...or Drogba but we can't afford any of those 3. He hasn't had a chance yet, and for some reason everyone has decided he's going to be crap. Give him a chance guys.
Actually I don't EVER want us to deploy a Target Man. I want us to buy a Centre Forward which we haven't seen at the KC since Daniel Cousin. Target Men are, as the name suggests, people who you just lump aimless balls into the box at in the hope of them causing enough chaos and confusion to create a goal from nothing. We have Adebola for that and, to be honest, I hope we never have to play him. Grant Hold is a prime example of what a proper Centre Half should play like: good at holding the ball up with his back to goal, good at laying off to midfielders and wide players coming through in support, good in the air to score goals from crosses and corners, good at poaching goals from loose balls in the box through strength, spped of thought and speed of body. As you can see Adebole hasn't got any of those attributes on his cv.
Gary Madine signed for £800k for Wednesday. We offered more than that for Ayala. Austin signed for Burnley for around £1.5m, a little more than we paid for McLean.
What you've just described is a premiership target man. We haven't seen one since Cousin because we haven't been a PL side since then. What we can afford is Adebola. He might not be your cup of tea but he's still a professional footballer who the manager feels is good enough to add something to the team, and he's doen nothing so far to show the manager was wrong. Added to that, he seems to be an honest pro and doesn't revert to cheating and injuring people like your example Holt.
Maybe the owners felt we needed a 3rd centre back more than we needed 6th striker? Obviously when we signed McLean and Fryatt we only had one striker, so NP wanted to get two in who could do the business. I can't claim to know his exact though process but clearly he wanted 2 strikers and had about £2.5m to spend on them. He got those two in instead of a target man and the target man problem was addressed in the summer when we'd already spent a lot so the owners wanted us to do it on the cheap (which is fair enough) hence, we have Adebola.
We can't afford Drogba obviously, but Madine went to the Wendies for about £600k and our failed bid for Austin was only £300k less than he ended up going for, considering that we ended up spending £1.3m on Mclean(just £200k less than Austin went for), I think we missed out. I agree with Strovolos, it would be far better to have a proper centre forward, rather than someone who just happens to be tall. Waghorn fills that role to a point, he's strong and decent on the ball, he just doesn't give us the height that the other two would.
As I have said, Holt is an example of someone who has all the attributes of a Centre Forward. He is a Premier League player but at 30 has only just made it there for the first time. Madine and Austin are other examples of the the Centre Forward style. Neither of them are Premier League players. There are plenty of other players outside the PL who also fit the bill. Point is just because a player plays outside the PL doesn't mean that player isn't capable of making the step up. Equally there are many more examples of players in the lower leagues who will never make the grade. You cannot generalise. However, Adebola is not a Centre Forward, nor has he ever been. I'm sure NP had his reasons for signing him, but none of those reasons were for what we are lacking, which is a 50 game a season Centre Forward who is capable of playing either with a partner in a 442 or on his own in a 451. I am not saying NP hasn't been able to acquire this type of player for financial reasons (see my comment about it being "frustrating" above), merely that it is what we are lacking and should make a priority to address.
I have to agree, we need a tall (YOUNG) striker, like Folan. I have to be honest and I feel Adebola is past it and would never last 90 minutes !!!
I don't think Adebola is just big though. In his limited match time in pre-season he showed some neat touches so score and assist goals. The Simpson one against Liverpool was a quality touch off his chest, and for his goal at Ferriby he turned the defender with his back to goal and nearly burst the net, sure you can say it's only Ferriby but if he was that slow and unfit he wouldn't be turning like that and beating men at any level. I'm not saying I love the guy, I just think him being the butt of everyone's jokes on here is a bit silly when he hasn't played a game yet. And last season we lacked a target man, we've signed one now so when we need one the option is there. It makes no sense to me to then be calling for another target man (whether he's a PL quality one or not). What we really need is another centre back, cos if one of them gets injured we're screwed.
I don't joke about Adebola. I simply recognise he isn't what we need (at least in footballing terms, he might add valuable experience to the dressing room). Fitness isn't just a question of nimbleness, or speed over a short distance. It's also a question of stamina. There is ABSOLUTELY no way Adebola could play a whole game. He is able (just like Nick Barmby) to come off the bench in the odd game here or there, for a cameo role. That is not what we need! As for the CB, our failed attempt to sign Ayale was an indication of where NP believes our priorities are. I actually think it was a mistke going for Ayala at that time. We should have gone for him either in January, or as soon as the season finished instead of going for Hobbs, IF we were going to go for him. I think as soon as McShane got injured we should have gone for an experience CB on loan from the Prem, like Danny Collins for example (cue Lambo!!!). Someone who we could play as back-up to Hobbs and Chester without there being any issues (as there might have been with a young Premiership CB on loan) BTW, can you not see my distinction between a Target Man and a Centre Forward?
For ****'s sake. See what I mean? You post a totally thick response to the debate saying you think Adebola is old. Really? You don't think that's been contributed before? I try to support my team's players, especially ones who have only played the odd sub appearance so far, and that makes me a big joker who just loves Adebola? Just because I don't jump on the 'let's say what everyone else does and seem cool' bandwagon, doesn't mean I love him either. I just think he's there and if we need him at some point he's worth a go. If he turns out to be crap when he actually gets a chance then fine have a go at him. Just so you know, I haven't voted anything, but I suppose I'd stick with McLean and Waggy.
He's had trials at Palace, Cardiff, Huddersfield and Birmingham, but none of them offered him a deal. I saw a Bradford fan claiming they were signing him this week, as Parky's now their manager and he could commute from his current home, it might well be true. Wayne Browne still hasn't got a club either.
