Rumour - Jordan Hugill

[leon]

That would make him the highest paid player in the squad next season.

He needs to prove that he is worthy of that status first. I'd love to see him prove he is worthy of that sort of money because he's exactly the sort of personality and attitude we need at the club, but I have my doubts.

I’d rather not thanks. Let’s give someone younger and cheaper a chance. Not impressed with this signing.

[Orion1871]

People actually want this? Can't believe Hugill is still dining out on a few months of good form at Preston 5 years ago.

[Snowflake Royal]

Unless one of our 4 strikers are moving on in January I don't see the point of bringing anybody in.
Azeez, IF he stays fit, makes it 5 which is surely enough.

The likelihood is that we will finish around mid-table, maybe slightly lower, so why even think of bringing somebody else in?

BTW I liked the bit in the article which said that Andy Carroll has signed till 2024-have I missed something?

This is where my head is at.

Yes, end of season we have Joao and Meite probably leaving, though I wouldn't say Meite is certain. But we definitely have Carroll, we have Azeez, Ehib and Clarke potentially. Plus we may still have Puscas on the books, and there's also Long to consider. I do think we need a refresh at striker, but more in the summer when there are more options around and we have more head room in the budget.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Unless one of our 4 strikers are moving on in January I don't see the point of bringing anybody in.
Azeez, IF he stays fit, makes it 5 which is surely enough.

The likelihood is that we will finish around mid-table, maybe slightly lower, so why even think of bringing somebody else in?

BTW I liked the bit in the article which said that Andy Carroll has signed till 2024-have I missed something?

This is where my head is at.

Yes, end of season we have Joao and Meite probably leaving, though I wouldn't say Meite is certain. But we definitely have Carroll, we have Azeez, Ehib and Clarke potentially. Plus we may still have Puscas on the books, and there's also Long to consider. I do think we need a refresh at striker, but more in the summer when there are more options around and we have more head room in the budget.

I do also think it's sensible to start planning for next season now though, even if this ends up being a loan with a permanent move in the summer for example, at least it means we definitely will have 2 contracted forwards with us at the start of the season.

Joao I'd be expecting to leave, Long and Meite I wouldn't be so confident about leaving, but I can imagine they would go as well potentially. Puscas I'm expecting will be surplus to requirements again and will either move permanently or go out on loan for another season, Azeez can also be used but I wouldn't say he's an out-and-out striker and I'd question whether Clarke or Kelvin E were up to it yet, but could be. Even if they are, that's still more options and it means less to fill in the summer where we are definitely going to need to redo our midfield again.

The budget now could also be a good thing if we can get him to agree an 18-month deal on a lower wage than we could do in the summer, that's if we were to sign him this month permanently that is anyway.

[leon]

Unless one of our 4 strikers are moving on in January I don't see the point of bringing anybody in.
Azeez, IF he stays fit, makes it 5 which is surely enough.

The likelihood is that we will finish around mid-table, maybe slightly lower, so why even think of bringing somebody else in?

BTW I liked the bit in the article which said that Andy Carroll has signed till 2024-have I missed something?

This is where my head is at.

Yes, end of season we have Joao and Meite probably leaving, though I wouldn't say Meite is certain. But we definitely have Carroll, we have Azeez, Ehib and Clarke potentially. Plus we may still have Puscas on the books, and there's also Long to consider. I do think we need a refresh at striker, but more in the summer when there are more options around and we have more head room in the budget.

I do also think it's sensible to start planning for next season now though, even if this ends up being a loan with a permanent move in the summer for example, at least it means we definitely will have 2 contracted forwards with us at the start of the season.

Joao I'd be expecting to leave, Long and Meite I wouldn't be so confident about leaving, but I can imagine they would go as well potentially. Puscas I'm expecting will be surplus to requirements again and will either move permanently or go out on loan for another season, Azeez can also be used but I wouldn't say he's an out-and-out striker and I'd question whether Clarke or Kelvin E were up to it yet, but could be. Even if they are, that's still more options and it means less to fill in the summer where we are definitely going to need to redo our midfield again.

The budget now could also be a good thing if we can get him to agree an 18-month deal on a lower wage than we could do in the summer, that's if we were to sign him this month permanently that is anyway.

