I want to tell you about my brother's dog. It was a Red Setter. He paid a fortune for it - it had come from a long line of Crufts winners. It was a nice dog. But stupid as stupid can be. But worse than that, it went through weird cycles of health. At its peak it would have been worthy of walking off with first prize for best in class at Crufts - like some of its forefathers. But it also went into cycles of really poor health, when its hair fell out, it lost weight and looked nothing like the dog from a few weeks ago. No Vet ever found a cause or explanation for it. One minute it was on top, world-beating form, the next, it was down in the dumps.
Leon Clarke reminds me of that dog. Not that he resembles it for one moment. Leon doesn't have a wet nose for a start - or wag his tail in public (as far as I know). But Leon also has this polarity of form. One moment absolutely brilliant, the next...meh?
The bottom line is, we don't have a quality forward line, no seriously, we don't. Let's not pretend that we do. They are all mostly too old or have other issues.
Fix that and you are on the way to fixing the team.
