Will Rory Donnelly get a chance this season?

Full article available at http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/08/rory-donnelly-will-he-get-chance-this.html​

Young Northern Irishman has been in prolific form during pre-season; will it be enough to see him progress to the senior side?

Young striker Rory Donnelly can consider himself unlucky not to have been included in the first-team squad for Thursday's game against Malmo FF. After enjoying what can only be described as a prolific pre-season, he found himself back with the development squad for a friendly with Port Talbot last Tuesday, and I for one could forgive him if he felt a little hard done by.

Signed from Cliftonville for an undisclosed fee, he'd made his name after scoring 22 goals in his first two seasons with the club. He'd attracted attention from the two Liverpool-based clubs, but in the end Swansea got their man and it was likely this goal which really endeared him to the decision-makers in SA1:

[video=youtube;Ih09AzzHlrc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ih09AzzHlrc[/video]

Detractors would be quick to point out that his goals in this season's friendlies came against "lesser" opposition, but as has been said a million times you can only play what's put in front of you, and Donnelly did just that. He featured in almost all of the club's pre-season friendlies - he only missed out on the final Dutch tour game against Den Haag & the final friendly with Reading - and what's more he banged in more goals than anyone else over the close season - six in five appearances.

His technique and finishing ability are there for all to see, and he appears to have bulked up a bit too which will be of great benefit if he does make it into the first team this season. A great example of his prowess in front of goal came against Yeovil - skip to the 5:00 mark to see what I mean:

[video=youtube;29r8IL9jVtA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=29r8IL9jVtA[/video]

Laudrup has repeatedly stated his desire for another striker, but do we have the answer lurking under our nose? Last season, Itay Shechter was routinely preferred to Donnelly - even at the end of the season when it was clear that a) the Israeli striker wasn't very good, b) Donnelly was banging in goals for the U21 side and c) Shechter would be returning to his parent club at the end of the season, whereas Donnelly was our player for the foreseeable future. Couple that with what can only be described as a highly impressive pre-season for the young Northern Irishman and I think he can legitimately feel a little hard done by as he appears to be set to watch from the sidelines for the time being at least.

Now, don't mistake this as a criticism of Laudrup's selection policy; you simply cannot argue with the results thus far and who am I to question the great Dane? All I'm saying (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is that I'd like to see Donnelly on the bench for a few Premier League games soon. All you can do as a player is hope to perform to the best of your ability and, if you're a striker, to hit the back of the net when selected. Donnelly has done just that whenever he's been called upon to date, but so far his only appearance for the senior side came in a Carling Cup match against Crawley Town where he replaced Michu for the final 25 minutes or so.

With a long season ahead, and a potentially hectic fixture list on the horizon, it could well be that we see Donnelly playing for the first team sooner rather than later. Will 2013/14 be the season Rory Donnelly shows the world what he can do? I wouldn't bet against it...

 

If Donnelly is worth a Prem start or bench slot then the first thing he must do is score prolifically in the U21 league. The second is learn everything he can from Bony. If he does that them ML will have to juggle his line up and his shapes to find a way to fit him in. It's not easy for the lad - right now he is behind Bony and Michu for the forward position. If injury strikes he must be ready.

 

I think we will see Donnelly get some first team action this season, perhaps Laudrup will slowly introduce him in The Capitol One cup games.

 

Agreed Never. Can see him playing inthe FA cup and League Cup.May also be on the bench for PL games after the Europa ties, depending on who we will be playing etc.

 

Never has hit the nail on the head, and I definitely see the boy being brought in via our cup games and maybe against the lesser bottom Premiership teams, Laudrup would be stupid not to do it, he is just as good a youngster as Ben Davies was when he was thrown in the deep end, so if Laudrup does not do the same for Donnelly then Laudrup needs a psychiatric report done on him by our medical team!................

 

Yep, by taking Donnelly to Holland shows he does have plans for the lad. I'd be really miffed if the lad gets no game time this season.

 

I hope he is on the bench every match and gets a run, only one way to find out if he is good enough

 

I hope he doesn't purely because that will mean either Michu or Bony are in need of a rest. But I am excited to see what he can do.

 

michu is not playing at his best as a forward, put Donnelly on the bench

 

quite simply yes he will play a few games at some point. it would be silly not too..

 

I wonder if ML will be tempted to take him on Thursday somehow I doubt it but if we were 2-0 up in the 2nd leg it would be an ideal time to give him a run out.

 

Good shout Glam. Would give him some much needed experience. Would like to see him and Poz playing off each other. Could be the future Michu and Bony.

 

Agree, what a great experience for the lad getting a taste of European football. Chuck him on for the last 20mins on Thursday so long as all's OK.

 

ML takes 22 players to every away game. Not sure why but I'd imagine Donnelly is travelling with the squad, just isn't getting selected when there. It's only a matter of time I believe.

 

Bony looks the business but i do think he needs to lose at least a stone in weight to really compete with the best premiership defenders. He did look a bit slow against malmo even with two goals where the last one i don't think he knew much about....He needs to have extra time in the gym imo if we are to get the best out of him...

 

Pretty much agree with whats been said. I think he will definitley get a run in the Capitol One Cup which hopefully will provide him with the platform to secure a few selections on the bench in the league.

 

Im not so sure about that valley. I have heard a lot of fans say after the game that Bony looked over weight and a bit slow and im worried he may not get the amount of goals that we all expect due to better defenders in the premiership. he looks at least a stone over weight and malmo was no test for him really. he definitely has the skill so i hope his extra weight won't spoil his performance because he will be a marked man this season...

 

I'd put him being 'slow' down to a lack of playing time and match sharpness at the moment. It's surprising what losing 4-5 pound would do to somebody like him. But as you say, we can't really give a fair assessment of his fitness yet until we come up against a better defence.

 

I hope so too, that will free up Michu