Lyndon Dykes

You make a good point about the fall off in effort.

I remember soon after he arrived I think it was away to Luton and he played like a man possessed going after every ball. Haven't seen that in a long while.

All that said I also think he is the best of a very bad bunch of strikers we have, and actually a 1-4 strike rate for a striker is fairly typical. We as fans all expect a 20-goal a season striker but if you look at our history - and if anyone could be bothered, the history of comparable clubs - a 20 goal a season striker is rare as hen's teeth. Even in rare seasons we have had them - Thorpe, Allen both spring to mind - even they got slagged off by fans for "not having an all round game" (my favourite one was "all they do is score goals" -  lol). The number 9 is always going to be under the microscope more than any other player on the pitch.

Thanks, obviously not great stats for Armstrong but still one or two important variables to take into consideration before writing him off.

Form is temporary and all that...

For all we know Armstrong may go on to prove himself as one of the most prolific strikers in our history but at the moment he is clearly not as prolific as Dykes...

Yes there are arguments about service - for both- but although we're entitled to our own opinions, we're not entitled to our own facts and the facts are clear about who of the two has proven themselves to be better as this level.

They're both shite. It's that simple.

Do we have to go over this so often?

Can't you just accept that despite the fact that we all know Dykes isn't great he has a lot more goals than Armstrong at this level.

Did you find him in bed with your missus or something because it is coming across as irrational.

You don't half sound like Corbyn in the aftermath of the 2019 General Election where he was fixated with telling everyone that Labour won the argument whilst the Tories had a 80 seat majority....

It's not skewed to point out that Dykes has 29 goals for QPR and Armstrong has one.

Dykes is having a bad season? No shit, Sherlock, but his one goal this season is still the same amount as Armstrong has scored in the Football League in his entire career.

You come back and ask me to admit I was wrong when Armstrong has an average of 1 goal per 4 games...

I'm using stats for my argument, you're using feeling. There's only one winner here. 

If Armstrong carries on with the same form he'll be 48 when he gets to 29 goals....!

Even if you take the goals per minutes ration Armstrong is 1 goal in 1361 minutes, Dykes 1 in 328.

As I said, come back when Armstrong is half as good as Dykes when we're comparing stats...

Both are poor and it's our misfortune.

The point you can’t/ don’t want to accept is Armstrong is just starting out and it’s his first full season and I’m prepared to give him some patience.

This is Donkeys 4th season and other than once every 10 games he decides to put some effort in by throwing himself at a first time cross, he’s got nothing else in his locker to offer even in better previous teams here.

I'm all for giving youth a chance and certainly wouldn't boo Armstrong for not being ready.

I also understand that he's just starting out.

However, regardless of who's fault it is that he's in the first team I'm not willing to pretend that all is well and we have another Clive Allen or Kevin Gallen on our hands at the moment.... 

What I also won't do is pretend that Armstrong is, at the moment, a better player than Dykes regardless of how I feel about the latter. That is absurd thinking.

If Donkey was the regular Championship striker that you and Stainrod want to describe then why did he only score a measly 8 goals from 38 games last season, perhaps it explains why Dopey Ainsworth doesn’t consider him first choice upfront.

How many more disfunctional seasons do you need before writing him off as a rank bad signing.

I never once said he was a regular Championship striker.

I said he was average but the best we could afford.

He's very ordinary but still more likely to score a goal than Armstrong as the stats show.

Again, both are poor and that's our misfortune but 8-10 goals a season from Dykes is par for course for a player of his ability.

Maybe those strikers spoke about elsewhere would be on higher wages, maybe they would never want to join QPR? All pure conjecture.

Look, we both find it frustrating that Dykes is playing for QPR when we both grew up with far better.

He is poor and at most periods of our history from the 70s to pre 2015 he would be a reserve player at best, but we can't compare the club then with now.

I also want Armstrong to succeed but he's more likely to be on the scrapheap if his career stays on the same path over the next 18 months than fulfill any potential he may have.

I am with you oldR. We are a better team with Dykes starting than we are with Armstrong. That is based on Dykes being able to hold the ball up and his all around play is better. He is in goalscoring positions more often as well. Srmstrong is always running diagonally away from goal.

Armstrong might turn out to be brilliant. I doubt it, but he might do and I am more than happy for him to have his chance. Starting games, as sub, mixture of both.

I think Armstrong up top with Dykes and service coming from wide as oppsosed to front to back will suit them both.



Dykes isn't great, I wouldn't lose sleep if he goes, but he is currently (not based on potential and all of that) our best striker.

ALl for working the channels. But some running straight to goal would be handy! Might help his stamina by not wasting it quite so much. 

As Lineker says, if you stay within the width of the goal and in the box, you'll score far more than running here there and every where.