| Striker seems to be the consensus 04:03 - Nov 21 with 10234 views | wkj |
After reading through a number of posts it seems the most reoccurring position we're thinking about is strikers - possibly replacing Ladapo who has probably been one of the softer performers this season.
So, with January being a seller's market and no indication of how much is in the kitty - who do you think might be targets or even who would you like to see as targets. Have an attempt at keeping it realistic, as much as I would love to see Mbappe, Haaland, Júnior or Fati rocking up at PR |  |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 10:45 - Nov 21 with 1762 views | JakeITFC |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 10:10 - Nov 21 by CobboldCrusty |
Alejo Veliz at Spurs might be someone we can get on a loan deal - only made a few appearances for them this season - YouTube clips show he can hold the ball up.
6ft 1 and 20 years old... |
Yes, I wonder if we might be able to tempt someone on the periphery of things at Prem level on loan rather than paying well over the odds for a permanent that doesn't quite fit the bill in this window.
Brewster and Muniz mentioned above, Veliz at Spurs, Duran at Villa etc. Probably still very expensive and hard to do, but might give us that extra bit of quality. |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 10:59 - Nov 21 with 1712 views | LankHenners |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 09:55 - Nov 21 by SomethingBlue |
I wonder if someone like the lad at Reading who scored against us – Ehibhatiomhan – would be in our sights. Won't be scoring 15 in the Champ immediately but has definitely got something, similar stylistically to Semenyo who Bristol City sold to Bournemouth. Ashton's eyes would light up at the potential resale value on that one and Reading don't exactly have the whip hand financially at the moment. [Post edited 21 Nov 2023 9:56]
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When I saw him I noted him mentally as someone to look out for, not necessarily for us but his career as a whole. One of those players that makes you go 'hang on, he's a bit different to everyone else'. His younger brother Princewill, who had a few Prem clubs sniffing around him, seems to be doing pretty well with Southampton's youth team, incidentally.
Do wonder if we can't get someone ideal, i.e. a player who is pretty much ready to come in and hit the ground running at this level with potential to do it a step up, we'll look at those kind of players that we can grow and shape into what we want rather than, without being disrespectful to their efforts, making do with what the likes of Ladapo and Jackson have to offer.
Been mentioned above but Mubama at West Ham fits that category, though as already said wouldn't be someone you'd think would immediately be able to make too big of a contribution in a Championship promotion push. Those types of players would be give some very big ticks in Aston's 'player trading' boxes, mind.
McKenna obviously has a lot of knowledge and connections among those involved in youth football so you'd back him to identify someone who could be an asset to us from that market. |  |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:07 - Nov 21 with 1693 views | OldFart71 |
Freddie is a handy player,but just felt against Palace he looked lost. Not that the defeat can be put on him as most of the team was off their game that night and it was basically a second 11. Should we get promoted a player in the mould of Morsy is needed as when he's not available he's sadly missed. Probably another fullback and centre forward. As for centre back the jury is out until all options are given a proper go at it. I like Baggott hugely and am surprised he seems to have been pushed back in the pecking order. He was one of the few against Palace that looked calm and assured. |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:10 - Nov 21 with 1692 views | Kieran_Knows |
I do wonder if we'll go back for Colby Bishop in January as well ... had 2 bids rejected in the summer as Portsmouth were asking for silly money. |  |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:12 - Nov 21 with 1679 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:10 - Nov 21 by Kieran_Knows |
I do wonder if we'll go back for Colby Bishop in January as well ... had 2 bids rejected in the summer as Portsmouth were asking for silly money. |
I Imagine the money would be even more silly now. They look like they are going to get up. Selling their best player would be insanity |  |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:18 - Nov 21 with 1655 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:10 - Nov 21 by Kieran_Knows |
I do wonder if we'll go back for Colby Bishop in January as well ... had 2 bids rejected in the summer as Portsmouth were asking for silly money. |
I wonder if we might see our first signing from abroad under GC (discounting Celina who had played in the UK/here before). There really aren't any domestic stand out names to me. If we are where we are now in January, signing someone like Bishop would be a bit silly for me, unless we think he would possibly be suitable for the Premier League, which is doubtful. | | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:21 - Nov 21 with 1642 views | Kieran_Knows |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:18 - Nov 21 by tractorboy1978 |
I wonder if we might see our first signing from abroad under GC (discounting Celina who had played in the UK/here before). There really aren't any domestic stand out names to me. If we are where we are now in January, signing someone like Bishop would be a bit silly for me, unless we think he would possibly be suitable for the Premier League, which is doubtful. |
Possibly. Obviously McKenna and Pert will have their contacts abroad, but can't help but feel France will be somewhere we look given the relative success Ashton (and his team) had with signing players from there for Bristol City. Although wouldn't have a clue where to start over there now! | |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:22 - Nov 21 with 1645 views | SomethingBlue |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:18 - Nov 21 by tractorboy1978 |
I wonder if we might see our first signing from abroad under GC (discounting Celina who had played in the UK/here before). There really aren't any domestic stand out names to me. If we are where we are now in January, signing someone like Bishop would be a bit silly for me, unless we think he would possibly be suitable for the Premier League, which is doubtful. |
Scandinavia probably the best market as they'll be in pre-season. Proficiency in English would perhaps help too given McKenna's previous comments about settling in. Norway pretty fertile ground at the moment and most of the players there are physically up to it. | |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:25 - Nov 21 with 1627 views | StokieBlue |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 09:50 - Nov 21 by LeoMuff |
For me Hirst isn’t clinical enough, has spurned quite a number of gilt edge chances this season.
