Do we really need another striker?

[winchester_royal]

Blackman had one good spell in League One in an otherwise completely uneventful and uninspiring career. You want to know how many goals he scored for Sheffield United? 11. That was his best total of any club he has played with. His touch is awful, his finishing awful, his passing awful, real good player for Brian to spend £1.2m big ones on.

He won't come good, of course humble pie will come my way if he does come good, but he won't. We need to invest in another option, and fast.

11 goals in half a season? Right. Awful. He impressed our recruitment team (notoriously prudent) enough to spend >1m. We didn't see anywhere near enough of him last season to make anything close to a conclusive judgement, and indeed made a very promising cameo at West Ham in the last game of the season. And has impressed a number of seasoned observers this pre-seeason.

Obviously he's no Gary Hooper, but he's not rubbish, and will be more than adequate back-up to the likes of Alf and Pog.

If Pog does go then a reevaluation will be needed, but given the money he's on, and the money we'll be looking for, his departure is not a formality.

[P!ssed Off]

Blackman had one good spell in League One in an otherwise completely uneventful and uninspiring career. You want to know how many goals he scored for Sheffield United? 11. That was his best total of any club he has played with. His touch is awful, his finishing awful, his passing awful, real good player for Brian to spend £1.2m big ones on.

He won't come good, of course humble pie will come my way if he does come good, but he won't. We need to invest in another option, and fast.

11 goals in half a season? Right. Awful. He impressed our recruitment team (notoriously prudent) enough to spend >1m. We didn't see anywhere near enough of him last season to make anything close to a conclusive judgement, and indeed made a very promising cameo at West Ham in the last game of the season. And has impressed a number of seasoned observers this pre-seeason.

Obviously he's no Gary Hooper, but he's not rubbish, and will be more than adequate back-up to the likes of Alf and Pog.

If Pog does go then a reevaluation will be needed, but given the money he's on, and the money we'll be looking for, his departure is not a formality.

Bit of a retraction from:

"If we'd signed Blackman this summer everyone would have been very happy with it as a 'sign of ambition'"

to

"Obviously he's no Gary Hooper, but he's not rubbish, and will be more than adequate back-up to the likes of Alf and Pog."

'At the end of the day', Nick Blackman's signing was one of the biggest panic buys I've ever seen Reading make. We paid well over the odds for a decent League 1 player, as if there was some mere some possibility that signing him would save our season.

At that price, and at that time given who we should have been signing, it was a truly awful signing.

If we'd signed Blackman at the start of this season for say 400K (a third of what we did pay), as a backup striker, then I would say "that is an ok signing". Not a 'sign of ambition', just an 'ok' signing.

PS: If Blackman's next 'long throw' is a foul throw, then I will wash my hands of him completely.

[NewCorkSeth]

PS: If Blackman's next 'long throw' is a foul throw, then I will wash my hands of him completely.

Ha didnt the commentator say something along the lines of "you dont see that often at this level"? good times..

[P!ssed Off]

PS: If Blackman's next 'long throw' is a foul throw, then I will wash my hands of him completely.

Ha didnt the commentator say something along the lines of "you dont see that often at this level"? good times..

He did it two games in a row, two consecutive throws of his even.

The second time, in a home game, I shouted "Don't foul throw" just before, and then he went and did it anyway .

[NewCorkSeth]

He did it two games in a row, two consecutive throws of his even.

The second time, in a home game, I shouted "Don't foul throw" just before, and then he went and did it anyway .

That is brilliant! I hope he takes all of our throw ins from now on. While he was only on display briefly last season so my valuation of him is incomplete (i thought he was useless) the staff and players it seems rate him quite highly? maybe it was just the big step up and weight of expectation last season that was holding him down? coming to a relegation battling side for an inflated fee, mid season, when you have never played at a high level cant be easy right? I for one say lets give him some time! I truly hope hes not a complete waste of time

[Ian Royal]

As for the suggestion that we wait to see whether Pog goes - utter insanity! Have people still not learned the hard lessons from the past?! Pog goes with just a day left in the transfer window - then what?!!!

