I agree with most of what you say, but I can't agree re the numbers/one quality striker. I think to start with we need the Chilton/Wagstaffe situation where our threat is spread over two (at least) players on the pitch who draw defenders away from each other, and secondly I worry that if we have just the one quality striker he is too easy to mark out of the game and we're buggered if he gets injured. At the beginning of last season (before we knew how good Aluko was, and then look what happened to him) we were totally reliant on Fryatt, who ended up playing no part in our season at all. We need some quality back up to provide a foil for our main striker, an alternative if he's injured, and a "plan B" if it's not working on the pitch.
I wish. Lol. But @ £1.2m he is a snip and certainly should be considered above the likes of many of the rumoured names. (ie.Bent, Holt, Mboyo). ==================================== For OLM and other tweeters. TRANSFER LEAKER has had his nose and ear to the walls with some classic rumour. Aston Villa will allow Christian Benteke leave for £3m after Andy Gray said he would come out of retirement. Blackburn are to hijack the Robert Lewandowski transfer and pay the asking price thus allowing Jordan Rhodes to get his dream move to Rochdale. Wayne Rooney will snub all other offers and sign for Leicester City. He has always admired the work Nigel Pearson does. there are many more from the transfer leaker on twitter.
We should look at the top scorers in leagues like Greece, Belgium (Mboyo), Austria, Russia (can be expensive), Ukraine etc. Leagues that perhaps aren't PL standard and therefore won't require huge transfer fees to snare the best players. Burak Yilmaz managed 24 goals in 30 games for Galatasaray, Philipp Hosiner managed 32 in 36 for Austria Vienna, Rafik Djebbour scored 20 goals for Olympiakos last season... there are plenty of players out there banging goals in that we could get in, I just wish SB would go for them..
Burnley FC ‏@BurnleyOfficial Contrary to media reports, Burnley Football Club has not agreed any deal with Hull City for striker Charlie Austin.
I just suggested those names because they're goalscorers and just like Austin and Hooper, they haven't played in the PL. And as neither Hooper nor Austin are definitely going to choose us, it's good to know there are potential alternatives available.
Radio Humberside stated this morning that we were no longer going for him due to his high wage demand.
His perforamces for Wolves suggest otherwise. All Fulham are doing is trying to get him on the cheap as they know Wolves need him off the wage bill. £4m is a fair price for him. Altidore has improved greatly since he was last here. Much better idea than Holt and Oldenwingie imo. No he hasn't. Tom Ince wont rush to leave Blackpool nevermind signing for Cardiff City. His agent/dad has said so. Dont be too sure. He had alot of personal stuff(been mentioned lots of times previously) going on and the reasons why he had a sh.it time are long gone. If Steve Bruce wants him dont rule it out. Yes he has got an extra deal and the Hull City website confirm it. So they say ?
I have full faith in our management, but are we ever actually going to sign a striker that we label as our number 1 target? Historically we've passed up on so many good players for various reasons, it'd be great to see the club say "yeah, we're after Austin/Hooper", then actually go out and get them. I know nothing's been confirmed but if what's going round about Hooper is true and Stoke have joined the race for Austin, it'll be disappointing to end up with Holt and Sharp when a bit more oomph in the transfer market might have sealed a deal for our preferred targets sooner.
Plus wouldn't we have had to have a bid accepted by Celtic to then be able to discuss personal terms with the player, I'm sure that's the only way we'd discover if 'Wage demands were too high'
There's some appalling journalism somewhere, The Glasgow paper reported a while back that Hooper wants to leave as Celtic won't offer him a new contract which would make him the joint highest paid player, equally Scott Brown's £25k PW. There has also been numerous reports that Figueroa wanted to high wage demands and the HDM even ran a story about the Elmo deal stalling as we couldn't agree personal terms.
Value for money, in terms of cost against proven effectiveness would certainly be Holt and Odemwingie, and I'd be more than happy getting both. Best player of the bunch is probably Mboyo, so a snip at £6m I'd be happy with either Austin or Hooper over our existing strikers, though of course they have yet to prove themselves at this level. Hooper seems to be pricing himself out of the market, he may have an inflated opinion of his own value. More fool Norwich if what we hear is correct. Bent is out of reach for us. Proschwitz may make the grade but I would be very worried about starting the season with him as our best option (****ing myself in fact). Fryatt, I fear was too slow for the premiership, and I don't suppose a year out has helped. I hope he proves me wrong, but I suspect he will be out of his depth. If we start with him as our main striker we're ****ed. McLean is a nice guy and has boundless energy. As such we should keep him on in a split role as ground staff and public relations officer. Anything in fact where he doesn't have to hit targets.
Abdisalam Ibrahim has been another rumour gaining momentum and with widespread mention of an incoming midfielder (allegedly £2M) it could be him. Only problem is, we're competing with many other Premier League Clubs. Allan McGregor should be confirmed as a HCAFC player in the very near future; either tonight or tomorrow.
