Please Tilly - Give us a striker.

[Mighty Shrimper]

I have to question bringing in another striker. Tilson has told Harrold and Hooper to be patiant and told them they feature in his plans. I cant see him getting rid of Bradbury or Foran and we've just brought in Macdonald so where is he going to fit another striker in!? I havent even mentioned Billy Paynter yet either.

I do think with the midfield we have this season, playing in a lower league, we will create a hell of alot more chances for the strikers than we did last season. IMO we should stick with the strikers we have, its very possible they will come good given the chance.

I dont really understand the growing concern on here at the moment. We havent had a poor pre season, we've actualy had quite a good one. 1 defeat against West Ham and that was only 3-1 in a fairly even game. Once the season starts, the players fitness will be sharp and they will be eager to put things right from last season. Harrold, Hooper, Foran and Paynter all have something to prove and im 100% sure they know this and will want to impress this season. They are all eager players and none of them will want to be left out so IMO they will be training hard and will fight for there place in the team and for this reason, when they get into the team, they'll try as hard as possible to bang in afew goals.

Give it time and give the players we've got a fair crack at the whip.

 

[Beefy]

Unless we can get someone of real genuine quality in who will practically guarantee to get 20 goals I think we should start the season with what we've got. Partly I'm basing that on the performances of the strikers tonight, but we've got so many strikers on the books surely we can find a decent combination of them without having to bring someone else in.

 

[Hooly]

MacDonald looked pretty tidy tonight. He worked the channels well and took a couple of snap shots but he didn't look like the poacher that he'd been billed as. It would be interesting to see him up with Bradbury as Bradders is still the player in the squad most likely to play his strike partner in in the box.

But them you condemn us to at best mid table mediocrity by only having 1 striker that will shoot.

All this with Bradbury notching the odd goal from 2 inches like at Canvey in pre-season are fine but as sure as eggs is eggs when the real thing starts the inability to take any chance that he's shown over the last season & half will become as apparent as it has been game after game. It's far too ingrained in him to change at this stage of his career.

We've paid money for several of the other strikers & they must be given their chances. If not & we revert to Bradbury as 1st choice then ship them out & replace them all. If they can't get in the team in place of a shot shy player like him we can't need them that badly, even as squad players.

 

[C C Csiders]

Im unconvinced about McDonald, i've only seen him v Wham

Before you go go and see him next time, wake me up.

 

[Westcliff Shrimper]

Before you go go and see him next time, wake me up.

GROAN ! ! :thump:

 

[Jam_Man]

Im unconvinced about McDonald, i've only seen him v Wham and Arhem but he looks like he lacks pace and strength. Everytime he goes after the ball he either gets knocked off or cant keep up with the defender, he also looks short on confidence, needs a few goals against Chelmsford and Crawley.

Well its not fair to measure the guy against premiership defences.

The one thing I saw in the West Ham game was his movement, his was making some superb runs along the back line etc that might actually work well against League one defences, if our midfield can pass forwards that is...

 

[Beefy]

But them you condemn us to at best mid table mediocrity by only having 1 striker that will shoot.

All this with Bradbury notching the odd goal from 2 inches like at Canvey in pre-season are fine but as sure as eggs is eggs when the real thing starts the inability to take any chance that he's shown over the last season & half will become as apparent as it has been game after game. It's far too ingrained in him to change at this stage of his career.

We've paid money for several of the other strikers & they must be given their chances. If not & we revert to Bradbury as 1st choice then ship them out & replace them all. If they can't get in the team in place of a shot shy player like him we can't need them that badly, even as squad players.

I don't know how true that is. Bradders scored, what, five goals last season? He missed a third of the season through injury plus he will be playing against far inferior players this year and we'll hopefully be giving the strikers more of the ball than they got last year. I don't think that nine or ten goals from him is out of the question if he's first choice and if he can help his partner to 15 and the other five strikers chip in with a dozen goals between them then that's a fair total.

Bradbury is obviously not a goalscorer. He should have had a hattrick last night.

 

[Hooly]

But he played against inferior players 15 times for us in 2005/06 and managed 1 goal! Yes, I know he played out wide but MG managed 10 from similar against better opposition last year.

Even when out wide how many times did you find yourself shouting "SHOOT FOR ****'S SAKE" at him as when in the area he tried every way of passing to another player, usually in a worse position, rather than have a go.

Bradbury is obviously not a goalscorer.

....then don't play him up front. We've got 4 in midfield to create the chances. We spent half of last season extolling the virtues of having him as a non scoring but creative striker. & look where it got us! :eek:

 

[ldnfatso]

But he played against inferior players 15 times for us in 2005/06 and managed 1 goal! Yes, I know he played out wide but MG managed 10 from similar against better opposition last year.

Even when out wide how many times did you find yourself shouting "SHOOT FOR ****'S SAKE" at him as when in the area he tried every way of passing to another player, usually in a worse position, rather than have a go.
....then don't play him up front. We've got 4 in midfield to create the chances. We spent half of last season extolling the virtues of having him as a non scoring but creative striker. & look where it got us! :eek:

Not being funny but the slimfast kid (Bradbury) looked as good as any other striker last night.

 

[Beefy]

Not being funny but the slimfast kid (Bradbury) looked as good as any other striker last night.

Exactly. We didn't get relegated because we had Lee Bradbury up front. He showed last night exactly what he brings to the side and clearly Tilly believes it's more than than our other strikers bring.

