Worst attacking options since January 2000

[Royalee]

Big difference between bulking up and smashing the life outt of the Pizza Buffett after training though....

At least he might have sweated some of it off of he'd tried to smash the place up.

[Plymouth_Royal]

The question is what happened with Long over the summer?

Was he told by BR or maybe even SSC that he should bulk up? has the pressure of being the only 1 of the 4 strikers from the PL era become too much? Has he just got too big for his boots?

As much as he's been slated on here for years the fact is he still managed goals at this level and above. I'm just gutted the lad hasnt kicked on

and his shorts

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

The question is what happened with Long over the summer?

Was he told by BR or maybe even SSC that he should bulk up? has the pressure of being the only 1 of the 4 strikers from the PL era become too much? Has he just got too big for his boots?

As much as he's been slated on here for years the fact is he still managed goals at this level and above. I'm just gutted the lad hasnt kicked on

I think I read somewhere that he'd got into boxing? Probably not the most compatible training regime.

No mis heard.

Ricky Hatton is his drinking partner....

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

So the Pole is proving exactly what he is.... a bit of a lanky lad, slow, half decent scoring record but other than that?

Church flatters to deceive.

The @boyhunt is swanning off to Disneyworld or whatever it is called - and probably best out of it at the moment.

Time to give HRK a run. He can't be any worse.

And I'd certainly put Nicholas Bignall alongside him (when he's fit again.) I tell thee - Biggers is our saviour this season.

[SteveRoyal]

Church will improve when he isn't troubled by injuries and suspensions.
Rasiak scores goals, but that's about it. His al round game is poor.
Hunt is injured.
Long is dogsh**.
Thorvaldsson is unproven.

Brilliant.

[Sun Tzu]

Church will improve when he isn't troubled by injuries and suspensions.
Rasiak scores goals, but that's about it. His al round game is poor.
Hunt is injured.
Long is dogsh**.
Thorvaldsson is unproven.

Brilliant.

Thorvaldsson is hardly unproven.

We may not know much about him but that's a different thing.

[Hoop Blah]

He's totally unproven in the English game.

Kebe, Cisse and Fae were unproven too.

[PEARCEY]

He's totally unproven in the English game.

Kebe, Cisse and Fae were unproven too.

Yep I agree.

[Sun Tzu]

He's totally unproven in the English game.

Kebe, Cisse and Fae were unproven too.

So was Doyle, so was Shorey, so was Hahnemann....

Most players we sign don't have a big track record at the level we are playing at.

[Hoop Blah]

Still unproven though, you said he was!

His signing is a bit of a gamble. We've seen that these gambles are exactly that, a punt on a cheap option. That's great, but you need to support those punts with established proven players.

When we signed Doyle we had Kitson and Lita as our front two. Kitson was proven at the level we were competing and Lita was proven in the league below, but as with all new signings still a bit of a gamble. Both gambles paid off thankfully.

Can we afford for this latest gamble not to pay off? I don't think we can, so I'd say we need another forward in to share that burden.

[PEARCEY]

He's totally unproven in the English game.

Kebe, Cisse and Fae were unproven too.

So was Doyle, so was Shorey, so was Hahnemann....

Most players we sign don't have a big track record at the level we are playing at.

They were all unproven in the Championship or in Shorey's case the First division at the time of their signings though. How can they be proven if they have not played at that level before?

[Hoop Blah]

They can't, that's the point though.

You need a mix within any team. Currently we don't have much in the way of proven performers at this level so buying more unproven talent becomes more of a gamble.

[Sun Tzu]

Still unproven though, you said he was!

His signing is a bit of a gamble. We've seen that these gambles are exactly that, a punt on a cheap option. That's great, but you need to support those punts with established proven players.

When we signed Doyle we had Kitson and Lita as our front two. Kitson was proven at the level we were competing and Lita was proven in the league below, but as with all new signings still a bit of a gamble. Both gambles paid off thankfully.

Can we afford for this latest gamble not to pay off? I don't think we can, so I'd say we need another forward in to share that burden.

Any player we sign is unproven.

They've not played in our system, with our players, under our manager.

Of course Thorvaldsson is 'unproven' in English football, I'd just question whether describing a player as 'unproven' is anything more than a cliche. 'Proven' players can be flops (see Nugent and endless others), 'unproven' players can be stars. Thorvladsson is no 18 year old out of non league football - if we were banking on Antonio to do a job it would be a real gamble. At least with Thorvaldsson he's got a decent record, is well known to several of our players etc etc

Time will tell !!

