Do we really need another striker?

[RoyalBlue]

Of course we damn well do!

Roberts is getting old and there are big questions against his fitness - has the op worked? Will he be able to play 40+ games this season?

Pog seems to want to get out as soon as the chance is there.

Blackman - unproven and, from what we saw last season, the jury is very definitely still out.

That leaves us with ALF and possibly HRK - madness to think we can mount an ongoing challenge for promotion with a strike force as thin as that.

As for the suggestion that we wait to see whether Pog goes - utter insanity! Have people still not learned the hard lessons from the past?! Pog goes with just a day left in the transfer window - then what?!!!

[Judge Drenthe]

Didn't Newcastle go back up with only one real striker and Shola Ameobi?

They had Lovenkrands, Ameobi, Best..

[NewCorkSeth]

Of course we damn well do!

Roberts is getting old and there are big questions against his fitness - has the op worked? Will he be able to play 40+ games this season?

Pog seems to want to get out as soon as the chance is there.

Blackman - unproven and, from what we saw last season, the jury is very definitely still out.

That leaves us with ALF and possibly HRK - madness to think we can mount an ongoing challenge for promotion with a strike force as thin as that.

As for the suggestion that we wait to see whether Pog goes - utter insanity! Have people still not learned the hard lessons from the past?! Pog goes with just a day left in the transfer window - then what?!!!

Ok and if we spend big on Hooper and Pog doesnt go we have an unnecessarily large wage bill?? But regardless of what ifs If you take Pog out of the equation (Everyone is saying he will def be gone) it doesnt seem that thin a strike force to me! ALF, Blackman, Roberts and Dom. Blackman and Dom may be unproven in the champ but so was Alf his first season with reading and he was our top scorer! I dont think you cant discount those two off the bat!

I think the theory of 2 players for every position works well so if we are playing 2 up front then we only need 4 strikers. In an injury crisis (say 1 or 2 of those four is injured) HRK can bang in goals I reckon. With ample reserve to fill in his position! Obita and Taylor!

On paper we have a good strong squad with many talented players and good youth prospects coming up so I think its very reasonable to wait for the right signings and if, in January, we are struggling a tad then would be a good time to make some tweaks!

ALso is a striker most people priority signing here? Bridge is immense but does the fact we only have one left back not worry anyone else? (kelly is a right back who was played in left back a few times and looked out of position to me) what if Bridge gets injured? cummings is our only back up

[Ian Royal]

As for the suggestion that we wait to see whether Pog goes - utter insanity! Have people still not learned the hard lessons from the past?! Pog goes with just a day left in the transfer window - then what?!!!

We get a loanee in a couple of weeks later.

You cannot bring in an expensive replacement for an expensive player, until that player is definitely off your wage bill. Just because we haven't and probably won't sign a big money striker until Pog goes, doesn't mean we aren't monitoring several and haven't already had preliminary discussions with them and their club.

If Adkins is planning on mainly playing one upfront with three behind, then we need fewer strikers. He seems to rate HRK as good there, so why would you question his judgement about that, but not about a replacement for Pog who he may have seen much less of? Same goes for Blackman. Same goes for Samuel.

And it's not like we don't have goals elsewhere in the side.

Massive over-reaction reaching for the panic spend button.

[maffff]

Maybe we should look at that Uche Ikpeazu kid from Watford.

Can someone post here the strikers from other Championship clubs so I can see how we are vs the competition?

[GSY-Royal]

All strikers on pro terms for ourselves and six rival teams, those likely to feature regularly in bold.

Reading (assuming Blackman is a winger, 3/5)
- Pavel Pogrebnyak
- Adam Le Fondre
- Jason Roberts
- Gozie Ugwu
- Dominic Samuel

QPR (3/4)
- Andrew Johnson
- Jamie Mackie
- Bobby Zamora
- Loic Remy

Bolton (5/10)
- David Ngog
- Robert Hall
- Marvin Sordell
- Craig Davies
- Jermaine Beckford
- Michael O'Halloran
- Tom Eaves
- Conor Wilkinson
- Sanmi Odelusi
- Zach Clough

