I've watched the video of the goals against Hertha Berlin and Vaughan took both goals well. If (and it's a BIG if) he stays fit, do you think we need to buy another striker; or should we spend the money we'd save on getting better defenders in??? Personally, I would stay with what we've got (loan/sell Chris Martin) and review the situation in January.
I would like to see an alternative. It may be wishful thinking but someone along the lines of a poacher like Kevin Philips who can turn a game. There probably isn't one out there but I can dream.
Interesting one JR. Having 5 strikers does sometimes seem a bit of a luxury, especially as we score quite a few from midfield too, but all it takes is one serious injury and a couple more to go off form, and then we´re stuck. If we offload Martin, then we should definitely replace him I think, not actually sure he´s up to it, even if he stays.
i'd be tempted to start with what we have and save some funds for january where, if we need one, we can invest it all in a centre forward
I'd like a striker in. Yes I think what we have is good enough if everyone stays fit, but if holt picked up an injury I'd be pretty nervous. Can't rely on Vaughan with that injury record IMO, even though I hope he proves me wrong...we could wait until January, but if we'd got Ashton in the summer, as opposed to January, we'd have stayed up at a canter that season. Ok, maybe not a canter, but we'd have stayed up. I wouldn't be unhappy without one, and defense would be my priority, but if one came along I wouldn't have many complaints...
whilst i agree we cannot rely on vaughan staying fit, why the urgency for another striker? i mean, we don't just have vaughan. holt, jackson and morison are still here. other than wilbraham, we aren't down on numbers. if vaughan only plays about 15 games next season he'll have stepped into aaron's shoes anyway. agree that if the right striker comes along at the right price then we should sign him, but its way down the pecking order, no where near as important as a centre back, defensive midfielder, another winger and left back.
I think we really need to offload martin. He just isnt good enough. He can shoot but provides nothing else. That leaves us with 4 strikers, two big, two "small". One (Vaughan) is injury prone, another (jackson) is good but we can we rely on him to score regularly? I think he has the ability. Then there'n is Moro who can chip in with a few but I suspect will play 2nd fiddle to Holt. Holt himself is a nailed on starter but if he were to get injured I fear for us. If vaughan can stay fit is he going to score that many? Lets hope so. But I would try and bring in some class as a replacement for martin and then.use vaughan.and jackson as very good impact players and occasional rotation starters. I know that wont come cheap but I think itd be worth spending some money if we can keep the wages sensible. Imo we need a LB, CB, DM and CF with possible C Martin and Crofts (sorry I do like him but out of his depth in PL im afraid) leaving for £500,000ish each?
I know that you cannot rely on history to predict the future but our problem last season was not goal scoring. We have effectively traded Vaughan for Wilbs which should, if anything strenthen the front line and give CH options which PL didn't have. We have already bought an attacking midfielder and we have a serious interest in another with a prolific midfield of Pilks/Howson/Wes/Benno/Surman etc already in-house. I would be tempted to keep our powder dry and see how we go until January. I can't see the point in splashing out our limited resources on either a bit part player (what is the point) or going large on a new "star" striker who may or may not fit in and who may disrupt what is currently an effective unit. Obviously if Vaughan trips over a blade of grass and ruptures his cruciate, Holty gets hurt and Moro gets a strop on then please feel free to refer me back to this optimistic post and call me an idiot.
I really dont see us signing a striker with the options we have right now (especially if Vaughan can stay injury free) I wouldnt mind a LB, CB, RB and DM though (not asking for too much!)
Absolutely not. If we sell Martin, maybe, but at the moment 5 strikers is more than enough. It would be a complete waste of money because anything we can afford will not improve what we've already got in any way. We'll get much more value for money out of applying the cash to other positions