[Hoop Blah]

I agree on that, and I've always said, any signing is a gamble as you don't know how they'll settle on or off the pitch, or if they'll pick up an injury or anything that might effect the success of a move.

Having some record of achievement and performance at the level you're buying them to play at is at least reducing part of that gamble though. That's why players cost more than others, because they've already proven they can perform to a certain level and adapt to life at a level of competition.

Obviously we can't afford to buy ready made players for all positions, but I firmly believe we need to buy some experienced and proven performers. It's what Coppell failed to do in the summer of 2008.

[PEARCEY]

I agree on that, and I've always said, any signing is a gamble as you don't know how they'll settle on or off the pitch, or if they'll pick up an injury or anything that might effect the success of a move.

Having some record of achievement and performance at the level you're buying them to play at is at least reducing part of that gamble though. That's why players cost more than others, because they've already proven they can perform to a certain level and adapt to life at a level of competition.

Obviously we can't afford to buy ready made players for all positions, but I firmly believe we need to buy some experienced and proven performers. It's what Coppell failed to do in the summer of 2008.

It was the summer of 2007 when IMO Coppell failed to bring in experienced players.

[Hoop Blah]

Yes your spot on, that's exactly what I meant!

When Sidwell left, Little was falling to pieces and we'd already lost Sonko to injury we should've strengthed. Instead we stood still, which we all know means you really go backwards.

[facaldaqui]

Yet last season, it could be argued that we brought in Little and Kitson at the New Year window, Lita arrived back, and we already had Doyle and SHunt (NHunt had got injured). Fantastic attacking options in theory, yet still we could hardly score. Even with dire form, we still almost got promoted.

With Thorvaldsson, my impression is that we're getting a classy footballer who is crocked from past injuries. Even so, if he can bring a bit of control and thought to the forward line, that will make a difference. However, if he spends a lot of time injured or cannot last whole games, I will seriously wonder what we were doing bothering with him.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

There's a massive, massive difference between being un proven and Championship level than being un proven in English football. Doyle doesn't really count being Irish and was a total freak of a signing that we have never repeated.

The simple fact is we have never signed a player from abroad who has hit the ground running, the only to prove himself was Shaka, the rest have varied from slight failures, to massive failures.

[Big Foot]

Still unproven though, you said he was!

His signing is a bit of a gamble. We've seen that these gambles are exactly that, a punt on a cheap option. That's great, but you need to support those punts with established proven players.

When we signed Doyle we had Kitson and Lita as our front two. Kitson was proven at the level we were competing and Lita was proven in the league below, but as with all new signings still a bit of a gamble. Both gambles paid off thankfully.

Can we afford for this latest gamble not to pay off? I don't think we can, so I'd say we need another forward in to share that burden.

Any player we sign is unproven.

They've not played in our system, with our players, under our manager.

Of course Thorvaldsson is 'unproven' in English football, I'd just question whether describing a player as 'unproven' is anything more than a cliche. 'Proven' players can be flops (see Nugent and endless others), 'unproven' players can be stars. Thorvladsson is no 18 year old out of non league football - if we were banking on Antonio to do a job it would be a real gamble. At least with Thorvaldsson he's got a decent record, is well known to several of our players etc etc

Time will tell !!

6 goals since 2006, decent ????

[Sun Tzu]

There's a massive, massive difference between being un proven and Championship level than being un proven in English football. Doyle doesn't really count being Irish and was a total freak of a signing that we have never repeated.

The simple fact is we have never signed a player from abroad who has hit the ground running, the only to prove himself was Shaka, the rest have varied from slight failures, to massive failures.

Presumably having excluded irish players as 'foreign', which of course they are, you are referring to 'British' football when you talk of 'English' football. We've signed players from outside England who have been successful (Darius being the example that springs to mind).

I'm not sure that the fact that Thorvaldsson hasn;t played in England is a big deal. Icelandic players have generally made the transistion very easily, they have no language problems and he's got 3 compatriots in the side already. Culturally he won;t have a big problem and he's played in several countries so being away from home isn;t anything new. I would suggest that signing him is no more of a gamble in this regard than signing a player from Hartlepool. He's got the advantage of being an international and having played in top leagues in a couple of countries.

He may flop, he may not. I agree with Hoops point that you do everything to minimise the chances of a player failing to settle but I still don;t see the value of trotting out the cliche that he is 'unproven' does much.

No doubt the signings of the proven Kitson and Ferdinand should be taken into account....