Why no striker ?

[Kenilworth]

 

[bartman]

Whoa sunshine !
Nowhere have i called our Nige a liar !And yes,I do believe what I've posted,and no,I don't live in a different world !
We have managed to find enough decent defenders,and midfielders,and I for one don't want to be starting the season with only Porter up front,there's a reason why hes only a 'back up'..
answers on a postcard ........

What have you seen or heard than makes you think this re NC ? "Why does he seem so reluctant to bring in a couple of decent strikers ?"

We don't 'only' have Porter up front at the moment . We have McNulty and Baxter (who was preferred to Porter to play upfront ahead of Porter). Not ideal but even now Porter is 3rd choice

How do resolve that NC resolves the striker problem ?

 

[Grecian2000]

How do resolve that NC resolves the striker problem ?

Have you pinched that question from Ted Rogers on 3-2-1?

It's the motor boat.

 

[HoodedClaw]

I just have concerns that how can we even set up our pre season play without knowing who'll be up front,We've had nine great months under NC but during that time we've never really bought a decent front man in that's all Im trying to say.

Working on the basis that NC isn't deliberately not buying strikers, what would you do if you were manager and there didn't seem to be many options available that ticked your boxes?

Personally I'd be keeping my powder dry until someone became available, permanent or loan, that did. Others may want to piss away money on someone they don't feel is right.

 

[OllyBlade]

Don't care if 100% of them were penalties, he bagged 11 goals in twenty odd matches, it was working.

He hasn't done anything since but that has no bearing on what he could have done for us in the second half of that season. I couldn't care less if he never scored a goal ever again if he had helped us get back into the Championship.

Only our fans could look back at the sale of our leading scorer, one of our best players at the time, when we were pushing for promotion, and try and interpret it as not such a big loss. "Oh well he only scored penalties." ARGH!!!!

We scored 39 goals in 28 league games with him, 17 goals in 18 league games without him. In other words near enough 50% more goals were scored in the league with him in the team. But it's okay, BECAUSE THEY WERE ONLY PENALTIES.

Head, brick-wall, repeat.

 

[FTPE]

Only our fans could look back at the sale of our leading scorer, one of our best players at the time, when we were pushing for promotion, and try and interpret it as not such a big loss. "Oh well he only scored penalties." ARGH!!!!

We scored 39 goals in 28 league games with him, 17 goals in 18 league games without him. In other words near enough 50% more goals were scored in the league with him in the team. But it's okay, BECAUSE THEY WERE ONLY PENALTIES.

Head, brick-wall, repeat.

Aw, you can come up with percentages to prove anything, 14% of people know that

 

[JOEYDEE]

What have you seen or heard than makes you think this re NC ? "Why does he seem so reluctant to bring in a couple of decent strikers ?"

We don't 'only' have Porter up front at the moment . We have McNulty and Baxter (who was preferred to Porter to play upfront ahead of Porter). Not ideal but even now Porter is 3rd choice

How do resolve that NC resolves the striker problem ?

Baxter isn't a striker fact !
The reason I think NC isn't too worried about bringing in a main striker(he's said so himself),is that he likes goalscoring midfielders,and that in itself isn't a bad thing,but when plan A goes wrong we need a plan B.ie proper striker(s)
All teams like to have at least one goalscorer..thats what its all about !
Porter aint gonna be starting(hopefully)and Mac is still untried..if we are serious about promotion we need at least one decent striker..not too much to ask ?

 

[JOEYDEE]

Working on the basis that NC isn't deliberately not buying strikers, what would you do if you were manager and there didn't seem to be many options available that ticked your boxes?

Personally I'd be keeping my powder dry until someone became available, permanent or loan, that did. Others may want to piss away money on someone they don't feel is right.

Now I love NC,I really do ,BUT hes been here 9 months and still not brought any experienced striker in ...how long do you keep your 'powder dry' ?

 

[S5Blade]

4 goals tonight against a SPL team without a recognised "Striker"

Why panic?

 

[Hurby]

Is there indeed an elephant in the room or have people really dismissed the October return option? I keep on hearing 'his' name mentioned at the Lane but as it appears, we don't say it here... He is the most obvious striker I can think of.

 

[wizadry]

Is there indeed an elephant in the room or have people really dismissed the October return option? I keep on hearing 'his' name mentioned at the Lane but as it appears, we don't say it here... He is the most obvious striker I can think of.

