Strikers - give them a chance

[andrew1957]

It is funny how we all see things differently. I have been really worried about the defensive issues - but far less worried about where the goals will come from.

In the first 10 league games last season we scored 14 goals. The midfielders scored 8 (Kebe 4, Siggy 2, HRK 1 and Karacan 1). The defense scored 4 (Pearce 1, Mills 1 and Harte 2) and Church and Long had one each.

I remember at the time being one of the few (other than Snowball) defending Shane Long - when most on here wanted to hang draw and quarter him.

This season the strikers have scored all 5 league goals in just 4 games (Manset 2, HRK playing as a striker 2 and Hunt 1), which is a staggeringly better total - so let us give them a chance.

[The Goat was fed]

I agree with the above - the main issue is that we've been a little bit spoilt with forwards who are real busy bodies and contribute to all elements of the game. Even when Shane Long wasn't scoring he was causing mischief, but now we have more "typical" forwards. If they score, great, that's what they're there for. If they don't, it feels worse because they are not big contributors all over the pitch.

My main concern at the moment is the terminal lack of supply. Kebe is our supply at the moment, Jobi hasn't started well and Karacan and Legs aren't made for splitting defences apart.

I strongly believe our full-backs are holding us back at the moment. Ian Harte was a great short-term fix last year and won us games, but long-term he is now a startling liability. Not only does he not contribute to the attack in open play, but if you watch Jobi, a big part of his game is helping Harte out defensively. You can barely afford to carry players at pub level, so to do it in the Championship is scandalous.

In my opinion, Griffin is actually a little under-rated going forward, he has a little nutmeg in his arsenal and gets forward well in spurts - but only in spurts.

[Ian Royal]

Spot on Goat.

Griff isn't quick but he does work well with Kebe and gets forward effectively. Unfortunately he's been below par and looked unfit / carrying an injury this season.

Mills in for Harte and Gorkss in for Khumalo should make a big difference and fort us up at the back a lot.

Manset, Hunt & HRK will all get goals this season, I'd expect 10 as a minimum from all of them if they can get in 30+ games. Church is the unknown, if he has a good season playing regularly he could get 18, a bad one and he could get 5.

We've got time to give those three (and Church) time to settle in. We didn't have time to wait for Khumalo to settle in as we've been giving goals away left right and centre.

[Friday's Legacy]

the strikers are a real cause for concern. i think we might just have sorted the defensive problems out now. they need time to adjust and build some confidence up, but we should be ok there soon. cummings will replace griffin, and rightly so. i think mills is only a few weeks away from replacing harte who is clearly only in the team for his set-pieces, and they're lacking as well.

so now we look to the strikers, and it doesn't look that good to be honest. if i was the oppo defence i'd be rubbing my hands at marking hunt and church. manset is a handful but still the very roughest of rough diamonds, and hal robson-kanu has had a good start in the strikers role but it's quite a leap from being a winger. a punt if you like. can we afford to take punts when we're still talking about promotion? promotion, what a laugh.

church: slow, awful first touch, far too inconsistent. he's a home-grown player and i'd love to see him do well but where ever he has played on loan at a lower level he hasn't hit any form in front of goal. he had a little purple patch under rodgers but that came and went quicker than this seasons play-off chances. just not good enough at this level - mcdermott will do his utmost to change that but to no avail.

hunt: used to be an energetic player, chasing everything. maybe its injuries taking their toll but he looks sluggish and easy to defend against. doesn't often look up and can be wasteful. he's our best striker. says it all.

manset: a promising player. big, strong, good feet. needs a lot of work and will get the chances this season. i think he'll be a key player by the season's end, but he can't last 90 minutes and his fitness has always been in question. hereford couldn't get him fit, let alone keep him fit. we've seen him lose a lot of weight, now can he keep it off and improve as a player and a pro. hope so. he has all the tools to be a good player at this level.

robson-kanu: winger turned striker. has a decent goals to game ratio with pre-season and the start of the new season. wants to play up front, has confidence in his ability but it's a huge punt if he is the clubs answer to shane long leaving. church or hrk to come off the bench? hrk every time.

brett williams: bargain basement punt, like long was when he arrived here with kevin doyle from ireland. bugged by injuries but has a good eye for goal and is another rough diamond that has real potential, but it's a massive step up for him. tall kitson esq in stature. i want to see him do well and think he will in time but not expected to do so in the first team this season. biggest weakness noted from his old manager is his passing ability and reading of the game, but he will score you goals.

[andrew1957]

At the start of last season we only had Long, Church and Hunt. In 2009/10 they had scored 6, 10 and 2 goals respectively. Many thought Long could not step up but he did.

This season we have Hunt, Manset, Church and arguably R-K - who last season scored 10, 2, 5 and 5. The point is the situation is little different and it is really important to give the players we have a chance.

As TGWF correctly said our problems stem from defence and I agree with the points about Harte and Griffin. In the modern game speedy overlapping full backs are very important in creating goals. Harte may score from set pieces - but he creates very little in open play. It was noticeable how well we played when Armstrong made his brief cameo around Christmas. For example we were very good in the 4-1 against Bristol - as Armstrong added a great deal more going forwards.

