This Striker Quandry

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Oldsparkey

Oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
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Jan 27, 2011
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Porthcawl Riviera
Just a couple of thoughts on the best way forward - would it be better to go with those already at the club until January, or bring someone in up front on loan before the window shuts.

The upside of bringing in a quality Prem club striker right now is obvious - someone up front to put away those chances we create to win games in which we clearly have the upper hand, eg Blackpool and to a certain extent Pompey.

The (possible) downside would be the upsetting and relegation of players already at the club such as Earnie or Miller to the bench - bearing in mind Gestede and Mason are already there and waiting their chance.

Can we afford to wait until January? Should we go for it, recruit someone and take the fallout with current players - points dropped up until the New Year can never be recovered - or leave it and wait for the present set up to produce the goals up front?
 
As the owners are looking long term, well it is a bit of a quandry, do they bring in a "proven" player or stick with what they have............it depends on the player TBH good strikers tend to be selfish, thats why they are good.......bringing in Bellamy last year gave the whole place a lift, and a lot of the players benefitted from playing alongside him.

However Earnie and Kenny Miller are not exactly young in experienced players, and perhaps would be a bit resentful, I say go with what we've got, and perhaps bring in someone to replace The Beast as cover, if Earnie and Kenny are not doing the job by Christmas, well they are both experienced enough to know it and couldn't complain if someone was drafted in, but bring in players that will strengthen the squad by all means.........but bringing in high priced "superstars" at the moment, could well wreck the team and work ethic that MM has appeared to have built, and has stood us in good stead so far.............after all CCFC is supposed to be a long term sustainable project <ok>
 
If a player becomes available who can make a difference and possibly turn 1 point into 3 then I'd go for it now.
Theres a lot of talk in interviews about the work ethic and squad togetherness but if Earnie or Miller (can't really include Rudy or Mason) need their ego's cuddling, so be it. I think they're experienced enough that this wouldn't be the case though.
That's not to say we wouldn't be ok with who we have at the moment but points on the board are what count so if AN Other can help get them then bring him in <ok>
 
OK, I've asked the question but haven't answered myself <doh>.....so here goes.

Discounting Leicester tomorrow, we have a scheduled 17 Championship games to play before the January window effectively opens. That's a possible (but very unlikely) 51 points up for grabs.

Who knows how many extra we'd get with a loanee Prem striker on board rather than play our hand for those games with what we've got, it's only conjecture. Having said that, if we could convert a couple of inevitable drawn games into wins, that'd be an additional 4 points come the end of season tot up in May.

What would we have given for those extra 4 points last May?

I know Malky is building a "team thing" at the club, but I reckon the stakes are too big to worry about the possible upsetting of individuals. This is about what's best for the club, and if the player(s) and obviously the cash can be found, then we should go for it now.

Bit simplistic maybe, and then again, I suppose it's not my money either. <ok>
 
In the light of our up front performance yesterday, Miller in particular, I thought I'd put this back to the top of the board for those who haven't seen it.

Any more comments now fellas?
 
I thought Miller put in a hard working performance, his movement was very good but got to say when any of our 'strikers' not just Miller got into a position to shoot they chose another option it was almost as if they were scared, only Rudy LOOKED keen to score. There is a rumour circulating that Macheda might be joining us on loan, he may just do the job at Championship level, personally I hope it's true otherwise I can see us getting sucker punched often, we were lucky yesterday, Leicester deserved the point but almost got all three.
 
Oldsparkey said:
Just a couple of thoughts on the best way forward - would it be better to go with those already at the club until January, or bring someone in up front on loan before the window shuts.

The upside of bringing in a quality Prem club striker right now is obvious - someone up front to put away those chances we create to win games in which we clearly have the upper hand, eg Blackpool and to a certain extent Pompey.

The (possible) downside would be the upsetting and relegation of players already at the club such as Earnie or Miller to the bench - bearing in mind Gestede and Mason are already there and waiting their chance.

Can we afford to wait until January? Should we go for it, recruit someone and take the fallout with current players - points dropped up until the New Year can never be recovered - or leave it and wait for the present set up to produce the goals up front?
Click to expand...

Well yes and no....that is well......there are if`s and butto`s, and then you have to consider......oh fug Sparkey I`m confused, what was the question again?
 
Now who's an old fart Dom? :emoticon-0105-wink:

Seriously, we were lucky not to go in at half time needing a mountain to climb when we came back out.

Not saying that was the fault of the guys up front, but despite Miller's endeavour, we looked incapable of making Leicester take us seriously as an attacking force.

Something missing at the sharp end this season. Maybe Bellamy's pace or even Bothroyd's class (despite his other failings) are irreplaceable - but are they??? I'm sure Malky and the club directors are having a serious look at this right now.
 
Well after that load of old dross yesterday, it beggers belief we sent Parkin to Donny, when we only have 4 strikers at the club, Earnie is injury prone, Gestede will be good however would not last a long campaign, so our reliance for goals is from the midfield, this is not good in the long run as the midfield will lose confidence in the strikers. It is evident that we are totally lacking upfront. Others may argue that it was a great point and a backs to the wall point earned, i didnt see it like that. The entertainment factor is another thing, we were woeful in the first half yesterday, and in the second half our only avenue going forward was the magnificient Mcnaughton. Believe me if this goes on much longer our crowds will plummet.
 
I would almost liek to see JET get another chance, just to see some sort of skills going on out there ;)
Macheda is an interesting one. Apparently he has an ego the size of a planet and did nothing in his loan spell back in Italy. May not fit in to how we want to play, but if he is all we can get then we need to take him.
 
Macheda would surely be about as good as there is as a loan striker.

I've defended Miller in the past, his first half 'performance' is possibly the worst I have ever seen from a front man. I can't remember him retaining possession once. Every touch was heavy, every pass misplaced. He improved second half (the only way was up tbh), gutted Rudy got injured as I really thought he was going to win it for us. His performance for those 20 ish second half minutes was very encouraging. I also thought Darcy and Gerrard looked a better combo than Hudson + Gerrard. At least with Darcy in there we don't look like any striker with a hint of pace will cause massive problems.

Rudy's 120mins in the CL cup has maybe cost us league points, would have rather seen the Beast play a part in that game and Rudy been much fresher for the bench on Sunday.
 
Re: Miller.......I and a couple of like-minded others on here were told to give the guy a chance a week or so ago, and told to "get off his back". We weren't getting on his back at all, just saying it as we saw it.

Yesterday, I agree with the post above, he was woeful. He runs about a lot but achieves very little - I'd prefer someone who could be accused of being a lazyarse around the box as long as he could slot them.

In my view, he has had enough chances for the moment - his goal on the opening day against WHU started a bit of a love affair believing he could reproduce it on a fairly regular basis.

It's not as if he hasn't had the chances. Amongst others, his miss against Blackpool was criminal for such an experienced guy - almost as bad as Earnie's for Wales.

Malky has said he's using mind games to get Miller on song - perhaps it's time to use the bench instead.
 
Little choice on Wednesday. Miller up front , Mason just behind.

Hope Conway is fit.
 
From what ive seen our best 2 strikers are Gestede and Mason.

But I think we need 1 experienced striker and id prefer Miller to Earnie.

He didnt play well yesterday. But he wont come up against a better defensive pair than those 2 Leicester defenders.
 
I thought Miller would have been a good buy but after yesterday?

I think the "Beast" could have done better.
 
Just hope Conway is fit Wednesday.That lad has impressed me more than any other so far this season.Miller is looking like another Koumas.No confidence,poor first touch.Can we afford to wait for improvement?
 
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