October?not match fit while atleast end of november,early December at the earliest,thats roughly 15 to 20 matches,we need another forward in before that.

I don't give a shit that we have scored 4 against Dundee,friendlies are for fitness mainly and i never look too much into them myself,so it works both ways,we don't score against Burton and we need another forward,we score 4 against Dundee and we still need another forward.Friendlies have no bearing results wise.

October will be too late and i'm sure clough knows this and he will do his upmost to get us as ready as we possibly can be for the START of the season,not October.

 

[MBoreman]

Of which over 50% of them were penalties.

Whats he done since leaving us? all be it in a higher league

To be fair I've seen a fair few reading fans rate as well as Jason Roberts holding him in high regard.

 

[HoodedClaw]

Now I love NC,I really do ,BUT hes been here 9 months and still not brought any experienced striker in ...how long do you keep your 'powder dry' ?

Like I already said, until someone ticks the boxes, or would you prefer to piss money away? As you maybe didn't see my question I'll ask it again, what would you do if you were manager and there didn't seem to be many options available that ticked your boxes?

Personally I think CoG going to Brighton has put a bit of a spanner in the works for NC.

 

[JOEYDEE]

Like I already said, until someone ticks the boxes, or would you prefer to piss money away? As you maybe didn't see my question I'll ask it again, what would you do if you were manager and there didn't seem to be many options available that ticked your boxes?

Personally I think CoG going to Brighton has put a bit of a spanner in the works for NC.

I think Ive answered your question on various posts i've made on this thread ,but to add a bit more to your persistence,I'd seriously start worrying about our 'scouts',if they can't come up with a decent third division striker who wants to play for Sheffield United Football Club,after nine months ..then its time for ..shall we say (being kind.) a 'reshuffle'
This season is so important for us,but obviously without 'pissing money away',....

 

[HoodedClaw]

I think Ive answered your question on various posts i've made on this thread ,but to add a bit more to your persistence,I'd seriously start worrying about our 'scouts',if they can't come up with a decent third division striker who wants to play for Sheffield United Football Club,after nine months ..then its time for ..shall we say (being kind.) a 'reshuffle'
This season is so important for us,but obviously without 'pissing money away',....

Sorry must have missed all your answers.

Who's saying that our scouts haven't come up with a decent 3rd division striker who wants to play for us? I'm saying maybe they don't fit what Cloughs after so instead of just jumping in and signing somoene he may prefer to wait to get the right target for him and, more importantly, for us.

 

[JOEYDEE]

Sorry must have missed all your answers.

Who's saying that our scouts haven't come up with a decent 3rd division striker who wants to play for us? I'm saying maybe they don't fit what Cloughs after so instead of just jumping in and signing somoene he may prefer to wait to get the right target for him and, more importantly, for us.

Apology accepted and noted,
Are you saying NC has not explained to his scouting staff just what he wants ?
Now either Nige isn't very good at getting his message across.or the scouting staff are a bit dim,bearing in mind they've had nine months to come up with the goods,which do you think it is ?
And if you were manager what would you say to them ?

 

[bartman]

Apology accepted and noted,
Are you saying NC has not explained to his scouting staff just what he wants ?
Now either Nige isn't very good at getting his message across.or the scouting staff are a bit dim,bearing in mind they've had nine months to come up with the goods,which do you think it is ?
And if you were manager what would you say to them ?

He is using the same system that got us to an FA Cup semi final(and scored 3 goals there) and in many games last season,actually managed to score more than the opposition. Not good enough for some fans thou and they seem to seriously believe NC(and his team) isn't trying hard enough to improve the squad.

But obviously some fans no better and say there is something wrong as he has had enough time to get a striker in in the belief that either NC or the scouts are shit. These are the same people that brought in Harris,Brayford,Scougall and improved several of our under-performing players. Some fans think that NC doesn't believe we need a striker that fits our system and think that finding a high quality striker to play in our system who will actually be easy to do.

Maybe,some fans need to show a little faith that our management team scout and try to find players that fit what we need and that we can afford but hey...some of of fans like nothing better than to critisise what the club do at every opportunity.

If I was the manager,I would meet some of these fans and ask them to explain what they would different to what has happened so far and why they appear to be over critical about a team that appears to be progressing.

