Nathan Fraser

[Mighty Thor]

Even as a school kid the good centre forwards knew you either stand on the centre half and get in a scrap for the ball and make it tough. Or you drop for the ball and make runs so you are tough to mark and track. You get nothing by neither showing for the ball, making no intelligent runs, or challenging for the ball whilst stood next to their CH.

He was poor. I’m not writing him off but he looked completely lost.

 

[Reid1877]

Doc? Did you see his pathetic telegraph pole impersonation today? If he nevers plays again it will be too soon. A three year contract was three years too long!

He knows where the net is though! I’d rather have a player with PL experience who can score upfront, than a 19 year old who would struggle in the championship.

 

[JohnB]

Let’s not write off a young CF who is being thrown into first team too early and having to battle against a Top 25 club’s experienced CBs.

He is ok for 15 mins and needs a loan deal at League 1.

 

[Northampton_wolf]

Im all for don't blame Fraser I'm in that same camp but so many don't blame the 19 year old were on top of Silva... What's the difference oh a big price tag that not his fault it's shis..


Hes got 4 in 11 for rangers.. he was scoring in Europe for Anderlecht etc .

Probably had his best games in rangers shirts against benefica in Europe


He would have been better up front today letting both go without getting in Yuri was so much folly

 

[WKFWolf]

Im all for don't blame Fraser I'm in that same camp but so many don't blame the 19 year old were on top of Silva... What's the difference oh a big price tag that not his fault it's shis..


Hes got 4 in 11 for rangers.. he was scoring in Europe for Anderlecht etc .

Probably had his best games in rangers shirts against benefica in Europe


He would have been better up front today letting both go without getting in Yuri was so much folly

In fairness mate noone ever mentions the price tag for Fabio

 

[WickedWolfie]

Im all for don't blame Fraser I'm in that same camp but so many don't blame the 19 year old were on top of Silva... What's the difference oh a big price tag that not his fault it's shis..


Hes got 4 in 11 for rangers.. he was scoring in Europe for Anderlecht etc .

Probably had his best games in rangers shirts against benefica in Europe


He would have been better up front today letting both go without getting in Yuri was so much folly

One came in for big money, the other is home grown. Some folk are all over the former solely because of the fee. He'd be playing now and would have offered the focus our forward line desperately needed.

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Fraser wasn’t the reason we lost today. He’s young and learning his trade.

Hoping to get through the season with Hwang, Neto, and Kalajdic not spending serious amounts of time out each over the course of the year has been both foolish and costly.

Throw in on top of that that the manager they appointed demands his strikers to run non stop, we were always going to come unstuck at some point.

 

[crocos]

He was utterly dominated today, poor fella; but the food served to him is what Championship defenders have for a snack - long balls "on the 'ead son" / balls-to-feet with a ring of defenders around him. Not sure what one can expect in that case TBH with such a young & relatively physically small bloke. I felt rather sorry for him myself and there were bigger problems than him today.

 

[Stourport wolf]

Today isn't a day to crucify our youngsters. They have been thrown in at the deep end.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

"Should have just paid up for Broja"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1769046538121089518

When he says 'starting XI', he didn't make the bench either.

 

[JOSWolf]

Im all for don't blame Fraser I'm in that same camp but so many don't blame the 19 year old were on top of Silva... What's the difference oh a big price tag that not his fault it's shis..


Hes got 4 in 11 for rangers.. he was scoring in Europe for Anderlecht etc .

Probably had his best games in rangers shirts against benefica in Europe


He would have been better up front today letting both go without getting in Yuri was so much folly

Totally agree. Letting two attackers go and signing no one in January is looking very foolish.

 

[JOSWolf]

"Should have just paid up for Broja"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1769046538121089518

When he says 'starting XI', he didn't make the bench either.

He'd walk into our side now.

 

[Axle]

I seem to remember it was 2 in 4 games, but open to correction on this, especially with a memory like mine

Yeah that’s what l remember too

 

[Jay Jay de Wolf]

I'm not getting on the young lads back here as I've supported and seen Nathan many times in the U23's in the past..

As someone else has already said on here he looked totally out of his depth in today's game against championship defenders..

Not because of lack of effort either but imho Nathan like Fabio Silva lacks that burst of speed you need in the Premier League to become a top striker.

Today isn't a day to crucify our youngsters. They have been thrown in at the deep end.

As I said earlier to be first to bump this NF thread up..

Plus to add again if a striker hasn't got that burst of speed at the age of 18 or 19 they'll never have it later in their 20's to be good enough for the PL to be a top striker. Gone are the days of Teddy Sheringham where he was quick of mind to get away with it.

It is essential for a striker to have a good turn of pace and speed these days in the Premier League and as I said before Nathan and Fabio will never have this.

 

[MattH]

He was utterly dominated today, poor fella; but the food served to him is what Championship defenders have for a snack - long balls "on the 'ead son" / balls-to-feet with a ring of defenders around him. Not sure what one can expect in that case TBH with such a young & relatively physically small bloke. I felt rather sorry for him myself and there were bigger problems than him today.

