I had quite literally forgotten about him! When is he due back? What do people think he could bring to the current team - if anything? Would he get into the current team?

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Answers

I think he's got the potential to be a top player - he's already very good. Would he go straight in though? Good Q. Bellamy has a guaranteed place, as does Al, who Cort really would be the altenative to, considering their strengths (heading etc). Tough call but a nice position to be in.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

another option to pace, big and awkward and actually has a good scoring ratio with dyer and bellamy...

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Asked this last Saturday. Still waiting for some kind soul with current info on Mr Cort to bring us up to date with latest.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Shearer's replacement - to be managed tactfully.

Benton - nobody knows mate, or if they do they're not telling. According to official statements he should have been back several times already over the past 6 months or so.

Try hanging around large supermarkets and you can ask him yourself ...

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Thanks LT. News today about plans for supermarket "Happy Hours". The signal for Carl plus his shy and retiring Mrs to return to Tesco?

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

We've been fortunate (so far) that Shearer and Bellamy have stayed fit. Ameobi has promise but his staggering lack of pace leaves us a bit toothless up front. I agree that Bellamy and Cort is the most interesting prospect...

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Last thing I saw said CC was about a month away - for what that's worth.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Cort should be used in place of Shearer in some games ,to give Al a rest. Haha I can see Shearer liking that ! Still Cort has a great goal/game ratio, and I reckon would be a good strike partner for Bellamy

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Shearer will never be rested, he may have to start to become the player who plays 70 minutes as we bring in Cort/Shola/Chopra but only when we're 4 up and he isn't on a hat trick.

Oh and I'd have thought Shola's biggest asset is his pace, it's difficult to look like you're going fast when you're 6'3, but I'm 100% sure he's faster than Shearer

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Surely the original plan can only have been for Carl to partner Al ? Although Carl admits he's not as good in the air as he should be, Al has always operated best when someone else holds the play up. Cort as a target man and Al to finish with 30+ goals ?

The future maybe a partnership of Cort and Bellamy but if Carl makes it back this season I suspect he'll only be used as a partner for Alan.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Hell be cover for big Al when he gets recalled to the England Squad :-)

KB

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Spot on Mac. Shola is one of those deceptive runners, looks like his legs are hardly moving, but he doesn't half cover the ground. As you say, probably looks slow because of his height.

I'll be quite pleased if Cort is as slow.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Shola's pace is deceptive, he sometimes farts about and loses the ball but when he sprints there are very few quicker. He left Ipswich for dead (we are talking yards here) over the final third in the cup. I would imagine that if Robert gets injured we might see Shearer and Cort up front with Bellamy on the left.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

there's an assumption here that Cort is better than Shola, I'm not convinced. It's not dissimilar to the Robert/Bernard argument with transfer fee v free being an element of the discussion. As far as playing ability I would say Shola is closer to (or better then) Cort, whereas there is a bigger gap between Robert and Bernard.

How much would we be prepared to pay for a classy England U-21 player, one who can turn a game played at that level.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Keep in mind we also need cover for Bellamy's inevitable suspension from running his gob, so that will also give Cort a chance.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

I think the edge that Cort has on Ameobi is experience. I know it's a bit of a dilemma on how Shola is supposed to get that experience but I can't see him getting in ahead of someone who has arguably already delivered the goods to date. Carl's goal/game ratio has me favouring him ahead of Shola.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Shola .... age 20, 15 league starts, 2 goals

Cort .... age 24, 72 League starts, 23 goals (including 5 games/1 goal at Lincoln on loan)

Experience difference is about a season and half, which isn't a lot really. Maybe we should loan Shola out to Darlington/Bradford/someone ?

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

A loan spell may do him good but I'm not sure we can afford to allow it until Cort is back in contention for games. At those tender ages a season and a half of first team football is quite a big gap IMO.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

Agree about Shola, he always seems to run in slow motion but will beat just about anyone to the ball in a one on one race.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002