 

[Teddy]

He is using the same system that got us to an FA Cup semi final(and scored 3 goals there) and in many games last season,actually managed to score more than the opposition. Not good enough for some fans thou and they seem to seriously believe NC(and his team) isn't trying hard enough to improve the squad.

But obviously some fans no better and say there is something wrong as he has had enough time to get a striker in in the belief that either NC or the scouts are shit. These are the same people that brought in Harris,Brayford,Scougall and improved several of our under-performing players. Some fans think that NC doesn't believe we need a striker that fits our system and think that finding a high quality striker to play in our system who will actually be easy to do.

Maybe,some fans need to show a little faith that our management team scout and try to find players that fit what we need and that we can afford but hey...some of of fans like nothing better than to critisise what the club do at every opportunity.

If I was the manager,I would meet some of these fans and ask them to explain what they would different to what has happened so far and why they appear to be over critical about a team that appears to be progressing.

I agree with a lot of what you say mate. But if I were manager I'd steer well clear... this is fairly standard pre-season forum fodder (no disrespect meant to anyone's opinions).

Clough knows what he's doing, and won't concern himself too much with our chatter

 

[WeareBlades]

Why are so many people reluctant to see that it's not as easy as buying a player on football manager? Would you prefer Clough buy 2 average strikers who don't score 5 between them all season? Because there will be plenty who would blame Clough wouldn't there for that, he can't win. If there is a decent striker out there who doesn't want massive wages and wouldn't command more than we are willing to spend he would have been signed. I for one don't want to see Evans back, good footballer or not he was sent down for rape and I'd hate to see our club tarnished with that sort of brush. UTB.

 

[JOEYDEE]

He is using the same system that got us to an FA Cup semi final(and scored 3 goals there) and in many games last season,actually managed to score more than the opposition. Not good enough for some fans thou and they seem to seriously believe NC(and his team) isn't trying hard enough to improve the squad.

But obviously some fans no better and say there is something wrong as he has had enough time to get a striker in in the belief that either NC or the scouts are shit. These are the same people that brought in Harris,Brayford,Scougall and improved several of our under-performing players. Some fans think that NC doesn't believe we need a striker that fits our system and think that finding a high quality striker to play in our system who will actually be easy to do.

Maybe,some fans need to show a little faith that our management team scout and try to find players that fit what we need and that we can afford but hey...some of of fans like nothing better than to critisise what the club do at every opportunity.

If I was the manager,I would meet some of these fans and ask them to explain what they would different to what has happened so far and why they appear to be over critical about a team that appears to be progressing.

What?the scouts improved several of our under performing players ?
Wow, no wonder they haven't time to find a striker !!!
If NC wants to play the system that did all that last season,(dont forget we've lost CC and Bray,)then fine ,but shouldn't he at least say that hes not looking ,or don't us fans matter ?
I hope that you don't think that I by my concern(ie my Opinion),that I am thinking that what NC is doing is 'not good enough',or that NC isnt working 'hard enough to improve the squad',or that 'fans know better',or we show 'no faith'or that we have 'nothing better to do ,than critise the club we love .and are over critical !
Listen pal,this thread is titled 'Why no Striker',thats all,not for you to get on a soapbox and critise all concerned blades over this,nothing to do with critisicing the club ,just one point many blades are talking about!
Nigel has done a great job thus far,we are all just wondering 'Why no striker ' !!

 

[HoodedClaw]

Apology accepted and noted,
Are you saying NC has not explained to his scouting staff just what he wants ?
Now either Nige isn't very good at getting his message across.or the scouting staff are a bit dim,bearing in mind they've had nine months to come up with the goods,which do you think it is ?
And if you were manager what would you say to them ?

Re-read my post there's actually a sentance that starts with "I'm Saying..."

As Clough has already stated the Striker(s) are the hardest ones to get because they are the ones everone's after so have the most choices, this may mean we might have to wait to get the one we want.

Obviously the sarcasm didn't convey correctly regards the apology for missing your "answers". Have a look back through your posts on this thread and you'll find no answer to the question I posed until you came up with the genius response of re-shuffling the scounting department, still can't stop laughing at that, what a fantastic idea.

You then go on to say that the season is so important to us " without pissing money away" but you want him to sign a striker that might not be neccessarily right for what Clough wants, how does that work??