If Hirst is injured we have no one to replace him that I feel confident would be unto a championship promotion campaign. |
Hirst isn't the out and out clinical striker though, his role is more than that.
He currently has 4 goals and 5 assists, the joint most goal contributions in the team and his contribution should be looked at and assessed in that context.
We are after all the highest scorers in the division.
SB |  |
| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:26 - Nov 21 with 1628 views | Kieran_Knows |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:22 - Nov 21 by SomethingBlue |
Scandinavia probably the best market as they'll be in pre-season. Proficiency in English would perhaps help too given McKenna's previous comments about settling in. Norway pretty fertile ground at the moment and most of the players there are physically up to it. |
My only thinking behind signing players from those sort of countries is that you'd imagine we'd be targeting players from the top clubs in that region - Norway for example, I would imagine we'd be targeting players at Bodo Glimt, Molde and Rosenborg - however they all finished in the top 3 last season and playing European Football.
Just obviously got to try sell them the dream that we'll be a Prem club in 6 months time. | |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:32 - Nov 21 with 1600 views | Herbivore |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 09:21 - Nov 21 by Meadowlark |
Defender(s) for me.
We score loads but conceded too many. |
That's largely down to how we defend as a team though. Individually we have good players in defence and have good quality in depth there. |  |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:36 - Nov 21 with 1575 views | LankHenners |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 10:10 - Nov 21 by CobboldCrusty |
Alejo Veliz at Spurs might be someone we can get on a loan deal - only made a few appearances for them this season - YouTube clips show he can hold the ball up.
6ft 1 and 20 years old... |
Spurs might say 'we've already sent you one promising young forward, can you try and get more of a tune out of that one please?' | |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:36 - Nov 21 with 1574 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:22 - Nov 21 by SomethingBlue |
Scandinavia probably the best market as they'll be in pre-season. Proficiency in English would perhaps help too given McKenna's previous comments about settling in. Norway pretty fertile ground at the moment and most of the players there are physically up to it. |
Yes, I think we are going to need to have done our homework. We need someone that can settle quickly and hit the ground running. I don't know what sort of sum we are going to be willing to spend but if it's somewhere in the region of £5m and we are in the sort of position we are now, I think we will be surprised by the level of player who we could tempt here. A decent chance of being 4 months away from a Premier League player, managed by one of the best young coaches in Europe - I think that is tempting for any young footballer. | | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:37 - Nov 21 with 1567 views | Herbivore |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 10:02 - Nov 21 by Kieran_Knows |
Yes, I think at least 2-3 in, in January which means 2-3 would need to go to make room for them.
Centre back.
Centre mid/number 10
Striker
Ronnie Edwards would absolutely be my pick for the centre back signing. We'd triple our money on him almost overnight. |
Really can't see CB being a priority. We've got Woolf and Burgess both playing well, Tuanzebe now competing for a place, Fridge has come in and done well when needed, Baggott is starting to push himself towards the first team picture too. I'd be surprised if we're in for a CB in January. | |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:42 - Nov 21 with 1544 views | ChampionsofInnsbruck |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 10:40 - Nov 21 by _clive_baker_ |
Can't see a world where Southampton would let Armstrong go to us at a price that's anything close to what we could afford within the constraints of FFP. The same must be true of Greaves, Hull are on the coattails of the playoffs and they seemingly have deep enough pockets to keep him. Plus he's lauded up there.
