You only need to look at our goal scoring record in our past two league games to see that we have scored nothing. The fact is we are a team that creates more chances than any other club, but we have no one to put them away. Scott Rendell & Ben Strevens are not being used the right way, Wycombe play their best football on the ground yet we still persist to boot it up to either of these players (with it working maybe twice) Strevens & Rendell need someone setting it up for them as they both show they have a good finish. Stuart Beavon is the one that has the skills, ability and sets everything up providing the link between midfield and attack (which we all love) but if marked by a few players is useless. His aim in the side is to score goals as a striker. Elliot Benyon again shows he has the eye for a goal and with a couple more games under his belt may start banging them in, but you can see he wants the ball on the floor not in the air from a goal kick. Play the ball on the floor and the strikers will score the goals and we play beautiful football! But if we're gonna choose to start hoofing the ball up field when things aren't going our way then we need a big hefty front man.
Give it time Luke. I agree in principal but we are less than a month into the new season. Also dont forget that Benyon and Rendell (the partnership I believe Waddock has in his head as first choice) didnt have a pre-season together. Im not panicking yet but if we carry on not scoring, I trust Waddock will bring in someone on loan. Remember the transfer window hasnt closed yet and im 100% sure that many teams like ours wait and see if their targets are sat on benches etc before making a move. IWWT!
A bit over the top. Just because we haven't scored in 2 games it doesn't mean we need to go out and get a new striker. There wasn't this problem the previous 2 or 3 games when we put 3 past Orient and Col U in the cup. Most of us were saying how happy we are with the squad. As DB says, it's too early to hit the panic button.
It always amazes me how quickly people get carried away by a couple of results, both positive and negative. After a couple of games people were talking about play offs and now people are concerned. I think we do need to be realistic and not get swept up with a couple of results. My opinion at the start of the season was that 5th from bottom would be a successful season and I believe that to still be the case. I do not think we are good enough to be pushing the play offs but I don't see any harm with wanting to finish that high, as it shows some desire. On the whole I don't think the results against teams like Huddersfield will shape our season, unless any are absolute drubbings that can hit confidence (e.g the 6-0 two years ago), it is how we get on against the teams that came up with us and the likes of Orient, Oldham, Rochdale and a few others that I believe will decide our season. On the subject of goals, that was my one big concern at the start of the season as we were certainly not prolific last season and to play Strevens as a lone striker, when he struggled in front of goal in league 2, I personally feel is not the answer. However, lets give it a month or so from now and see where we are. We are currently 17th and I would certainly settle for that come May.
Agreed Finchy but I think maybe the cause of what you see as a change of view is that our away win against Orient doesn't look so good now we can see that everyone beats them. Scunthorpe haven't won a game yet and we lost at home in our first encounter with a team that came up with us. I agree it's far too early to get concerned but conversely subsequent results of teams we have played are no cause for excitement. Our two games against Colchester were the most promising in my opinion. And although we lost against Huddersfield, it did sound as though we were doing well in the first half. We have only just got Lewis back and the strike partnership needs time to click. It sounded to me as though we have some decent players. All in all it's not a bad start. Having seen the goals from Forest we looked exposed to pace at the back as there seemed to be a lot of free space for their strikers. But against Huddersfield in the first half (when I was listening in) there seemed to be some good cover. Difficult to tell when not watching live.
Luke I think you gave the problem and the solution all in one, that we don't need a new striker. As you said, when we have played Rendell and Strevens we have played long ball. However, Rendell and Strevens are don't thrive off long balls, despite looking quite tall they are only about 6'1 or 6'2, and they won't win headers off long balls against the typical 6'4 defenders in league 1. What we need is for the players behind the strikers to buck up their ideas and try to play to feet, like we have done most of last season and at times this season at Col U at home and Orient away. IMO the defenders have been at fault for this more than the midfielders, as our defenders prefer hoofing the ball out of play instead of playing out to the midfield. In conclusion, I think our strikers are decent enough and that with our budget constraints we might not find someone better anyway, but service needs to improve if they are going to score.
I do trust Garry Waddock's judgement and appreciate it's still very early on in the season, maybe a new striker isn't the way forward, but we do play our best football on the ground and our strikers look more likely to score when we play it on the floor.
