Strikers

[SteveBlade]

Sharp
Clarke
Evans
Hanson
Lavery

Sharp scoring will come down to how well we provide, there's no question he'll put it away when asked, but the service will have to be there. If we knock it about like we have this season with similar effect, he'll score quite a few.

Let's not kid ourselves with the rest, they could go either way. Best case scenario is Ched is fire, Clarke continues his recent form, Lavery chips in with a few when called upon and Hanson steps up and shakes up defenders when Wilder sees fit.

If anything happens to Billy, or if he's not on form and none of those are putting them away then we could struggle.

I'm really not sure who we could go for, as per the gold dust cliché when it comes to goalscorers.

I'm hoping that by Christmas when Billy and Ched are both in double digits I'll look back and laugh at how I doubted our firepower. At this point though, I'd fancy another proven striker.

 

[FMBlade1]

Hopefully we'll get a Tammy Abrahams type signing in as well

 

[Lard_Lad]

Personally would get rid of Hanson and bring someone else in. Also unsure on Sharp, he gets a hell of a lot of chances in league 1 that he won't get in the championship, all our strikers are going to have to be clinical.

 

[SteveBlade]

Hopefully we'll get a Tammy Abrahams type signing in as well

If we wangled Tammy Abraham or anything like him then I think I'd cream myself.

Every club in the Championship will be after him, I think some sweet talk from Tufty is in order.

 

[BushBlade]

Sharp
Clarke
Evans
Hanson
Lavery

Sharp scoring will come down to how well we provide, there's no question he'll put it away when asked, but the service will have to be there. If we knock it about like we have this season with similar effect, he'll score quite a few.

Let's not kid ourselves with the rest, they could go either way. Best case scenario is Ched is fire, Clarke continues his recent form, Lavery chips in with a few when called upon and Hanson steps up and shakes up defenders when Wilder sees fit.

If anything happens to Billy, or if he's not on form and none of those are putting them away then we could struggle.

I'm really not sure who we could go for, as per the gold dust cliché when it comes to goalscorers.

I'm hoping that by Christmas when Billy and Ched are both in double digits I'll look back and laugh at how I doubted our firepower. At this point though, I'd fancy another proven striker.

It's not going to be that easy to attract a top of the championship striker in this window. We're an unknown quantity, in their eyes. I suspect CW will be looking to get the best out of what we've got by rotating them a bit, swapping Ched for Billy or Lavery for Leon whenever their form drops or they're tired/injured. We'll look to get a striker once we've proven we won't just be in a relegation battle, that we'll compete. I think.

 

[Blade58]

Whilst Ched, Thomas and hopefully Stevens will be excellent squad additions, I feel the "big signings" are yet to arrive

I expect both a proven Championship striker and a CB. Both down the spine of the team. Both adding that bit of quality to help make us competitive next season.

 

[FMBlade1]

If we wangled Tammy Abraham or anything like him then I think I'd cream myself.

Every club in the Championship will be after him, I think some sweet talk from Tufty is in order.

I'll make a bold prediction...he'll go on loan to a lower premier league club and struggle and fail to get game time and turn into the next Patrick Bamford. A crying shame what's happened to him and the likes of McEchran Woods Taiwo etc

We haven't really made signings apart from Lafferty, Riley and Chapman from PL clubs so wonder what our scouting/relationships are like.

As for strikers, if we don't get anyone else in who doesn't have championship pedigree I'll be seriously worried. Maybe Kyle Lafferty might be worth a punt on a free, can also play on the left wing if needed

 

[Slim Man]

We need a striker. Apart from Billy only Leon got anywhere near double figures and he only started motoring with 6 games left!
No guarantees Billy will be anywhere near as effective in this league, pinning all our hopes on him again would be stupid.

Hanson got 1 goal, he isn't good enough for the championship all round. Good aerial threat but that's about it, he'd be our Nuhiu.

Evans didn't score goals last year in League One and he never really did in the championship pre prison anyway.

Lavery is a good all rounder but not a goalscorer.

Daryl Murphy on loan would be my ideal scenario. Instant improvement on Hanson, goals, hold up play, strength and heading ability. Bit of everything and no risk with it being a loan. There's plenty available, it's who we can convince to come and join the revolution accepting they won't be earning much more than the other lads. But it's important to not go too far the other way, we need to accept championship players will earn more money because they're better players.

