Search for a striker or two.

[BroadstairsR 2,272]

I feel that it is generally agreed by all, but I might be wrong, that a new strike force is needed for next season.

This would of necessity mean trying to unload the temperamental and somewhat frustrating Nelson Oliveira, who also often gives the impression of not wanting to be here if his intermittent form and reports of training problems are anything to go by. Things have seemingly not improved with this player since the very first game of the season and we deserve more from him considering our initial outlay and his likely more than decent wage.

The thread on here today evaluating him in the market produced mixed opinions, but sell we must, imo.

Watkins has not settled and many would also like to see him move on, including myself.

Sbreny is not ready, and might never be.

No wonder we are a goal-shy unit, irrespective of chances being created or otherwise. No wonder we have relied upon Madisson and Murphy to boost our goal-scoring tally to the lofty heights it has reached this season.

Time to think of replacements then? Clearly a big money Wolfswinkle or Naismith or even a Jerome are not within our financial means.

There are therefore three options:

1 The youth. May be this is feasible but the general feeling is that none are ready yet. Risky for now.

2. Another from the lower German leagues relying upon Farke and Company''s connections. This approach can, and has been both hit and miss. We are talking vital needs here.

3. Promising players from the lower parts of our football league. More expensive than 1 & 2 no doubt, but we will have some cash.

I have often espoused Barnsley''s Bradshaw as a natural goal-getter and one worth a close look.

Now Barnsley have another in Keiffer Moore, a player they acquired from the hard up binners on the cheap. He is doing so well at Oakwell that the TWTDers are constantly very miffed.

Today there was another, of many, postings on there about the player and it included the following remarks from a Barnsley fan (s):-

“Moore dragged us over the line by the scruff of our neck against Sheffield United today”, “He was strong in the air and battered by their defenders”, “Take a bow son, that lad could be an Oakwell legend by the time he’s done here. That was a second man of the match performance in a week.”

“He wins everything in the air, chases lost causes and provides excellent assists.” The 25-year-old signed permanently for the Tykes from Ipswich in January having had a very successful loan spell at Rotherham in the first half of the season. “He’s my kind of player. He’s going to be a legend here.”

“A proper war horse, that lad”, “That lad is immense and has a great work ethic”, “I like the guy, a cult hero in the making and exactly what we have been missing. He is excellent and very effective, a real threat and works his socks off. Centre-halves know they have been in a right game against him.”

Reminds anybody of someone with the initials GH?

Could be worth a look. Barnsley are hard up and staring relegation from the Championship in the face.

I would hope that our scouts are aware of such players. There will be others, including Bradshaw.

It is never too early.

[king canary 8,644]

Moore is a bit of a cart horse- by all accounts doing well at Barnsley but I don''t think he''d suit or style of play.

[BobLoz3 607]

Pah! Ha! Wish i could find the thread, but I suggested Moore some time ago as worth a look and got absolutely laughed at by people on here...Unfortunately, probably the same people who were booing at Carra on Saturday. In other words... Idiots! [;)]

[BroadstairsR 2,272]

May be so KC, but our style of play doesn''t produce many goals for the most part..

Perhaps it needs a tweak or two. Somebody really, really putting themselves about up front might just be our panacea of all ills by unsettling these comfortable defences we always seem to come up against and creating openings for others.

I get the impression that there is more to this player than being tagged with the ''carthorse'' label.

[king canary 8,644]

I agree we need a striker to be a bit more physical and to keep defences guessing more than our current lot.

However Moore is the kind of player who thrives on crosses and long balls- industrial football. He wins headers and flick ons but isn''t great with the ball at his feet. Playing to suit his strengths wouldn''t be ''a tweak or two'' it would be pretty much starting from scratch.

