Desperate for a Striker

[Dolman Block B]

Without stating the obvious it’s pretty clear we need an out and out striker. 
 

Gary Owers was interviewed on TV prior ti the Norwich game and basically said the same. 
 

A big strong man who can hold the ball up and pass to the likes of Wells Bell Weimann Conway 

 

What I can’t get my head around if Kalas has now moved on and must have surely been on 20k a week and this could be used to bring in a potential player?

And the truth of it all is we have seen Webster 18 million Kelly 14 million Semenyo 9 million Scott 20 million plus leave the club and although we have brought players in that’s a serious amount of income. 
 

Before anyone mentioned we had a debt of 38 million I know that but at Chamionship and Premiership levels there’s hardly a club that will not be in debt.
 

Personally I’d like to see K Moore from Bournemouth come in on loan but I know it’s doubtful

 

If no striker comes in then we can basically look at a low to mid table finish with most fans pretty pissed off. 

[bearded_red]

It’s frankly ridiculous that a mid table championship club is in the position of playing the first half of the season with a 33 year old Nahki Wells as their only proper central striker.

We are nowhere near good enough a football team to play with the lack of physicality that the team has. We look utterly toothless in the final third, and almost like we have to score the perfect goal, and frankly we aren’t anywhere near good enough to score that goal often enough. We weren’t good enough to do that when we had Alex Scott, let alone without him.

If Pearson is telling the truth about the lack of incomings (and there’s no reason to not believe him) then watching this team play is going to be pretty infuriating, and frankly boring, until we are able to get Conway back.

This is obviously slightly tongue in cheek, but the squad would hugely benefit from a quick, strong centre forward almost regardless of how good or bad he may actually be at football.

[Dolman Block B]

10 minutes ago, bearded_red said:

It’s frankly ridiculous that a mid table championship club is in the position of playing the first half of the season with a 33 year old Nahki Wells as their only proper central striker.

We are nowhere near good enough a football team to play with the lack of physicality that the team has. We look utterly toothless in the final third, and almost like we have to score the perfect goal, and frankly we aren’t anywhere near good enough to score that goal often enough. We weren’t good enough to do that when we had Alex Scott, let alone without him.

If Pearson is telling the truth about the lack of incomings (and there’s no reason to not believe him) then watching this team play is going to be pretty infuriating, and frankly boring, until we are able to get Conway back.

This is obviously slightly tongue in cheek, but the squad would hugely benefit from a quick, strong centre forward almost regardless of how good or bad he may actually be at football.

100% agree with this. 
As much as I like Wells he is just seeing his time out and will not be offered another contract 

[And Its Smith]

Exaxctly.  People talk of the following that can play there:

Wells

Cornick

Bell

Weimann

That is quantity. We need QUALITY

[BCFCAL]

I still don't think it's a striker that we're lacking. We have Wells, Conway (Wasn't injured start of season), Weimann (Played there at Villa and got goals for us there what, 3 years ago? Unfortunately injured again), Cornick (Has played there). Although not many rate Cornick (Myself included) we've got 3 players to fill one position if none are injured - that's enough when we only play one formation, and it's evident that we won't change.

What we're missing is creativity in my eyes. Nothing whatsoever from the middle and nothing from the wings. All there is from the wings is a little bit of pace, combined with the worst pieces of final ball I've ever seen, amateur football included. Wells will score if given the chance, but unfortunately we don't get in those positions, and Wells has actually been dropping deeper just to get on the ball.

I left Yeboah out of striker options as I don't think anyone expected him to be where he is now, and I don't think you can rely massively on a 17 year old with a lack of experience, but he's another option.

[BCFCAL]

People are also seeing Lansdown's self imposed wage bill as FFP constraints - it's not, City are fine FFP wise right now, it's Lansdown not wanting to spend.

[Mayes86]

It’s not difficult to defend against us, 95% of our goals come from balls down the side and crosses between the six yard box and penalty spot, our goals are nearly always tap ins. Once a team has sussed how to defend that then we run out of ideas but still persist with the same type of “Arsenal” goals. 