And as Ian correctly said we could not wait for Khumalo to come good. Before we knew it - we would be in a relegation battle. He might well be a good player but needs work at the moment.

I would love to see us to play Cummings, Mills, Pearce and Gorkss on Saturday. Give that back 4 a chance and it could just work really well after a few games.

[Woodcote Royal]

It would be hard for any of our current strikers to be slagged off more than Long was in the first half of last season yet, within a few months, many of the very same fans were bricking it for fear that Shane would be sold in order to line the Chairman's pocket

And, here we go again! "I'm worried" "Not good enough" "Church is sh*t" "Mansett can't last 90" "HRK's a winger!!"

Despite 3 defeats on the trot, only Church has yet to find the back of the net and neither Mansett nor HRK has had a fraction of the games they need to establish themselves.

Whilst it would be easy to bring in an experienced striker it's thoroughly depressing to see many fans wanting us to make the same mistakes we made for nearly 2 decades in which no young player established himself in the first team.

If we wish to get full benefit from our academy, we have to take a chance with those we are convinced will make the grade even if if means having a slightly weaker team for a period. This is vital if we are going to compete with clubs who spend the huge amounts of money we all know will not be spent at RFC.....................we have to generate our own wealth and this is a vital part of the process.

I'm quietly confident that at least one of Mansett, HRK or Church will have stepped up to the plate by Christmas and equally confident that there's more in the pot for January should the need arise.....................don't panic!!!!

[PEARCEY]

Its time to start HRK. He's good enough and deserves more than coming off the bench. He may well be worth a punt up-front as he clearly has an eye for a goal. My concern is Hunt. He's injury prone and can't be expected to play a full season. If he gets injured we look threadbare up-front.

[Ian Royal]

Its time to start HRK. He's good enough and deserves more than coming off the bench. He may well be worth a punt up-front as he clearly has an eye for a goal. My concern is Hunt. He's injury prone and can't be expected to play a full season. If he gets injured we look threadbare up-front.

By the end of the season we'll be looking at a successful partnership of Manset and HRK if we don't make a good signing.

[pea]

Griff isn't quick but he does work well with Kebe and gets forward effectively. Unfortunately he's been below par and looked unfit / carrying an injury since Christmas.

Fixed for you

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Ian Royal wrote: By the end of the season we'll be looking at a successful partnership of Manset and HRK if we don't make a good signing.

History shows they should get about 15 minutes together on the pitch.

[savage 4 england]

I think HRK needs to play. Even if he doesn't score he'll cause problems with his pace and power.

[floyd__streete]

Tbh, name another club who would sell by far and away their top scorer and not sign a SINGLE player by way of replacement

[SCIAG]

Tbh, name another club who would sell by far and away their top scorer and not sign a SINGLE player by way of replacement

I know, why didn't we replace Doyle?

Name another club who sign their replacements a transfer window before the players they are replacing leave.

[Adz1871]

Tbh, name another club who would sell by far and away their top scorer and not sign a SINGLE player by way of replacement

Newcastle?

[royalsroyalsroyals92]

It seems as if i am in the minority over this, but i really just don't see what hunt has to offer, and although id love to like him - i just can't seem to find any plus points to rate him on!
HE is very much the player, it seems, who will flick the ball on occasionally, and pop up for the odd goal, but other than that i never see him making smart and decent runs and i just think he lacks the energy that he had pre-injury, which is a shame as in his first season i thought he was great!
I would like to see HRK used as our main striker ,as i feel he has a great shot on him, good pace, good skill, makes good runs, and then probably have a big guy like Manset to play off him, with hunt coming on at the end to beat down defences.

[leon]

Tbh, name another club who would sell by far and away their top scorer and not sign a SINGLE player by way of replacement

Manchester Utd - Van Nilstelrooy in 2006 (150 goals in 220 games) and then Man U fell apart?????

[Mike Hunt]

Tbh, name another club who would sell by far and away their top scorer and not sign a SINGLE player by way of replacement

I know, why didn't we replace Doyle?

Grzegorz Rasiak

[Mike Hunt]

Tbh, name another club who would sell by far and away their top scorer and not sign a SINGLE player by way of replacement

Newcastle?

Shefki Kuqi

[Schards#2]

Its time to start HRK. He's good enough and deserves more than coming off the bench. He may well be worth a punt up-front as he clearly has an eye for a goal. My concern is Hunt. He's injury prone and can't be expected to play a full season. If he gets injured we look threadbare up-front.

I see what you did there.

Collectively, our strikers are not good enough and would struggle to get into most other teams in the division.

IMHO

[Royal Lady]

Spot on Goat.

Griff isn't quick but he does work well with Kebe and gets forward effectively. Unfortunately he's been below par and looked unfit / carrying an injury this season.

Mills in for Harte and Gorkss in for Khumalo should make a big difference and fort us up at the back a lot.

Manset, Hunt & HRK will all get goals this season, I'd expect 10 as a minimum from all of them if they can get in 30+ games. Church is the unknown, if he has a good season playing regularly he could get 18, a bad one and he could get 5.

We've got time to give those three (and Church) time to settle in. We didn't have time to wait for Khumalo to settle in as we've been giving goals away left right and centre.

Still certain Hunt will score >15 goals this season Ian?