[norfolkngood 1,172]

I would get rid of Nelson and buy 2 one pacey and one a hard old tall seasoned pro good in the air for when we are chasing games i know that''s not what Farke does long ball but if we are to be successful we might sometimes need to be

Also i think more important than any striker we buy we need to adjust our tactics to find a way of creating more chances for our strikers

strikers need to be getting more chances a in games not many strikers have a 100% chance to goal ratio but our strikers only get a couple of chances a game and expected to score

[iron_stan 0]

go and get nahki wells from burnley. cant get a game there

going to need more than just a striker or two, when maddison goes theres not going to be much creativity left, im not convinced murphy, klose and oliveira will be here much longer either.

[KeiranShikari_2 0]

If Wells was available for a transfer in the summer I imagine there would be a host of Championship clubs willing to pay more than us. You''re probably right about Nelson and Klose, don''t think Muprhy has been consistent enough this season to get a Premier League move. Have a feeling Ivo Pinto might be sold and we''ll probably be needing a new keeper too.Another busy summer.

[Jim Smith 2,540]

We need a quicker striker who can make runs in behind. Ironically Grabban is the type of striker we’ve really missed since we sold him as he would suit our style of play well.

[Mike 68]

As well as a striker or three we will need to find a solution to the disappearance of someone involved in 49% of Norwich''s goals this season.

James Maddison has been directly involved, 14 goals & 8 assists. Without an answer to that (ie do not sell him) then we will be in massive trouble.

[Andy G 15]

At the risk of getting slated, I don''t think losing James Maddison will be the end of the world.

I have watched him with amazement this season and feel privileged to have such a gifted player in the team. I''ve not had the same excitement of "what is he going to do today" for a long time.

That being said I think the other players know of his quality too so will sometimes link to him and rely on him to do something rather than take a ball on themselves or look for a different pass.

It will be a big loss if/when he goes, and his contribution this season has been immeasurable; however i think it wouldn''t be the end of the world, the remaining players may then start playing differently and create more chances for others.

I concur we definitely need the attacking force to pick up or create those chances though! If NO goes and we''re able to get a younger player who is hungrier then thats a good sign

[Grumpy 145]

I think you have a good point Andy. I am hoping that in the event that we keep Leitner, along with McClean and Trybull we have three players that might make a big impact next season.

[BobLoz3 607]

[quote user="Andy G"]At the risk of getting slated, I don''t think losing James Maddison will be the end of the world.

I have watched him with amazement this season and feel privileged to have such a gifted player in the team. I''ve not had the same excitement of "what is he going to do today" for a long time.

That being said I think the other players know of his quality too so will sometimes link to him and rely on him to do something rather than take a ball on themselves or look for a different pass.

It will be a big loss if/when he goes, and his contribution this season has been immeasurable; however i think it wouldn''t be the end of the world, the remaining players may then start playing differently and create more chances for others.

I concur we definitely need the attacking force to pick up or create those chances though! If NO goes and we''re able to get a younger player who is hungrier then thats a good sign[/quote]This is certainly a good point and I agree with a lot of what you''re saying.The only thing I would say is that those three players you mention in Leitner, Trybull and McLean aren''t what I''d call ''all round'' midfielders. Where are the goals coming from with those three? I am not sure Mclean will replicate the same goal scoring form he''s shown in Scotland here in the Championship.Maddison can do it all- set pieces, mazy dribbles, tackle, accurate passes and score goals from his position. Which is why I am struggling to see who we could get in to perform a similar role. Bradley Dack at Blackburn is definitely worth a punt to fulfil this role though, in my opinion. Similar stats to Madders, albeit in a lower league.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="BobLoz3"][quote user="Andy G"]At the risk of getting slated, I don''t think losing James Maddison will be the end of the world.

I have watched him with amazement this season and feel privileged to have such a gifted player in the team. I''ve not had the same excitement of "what is he going to do today" for a long time.

That being said I think the other players know of his quality too so will sometimes link to him and rely on him to do something rather than take a ball on themselves or look for a different pass.

It will be a big loss if/when he goes, and his contribution this season has been immeasurable; however i think it wouldn''t be the end of the world, the remaining players may then start playing differently and create more chances for others.