[Dolman Block B]

11 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Exaxctly.  People talk of the following that can play there:

Wells

Cornick

Bell

Weimann

That is quantity. We need QUALITY

 

 

 

Exactly that 

[Spike]

3 minutes ago, Mayes86 said:

It’s not difficult to defend against us, 95% of our goals come from balls down the side and crosses between the six yard box and penalty spot, our goals are nearly always tap ins. Once a team has sussed how to defend that then we run out of ideas but still persist with the same type of “Arsenal” goals. 

Exactly this, it's because we have no creativity at all. As @BCFCAL said we are too easy to defend against if the opposition have done their homework. When we have the ball in defence we only have one midfielder drop to offer a pass in the middle, if the opposition right mark him we're forced to go wide to get out of our own third so the opposition pin us back by covering the flanks. It happens game after game and still we don't bring a second midfielder back because we lack the creativity there to play our way out and we're positioning to get our attack going but instead we end up playing it around at the back until we're forced to play the long ball which more often than not we do not win.

We're toothless up front because we just go wide and cross when we're not a team with good crossing ability and our target to cross to are not going to beat any decent center backs. 

I don't feel we need a striker, I feel like we need an outlet in the midfield, a player who can come collect the ball from the defence and being it forward allowing us more options when attacking, but we lost that in Scott. The whole argument about replacing Scott irritates me too as we don't need a like for like as people argue we do, we just need a midfielder who is good at coming deep and transitioning the play. He doesn't need to be able to play the killer pass, beat multiple players, make the entire play, he just needs to be able to make that transition in play happen quickly and effectively as we don't have that in any player right now and it shows. 

Hull didn't do their homework when they played us and we had the better of the game, every other team has been very smart, marking our midfielders tight in our own third and then pressuring the defenders until we're forced to go long where we've proven we're awful. I really admire that Pearson has managed to do what he's done considering he seems to have been hamstringged by a budget but I feel that despite being decent players he's only got one gameplan and right now most teams have figured it out. I was hoping coming into this season Pearson would have been working on a second gameplan to switch things up but it seems that instead we're still working on gameplan one and that's failing us. 

As many have said about getting a new striker, I don't think the big man striker would change anything. Sure he may win the initial long ball but then who would be play it to? The left and right forwards big the touchline so they're not an option and then our AM tends to be 10-15 yards away when the striker goes up for the ball. The striker could be winning every long ball but as we're set up he has noone running off of him or supporting him anyway so he'd just be pressured off of the ball quickly. 

For me the gameplan isn't bad, it's just we lack the quality in crossing and getting on crossing which makes me think we need players who will come inside more often and attack the opposition to create problems. When it comes to getting into attack situations we lack the transition player than Scott played the role of so well and so the gameplan isn't working because we're missing key players to make it work. 

I'm not very optimistic about this season, injuries have made the team selection very obvious, this gives the opposition a much easier time when they already know what to expect, we've got no second gameplan and worse still it looks like we're sticking with the gameplan and Nigel isn't allowed to bring in the quality he needs to make it work. 

If we have a new coach/manager next season and it's not a fantastic appointment I can genuinely see us being in a relegation scrap due to the clubs budgeting. I'm not saying we need to go spend £20m but I do think we need to invest in a quality midfielder that may cost us a little more than we'd like to spend or we have to accept this will be a long and frustrating season with a very predictable outcome in most games. 

[Kingswood Robin]

37 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Exaxctly.  People talk of the following that can play there:

Wells

Cornick

Bell

Weimann

That is quantity. We need QUALITY

An attacking midfielder would hopefully enhance what we currently have up front (and might make us worth watching), so that would be my priority. I'd be disappointed if we can't address this before the window shuts as I think it was something we were crying out for even when we had Scott. 

I certainly don't buy into the "why buy another striker, we can't play them all". Drop/move on one from your list as some just aren't up to it, even if they run around a lot. I'd love to see some quality up front, at the moment I'd settle for some effectiveness.

[BCFCAL]

20 minutes ago, Spike said:

Exactly this, it's because we have no creativity at all. As @BCFCAL said we are too easy to defend against if the opposition have done their homework. When we have the ball in defence we only have one midfielder drop to offer a pass in the middle, if the opposition right mark him we're forced to go wide to get out of our own third so the opposition pin us back by covering the flanks. It happens game after game and still we don't bring a second midfielder back because we lack the creativity there to play our way out and we're positioning to get our attack going but instead we end up playing it around at the back until we're forced to play the long ball which more often than not we do not win.