To answer your questions:
It's all very black and white for you ain't it, either Cliough has a communication problem or his scouting team are stupid, really?

Personally I think Clough is probably very good at getting across the type(s) of players that he's looking for. I also think his scouting team aren't "dim", I give you Scougall, Brayford, Harris, Mcgahey to name a few, don't forget his scouting team have been with him since well before working for us.

I'd say to them this is how I'm thinking of setting up playing I'm looking for a striker(s) that can score a few but I want him to have a presence up top, some height to help out at corners as we are a bit short but he needs the ability to bring our other players in to play.

They would have said to me, What about CoG at Barnsley?

 

[bartman]

What?the scouts improved several of our under performing players ?
Wow, no wonder they haven't time to find a striker !!!
If NC wants to play the system that did all that last season,(dont forget we've lost CC and Bray,)then fine ,but shouldn't he at least say that hes not looking ,or don't us fans matter ?
I hope that you don't think that I by my concern(ie my Opinion),that I am thinking that what NC is doing is 'not good enough',or that NC isnt working 'hard enough to improve the squad',or that 'fans know better',or we show 'no faith'or that we have 'nothing better to do ,than critise the club we love .and are over critical !
Listen pal,this thread is titled 'Why no Striker',thats all,not for you to get on a soapbox and critise all concerned blades over this,nothing to do with critisicing the club ,just one point many blades are talking about!
Nigel has done a great job thus far,we are all just wondering 'Why no striker ' !!

and I have given my opinion about what you are saying and how you are saying it. As you say, it is MY opinion.

Your OP was critical and didn't offer anything constructive. In my opinion, it was having a go at NC,his team and the club for not getting a striker in with the implication that they have had enough time.
NC has made it very clear that he and his team are looking for a striker at the right cost with the right attitude. Whether such a striker exists who will play in L1 is another matter. Yes we nee a striker but not at any cost. Stupid spending got us in this mess in the first place.

Many fans go OTT,into 'panic' mode and critisize every signing that we make. before they even kick a ball for us . NC isn't going to let this club stand still. We have until the end of August to buy a player but I suspect we may have to settle for a loan striker for at least the first 6 months of the season( cue the moans by some " I thought we weren't relying on loan players)

Coady isn't much of a loss and brayford is a 'nive to have' rather than someone who could drive us to promotion. In my opinion, the squad is stronger in depth than last season and a striker, along with another right sided defender who do us nicely

 

[wizadry]

along with another right sided defender who do us nicely

We have Alcock,Davies and Basham who all can play right back very comfortably.There are going to be no more RB's surely,even Flynny can cover there if needed,srikers are all we need now.

 

[bartman]

We have Alcock,Davies and Basham who all can play right back very comfortably.There are going to be no more RB's surely,even Flynny can cover there if needed,srikers are all we need now.

Basham and Davies are primarily midfielders who are fill ins where necessary. I wouldn't want them there permanent should Alcock get injured

 

[wizadry]

Basham and Davies are primarily midfielders who are fill ins where necessary. I wouldn't want them there permanent should Alcock get injured

Your propably right bartman but will cloughy see it that way,lets hope he does.I was simply trying to state our main objective,and that is a striker as most of us know and not a RB,but i think thats why cloughy has brought Davies and Basham in to cover that position aswell,lets for our sakes hope i'm wrong.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

This is the problem though, if you have two very good players in the same position one of them is going to have to play second fiddle a lot of the time and unless we are talking a lot of money and the premiership most players are going to look at that.
This is why it's best to have one very good player and a couple who'll give you that cover across the back line

 

[JOEYDEE]

Re-read my post there's actually a sentance that starts with "I'm Saying..."

As Clough has already stated the Striker(s) are the hardest ones to get because they are the ones everone's after so have the most choices, this may mean we might have to wait to get the one we want.

Obviously the sarcasm didn't convey correctly regards the apology for missing your "answers". Have a look back through your posts on this thread and you'll find no answer to the question I posed until you came up with the genius response of re-shuffling the scounting department, still can't stop laughing at that, what a fantastic idea.

You then go on to say that the season is so important to us " without pissing money away" but you want him to sign a striker that might not be neccessarily right for what Clough wants, how does that work??

