I looked back at his 24 league goals for us last season. First off, he only scored in 16 games, which points to some inconsistency. And his goals only gained us additional points (9) in five games, to my way of thinking (taking his goals away but assuming other players' goals stood), meaning his goals in the other 11 league games didn't change the result.
Anyway:
Scored all three in 3-0 win at Sunderland, so two points gained there.
Scored our only goals in 1-1 draws vs. Palace and at City, two points gained.
Scored first goal in 2-0 win vs. West Ham. No points gained.
Scored two in 3-2 loss at Watford.
Scored in 91st minute of 2-0 win at Leicester, no points gained.
Scored third goal in 3-0 win vs. Soton, no points gained.
Scored first goal in that 4-0 thrashing of City, no points gained.
Got that four vs. Bournemouth in 6-3 win, three points gained.
Scored second goal in 2-0 win vs. Sunderland, no points gained.
Scored in 3-2 loss at Spurs.
Scored third goal in 3-0 win vs. West Brom, no points gained.
Scored last two goals (both in 90+ minutes) in 4-0 win vs. Hull, no points gained.
Scored two in 4-2 win vs. Leicester, two points gained.
Scored third goal in 3-1 win vs. Burnley, no points gained.
So, to summarize, he only scored three goals against teams that finished above us (gaining only one additional point) and 10 against teams that finished in the bottom five. We still would have finished seventh without him, all other things remaining the same. It's all well and good banging in stoppage-time braces against the likes of Hull, but if he'd spread those goals around a bit more, scoring at more crucial moments, we just might have earned enough points to have finished fifth.
Bye, Rom. It was fun (sometimes) while it lasted.