We're toothless up front because we just go wide and cross when we're not a team with good crossing ability and our target to cross to are not going to beat any decent center backs. 

I don't feel we need a striker, I feel like we need an outlet in the midfield, a player who can come collect the ball from the defence and being it forward allowing us more options when attacking, but we lost that in Scott. The whole argument about replacing Scott irritates me too as we don't need a like for like as people argue we do, we just need a midfielder who is good at coming deep and transitioning the play. He doesn't need to be able to play the killer pass, beat multiple players, make the entire play, he just needs to be able to make that transition in play happen quickly and effectively as we don't have that in any player right now and it shows. 

Hull didn't do their homework when they played us and we had the better of the game, every other team has been very smart, marking our midfielders tight in our own third and then pressuring the defenders until we're forced to go long where we've proven we're awful. I really admire that Pearson has managed to do what he's done considering he seems to have been hamstringged by a budget but I feel that despite being decent players he's only got one gameplan and right now most teams have figured it out. I was hoping coming into this season Pearson would have been working on a second gameplan to switch things up but it seems that instead we're still working on gameplan one and that's failing us. 

As many have said about getting a new striker, I don't think the big man striker would change anything. Sure he may win the initial long ball but then who would be play it to? The left and right forwards big the touchline so they're not an option and then our AM tends to be 10-15 yards away when the striker goes up for the ball. The striker could be winning every long ball but as we're set up he has noone running off of him or supporting him anyway so he'd just be pressured off of the ball quickly. 

For me the gameplan isn't bad, it's just we lack the quality in crossing and getting on crossing which makes me think we need players who will come inside more often and attack the opposition to create problems. When it comes to getting into attack situations we lack the transition player than Scott played the role of so well and so the gameplan isn't working because we're missing key players to make it work. 

I'm not very optimistic about this season, injuries have made the team selection very obvious, this gives the opposition a much easier time when they already know what to expect, we've got no second gameplan and worse still it looks like we're sticking with the gameplan and Nigel isn't allowed to bring in the quality he needs to make it work. 

If we have a new coach/manager next season and it's not a fantastic appointment I can genuinely see us being in a relegation scrap due to the clubs budgeting. I'm not saying we need to go spend £20m but I do think we need to invest in a quality midfielder that may cost us a little more than we'd like to spend or we have to accept this will be a long and frustrating season with a very predictable outcome in most games. 

Also, if we get a big number 9, as you said he heads it to nobody, and then if he's in the box to get his head on a cross, our wingers can't cross a road. Can't score from row Z.

[MelksRed]

58 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Exaxctly.  People talk of the following that can play there:

Wells

Cornick

Bell

Weimann

That is quantity. We need QUALITY

Agree. Quantity is not enough...

Not physically robust enough.......Bell and Cornick simply have no presence. 

[Dolman Block B]

Does anyone else feel that NP seems completely pissed off about the situation ?

No doubt his hands are tied but you can’t help feel sorry for the bloke. 

[Hello Dave]

1 hour ago, BCFCAL said:

People are also seeing Lansdown's self imposed wage bill as FFP constraints - it's not, City are fine FFP wise right now, it's Lansdown not wanting to spend.

That’s one of the reasons we’re ok as far as FFP is concerned, we’ve slashed the wage bill. Can’t have it all ways.

[Ivorguy]

A consistent dominating striker is what brings the crowd in.  Currently we have no player that would encourage me to pay a large sum for two of us to travel from deepest Sussex to Bristol to catch a game. With travel costs, overnight stay, and meals, on top of ticket price, I am looking at around £400 .  For that I would want to anticipate the possibility of a memorable visit - at present that looks a distant possibility.

 

[AG City]

Maybe a controversial suggestion, but if we want someone physical, mobile, can hold up the ball and knows where the net is then Jonson Clarke Harris is someone I would be considering.  He is also on the transfer list at Peterborough.   

Of course, there will be those saying not good enough for the championship, flat track bully, ex Gas etc but we are now shopping in League 1 and 2 and he is a proven goal scorer who also has some of the physical attributes we are sorely missing.