We get a loanee in a couple of weeks later.

Oh yeh! Because clubs are always looking to loan out proven goalscorers!

What a daft argument!

Clearly some haven't learnt from the the mistakes of the past.

Clearly some haven't learnt from being wrong (repeatedly) that the way the club is run won't bring success.

[Hoop Blah]

If we'd signed Blackman this summer everyone would have been very happy with it as a 'sign of ambition'. If we want to give youth a chance then we'll have to give 'untried' players a chance to prove their worth. Roberts will some back from his injury by September. And as you say Pog and Alfie are both excellent options. That's 5 strikers competing to fill 1 spot. Yeah, another one is definitely a must.

Agreed.

The difference being with Blackman is we've now seen him play! He may flourish under Adkins of course, but he didn't look good enough last season.

Roberts is another one who I'd say, like Carrico before his move, is just unlikely to play much. He's had a serious injury and I'd be surprised if it doesn't end his career as coming back from it at his age is a big task.

Le Fondre, despite people saying he's proven at Championship level, is primarily a goalscorer and his best contributions have been off the bench. He's not best suited to being the focal point of our attack of we play one up front with 3 supporting, it's just not his game.

[NewCorkSeth]

The difference being with Blackman is we've now seen him play! He may flourish under Adkins of course, but he didn't look good enough last season.

Roberts is another one who I'd say, like Carrico before his move, is just unlikely to play much. He's had a serious injury and I'd be surprised if it doesn't end his career as coming back from it at his age is a big task.

Le Fondre, despite people saying he's proven at Championship level, is primarily a goalscorer and his best contributions have been off the bench. He's not best suited to being the focal point of our attack of we play one up front with 3 supporting, it's just not his game.

Hmm an intelligent response! I agree with you on Roberts but he still serves as a back up! but if POG does actually go then i think Blackman will make a fine interim striker? no? and then ALF can come on to wreck it. This leave Dom and Roberts as back up for injury!

[Hoop Blah]

How can Roberts be a serious alternative or backup if, as you agree with me, he's unlikely to be involved? A few years back we mistakenly didn't get sufficient cover/competition on our right wing because we thought Little would recover. He never did and we used a stupid number of square pegs in the round hole on our right wing. It led us to relegation.

Blackman is a bit of a wildcard but I'd be amazed if we went into the season with a winger/come centre forward as our only senior alternative to Le Fondre. We are big hitters in this league this season and he, as an interim forward as you put it, has very little on his CV to suggest he's capable of leading the line and being the main man this season.

As for Samual, I've only seen him probably 3, maybe 4 times, in youth football and although he obviously has something about him he hasn't really dominated defenders at that level. We need a forward who's going to do that if we want to make the 4-2-3-1 system work effectively.

Le Fondre can do a job. I'm working on the principle that his job won't be leading the line as a lone forward for 46 games in a season which to me means that if Pogrebnyak leaves, and probably even if he doesn't, we need another forward so we have enough cover and competition to be able to keep players on their toes and to be tactically flexible (we might have one up front as a rule, but I imagine there will be many times when Adkins will want to play 2 up.

[Cypry]

I think too many people are simply assuming that Pog will go.....

The recent comments by his agent are, IMO, very similar to those made by HRKs brother about both him and Pearce - suspect they're more about trying to drum up some interest than anything.

From the outside, his season last year must look pretty poor (it looked poor enough as a Reading fan), and I'd be amazed if clubs were queuing up, willing to meet both his release fee and wage demands.

If he stays, then I think the answer to the OPs question is no - ALF and Pog as headline strikers (assuming we start most games with one up front), with Blackman, Samuel, possibly Roberts and, in an emergency, HRK as backup.

If he does go, then we will need someone else in for sure, however, it may well be that Pog leaving will trigger that - I'd be suprised if we signed a "name" striker "just in case"...

[marcusopp]

PS: If Blackman's next 'long throw' is a foul throw, then I will wash my hands of him completely.

Ha didnt the commentator say something along the lines of "you dont see that often at this level"? good times..

He did it two games in a row, two consecutive throws of his even.

