Newcastle 55 goals - 2 good strikers. 29 goals between them out of 55 scored. 5th and going for top 4 but only 26 goals from all other places outside the regular front 2. Sunderland - 4 poor strikers. 45 goals - Bendtner 8; Sess 8; Ji 2; Wickham 1. Campbell 2. 21 goals from all our strikers in total. Larsson got 8 from midfield and McClean 5, which means the rest have chipped in with only 11. Which also means the rest of our team outside the two regular strikers have also chipped in with 29 goals. It's not that hard to work out really is it? Without Ba and Cisses goals, its not that far fetched to say that Newcastle would have struggled more and also been down in the mid table also rans along with us and 6 or 7 other clubs. Good strikers turn poor performances into draws and tight narrow games into wins. That's why 2 new strikers is the absolute minimum for us this year and in MoN's own words, 2 capable of scoring 30 goals between them. Defensively we have been pretty sound despite chopping and changing and this is not the problem area. In midfield, again shuffling the pack has not taken too much out of us or added that much either but up front we have been toothless once again. Whatever the budget, it must be invested totally in 2 dangerous and pacy forwards. The rest of the team can go on as they are but we need finishers now and quality. Who they are we can speculate all we want but I hope Martin has had his scouts out in force in the last 5 months, because a lot of what we do next season will depend heavily on his striking buys in the summer, not the other players he targets in midfield or in defence OR in goal.
Fletcher & Abdellouae = Top 8. Add left back, possibly 7th. I wonder why we don't look at Derry's LB, apparently he & McLean had a great understanding, and he spent some time at Celtic. We're not far off.
Fletcher & Abdellouae = Top 8 Mons, if we had strikers contributing 30 goals, we would have scored 60 goals this season as a team and we have not conceded many with makeshift defenders too. Top 8 absolutley. Top 6 quite possibly. Those 2 would cost in excess of £20m though and where would Sess fit in with 2 new srikers?
I'd love to see Djib back, he's proved himself in the Prem for a 3rd time. He'd have snared 15 this season easily.
Cisse would be ideal for us right now. One of the reasons I hope qpr go down. Always liked him. He played well for us on his own upfront, he just couldn't gel with kenwyne so we got rid, should of been the other way round.
Fletcher £7m/£8m (thay paid that fro him 12 months ago) Agbonlahor £10m Cisse £3m if he could actually sign for us in the summer as he has played for 2 clubs in a year already?
They are looking at around £6million for Fletch, and around £9million for Abdellouae. Sess could be used at the front of a midfield diamond, giving him the freedom to back up McLean or Seb, and still have cover behind. I think this is Sess best position, and having 2 in front of him (Fletcher a grafter, Abdellouae a poacher) would give him more options a) with the ball, and b) if he wants to release it. Re Cisse, you culd argue that he never actually 'played' for Lazio, more just wore the shirt and stood on the pitch....
I, and i'm sure a few others, saw a bit of Sporting this season (Europa League), they have Ricky Van Wolfswinkel. Watched a fair bit of him when he was at Utrecht, and always looked a decent prospect. Not only does he look a really good striker (although he needs a bit of polish...), he also has an awesome name. Probably a bit pricey though..
Djibril Cisse has scored 5 goals 7 games for QPR. He is a terrific goal scorer imo and faded badly at us last time only because they rest of the team stopped playing as well. We should have got shot of Kenwyne and kept Cisse imo at the time. I think it would take more than £15m to get both Fletcher and Abdellaoue imo. Papiss Cisses instant success at the craas has alerted German clubs to ask more for their star players imo. think he would be more like £12m than £9m and Fletcher will take a £7m bid minimum as he will be quite highly rated as well. £20 needs to be set aside for 2 strikers in any case and if they come cheaper all the better. A decent LB will cost around £2m or £3m.
Totally agree. I remember asking on the old 606 'should we bring him back' and getting gunned down in flames! I loved his character, and he would ALWAYS turn up when you needed him. Admittedly, he often didn't turn up when he wasn't being utterly relied on, but he just makes things happen, despite being limited as a footballer. That is a gift you cannot teach, i'd love him back.
Name is class.......but is that polish as in needs a rub, or Polish as in Billy will be sniffing an Eastern European.....? The joys of the English Language.
The lack of a capital 'P' answers your question, although, weirdly, as I was writing it, I thought 'someone's gonna think I mean Van Wolfswinkel needs an Eastern European hottie as a deal clincher'. Ha.
Bit off topic, but I have a grasshopper the size of a small dog running amock in my gaff, anyone know how to catch the bastards, it's got me run ragged! It's an ugly little bastard, but the noise is driving me nuts, but, I don't like killing anything that's not an ant or a fly! Any wildlife buffs help me out, it doesn't seem to understand Mackem...
Cisse is a big game player. His problem was also getting him motivated for being a lesser game player. He has electric pace, is a great finisher and is a large powerful character in a dull and ever decreasing characterless EPL.