[Selred]

1 hour ago, And Its Smith said:

Exaxctly.  People talk of the following that can play there:

Wells

Cornick

Bell

Weimann

That is quantity. We need QUALITY

Wells, Cornick and Weimann all have enough Championship experience to be good enough. I actually think the issue is our only form of attack is going wide, and either a crap cross or the odd time it is good we aren't big enough. We need to vary up our approach to get the best out of our players.

[TMWANG50]

4 minutes ago, AG City said:

Maybe a controversial suggestion, but if we want someone physical, mobile, can hold up the ball and knows where the net is then Jonson Clarke Harris is someone I would be considering.  He is also on the transfer list at Peterborough.   

Of course, there will be those saying not good enough for the championship, flat track bully, ex Gas etc but we are now shopping in League 1 and 2 and he is a proven goal scorer who also has some of the physical attributes we are sorely missing.

On paper JCH was joint top scorer in League One with 26 league goals last year, has scored 21 in the Championship (including one against us!) is on the transfer list as this is what Posh do when you only have a year left of contract and is only 29? I know he comes with a bit of baggage but if you really want a big striker JCH would be top of your list if you could get him for the right price but interesting that no Championship clubs seem interested in him? Personally I would be taking a punt on him on a two year deal as he is the best available striker without breaking the bank. 

[Dolman Block B]

26 minutes ago, AG City said:

Maybe a controversial suggestion, but if we want someone physical, mobile, can hold up the ball and knows where the net is then Jonson Clarke Harris is someone I would be considering.  He is also on the transfer list at Peterborough.   

Of course, there will be those saying not good enough for the championship, flat track bully, ex Gas etc but we are now shopping in League 1 and 2 and he is a proven goal scorer who also has some of the physical attributes we are sorely missing.

And from what I’m hearing the Gas are red hot favourites to sign him. 
 

That would piss on their fire come transfer deadline day

[frenchred]

28 minutes ago, AG City said:

Maybe a controversial suggestion, but if we want someone physical, mobile, can hold up the ball and knows where the net is then Jonson Clarke Harris is someone I would be considering.  He is also on the transfer list at Peterborough.   

Of course, there will be those saying not good enough for the championship, flat track bully, ex Gas etc but we are now shopping in League 1 and 2 and he is a proven goal scorer who also has some of the physical attributes we are sorely missing.

Hes not mobile!

[Topper 123]

3 hours ago, Dolman Block B said:

Without stating the obvious it’s pretty clear we need an out and out striker. 
 

Gary Owers was interviewed on TV prior ti the Norwich game and basically said the same. 
 

A big strong man who can hold the ball up and pass to the likes of Wells Bell Weimann Conway 

 

What I can’t get my head around if Kalas has now moved on and must have surely been on 20k a week and this could be used to bring in a potential player?

And the truth of it all is we have seen Webster 18 million Kelly 14 million Semenyo 9 million Scott 20 million plus leave the club and although we have brought players in that’s a serious amount of income. 
 

Before anyone mentioned we had a debt of 38 million I know that but at Chamionship and Premiership levels there’s hardly a club that will not be in debt.
 

Personally I’d like to see K Moore from Bournemouth come in on loan but I know it’s doubtful

 

If no striker comes in then we can basically look at a low to mid table finish with most fans pretty pissed off. 

Mate I got slated for this at start of season :laugh: also need cover at back but people will say we’re ok , we’re 1 injury or suspension away from crisis and if vyner leaves we’re ****** 

[AG City]

23 minutes ago, frenchred said:

Hes not mobile!

I think where I mean mobile I am not necessarily talking pace, I mean he has the mobility around the box to get in defenders face, upset backlines, cause havoc and bring other players into play.

[Sheltons Army]

26 minutes ago, Dolman Block B said:

And from what I’m hearing the Gas are red hot favourites to sign him. 
 

That would piss on their fire come transfer deadline day

Be worth signing him , just for the crack

 

Hed be alright to throw on from the bench occasionally once TC and Andi are back

 

* Not sure he’s a NP type of personality 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Sheltons Army

[ProfitInMyPocket]

We may be lacking firepower up top with Conway missing but don't think that's the main issue.

