Strikers/Attackers

[LondonBlade89]

After a recent spate of fresh rumours linking us to a wide range of ex-PL strikers, I wondered if it might be easier to keep track of our attempts on this area on a single thread.

Any update Rifleman, Rocket Man or T-Blade?

I never like to think I’m part of the bedwetter crew but the more I see us with so few options up top the more impatient I get. Man City isn’t quite the winnable game that Forest was but surely we must make some progress this week?

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

 

[T-Blade]

After a recent spate of fresh rumours linking us to a wide range of ex-PL strikers, I wondered if it might be easier to keep track of our attempts on this area on a single thread.

Any update Rifleman, Rocket Man or T-Blade?

I never like to think I’m part of the bedwetter crew but the more I see us with so few options up top the more impatient I get. Man City isn’t quite the winnable game that Forest was but surely we must make some progress this week?

We can get players in before Man City but like I said Hecky may prefer to wait and get his preferred options. For example we could easily pull the trigger on the lad from Troyes and get him fairly quickly but would he really be the difference in helping us stay up? As for the attacking midfielders it’s not gonna make much difference for Man City game because we want McAtee but he obviously wouldn’t be able to play in that game. We will bring in at least 3 players before window closes but I’m like you I just want the players in asap.

 

[YES Blade]

We can get players in before Man City but like I said Hecky may prefer to wait and get his preferred options. For example we could easily pull the trigger on the lad from Troyes and get him fairly quickly but would he really be the difference in helping us stay up? As for the attacking midfielders it’s not gonna make much difference for Man City game because we want McAtee but he obviously wouldn’t be able to play in that game. We will bring in at least 3 players before window closes but I’m like you I just want the players in asap.

Hecky said as much in his post match interview, there are players we could’ve signed weeks ago.

It’s always going to take more time to bring in the quality we need to improve us.

 

[Craniotomie]

We can get players in before Man City but like I said Hecky may prefer to wait and get his preferred options. For example we could easily pull the trigger on the lad from Troyes and get him fairly quickly but would he really be the difference in helping us stay up? As for the attacking midfielders it’s not gonna make much difference for Man City game because we want McAtee but he obviously wouldn’t be able to play in that game. We will bring in at least 3 players before window closes but I’m like you I just want the players in asap.

No transfer is going to make much difference for the Man City game to be fair…

 

[Not_a_Cheat]

No transfer is going to make much difference for the Man City game to be fair…

Haaland unsettled with Beattie Flu. With another 7 of their players. We loan Messi, I'm sure it'd change the odds at least?

 

[Trigger]

I don’t get this preoccupation about strikers. Haaland/Messi/whoever you wish to name couldn’t score for us at the moment because they don’t get the service. It’s the engine room that needs the money spent on. We’re still playing Norwood who’s been promoted to the Premier League on four occasions, the other two times he was promoted his team at the time with binned him straight away. We’re still hanging in to him as our lynchpin. He can’t tackle, can’t hit a deadball and is worse at shooting from outside the box than my Gran.
We have no penetration, we need someone who can split a defence. Osula had the pace and power to become a great striker. Just needs some help from behind him.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Hecky said as much in his post match interview, there are players we could’ve signed weeks ago.

It’s always going to take more time to bring in the quality we need to improve us.

I sometimes shake my head at how illogical or naive some of our fans are.
Our next game is Man City so by definition there's no longer any panic to bring in new payers this week.

Nothing has changed from mid Summer. We have a long list of targets, the club are determined to bring in the 1st choice targets but won't be blackmailed into paying the desperation tax. So hopefully we're not panicking and staying cool like a poker player.

Think of Aston Villa as being like a ticket tout outside the stadium for a Messi game. They don't really want Archer, no space for him in the squad to play regular games, if he doesn't play his value decreases. Villa have 2 options they need to either loan him out to a PL club or sell him with a buy back option. They know we're desperate so have wisely pushed up the price for us (the desperation tax).. The closer it gets to the deadline (st sep) then it switches over to Villa becoming more desperate to offload Archer. We need to have alternative attacking options lined up but be aware that if Archer hasn't been sold a few days before the deadline then they become like the ticket tout outside the stadium with a handful of tickets that they haven't yet sold 5 minutes before kickoff.

