I also accept this. We have progressed massively. Don't take my scrutiny as to me not believing this. We have but we screwed up in the striker department. There will be many times in the second half of the season where we need an outball. Someone to hold it up to let our wonderful creative players do their thing. We won't have it.
We clearly have a plan A, and maybe plan B didn't work out last night. Disappointed a little bit but onwards and upwards for me. This is a young and exciting team being built and l do hope the new signing transition into the team smoothly. T.M. is the right man to oversee that progression, so whatever your views on the window, please put it behind you and support the team. I'm excited and so should you.
Don't normally agree with fishpaste, but same as you, absolutely nails it there for me. Had a little vent earlier about lack of a striker but everything else as a whole is very positive and exciting and far out ways that one negative.
Ah... never had you down as a happy clapper, thought you had been a supporter for years and knew when to spot a likely false dawn?
Yep when we were under pressure without a striker last time we were constantly pinned in and couldn't get out . When simms came back it made such a difference.
You said the last 3 transfer windows so are we are better team than 3 windows a go? And good football, weve beeen playing great football at times. The squad is stronger in 1 sense than 1st of janaury - we have better players under the contracts now, but i agree the evans n stewart injuries weaken us. 1 player isnt going to make our season from here, its going to be a team effort Our other loanee, amad, has been class and if gelhardt gets anywhere close to that we will do very well
One thing we can all be pleased about is this really does prove that this regime will not sign anybody unless they’re confident they’re right. Even if it leaves us short. it means we can be very excited about every player coming into our club. what a change from ever before
I think what could improve also, which would help massively especially when we have no striker, is the other attacking players being more clinical in front of goal, the amount of chances we create there's no reason why, for example Clarke and Roberts shouldn't both be in double figures by the end of the season.
Fishcake is a bit marmite to many. However in this article he spends most of it saying how much he is enjoying our football atm, best he has seen for 20 years. His criticism to me seems fair, in that he accepts we have some sort of long-term plan and model. Its just a pity that model doesn't include signing strikers. The model, I believe, is to buy players cheap and sell them on expensively. I reckon our best 3 young players atm are, Amad (loan) Neil and Patterson (home grown). If we are to buy cheap and sell on expensively, strikers usually make the most money. That is why we were worried about Stewart being sold.
You have watched football for many years and are very educated it in. Do you not accept that we will finish lower than we would have without a striking option coming in? We literally have no one would can hold the ball up and back in. Last time that happened we pissed about with the ball but got no where with it as no one was physcial enough to deal with the centre backs. We have no out ball now, so we will have to play on the counter alot of the time.
Other than Everton recalling Simms out of our control we have brought in 3 newbies ( one a striker ) we are basically the same team. injuries, **** happens.
I’m probably going to, at best, get stick for this, at worst cop a ban. But you’ve never got a single thing right, I normally turn a blind eye to your pretendy ITK as it’s harmless. But this isn’t, it’s whipping up the masses and simply isn’t true. We did have back up plans, just because the club couldn’t get them over the line wasn’t for lack of want or trying. Sometimes these things are outside the club’s control. Particularly at the eleventh hour. A whole host of clubs were waiting for dominoes to fall yesterday and very few did.
If Stewart was fit would we be moaning - probably not. So then Stewart gets his injury on Saturday - we’re in the same boat as now, and would just have to deal with it. FTM Bart
On reflection, I suppose this means that we will only bring in players we know will have been thoroughly scouted and looked at - even if this season we are short up front. I have no doubt that they are looking at strikers to bring in when the summer transfer window opens, they know we are short up front. A year ago we got battered off Bolton 6-0, a couple of years ago we spunked a **** load of money on Grigg. At our worst we were signing plodders like Danny Graham or absolute **** players like Callum McFadzean. I’m delighted with the progress we’ve made in the last 24 months, it’s disappointing we’re short up front but all we can do is get behind this young team now.
If we play the way we want to play and like to play, then we can cope pretty well without a natural number 9. But you can't always do that, and we aren't Abhu Dhabi, so we will obviously miss not having one. I'd doubt there is anyone who can't see the massive improvement on the quality of recruitment since the new men took over. And I'd doubt there I anyone who can't see they have dropped a bollock here either. They haven't dropped many, and this is a bad one, but the sun is still a thousand times brighter than before they turned up.
Surely depends on the striking option and their quality and calibre. If we’d got far enough down the list that we ended up with a Defoe (2022 version), a Grigg or a Kaziah Sterling that we hadn’t done our normal due diligence on then that could just as easily been more detrimental than beneficial.
Hard to tell at the minute mate, i def wanted another striker in as feel the more goal scorers you have the better. I do think a front 4 of gelhardt amad clarke n roberts will rip teams to peices though so if they jel (and stay fit) we will do well. I honestly couldn't think who i wanted us to sign last night if the simms deal wasnt coming off. Strikers are so hard to find, expecially to fit our model/dressing room. I would have liked us to go for will dickson or joe hugill on loan - would both be decent off the bench. Suppose time will tell, i do think some folk have gone over the top and totally written off our season. The annoying thing is if stewart and evans werent injured id be saying we had a class window Edit - i also think that gelhardt will hold the ball up for us, while he isnt as good a presence as stewart, hes very strong on the ball and he will run the channels all game long for us
Quite right. Shockingly careless by all concerned/ It's well known that good strikers grow on trees. All they had to do would be to go to Backhouse Park, Where there are lots of trees, then pick your striker up. Problem solved. Mind you, personally I reckon that The Club has been moving Heaven and Earth, to solve the problem. But as has been pointed out, if they aint available, you can not buy one.
