Will we sign another striker? And if so, when?

[Mr. Benedict]

I agree that we need a 20-goals a season striker but realistically, who is there out there that is a) available and b) that we can afford? Even with the Freddy cash we're hardly awash with cash to spend.

 

[turkishm]

My heart says,someone will surprise this season and score 20 goals. My head says,that Paynter,Harrold,foran,Bradbury and Hooper if he signs have not got 20 goals between the lot of them.So i hope Macdonald is good, if im right he is going to have to be. One c half and one striker please Tilly. O and please not Bradbury every week.

 

[shrimpled]

Thats why i said it's a hard ask. Realistically not a lot of players are going to want to come here if there a re bigger alternatives, but we do have some good prospects, and perhaps we may be the most suited club to an individual's needs. I said earlier somebody who has played in football league would be preferable, but perhaps we should look abroad, there are some very talented players in the lower leagues of some european countries.

 

[overseas shrimper]

Hooper signs = no new striker until January window at least.

Hooper doesn't sign = new striker asap.

 

[Mr. Benedict]

My heart says,someone will surprise this season and score 20 goals. My head says,that Paynter,Harrold,foran,Bradbury and Hooper if he signs have not got 20 goals between the lot of them.So i hope Macdonald is good, if im right he is going to have to be. One c half and one striker please Tilly. O and please not Bradbury every week.

That's a ridiculous statement.
There's five strikers there, so all they'd need is four goals each, which I sure all of them are capable of getting over the course of the season.

 

[nnatt76!]

Am I the only person that does not think we need a stiker ?

Foran will get goals in League 1 Paynter was judged in the championship and to be honest 11-12 games is not much time to let him adjust, Not a lover of Harold but he will chip in...and McDonald i'm sure will be a success.

TILSON OUT !!!!!

ha ha ha

 

[shrimpled]

Yes i agree all of our strikers will score in L1 but they are all very simillar players, thats the point, there really isn't much between Harrold, Paynter and Bradders in terms of what they do, get the ball and hold it up. we need someone with pace who knows where the net is. A better wayne gray if you like.

 

[Southend_Lady]

i can see a loanee coming maybe, but i dont think we wil sign anyone

I think you are right here. We have more than enough strikers at the moment, but I am sure that come xmas, if they are not producing, then I am sure we will get a loan in with possibility of purchase.

 

[turkishm]

Ok we dont need any more strikers,il let my heart rule.i suppose 20 goals between the lot of them was a bit strong,but the point i was trying to make was you lot have seen all these players,does anythink about them suggest they are going to shoot back up to the champ or do we need another forward.

 

[Jam_Man]

Am I the only person that does not think we need a stiker ?

Foran will get goals in League 1 Paynter was judged in the championship and to be honest 11-12 games is not much time to let him adjust, Not a lover of Harold but he will chip in...and McDonald i'm sure will be a success.

TILSON OUT !!!!!

ha ha ha

Yes you probably are alone.

We are in a position where we dont have a proven goal scorer. Now whether we have two players who can get 35 goals between them already at the club is another question.

McDonald has an eye for goal at lower levels, the others may be ok at this level.

Personally I think Tilly is out to get a centre half, and its going to be Zoltan Plinitiplonk or whatever is name is. Im also sure he has his eye out for a stiker but I dont think he will just buy anyone and it may be we start off with what we have.

 

[seany t]

I'm not sure we necessarily need another one, but I too remember Tilson saying he was looking to get another one in just after we signed MacDonald...

 

[nnatt76!]

Proven goal scorer...Ah the holygrail.

Not many of the names banded around by the arm chair scouts are proven.

Most of the Proven scorers then move up a level.

In that case I'm glad to be different...or maybe realistic

 

[Bromley Blue]

When I said someone who regularly features on soccer saturday it doesnt even have to be at league one level. Many strikers over the past few seasons have gone from League 2 clubs straight to the championship and still scored goals. maybe we cant attract the likes of grant holt and jon parkin whilst they were in league 2 but we can offer a higher level of football to players slightly lower on the goalscoring chart who offer something different to what we have already. I agree we're top heavy with strikers but was that really strength in depth or tilson admitting he couldnt find someone to successfully help out freddy last season?

