Austin wasn't £6m we hada £4.5m bid accepted, I think QPR got him for about £3m. Fulham didn't **** the market up, they overpaid, but strikers cost money, specially those that are key figures of their teams. Good proven strikers have always been expensive, the only thing that changes is the increasing amount of money in football. One ridiculous fee doesn't dictate the market for everyone else.
So I counted all his goals. He has 58 goals from his feet and 2 goals from his head for a ratio of 1 header for every 29 goals with his foot or to use your 10 goals about .33 headers for every 10 goals scored. *The 2nd vids goals were in the first vid.
My only concern, if we pay out £8M for him, or anywhere close to that, is that he comes in and we don't play to his strengths. As much as I like Bruce he has form for that kind of thing, and as much as I hate to say it I think, taking into account the two managers and styles of play, that QPR would currently look to be the better fit. Obviously I hope that we get him and he bangs in the goals, but I do have my concerns.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tml?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 Brentford value him at £7m apparently Also we've had a £4m offer for Hernandez from Torino
In his defence I didn't see many opportunities for him to use his head. All passes were from midfield generally on the floor for him to run onto.
Sure, he also had a couple penalties, a bicycle kick, and he stole the ball from the keepers feet 3 times and scored as well. Im not trying to be negative the dude looks like a hell of a striker, and you are right, mabye he can head it but he isnt getting that type of service. I think though at least personally I would wait to see what he does for us, I just hope we sign him.
I'd tell Torino to **** off, £4m, are they taking the piss? He cost £10m - clearly we were done, but he obviously did something to impress the Italians seeing as he has been linked with practically every club in Serie A. Maybe they like his changing hairstyles, that's all I can think.
I really don't understand the relevance of the discussion going on in the last few pages about how a goal is scored. The issue to me is can a given player score with a frequency that makes a difference to a teams results. Often as not that can hinge on who the particular player is paired with, more specifically, how versatile is the goalscorer in his movement, positioning and clinical nature and can his team-mates, who set him up with the opportunities, recognise those attributes and take advantage of them and supply the goalscorer with chances. My experience is that the more versatile the goalscorer, the more likely his team-mates will feel comfortable in taking risks in setting up chances. The better the goalscorer is technically, the more his co-workers will create chances....it's a snowballing effect. Score with the knee, arse, head, (Jimmy Greaves, Denis Law),even the hand ( Maradona & almost Elmo !), or brilliant long-range efforts (Ibrahamovic, Stuart Elliot) , who cares. If they have it, they'll do it. This lad may have what it takes, despite his size. Question is, will he get the supply ? PS. I think look-back-in-amber suggested that.
The question was is he good scoring with his head. The discussion was about his goal scoring ability with his head. I dont know what to say if you dont understand that. No one is doubting his ability to score. Its a perfectly reasonable discussion to have just because you dont care doesnt mean other people are not interested in discussing it. Hell there wasnt even anyone arguing over it. A 2 goals scored with a head out of 60 scored is a perfectly reasonable thing to discuss. If for instance someone scored 58 with their head and only 2 with their feet a reasonable discussion could ensue as to whether or not that person could score with their feet. It doesnt mean anyone is questioning their ability to score or whether or not we should sign them. For ****s sake its a forum, if we dont discuss this type of thing we might as well make every thread about chip shops.
If Gray has looked at videos of the style of football we played last season there is no way he is going to come here. He is a striker who wants the ball played quickly through the middle, on the ground, where he can control it, round the defense, and crash it into the corners. We are the exact opposite of Brentford, slow ponderous mid-field build up, push it out to the wings, long crosses from deep, he'd be lucky to score six with us. Ince was our only player who had the speed to make cutting runs into the box and pull the defense out. But he's gone. Who's left.? Aluko running round in circles refusing to pass? Hernandez will be gone. Gray will have no one who can provide him with the service he needs. I don't care how good he looks on Brentfords videos (and he looks the real deal). We'd be a graveyard for his career IMO.
That is very subtle Elle and made me laugh. P.S. I am the 'Apostrophe Nazi' today and my spell checker tells me that you missed a staggering SEVEN out.
Why are you being defensive here elle ? I'm not in the least being critical. As you say, it's a forum for discussion, and I'm just giving my opinion that even if someone is not prolific at scoring with headers (you even went out of your way to present some stats), it is not a negative - probably what you also think too. "I don't care", you surmise - hard to see how you derive that from what I wrote, unless you read it as a personal attack. I offered some other angles on what attributes I think a goalscorer should possess and how his team-mates may interface with him. Hardly lack of caring for what you guys were discussing. PS. The original question btw was "Is he any good in the air ? ..or is Bruce going to have to change our long-ball game ?" or something like that. Can he leap like a salmon ?
If I could add my two-pennyworth here. There has been some talk on 'getting supply' and in some cases I agree that last season we did this boring, boring pass the ball across the field from one side to another, give it to a winger who would then run into a brick wall and then pass it back to the goalie to start all over again. Good strikers don't have to have the ball 'laid on' to score goals. They have the ability to lose their marker, anticipate where the ball will finish up, latch on to it and score. By the same argument a good midfield man will know the ability of his forwards and should, instinctively, put the ball into the empty space that they are anticipating. This requires a lot of 'bonding' between the team members and with late signings this will not eventuate for some time (imo) but should come to fruition by the half way mark this season.
Alan Nixon says the second player we have an offer out for is somone on loan. My mate mentioned earlier in the week we were after somone from Arsenal on loan, didn't believe him at the time but there might be something in it. Thought I'd pass it on
This discussion about Gray is missing on key point: How will we set up? Last season we played a slow controllled build up style which doesnt leave a lot of space for strikers to run into. Hopefull we will play a more fluid system, we have some good passers who can move teams around to make space. This could work for Gray. Have a read of an article on sky sports from danny Ings, he said he worked on how to pull defences and attack off the shoulder to be a success in the championship. If the player understands the style and can adapt then anything is possible. Looking at the videos i reckon Gray would be a great fit
Why? Probably because it was 108 today and I was sanding a deck, it makes anyone cranky. I think if we partner him with someone good in the air and change the formation a bit to provide the service he seems to enjoy like Canada suggests that he would bang in a lot.