Why do people want him?

His stats are fairly shit and he’s bounced around clubs not really making an impact really - unless I’m missing something fundamental?

[YorkshireRoyal99]

This is where my head is at.

Yes, end of season we have Joao and Meite probably leaving, though I wouldn't say Meite is certain. But we definitely have Carroll, we have Azeez, Ehib and Clarke potentially. Plus we may still have Puscas on the books, and there's also Long to consider. I do think we need a refresh at striker, but more in the summer when there are more options around and we have more head room in the budget.

I do also think it's sensible to start planning for next season now though, even if this ends up being a loan with a permanent move in the summer for example, at least it means we definitely will have 2 contracted forwards with us at the start of the season.

Joao I'd be expecting to leave, Long and Meite I wouldn't be so confident about leaving, but I can imagine they would go as well potentially. Puscas I'm expecting will be surplus to requirements again and will either move permanently or go out on loan for another season, Azeez can also be used but I wouldn't say he's an out-and-out striker and I'd question whether Clarke or Kelvin E were up to it yet, but could be. Even if they are, that's still more options and it means less to fill in the summer where we are definitely going to need to redo our midfield again.

The budget now could also be a good thing if we can get him to agree an 18-month deal on a lower wage than we could do in the summer, that's if we were to sign him this month permanently that is anyway.

Why do people want him?

His stats are fairly shit and he’s bounced around clubs not really making an impact really - unless I’m missing something fundamental?

His record at this level is decent at most clubs he has been at. I'm not expecting him to fire us to promotion, but if he can get 13-15 goals over a 46 game season, for what he will cost in wages, that would be good business from us, we have to be realistic with where we are.

He's had a decent impact at both QPR and Cardiff where he has played on a fairly regular basis for both. It doesn't make me jump out of my seat personally speaking, but a decent player by all accounts at this level, so I'm not bothered about it. Better than throwing record fees and big wages on an inexperienced Championship forward that struggled to fulfil their potential and price tag and are now shipped out on loan to Italy.

[72 bus]

This is where my head is at.

Yes, end of season we have Joao and Meite probably leaving, though I wouldn't say Meite is certain. But we definitely have Carroll, we have Azeez, Ehib and Clarke potentially. Plus we may still have Puscas on the books, and there's also Long to consider. I do think we need a refresh at striker, but more in the summer when there are more options around and we have more head room in the budget.

I do also think it's sensible to start planning for next season now though, even if this ends up being a loan with a permanent move in the summer for example, at least it means we definitely will have 2 contracted forwards with us at the start of the season.

Joao I'd be expecting to leave, Long and Meite I wouldn't be so confident about leaving, but I can imagine they would go as well potentially. Puscas I'm expecting will be surplus to requirements again and will either move permanently or go out on loan for another season, Azeez can also be used but I wouldn't say he's an out-and-out striker and I'd question whether Clarke or Kelvin E were up to it yet, but could be. Even if they are, that's still more options and it means less to fill in the summer where we are definitely going to need to redo our midfield again.

The budget now could also be a good thing if we can get him to agree an 18-month deal on a lower wage than we could do in the summer, that's if we were to sign him this month permanently that is anyway.

Why do people want him?

His stats are fairly shit and he’s bounced around clubs not really making an impact really - unless I’m missing something fundamental?

He is a decent target man and Andy Carroll wont be up to playing every game next season

[leon]

His record at this level is decent at most clubs he has been at. I'm not expecting him to fire us to promotion, but if he can get 13-15 goals over a 46 game season, for what he will cost in wages, that would be good business from us, we have to be realistic with where we are.

He's had a decent impact at both QPR and Cardiff where he has played on a fairly regular basis for both.

At championship level in the last 5 years he's scored 28 goals in 150 games. So in a 46 game season he might get 8........

Better than throwing record fees and big wages on an inexperienced Championship forward that struggled to fulfil their potential and price tag and are now shipped out on loan to Italy.

This is what I love about HNA - I literally said the OPPOSITE to this.

