Akinde Set To Sign For Gillingham? | Page 2 | Vital Football

Akinde Set To Sign For Gillingham?

The marmite man has gone.

I really hope people remember the positives and give him a warm welcome.

Unfortunately we only saw glimpses of what he is undoubtedly capable of.

Good luck John except against LCFC.

UTI !
 
Wasn't his greatest fan last season but he was left isolated and I think most strikers would have struggled. He seemed much better recently coming off the bench and we saw more of his ability but can't say I'm particularly disappointed to see him leave now that we have Hopper.
 
A good player for the club, scored many vital goals and inspired confidence in penalty situations. Helped us into League 1 in fine fashion too.

I wish him all the best at Gillingham but less so when we play them...

No justification for anything other than a warm welcome when we see him next - he did a fine job for us.

Come on you Imps!!!!!!!!!!!!©
 
Can't argue with being top scorer for a title winning side, admittedly only 5 of his 17 from open play. Sacrificed parts of his game here, so he probably didn't hit the heights people expected.

But, his technical shortfalls are exposed at L1 level, and as I've said previously, I think he's short at this level from that point of view.

An Evans side will probably suit him more than here under MA. A good move for all parties.
 
Barney Imp said:
A good player for the club, scored many vital goals and inspired confidence in penalty situations. Helped us into League 1 in fine fashion too.

I wish him all the best at Gillingham but less so when we play them...

No justification for anything other than a warm welcome when we see him next - he did a fine job for us.

Come on you Imps!!!!!!!!!!!!©
Click to expand...
Apart from when I had 20 on us to beat Notts County!!

Good luck to him.
 
Best wishes to John. I always considered him to be a decent player capable of the odd piece of 'what the heck was that?' moment but he'll to me always be our top scorer in a Championship winning season and I thank him for that contribution.

Nice that he got those two late goals in his last match for us which hopefully will be the lasting memory for supporters

When he comes back at the end of February I'll give him a round of applause and I hope that the whole stadium does the same
 
25 goals from 52 starts plus 29 from the bench despite playing an unfamiliar role for most of his stay. That is a pretty good scoring record, and his accuracy from the spot was a huge contributory factor to our League Two title: those penalties won us 8 points we would not have had. Given the problems we had from the spot before his arrival and also this season, we should be very grateful for that. Made the PFA League Two team of the year, so obviously a better player than some people on here would ever be able to give him credit for.

As I have intimated before, Akinde was signed largely to get us out of League Two, and he did that at the first attempt. His days at Lincoln were probably always numbered in League One, but I am glad we had him. He played a full part in the journey of the Lincoln Loco, and he has my everlasting thanks for that.
 
Two interesting comments from the Gillingham website:

"The 30-year-old centre forward arrives at MEMS Priestfield Stadium after the players’ representatives had weeks of negotiations with Chairman Paul Scally and Chief Executive Tom Lawrence."

[Evans:] “I have enormous respect for Michael Appleton, Jez George and those above at Lincoln City; we have spoken many times in the last two weeks but all of us have shown a maturity and a real level of professionalism to get this deal over the line."

Obviously been going on for some time, possibly before the Bolton game.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2020/january/gills-sign-john-akinde/
 
I dunno, wins his first header in an Imps shirt and now he's off!
Just kidding, thought he was awesome off the bench v Bolton, but it always amazed me how Rheady won every header without even jumping when big John could barely get his noggin on one...
 
Thanks for your service John. All the best for me, you didn't deserve most of the stick you received. Hope this move works out well for you. :clap:
 
Scotimp said:
Two interesting comments from the Gillingham website:

"The 30-year-old centre forward arrives at MEMS Priestfield Stadium after the players’ representatives had weeks of negotiations with Chairman Paul Scally and Chief Executive Tom Lawrence."

[Evans:] “I have enormous respect for Michael Appleton, Jez George and those above at Lincoln City; we have spoken many times in the last two weeks but all of us have shown a maturity and a real level of professionalism to get this deal over the line."

Obviously been going on for some time, possibly before the Bolton game.

https://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/2020/january/gills-sign-john-akinde/
Click to expand...
looks like we sorted the akinde move, to cover the hopper move. i doubt the akinde sale has freed up any funds other than for that.

very glad we then waited to complete the hopper deal, before selling akinde... showing that we have moved up the chain a notch. also, gone the days of selling 'star' players and then scrabbling around for a replacement.
 
Sad to see him go, Big John has been a terrific asset for us with those coolly taken penalties and determined performances in a role as single striker which suited the team set up more than his own individual strengths.

Ironically the set up in recent games seemed better suited to him and that cameo v Bolton has turned out to be a good way to sign off.

A player who opposing supporters wanted in their team more than a few on here, a shame as most of us recognised his strengths and sacrifices last season and this.

Best of luck - except when back here!
 
Chesterimp said:
Sad to see him go, Big John has been a terrific asset for us with those coolly taken penalties and determined performances in a role as single striker which suited the team set up more than his own individual strengths.

Ironically the set up in recent games seemed better suited to him and that cameo v Bolton has turned out to be a good way to sign off.

A player who opposing supporters wanted in their team more than a few on here, a shame as most of us recognised his strengths and sacrifices last season and this.

Best of luck - except when back here!
Click to expand...
not just on here, i think it is worth remembering that our last two managers didn't want him in the L1 11 either. walker was signed by the guy that signed Akinde, and Walker has started virtually every league 1 game ahead of akinde.

firmly believe akinde was signed to get us L2 promotion, which he helped with superbly, and possibly even quicker than was budgeted for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.