Just looking at the ages of our strike force: - CB - 33 RE - 31 HH - 35 today, happy birthday Heidar and TS, if he signs, 32 A wealth of experience, a lot at Prem level and commitment from the first 3 undoubted. However, is this a cause for concern over a long, hard season? I know Kevin Phillips at 39 is still banging them in for Blackpool but to have 4 over 30 strikers raises some questions. Balance this against the rising stars: - Rudy - 23 Joe - 21 Etien - 23 Nat - 20 Certainly a good mix there and the youngsters can learn a lot from the senior guys. I can't see Earnie staying now as, at best, he will be no. 6 in the list if Smith signs and everyone is fit. Jarvis, who didn't impress at Northampton, will probably be loaned out again and Rudy??????? My other concern is I can't see a 20 goals a season player amongst them. The Wurzels got Baldock from West Ham for £1m and Davies, ex-Derby, for free. I would have been a lot more excited to get someone like Baldock rather than Smith as it appears Malky has gone for people he knows and can put in a workman like shift rather than an out and out goal scorer. Smith will only be no. 4 in the hit list and spend a lot of time on the bench. The Wurzels did well against Palace last night with only 3 strikers to chose from. They have now added the above 2 and could be a force to be reckoned with on Saturday especially as Stead normally scores against us.
i think helguson bellamy and mason are all capable of scoring at least 15 goals each... malky knows what we need, a bit of proven quality up front and both smith and helguson give us that... i dont see craig bellamy or mason as out and out strikers so for me helguson and smith if we get him are our only proven strikers....i have big doubts about whether earnshaw and gestede are up to it and i havent even seen velinkonja play yet.
I think we should have gone all out for Nicky Maynard. Apart from Bellars I haven't been inspired by this seasons signings.
i dont see this 4-5-1 system working myself, we need 2 up top with Bellers and kymo supplying the ammunition, otherwise it could become a borefest all the way to the automatics.
What you regard as 'your other concern' is my only concern, now that we have the strength of Matt Connolly as defensive back up.... You are right, it is just about impossible for a team to go up without a 20 goal striker - and we have not got a striker who will get near that total.
Not sure about either statement really. Last season Lambert scored more than 20, but WH's top scorer had 14 and Reading's top scorer 12! The season before, QPR's top scorer had 19 (close enough), Norwich's top scorer 21 and Swansea's top scorer 19. the year before, Newcastle's top scorer 17, WBA a paltry 13 and Blackpool 16. in 10/11 Graham had 23 and watford finished 14th, long had 21 and reading finished 5th. In 9/10 Maynard had 20 and whitts 20, neither team promoted. In many instances the club's top scorer wasn't even a striker. So on that score, you are less likely to go up with a 20+ goal striker and more likely to go up without one. Not seen enough of Heider or Etien to form a judgement on the second point. Also, if MM is going to rotate strikers (HH, etien, Mason), the chances of one of them getting 20 goals is slim, but if all of them got 15..........
Point taken - do you think we are a team full of goals? I'm not convinced we are - it will be interesting to see over the coming weeks (especially after 'Kim' arrives).
Sorry Iggy, didn't mean it to sound like I was having a dig but the numbers are not intuitive. All the eggs in one basket I suppose. The other thing is that the top scorer is often the penalty taker (like McCormack when he had more than 20) so it doesn't reflect how productive the team is. As to are we a team full of goals. I think like last season, we'll get goals from all over the park (except right back, because neither of our right backs can score) but whether each position will chip in enough, I don't know. We had 16 different scorers in the league last year (excluding OGs), 19 in total with the cups. Only Whitts and Miller got into double figures in the league (12 and 10 respectively). If HH, Etien and Mason can get 10-15 each and the likes of Bellamy, Whitts, Mutch (I think he's got goals in him), Kimbo with 7-8 that leaves Gunner, Kiss and the centre backs to give us 3-4 each with the odd goals from replacements (cowie, conway, ralls, etc) to put us on 70 - 80 goals Reading were champions with 69 goals last year (we had 66) and QPR 71 the year before (we had 76). That seems low as teams in second place scored over 80 in both cases (Norwich and Southampton). If our defence can remain mean, 70 - 80 should do it. Spread them evenly through the games though, I'd rather three 1-0 wins than a 6-0 win and two 0-0 draws. Funny old thing statistics.
to answer your original post BFB i dont see the age of the strikers as an issue. the likes of helguson and smith if signed are here to get us out of the division which is a 1 or 2 year project at most, after that i cant see them being good enough to command first team roles if we do go up....
Quality stats the question i would ask after 2 clean sheets is not have we got the fire power but how many teams have gone up over the last few years for having the better defencive records??
Ok the stats qpr and the Jacks had the best defence in 10/11 Norwich the exception Reading Saints and WH Hull city apart had the best defence 11/12. All very well having a top striker but if you kept it clean you’re in a good position normally. Looking back a few years ago the Jacks only scored 40 goals in all but still finished 7th with only 37 conceded.
