Olabade Aluko

[coolhandfox]

It's done, support him.

 

People want us to promote youth, they are going to make mistakes, thats how they become better players.

[Scoop Dog]

Ramsey and Aluko both sent off on debuts.

 

I hope he gets his chance again!

[Dahnsouff]

Was actually encouraged by his performance, despite being done like a kipper by Fatawu, and then in a race where he tried to recover to stop a breakaway.

It happens. Get him back in the XI when he is back.

 

[Pliskin]

44 minutes ago, BeaumontFox said:

But the key takeaway is that he made nervous mistakes whilst really trying. It’s forgivable. Calm the nerves and try again in a few weeks. Cannot fault his work rate

Absolutely, plus, Thomas probably could have been sent off against Stoke for just general incompetence but was lucky not too….. so nothing for Marti to warrant sacking him off.

[DAS Boot]

Experience or not, his defending for the 2nd goal was really bad.

[Claudio Fannieri]

I thought his performance was pretty positive aside from the red card. Definitely needs to continue being involved once his suspension has ended. 
 

He will learn from last night and come back better for the experience, he is a talent but as others have said with young players there will be bumps in the road and if we are genuinely serious as a fanbase that we want to see our a academy players as the cornerstone of our team moving forward then we must be supportive and accepting mistakes will happen but long term we will reap the rewards. 

[dayday]

Didn’t help playing such a high line , just makes you wonder if we sent anybody to watch Southampton at Charlton , shocking tactics that left the lad exposed without protection 

[adejo92]

Quite unfortunate that he was forced into the first yellow card with what was actually a decent professional foul to halt a Southampton attack.

 

The second one, yeah, that was always going to happen eventually wasn't it. Even an experienced full back would have had their work cut out playing against that winger on a yellow card.

[RonnieTodger]

I don’t have anything new to add but I had this exact discussion with a mate earlier. He’s basically written him off as worse than Thomas.

 

It’s that mindset that pervades the club at the moment. Overpaid clowns are allowed to let the club down every game, but teenagers can’t make mistakes.

 

I thought he defended crosses so much better than Thomas and VK. He had little choice on the first yellow, but the second was stupid. Fellows beat him a couple times. 
 

He is a good prospect and needs more chances, because his ceiling is much higher than the two above him.  

[Tommy Fresh]

8 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

I don’t have anything new to add but I had this exact discussion with a mate earlier. He’s basically written him off as worse than Thomas.

 

It’s that mindset that pervades the club at the moment. Overpaid clowns are allowed to let the club down every game, but teenagers can’t make mistakes.

 

I thought he defended crosses so much better than Thomas and VK. He had little choice on the first yellow, but the second was stupid. Fellows beat him a couple times. 
 

He is a good prospect and needs more chances, because his ceiling is much higher than the two above him.  

His athleticism and physicality make him better than Thomas regardless of actual footballing ability

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

I thought the ref possibly could have shown some leniency toward a young lad like that for 2 nothing offences. Harsh.

Edited 27 November 2025 by Wasyls Pec Deck

[Nalis]

Quite nice to see a thread full of people backing a young lad needing consistent experience 

Edited 26 November 2025 by Nalis

[whoareyaaa]

he was just rash and easger to impress give him another go 

[Pliskin]

27 minutes ago, DAS Boot said:

Experience or not, his defending for the 2nd goal was really bad.

Thomas has been bad all season, for most goals conceded. 

[Mickyblueeyes]

In 17 or so minutes he showed more than enough potential. Couple of good blocks. Tracked his man better than any left back we’ve had in the last two seasons. He also got up quite a bit to support his winger - forgot that was a thing as the other two dumbasses don’t really do it.

 

Yeah, the first challenge was actually taking one for the team because the team wasn’t set and the senior players didn’t really track.

 

The second challenge we were short, rash maybe, where was best defender Vestegaard or try hard Skipp ? 
 

My only question after that 16/17 mins is why wasn’t the manager giving him more minutes in the last 16 games ? We’ve got a potentially very good young player but not a very good manager. 

[honeybradger]

45 minutes ago, DAS Boot said:

Experience or not, his defending for the 2nd goal was really bad.

