Just a good striker needed....

[El Convento 14]

Point taken, Budapest, but you''re wasting your breath. Laffs'' face just doesn''t seem to fit on here.

[The Bristol Nest 513]

I just don''t think that you can play with ten men for a half every time Laffs get sent off.

[Essjayess 307]

So many questions raised by Hooper and Lafferty, its hard to see how things will pan out by Feb 1st. Will 1 be sold, will both be sold? Has Alex a target lined up and if so  will he make a move to get him in after 1 of Hooper and Laffs or both are sold?. I agree with morty would not be so awful if we sold Laffs and kept Hooper. But ironically for now, Hooper looks the more likely to leave, just cant see a deal with Leeds  being done for Laffs, although rumours around that Bristol City are interested in him. Maybe throw a couple mill at us and hes theirs, who knows.Cannot see us getting Haller, he plainly knows what he wants, a move to a club with European Cup involvement, or failing that, the guy actually is ok with staying at Utrecht. Fot the life of me, outside of Gayle,  i have no inkling who we could be interested in. The strange is, since weve signed Klose and Naisy, the media reports linking us to every mothers son has dried up, even in the French and Italian outlets. Maybe they think we are done and dusted .

[Lessingham Canary 99]

Maybe we should just raid Bournemouth, for Glenn Murray, keep him until the end of season and then sell him back at quadruple the price....................................................

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

Maybe we should just raid Bournemouth, for Glenn Murray, keep him until the end of season and then sell him back at quadruple the price.....................Lesso

Please see to it mr McNally, they''ll buy any old $hite.

[Budapest Canary 152]

[quote user="El Convento"]Point taken, Budapest, but you''re wasting your breath. Laffs'' face just doesn''t seem to fit on here.[/quote]

:)

You''re probably right, still baffled by the fact that while any player from that list would be beneath our imagination, how can so many feel he cannot offer anything to us - beyond red cards. *That said, his disciplinary record is not that disastrous. Typically he picks up the obligatory yellow, like Tettey or Bradley Johnson does/did, but then usually takes care of his conduct. He`s a good pro.)

More generally, it is a big issue if the arrival of Naismith, Klose, and the return of Jarvis will result in any change in our attacking formation. So far the one striker system has not been a big success - at least not in this league. Hughton''s additions were simply ill fitted for that kind of setup, while our current duo seem to be lacking one way or another. For this role the full ticket would be someone of Ighalo''s mould but the going rate for such in form, proven top strikers seem to be around 20m quid + wages. Two questions arise from the above: a) Can we afford (are we willing) to pay as much as that, b) Would such highly sought players want to come here? If the answer is no to either of the above, then a further dichotomy arises: a) Shall we try to get in someone has-been, outcast, off-form, injury prone, or high flyers of lesser leagues on a smaller budget in the hope they''d come good, or b) should we change/tweak our current system to accommodate our current and/or different types of strikers better?

That is, before getting anyone in, it would be interesting to see how we look with Naismith? (cf. Quagliarella :))

[ZLF 274]

As it was widely reported its simply that the manager sees others as better. Which included grabban. Hard to disagree with his assessment tbf

Looking forward to finishing this debate as we did Cody, becchio etc

[El Convento 14]

[quote user="bristolcanary"]I just don''t think that you can play with ten men for a half every time Laffs get sent off.[/quote]

Three reds in a 10-year career?

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Here''s where Jermaine Jenas says we should go for our new striker...

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/jermaine-jenas-exclusive--adebayor-could-be-one-of-the-signings-of-the-season-112644061.html

Found it quite interesting really. I think for the sake of 4 months, we''d let him do his thing in the gym as long as he produced the goods. I suspect there are teams in front of us in the queue though and it''s impossible to know how expensive a deal it would be but he''d certainly bag goals.

