would we be okay (stay up) with what we've got?

[Tetteys Jig 851]

Say deadline day passes and nobody is brought in... does everyone think the current crop could grind out the results needed to stay up? Realistically, 4 wins from 16 games is what we would need and should be within our reach. I do fear that atm, no Holt= no goals (even if not his goals, his contribution to other goals is massive).

Maybe we are thinking of taking the gamble of saving our money and hoping we can stay up which if we then did, would leave us well set in summer.

[Hog 0]

No point in saving money for Summer considering the pot of Gold we will get!

Oh and I think we will struggle if we don''t strengthen but only because many of our rivals are.

[Gingerpele 0]

Yes we can stay up.

And Hog, the pot of gold we get in the summer, we don''t just get a huge amount of money to go and spend on transfers. Income goes up, so does expenditure.

If we don''t sign anyone it''ll be close, we might only just avoid relegation. If we sign one or two class players then we can finish mid table easily.

[York Canary 29]

I firmly believe we can stay up with the boys who''ve got us here so far and also went 10 unbeaten. Holt staying fit is quite key though and hopefully Ruddy comes back at the end with the form he had before injury. We''ll sign a player for sure though. Even if it''s a CMS or a Cameron Jerome to help us along!

[York Canary 29]

Would like Whittaker back too

[William Darby 0]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]Yes we can stay up.

And Hog, the pot of gold we get in the summer, we don''t just get a huge amount of money to go and spend on transfers. Income goes up, so does expenditure.

If we don''t sign anyone it''ll be close, we might only just avoid relegation. If we sign one or two class players then we can finish mid table easily.[/quote]

I thought technically our expenditure will go down, as our main debts will be wiped?

[Paul 0]

[quote user="York Canary"]Would like Whittaker back too[/quote]

Who would he replace, you wouldn''t replace Russell Martin he is the only one scoring goals.

[WesHoolahansDefendant 0]

Personally, I think one of our biggest problems is none of our strikers and in particular, Holt not scoring.

However this is not really a reflection of the strikers themselves, more the poor delivery quality. Last season, many, many of our goals came from headers and shots made from decent crossing. This season, we don''t seem to get very many clear cut opportunities.

Against Newcastle, Benno comes on and instantly we had several good balls go into the box and Holt almost scores.

I also think Holt spends a little too much time out on the wing but yeah.

 

Just a thought......  Tin hat at the ready for you veteran Pinkun''ers

[York Canary 29]

Totally right about delivery and maybe Holt''s placement too. I honestly thought he''d bang in that header against Newcastle that looped to Pilks. He completely out-jumped the defender and set himself nicely, but unfortunately got up at the wrong angle. He''s only just come back though to be fair. Bennett did make a good impact though and plenty of crosses. Pilks and Snoddy et al need to be more bloody consistent!As for Whittaker - I know Russ has been great, but Whittaker was doing very, very well too and just looks more solid at the back to me. Both players are very good for us though and it''s a great dilemma to have

[ZLF 335]

I too was very disappointed with Holts header on sat,  which was a worse miss than Morisons header (not his 1v1) against Villa in the cup.

 

For me everything was in Holts favour - he was central to the goal,  his angle to the ball was perfect to see it and attack,  he had space to attack the ball while the defender had a standing jump and I was expecting a liverpool/anfield type finish.    However he completely mistimed it,  never judged the flight of the properly and ended up underneath it,  a schoolboy error.   To be fair to holt the defender did the best he could to take holt off balance but if he had timed the run properly as with anfield goal - he would have powered through and scored.

 

As far as whittaker is concerned I still struggle to see much between the two - both capable but with limitations but would stick with the current player until performances drop. 

 

 

[ron obvious 1,711]

Re Holt''s effort: I thought it looked odd at the time, because he ended up with his back to goal afterwards. I thought at the time, & still do having seen a replay, that the defender probably jumped into him as Grant went for it.

I can''t imagine any ref. giving a penalty though (particularly at that stage) as it looks like the defender is going for the ball. Only backwards.

Had it have been Manure perhaps ...

[Ivan Easter 0]

I hope we stay up but I would feel a lot more happier with more force up front Holt needs help he will not keep us up on his own, and I am sure Chris Hughton is aware of it, Let see?

[First Wizard 0]

Without new blood we''ll flounder.

[Salopian 1]

Yes, if we can get the players refreshed (-especially Tettey and Pilks), and we have a little bit more flexibility in selection, format and tactics. We would also need to avoid major injuries in the spine of the team.

I hope that we can play better than we did against Newcastle, otherwise we shall have a real struggle to stay up.

[Mervmeister 18]

Huckerby said we need to strengthen upfront and he thinks we will, so if he said it then it must be needed!!

[ZLF 335]

I do think we have enough to survive without more players - hence my concern about getting the right player rather than any striker this jan - but a decent striker now I think would just give us options and make things a little less fraught!

[dpit 1]

1. Yes, ideally we need to strengthen up front

2. But not if we end up paying over the odds for not much (easy to do in this window)

3. Or if we have to blow a huge sum of money (with obvious implications if it doesn''t come off and we get relegated)

So, in conclusion, we may or may not be okay if we stay with what we''ve got but if we do indeed stick with the current line up, it won''t be for want of trying but because our leadership has deemed this the best strategy given the factors referred to above.

[Felixfan 53]

The present squad does not have enough strength in depth to keep us up. We must bring in some quality to get us over the line.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

Absolutely not, a risk too far at such a vital time.

 

Another injury to Holt and we would be in dire straights IMO. The rest of our forwards are not (Jacko,) no longer (Moro,) and not quite (Cane,) upto it IMO.