Our midfield is okay if you want to pass sideways and try get the ball wide and get at fullbacks and get the ball in but if we get a new striker they'll be starved with the same service over and over.

Missing that attack minded midfield player that can get beyond their midfield and run at their defence. 

Been saying it for weeks and weeks, Scott would ride a challenge and drive 5-10-15 yards and release someone else who had more space because of the positive action.

That's what we're missing. A big mobile forward who can do the lot costs an absolute bomb in this market unless you find a gem overseas.

Our midfield is steady but we need something a little bit unpredictable in the middle. Someone who can pick up spaces in-between their defence and midfield and get us up the pitch through the middle instead of forcing us out wide every attack.

[Tomo]

We need cover at GK, CB and CF...

The simple summary is...

Mr Lansdown is not showing any intent to support Nigel Pearson, whilst we all know that we need cover in these positions. I feel for the manager especially when we have sold 35 Million of talent recently in Semenyo and Scott. 

It's a poor move by our owner not to support him. We are not talking about spending huge amounts of money to get that cover in, whether that's loan or permanent signings. It must be so frustrating for NP, when he knows that Little Lee had a open cheque book (which was the wrong thing to do clearly). 

I don't think Nige has a reputation of wasting money at any of his previous clubs and whilst he was aware of our financial position when he was appointed, there must be an air of frustration creeping in now, in view that we have sold 2 of our most valuable assets. 

I think it's naughty of SL not to give him some kind budget to get the cover in those key positions. For example, if we get injuries to players like Max, Vyner and Nahki, (alongside our other injuries), we are going to be struggling imo. 

Tomo   

[Tomo]

45 minutes ago, TMWANG50 said:

On paper JCH was joint top scorer in League One with 26 league goals last year, has scored 21 in the Championship (including one against us!) is on the transfer list as this is what Posh do when you only have a year left of contract and is only 29? I know he comes with a bit of baggage but if you really want a big striker JCH would be top of your list if you could get him for the right price but interesting that no Championship clubs seem interested in him? Personally I would be taking a punt on him on a two year deal as he is the best available striker without breaking the bank. 

From what I know, I don't think JCH has the 'personality' for Nige to sign this lad, so rule this one out. 

[BCFCAL]

1 hour ago, Hello Dave said:

That’s one of the reasons we’re ok as far as FFP is concerned, we’ve slashed the wage bill. Can’t have it all ways.

We're £30m up in transfer fees, and at least £10m less in wages over the last 3 years. Bristol City are no longer on the FFP radar, and are nowhere near it, we have capacity to spend a good bit of wages, as long as we aren't chucking £20,000 P/W on a 5 year deal. But that's not what we're asking, or myself at least, it's just after a little bit of backing from the man who has lost interest in Bristol City.

Edited August 30, 2023 by BCFCAL

[richyy66]

47 minutes ago, TMWANG50 said:

On paper JCH was joint top scorer in League One with 26 league goals last year, has scored 21 in the Championship (including one against us!) is on the transfer list as this is what Posh do when you only have a year left of contract and is only 29? I know he comes with a bit of baggage but if you really want a big striker JCH would be top of your list if you could get him for the right price but interesting that no Championship clubs seem interested in him? Personally I would be taking a punt on him on a two year deal as he is the best available striker without breaking the bank. 

He's off to the Gas. Very good signing for them. Unfortunately our club is just producing talent from the academy and selling them on for a massive profit just to keep the finance books in credit. Unless someone from higher up or an investor pumps some revenue into the club for new players this club will never get beyond mid table championship. There is no ambition unfortunately.

[fanjita]

1 hour ago, AG City said:

Maybe a controversial suggestion, but if we want someone physical, mobile, can hold up the ball and knows where the net is then Jonson Clarke Harris is someone I would be considering.  He is also on the transfer list at Peterborough.   

Of course, there will be those saying not good enough for the championship, flat track bully, ex Gas etc but we are now shopping in League 1 and 2 and he is a proven goal scorer who also has some of the physical attributes we are sorely missing.

Definitely worth a punt,,he is a proven goal scorer 

[Shauntaylor85]

Didn’t see the game last night but heard good things around Yeboah. Are we seeing him as more of a right sided option or central striker? It’s clear as day even before Tommy was injured that we needed a powerful CF.