Watford (4/7)
- Troy Deeney
- Fernando Forestieri
- Javier Acuna
- Diego Fabbrini
- Britt Assombalonga
- Bernard Mensah
- Uche Ikpeazu

Wigan (2/2)
- Grant Holt
- Marc-Antoine Fortune

Leicester (6/7)
- Jamie Vardy
- Martyn Waghorn
- Jeff Schlupp
- Marko Futacs
- Chris Wood
- David Nugent
- Tom Hopper

Forest (5/6)
- Dexter Blackstock
- Simon Cox
- Matt Derbyshire
- Darius Henderson
- Ishmael Miller
- Marcus Tudgay

One observation is that the teams who have remained in the Championship for a few years seem to have accumulated quite a few forwards, while the three relegated teams are shorter in that position. Wigan only have two senior forwards while QPR have 3 likely to remain at the club next season, the same number as us.

[Ian Royal]

Maybe we should look at that Uche Ikpeazu kid from Watford.

Can someone post here the strikers from other Championship clubs so I can see how we are vs the competition?

http://www.soccerbase.com/tournaments/tournament.sd?comp_id=2
Watford: Deeney, Fabbrini, Forestieri, Ikpeazu, Smith
Wigan: Holt, McManaman, Dicko, Fortune
QPR: Balanta, Bothroyd, Johnson, Zamora, Hulse, Hitchcock, Mackie, Remy
Forest: Blackstock, Cox, Derbyshire, Henderson, Miller, Tudgay
Leicester: Blyth, Futacs, Gallagher, Hopper, Knockaert, Nugent, Schlupp, Vardy, Waghorn, Wood
Leeds: Hunt, McCormack, Poleon, Smith, Somma, Varney, Lenighan
Ipswich: Chopra, McGoldrick, Murphy, Nouble, Taylor
Brighton: Agdestein, Barker, Barnes, Dickenson, Hoskins, Kasim, Mackail-Smith, Ulloa
Bolton: Beckford, Cough, Davies, Eaves, Hall, McKee, Ngog, O'Halloran, Odelusi, Sordell, Wilkinson

Can't be bothered to do any more.

[NewCorkSeth]

All strikers on pro terms for ourselves and six rival teams, those likely to feature regularly in bold.

One observation is that the teams who have remained in the Championship for a few years seem to have accumulated quite a few forwards, while the three relegated teams are shorter in that position. Wigan only have two senior forwards while QPR have 3 likely to remain at the club next season, the same number as us.

we match up quite well against those teams no? thanks for the list by the way

[GSY-Royal]

All strikers on pro terms for ourselves and six rival teams, those likely to feature regularly in bold.

One observation is that the teams who have remained in the Championship for a few years seem to have accumulated quite a few forwards, while the three relegated teams are shorter in that position. Wigan only have two senior forwards while QPR have 3 likely to remain at the club next season, the same number as us.

we match up quite well against those teams no? thanks for the list by the way

In terms of quality I think we are similar to all of them, if Roberts becomes fit quickly and Pog performs as he should at this level. Our wingers are streets ahead of the other teams IMO.

[madreadingfan]

Am I the only one on here who rates Pog? He tries his hardest and holds up the ball very well. If he had better service he would of scored more last season. He would tear the Championship apart. Only go in for one striker if Pog leaves but I would be more than happy if Pog stayed. Especially if it was a choice between Pog or Sharp then I would take Pog any day.

[windermere_royal]

Am I the only one on here who rates Pog? He tries his hardest and holds up the ball very well. If he had better service he would of scored more last season. He would tear the Championship apart. Only go in for one striker if Pog leaves but I would be more than happy if Pog stayed. Especially if it was a choice between Pog or Sharp then I would take Pog any day.

No you are not. I rate him very highly. the fools that say his first touch is poor must have left their guide dogs at home.

[NewCorkSeth]

I love POG. In every possible meaning.

[imHobb]

Am I the only one on here who rates Pog? He tries his hardest and holds up the ball very well. If he had better service he would of scored more last season. He would tear the Championship apart. Only go in for one striker if Pog leaves but I would be more than happy if Pog stayed. Especially if it was a choice between Pog or Sharp then I would take Pog any day.

I rate him. You don't play for Zenit and win the UEFA Cup while being the top scorer in the competition without some ability.