The concern and prediction from weeks back has been if we want to bring in the best quality we might have to wait until the final day.

Really disagree that some of our fans prefer us to bring in lower quality strikers....just so that they are here for the start of the season.
Think bringing in the best.....gives us the better chance of staying up as it's a long season.

Of course there's a chance we end up with the lower quality players regardless but think we need to give it our best shot.
The delay in signings players and lack of preparation is a fair criticism but comments on our lack of business is unfair.

THE TRANSFER WINDOW IS STILL OPEN......we have several good quality targets being lined up, we have competition for signings and coming up with creative solutions. No one can predict our chances of staying up.....until we've assembled our team.....so let's wait until 1st Sept then we can give it a 1 out of 10 rating.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

I don’t get this preoccupation about strikers. Haaland/Messi/whoever you wish to name couldn’t score for us at the moment because they don’t get the service. It’s the engine room that needs the money spent on. We’re still playing Norwood who’s been promoted to the Premier League on four occasions, the other two times he was promoted his team at the time with binned him straight away. We’re still hanging in to him as our lynchpin. He can’t tackle, can’t hit a deadball and is worse at shooting from outside the box than my Gran.
We have no penetration, we need someone who can split a defence. Osula had the pace and power to become a great striker. Just needs some help from behind him.

Agree and disagree. Yes we need a Norwood upgrade, however, we 100% need more fire power. Osula is not the answer right now and he shouldn't be relied on. He's still learning the game & developing, now he finds himself up against the best defenders in the world.

With Osula & Traore up front we will not score enough goals. You see with Forest on Friday, having two quality strikers gets you goals. Osula & Traore rarely won a header or held the ball up. They'll get there but we need more quality.

I'd like to see a midfield 3 of Hamer, Doyle & Souza. If watching Souza & Hamer on Friday told us anything its that if Hecky gets the chance to spend decent money he'll get you a decent player in.

 

[Rupicola]

I would have thought there were quality players we could try to get in now, need at least a striker to bed in before everton. It would be sad if we wait and miss out on the preferred targets, hopefully we have more or less nailed down the loan agreements. If not it will make an interesting/nervous end to the window.

 

[YES Blade]

I sometimes shake my head at how illogical or naive some of our fans are.
Our next game is Man City so by definition there's no longer any panic to bring in new payers this week.

Nothing has changed from mid Summer. We have a long list of targets, the club are determined to bring in the 1st choice targets but won't be blackmailed into paying the desperation tax. So hopefully we're not panicking and staying cool like a poker player.

The concern and prediction from weeks back has been if we want to bring in the best quality we might have to wait until the final day.

Really disagree that some of our fans prefer us to bring in lower quality strikers....just so that they are here for the start of the season.
Think bringing in the best.....gives us the better chance of staying up as it's a long season.

Of course there's a chance we end up with the lower quality players regardless but think we need to give it our best shot.
The delay in signings players and lack of preparation is a fair criticism but comments on our lack of business is unfair.

THE TRANSFER WINDOW IS STILL OPEN......we have several good qualit targets being lined up, we have competition for signings and coming up with creative solutions. No one can predict our chances of staying up.....until we've assembled our team.....so let's wait until 1st Sept then we can give it a 1 out of 10 rating.

I’ve always been of the opinion that we need to get the best available players, even if that means waiting until the very last minutes of the window.

These players will be signing 3, 4 or even 5 year contracts. If we make a mistake, it’s something we’ll pay for over multiple years. So we better get it right!

 

[Slim Man]

I sometimes shake my head at how illogical or naive some of our fans are.
Our next game is Man City so by definition there's no longer any panic to bring in new payers this week.