The second time, in a home game, I shouted "Don't foul throw" just before, and then he went and did it anyway .

You probably put him off! It's like shouting 'good luck' just before someone takes a penalty!

[Hoop Blah]

I said a few weeks ago that if Pogrebnyak doesn't leave (and I'm not convinced he will) I still think we need to add a forward with genuine pace to complete our options up front.

Maybe Samuel or Blackman can offer that option, but from what I've seen of both they don't have that raw pace to threaten in behind in the way a Forster, Bellamy, Johnson etc can/could. That's something we've not really had for years (Long was quick and mobile, but not genuine pace).

[maffff]

The second time, in a home game, I shouted "Don't foul throw" just before, and then he went and did it anyway .

You put him off...

[NewCorkSeth]

How can Roberts be a serious alternative or backup if, as you agree with me, he's unlikely to be involved? A few years back we mistakenly didn't get sufficient cover/competition on our right wing because we thought Little would recover. He never did and we used a stupid number of square pegs in the round hole on our right wing. It led us to relegation.

Blackman is a bit of a wildcard but I'd be amazed if we went into the season with a winger/come centre forward as our only senior alternative to Le Fondre. We are big hitters in this league this season and he, as an interim forward as you put it, has very little on his CV to suggest he's capable of leading the line and being the main man this season.

As for Samual, I've only seen him probably 3, maybe 4 times, in youth football and although he obviously has something about him he hasn't really dominated defenders at that level. We need a forward who's going to do that if we want to make the 4-2-3-1 system work effectively.

Le Fondre can do a job. I'm working on the principle that his job won't be leading the line as a lone forward for 46 games in a season which to me means that if Pogrebnyak leaves, and probably even if he doesn't, we need another forward so we have enough cover and competition to be able to keep players on their toes and to be tactically flexible (we might have one up front as a rule, but I imagine there will be many times when Adkins will want to play 2 up.

How many games do you expect a back up to start? I don think hes gonna be an alternative but being a back up just requires him to be available if one of our main strikers is unfit or injured!

True Blackmans CV is a little shy of the necessary experience to mount a title challenge but I doubt he will play on the wing much.. we have 5 better wingers! so im going to presume his job will be to fill in as our back up or if POG goes to do what he did!

Fair enough for Dom but i just fancy the look of him In the admittedly few games and clips ive seen of him he excited me! I would love to see him get a chance!

In saying all that I am not trying to say i dont want another forward but as we stand right now Im not convinced we really NEED one! I really do think we have adequate cover!

[Hoop Blah]

How many games do you expect a back up to start? I don think hes gonna be an alternative but being a back up just requires him to be available if one of our main strikers is unfit or injured!

A backup forward needs to be available for pretty much the whole of the 46 game season don't they? If not, how are you going to plan Roberts involvement around the starting forwards being unavailble?

In Roberts case I just don't think he'll be available to play at the required level all season. He's had a serious injury. One that I think could be finishing his career. If that's the case (which I hope the club are planning for in the way they didn't for Little) then he won't be available full stop.

True Blackmans CV is a little shy of the necessary experience to mount a title challenge but I doubt he will play on the wing much.. we have 5 better wingers! so im going to presume his job will be to fill in as our back up or if POG goes to do what he did!

So what you're saying is that you think Blackman, a player who seems to have played a lot of his lower league football on the wing, will be good enough to play up front on his own in a division he's never really peformed in before.

Fair enough for Dom but i just fancy the look of him In the admittedly few games and clips ive seen of him he excited me! I would love to see him get a chance!

Yep, he scored a wonder goal that made it on to YouTube and has scored a decent number of goals at youth level. He's still only played 3 games professionally though and as it stands he could be our 3rd choice forward IF Roberts is finished and Pogrebnyak moves on.

In saying all that I am not trying to say i dont want another forward but as we stand right now Im not convinced we really NEED one! I really do think we have adequate cover!

I disagree. I think we still need one in now and if Pogrebnyak leaves then we definitely need at least one.

[NewCorkSeth]

A backup forward needs to be available for pretty much the whole of the 46 game season don't they? If not, how are you going to plan Roberts involvement around the starting forwards being unavailble?

