TheGunnShow 5,987 Posted June 20, 2023 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said: I think the real point is that we go into this season taking a massive gamble if our strikers remain as they currently are. Barnes has never been a prolific scorer, Sarge is the only serious contender to make it - but has a poor first touch and seems to blow hot and cold. And idah is no longer that young and has failed to convince. Now step back and - without prejudice- compare that to likely stroke force of other top half championship hopefuls. Not looking pretty is it? Go ask a neutral if you doubt me. Most teams losing their talismanic main 20 goal a season striker would spend big to replace. We seem to have gone for the bargain bucket ageing free signing that is Ashley Barnes. He will undoubtedly be a good mentor to idah and Sarge but if they are our main options- barring a miracle- I think we can safely expect mid table at best. Or worse if sarge gets injured Barnes is never a prolific scorer, but his touch and link-up play gets other attackers into the game. Burnley's top scorer, Nathan Tella, got 17 which is only four more than our Josh Sargent (who spent half the season shoved onto a wing to accommodate Pukki). Not to mention, Burnley clocked up 87 goals. Looking just at goals when evaluating strikers reminds me of the quip "statistics are like miniskirts; what they show is revealing, what they hide is vital!" EDIT: Even better. Found Burnley's scoring chart for last season. A Barnes-style striker may help us spread goals around and make threats out of others. Particularly the wingers. Edited June 20, 2023 by TheGunnShow Found Burnley's goal scorers. Added for context. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Pants 4,274 Posted June 20, 2023 37 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said: I think the real point is that we go into this season taking a massive gamble if our strikers remain as they currently are. Barnes has never been a prolific scorer, Sarge is the only serious contender to make it - but has a poor first touch and seems to blow hot and cold. And idah is no longer that young and has failed to convince. Now step back and - without prejudice- compare that to likely stroke force of other top half championship hopefuls. Not looking pretty is it? Go ask a neutral if you doubt me. Most teams losing their talismanic main 20 goal a season striker would spend big to replace. We seem to have gone for the bargain bucket ageing free signing that is Ashley Barnes. He will undoubtedly be a good mentor to idah and Sarge but if they are our main options- barring a miracle- I think we can safely expect mid table at best. Or worse if sarge gets injured We're going into the season hoping 3 strikers will each score 10 or 15 rather than 1 banging in 30, and saving ourselves £20m on that elusive goal getter. A lot will depend on our style of play. Arguably Sargent, Idah and Barnes are broadly similar so a generic style should be possible. The opposite really to Pukki who thrived on through balls. Our creative players are equally if not more important and will need to score goals themselves as well as create chances. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
keelansgrandad 6,679 Posted June 20, 2023 I am still unsure about him but delighted that one of ours has scored in International Football. Congratulations to him. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nuff Said 5,167 Posted June 20, 2023 4 hours ago, Herman said: It is possible to support one of our players. Hammering them all the time is not very productive. Haters gonna hate (or is it haterz?). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norfolkngood 1,087 Posted June 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Capt. Pants said: We're going into the season hoping 3 strikers will each score 10 or 15 rather than 1 banging in 30, and saving ourselves £20m on that elusive goal getter. A lot will depend on our style of play. Arguably Sargent, Idah and Barnes are broadly similar so a generic style should be possible. The opposite really to Pukki who thrived on through balls. Our creative players are equally if not more important and will need to score goals themselves as well as create chances. A lot of Unknown this / next season Will Sarge continue to score goals now played through centre ? he did it before christmas but has not done it before in his career before last season can he repeat it ? Idah never really had a chance in my eyes out of position or late sub with starts could he get goals ? Barnes link up play but not really a goal scorer will he create enough ? Could go either way , wide men and midfield have to score more for sure , i am still unsure if enough goals in front line Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hogesar 9,724 Posted June 20, 2023 3 hours ago, Capt. Pants said: Yeah, but they've added caveat 'hope I'm proven wrong' and even an 'OTBC' for good measure. Makes them feel better. Haha, most accurate post of the day! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chichcan 148 Posted June 20, 2023 Shouldn't we wait a bit before complaining that we're replacing Pukki on the cheap etc etc The transfer window's only been open 5 minutes. I'm sure the squad will look very different in 2 months time, even the forward line Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,598 Posted June 20, 2023 How do you replace a free transfer on the cheap? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kenny Foggo 1,116 Posted June 20, 2023 I'd love Idah to come good.... glad he scored last night Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terminally Yellow 2,477 Posted June 20, 2023 19 minutes ago, nutty nigel said: How do you replace a free transfer on the cheap? He needs to pay us Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Derby Canary 3 Posted June 20, 2023 Shock of recent years from our incompetent management. To give this guy a 5 year contract beggars belief! He has done absolutely nothing to justify that sort of commitment. Time and again he has had the opportunity to make his mark and on every occasion he has failed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terminally Yellow 2,477 Posted June 20, 2023 12 minutes ago, Derby Canary said: Shock of recent years from our incompetent management. To give this guy a 5 year contract beggars belief! He has done absolutely nothing to justify that sort of commitment. Time and again he has had the opportunity to make his mark and on every occasion he has failed. Statements like this always make me laugh. "Time and again he has had the opportunity to make his mark". Has he? According to whoscored, he's played 1998 league minutes for Norwich - the equivalent of 22 matches - over the last three league seasons. Of those 1998 league minutes, he's played 887 of them as a striker. The equivalent of just under 10 matches. So his entire Norwich league career in his favoured role as a striker has come down to ten matches. Ten matches worth during which a fair portion of Norwich City's fanbase has decided he's not worth another chance. For me, he should be loaned out and given the chance to play away from the scrutiny of the scapegoating fans of this football club like Derby Canary and given the chance to build confidence and enjoy his football again. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Samwam27 532 Posted June 20, 2023 8 hours ago, Capt. Pants said: We're going into the season hoping 3 strikers will each score 10 or 15 rather than 1 banging in 30, and saving ourselves £20m on that elusive goal getter. A lot will depend on our style of play. Arguably Sargent, Idah and Barnes are broadly similar so a generic style should be possible. The opposite really to Pukki who thrived on through balls. Our creative players are equally if not more important and will need to score goals themselves as well as create chances. Do we actually know this for a fact? By this I mean has Wagner at any point said Sarg, Idah & Barnes will be our main strikers this coming season. I don't recall he has, & until we get some outgoings and sales we don't know what additional funding we'll have. I'm assuming we're waiting for the sales to fund a CDM, which I expect we'll have to fork out for, but we could still yet go for a striker and put Idah out on loan, now he's got that 5 year contract, so Wagner might feel he'll benefit from a season elsewhere, than play catchup here again. Part of me wonders that by giving Idah a long, 5 year contract, at a young age, that gives him plenty of time to develop, and takes some pressure off. But it might also present an ideal opportunity to put him out on loan with part of any loan deal being to get him playing and starting somewhere every week to see how he develops. If he doesn't we can still offload him (or keep going with him) cuz he's on a long contract, but if he comes good, again we have protection of the long contract, but he could then be ready to push for a starting spot. I'm still convinced he'll only play a bit part role here next season if Sarg & Barnes stay fit A lot of unknowns for the coming season??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hardhouse44 261 Posted June 20, 2023 Scored against a good pub team. population of Gibraltar less than half that of Lowestoft! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mason 47 1,394 Posted June 20, 2023 10 minutes ago, Samwam27 said: Do we actually know this for a fact? By this I mean has Wagner at any point said Sarg, Idah & Barnes will be our main strikers this coming season. Not in so many words but I think in reference to Hugills departure Wagner said he only plans for one striker position so having more than 3 competing wouldn't make sense. Personally speaking I don't think striking is anywhere near our top concerns this summer. Finding a decent supply line and avoiding conceding Coco the Clown goals much more important Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conrad 178 Posted June 20, 2023 10 minutes ago, Mason 47 said: Not in so many words but I think in reference to Hugills departure Wagner said he only plans for one striker position so having more than 3 competing wouldn't make sense. Personally speaking I don't think striking is anywhere near our top concerns this summer. Finding a decent supply line and avoiding conceding Coco the Clown goals much more important But if Idah went out on loan, as most on here appear to favour, then we would need another striker. Preferably one that would be signed to start. Totally agree with your other points. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