Nothing has changed from mid Summer. We have a long list of targets, the club are determined to bring in the 1st choice targets but won't be blackmailed into paying the desperation tax. So hopefully we're not panicking and staying cool like a poker player. Think of Aston Villa as being like a ticket tout outside the stadium for a Messi game. They don't really want Archer, no space for him in the squad to play regular games, if he doesn't play his value decreases. Villa have 2 options they need to either loan him out to a PL club or sell him with a buy back option. They know we're desperate so have wisely pushed up the price. The close it gets to the deadline then it switched over to Villa becoming more desperate to offload Archer. We need to have attacking option lined up but be aware that if Archer hasn't been sold a few days before the deadline then they become like the ticket tout outside the stadium with a handful of tickets that they haven't yet sold 5 minutes before kickoff.

The concern and prediction from weeks back has been if we want to bring in the best quality we might have to wait until the final day.

Really disagree that some of our fans prefer us to bring in lower quality strikers....just so that they are here for the start of the season.
Think bringing in the best.....gives us the better chance of staying up as it's a long season.

Of course there's a chance we end up with the lower quality players regardless but think we need to give it our best shot.
The delay in signings players and lack of preparation is a fair criticism but comments on our lack of business is unfair.

THE TRANSFER WINDOW IS STILL OPEN......we have several good qualit targets being lined up, we have competition for signings and coming up with creative solutions. No one can predict our chances of staying up.....until we've assembled our team.....so let's wait until 1st Sept then we can give it a 1 out of 10 rating.

Again, I'm not sure how anyone can be so thick to see we've essentially thrown 2 games as the season starts in August. Not September 1st.

You can call us illogical or naive all you want, but plenty of players improve the sides we've put out in the past week and half. Last week we put out the worst PL side anyone's ever seen. They didn't need waiting for.

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

I’m slightly conflicted on this. I’m as desperate as anyone to see more quality brought in. The confusion for me is how long do we wait in the hope of getting our top targets before moving on to players who probably won’t be providing the same impact? No doubt the last minute change of heart by Ndiaye has thrown our plans into confusion but there’s a good argument we should have still had options ready to go right up to the point the new contract was signed. That said we are where we are and I think I’d be happy to wait a little longer provided what comes in makes it worthwhile

 

[Brownieblade]

Again, I'm not sure how anyone can be so thick to see we've essentially thrown 2 games as the season starts in August. Not September 1st.

You can call us illogical or naive all you want, but plenty of players improve the sides we've put out in the past week and half. Last week we put out the worst PL side anyone's ever seen. They didn't need waiting for.

How have you thrown games you werht favourites for and wouldn’t have been favourites in even if you had kept Illy and Berge and signed 4 or 5

You make it out like we are Newcastle or spurs and had easy lay ups against Luton and Everton

As I have said before to you, I agree about the lineups and agree that some signings gave us a better chance of winning both those games but neither game was ever going to be an easy win

 

[bonobo]

I’ve always been of the opinion that we need to get the best available players, even if that means waiting until the very last minutes of the window.

These players will be signing 3, 4 or even 5 year contracts. If we make a mistake, it’s something we’ll pay for over multiple years. So we better get it right!

I totally agree I already see the pressure and nerves mounting over the Everton fixture. I think at this point, bizarre as a situation as it is, we are looking at a complete re-build project. We might not have 10-15 mill to spend on a player next season....rather than just work down the list of championships top scorers, let's really be patient and go for the players we think have the best future. I know there is a lot of scepticism about our ability to do business, but what else....if are at the point were we just need bodies, use the land and frees route...

 

[Slim Man]

How have you thrown games you werht favourites for and wouldn’t have been favourites in even if you had kept Illy and Berge and signed 4 or 5

You make it out like we are Newcastle or spurs and had easy lay ups against Luton and Everton

As I have said before to you, I agree about the lineups and agree that some signings gave us a better chance of winning both those games but neither game was ever going to be an easy win

Sigh. Not my point.

Sorry, I forgot, they're both as winnable as City at home and Liverpool away.

Nevermind.

 

[CPB]

We can get players in before Man City but like I said Hecky may prefer to wait and get his preferred options. For example we could easily pull the trigger on the lad from Troyes and get him fairly quickly but would he really be the difference in helping us stay up? As for the attacking midfielders it’s not gonna make much difference for Man City game because we want McAtee but he obviously wouldn’t be able to play in that game. We will bring in at least 3 players before window closes but I’m like you I just want the players in asap.

