When was the last time we did have a 20+ striker? I'm not counting super billy elliott as he was a winger, I just can't remember us having had an awesome striker (in my lifetime) capable of smashing in better than 1 every 2 games. N'Doye and Jela are both capable prem strikers, capable of scoring around 10 a season if injury free in the prem, which for the reasonable fees paid is more than enough. If they do stay and give it all they will certainly both be capable of scoring 15+ each in the champo, just remains to be seen whether they stay.
I'd have Dwight Gayle for sure. Bournemouth and Wolves are apparently sniffing around him, but no doubt City won't.
bugger.....a keen observation......I can't even claim that was 20 not 20+ he scored in my defence! Still, 13 years or so ago that we saw that, a long long time ago
I'm going to be slightly controversial here and say that it is Bruce's fault we don't score enough goals. We have one way of playing, get it out wide and whip it into the box. We tried it in the Championship with Jay Simpson upfront, and we wondered why he didn't score many? He did miss some absolute sitters in his time here, however if he was 6ft4 he'd of had a much better chance of getting on the end of some of Brady and Elmo's crosses, as at times this season their crosses were too high for Jelavic and N'Doye. Although at times it worked, it does not work all the time. Bruce needed to change the formation/tactics more than he did, playing 3 at the back against Burnley at home in a must win game was the final nail in the coffin for me. It's not just about the strikers scoring though, it's the rest of the team contributing as well. Barring Diame, our midfield couldn't score in a brothel. Elmo scored 2 I believe, other than that Livermore, Brady, Meyler, Quinn and Ramirez scored 1 each. That is simply awful, that is one of the main reasons why we went down this season. Yes there were many inconsistent team selections due to injury, but a goal return of 7 from midfield is poor. Even Chester scored twice, did Huddlestone even have a shot on target? Most of his "Fizzing shots" fizzed high and wide. The one time one of our midfielders got a decent shot away outside the box he scored, Livermore vs Spurs. Our formation is crying out for a player like Koren in there to hit a few from distance, unfortunately no one filled that space this season we just sat back all the time with 3 in the middle. The few times we broke this mould we played amazing, Ramirez had a blinder against Sunderland and Chelsea, Diame was terrific against Arsenal, West Ham and Newcastle. Meyler, Quinn, Huddlestone and Livermore all have their own qualities, but scoring/playing further advanced is not one of them, certainly not in the Premier League anyway. Signings strikers who have a good goal record elsewhere is great, however we need to play to their strengths. Booting the ball high up to Hernandez and expecting him to do something with it is expecting too much. He always had his back to goal, he is the type of player who needs to be playing on the shoulders of defenders, similar to Walcott. (Before you all start, I'm not saying he is as good as Theo, just a similar type of striker when TW is played upfront and not on the wing) Give him a full season in the Championship and play to his strengths and he will fire them in.
I don't think it's Bruce - we didn't score under Pearson, Barmby, Brown - I could go on. But we never seem prolific!
How much would Chris Martin at Derby County cost, 26 years old,, 6ft- 1ns tall scored 18 in 35 appearances last season, not a bad ratio.
I fully expect to be scratching my head after we've signed a striker we never seem to sign the common sense obvious signing, we either sign a total unknown ala sagbo or somebody totally not suited to our style of play weve been **** at signing strikers for years going back to kevin francis, rodney rowe, david brown the list is endless
Oh there were pap come on kevin francis looked like he was running in treacle we were **** athe time and they contributed to that ****ness Struggling to see any quality in those top scorer charts from league 1 and 2 all seem like one season wonders who top the charts, beckford worth a punt? Has the lad dele alli joined spurs? Looks a class act wouldnt mind him on a season loan he'd score the goals koren used to offer
I genuinley disagree, Francis did a brilliant job for us and wasnt that our play-off season when we were absolutely brassic? Wasnt there a tale of him getting hundreds of letters from fans after he retired from us and him and wis wife ncrying their eyes out reading them?
David Brown was very average - but we were so **** then that he was actually one of our better players. I thought Rowe had something about him, but it didn't quite work out.
I have to say for once I agree with BCC - Kevin Francis was brilliant for us. He offered us hope, when really we had none. By all accounts he was a top bloke aswell.
