List of Suitable Currently Available Strikers

[Renskay 38]

Quite a few are calling out for an extra striker being added to the squad so I thought I would make a list of the ones currently available that would be suitable additions

Michael Owen

32

English

James McFadden

29

Scottish

Ivan Klasnic

32

Croatian

Florent Sinama-Pongolle

27

French

Ireneusz Jelen

31

Polish

John Carew

32

Norwegian

David Suazo

32

Honduran/Italian

Francesco Ruopolo

29

Italian

Gökhan Ünal

30

Turkish

Gergely Rudolf

27

Hungarian

Eidur Gudjohnsen

33

Icelandic

Ebi Smolarek

31

Polish/Dutch

and of course

Emile Heskey

34

English

Not the greatest selection but some decent options there

[AJ 1,358]

Sadly most of those are too similar to Holt/Morison, or would be after monster wages in the twilight of their careers. None of them would be better than for a single season signing, and I''d prefer a more permanent and integral player.

Harry Kane may well be that player, lets give him a chance before we write him off, ''eh? ;)

[Renskay 38]

I also found Anthony Vanden Borre is a free agent who if you remember caused that mix up which lead to Chris Kamara getting a bit confused live on air,

Also he was described by Vincent Kompany as being able to become the best player from the history of the Belgium football

[Making Plans 957]

I think Brendan Rodgers needs this more than we do

[Renskay 38]

I think Suazo would be decent and his monstrous pace would be a great asset upfront

[ROBFLECK 134]

Don''t need any of them, let''s give Kane a chance first.

[Renskay 38]

I''ve heard from my Turkish mates Unal is decent aswell

[lake district canary 0]

List of Suitable Currently Available Strikers??

 

 

?

 

 

Ok, I''ll do it, before anyone else does

 

 

Holt

Jackson

Morison

Kane

Martin

 

 

Would like to see how these 5 develop now.    Can wait till January for a new striker (if we need one).

 

 

[Renskay 38]

I think Kane is alright for now TBH

[Indy_Bones 444]

There''s only 2 players listed there that I''d even consider - Owen and Vanden Borre.I think Owen would be ideal for us at the minute as long as we negotiated a sensible deal around fair wages but with strong bonuses/incentives based on appearances and goals.Vanden Borre is a player we don''t need with our current midfield options, but still has the potential there even with his chequered history. One of those players who got thrown into the big time too soon and became a victim of their own press, he''s spent half his career being played in different positions when arguably his best in in central/defensive midfield. If he was asking limited wages then he''d be worth a gamble - if we had the space in the squad, which at the minute - we don''t...

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

The elephant in the room is that at the end of the transfer window Norwich had 26 players over 21 - I haven''t seen the 25 man squad lists yet but unless two senior players have been left out Norwich can''t add anyone.

[William Darby 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]The elephant in the room is that at the end of the transfer window Norwich had 26 players over 21 - I haven''t seen the 25 man squad lists yet but unless two senior players have been left out Norwich can''t add anyone.[/quote]The loan arranger visits next week.

[flying high up in the sky! 1]

We have 5 stikers already why would we get 1 more! Waste of time talking about it as the squad would b too big.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="Rob"]  Ebi Smolarek 31 Polish/Dutch [/quote]

 

Ebi! No way - shame to see him without a club. Was a top player but that was 5 or 6 years ago.

 

Seem to remember he was on loan at Bolton a few years back, but can''t remember too many detail so guess it wasn''t the most successful spell ever. Wouldn''t improve on our current squad, but hopefully he can find a team soon.

[Indy_Bones 444]

[quote user="flying high up in the sky"]We have 5 stikers already why would we get 1 more![/quote]To improve the quality in our front line.[quote]Waste of time talking about it as the squad would b too big.[/quote]Not if we loaned out one or two players who were surplus to requirements.I''d rather have someone like Owen or similar come in to bolster our strike force than I would have Lappin sat there as 3rd choice LB and 4th choice LM...

[Officer Tillys small Willies (Nigel,lappy) 0]

[quote user="AJ"]Sadly most of those are too similar to Holt/Morison, or would be after monster wages in the twilight of their careers. None of them would be better than for a single season signing, and I''d prefer a more permanent and integral player.

