Silent Blade
Well-Known Member
Having a target man doesnt mean we leather the ball up to him many times, he can be used in a lot of different ways. I wasnt thinking of how we used Brian Deane during the Bassett years but more of what you said about Lambert and how Forest and Villa used Withe or how Blackburn and Newcastle used Shearer as a target man. Someone to take the pressure off the players supporting him etc etc.Two good central defenders would make a big difference to set pieces though. Harry chipped in with quite a few and also prevented many against us. I'd guess that if we'd have kept him our goal difference would have been better by 20.
From what I recall, Lambert wasn't used as a typical target man, despite having the right attributes. Southampton didn't leather the ball to him up the middle. They played through the midfield, moved it wide to the likes of Lallana who then cut in from wide.
If we can get a big man with good feet and good decision making, great, but I don't want a Henderson type. What will definitely improve our chances of promotion is to sign skillful players and use them properly.
Agree about having two good central defenders to make a big difference to our set pieces but having a good target striker in the team would be a bonus to us regarding set pieces