But yeah. More firepower - needed.

 

[Ricky]

We'll sign another striker, and a decent one at that. What type remains to be seen.

Ideally we'll sign one with pace and the ability to create for himself and others and then a higher quality target man if we can move Hanson on.

Ward and Gallagher for example.

It's probably doubtful we'll sign more than one for the time being though. But I'd be happy enough with one, whatever type, as long as they're decent.

Sign one with pace, we've still got a target man with Hanson and to an extent Clarke. Sign another target man, we should have pace in wide areas anyway. Evans is also an all rounder who gives us a bit of flexibility when considering what type to go for.

 

[FTPE]

I thought woods at Leeds was a massive kiwi donkey and he's finished top scorer.
He didn't get 30+ either.
I don't think we need a £5m striker.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Don't get this 'thing', call it an obsession if you like, with the signing of so-called big names. Surely what matters is that we sign good players. Recall the signing of John Fleck? Barely registered on the transfer scale when we signed him last season, but he became one of Division 1's best players. Don't get me wrong, each and every United player will have something to prove when the new season begins, and it's exactly the type of challenge all United players should relish. Who knows who Wilder will sign, but I doubt he'll lose much sleep worrying about the necessity of securing a marquee signing. All he'll want at this club are good players who are hungry to succeed, anything else is a distraction and misses the point.

 

[5tannington Blade]

Just for gods sake whatever we do - no more journeymen! I don't think we have the money to afford the likes of Darren Bent but we don't want any players like that again who are after a final paycheck. Hopefully we have learnt our bloody lesson

 

[McGrath]

Billy has scored in the Championship before, I see no reason why he won't do it again it's not as if he's lost a yard of pace as he didn't have it to start with. As the saying goes first yard is in your head anyway.

Hanson will probably be kept as a big lump to bring on in the last 20 minutes when we're 1 nil down somewhere and need to cause the oppo defence some aggro

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Don't get this 'thing', call it an obsession if you like, with the signing of so-called big names. Surely what matters is that we sign good players. Recall the signing of John Fleck? Barely registered on the transfer scale when we signed him last season, but he became one of Division 1's best players. Don't get me wrong, each and every United player will have something to prove when the new season begins, and it's exactly the type of challenge all United players should relish. Who knows who Wilder will sign, but I doubt he'll lose much sleep worrying about the necessity of securing a marquee signing. All he'll want at this club are good players who are hungry to succeed, anything else is a distraction and misses the point.

Totally agree!

We won't be signing anyone "proven" as a Championship striker I hope. We'll be signing someone with lots to prove as a Championship striker instead.

You only have to look at Wilders recruitment policy so far for clues.

No big name Charlie's here thanks. Go for the up and coming.

 

[The Bohemian]

Evans didn't score goals last year in League One and he never really did in the championship pre prison anyway.

Evans scored 10 league goals in 20 starts in the Championship, whilst on loan to Norwich and that was as a 19 year old. That may or may not count as "unproven in the Championship", depending on individual perspective. Let's not forget, Blackwell was his manager during his first season and he even managed to stop Billy from scoring! Then followed the relegation season from hell, by which point he must have been wondering what he'd walked into. Only when Danny arrived (the other one) did he have the opportunity to play in a settled team with good service from the likes of Lowton, Williamson, McDonald and Quinn. Let us not forget he scored 29 league goals in 30 starts before the unthinkable happened.

As with Billy, if Evans gets the ball in the right positions (which for him is anywhere within 25 yards of goal, in a yard of space) he will score goals. I haven't seen many players who can strike a ball with such venom with minimal back lift - a nightmare for keepers because it denies them a fraction of a second of reaction time.

We can be confident Wilder will get the best out of him and play to his strengths. I can't imagine there will be anyone more motivated to succeed than Ched Evans and, barring injury, I expect him to score lots of goals next season.

 

[Ricky]

Nothing wrong with 'proven' as long as they still have the hunger to succeed - especially when they're still young. They're the best types. But they cost more.

Proven doesn't have to mean 'big name' either, and I see no obsession with 'big names' in any case. We just want quality.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Clarke or Hanson will move on in the summer, probably Clarke, Just a hunch. I'd still give Omar Bogle a shot, raw but has plenty of ability and can be a real handful on his day, CW would be good for him.