[kwik-silva]

I'd like another striker, but in reality if we've keep Pog then great, and if not then we can use a couple of the younger guys and I think HRK would do pretty well in that role at this level too - and that's just if we don't get anybody else in - so I'm not too worried.

[SCIAG]

Pogrebnyak and Le Fondre should be very good strikers for us next season.

They are backed up by Samuel and Blackman, and maybe Roberts, and maybe Ugwu. Taylor and HRK can fill in if need be.

We're probably going to play with one up front because we have so many midfielders (10 if you include Taylor but not Leigertwood or Obita, plus Blackman) and there are only question marks over Akpan and Taylor, all the other midfielders are proven at this level or higher.

Pogrebnyak and Samuel are both capable of playing as lone strikers and I don't see why Le Fondre couldn't be with the right players around him.

[maffff]

So actually we stack up pretty well against most teams around us..

One would be good, but it's not the end of the world. We still have the loan market too.

And our 'forward three' behind the striker has to be one of the strongest in the league

[LightwaterRoyal]

I think we might have the best player in the league for every position apart from CAM.

[P!ssed Off]

Am I the only one on here who rates Pog? He tries his hardest and holds up the ball very well. If he had better service he would of scored more last season. He would tear the Championship apart. Only go in for one striker if Pog leaves but I would be more than happy if Pog stayed. Especially if it was a choice between Pog or Sharp then I would take Pog any day.

I rate him. You don't play for Zenit and win the UEFA Cup while being the top scorer in the competition without some ability.

In researching Zenit's cup win I came across this from Zenit's 4-0 win against Bayern in the Semi, 2nd leg:

"Pogrebnyak spoiled his night's work on 76 minutes when he picked up a needless booking to rule him out of the final later this month."
http://www1.skysports.com/football/live ... 183/report

Sounds like our Pav, professional as ever.

Also, is a competition where Rangers (a team often derided as not even good enough for the Championship) can get to the final, really that prestigious?

2 seasons before Zenit vs Rangers, Middlesbrough got to the final! 2 seasons after Zenit vs Rangers, Fulham got to the final! Uefa Cup is by no means a certain measure of prestige.

[imHobb]

Am I the only one on here who rates Pog? He tries his hardest and holds up the ball very well. If he had better service he would of scored more last season. He would tear the Championship apart. Only go in for one striker if Pog leaves but I would be more than happy if Pog stayed. Especially if it was a choice between Pog or Sharp then I would take Pog any day.

I rate him. You don't play for Zenit and win the UEFA Cup while being the top scorer in the competition without some ability.

In researching Zenit's cup win I came across this from Zenit's 4-0 win against Bayern in the Semi, 2nd leg:

"Pogrebnyak spoiled his night's work on 76 minutes when he picked up a needless booking to rule him out of the final later this month."
http://www1.skysports.com/football/live ... 183/report

Sounds like our Pav, professional as ever.

Also, is a competition where Rangers (a team often derided as not even good enough for the Championship) can get to the final, really that prestigious?

2 seasons before Zenit vs Rangers, Middlesbrough got to the final! 2 seasons after Zenit vs Rangers, Fulham got to the final! Uefa Cup is by no means a certain measure of prestige.

It still shows that he has good footballing abilities. Pavel scored 10 goals in 13 appearences, outscoring Stefan Kießling (7), Sergio Aguero (5), Dimitar Berbatov (5), Miroslav Klose (5) and Lukas Podolski (5) just to name a few.

[SPARTA]

Pogrebnyak and Le Fondre should be very good strikers for us next season.

They are backed up by Samuel and Blackman, and maybe Roberts, and maybe Ugwu. Taylor and HRK can fill in if need be.

We're probably going to play with one up front because we have so many midfielders (10 if you include Taylor but not Leigertwood or Obita, plus Blackman) and there are only question marks over Akpan and Taylor, all the other midfielders are proven at this level or higher.

Pogrebnyak and Samuel are both capable of playing as lone strikers and I don't see why Le Fondre couldn't be with the right players around him.

AZ has already said Pog will be allowed to go if we get the right fee. We will drag that one out until we get the money we want, but no way will he still be here come the end of the transfer window.