Harry Kane may well be that player, lets give him a chance before we write him off, ''eh? ;)[/quote]

Florent Sinama-Pongolle used to be half decent but ive not heard anything about him for ages Carew not to bad and eider gujohnson could find the net with relative ease in his day also i wouldnt say no to Ivan Klasnic but hes not that different to what we can already bring to the party

[Militant Canary 0]

Look. What people on this forum really seem to want is goals- enough abuse is hurled at our strikers who apparently don''t score enough, completely ignoring everything else they do.

Based on the goals criteria, only Klasnic and Jelen fit the bill. But it could be said that both are far too similar to what we already have.

Slightly off topic, can people please stop suggesting Owen is a good idea. He isn''t. Getting him in would be an uncompromisingly bad idea. Besides the fact that he is on monumental wages, contributes very little to anything on or off the pitch anymore and is more interested in picking up a pay slip and his horses than playing football, the fact is he just ain''t got it no more.

He was great. He is rightfully an England legend and he''s done it at Liverpool and Real Madrid. But let it go.

[Indy_Bones 444]

[quote user="Militant Canary"]Slightly off topic, can people please stop suggesting Owen is a good idea.[/quote]No.The whole point of the forum is to take views from all fans, and whilst you don''t see it as a good option, others like myself do.I don''t think Heskey would be a good option whereas others do, but at least I''ve tried to back my view up with reasoned debate instead of simply telling people to shut up (in so many words).We have no idea what wage he was on at Man Utd, nor more importantly what wage he''d be willing to accept at this point, so simply assuming we can''t afford his wages gets us nowhere.Also, just because he''s got a passion for horse racing, it doesn''t mean that he doesn''t give a damn about football anymore. Alex Ferguson is also a big fan of the sport, yet I don''t see people claiming that it''s all he''s bothered about, nor that it would be a problem or a reason not to employ him if he left Man Utd and was looking for another club (which he wouldn''t IMHO).Man Utd could have offloaded Owen for free last season (as he signed a 2 year deal back in the summer of 2009), but they gave him another year instead - surely if we wasn''t good enough, they wouldn''t have wasted the time and money giving him an extension to his contract? At the time of giving him the new 1 year deal, Ferguson himself stated:[quote]Michael has proved to be a top footballer. It is unfortunate that he did

not get more opportunities but the form of Chicharito put

everyone in the shade and his partnership with Rooney proved invaluable[/quote]My opinion on Owen is that he is still good enough for this level - just not for one of the ''big'' sides. His game has changed somewhat and there''s always injury concerns to consider and that''s not something a larger club needs to gamble on as they can afford to pay for a safer option, but for the smaller teams, he''s a potentially great signing and it''s probably the last one he''s going to make so he''ll want to sign off with a bang, so for a year or so he''s worth the gamble - IF, we can afford him.

[York Canary 29]

David Suazo pleaseWould take Vanden Borre too as he can play all across the back and midfield. Both be great competition, but probably wont get either and tbh we seem quite competitive as it is

[York Canary 29]

[quote user="York Canary"]David Suazo pleaseWould take Vanden Borre too as he can play all across the back and midfield. Both be great competition, but probably wont get either and tbh we seem quite competitive as it is[/quote]Just realised he''s 32 so probably a no to Suazo actually. Let''s see what Kane has!

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="Militant Canary"]Look. What people on this forum really seem to want is goals- enough abuse is hurled at our strikers who apparently don''t score enough, completely ignoring everything else they do. Based on the goals criteria, only Klasnic and Jelen fit the bill. But it could be said that both are far too similar to what we already have. Slightly off topic, can people please stop suggesting Owen is a good idea. He isn''t. Getting him in would be an uncompromisingly bad idea. Besides the fact that he is on monumental wages, contributes very little to anything on or off the pitch anymore and is more interested in picking up a pay slip and his horses than playing football, the fact is he just ain''t got it no more. He was great. He is rightfully an England legend and he''s done it at Liverpool and Real Madrid. But let it go.[/quote]

 

I don''t entirely agree - everytime I have seen Owen play over the last couple of seasons he has always looked sharp and scored goals at a decent rate. His movement off the ball is still superb and he has changed his game to deal with losing his pace well. If he didn''t care about football anymore he would have retired already as he doesn''t need the cash and frankly the embarrassment he is putting himself through. Ferguson always praised his dedication in training and eagerness to contiune to learn even at the end of his career.

