Striker or no striker?

[diplomat]

I'm loving this run we are on, it really does have the feeling that there is a mentality about us that we will not lose.

One thing I was thinking after the Carlisle game was that I think if Porter had been on earlier he'd have bagged a couple. Murphy has been excellent at getting to the byline and squaring it. The other night there was a lack of awareness (or heavy legs - or belly in Baxter's case) that meant Murphy's outstanding run and cross wasn't met by anyone who read it/believed he'd make it to the by line. A-la the third v Forest.

Now, I accept that had Porter been on it would have probably been at the expense of match winner Baxter. However, I think if we could improve anything it would be to get a runner on the end of some of these balls. A late Scoogs dash maybe?

I'm really enjoying the last few weeks. I can't believe how many people round me were rushing off to beat the non existent traffic rather than stay and clap off a record breaking team. Long may this feeling continue

Thank Nigel.

 

[JohnDenver]

I can't help thinking that if this team had Drogba up front we'd be the perfect unit.

 

[alcoblade]

One thing I was thinking after the Carlisle game was that I think if Porter had been on earlier he'd have bagged a couple.

Nurse! Nurse!



UTB

 

[Bladesman]

I can't help thinking that if this team had Drogba up front we'd be the perfect unit.

Wonder if Galatasary will let him go?

 

[blader]

If we are content with staying in the division and building towards next season (which I don't have an issue with) then don't bother signing any more strikers to plug the gaps. If we think we have a genuine shot at the playoffs and want to have a go, we will absolutely need a striker.

I don't think we will sign one now though, all about next season I think.

 

[WeareBlades]

It's tough I want a good striker if we can get one, but it's just tough to replace Baxter and Scougall because neither of them have done anything wrong and we are winning albeit by 1 and 2 nils.

 

[blader]

It's tough I want a good striker if we can get one, but it's just tough to replace Baxter and Scougall because neither of them have done anything wrong and we are winning albeit by 1 and 2 nils.

Even if it means Baxter only needs to play 45 though. Let's face it, he is always knackered after an hour (tops) and he's about as much use on the left wing as I would be.

 

[WeareBlades]

Even if it means Baxter only needs to play 45 though. Let's face it, he is always knackered after an hour (tops) and he's about as much use on the left wing as I would be.

True id imagine Nigel's going to put players through their paces in pre season so hopefully he will get fitter!

 

[itsinyerblood]

I think blader has seen what the future holds, this current system may need a little tweaking if we move forward. It's been a novelty for all of us, great to watch, and it defies everything I've heard about formations. It works, that's all that matters, but the higher we go, the better quality of opposition we'll encounter, and someone like Baxter will either respond to the challenge or we'll find someone who can. I like Jose, good awareness, an eye for a pass, and he can ping a ball as we've seen. What he lacks is that engine (recall Colin Bell), the sort of thing that enables Coady to continue running well past the eightieth minute. Does that prevent us signing a quality forward, even two? I hope not. Hand on heart, I don't see that we have the strength in depth to maintain a serious challenge in a higher division. Certain players who perform well now may have reached their peak, of course they may go on and surprise all of us, if so, wonderful.

So it's a yes from me regarding signing a forward or two.

 

[BladeInThatcham]

2 strikers and a right back would be priority I'd have thought. Keep Hill as CB/LB cover and I've said it before but bring Brandy back to challenge Flynn and Murphy on the wings. That gives us plenty of attacking options. We also need a replacement / resign Coady.
Sack off Taylor and Westlake & others in development squad who aren't good enough i.e Johns and Ironside.
It's an important time too for Whitehouse, Kennedy and McFadzean who have all been on the peripheral but if they can't break in it is probably best for their development to move on. I'd like to see them feature regularly in the latter stages of this season if it's clear we have nothing to play for.

 

[FleaPitBlade]

A fitter and more mobile Baxter negates the need for another striker.

He seems much leaner now than a few months ago and after a pre season under the Clough regime he's more than capable of being our 20 goal man.

 

[diplomat]

A fitter and more mobile Baxter negates the need for another striker.

He seems much leaner now than a few months ago and after a pre season under the Clough regime he's more than capable of being our 20 goal man.

You must sit near the back of the kop. From row M on the south stand he looks far from lean. This is after 6 months of being a first team regular. Man's going to shorten his career unless he gets a nutritional guru on board.

 

[itsinyerblood]

I've already added my tuppence worth to this discussion, but Baxter, as good a midfielder as he is, wouldn't be able to sustain a high level of performance up against better quality defenders, certainly not playing as the forward player. Joes's been around long enough to reveal whether he's got it within him to have that necessary burst of pace, a bit like Porter, a real trier is our Chris, but he's as fast as he'll ever be. Baxter's been asked to do a job and he's acquitted himself well, but for me I doubt he'd be the answer if we want to challenge in the Championship.

