Ok we have a fairly large squad, but how many decent strikers?

[davew]

My own opinion is perhaps 1, Smith is the only 1 but should be allowed to play more. I don't go along with the criticism that he is 1 dimensional, slow etc (too tired to repeat all the phrases I read on here). Ross, is he a striker or an attacking mid field player? The 2 youngsters well sorry neither are up to championship standard, 1 tries to be and wants to play for us and the other thinks he is probably too good for us though to be fair has not been given that many chances, but when he has, well again sorry to say he is not yet at the standard required due to lack of ability and commitment. Who else do we have in the squad, nobody else springs to mind? We don't just have problems in defence, with a decent midfield with a few better players up front we could actually win a few games even with the existing defence!

[laurencecapel]

There's no more fella - Smith is the only one we can play. I'd love to take a punt on Dembele or Woodrow (who are talents) but we haven't got the time for that right now.

Maybe just maybe Gayle will come in but I do feel it's a real shame Mitroglu couldn't be persuaded to stick it.

[davew]

Nice to know there is 1 other person on here who agrees with me, perhaps KS will post on this topic?

[DeuceBigelow]

Both Dembele and Woodrow are not yet good enough to start. They may be in a couple of seasons.
Smith is.
Agree that Ross (or Kit) needs to make up his mind- is he a striker or not?

[laurencecapel]

With the passing ability of O'Hara and Cairney all we need is a willing runner. Dwight Gayle would be superb and we should be giving him everything to sign - imagine him playing off of the Smith knock ons...

[Lighthouse]

We need pace up front and a replacement for Rodders. Gayle will not drop down to the Championship but we do need somebody up there. I am not sure about Smith. He seems to fade out of games too often unless we start becoming a bit obvious and one dimensional.

Still we had as big a job this season as we did last year to build a new side. The midfield without pace is getting there. But full back injury problems has shown again that we need cover for the poor backs we now have and the central defenders. So how much time have we to replace the rest of the team?

[laurencecapel]

Gayle may drop the division if the difference is staying in London or moving up north...

[Humbled]

Gayle is coming..... the only way that changes is if a late offer from a prem club comes in within the next 7 days.

[@jolslover]

Dembele is a good striker. Why arent people seeing this. Give him his chance and he will do well. Improved a lot over the summer, and all hes got is a couple of 15 minute cameos (he has looked sharp) and the game against colchester (where he scored)

I think before buying a striker we should give Moussa atleast a couple of games

[MJG]

Whatever we do if Smith plays we need to improve his passing stats.
Two games in and has 38% pass success rate,  the worst for an Outfield player in the championship who has played 90mins or more.

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[Ordar]

Whatever we do if Smith plays we need to improve his passing stats.
Two games in and has 38% pass success rate,  the worst for an Outfield player in the championship who has played 90mins or more.

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Does that included headed passes though? He's expected to direct those long passes to other players. It's more a percentage game, plus with Ross barely being near him he doesn't have a lot of targets

[MJG]

Whatever we do if Smith plays we need to improve his passing stats.
Two games in and has 38% pass success rate,  the worst for an Outfield player in the championship who has played 90mins or more.

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Does that included headed passes though? He's expected to direct those long passes to other players. It's more a percentage game, plus with Ross barely being near him he doesn't have a lot of targets

Yes it does,  but it's fair to compare against all the other players in the league as well.
What it shows is we are playing long to him and while he wins headers he's either not directing them in the right place or we are not supporting him enough with the knockdowns.
Either way as I have always said it's percentage football and losing it 60% of the time when it goes to him puts you back under pressure.
Now take note,  this is not a slight against Smith,  it's just a stat,  but it does show how we are playing to him and what happens off of it a lot.

[laurencecapel]

MJG agree fully - too many occasions yesterday Smith wins the first ball and not one player in white is on to the second ball. Fighting a losing battle playing long ball if we can't get the support upfield.

That said, I barely see the ball to Smith's feet so never actually see him hold it up for the runners.

[MJG]

MJG agree fully - too many occasions yesterday Smith wins the first ball and not one player in white is on to the second ball. Fighting a losing battle playing long ball if we can't get the support upfield.

That said, I barely see the ball to Smith's feet so never actually see him hold it up for the runners.

I agree with that and I get criticised for saying we we play long to him,  but facts show that we do. It's simple lazy  football from some very simple lazy players.

[laurencecapel]

MJG agree fully - too many occasions yesterday Smith wins the first ball and not one player in white is on to the second ball. Fighting a losing battle playing long ball if we can't get the support upfield.

That said, I barely see the ball to Smith's feet so never actually see him hold it up for the runners.

I agree with that and I get criticised for saying we we play long to him,  but facts show that we do. It's simple lazy  football from some very simple lazy players.

No coincidence that the only times we didn't go long yesterday was when we exploited the channels and built a passing move.

[Twig]

Just to address the OP, there is also Taggart but until we get him fit, who knows what we sort of talent have there.

[MJG]

Just to address the OP, there is also Taggart but until we get him fit, who knows what we sort of talent have there.

Someone who runs the channels looking for space... So would be wasted up front atm.

[Berserker]

Somebody at the game yesterday thought Smith was going to Bristol,  anybody heard that?

[laurencecapel]

Somebody at the game yesterday thought Smith was going to Bristol,  anybody heard that?

I can't see that happening - Kit's one tactic would be out of the window then!

[FPT]

Our team is desperate for pace up top to stretch the pitch and keep defenders looking over their shoulders – we don't have that. Our midfield actually resembles Bournemouth's somewhat, Tom Cairney = Matt Ritchie, the inward heading wideman, Lasse Vigen Christensen = Harry Arter, the box-to-box midfielder, Jamie O'Hara = Andrew Surman, the deeper ticker of the team and Ben Pringle = Marc Pugh, the touchline hugging winger that can go inside or outside of his full back. With that Bournemouth midfield, they had a linkman to play into in Yann Kermorgant or Brett Pitman and a striker to stretch the opposition defence in Callum Wilson.

I think our midfield structure needs to be clearer, Ben Pringle urged to be the wider option and Lasse Vigen Christensen more thrusting and mobile. We need to create our own space to play in, and with our players, we always need to have that threat in behind and that player that makes defenders constantly afraid of looking over the shoulders. Believe it or not, but Matt Smith has none of this. Smith has had 9 shots and scored the once, his passing accuracy is horrendously low – and you can take into account that nobody gets onto knockdowns, but our players in midfield are technically too good to be playing for knockdowns. Lets play through the pitch, and if we need to go long, lets aim for in behind the defence or in the channels rather than simply up in the inevitability of giving the opposition the ball.

Moussa Dembele deserves an opportunity for me, he impressed when he came on at Cardiff – playing a vital role in the Ross fiasco in the dying minutes – whilst also showing the endeavour, pace and power to attempt taking on the Brighton defence on his own. I know there's an issue with his commitment, but should he sign a new deal, I'd call for him to start because that's 100% what we need from our leading striker. I would love to see us sign Dwight Gayle for that Callum Wilson affect because teams are absolutely delighted to have all the play ahead of them, no defenders wants to be back peddling and having to make last ditch tackles like Mr Hutchinson.

So you may believe that Matt Smith is our only decent striker, but I believe he's the complete opposite of what we need.