 

The only things counting against Owen are his injury record (he will be injured for part of the season, without doubt) and if he would want to go for a more apperanced based salary. If Norwich expect Owen to commit to the club and risk further damage to his body, as well as relocating away from his family, then he has every right to expect Norwich to pay him accordingly.

 

In my opinion if Norwich could sign Owen, and get him on the pitch for 15 games, he would probably score between 5 - 7 goals. If we had him for the QPR game, I reckon one of those chances would have fallen at his feet and we would have won the game.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="Militant Canary"]Slightly off topic, can people please stop suggesting Owen is a good idea.[/quote]
No.

The whole point of the forum is to take views from all fans, and whilst you don''t see it as a good option, others like myself do.

I don''t think Heskey would be a good option whereas others do, but at least I''ve tried to back my view up with reasoned debate instead of simply telling people to shut up (in so many words).

We have no idea what wage he was on at Man Utd, nor more importantly what wage he''d be willing to accept at this point, so simply assuming we can''t afford his wages gets us nowhere.

Also, just because he''s got a passion for horse racing, it doesn''t mean that he doesn''t give a damn about football anymore. Alex Ferguson is also a big fan of the sport, yet I don''t see people claiming that it''s all he''s bothered about, nor that it would be a problem or a reason not to employ him if he left Man Utd and was looking for another club (which he wouldn''t IMHO).

Man Utd could have offloaded Owen for free last season (as he signed a 2 year deal back in the summer of 2009), but they gave him another year instead - surely if we wasn''t good enough, they wouldn''t have wasted the time and money giving him an extension to his contract? At the time of giving him the new 1 year deal, Ferguson himself stated:

[quote]Michael has proved to be a top footballer. It is unfortunate that he did not get more opportunities but the form of Chicharito put everyone in the shade and his partnership with Rooney proved invaluable[/quote]
My opinion on Owen is that he is still good enough for this level - just not for one of the ''big'' sides. His game has changed somewhat and there''s always injury concerns to consider and that''s not something a larger club needs to gamble on as they can afford to pay for a safer option, but for the smaller teams, he''s a potentially great signing and it''s probably the last one he''s going to make so he''ll want to sign off with a bang, so for a year or so he''s worth the gamble - IF, we can afford him.
[/quote]

 

In the last 3 seasons Owen has scored 5 goals. 2 less than Heskey. Just sayin.....

 

 

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

In the last 3 seasons Owen has scored 5 goals. 2 less than Heskey. Just sayin.....

[/quote]

17 goals actually - including things like League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League

[Militant Canary 0]

Hmm.

Interesting. I certainly place a lot of stock in Bethnals opinion, as I''m sure many do.

Perhaps I was mistaken in my opinion of Owen. I was certainly mistaken to be so damning and uncompromising- it is not in my habit to go to extremes and even less to jump to conclusions without considering all the facts available.

In the very unlikely event that Owen wears the yellow and green, I shall of course give him my full backing. I do have many doubts about him, however, and consider it an uncharacteristically bad idea on Hughton''s part should it happen.

[Indy_Bones 444]

Fair play MC :)To clarify the comparison further, Heskey has made 105 apps over the last 3 seasons (in all comps) and scored 12 goals, giving a goal to game ratio of 8.75.Owen has made 52 apps over the last 3 years (again all comps) and scored 17 goals, giving a goal to game ratio of 3.06.So Owen would score approx 3 times as many goals as Heskey would given the same amount of games, so with the 105 apps Heskey had, Owen would theoretically have scored 34 to Heskey''s 12...Owen would undoubtedly be a risk, both with high wages and injury concerns, but as BYG and I have pointed out, he has adapted his game and could simply have retired if the desire wasn''t there anymore, so he represents an educated gamble as against a complete risk, and given our relatively limited strike force, one worth taking IMHO.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Well of course we can all manipulate the stats to back up our particular point of view. I would suggest that 52 apps over 3 years doesn''t show much desire or fitness to play. How many of those 52 were starts?