Although following your logic he would be better than setting fire to all our team and then shitting on the corpses....which is a fair point

[YorkshireRoyal99]

His record at this level is decent at most clubs he has been at. I'm not expecting him to fire us to promotion, but if he can get 13-15 goals over a 46 game season, for what he will cost in wages, that would be good business from us, we have to be realistic with where we are.

He's had a decent impact at both QPR and Cardiff where he has played on a fairly regular basis for both.

At championship level in the last 5 years he's scored 28 goals in 150 games. So in a 46 game season he might get 8........

Better than throwing record fees and big wages on an inexperienced Championship forward that struggled to fulfil their potential and price tag and are now shipped out on loan to Italy.

This is what I love about HNA - I literally said the OPPOSITE to this.

Although following your logic he would be better than setting fire to all our team and then shitting on the corpses....which is a fair point

Norwich and West Brom obviously don't see him as useful, that doesn't mean he can't be for someone like us. If you look at where QPR and Cardiff were when he was there, they were in a similar-ish position to us, not going up, but a decent enough side and he had a decent enough record there.

Besides, if our scouting/management department think his skillset could do better in our set up than in what he's had previously at the likes of Norwich and West Brom, then I'm happy with that. I suppose you could say Liverpool were mad to sign that Chelsea reject Mo Salah as well, whereas that obviously wasn't the case, they identified a player that suited the way they played.

Also, I wasn't disagreeing with what you said re spending loads on players that aren't worth it, I was agreeing with that point so not sure why you pointed that out.

[leon]

His record at this level is decent at most clubs he has been at. I'm not expecting him to fire us to promotion, but if he can get 13-15 goals over a 46 game season, for what he will cost in wages, that would be good business from us, we have to be realistic with where we are.

He's had a decent impact at both QPR and Cardiff where he has played on a fairly regular basis for both.

At championship level in the last 5 years he's scored 28 goals in 150 games. So in a 46 game season he might get 8........

Better than throwing record fees and big wages on an inexperienced Championship forward that struggled to fulfil their potential and price tag and are now shipped out on loan to Italy.

This is what I love about HNA - I literally said the OPPOSITE to this.

Although following your logic he would be better than setting fire to all our team and then shitting on the corpses....which is a fair point

Norwich and West Brom obviously don't see him as useful, that doesn't mean he can't be for someone like us. If you look at where QPR and Cardiff were when he was there, they were in a similar-ish position to us, not going up, but a decent enough side and he had a decent enough record there.

Besides, if our scouting/management department think his skillset could do better in our set up than in what he's had previously at the likes of Norwich and West Brom, then I'm happy with that. I suppose you could say Liverpool were mad to sign that Chelsea reject Mo Salah as well, whereas that obviously wasn't the case, they identified a player that suited the way they played.

Also, I wasn't disagreeing with what you said re spending loads on players that aren't worth it, I was agreeing with that point so not sure why you pointed that out.

because you were offering it as the only alternative when clearly I was suggesting something else, that's why

In the last 3 years (74 games) he's scored 9 goals.

The Salah example is He played 13 games for Chelsea and then did ok at Fiorentina and great at Roma. It was obvious he was delivering the goods. And he was younger as well.

Anyway I'm not convinced but obviously want to be proved wrong.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

At championship level in the last 5 years he's scored 28 goals in 150 games. So in a 46 game season he might get 8........



This is what I love about HNA - I literally said the OPPOSITE to this.

Although following your logic he would be better than setting fire to all our team and then shitting on the corpses....which is a fair point

Norwich and West Brom obviously don't see him as useful, that doesn't mean he can't be for someone like us. If you look at where QPR and Cardiff were when he was there, they were in a similar-ish position to us, not going up, but a decent enough side and he had a decent enough record there.

Besides, if our scouting/management department think his skillset could do better in our set up than in what he's had previously at the likes of Norwich and West Brom, then I'm happy with that. I suppose you could say Liverpool were mad to sign that Chelsea reject Mo Salah as well, whereas that obviously wasn't the case, they identified a player that suited the way they played.

Also, I wasn't disagreeing with what you said re spending loads on players that aren't worth it, I was agreeing with that point so not sure why you pointed that out.

because you were offering it as the only alternative when clearly I was suggesting something else, that's why

In the last 3 years (74 games) he's scored 9 goals.