Departures list looks about right, although January might come a little early for Ball given his versatility. He'll certainly be off in the summer though. |
I am fantasising a bit of course, but those 4 for me are players I can actually see adding promotion value to the team. Those are the sorts of players we need to be after if we are being realistic about going up and staying up too. In terms of FFP its mad that the ex-Premiership teams get away with parachute payments and I believe more relaxed FFP following relegation terms, given that we came down with a measly 28mil debt and were crucified for it at the time, it makes you laugh how easy everyone has had it since. Norwich made a business out of it. |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:49 - Nov 21 with 1523 views | CobboldCrusty |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:36 - Nov 21 by LankHenners |
Spurs might say 'we've already sent you one promising young forward, can you try and get more of a tune out of that one please?' |
Yeah it's a good point - might be able to argue that we've done some useful homework for them in Terms of Scarlett though in that he looks more of a supporting attacker than the no. 9 he seemed to be initially thought of as |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:54 - Nov 21 with 1502 views | Kieran_Knows |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:37 - Nov 21 by Herbivore |
Really can't see CB being a priority. We've got Woolf and Burgess both playing well, Tuanzebe now competing for a place, Fridge has come in and done well when needed, Baggott is starting to push himself towards the first team picture too. I'd be surprised if we're in for a CB in January. |
We was after a certain centre back on deadline day, but as you rightly say, we subsequently signed Tuanzebe after the window shut so might not be a major concern for the window coming up. I do think it's an area of the squad we will want to improve over time though.
Burgess contract up next summer (unsure if he has a years option?), so be interesting to see how that plays out. | |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:12 - Nov 21 with 1462 views | LeoMuff |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 11:25 - Nov 21 by StokieBlue |
Hirst isn't the out and out clinical striker though, his role is more than that.
He currently has 4 goals and 5 assists, the joint most goal contributions in the team and his contribution should be looked at and assessed in that context.
We are after all the highest scorers in the division.
SB |
I like him and hope he will be complete striker, but as a number 9 you shouldn’t be missing multiple 1 v 1 s he gets in great positions then fails to convert. |  |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:22 - Nov 21 with 1435 views | DarkBrandon |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 09:50 - Nov 21 by LeoMuff |
For me Hirst isn’t clinical enough, has spurned quite a number of gilt edge chances this season.
If Hirst is injured we have no one to replace him that I feel confident would be unto a championship promotion campaign. |
I genuinely think Hirst has been unlucky.
I can think of a dozen occasions when he’s drawn a really good save from the goalkeeper.
I can hardly think of one when he’s blazed a chance over the bar, or delayed getting the shot away and the defender has got back.
My view is if he keeps doing what he’s doing he’ll get many more goals than he managed in the first third of the season.
There is of course a huge amount to his game other than scoring, but that’s a different point. |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:38 - Nov 21 with 1398 views | BseaBlue |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:22 - Nov 21 by DarkBrandon |
I genuinely think Hirst has been unlucky.
I can think of a dozen occasions when he’s drawn a really good save from the goalkeeper.
I can hardly think of one when he’s blazed a chance over the bar, or delayed getting the shot away and the defender has got back.
My view is if he keeps doing what he’s doing he’ll get many more goals than he managed in the first third of the season.
There is of course a huge amount to his game other than scoring, but that’s a different point. |
Agree with this. The issue isnt Hirst though in my opinion, it is having a suitable person to replace him when he is blowing. Add in the injury risk and we could be left very short. |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:50 - Nov 21 with 1375 views | OsborneOneNil |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:22 - Nov 21 by DarkBrandon |
I genuinely think Hirst has been unlucky.
I can think of a dozen occasions when he’s drawn a really good save from the goalkeeper.
I can hardly think of one when he’s blazed a chance over the bar, or delayed getting the shot away and the defender has got back.
My view is if he keeps doing what he’s doing he’ll get many more goals than he managed in the first third of the season.
There is of course a huge amount to his game other than scoring, but that’s a different point. |
Had 2 decent shots saved v Swansea, although both at the keeper, and almost on the end of 2 decent crosses. |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:50 - Nov 21 with 1373 views | Darth_Koont |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 09:31 - Nov 21 by Guthrum |
How many of those comments are based upon traditional thinking, where a team feeds the ball to the striker, who then scores the goals? That creates an expectation of what a good performance looks like.