 

105 appearances shows a commitment to play and proves fitness to play. How many of those were starts?

 

And this belief that Owen would convert the chances we make is taking a lot for granted too. Who''s he going to replace? Jackson? So who''s going to do Jackson''s running? And if we play a passenger hoping he converts a couple of chances we''d be restricting our opportunities of creating those chances. Or is Owen fit enough to put in a shift for the team?

 

 

 

 

[Gingerpele 0]

I wouldn''t be shocked to see Martin go out on loan and us sign a free agent striker. But at the same time I don''t really expect that too happen. Martin, despite some peoples opinion of him on here, is a good Championship player, Palace''s top scorer last year and he missed 1/3 of the season (maybe nearer half), very involved with us the season before (despite not many goals). It couldn''t have been that difficult to sell him or send him out on loan for the season.

[Indy_Bones 444]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Well of course we can all manipulate the stats to back up our particular point of view.[/quote]I haven''t ''manipulated'' any of the stats, I''ve simply posted what each players stats were as a comparison.[quote]I would suggest that 52 apps over 3 years doesn''t show much desire or fitness to play. How many of those 52 were starts?[/quote]WTF has desire got to do with it???If you''re in a team that has Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez and Welbeck as competition, then it''s always going to be tough to guarantee starts, as it''s likely to be Rooney and one other, whereas if your only competition is the likes of Agbonlahor, Carew and Delfouneso (to play alongside Bent), then it''s a far easier job for Heskey to get games than Owen. That being said, Owen''s fitness has been an issue at times which has lead to him being unavailable when Ferguson may have chosen to use him if fit, truthfully we don''t know how many games he would have been selected for so he could have played more or basically the same amount of matches.[quote]105 appearances shows a commitment to play and proves fitness to play. How many of those were starts?[/quote]As already discussed to some degree above, this shows less quality competition for a place which combined with Owen''s fitness has limited his opportunities compared to Heskey.[quote]And this belief that Owen would convert the chances we make is taking a lot for granted too. Who''s he going to replace? Jackson? So who''s going to do Jackson''s running? And if we play a passenger hoping he converts a couple of chances we''d be restricting our opportunities of creating those chances. Or is Owen fit enough to put in a shift for the team?[/quote]Since when has Owen ever been known for being a poor finisher or wasteful infront of goal???He doesn''t have the pace he used to, but I''d argue that he uses what he does have a lot more effectively than someone like Jackson (who''s all running and little end product), and I''m pretty damn sure that if you had to wager which one of the two was more likely to convert chances, you wouldn''t get many choosing Jackson.When Chris Martin was playing alongside Holt (all the way from L1 up to the prem) we weren''t asking "Who''s doing the running?", because there''s more than one way to deal with a defence, be it through pace, passing, strength or guile, and Jackson just represents one potential method we could use, whereas players like Owen and Martin represent different options.I''m also fairly certain that Ferguson doesn''t carry ''passengers'', so he must have seen enough of Owen''s play to give him both the initial 2 year deal, and subsequently the 1 year extension, or has Fergie lost the plot and wasted time and money on a ''passenger'' for the last few years???

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

How many of those 52 were starts?

 

105 appearances shows a commitment to play and proves fitness to play. How many of those were starts?

 

[/quote]

 

Or wouldn.t we be expecting Owen to start?

 

It''s a pretty pointless argument in truth because nobody has a scooby about the fitness of either player. But what I do know is that if we were to entertain either of them they would have to have desire to play and fitness to start. Otherwise the affect on the rest of the squad could be catastrophic.

 

I can remember the reaction when we signed Dublin in similar circumstances. I can also remember the reaction when we signed Channon after he''d supposedly failed at Bristol Rovers when 34 years old. In both cases the reaction is mirrored in your posts. In both cases the reaction was wrong. Both players had an overiding desire to extend their careers. I have my doubts that desire is there in the case of Owen.

 

 

[Bing Bang 0]

we''re not getting another striker in........... Get over it!!