I quite like the look of this lad from Troyes actually.
Pace, power, bit of skill. Lower risk in terms of fee too.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

How have you thrown games you werht favourites for and wouldn’t have been favourites in even if you had kept Illy and Berge and signed 4 or 5

You make it out like we are Newcastle or spurs and had easy lay ups against Luton and Everton

As I have said before to you, I agree about the lineups and agree that some signings gave us a better chance of winning both those games but neither game was ever going to be an easy win

Palace at home and forest away you need to be picking up 4 points with a strong squad.

 

[BettingBlade]

Palace at home and forest away you need to be picking up 4 points with a strong squad.

Keep ramming home this on here but if we go down by a couple of points this year, then these first 2 games are where we are most likely to have lost them.

 

[GymClassHero]

Agree and disagree. Yes we need a Norwood upgrade, however, we 100% need more fire power. Osula is not the answer right now and he shouldn't be relied on. He's still learning the game & developing, now he finds himself up against the best defenders in the world.

With Osula & Traore up front we will not score enough goals. You see with Forest on Friday, having two quality strikers gets you goals. Osula & Traore rarely won a header or held the ball up. They'll get there but we need more quality.

I'd like to see a midfield 3 of Hamer, Doyle & Souza. If watching Souza & Hamer on Friday told us anything its that if Hecky gets the chance to spend decent money he'll get you a decent player in.

Not forgetting Anel.

If only Hecky had been given the warchest Wilder had. Very frustrating looking back at how much money was spunked due to him being unable to look outside the UK.

Don't get me wrong, I love Wilder for what he did, but his limitations were very much highlighted towards the end.

 

[Brownieblade]

Sigh. Not my point.

Sorry, I forgot, they're both as winnable as City at home and Liverpool away.

Nevermind.

When we went down in 93/94 we had our fate in our own hands, at that point partly because we recently won at Anfield

In Warnocks season in prem we again had our own fate in our own hands going into final game of season, that season after 6 games we had a total of 2 points, one of those points was in a written off get nothing game v Liverpool, we also won another written off game v Arsenal that season

In Wilders first season we had a great start, including a draw early on against another un winnable game against Chekski

In Wilders second year despite going down and losing to anyone and everyone, we again won an un winnable game away at Man U

 

[Westran]

This thread has already become the same argument happening on every thread.

 

[Brownieblade]

Keep ramming home this on here but if we go down by a couple of points this year, then these first 2 games are where we are most likely to have lost them.

Just to play Devils advocate here, to stay up you are realistically going to need anywhere between 34-40 points meaning if the two first games are such a factor you will still need around 30 points

If you can get 30 points from September onwards then maybe you can get another 6 points as well

 

[steve26272]

We can get players in before Man City but like I said Hecky may prefer to wait and get his preferred options. For example we could easily pull the trigger on the lad from Troyes and get him fairly quickly but would he really be the difference in helping us stay up? As for the attacking midfielders it’s not gonna make much difference for Man City game because we want McAtee but he obviously wouldn’t be able to play in that game. We will bring in at least 3 players before window closes but I’m like you I just want the players in asap.

100% this

Its a poker face from both sides in the deal

Villa are nervous that should Watkins gets injured in the 1st few games, and they have let Archer go, theyre fucked - so they put a 'price they cant refuse' on him
We know hes not worth that, so go fishing for other strikers

Akpom is sounded out also, but he waits, and ends up with an offer from Ajax (who wouldnt take that over us)

Meanwhile we throw Piroe and Origi out there, Watkins doesnt get injured, Archer does get itchy feet, lets Villa know his feelings, they accept they cant hold onto someone whos doesnt want to be there (ala Ndaiye) and the 2 clubs compromise on a middle ground fee.

