Tom Conlon

[Bycarsbill]

2 minutes ago, boslemportvale91 said:

Love Conlon. One of our own and his passion for the club and fans is a rare sight 

Scored some unreal goals including the Beckham like one from the half way line a few years back 

But sadly injuries have hampered his career and I can't see him getting a start over Airblaster or Ojo

Wouldn't be surprised if he was to move on. Would love to be proven wrong

Regardless, a cult hero and was a delight to watch at times.

During our last promotion season, he contributed mightily.  In fact, IMO the team was never as good without Tom in it.  However, the recent injuries have clearly been a big problem for him and a bit like Jason Roy with the England cricket ODI squad, other players have now overtaken Tom and I suspect his future contributions will be severely limited should he stay at Vale Park. 

[matmat]

Conlon was our best player 2 years ago. While the squad is a lot stronger now, there are other players from that side who have made the step up and are important pieces in our current set up. If Tom can regain the form he was showing 2yrs ago he will be a good addition to our squad. If we are only going to get the Tom we saw last season, then I don't see him getting many opportunities & it would be better for all parties if he moved on.

[Old fort]

Have to agree with the above views. Those link ups and one-twos he used to do with Gibbo were class, but after the injuries and loss of sharpness, it seemed to really expose both the step up in leagues and his limitations of being so one foted

[saintvaliant]

Achilles injuries can be awful things to recover from and some never get back to the level they were at previously.

For a period in 20/21 and early 21/22 he was effectively the talisman of the side and produced some incredible moments of quality - Barrow, Crawley and Mansfield away all come to mind.

Tough to see a way back into the current team based on the evolution of the side but I hope for TCs sake that he is able to get himself healthy and back playing football at somewhere near his best in the very near future, whether for us or someone else.

 

[LancyTony]

6 hours ago, blinkme said:

Think his days are numbered to be honest, served us well, but not good enough for where we currenly are / where we want to stay / where we want to go.  

Previously, TC has been rushed back and almost certainly too soon for his own recovery. But, we have no need to do so, this time, so a properly-managed return to fitness should help him. We've seen with Kofi Balmer, AC won't rush players into the squad until they're ready. So, if TC responds to the new coaching, as Gav Massey seems to have done, then it's an extra and decent squad player ready for when we need to rotate the players more often? 

[bobbymanc]

He wouldn't be at the club now if he'd not got injured. If I was Conlon I'd probably be looking at his employment at Vale as an opportunity to get as fit as he can over the next 9 months to be in a position to resurrect his footballing career with a move next summer. I doubt we'll see him in a Vale shirt again, however who's to say that circumstances could result in a late season cameo? I bet he'd love to play on our new pitch. His style of play would suit it more than that disgrace we had to play on last season.

[Warren]

15 hours ago, darren1810 said:

2 years ago was the best player we had. 

His stock has fallen.

Not sure the dynamics of our midfield now he fits in anywhere. Too laborious and slow for the way we now play.

He'll leave with a big thank you for his sterling service and past performance. 

Ojo has now settled in to the holding midfield role. He showed how good he is on Saturday now surrounded by better players than we had last season and, speaking frankly, with Conlon out of the way. 

Conlon is too slow and constantly manoeuvres to get the ball on his left foot. We were a very one sided team in the second half of last season having little to offer down the left. To be fair that's because of Donnelly and Benning et al as well. 

This is not to say Conlon can't pass and I've seen him knock many a good pass wide over the top into space. But he clearly doesn't have the composure and skill Ojo had on the ball v Northampton. A feature of Ojo is that he is naturally facing the right way and can distribute comfortably left, right and forward. Whereas Conlon consistently takes time on the ball to manoeuvre himself rather than for the benefit of the team. This makes him too slow. 

But I don't think he was ever sufficiently fit last season. If he was as fit as the team now, it might be a different story. Hes committed and tries hard and so there is a chance.

I also think he might have a future at left wing back? Can tackle. Can pass. Less the fulcrum in midfield. 