[yoda 0]

I still think Hooper in a 442 would get goals

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="Budapest Canary"][quote user="Indy_Bones"]Marco Sau for me.[/quote]

The Italian Rocket?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndU1Vs4qXcE

One advantage of Sau would be that with him around Wes would no longer feel like the team''s midget. :)

Interesting player, although it makes you wonder why he was limited to 11 appearances (albeit with a reasonably good goal return) this season in a Serie B side? Can you see him as a lone striker?[/quote]He''s not that limited in apps really, he''s played 50% of all games so far this season, but was out injured for over a month (and then subsequent time to get back to fitness), and without those missing games, he''d probably have played in 17/18 games out of 22 instead of just 11.As for playing as an out and out lone striker (e.g. Crouch, Benteke, Jerome etc) - no, it just doesn''t suit his game and style of play, but what he can offer is a different approach, some genuinely dangerous pace and the possibility of playing in more of a 4-1-2-3 with Brady/Jarvis wide left and Redmond out wide right giving us a very pacey and skillful attacking force at the cost of the physicality that players like Jerome or Mbokani offer.This means that if neither Jerome or Mbokani are on form (or simply aren''t getting anything against a strong defence), then Sau can be used to give us greater options and in particular as a potential super sub monster as his pace can decimate tired players.

[Budapest Canary 152]

Indy,

Must admit, not a player I''ve heard of before, but I get your point about the potential usefulness of such a player. (Btw. I picked his stats from Transfermarkt which suggested no injury for this season.)

Obviously, you must have seen him in action before. On basis of youtube he looks (a younger and less prohibitively priced) Defoe type of player to me. (Am I right at that?)

[Drazen Muzinic 1,445]

A feller I work with is insistent we will be signing Bamford for 10 million and he has some inside knowledge on this - but of course can''t reveal his source.

He is so sure he''s put fifty notes on it @ 8-1.

I am so certain he''s lost that cash that I will join Morty in his grand Hooper/profit/arse-baring gesture if it does happen.

[Samwam27 527]

[quote user="yoda"]I still think Hooper in a 442 would get goals[/quote]

Totally agree with you on that Yoda. People might say he''s lazy, but he''s an old fashioned poacher. And he knows where the back of the net is

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="Budapest Canary"]On basis of youtube he looks (a younger and less prohibitively priced) Defoe type of player to me. (Am I right at that?)[/quote]A more apt desciption would be similar to Michael Owen (in his younger days), as he''s fantastic at sitting on the last defender and then using his pace to make the run at the right time even if his finishing isn''t the greatest.Defoe is a more natural striker of the ball than either of them, but doesn''t possess the same quick feet that they do/did.Hard to explain unless you watch him play (which has been pretty limited this season tbh as coverage for Serie B just isn''t easy to get).

[ZLF 274]

Sau - I dont know the player but a 28yo playing in serie b doesnt fill me with confidence.

There cant be much scope for improvement at that age, esp if pace is his main weapon, if he was any good why isnt he is serie A or another top league, esp with 3 seasons in serie a with calgiari? Suggests he is happy where he is if nothing else

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]Sau - I dont know the player but a 28yo

playing in serie b doesnt fill me with confidence.

There cant be much scope for improvement at that age, esp if pace is

his main weapon, if he was any good why isnt he is serie A or another

top league, esp with 3 seasons in serie a with calgiari? Suggests he

is happy where he is if nothing else[/quote]I''d be telling complete porkies if I said I had any idea why he''s not secured a move to a bigger club as yet ZLF.It

was only a couple of seasons back that he was getting rave reviews at

Cagliari and was apparently slapped with a 12m Euro price tag which Roma

were considering paying for his services, now a couple of years on and

the moves haven''t happened as expected. I know at one point both Everton

and Newcastle were considering a move on the back of a season where he

had the highest shots on target of ANY striker in the top 5 leagues

(71%) whilst maintaining a goal every 2 games!In many ways he

reminds me of Kevin Phillips (not his style of play by the way) in that

despite having excellent scoring stats and consistenly being most of the

clubs he''s played for''s top striker by some margin, he never got a move

to a true powerhouse team (e.g. Man Utd, Liverpool etc) and was never

held in the same regard as other players, who in truth couldn''t compare

to his goalscoring ability.My argument would also be that price

wise, I doubt he''d cost more than 5-6mil (maybe 7-8 at a maximum) which

is less than other suggested options like Gayle (who most fans don''t

rate that much), and at current Premier league prices represents a

relatively average outlay for any semi-decent player. Would it be a

gamble? Absolutely, but I''d rather we took the gamble on a player like

Sau or Haller, than on many of the other names that have been suggested

or linked with (Gayle, Murray, McCormack etc).

[curious yellow 184]

Do you think Haller on loan might be on the cards?

[ZLF 274]

Thanks Indy - I agree it seems like a low value risk and maybe worth a punt without having a huge expectation.