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

Even if it means Baxter only needs to play 45 though. Let's face it, he is always knackered after an hour (tops) and he's about as much use on the left wing as I would be.

He couldn't have been much nearer the left touchline when he put that ball in for Flynn's goal last week.

I think the way we are set up at the moment is difficult for other teams to deal with tactically. Opposition central defenders like having someone to latch on to and mark and Porter fits that bill very nicely. It's harder in many ways to deal with a more fluid system where smaller, more mobile players are turning up in unpredictable places at unpredictable times.

 

[Blade58]

My view is that we definately need a proven striker

All these clean sheets has been fantastic but we all know that that run doesn't last all season. Couple that with the numerous 1-0 victories and to me shows a weakness on the goal scoring front. There will be many times next season when 1 goal won't be enough to take 3 points and we must have the capability to bang a few in and kill teams off.

Porter has done very well of late, but for me he's not the answer. We don't have a prolific goal scorer at the club and we need at least one. How Clough sets his team up to accommodate a striker tho is a potential problem with the way we have been playing, but that's what he's paid to sort out

 

[Menjo]

Not sure what the problem is with some of you on this Board, Baxter is no longer carrying any additional weight. I was on Row S in the South Stand last Sunday and he was definitely a whole lot slimmer than he used to be. Most of you seem to forget that he was signed at the end of August so well after the end of the preseason we put our own players through. Give him a chance to see out this year's preseason and then comment. I also think he or someone needs to look at his diet not because it's making him fat but if he's being fed pasta pre-match it might just be the wrong kind of food. Can't eat it myself as it makes me sluggish, tired and unable to function.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Can't comment on what other posters have written, but for me whether Baxter is or isn't overweight tends to cloud the issue. I love the way we play, it's different and Clough has us playing to our strengths, and I should add, strengths we never realised we had. My point is that I'm pretty certain we'll need one, if not two, quality forwards if we're to progress. Just as no one could anticipate United playing this system, who knows what further changes might be in store?

 

[shorehamview]

My view is that we definately need a proven striker....

And proven strikers definitely cost a great deal of money, both in wages and transfer fees. Which magic tree shall we shake to get a proven striker from? We will attract strikers in a lean spell who hope to change that, up-and-coming youngsters, on-the-slide oldies or strikers from lesser leagues. Like Porter, who has been on a very long lean spell, Cresswell, coming towards the end of his career, Lyle Taylor who fits at least two of those categories, or someone like James Beattie Mk 1 who was a long, long way from being cheap. The other options are loan players, and short term loans of proven goal scorers are like hen's teeth, while long term loans are even rarer.

 

[LSF]

Is Baxter overweight?
Its a bit like asking if Akinfenwae is overweight or Gary Taylor - Fletcher maybe.
Some blokes are just built that way and the way clubs condition players today, or fine them if weight becomes an issue, would suggest our Jose is just built like that - Well built, a bit slow, not much natural stamina, but skills some naturally fit blokes would die for!
At this stage of our progress I'd say his good points outweigh his negatives.

 

[Ginger Gnome]

We need a proven striker for next season, Porter is fine as a squad player to use as a sub or as backup, but he's not a 20 goals a season striker. The no striker formation is working at the moment, but means you have to play on the counter attack a lot, which isn't a viable plan for an entire season. If we don''t get Coady and Brayford back next season and nobody leaves, the current team would just need a right back and a striker, with Baxter and Scougall playing further back to cover Coady's departure. Fat or not, Baxter isn't a centre forward.

 

[Blade58]

And proven strikers definitely cost a great deal of money, both in wages and transfer fees. Which magic tree shall we shake to get a proven striker from? We will attract strikers in a lean spell who hope to change that, up-and-coming youngsters, on-the-slide oldies or strikers from lesser leagues. Like Porter, who has been on a very long lean spell, Cresswell, coming towards the end of his career, Lyle Taylor who fits at least two of those categories, or someone like James Beattie Mk 1 who was a long, long way from being cheap. The other options are loan players, and short term loans of proven goal scorers are like hen's teeth, while long term loans are even rarer.

They do indeed cost a great deal of money and of course convincing a decent striker to play in div 3 is no easy task in itself. However, you mention great deal of money, but the estimated £2m raised in prize monies and gate money from the cup, together with the rumoured transfer kitty supposedly being given to Clough to mount a serious push for promotion, again coupled with Clough's eye for a player, I expect us to be somewhere close to signing a proven striker (relative to being proven at Lge 1 level at least)