Yup.

 

[bigwolf]

Didn't even realise he played today.

 

[OLDGOLD]

Didn't even realise he played today.

Sadly neither did our midfield

 

[Rubberball]

He’s at the stage now that Fabio was 3 seasons ago. He should have been the one going on loan.

Did relatively well last week. Didn’t look fully fit to me today.

Putting him in this position today isn’t fair to us or him.

Yep, completely shafted by the club and Gary O'Neil today.

I hope we don't ruin his development because of this.

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

Yep, completely shafted by the club and Gary O'Neil today.

I hope we don't ruin his development because of this.

I think Fraser was desperate to play today, and Wolves didn't have a lot of options. To say it could 'ruin his development' is a tad over the top.

 

[Mugwump]

Just like Silva, Fraser getting **** for being a young player thrown into a team in a bad situation before he is ready.

 

[Scallywolf]

Just like Silva, Fraser getting **** for being a young player thrown into a team in a bad situation before he is ready.

That is entirely Jeff Shi and our owners fault imo, Muggy.

We have lost our 3 main strikers to injury and there is no one, absolutely no one else in the squad who can take their place. Embarrassing or what.

This is the Premier League I am talking about, not the Dog and Duck League!

 

[Mugwump]

That is entirely Jeff Shi and our owners fault imo, Muggy.

We have lost our 3 main strikers to injury and there is no one, absolutely no one else in the squad who can take their place. Embarrassing or what.

This is the Premier League I am talking about, not the Dog and Duck League!

I always thought this was going to happen, said it in January and was told the plan was Bellgarde and Fraser as backup. Thought it was madness at the time and its showing it was. Embarrassing is right.

 

[Flaneur]

Just like Silva, Fraser getting **** for being a young player thrown into a team in a bad situation before he is ready.

Agreed, It's not his fault that he isn't ready, & there's also so clearly a lack of trust from the rest of the team regarding Fraser, which isn't helping matters.

Both today & vs Fulham, senior players like Semedo & Sarabia constantly refused to play him the ball, even if he's in a good position. Specifically, when Semedo won the ball back in the box first half, he had a great opportunity IMO for a cut back to Fraser, he looked up and instead of doing so took 2-3 extra touches and the chance was gone...

& In contrast, Fraser then seems to trust the seniors too much in his play, and is also too kind to say anything, as he goes up to high-five Semedo after the chance is gone and he was essentially ignored!

What I liked before was when Cunha was fit, he was more than happy to play Fraser in and get him involved, and it half worked with him getting the goal vs Brentford to help keep our cup hopes alive!

I like both Semedo & Sarabia and think they're good players (as I've said on here before), so don't want to single them out as I think it's more of a squad view on Fraser, but they're the ones I noticed the most from the past two games ignoring him.

 

[Deak77]

He's currently in the same kind of position that Fabio was in his first season here, thrown in and expected to perform miracles when he's obviously nowhere near ready.

An unfortunate consequence of our failure to bring in an extra striker over these past 2 transfer windows.

Hopefully we can buy a proper number 9 this summer.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

He's currently in the same kind of position that Fabio was in his first season here, thrown in and expected to perform miracles when he's obviously nowhere near ready.

An unfortunate consequence of our failure to bring in an extra striker over these past 2 transfer windows.

Hopefully we can buy a proper number 9 this summer.

Still haven’t replaced Raul

Cutrone, Jose, Fabio, Sasa just ain’t cut the mustard

Che Adams would of been perfect today. Still is what it is

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Fraser wasn’t the reason we lost today. He’s young and learning his trade.

Hoping to get through the season with Hwang, Neto, and Kalajdic not spending serious amounts of time out each over the course of the year has been both foolish and costly.

Throw in on top of that that the manager they appointed demands his strikers to run non stop, we were always going to come unstuck at some point.

He was.

If we had simms we win

It’s not against Fraser himself. Clearly out his depth.

Mental the state Jeff shi has put this squad in

 

[djmikeydickens]

It's not Fraser's fault he played. He's a young lad getting to grips with senior football. With a fit squad he doesn't play. 4 front line players out at any team and you're gonna be playing the kids. He'd be a good one to get a loan to a championship / L1 team and learn the game at a professional level. People ripping a young local boy is just ridiculous, says more about them than Nathan himself

 

[wolfgar]

He was poor, and we have to hope that he responds positively to this experience, because he likely won’t be feeling very good today. The fact is the kid should be playing over at Shrewsbury in L1 and learning his trade, not leading the line on his own for a team thats 9th in the premier league at home in an FA Cup Quarter, particularly whilst not even fully fit. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. A combination of bad luck and bad planning sadly has created this situation ultimately.

 

[loppers86]

He'd walk into our side now.

So would Oli McBurnie.

 

[Muscat]

"Should have just paid up for Broja"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1769046538121089518

When he says 'starting XI', he didn't make the bench either.