I concur we definitely need the attacking force to pick up or create those chances though! If NO goes and we''re able to get a younger player who is hungrier then thats a good sign[/quote]This is certainly a good point and I agree with a lot of what you''re saying.The only thing I would say is that those three players you mention in Leitner, Trybull and McLean aren''t what I''d call ''all round'' midfielders. Where are the goals coming from with those three? I am not sure Mclean will replicate the same goal scoring form he''s shown in Scotland here in the Championship.Maddison can do it all- set pieces, mazy dribbles, tackle, accurate passes and score goals from his position. Which is why I am struggling to see who we could get in to perform a similar role. Bradley Dack at Blackburn is definitely worth a punt to fulfil this role though, in my opinion. Similar stats to Madders, albeit in a lower league.[/quote]

Bradley Dack is a decent player who should excel in the championship. But we’ve missed the boat on that one as I can’t see Blackburn failing to go up.

The number 10/creative midfielder position is one we’ve been spoilt with over the years and probably over stocked in, this summer we’ll be without one.

[sonyc 6,143]

Having watched him many times i would like us to sign Nakhi Wells. A different type of striker with an instinct of simply knowing where the net is. Underused at Hudds and now Burnley. Guess that may give a message but he would add something to our attacking options. He is 5ft 8 so not the big front man but he has the knack of appearing and being in the right place.

Other than Wells, i would go for Dack.

Obviously the above won''t be cheap (2/3/4m unless prices continue sharply upwards?) but they are realistic choices.

[lincoln canary (& Golden Coppel) 0]

[quote user="sonyc"]Having watched him many times i would like us to sign Nakhi Wells. A different type of striker with an instinct of simply knowing where the net is. Underused at Hudds and now Burnley. Guess that may give a message but he would add something to our attacking options. He is 5ft 8 so not the big front man but he has the knack of appearing and being in the right place.

Other than Wells, i would go for Dack.

Obviously the above won''t be cheap (2/3/4m unless prices continue sharply upwards?) but they are realistic choices.[/quote]

Do you honestly think we could get either?

Personally I think Wells is a little overrated. In and out of the Huddersfield side in the championship.

[cornish sam 1,031]

Thank you Andy for someone finally saying this. If/when madders goes its not like we would only have 10 players on the pitch!

Also, Bob, we don''t necessarily need one player who can do everything that madders does, in some ways it might be better if we don''t as then we won''t seem so reliant on one man. Leitner and vrancic can pick the pass to unlock a defence, McLean can rake a mean free kick and trybull gets involved in everything. Between what we are left with there should be enough to pick up most of the pieces...

[BobLoz3 607]

[quote user="cornish sam"]Thank you Andy for someone finally saying this. If/when madders goes its not like we would only have 10 players on the pitch!

Also, Bob, we don''t necessarily need one player who can do everything that madders does, in some ways it might be better if we don''t as then we won''t seem so reliant on one man. Leitner and vrancic can pick the pass to unlock a defence, McLean can rake a mean free kick and trybull gets involved in everything. Between what we are left with there should be enough to pick up most of the pieces...[/quote]Sure, I understand that fully. All I''m saying is that Maddison is our top goal scorer this season (from midfield) and also (probably, I think) top when it comes to assists too. If we don''t sign a proven performer/goal scorer we may see us struggling to score... Again.While I love some of the signings we''ve made from overseas, it is more difficult to get them up to speed with the English game. Therefore it may well take them longer to settle. We need to hit the ground running next season and we need a proven performer up top to achieve that imo. With that, we''re back to the original point of this post!

[Woodman 92]

Christoffer Nyman is a name being touted... Swedish international, plays for the same club we bought Hernandez from. Anyone know more than that about him?

[writeronthestorm 4]

Could Idah make the step up? good enough = old enough

[BobLoz3 607]

[quote user="writeronthestorm"]Could Idah make the step up? good enough = old enough[/quote]I''d certainly like to see him get some appearances for us next season, but I''m also wondering why he wasn''t brought in this season after clearly impressing at youth level. He also has some high profile admirers, if rumours are to be believed.I am not sure we''ll see much of him just yet, however. He may well get moved on, although it would seem a bit silly to do so.