To answer your questions:
It's all very black and white for you ain't it, either Cliough has a communication problem or his scouting team are stupid, really?

Personally I think Clough is probably very good at getting across the type(s) of players that he's looking for. I also think his scouting team aren't "dim", I give you Scougall, Brayford, Harris, Mcgahey to name a few, don't forget his scouting team have been with him since well before working for us.

I'd say to them this is how I'm thinking of setting up playing I'm looking for a striker(s) that can score a few but I want him to have a presence up top, some height to help out at corners as we are a bit short but he needs the ability to bring our other players in to play.

They would have said to me, What about CoG at Barnsley?

Oh dear, we've now lost our third highest league scorer from last season !(good luck harry,by the way!)But,its ok everything will be fine .
The sarcasm did indeed convey to me very precisely re your 'apology',hence my reply..which obviously YOU didn't understand !
My comment of 'not pissing money away'was a sarcastic repost on what you said earlier.try and keep up !
Nowhere have I said I think that NC should 'sign a striker that might not be neccessarily right for what Clough wants'
I'm so glad I gave you a laugh about reshuffling the scouts,I like to spread a bit of happiness!
BUT,if I was your boss and I gave you a job to do,and after 9 months ,you still hadn't done it would you still be employed c'mon really ?(you do have opposable thumbs..don't you? )

 

[JOEYDEE]

and I have given my opinion about what you are saying and how you are saying it. As you say, it is MY opinion.

Your OP was critical and didn't offer anything constructive. In my opinion, it was having a go at NC,his team and the club for not getting a striker in with the implication that they have had enough time.
NC has made it very clear that he and his team are looking for a striker at the right cost with the right attitude. Whether such a striker exists who will play in L1 is another matter. Yes we nee a striker but not at any cost. Stupid spending got us in this mess in the first place.

Many fans go OTT,into 'panic' mode and critisize every signing that we make. before they even kick a ball for us . NC isn't going to let this club stand still. We have until the end of August to buy a player but I suspect we may have to settle for a loan striker for at least the first 6 months of the season( cue the moans by some " I thought we weren't relying on loan players)

Coady isn't much of a loss and brayford is a 'nive to have' rather than someone who could drive us to promotion. In my opinion, the squad is stronger in depth than last season and a striker, along with another right sided defender who do us nicely

Sorry Bartman,you've lost my respect in this thread,CC won't be missed ?Bray too much of a luxury to drive us on ?Jeez ,now you've admitted we need a striker?Stick to your principals matey,
We all know that we aint doin' stupid spending..we're lge 1 ffs !
I'd rather keep my replies with 'the hooded claw' ! He's much more fun !!

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

Well, imo the squad is a bit crap. Admittedly, most clubs squads are crap in this division, but after last season i think most of us expected one or two better signings than the bunch of nobodies we've brought in so far. It wasn't unreasonable to think we would bring in one of Brayford and Coady, both was never really likely but would have been a bonus. That looks out the window now as we've left it that long they've both impressed in pre-season, so the chances of us getting either of them is round about nil now. It was even less unreasonable to think we would bring in a top (for this level) striker, but so far that hasn't materialised either. Harry going doesn't make much difference really, centre backs at this level are about the least important position going. But none of the squad really looks anything other than ordinary. Clough has shown he can get players to over-perform, so i wouldn't be surprised if he can get this rabble to contend for a play off spot, but that looks about the best possible outcome unless something dramatic happens signing-wise. The time seemed right to grab this division by the proverbials, but yet again it isn't happening.

 

[bartman]

Sorry Bartman,you've lost my respect in this thread,CC won't be missed ?Bray too much of a luxury to drive us on ?Jeez ,now you've admitted we need a striker?Stick to your principals matey,
We all know that we aint doin' stupid spending..we're lge 1 ffs !
I'd rather keep my replies with 'the hooded claw' ! He's much more fun !!

You never had my respect anyway,JOEYDEE so I won't lose any sleep.

Point out to me where I said we didn't need a striker? An expensive right back in L1,probably a package of at least £2million including fees, is not what we require to get promoted from this division. Coady had a handful of good games last season(As Foxy has pointed out previously ,have a look at the S24SU ratings from fans who went to the games ) and he was rarely a player that changed a game. In many away games, he was annoymous

I have no problem with people having differing opinions provided there is constructive argument. I look forward to you provided this.