Still think we need 2 defenders and 1 striker, even if they are just for cover. We struggled at the back when Huds was out for one game.
But we can't sign another Huds and will there be better cb cover than Conelly available? Can't see how we'll only be playoffs without signings either. Despite injuries, we're 5 points clear. Are we saying there'll be 2 or 3 players better than what we have in our starting line up available in budget? I doubt that to be honest. We'd need to sign proven PL quality to improve on what we have. Kim cost 2 mill odd and despite playing well most of the time can hardly get off our bench, and he's being kept company by our best player last season. Ralls, Kiss can hardly get a look in and Smith ( who was excellent until injury) is nearly back. We can have a rest after Brum and send a reserve side to Macclesfield then the lads can crack on With what they've been doing. A couple more wins and we'll really be turning the screw on the teams below us.
Huds missing was as much about his leadership as his playing ability (good as he is). The top of the table is starting to stretch. Palace falling off he pace but Hull and Middlesbrough on a charge. Will either of those have a blip soon? We seem to be doing just enough in recent games some of which we should be winning more easily. One of the problems I see is that to put another striker in the team, someone has to come out. Do you push Bellamy wide to accomodate that striker or are you looking to leave HH out. With the latter, will we lose some of the benefits of HH's hard work, chasing defenders, doing the hard graft? To find someone to do all the hard work AND score a lot of goals is likely to be outside our budget. If we lose the hard work, will some of the other goals dry up from the midfield? It would be a benefit to have a proven goalscorer (or Maynard back), but how will that change the overall dynamic of the team? As a scenario, between HH and Rudy we've got 10 goals this season so could end the season with nearly 20 between them (many 20 goal striker play every minute of every game so counting both isn't that far away from comparable). Put a 20 goal striker in there and you break even, but would you lose some of the midfield goals? You could actualy be worse off. Great debate, but not a black or white answer. I wonder if this one still has any legs? Swansea boss Michael Laudrup has admitted he is interested in signing Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas, 25, and has not ruled out the possibility of Danny Graham leaving the club.
Wow, this isn't like you Xsnaggle. You're usually pretty calm but I think you're being a bit tetchy. Been on the MDMA powder? Maynard looked very promising from where I was sitting. Won two crucila set pieces from which goals were scored, looked ox like around the area, had bags of pace and would have, in my opinion, put a fair few chances into the back of the net by now. He may not be the Premiership player that we're looking for (should we arrive) but it's a terrible shame that he's not available to us. I have a feeling that we may not see very much of him at all if we go up because we're going to have spend big time if we're to go up. As a matter of interest, how many of the current squad do you see as being capable of holding their own in the Prem? Very few, I say. Bellers, for sure. Then? Whits, Noone.... after that lot, we're looking at bottom end of the Prem, aren't we?
Glam, it isn't that I do not agree we need another striker, I DO agree. It's just that people keep on saying what he 'would' have done and I say that no one will ever know. We are not replacing anything because we never had it. We needed it then and we still need it. So lets go and get it but spare me the 'if only' so long as a striker doesn't just score goals other players would have scored. We don't want A scoring instead of B, we want A and B scoring. But how will you tell if a new striker scores 10 and HH ot Kimbo never score another? Will we say they got worse as the season went on? That they failed to last the distance, ran out of steam or whatever? I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here.