 

[Beefy]

I was surprised we didn't go in for Pawel Abbott and that we're not one of the clubs who have been linked with Adam Boyd. Neither are exactly like-for-like with Eastwood but both are proven finishers at this level which is what we appear to lack. Charlie MacDonald is a goalscorer and I think Gary Hooper is too but neither are proven and going into such a massive season as this one with one of those two up front with one of the bigger guys (Bradbury, Harrold, Paynter or Foran), all of whom have question marks over them, would seem to be a massive gamble.

 

[shrimpled]

Nobody in our squad has proved that they can score regularly at this level or even L2. I think Tilson will be wise to bring a player in that done it maybe at a higher level in a goater-esque signing or look abroad at the cheap in leagues of equivalent standard.

 

[Flinty]

Wayne Gray, Freddy Eastwood, Drewe broughton, Tes Bramble


This i believe was the strike force that got us out of league 2.....at the start of that season none were proven 20 goal a season goalscorers at any level

 

[sufcintheprem]

I think our strikeforce has far too many quesiton marks. If we got in someone with more of a proven record I think we could be a decent outfit next season (with the inclusion of an exeprienced centre back probably).

It seems like madness losing a striker who would definitely have got in and around the 20 goal mark next season but not replacing him with a significant player.

Regarding the list of league two strikers, the logic doesn't really work. I'm pretty sure Torquay didn't have any proven strikers last season and they got relegated from the football league. We got really lucky in finding Eastwood and the rest of the team were solid enough to earn us promotion.

 

[Flinty]

so the rest of the team aren't solid then???

I think you missed the point though, probably for the past 3 years we have not had a proven striker at the level we have been in (there were question marks initially over the goat) but we have done ok.

Last year generally the team were lacking not just the strikers

 

[sufcintheprem]

so the rest of the team aren't solid then???

I think you missed the point though, probably for the past 3 years we have not had a proven striker at the level we have been in (there were question marks initially over the goat) but we have done ok.

Last year generally the team were lacking not just the strikers

I actually think we weren't that far off being a good enough team for survival but we've lost the only player in the team to reach double figures. Last year we improved so much when we brought some experience in at the back and some bit in midfield. We probably ran out of steam before the end but I feel this was more to do with having a so-called cup final every game between January and May.

Not sure what you mean about doing ok for the last three years. Last year we had definite problems with strikers. Ricketts left and Paynter never really fitted and this completely ruined our plans (both presumably and hopefully). The year before our promotion season, we did have someone with a good league two scoring record in lawrie Dudfield who was also there in our promotion season albeit with limited chances.

I do see what you're saying with regards to proof however last time in League One, we had a striker who had just scored over twenty goals in the division below, something we definitely don't have now. We also had a striker with vast experience playing at a higher level which is, again, something we don't have now.

The mixture of experience and potential as well as able support from Gray who was, in all honesty, a useful third striker at this level, was what scored us enough goals to go up. When I look at our strikeforce, I don't feel that Bradbury is as experienced as Goater was or that any of our strikers have demonstrated as much potential as Eastwood. I'm not even convinced that we have an impact sub as good as Gray even though I feel several of our strikers are better.

All I really see, as mentioned before, is a lot of possible solutions to a very real problem - scoring enough goals to finish in the top six.

 

[Flinty]

very well put argument sir an done i don't necesary disagree with.

However the point i was trying to make is there is no need to rush out and buy a 20 goal a season player for this league as we have never done so in the past few and done ok.

I don't see last year as a failure due to a striker problem, i think the defensive side of our game was more at fault.

Give the lads a chance and review half a dozen or so games in. In all honesty though where would we pick up such a player. Any club would do as we did and want 1M+ for a proven scorer