It wasnt bad at all.

 

What is he supposed to do, he had been left as the last man covering 2 opposition players. The player on the ball played a convincing fake pass to the player on his right which Aluko understandably fell for then played a pass to Azaz on his left.

 

You cant expect a player to be perfect when struggling to cover passes to two opposition players, he was at a disadvantage there, you would expect the opposition to score from that situation more often than not.

Edited 26 November 2025 by honeybradger

[Scoop Dog]

Keep your chin up Aluko like others have said you've shown more promise in your small cameo than our other left backs! 

[Chelmofox]

1 hour ago, DAS Boot said:

Experience or not, his defending for the 2nd goal was really bad.

Where was Vestergaard. On his debut, the 18 year is tracking 2 attackers. Its also worth pointing up that when the attack starts Aluko is further up the pitch that Vestergaard. The high line was crackers, and Winks appears to pull out of lunging for the ball.

Edited 26 November 2025 by Chelmofox

[filbertway]

How can he be blamed for the 2nd. Christ almighty that's an insane reach

 

[funkyrobot]

It was a big ask for Aluko yesterday to come in from the cold and play against a quality and in-form winger in Fellowes.
 

With the state of our fullback options on both sides this season he should’ve been given more time off the bench previously to give him time to adjust to the significantly faster and more physical Championship.

Bear in mind also that Aluko is right footed and he’s better on the right or centrally even though he can do a job on the left. I hope he’s back in the squad after his ban. 

[MPH]

57 minutes ago, funkyrobot said:

It was a big ask for Aluko yesterday to come in from the cold and play against a quality and in-form winger in Fellowes.
 

With the state of our fullback options on both sides this season he should’ve been given more time off the bench previously to give him time to adjust to the significantly faster and more physical Championship.

Bear in mind also that Aluko is right footed and he’s better on the right or centrally even though he can do a job on the left. I hope he’s back in the squad after his ban. 

 

I think the idea behind it was that he’s the only LB we have who’s got any pace to try and keep up  with the wingers.

 

 

however he was clearly targeted by  Southampton and from their point of view it was good tactics to do that - it worked. But it worked because We ourselves let him be isolated and we should take the responsibility for that, not him. You can’t do that to a young lad in his first start for us against a team with potent wingers.

[LCFCJohn]

How is he being blamed for the second goal . It was nothing to do with him! He was left in an impossible position as he was with the first booking.

 

And having watched the second booking again, that’s extremely harsh regardless of it being a second. He was pulling a bit but stretching to try and get a foot to the ball. It’s a foul, nothing more. They go without bookings every game. F*** Gavin Ward.

[Claudio Fannieri]

I really cannot believe I am seeing Aluko getting any blame for the 2nd goal, he was about the only one who made any real effort to make a recovery run to prevent a goal. 
 

He was thrown under a bus for his 1st booking by Abdul and from 4 minutes in had to walk a tightrope, Saints then targeted that side knowing Fellows is a threat and that Aluko had to be careful. I actually thought up until the second yellow he had done well, but it was inevitable given how much of the ball Fellows was seeing and how we were playing that he was going to give a foul away that gave the ref a decision. 
 

The laughable bit was the inconsistency of the ref who allowed Downes to get away with two yellow card fouls in one passage of play and then to book him later,  in my opinion Saints should have been down to ten however I doubt it would have made any difference as they were already comfortably ahead but it’s still frustrating. 

[Oldblueyes]

14 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Hung out to dry by his teammates. Shameful really but none of them give a fvck.

I wouldn't have said that. Is it true that Faes shouted out to him as he was walking off, unlucky son, you see what happens when you try and tackle players, you ought to be like me and not bother.

[LCFCJohn]

14 minutes ago, Oldblueyes said:

I wouldn't have said that. Is it true that Faes shouted out to him as he was walking off, unlucky son, you see what happens when you try and tackle players, you ought to be like me and not bother.

You joke. But the criticism Aluko is getting for getting sent off when the reasons the others haven’t been, is because they get beaten before they can get close! Faes, Thomas and VK the same. Vestergaard is usually ambling around looking for his dog in the centre circle as we concede!