 

[South Bucks]

Am probably wrong but seems to me the plan for Ched might be Billy plays for 50 or 60 minutes then Ched comes on for the rest. A bit like Carruthers always coming on after 60 mins for Duffy (legs a bit dodgy). Only thing certain for me is his partner won't be Hanson, or not for many games.

 

[Slim Man]

Nothing wrong with 'proven' as long as they still have the hunger to succeed - especially when they're still young. They're the best types. But they cost more.

Proven doesn't have to mean 'big name' either, and I see no obsession with 'big names' in any case. We just want quality.

Anyone like Daryl Murphy, Danny Graham, Tomer Hemed or Lukas Jutkeiwitz would be a great improvement on Hanson in terms of goals, all championship proven, with a similar type of presence and aerial ability.

Worth noting Marley Watkins has 10 goals to his name too. And he's a freebie.

 

[FriethBlade]

Don't get this 'thing', call it an obsession if you like, with the signing of so-called big names. Surely what matters is that we sign good players. Recall the signing of John Fleck? Barely registered on the transfer scale when we signed him last season, but he became one of Division 1's best players. Don't get me wrong, each and every United player will have something to prove when the new season begins, and it's exactly the type of challenge all United players should relish. Who knows who Wilder will sign, but I doubt he'll lose much sleep worrying about the necessity of securing a marquee signing. All he'll want at this club are good players who are hungry to succeed, anything else is a distraction and misses the point.

But I think you have proved the point of what some are getting at...it's not big names it's proven players....and despite what you say Fleck was already proven at Coventry as one of the best midfielders in division one the previous year and did even better for us.

Part of our success this year was Wilder signing proven top division one players in Fleck and Duffy. We need to try and replicate that this season but it's going to be harder and more expensive to find those extra 2 top quality championship players we will need to challenge for the top six rather than just be happy to survive.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Nothing wrong with 'proven' as long as they still have the hunger to succeed - especially when they're still young. They're the best types. But they cost more.

Proven doesn't have to mean 'big name' either, and I see no obsession with 'big names' in any case. We just want quality.

But that's the point. You pay more, much more, for players who have been there and done it. Look at what Wednesday have paid for Hooper, Fletcher, Rhodes. Is that what you really want us to do?

And the game is littered with players who were the next big thing then they fade and burn and you're left with an expensive has been on your books.

What kind of players have propelled us to the top level before? Ask yourself that?

I can tell you in my time of watching who some of those key players were - and few of them fit into your category of "proven".

Bill Dearden. A relatively unknown right winger from Chester signed for around £10k and made into a fearless centre forward. Tony Currie - a young kid from Watford signed for £28k. Keith Edwards an ex Blade junior popping them in for Hull but unproven at a higher level. Brian Deane and Tony Agana - signed for peanuts and unproven. Glen Cockerill - a good player in Division 4 but unproven.

All these had something in common. A burning desire to prove themselves at a higher level and they did.

Then look at the " ready made" "proven" options we brought in. Peter Withe, Viv Busby, Ian Rush, etc

 

[Sithblade]

Clarke or Hanson will move on in the summer, probably Clarke, Just a hunch. I'd still give Omar Bogle a shot, raw but has plenty of ability and can be a real handful on his day, CW would be good for him.

They may keep Clarke until January to see how it pans out.
What Clarke does well is most of his goals are first time clinical shots with no need to control the ball first. So he could be useful player off the bench with us unlikely to create as many chances as last season.

 

[FMBlade1]

But that's the point. You pay more, much more, for players who have been there and done it. Look at what Wednesday have paid for Hooper, Fletcher, Rhodes. Is that what you really want us to do?


What kind of players have propelled us to the top level before? Ask yourself that?

Ok I know it doesn't exactly count, but I would point towards James Beattie. If you look at Wigan last year they invested in lower league players and relied too much on those who couldn't cut it such as Bogle. I hope we get just one genuinely proven championship striker. Can't rely on just Sharp, the others haven't had a decent record in this league for years

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Ok I know it doesn't exactly count, but I would point towards James Beattie. If you look at Wigan last year they invested in lower league players and relied too much on those who couldn't cut it such as Bogle. I hope we get just one genuinely proven championship striker. Can't rely on just Sharp, the others haven't had a decent record in this league for years

Yes I agree with that re Beattie. Although when we signed him he'd gone from hero to zero and people were sayin he was finished. But he was a great signing.

