| view Obika's match-by-match record |
| Jonathan OBIKA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A young striker signed on loan from Tottenham for the rest of the season in February 2011, after a similar loan at Peterborough was cut short following a change in manager, Obika made his Town debut on the very same day that his deal was agreed, coming on as a substitute with Swindon already 3-0 down at Leyton Orient - bizarrely, after the game, manager Danny Wilson complained about his lack of options up front, stating that Obika though he had great pace, he needed a strong forward to play alongside him. Obika started the following weekend, and though he didn't give a particularly good performance himself, the Town were unlucky to lose 2-1 at Colchester, and he kept his place the following weekend for a home game with Carlisle. The striker soon had the County Ground crowd on his back after squandering two golden opportunities, and generally giving a frustrating performance, looking disinterested off the ball, and selfish when on it - but with injuries to Elliot Benyon, Vincent Péricard and Thomas Dossevi, he found himself in the position of being the most senior striker in the squad. Wilson paired him up front with another loan player, Mike Grella, for the trip to Southampton the following weekend - when that ended in a 4-1 defeat, Wilson tendered his resignation. New boss Paul Hart obviously didn't fancy Obika as a player - after bringing him on for the last twenty minutes of a 0-0 draw with Walsall in his first match in charge, he didn't name him in the eighteen the following weekend - a few days later, parent club Tottenham recalled Obika from his loan, and sent him out again to Yeovil. Three years later and after five more loan spells, Obika joined Town on a permanent deal believed to be worth around £200,000 on summer transfer deadline day of 2014. On signing Obika, manager Mark Cooper said "He's different to the player that was here a couple of years ago. He's a strong, quick forward who can score goals. I really like him and I think he'll do really well”. Cooper was swiftly proved correct as Obika bragged a brace at Bradford on his second debut with two poacher’s finishes at Town corners and five across his first four games. Obika couldn’t sustain that form, and was only sporadically involved with the first team over the second part of the 14/15 season; although he did score Town’s fifth in the 5-5 playoff game with Sheffield United and started the ill-fated final against Preston. The 15/16 season saw Obika’s best and most consistent goal scoring return in red and white, despite Town underachieving around him and finishing 15th. Again, he scored on the first day of the season, as well as two each against Southend and Doncaster, finishing as Town’s second top goalscorer. Obika’s improvement was somewhat outshone by the form of Nicky Ajose, who scored 25 goals, but the two formed a strong partnership in a Town side that scored more goals than promoted Burton Albion but conceded more than two of the four relegated sides. Obika’s final season at Swindon was the relegation nightmare of 2016/17. With Ajose having been sold to Charlton, Obika was expected to step up alongside new signing Luke Norris, despite having rejected a new contract of his own amid interest from other clubs. Norris and Obika were indeed Town’s joint top goalscorers, but with only six goals each as a dismal Town were relegated. With injury concerns starting to mount up and goals drying up, Obika’s options for a new club at the end of the season were more limited than they might otherwise have been, and he ended up joining Oxford United. PLAYING RECORD:
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date of birth
usual positions centre forward youth career senior career |
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ENGLAND