Fair enough, but I was also told on here, repeatedly, that Danny Ings was finished and 2m in wages was a "total waste of money".

We could have had Fofana. Al-Hamidi cost Ipswich 1m and is scoring every 45 minutes in the Championship. Even Kieffer Moore would have been better than what we've ended up with.

Criminal it's been allowed to happen.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Fair enough, but I was also told on here, repeatedly, that Danny Ings was finished and 2m in wages was a "total waste of money".

We could have had Fofana. Al-Hamidi cost Ipswich 1m and is scoring every 45 minutes in the Championship. Even Kieffer Moore would have been better than what we've ended up with.

Criminal it's been allowed to happen.

It is. I mean amongst many I said last summer that the one thing we had to do was buy a #9, we've coped incredibly well without one. I'm as ****ed off as anyone still this morning, we've missed out on a great day out (might have been horrible if course) and maybe more importantly it looks quite bleak for the last 10 games and a chance for Europe.

At the same time though we don't know all the finances, whether some of these players would actually come etc. Ings in particular is on a big wage (I'd imagine he'd be our highest earner) and if we asked him to start every week he'd probably last about as well as Sasa. Horrendous mistakes were made, but mostly they were by Sellars and we've moved on.

None of that means I'm not still mad about it, or indeed that we couldn't have done better yesterday if we'd gone at it harder before we went behind, or kept clearer heads when we went ahead!

 

[Shergar]

He was poor, and we have to hope that he responds positively to this experience, because he likely won’t be feeling very good today. The fact is the kid should be playing over at Shrewsbury in L1 and learning his trade, not leading the line on his own for a team thats 9th in the premier league at home in an FA Cup Quarter, particularly whilst not even fully fit. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. A combination of bad luck and bad planning sadly has created this situation ultimately.

He needs to find some pace from somewhere, for a youngster he is so laboured, so slow.
I feel guilty for thinking but it s there before our eyes.

 

[Ercall Wolves]

Im all for don't blame Fraser I'm in that same camp but so many don't blame the 19 year old were on top of Silva... What's the difference oh a big price tag that not his fault it's shis..


Hes got 4 in 11 for rangers.. he was scoring in Europe for Anderlecht etc .

Probably had his best games in rangers shirts against benefica in Europe


He would have been better up front today letting both go without getting in Yuri was so much folly

Can’t argue with that

 

[North West Wanderer]

He'd walk into our side now.

Would he be any good though?

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Would he be any good though?

Have to think there's more to it for him not to even make their bench. That's surely either financial as part of the deal they signed him under, or a discipline thing they're keeping in house? Didn't seem to need him though!

 

[North West Wanderer]

Have to think there's more to it for him not to even make their bench. That's surely either financial as part of the deal they signed him under, or a discipline thing they're keeping in house? Didn't seem to need him though!

Not fit, surely. In which case I am glad we didn't.
Fulham have a decent squad in fairness.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Not fit, surely. In which case I am glad we didn't.
Fulham have a decent squad in fairness.

Silva said he was fit and he'd made the decision not to select him. Can you believe I actually put the football on when I got home - need help!

 

[WickedWolfie]

That is entirely Jeff Shi and our owners fault imo, Muggy.

We have lost our 3 main strikers to injury and there is no one, absolutely no one else in the squad who can take their place. Embarrassing or what.

This is the Premier League I am talking about, not the Dog and Duck League!

Two of those main strikers were known to have poor injury records.... Just sayin'....

 

[fleck1]

I think a lot of the hype on here and the excited posts come more from him being a local academy kid and people viewing him through gold tinted specs. If we'd signed him from Lisbon or Milan he'd be written off, I haven't seen anything in him that's overly special or exciting about, half the south bank would beat him in a foot race. But that's not on him, the current state of the squad has left us in a position where we have no other option than to play him. If anything I thought Chiwome looked brighter, sharper and offered more in his 30 mins.

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Many of us said this in January that sometimes you need an alternative option that may not necessarily be a guaranteed starter and quite a few on here shot us down. Not every signing has to be a progressive signing that 'improves you' - you can also sign a player on a short-term deal that doesn't necessarily walk into your first team, but in the event of injuries doesn't leave you completely exposed. You can take a chance on a player coming back from injury to help out another club or a journeyman that hits purple patches occasionally but isn't consistent - there seems to be a total aversion to this despite that plenty of clubs do it.

We've done it before with the likes of Iwelumo and Dean Sturridge to good effect, we've also done it and it's failed (Bassong, for example) - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it doesn't leave you in the position where if your injury prone attackers do pick up a knock, you aren't potentially destroying the confidence of a teenager who is carrying a knock and expected to lead the line in important games where every additional place in the league can bring extra much needed revenue.

I think it was as much the optics of bringing in a player potentially weaker than Fabio on paper that limited the pool of potential targets and added to the nose dissuading the hierarchy from bringing anyone in. Once again, Wolves under Shi get their risk assessments completely wrong.