Rogue Baboon 0 Posted August 30, 2016 Not valid? Really?The season is already 5 games old. We have finished 1 game at home without a striker on the pitch, drawing 0-0. We started a game without a striker and lost 3-0.That''s 2 games out of 5 already that have been directly affected by a lack of strikers - a problem that we knew about from before the end of last season. I would say criticism is extremely valid? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 7,455 Posted August 30, 2016 @IanI''m going to take a few points from this and address the separately.''Firstly, the criticism isn''t really that valid until the window actually closes. Secondly, those that have done business have either also lost huge numbers of players and/or have spent ridiculous money (which we don''t have) landing players. ''The criticism is entirely valid before the window shuts because we''re already five games into the season. If we''d have got a striker in earlier then we don''t have to finish the game against Shef Wednesday with Naismith up front or we don''t have start the game against Birmingham with no strikers on the pitch and maybe we get different results. "That said, I may have missed something, but the only strikers I have seen move to clubs in this division, that I feel would really have improved the squad are Gayle, McCormack and Vydra."The thing I think you miss it that we are so short on numbers that it isn''t just about buying better than what we already have. If we had two decent strikers that the manager was happy to put on the pitch then I''d say yes we could have held out. But since May we''ve needed to add someone to compete and cover for Jerome. The folly of not adding another players because they might not be miles better than Jerome was exposed v Birmingham.''To put it another way, would you truly have been happy with spending huge money and smashing our wage cap for McCormack? What about signing a 33 year-old Daryl Murphy for three to four million?''Yes if these are what fits the bill. Both of these players have proven Championship records and would give us options up front. We''ve spent 4 of the last 5 seasons in the Premier League- we should be one of the strongest financially in this league.''Totally agree we don''t have the numbers up-front, and it is a worry, but hardly something we can solve by just rushing out and signing anyone.''Not anyone sure. But you can''t tell me our squad wouldn''t be in a better place if we''d have signed someone like Steven Fletcher, Tom Bradshaw or Marcus Antonsson, all of whom signed for other Championship teams this summer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites