It's our forward line that needs attention

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GozoCanary

Well-Known Member
Feb 18, 2012
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Seems a strange thing to say when we have scored so freely this season whilst failing to keep clean sheets at the other end. However, Whitbread looks the article, we have the new Posh guy coming in at some stage, and Ayala has a very promising future.

Now, I'm not going to slate Morrison, call him a lazy bas***d, etc. Probably he's just one of those players who looks lazy. Also he may be going through a bit of a crisis of confidence. But, while he is definitely Premiership class with his head, he is Championship class with his feet. His first touch is poor and there's generally nothing you can do about that once a player reaches a certain age.

Take the chance he had about five minutes from the end when he got ahead of the defenders. In that situation, Holt would at least have made the goalkeeper work, or perhaps given a defender the chance to foul him and then gone down. Morrison did nothing, partly it seemed due to poor control.

I'm not saying he must go or anything like that - he would be a perfectly acceptable back-up for Holt and A N Other in the case of suspensions or injuries. But if we want to move forward, we definitely need someone a little more skilful as our main man. Has anyone seen Rhodes play? Does he have better touch? Do you think we can get him against all the likely competition?

Quite a good performance last night. I love Fox's vision - he reminds me at times of Crooks.

Let's just hope we beat Wolves and finally put the thing to bed.
 
He's scored more than quite a few Premier League strikers in less time too. Lay off the guy. Wasn't his best game by any means, but he didn't have much to work with.
 
Problem is he has had this issue all season, there have been several situations, even when he was scoring, when he looked unsure on his feet in good goal scoring opportunities.
He isn't lazy, he's always there or there abouts. I think he is more back up than first team at the moment. I have nothing against him, if can do what Jackson did last season and burst into life I will be delighted. Currently we need another striker of perm quality/potential. But that's neither easy or cheap
 
I seem to recall it was mentioned quite early in the season that he's better with an instinctive situation, rather than when he has time to think!
 
I think & yes im ready for the bullets, we should ship Morison on in the summer while his stock is quite high & invest in a prem quality striker who has the pace as well as the power, such as if they go down Rodallega from Wigan ?
For all that people keep saying that Morison is not lazy, he clearly is in both body language & mind !
How many times yesterday did the midfield have to check or hold play up because Morison was either off side or coming back ?
I do think that PL did the right thing last summer not going mad with the budget, but i do agree that this summer we will need to spend considerably more on individuals especialy up front ?
I do worry that Vaughan isn't ever going to be fit or come up to expectations, Holt has been great & Jackson has huffed & puffed & put in some good shifts but to me hasn't looked like he will be a prolific striker at this level, so i feel we will nedd to add two more bodys up front !
 
I think & yes im ready for the bullets, we should ship Morison on in the summer while his stock is quite high & invest in a prem quality striker who has the pace as well as the power, such as if they go down Rodallega from Wigan ?
For all that people keep saying that Morison is not lazy, he clearly is in both body language & mind !
How many times yesterday did the midfield have to check or hold play up because Morison was either off side or coming back ?
I do think that PL did the right thing last summer not going mad with the budget, but i do agree that this summer we will need to spend considerably more on individuals especialy up front ?
I do worry that Vaughan isn't ever going to be fit or come up to expectations, Holt has been great & Jackson has huffed & puffed & put in some good shifts but to me hasn't looked like he will be a prolific striker at this level, so i feel we will nedd to add two more bodys up front !

I used to think a lot of Rodellega, but, watching their game on Sunday, he had dozens of clear-cut chances and fluffed them all!
 
But he is playing in a team low on confidence & which has struggled for a few seasons, could you not see him improving our forward line given the way we play ?
I don't think it would be long before the chances started to convert to goals with us ?
 
I do think the strike force needs an overhaul, maybe looking further forward than next season. Holt would be the only striker we've played this season I would be disappointed not to start next season on our books. I don't count Vaughan in that, I think he could be excellent if he ever has a run, look at whitbread.

Jackson - small and fast, can put a nice cross in, not looking to see him leave but there are better
Morrison - something is wrong I reckon he would take the way out if offered
Wilbs - I acctually really like him, works as hard as holt and can look dangerous. Not sure on actual skill level though.
C Martin - well he's not a prem striker and it's a shame as he is good and is from our academy.

Generally there is scope to bring strikers in, I think we'll see two of the above leave at least in the summer
 
Currently we need another striker of perm quality/potential. But that's neither easy or cheap

Do you mean like this bath ?

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or this ?

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or perhaps ?

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<laugh>
 
We need someone like Rodallega who offers pace and movement as well as a physical presence - I think Hugo is a confidence striker and would benefit from paying in a team with a strong team spirit - we'd certainly make chances for him and given the right service I think he'd do a good job. Vaughan could give us a similar option but alas I don't think he will ever be more than a 15 game a season player.

Wilbs and Chris Martin will leave us although I agree with Bath that Wilbs is quite useful but perhaps not quite at the skill level needed in the Prem - come to think of it Jacko isn't quite there either for me.

I think we need two strikers in the summer - both with movement, pace and adaptability - not sure how many of them are out there right now but we will certainly need to add to teh striker options next season if we are to compete at all.
 
Kevin Doyle would be a better option, in my opinion. Again it would all be down to how much he would cost us in fees and wages.

Someone else who I think could do a job, as he proved before being pushed out by big money signings, is Heidar Helguson. I know he's getting on, but not a bad back-up if we lose Wilbraham in the summer.
 
Out of the teams and players that I have seen come to Carrow Road this season and also players that may sign for us I would have a go with the following:

Odemwingie
Moses
Rodallaga
Jarvis
Hoilett
Yakubu (you can't argue with the numbers)
Eagles

I also would like to see Agbonlahor but I know there is little chance.

Also, with the wages comments, I think if we are to stay on the this league you cannot base your team on Championship and lower league players long term. I am not saying that there is no talent in the lower leagues, that would be foolish as it has done us well up till now. What I am saying though is going forward I think we will need to invest in some players that have that experience in the premier league.

With this investment come higher wages. I'm not saying that we should break the bank and do a "QPR", but build up slowly and develop the team into a proper premier league outfit. You have to admit there are some players in our squad that will never do a job in the premier league.

The summer is going to be a very important time for the club, we have almost managed to ensure survival this season this is largely thanks to the feel good factor, momentum and the management of PL. We came up a bit earlier than we all thought and it was always going to be a big ask in the first season as the money earnt from promotion has gone to paying the debt off that we were in. In the second season in the prem however things will change and we will have lost the momentum that took us up and we may even find it harder to attract players as we will no longer be the new exciting thing.

For this reason I think it is time in the summer to splash the cash a bit and get some quality in, I'm not just talking up front but all over the park. It will be a very interesting summer and I hope that as well as moving on some of the fringe players we invest in people like Rhodes but also remember that some proven quality is needed.
 
Hoilett would be a fantastic signing, but I fear he may go to one of the big boys. Moses is another good shout, along with Jarvis who has always impressed.
 
Carra,

Imagine Jarvis and Moses on the wings with Rodallega in the centre with Holt and Hoilet free to roam.

I think we also miss someone who can really shoot from 20 +yards. I know Pilkington is handy but not prolific.
 
i think we will sign one striker in the summer. we will build slowly, so unlikely to sign anyone on bigger wages, as we will need to up the wages of the existing squad.

vaughn may turn out to be a bad buy, but as for morrison, holt and jackson, i think they should all stay.