Same may well happen with Doyle, seems like he wants to come back, but wants to keep his Man City salary - we hold off as been there before, window nears closure, Doyle nowhere near 1st team, reduces his demands/accepts relegation clause and hes ours

Hecky is holding our 2 EPL loans out for someone, best way as if he goes early and gets anyone in to appease the fans, end of window McAtee comes available, goes to Burnley and our fans kick off

So far Hecky and team have brought in
Anel, Doyle & McAtee - all good
Hamer & Souza - 1 game in but look very good
Traore & Larouchi - work in progress, but will come good on first viewing
Slimani - unknown
Trusty - everyone speaks highly

Trust the process

 

[Railway Blade]

I quite like the look of this lad from Troyes actually.
Pace, power, bit of skill. Lower risk in terms of fee too.

The only downside with him is he is in the same position as Souza in that it looks like he hasn't played a competitive match since late May, so will again take a month or more to get up to speed.

 

[YES Blade]

Again, I'm not sure how anyone can be so thick to see we've essentially thrown 2 games as the season starts in August. Not September 1st.

You can call us illogical or naive all you want, but plenty of players improve the sides we've put out in the past week and half. Last week we put out the worst PL side anyone's ever seen. They didn't need waiting for.

Yes, there may be strikers out there that are better than Osulu or midfielders better than Bash or Ozzy, which could’ve been signed before palace. But they’re going to want a 2 year contract minimum, not a 2 game contract.

After spending our budget on players that happened to be available, what do we later in the window when our 1st/2nd choice targets become available?

 

[flashinblade1889]

Who’s the lad from Troyes?

 

[Stewy]

100% this

Its a poker face from both sides in the deal

Villa are nervous that should Watkins gets injured in the 1st few games, and they have let Archer go, theyre fucked - so they put a 'price they cant refuse' on him
We know hes not worth that, so go fishing for other strikers

Akpom is sounded out also, but he waits, and ends up with an offer from Ajax (who wouldnt take that over us)

Meanwhile we throw Piroe and Origi out there, Watkins doesnt get injured, Archer does get itchy feet, lets Villa know his feelings, they accept they cant hold onto someone whos doesnt want to be there (ala Ndaiye) and the 2 clubs compromise on a middle ground fee.

Same may well happen with Doyle, seems like he wants to come back, but wants to keep his Man City salary - we hold off as been there before, window nears closure, Doyle nowhere near 1st team, reduces his demands/accepts relegation clause and hes ours

Hecky is holding our 2 EPL loans out for someone, best way as if he goes early and gets anyone in to appease the fans, end of window McAtee comes available, goes to Burnley and our fans kick off

So far Hecky and team have brought in
Anel, Doyle & McAtee - all good
Hamer & Souza - 1 game in but look very good
Traore & Larouchi - work in progress, but will come good on first viewing
Slimani - unknown
Trusty - everyone speaks highly

Trust the process

Brought in Ciaran Clark as well, he was decent too

 

[BettingBlade]

Just to play Devils advocate here, to stay up you are realistically going to need anywhere between 34-40 points meaning if the two first games are such a factor you will still need around 30 points

If you can get 30 points from September onwards then maybe you can get another 6 points as well

Maybe you can, maybe you can't. The point is, that still relies on us having a squad that's good enough to stay up in the first place. There's also no guarantee that it's 2 games, say we get players in deadline day, are they going to be ready to go by the Everton game on the 2nd September? If they are, that's not a great deal of time to get to know how we play. Then we're getting towards the end of September before we're near full strength. Our last season in the Prem should have been an indicator as to how quickly the chances of survival can get away if you lose a few on the bounce. It's all woulda coulda shoulda at this moment in time but the fact is, we haven't given ourselves the best chance to get as many points as we can in a season where that should be absolutely imperative.

There is also a scenario where we started the season with a squad the manager was happy with and still ended up with 0 points. However, judging by the Forest game, it's clear as day that we were massively disadvantaged by only being able to bring on youth players. It got to a point on Friday where we looked as though we were actively settling for a point as we didn't have the experience or the firepower to go and try and win the game. Forest were able to make these changes and ultimately that ended up costing us a point. So that's at least 1 point we are down, possibly even 3 if we'd have had the personnel to go and win the game.

 

[Railway Blade]

Who’s the lad from Troyes?

Mama Balde. (Not a made up name, honest )