Strikers, Strikers and more strikers

[barclay_boy111 0]

It was pretty obvious to every one that lack of goals was a large portion of what got us relegated but is the problem really going to get solved by just throwing more attackers in the squad?

With yet another striker on the rumor mill list i can''t help but feel that the money could be going towards strengthening other key areas as one could argue if we hadn''t had such a leaky defence last season we may have stood a chance at staying up or if we had provided better survive for our miss firing strickers we may well have scored more goals.

You need goals coming from all areas of the pitch not just your strikers and I feel by just throwing money at one position to try and score per goals is a little short sighted and could well end up in trouble once again.

[mrs miggins 0]

still early days

[barclay_boy111 0]

Fingers crossed that is the case and we will be concentrating on other areas sooner rather than later my only issue with being that pre season starts soon so you would want them to be integrated as soon as possible

[Lappinitup 0]

This guy from coventry is also a right winger. Possibly a replacement for snoddy and not a striker?

[Norfolk Mustard 94]

Should we stockpile strikers, expect to see one or two of Becchio, RVW or Hooper to be released for decent-sized fees. That money is likely to be swiftly re-cycled to bring in players for other positions.

[Felixfan 53]

You can never have two many strikers and nobody will go unless we want them to.

[Paul101 93]

talked to a Coventry friend

and he can play on both wings and they really don''t want him to go star of the show he called him

so a lot more than just a striker

[GJP 79]

Massive improvement to the forward line would have been the priority for me and I''m glad we''ve already made some signings there.

 

I''m not saying we don''t need a couple of players elsewhere and just because we''ve signed strikers first doesn''t necessarily mean they are the main/priority signings in NA''s eyes.

 

I understand people may feel that the strikers were victims of a lack of decent service last season (and there is some truth in that) but really good forwards are always a threat, they always have a bit of presence about them. Hooper, RVW and Elmander were just all too easy to defend against. Even if they were isolated or starved of service it was generally very comfortable for the defenders they were up against.

 

Initially RVW worked quite hard running off the ball, Hooper sometimes got stuck in if the ball came near him and Elmander showed a few touches you''d expect from a player of his experience. But if you were to compare them to Holt, that''s where the big difference was. We all know Holt wasn''t the greatest or tidiest player you''d ever seen but even if he was having a poor game he always had that "presence" to worry defenders. They couldn''t relax around him.

 

We need to liven things up a bit and I think we''ve made signings that will do just that.

[Joanna Grey 0]

I''m guessing that Adams is going to play 4-3-3 most of the time with Lafferty flanked by Grabban and Wilson (if we get him). If that is the case then Adams will be desperate to keep hold of our central midfielders more than any others as their class will show in this division.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

I think it''s absolutely right that although on paper RVW and Elmander, and agruably Hooper, were better than Holt, in reality he contributed much more to the team (especially given the way Hughton set us up to play) than any of them.  And as you say RVW made a real effort when he started, to little avail, but by the second half of the season he was just too easy for Prem CBs to defend against.

 

As well as Holt''s direct contribution, he''d also get a lot of free kicks in the danger zone, no matter what sort of game he was having.  Not sure if there are stats for free kicks awarded to us around the penalty box but I''d bet that last season was way down on the season before.  Certainly the number of goals we scored from set pieces was down, for the same reason IMO.

 

I am hoping that Adams is picking strikers who will fit in with the way he plans to play.  I will resent, for the rest of my life, the fact that Hughton has spent the two largest fees on strikers in our clubs history to bring in players that didn''t work with the system he was planning to use.

[SwindonCanary 455]

We didn''t score many goals last season, but we also conceded 62 goals !There''s a lot to sort out, to get a winning team.

[Salopian 1]

I think it possible that one or even two strikers will leave before the end of August - the favourites are Hooper and Becchio. If two left we would be down to four, which nobody would argue is too many, given the tendency of strikers to suffer injury. Last season we had effectively, i.e. in the manager''s eyes, only 2.5 usable strikers - RvW, Hooper and Elmander, and of these only Elmander was fit for the entire season.

Loss of form is a possibility, and no-one can predict whether a player will settle down in a new club.

It was important to get in early and sort out the strikers before other clubs snaffled them up. I expect Adams to turn to other areas of the team now.

[wooster 134]

"I will resent, for the rest of my life, the fact that Hughton has spent the two largest fees on strikers in our clubs history to bring in players that didn''t work with the system he was planning to use."

I think that is one of the most baffling things about last season - coupled with the fact that

once it became apparent that was the fact, there was no alternative approach.

[Dubai Mark 0]

I am really encouraged by the way we are going after these strikers, its a long season and as I just read from NA we need a "plan B" and option up front......reckon we will end up with five even if Hooper does depart......serious intent to go back up!!

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

Bear in mind that Adams knows who wants to stay and who wants to go – it may be that all our midfielders and defenders (except possibly Bassong) want to stay, but Hooper and RVW (and Becchio too, you''d assume) want to leave. If (and I know it''s a big if) we keep hold of Ruddy plus all our defenders and midfielders, I''d think that we''d be very strong in the Championship. I know people say we''d need new blood to tighten the defence and so on, but having a settled squad who already know each other could be a plus. Better the devil you know, if you like.

[Joanna Grey 0]

swindoncanary wrote the following post at 04/07/2014 9:23 AM:

"We didn''t score many goals last season, but we also conceded 62 goals !

There''s a lot to sort out, to get a winning team."

A lot of those players that scored against us last season have been in Brazil the last few weeks. Not too many Championship players out there!

[Yelloow Since 72 54]

You need more strikers to play 4-3-3 and both strikers signed so far (and Wilson as well) can play anywhere across that front 3. Because of that and their pace, you also gain more movement to confuse the opposing defence.

[Canary Willo 0]

If we keep Howson, Fer Redmond, Bennett Johnson and Tettey and they are allowed to go and express themselves at this level, to me, that is more than enough especially if they have 3 forward ahead of them as opposed to 1. Also the styles of these players will allow tactics to change. We also need 4-5 strikers as we play Tuesday Saturday for most of the season and we need players who know what its like to play every Tuesday in December, away at Rotherham or Watford for example....

 

Still think another centre half and maybe a right back for me, but don''t think you need much more of the players above stay and are all united...

[swjf50 0]

If we play a 4-3-3 formation, I think one of the front 3 has to be a winger, ie Redmond, if he can learn to put a decent ball into the box, failing that Bennett or Pilkington if we don''t sell him. We have to have some pace, as our side lacked that last season and it showed. Our back four was ponderous apart from Ollson and apart from Redmond nobody in our midfield or strike force was particularly quick.