[Rampant Zebra]

Conlon favours his left foot but he does use his right foot, he is nothing like Paul Edwards...

[Warren]

15 hours ago, matmat said:

Conlon was our best player 2 years ago. While the squad is a lot stronger now, there are other players from that side who have made the step up and are important pieces in our current set up. If Tom can regain the form he was showing 2yrs ago he will be a good addition to our squad. If we are only going to get the Tom we saw last season, then I don't see him getting many opportunities & it would be better for all parties if he moved on.

There are six issues.

1. Was he to be moved on in the summer and is outside plans?

2. Can he get back to the high level of fitness of the current squad? 

3. If full on training takes place, can he show he's good enough to contribute effectively in the current squad during that?

4. If the answer to point 3 is yes, can he get enough game time to show his current ability in public? That could be in cup games and specially organised reserve games? What is clear is that if we are seriously challenging for promotion the best possible team has priority over trying out a player recovering from injury. 

5. If he could get into the league team for a few games, being fit and surrounded by better players, would he improve to be consistently at a top end L1 player?

6. To what extent can our squad be vultured in January, and if fit and able would it be worse to let a known and valued player also leave creating a bigger turnover to manage?

[Warren]

1 hour ago, Rampant Zebra said:

Conlon favours his left foot but he does use his right foot, he is nothing like Paul Edwards...

He does and I unduly criticise him there. But he just takes too long on the ball to get into position to pass accurately. He seems to often be facing the wrong way. Whereas Ojo gave a perfect example on Saturday of consistently facing or engineering the best possible direction to pass alongside doing so accurately. 

If Conlon needs to turn often, as seems to be the case, then two things happen. Firstly, because of the time he takes, the opposition respond by marking and tackling. Secondly, I think he closes off whole areas of the pitch and is therefore predictable. 

[Rampant Zebra]

2 minutes ago, Warren said:

He does and I unduly criticise him there. But he just takes too long on the ball to get into position to pass accurately. He seems to often be facing the wrong way. Whereas Ojo gave a perfect example on Saturday of consistently facing or engineering in the best possible direction to pass alongside doing so accurately. 

It would be interesting to see if he shows as much improvement as Ojo when playing with better players 

[Warren]

7 minutes ago, Rampant Zebra said:

It would be interesting to see if he shows as much improvement as Ojo when playing with better players 

I think Ojo is used to playing at a higher level than our team was at last year. We should see the best of him when he's playing in a top end L1 side. 

I keep saying top end L1 side. Hope our tyres don't burst tonight and on Saturday. We aren't 'established' yet!

[Doha]

28 minutes ago, Warren said:

I think Ojo is used to playing at a higher level than our team was at last year. We should see the best of him when he's playing in a top end L1 side. 

He's got a mad career record.

98 Dutch Prem division appearances 

8 Europa League 

6 UEFA conference league 

23 Belgian Prem division 

 

 

[Warren]

1 hour ago, Doha said:

He's got a mad career record.

98 Dutch Prem division appearances 

8 Europa League 

6 UEFA conference league 

23 Belgian Prem division 

 

 

He was born in Antwerp, Belgium. 

[arthurdog]

2 hours ago, Warren said:

There are six issues.

1. Was he to be moved on in the summer and is outside plans?

2. Can he get back to the high level of fitness of the current squad? 

3. If full on training takes place, can he show he's good enough to contribute effectively in the current squad during that?

4. If the answer to point 3 is yes, can he get enough game time to show his current ability in public? That could be in cup games and specially organised reserve games? What is clear is that if we are seriously challenging for promotion the best possible team has priority over trying out a player recovering from injury. 

5. If he could get into the league team for a few games, being fit and surrounded by better players, would he improve to be consistently at a top end L1 player?

6. To what extent can our squad be vultured in January, and if fit and able would it be worse to let a known and valued player also leave creating a bigger turnover to manage?

He doesn't get into the current midfield for me.I think he's a good L2 player and below average L1.Just my opinion