 

[SARF]

Our record with Bradders in the team is better than without.. Bradders and Hooper or Macdonald could be very effective at this level.. He is the sheringham of League 1

 

[Hooly]

Exactly. We didn't get relegated because we had Lee Bradbury up front. He showed last night exactly what he brings to the side and clearly Tilly believes it's more than than our other strikers bring.

No we got relegated because we didn't score enough goals! As we were shipping them in at the one end like no tomorrow, we needed to make the best of our chances at the other end.

If you are happy with a team relying on Lee "won't shoot" Bradbury, "obviously not a goalscorer" (your words not mine), to use his pace up front to grab us goals & put unbelievable pressure on his strike partner with his lack of goal threat, then so be it. That's just the sort of football you like to see.

Hopefully from my view it won't happen! I prefer my strikers to be goalscorers as I think it helps to win games. Simple I know. But can be effective.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

No we got relegated because we didn't score enough goals! As we were shipping them in at the one end like no tomorrow, we needed to make the best of our chances at the other end.

If you are happy with a team relying on Lee "won't shoot" Bradbury, "obviously not a goalscorer" (your words not mine), to use his pace up front to grab us goals & put unbelievable pressure on his strike partner with his lack of goal threat, then so be it. That's just the sort of football you like to see.

Hopefully from my view it won't happen! I prefer my strikers to be goalscorers as I think it helps to win games. Simple I know. But can be effective.

Conceding 80 goals was just as, if not more, important as only scoring one a game.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Hooper had great vision for Bradders goal last night, always willing to run and chase the ball. A slimmer looking Paynter also looked surprisingly good, chasing lost causes, harrassing defenders, running into channels and holding the ball up...A confidence player who I think will score a dozen or more once he get a couple

 

[Mr. Benedict]

Conceding 80 goals was just as, if not more, important as only scoring one a game.

Totally agree. Life's full of if's and buts but IF we'd leaked fewer goals last season whilst scoring the same amount as we did we'd have stood a much better chance of staying up.

 

[Hooly]

Our record with Bradders in the team is better than without..

Erm...we got relegated with him playing up front so not really a great claim to fame.

Bradders and Hooper or Macdonald could be very effective at this level

Bradders got 1 in 15, playing out wide I know, but spurned shed loads of chances in our last L1 season. As for the other 2, I totally agree but the've got to be given a chance which they won't with Bradbury lolloping about.

He is the sheringham of League 1

Now that's just plain silly. He wasn't last time & any comparison is rather insulting to Teddy, who I don't think signed from a 4th division club.

Listen, I don't dislike Bradbury. He's a good honest pro, but if we're planning our attack round him like you lot want I think it's a retrograde step & we'll be going nowhere slowly this season. Strikers have to have a goal threat. Even Beefy states he doesn't think Bradders is a goalscorer. So what's the point? We haven't got Fredy's 25 goals. Who will score those? And also if all the other strikers we've signed are no more of a goal threat than Bradders then we should get rid of them all & recoup what we can & try to find some that have this elusive goal threat.

 

[Hooly]

Conceding 80 goals was just as, if not more, important as only scoring one a game.

YB, we all know that we didn't score enough, create enough or defend well enough.

But even experienced pro's like Prior came out (as he did on the BBC) & said that if you have no threat up front every little mistake at the back magnifies itself because at 1 down you feel you have no way back into the game. No my thoughts but a bloke who played 600 games at a pretty decent level.

 

[CC51DAS]

Fortunately League 1 defences are a different prospect to those in the CCC .

Bradders changed the game last night and has the experience to play a 'Goat' style role for us this year - can't see T+B leaving him on the sidelines-the youngsters can only benefit form his experience and will have to fight for a starting place.

Also thought that he and Hoops combined well last night

 

[Alex]

Fortunately League 1 defences are a different prospect to those in the CCC .

Bradders changed the game last night and has the experience to play a 'Goat' style role for us this year - can't see T+B leaving him on the sidelines-the youngsters can only benefit form his experience and will have to fight for a starting place.

Also thought that he and Hoops combined well last night

exactly, lets give bradbury a FRESH START, he is a southend player and we should get behind him. last season i cant recall hooper and brabury ever playing upfront together. last night they really looked a class act together and maybe should start the season together. if after 3 games its not working then maybe change the strikers around. but with bradbury playing in a different league and playing along side a strike partner that will play with him (unlike eastwood that just sat so deep he was nearly on his own goal line) he might get some more important goals.

 

[Beefy]

Bradders got 1 in 15, playing out wide I know, but spurned shed loads of chances in our last L1 season. .

JCR has 2 in 60-odd games playing out wide and has also spurned shed loads of chances in those games.

Hooly, I really do get where you are coming from but the point is that Yeovil showed last year that you don't need a 20-25 goal striker to make the Play Offs in this league. Obviously it helps but I don't see us signing one any time soon either way. If one striker can get 15, another ten and the rest of the forwards chip in 10-15 between them then that's not the end of the World. Bradbury isn't a goalscorer but I think he can get 10 over a Leagoe One season, particularly if we're having a fair bit of the ball (which we didn't get last year) and I also think that one of the other strikers (Hooper or MacDonald presumably) have more chance of getting 15 alongside Bradbury than any other striker we have.

Bradbury shouldn't be a scapegoat for last season. No one in the squad is blameless for what happened, including the likes of Maher & Eastwood, but we've got a new start now. I know it was only a friendly but Bradders looked the part last night.