 

Hughton knows this and something will transpire shortly if he can negotiate the many problems that seem to be inolved in signing players at this level these days. 

[Baldyboy 1]

we will find out in May as I really dont expect any signings coming in!

[Highland Canary 78]

Agreed Broadstairs. If Holt was to be injured our options up front are more limited than we might wish.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

We are very dependant on Holt at the moment (not just for his goals but his overall contribution as Saturday showed very clearly) so if we don''t bring in a striker, we''re gambling on his fitness for the rest of the season.  If he stays fit I think we''ll be ok and more comfortable than most on this thread seem to think.  If he''s unavailable for any long periods, we could struggle.

 

So I think it is very important we bring in a striker.  If we start Jackson or Kane up front on their own again, it will definitely be a concern.

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

Disagree. Holt is not scoring. Our goals are coming from other players and we have enough in the squad to stay up.

If there is one positive from Saturday, it is how abysmal Newcastle were in attack - much worse than us. Toon will struggle to score and can''t see them getting many more points. They''re certainly not going to overtake us.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

[quote user="Rock The Boat"]Disagree. Holt is not scoring. Our goals are coming from other players and we have enough in the squad to stay up. If there is one positive from Saturday, it is how abysmal Newcastle were in attack - much worse than us. Toon will struggle to score and can''t see them getting many more points. They''re certainly not going to overtake us.[/quote]

 

 

Nope.

 

Holt has a few vital goals left in him this season, if fit. He also disrupts defenses making it more possible for the others to score.

 

Newcastle have some important players coming back from injury. They will miss Demba Ba though, but appear to be ready to replace him with a decent signing.

[GMF 1,010]

The season to date can basically be split into three parts:-

Games 1-7 gave us just 3 points out of 21.

Games 8-17 gave us a fansatic 22 points out of 30, got us to 7th in the league and was built on playing 4-2-3-1 (although some suggest it''s 4-4-1-1)

Games 18-22 have given us a measly 1 point out of 15, with Liverpool & Spurs to come

 

CH has continued with the tried and tested 4-2-3-1 and the combinations of injuries and no apparent "Plan B" leaves us in danger of being sucked into a relegation battle.

 

Seems to me that CH is currently using 20-22 players of our 25 man squad, with Martin C, Butterfield and Lappin really not getting a look in. That suggests we don''t have sufficent strenght in depth, as every man should count in this league.

 

Although I do believe that there are at least three teams worse than us, there seems an air of complacency, based on the 10 game unbeaten run, that everything will come good in due course and we''ll survive with ease.

 

I''ve heard it mentioned in some quarters that we shouldn''t buy another striker, simply because that would mean dropping Wes. That''s nonsense. There are always other options and CH mustn''t allow a stubborness, bourne from that unbeaten run, to rule his mind.

 

One simple solution, particualry against the weaker teams, is to go with a 4-1-3-2 option. 

Take your choice on the holding player from Johnson, Tettey and the almost forgotten Fox.

In the three, bring in Elliott Bennett on the right, swap Snoddy out to the left and keep Wes in the middle behind the front two.

In attack, Holty picks himself and, in the absence of Morison, why not Pilkington upfront? 

[......and Smith must score. 1,600]

We''d stay up but it''d be too close for comfort.Need a max of 14 points and can''t see us not getting those from somewhere in 16 games even if there''s no new blood in the meantime.

[lake district canary 4,836]

Of course we have the players to stay up - what they need to do is play with confidence.   Play with confidence and belief - they will stay up.  Its simple. 

The lack of goals isn''t down to the strikers - its down to the delivery from the midfield and wing play.    We simply need Snodgrass Pilkington Bennett and Wes to play at their best.    Play well and we stay up.    Play badly we struggle. 

Its not down to getting new players.  New players are more likely to take time to fit in - could make things worse from a team point of view.   Imo you simply have to trust the players we have.    Let QPR go out and spend loads of money - it hasn''t helped them up to now - and spending money wouldn''t necessarily help us - get  a  player or two in to strengthen the squad, but don''t expect to get a player in who is going to make the difference to us staying up or going down.  

Have faith and recognise that we have the players - they just need to believe in themselves - and it would help if the fans showed that we believed in them - rather than carping on all the time about getting someone else in.   We''re 12th in the league with spirit unbroken - that for most people is encouraging enough.    I''m not against getting new players - I''m more concerned at the level of expectation that some of us seem to have. 

[GMF 1,010]

LDC, it''s now one point from 15, which may well become 1 point out of 21 very shortly. Rewind the clock s few months and the vast majority of fans were unhappy with the start we made with just 3 points out of the first 21. Think what will happen if we lose our next two games?

Being 12th now ultimately counts for nothing, as we''ve only played 22 games. It''s a good base to build upon, but it''s what happens in the next 16 that counts.

[Gordon Bennett 916]

It depends very much on who the other teams down the bottom sign, but I think we would just about stay up. Would be a close run thing though and not good for all of our nerves.

As Steve Gedge mentioned yesterday its not necessarily bringing in somebody hugely better than what we have, a couple of new faces on a par with our best players will freshen up the squad and hopefully give everyone a lift.

[ZLF 335]

[quote user="lake district canary"]
The lack of goals isn''t JUST down to the strikers - its down to the delivery from the midfield and wing play.    We simply need Snodgrass Pilkington Bennett and Wes to play at their best.   [/quote]

 

 

I agree with most of your points and do think we have enough to remain safe,  but I have amended the quote for you LDC.  

 

However when we were winning, with snodgrass pilkington & wes playing to their best, the strikers were still not scoring.   6/7 strikers goals in 22 games is not good enough and we should be looking to get some options ,and competition for Holt,  up front.