Available for yes but how many would he actually play in? In Roberts case im gonna guess 20-ish! and most wont be full games

So what you're saying is that you think Blackman, a player who seems to have played a lot of his lower league football on the wing, will be good enough to play up front on his own in a division he's never really peformed in before.

Yeah kinda! The untested in this league goes both ways! neither of us know how well he is going to perform as we have nothing to go by! other than last season which I think is an unfair judgement on him for several reasons. 1. Pressure of premier league football for a relegation battling side. 2. inflated price spent on him would have increased pressure and 3. coming in to a new side will have that settlement period.

Yep, he scored a wonder goal that made it on to YouTube and has scored a decent number of goals at youth level. He's still only played 3 games professionally though and as it stands he could be our 3rd choice forward IF Roberts is finished and Pogrebnyak moves on.

If the POG moves on then yes I agree we need another striker but as of now he is still here so its not relevant to say "if pog goes we need another striker". That is obvious and nobody would debate that. Was a lovely goal to be fair

I disagree. I think we still need one in now and if Pogrebnyak leaves then we definitely need at least one.

So we just disagree primarily on squad construction! I think 2 players for every position works best (and in case of strikers there should always be a minimum of 3 senior players) IF Pog goes then we have to buy another as Roberts is fine cover if we have 4 strikers (as he would need to feature in less games) but if we only have 3 i would be worried

[Hoop Blah]

So when you said (it was you right?) that you agreed with me that Roberts is facing the end of his career and unlikely to feature this season, what you meant was you think he's going to be fit and available but not good enough.

I just don't think he's ever going to get fit enough to be available to play again, not properly. I'm basically discounting him as I can't see him coming back from his injury.

You seem to be discounting the backup forwards contribution from the bench as well. I know we have Le Fondre to add into the mix, but if Pogrebnyak stays then the player in Roberts' backup position as you refer to it, needs to be on the bench or pushing for a place on the bench. Roberts is unlikely to be that player. Yes there's Blackman as well, but if he's both the untested gamble and the experienced backup then we're going into the season light IMO.

Pogrebnyak, Le Fondre, Blackman, Roberts, Samuel doesn't look too bad in number no, but it's relying on 3 gambles paying off and a player who can't really play upfront on his own having to do just that quite a bit.

Regarding squad construction, I think you need adequate competition, cover and options to play in different ways and to offer different problems to the opposition. I'm not sure that 4 or 5 really do that at the moment.

[NewCorkSeth]

Yeah I think he is facing the end of his career but I just think he has some games at least left in him.
I see your point about competition for places which is something we had with Hunt and maybe a signing like Sharp or Ebanks-Blake could help us out in that department and that Blackman is playing two roles that oppose each other but as a rotation player i dont think were that poorly off!

We can safely say this is Roberts final year which means soon we should be in the market for a replacement but I would prefer to see us sign a Premier league quality striker! the bast way i can think to do that is be in the premiership (as we would be a much more attractive club to come to)

Do we need another striker to get there? As of now I dont think so.Obviously you do and you have good reason to! youre focus is on quality while mine is on depth (i think). you think our back up isnt good enough but i just see them as back up! as players who dont have to be exceptional but available to fill in when POG and ALF need a breather!

I think we have serious fire power in our squad, great wingers and a solid backline (we need a cover left back or a younger one coming up.. Bridge is great but not one for the future) Our squad is one of the most exciting I have seen! Im sure many others would agree not that im saying its wrong to want more just that I dont think were going to be lacking for much this season. Feel free to abuse me if im wrong

[Hoop Blah]

I agree this is quite an exciting squad, and I've got quite high hopes for this season.

The biggest weakness for me though is not having a forward who's totally comfortable playing that lone forward role, and the one who's most suited to it might well be off.

Depth without quality is pretty pointless though and it certainly doesn't win you leagues.

[NewCorkSeth]

Ah yes when i said depth i was referring to the fact we have ample back up for every position! our first team players are all quality! It pleases me to no end to be able to say that!