The Salah example is He played 13 games for Chelsea and then did ok at Fiorentina and great at Roma. It was obvious he was delivering the goods. And he was younger as well.

Anyway I'm not convinced but obviously want to be proved wrong.

As mentioned though, he's played at 2 clubs (Norwich and West Brom) that probably don't play to his strengths or are just expecting better than what he can offer. If you take his record at a more comparable Cardiff and QPR, he has 57 appearances and 17 goals which works out at around 13.7 goals in a season. Obviously both are a couple of seasons ago, but this is the market we are going to be looking at, he isn't a bad player and will probably do as well, if not slightly better, than what we've already got and he might be cheaper and suit our system better than someone like Joao for example.

Yeah but Salah found his level, had to drop down to move up again. Hugill is possibly similar, the likes of promotion-expecting/PL clubs like West Brom, Norwich and West Ham probably aren't his level, but someone like ourselves, mid-table in the Championship, probably is his level. Ok, due to his age he probably won't make it back up again, but I'm not bothered about that, I'd rather just have a decent Championship striker for the sake of a couple of years as we need to stabilise ourselves. Agree, I'm not excited by it, but I'd imagine it would be decent business and if not, he would be a cheap flop.

[Hound]

There’s enough there to think he’d do a solid if unspectacular job. I’d certainly think our current style would suit him far better than Norwich for example

At least Bowen and co have a coherent strategy. Just get the most horrible bunch of big lumps together basically

[blythspartan]

There’s enough there to think he’d do a solid if unspectacular job. I’d certainly think our current style would suit him far better than Norwich for example

At least Bowen and co have a coherent strategy. Just get the most horrible bunch of big lumps together basically

+1 We’re building the new crazy gang.

[leon]

What does he offer us? Seriously asking as I'm unsure. What are his strengths - quick, skillful, can hold the ball/link man, good the air, run the channels, 6 yard box poacher - what?

[From Despair To Where?]

He's cheap, not completely past it and might fit into Ince's system better than others. Thats pretty much where we are atm.

He's basically a target man.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

The few times I've seen him, he's a bit of a bully and he's not scared to put himself about. Decent enough in the air and would be decent from set pieces.

Also just looked at WhoScored who say his style of play is suited to flick ons, lay offs, gets fouled often and is a counter attacking threat. So could work in a 2 and with players around him and with him being decent in the air, getting fouled often might be nice to help relieve some pressure and allow us to cause a problem for the opposition that way and seeing as we tend to have less of the ball, someone whose style of play is being a threat on the counter attack would be useful for us.

I wouldn't say I've ever seen him absolutely excel at any of this, but he's always seemed a decent enough threat when we've played against him and has a decent enough eye for a goal. Based on that, I'd say he probably suits what we'd want from our strikers.

[From Despair To Where?]

Whenever I've seen him play he's been a big awkward lump who puts himself about.

[72 bus]

What does he offer us? Seriously asking as I'm unsure. What are his strengths - quick, skillful, can hold the ball/link man, good the air, run the channels, 6 yard box poacher - what?

Style of play
Hugill is a target man forward, has great strength and is able to out-muscle opposition defenders. Former Port Vale teammate Tom Pope stated that Hugill had an excellent attitude and "was desperate to learn and improve".
In other words the complete opposite of Lucas Joao
Source: Wikipedia

[Coppells Lost Coat]

Hard pass. We have target men. We have the probably the best header of the ball in the league in Carroll yet still dont use him effectively. Meite also can be a lump target man who does win his fair share of headers. Long also puts himself about enough.

A player that has gone to 7 clubs in 7 seasons. Says enough to me. Never scored more than 15 goals in any season in his entire career.
I am not sure why we are entertaining the idea of getting another player who was doing well 4/5 years ago but has done diddly squat since. We are in no desperation for another player who might try hard.

Just because he might be available does not mean we need to have in in our squad.

[Coppells Lost Coat]

Former Port Vale teammate Tom Pope stated that Hugill had an excellent attitude and "was desperate to learn and improve".
In other words the complete opposite of Lucas Joao
Source: Wikipedia

Since then he has scored a whopping 67 goals in all competitions in 9 years. Not exactly learnt much - hasn't exactly had bad managers to learn from either.