But it's not how we currently play. Centrally, if breaking the offside trap is not an option, the ball goes to the hold-up man, who brings others into play for the actual scoring. Gets around the problem of having to turn in a tightly-packed penalty area, or having to send the ball wide and back in again to be in front of those running in on goal (the latter being blockable by organised defenders).
Consequently, goals are spread out around almost the whole team. Which, in turn, reduces vulnerability to injury or loss of form. We can't lose our key goalscorer if there isn't one. Very notably, it has had far from a bad effect on our ability to get the ball in the net. Could this be an innovation like Tika Taka or Ramsey's use of 4-4-2?
I'm not convinced that a striker is absolutely top of the ITFC shopping list for January. Tho the philosophy is always to improve positions where we can. [Post edited 21 Nov 2023 9:32]
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Agreed.
We should obviously use any transfer window to make improvements and increase individual quality if the right players come along but I don’t see a particular problem up front with Hirst, Ladapo, Jackson and Scarlett there.
Not least the fact that getting players up to speed and performing is difficult enough. As a reserve striker who doesn’t get a lot of game time, Ladapo has been pretty decent because he at least already knows what he’s doing. Similarly Jackson and Scarlett are getting game time and match fitness in other positions so they’re not coming in cold. Will we get better from a brand new player? Very debatable in the short- to medium-term at least. |  |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:50 - Nov 21 with 1374 views | Devereuxxx |
It's a difficult window to predict, as I doubt we'll be able to follow the model of last January, which was players dropping down after not really setting the world alight in the league above (Hirst, Broadhead, Clarke - might be a touch harsh on Broadhead). And then also Luongo who was a punt that proved to be a masterstroke. I can't imagine we have the wage structure to be looking at many, if any any, PL cast offs. It would be interesting to know just how much of Williams' wages we're paying.
As others have mentioned, I doubt it's a window where we'll be looking at 'projects', but players who are ready to come in and immediately contribute. Potentially players at clubs down the table who won't break the bank and could be tempted by joining a club pushing for promotion. In terms of a striker, Ryan Hardie has 6 goals at Plymouth, potentially he'd be interested in coming in to push Hirst for a starting point. I know trying to sign players off half a season of form isn't great protocol, but he would fit the mould of being ready and available. Colby Bishop at Portsmouth hasn't got Championship experience, but a move upwards would surely be tempting. No idea of the financials that these deals would involve, but surely more realistic that trying to tempt players from the PL. |  | | |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:53 - Nov 21 with 1362 views | StokieBlue |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:12 - Nov 21 by LeoMuff |
I like him and hope he will be complete striker, but as a number 9 you shouldn’t be missing multiple 1 v 1 s he gets in great positions then fails to convert. |
That's not really addressing the context though.
We are going to struggle to find someone who adds the assists he does whilst still scoring. Such a player is going to cost 15m or something.
Using a linear projection (not unreasonable in this instance) then Hirst is on track for 12 goals and 15 assists. I'd take that from a CF in our formation and style. Realistically I think that could easily be inverted to something like 15 goals and 10 assists by the end of the season, I think he has it in him to get that return and more.
SB | |
| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Striker seems to be the consensus on 13:20 - Nov 21 with 1308 views | LankHenners |
| Striker seems to be the consensus on 12:53 - Nov 21 by StokieBlue |
That's not really addressing the context though.
We are going to struggle to find someone who adds the assists he does whilst still scoring. Such a player is going to cost 15m or something.
Using a linear projection (not unreasonable in this instance) then Hirst is on track for 12 goals and 15 assists. I'd take that from a CF in our formation and style. Realistically I think that could easily be inverted to something like 15 goals and 10 assists by the end of the season, I think he has it in him to get that return and more.
SB |
Interestingly for goal + assists in the Championship (so 8 total, 4g and 4a for Hirst as one assist was in the League Cup), Hirst is joint 10th (with a few others) but looking at the list, the vast majority of them are attacking midfielders/wingers, with the other number 9s on the list having their g+a totals heavily carried by goals (Adam Armstrong, 9 goals, 3 assists for e.g.). Goes to show (on top of what is evident watching him) how much work he does in that role and what McKenna expects from it.
There's certainly a reason why he's established himself as the first choice and there's a notable drop-off when someone else takes his place (not to say the likes of Ladapo and Jackson haven't contributed in their own way).
To take it back to the theme of the thread, to get a similar player to Hirst we'll have to be a bit cute about our recruitment in that area or pay a decent wedge for someone we think has a bit of untapped potential. | |
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