John Marquis

[RedJ]

Currently top goalscorer in the league. Just noticed that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/league-one/top-scorers

[sha66y]

Nothing to see here, ..move on !

[GazLaz]

If he carries on like he is one of two things will probably happen. We will get promoted or the will get bought in the summer.

[dknward2]

We need Feb 1st asap can't see him leaving us unless to a championship club now or to either Sunderland or maybe Portsmouth

[BillyStubbsTears]

55 goals in 115 league appearances.

What a player.

[GazLaz]

55 goals in 115 league appearances.

What a player.

1 in 2 is a very good return, he offers much more than just goals though which makes that return even better.

[BillyStubbsTears]

One goal every other games for an extended period of time is more than very good. It is utterly exceptional. You only have a slack handful of players with that record spread across the entire league at any one time.

As you say Gaz, add his work rate and his indestructibility to that and you're talking about one of the best half dozen strikers in our long history.

[dickos1]

The people on here a month or so ago saying we should sell him have gone quiet.
Unbelievable really, he is as good as we’ve ever had

[Paul Simpson]

So quick to criticise and then forget, always looking for a scapegoat? May , mandeville, Taylor, marquis, Wilks etc . Get a grip . Marquis top goal scorer in the league . Donny in the playoffs!! Life doesn’t get much better than this !!!

[POD]

Currently top goalscorer in the league. Just noticed that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/league-one/top-scorers

These stats show 15 goals but no assists.  Probably indicates that he is focussed on scoring when he gets the chance.  Perhaps unlucky not to get an assist for the second goal against Oxford?

[IDM]

As I said before, Marquis assists for 90 minutes, virtually every game..

[Bentley Bullet]

Doesn't every player 'assist' in games?

[IDM]

You would think so, yes, which is why I don’t hold much by the assist statistics..

My point with Marquis is he runs his balls off virtually every game for the team, and if that doesn’t count as assisting, what does.?

[Bentley Bullet]

The stats are about goal assists, which are credited to players who pass the ball to the scorer.

[IDM]

I know that BB, but they don’t tell the whole story..

Our 5th goal, was it Marquis who sent a great pass to Blair.? Blair gets the assist credit for the excellent cross but the chance was created by the pass before..

Our 3rd goal, who gets the assist.?

Our second goal, is the assist due to Wilks.?

[Bentley Bullet]

Of course, they don't tell the whole story but passing sequences can only go back so far otherwise the goalkeeper would probably have most assists!

[dickos1]

He pulled the ball back for mays goal against oxford, and as someone mentioned earlier similar v scunny

[Bentley Bullet]

That probably didn't count because the ball didn't go directly to May from his cross.

[IDM]

I repeat, who gets an assist for our second goal.?

Sometimes I think there are stats produced for stats sake..

[Bentley Bullet]

Our second goal was scored direct from a free kick so nobody assisted!

[IDM]

That’s the point.. you could argue Wilks deserves an assist for winning the free kick..

I’m of the same school of thought as Shankly and Clough, if your not assisting you shouldn’t be on the pitch..  for example, for our first goal there were other players the Dale defenders were concentrating on, leaving May unmarked.. do they get any credit for assisting that goal.?

Just my opinion but the assist stat can lose its meaning and relevance..

[Bentley Bullet]

Should the Rochdale defenders get credit for an assist?

[IDM]

Now you’re taking the point too far..

The bigger point I am making is that whilst Marquis doesn’t have any assist credits against his stats this season, he makes a massive impact on the pitch beyond his goals..  to me that makes a mockery of having a stat for assists..

[BillyStubbsTears]

The whole "assist" thing is a load of ba-baa. A pointless Americanism, bolted onto a game where it doesn't really apply.

[RoversAlias]

I feel you're arguing with semantics, IDM. The word "assist" is used in many contexts, yes Marquis assists our performance throughout the entire game, but that stat specifically refers to a "goal assist" and refers to the player who directly gives the ball to the goalscorer. Sometimes it is a case of common sense, like with Marquis assisting May's goal against Oxford - it's obviously not been credited to him cos it came off a defender and then May tucked it away - but that's how it goes sometimes. Stats only ever tell part of a story, and they can be misleading or used to prove points that may not necessarily be true, but when it comes to recording tangible statistics in football, recording goal assists is an important and useful aspect whereas saying "he assists the team every week" isn't.

[Bentley Bullet]

The whole "assist" thing is a load of ba-baa. A pointless Americanism, bolted onto a game where it doesn't really apply.

What a f**king surprise! Your new year's resolutions didn't include stopping your boring predictability did it, Billy!

[dickos1]

If someone takes a couple of players on gets to the byline pulls it back a defender gets a touch on it but it makes its way to our player then it’s an obvious assist from our player.
Just because a defender gets a touch on it shouldn’t stop it being an assist.
Players score goals that get deflection off defenders but it’s still their goal

[BillyStubbsTears]

My point is that American Football is an entirely structured game, where players at each play have specific and very well planned roles to perform. That lends itself to judging players' performances by specific metrics.

Football is far more fluid than that. Listing "assists" is a crude bolting on of the metric approach. It's mildly interesting but doesn't really tell you that much.

Marquis here is a perfect example. What conclusion would someone reach, judging him on the "official" assist figures?

[IDM]

RA you have given an example of where the assist thing falls over.

I think there is a place for these extra stats and analysis, and that is for the coaching staff and players IMHO.

I respect that others think differently but the assist stat is irrelevant to how I look at the players and their performances..

[roversdude]

Just a comment on JM celebrating Alfie’s goal
Also JM runs his nuts off week in week out, you can’t name many games when he hasn’t, even through his “barren spell” a few weeks ago