I know what you're saying but I just don't want us to sign a yesterday's hero and I don't think we will.

 

[itsinyerblood]

But I think you have proved the point of what some are getting at...it's not big names it's proven players....and despite what you say Fleck was already proven at Coventry as one of the best midfielders in division one the previous year and did even better for us.

Part of our success this year was Wilder signing proven top division one players in Fleck and Duffy. We need to try and replicate that this season but it's going to be harder and more expensive to find those extra 2 top quality championship players we will need to challenge for the top six rather than just be happy to survive.

What coming to United did for Fleck was add a greater level of consistency, go up a level if you like, and make him more effective than his stay at Coventry had shown. So whatever reputation he had whilst at Coventry was enhanced many times over at United.

I think Wilder's success rested somewhere between design and default. There was no point in looking to sign anyone other than decent players at Division 1 level and that's what we did to great effect. It's a circular debate, who knows what Wilder would have done if he'd have had far larger budgets to work with, as it was he did remarkably well, with the positives outweighing the negatives.

I don't concern myself with the way Wilder goes about his job. He's undoubtedly a hard working manager whose expectations are sky high, we're fortunate to have him and the chemistry between the manager and club appears first rate. Next season will be interesting, we may face a greater losses ratio than last season so dependent on exactly what happens we'll all need to maintain a sense of balance about what we expect of ourselves. Regardless, next season can't come soon enough.

 

[Ricky]

But that's the point. You pay more, much more, for players who have been there and done it. Look at what Wednesday have paid for Hooper, Fletcher, Rhodes. Is that what you really want us to do?

And the game is littered with players who were the next big thing then they fade and burn and you're left with an expensive has been on your books.

What kind of players have propelled us to the top level before? Ask yourself that?

I can tell you in my time of watching who some of those key players were - and few of them fit into your category of "proven".

Bill Dearden. A relatively unknown right winger from Chester signed for around £10k and made into a fearless centre forward. Tony Currie - a young kid from Watford signed for £28k. Keith Edwards an ex Blade junior popping them in for Hull but unproven at a higher level. Brian Deane and Tony Agana - signed for peanuts and unproven. Glen Cockerill - a good player in Division 4 but unproven.

All these had something in common. A burning desire to prove themselves at a higher level and they did.

Then look at the " ready made" "proven" options we brought in. Peter Withe, Viv Busby, Ian Rush, etc

I just want us to get the best value possible, without breaking the wage structure. Never said anything at all to suggest I'd like us to do what Wednesday have done.

There are proven Championship players who we could afford, some could be great value even if they cost a bit more than unproven players from lower divisions.

In the past we've rarely been blessed with a good budget so naturally leaned towards the more unproven players. There have been more unproven types to choose from. We'll constantly sign cheaper players, we'll not always sign more expensive players. I suppose that goes for everybody.

Generally I like going for the less proven players as they're less of a risk and more likely to be better value, but you can't commit exclusively to only signing those types.

 

[VEGASBLADE]

Nugent anyone ???????

 

[Th!stledo]

I feel we have to differentiate between 'experienced' and 'proven' Championship strikers. The truth is neither will come cheap but also, importantly, will want appropriate wages - the latter could be extortionate.

A big key to our success was team spirit and having odd players on bigger wages could upset the apple cart, especially if they don't hit the ground running and start to under-achieve. The Wendys found that out when they brought Fletcher in on higher wages than Foresteri and caused all that disruption

 

[Bladezz]

Wigan also signed Jake Buxton from Derby, Jordi Gomez from Mboro , Ryan Taylor Hull, Matt Gilks rangers.

They signed a lot of experienced players too but they were equally as poor.

We have many options up front currently, and CW said he wants one more. He will be bringing in the best player available to us. He will be good enough.

 

[Slim Man]

Wigan also signed Jake Buxton from Derby, Jordi Gomez from Mboro , Ryan Taylor Hull, Matt Gilks rangers.

They signed a lot of experienced players too but they were equally as poor.

We have many options up front currently, and CW said he wants one more. He will be bringing in the best player available to us. He will be good enough.

Wigan's problem was scoring goals and changing managers when the wind changed direction. They also signed a lot of unproven players.