I have done this poll to ask you all if we need another striker because we don't have back up of a good quality and now Birchall is injured we need someone I think but it is up to you, Do we need someone permanent or could it be a loan, Do you want someone who is young or old? Take your pick in the poll and Discuss below.
I forgot one option so if you think we don't need one just simply post below saying, We have enough, no more needed,
IMO, no we have enough, the Birchall injury is unfortunate albeit frustrating. We cannot keep throwing money at this team, we need to look after the player's we have. If it turns out that Birchall's injury is long term (hopefully not), we need to rely on the other members of the squad to do the job their paid to do. If things turn sour a couple of games in, then and only then do we look at the loan market, then consider the future of the players that fail us.
I think we could go to Norwich and see what they have got for us, maybe Oli Johnson or Chris Martin just on a short term loan as he would not drop down to this league or even try and get Cody, but doubt it would happen.
I agree with brb. Just because he is injured doesn't mean we need to bring another player in. In my opinion a simple jig of the formation to have Kedwell up top on his own, with 2 wide players (Spiller & Whelpdale) and 3 more central with one holding (Lee) and 2 advanced (Montrose & Weston). Don't forget before we signed Birchall this is a formation most members on here seemed happy to go with and we have the players to suit it. Possibly a bittersweet way to see Rooney given his well deserved place in the first team?
Yeah the good old 4-5-1 will be used a bit next season, I feel as we will use that as our fall back instead of someone else in the team or even pop Whelps or Weston upfront.
In addition to my earlier comments, the GillinghamLad quote just about sums up in one, my own thoughts on this topic.
I think we do need another forward and soon! If you look at last season we had a similar combo up front with the holding player in Bayo and the fast player in Cody, this year we have a holding player in Kedwell and fast player in Birchill. Last year, most of the time they worked very well together and got results, however, when they didn't have a good day we were stuffed as Stef Payne is still to raw and Dennis Oli is...well he is Dennis Oli. So we need a kid (Ollie Mann?) who we can bring on for the last half an hour and make a impact. Perhaps someone like Byfield could do the job, someone who has been there done that and can keep his cool when we need someone to do so.
i hear what your saying BRB...totally agree this squad need it's chance first, these players we already have at the club need to pull togeather and show what they can do! on all other gills forums some have written our team and it's players off already before the season has begun!...just makes you shake your head and ask why they don't give all them a chance first with our current squad of players...then judge!!!. just don't know why our fans just can't get behind the team from the off??? i do think we still need another striker though ie...jack pallen, ollie mann on trial if anygood offer deal...they won't command much money either? i know cody did well for us on loan, but most don't show the same committment as a contracted player if you as me...so something more long term is whats needed maybe?
if this ollie mann guy proves himself then he would certainly be worth a deal young and with a good record could be a gem or could be a waste of very little money but who knows, but like baldwin if he thinks hes good enough to warrent the monetry risk he'll be offered the contract. i admit i've only seen him play once this year but i thought oli look good up top with kedwell against dartford (ok i no its only dartford) but they seemed to interact well together and they have played together before
I wonder what would happen if hess put rooney up front with kedwell? In the youth team he was played in the central role like paul shaw used to play and was very effective. Just a thought.
thinking about it we will see hess's plan on sat im sure. hes likely to start with our strongest (fit) side and if mann is named amoungst the subs and makes an appearance then we know he is seriously considering him. he may well play around with the formation for the second half.
what about stefan payne? he is a back up striker. if we brought some1 in then he would then be there back up. so if we brought another striker in we might aswell sell him. its unfair on stefan payne if we have him as an understudy to every striker we bring in. what if this loan striker gets injured, shall we bring in another loan striker and let stefan be his back up too? no strikers needed...just a goal keeper. that and paulo gazzaniga is the answer for me! rant over. COME ON YOU BLUE BOYS
I think Stefan could be good but he is not showing it yet, give him a go and he may show that he can be a good player, I think our problem is that he is the only back up as Oli is ****, sorry for the language, but It is true LOL.
What a truly stupid poll. It is good to see that most fans are ignoring it. Nobody knows the extent of the injury, not even Birchall himself. If he is fit in a fortnight there is no problem and it would be ludicrous to seek a replacement. If he is out for a season the answer might be different. Next week may provide some info. Remember it is a "normal" situation to have a few players unfit at any one time. That is the purpose of having a squad.
if s.payne was gonna make it he'd have broken into the first team already and hess would be talking him up much more than he is. atm he seems to be lucky to get 45 mins in a friendly and thats normally second half when we just seem to be throwing everyone on. no offence to the guy cos he does have some potential but i dont think he cut sout for league football yet from what i have seen of him
I agree with pretty much everybody about Steph Payne. On the one hand he hasn't done much to warrant much time on the pitch. When he has been played he hasn't scored, now to be that's a pretty important thing to do! So Hess is more hoping that he will come good rather than expect him to. On the other hand he is still very young and has scored in the reserve's so can do it but hasn't been given a run in the first team to show his quality. In my opinion I think he could be a decent player but not much more. I don't think he will ever really become a first player maybe a good back up player at some stage.
