Question Target men?

[palexander]

I love a target man and if I ran a team, I'd always have a big 6ft'er in the attack.

Made me wonder why target men dont do well for Southend under Tilly (and no, this isnt another 'Tilly Out' thread!).

Paynter, Harrold, Revel, Furlong...

I know by their very nature, target men dont get amongst the goals as much as poachers, but these sort of players do not seem to fit in at Southend and are rarely given a chance by our fans.

Paynter for example always did well at our level and pretty much destroyed us for Port Vale in one game - but didnt really get any supporters behind him from the get go - when I feel he could have been an asset.

Harrold to a lesser extent - but Revel is the one that bothers me the most. I think with decent service Revel could notch 10-15 goals a season, complimenting either Barnard or Freedman. If I was picking the team, I'd always have Revel + 1 from the other 2 mentioned - mainly due to the lack of fitness Lee or Dougie seem to be able to manage.

But I think the question comes down to a lack of service - or just that target men are not Tilly's strong point when building a pattern of play and in that case, he should stick to another method - such as the 'power' forward like Gray/Goater alongside a poacher...

 

[chapperzUK]

I agree. We need a big, strong player who can hold up the ball and bring other players into the game. Would also add much needed height for corners, freekicks and crosses. Revell is the closest player we have to a target man but his finishing and heading is not good enough.

 

[EastStandBlue]

We don't put in nearly enough crosses, that's why.

Betsy loves to cut inside and pass rather than to beat his man and cross the ball into the dangerzone. The only man we've had in recent seasons that could do that was Jamal Campbell-Ryce, and when he played we never had a targetman in the box for him to cross to, so he delayed on the delivery waiting for someone to hit the box.

People accused JCR of having no end product, which I think was utter boll*cks, he just had noone to produce for. Which is why he's doing so well for Barnsley...

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

We don't play a style of football that suits a target man, we tend to try and walk the ball into the net sometimes, a bit like a very poor mans Arsenal.

Teams that have a successful target man generally have two good wingers and load the box and get the ball in as early as possible.

We have nearly always played with one slightly more defensive winger under Tilly.

I love Revell's work rate, but when they are both fit I would start with Barnard and Freedman.

 

[rlb999]

We don't put in nearly enough crosses, that's why.

Exactly - that's why a target man doesn't work with us.

We'd all probably prefer to see two genuine wingers getting round the back and pinging in crosses all the time, but in the modern game they are like gold dust.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Exactly - that's why a target man doesn't work with us.

We'd all probably prefer to see two genuine wingers getting round the back and pinging in crosses all the time, but in the modern game they are like gold dust.

Yeah its one of the greatest sites in a game IMO when you get a geniune skillfull winger taking on the full backs and skinning them , growing up i used to admire Franz Carr and Tony Daley for their sheer pace and ability to beat their man and get decent crosses in , like you said at this level they are few and far between and get snapped up quickly .

As for a target man , as long as they can hold the ball up bring people into the game they are doing a good job but its still about scoring goals and to do that you need the ability to make it in the box after laying the ball off etc and apart from Goater , Benji and Angell we haven't seen many over the hall in my times .

 

[shrimperstubbs]

Could'nt agree more with this. We need someone up top who will hold the ball up, knock down balls to other players to run on to, good in the air and can put the ball in the back of the net. All though it is very difficult for to find a player like this as i couldnt name one right now, maybe worth a look into though?

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

We dont put nearly enough crosses into the box,

I can't remember who put the cross in for Revell's goal against Swindon, but they are the sort of goals that Revell should be putting away every time if he got the service.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

yep we do need a new target for the boo boys ...

 

[chapperzUK]

We dont put nearly enough crosses into the box,

I can't remember who put the cross in for Revell's goal against Swindon, but they are the sort of goals that Revell should be putting away every time if he got the service.

I think that was Francis. He has put in more crosses than betsy this season i think.

 

[The General]

I think if Gower had stuck around this season, i think Rev's would have reaped the benefits. Imagine the midfield with Sawyer, Jeff, Gower (and one other) at the start of the season ...

 

[sufctommy]

im not sure on a target man for the blues, i agree with the first post look where the likes of furlong, harrold and paynter have gone. for some reason them three target men have not impressed due to either not given the chance in the team or just they can not adjust to the way we play.