he needed a partner, He's not the first striker to come here and look rubbish, some of the best in the championship have failed here.
‘Not his fault he was offered a four-year contract’ - agreed, he must have thought it was Christmas and birthday rolled into one!
He didn’t get his chance because he wasn’t good enough.
With strikers it’s about the following:
1 - their ability to do a couple of things so brilliantly well that despite every defender knowing what they are going to do, they still put defenders on their arse, or
2 - They adapt and bring different things to their game - the clever strikers; the ones without blistering pace or power or other physical advantage; but always find space and time/right place-right time…
…..And finish.
The world class strikers have both.
Most Premier League strikers have both.
Most Championship strikers can do one or the other or both but they are inconsistent.
The lower the level the greater the inconsistency and the slower the pace in which things are done (movement, first two yards, first touch, finishing ratio etc).
McNulty is not blessed with pace or any of the physical advantages.
And he simply was not clever enough, often enough for the Championship.
As a striker, despite these disadvantages, you might succeed with great players around you, if you have the ability to finish ruthlessly.
He definitely could not finish ruthlessly at Championship level.
If you think of the strikers that have done us proud; they have had one or more of these advantages. (Carroll is a great example of being clever and having the physical attributes and the ability to finish)
Strikers have to be predators.
McNulty is not a predator in that sense.
He is a League 2 striker.
That is not his fault.
We should never have bought him and we should never have bought Baldock and others too.