Strikers needed to fire for Albion
Tuesday 27th October 2009, 9:10AM GMT.
Albion blogger Jarrod Hill believes the missing piece to the Baggies’ jigsaw is a new goal-getter as the team’s struggle continues in front of goal.
Wanted – A striker capable of scoring 20 plus goals in the Championship, immediate start, the right candidate has the option of the position being either temporary – until the end of the season – or on a permanent basis.
This position is key to our short and long term success. The successful candidate will not only enjoy being part of a young and aspiring team but will also enjoy the admiration of our supportive if not slightly frustrated customers – us, the fans.
You can see it, I can see it, everybody can see it, so why do I get the impression the powers that be at the Albion are reluctant to admit it?
We need to invest in someone who can come in and score the goals that can turn our draws into wins. Since hammering Middlesbrough 5-0 we haven’t had a single goal from any of our strikers, this isn’t a problem that has suddenly crept up on us and shouted trick or treat, it is something that has been there all season.
But the shortage of goals from our forwards had been glossed over by the fact the goals continued to be delivered from other parts of the team, but – at a time when the goals have dried up – the focus comes back to the boys who are paid to hit the back of the net.
It is starting to become an unwanted pattern, we dominate possession, create little, miss the few chances we do muster and then bemoan our lack of cutting edge up front.
A number of fans have pointed at the fact we may have what we are looking for right under our noses. Simon Cox scored a vast amount of goals last season for Swindon and, although he didn’t look sharp enough at the beginning of the campaign, maybe he has been put aside a little too early.
Three months on, three months of getting to know his new team mates and gain greater fitness might be just what the lad needed. Certainly he must be getting ever closer to a start, as his striking colleagues continue to falter and we seek alternatives within our squad.
I hope Cox does prove to be our knight in shining armour and I would be as pleased as anyone, but my overriding feeling is that we need to sign another striker asap.
I have heard fans saying its OK wanting a striker on-loan, but who is available? The truth is it’s not our job to be researching potential targets – that’s what our scouting network is employed to do.
I hate to say the fateful words, but a striker bang in form and scoring goals really would feel like the missing part of our head coach’s Roberto Di Matteo jigsaw. The gaffer has added the much needed steel we all craved for under Tony Mowbray, with the addition of Gonzalo Jara and Youssouf Mulumbu giving us a backbone that has real guts.
But we seem to have forfeited our attacking intent of recent seasons and it’s resulted in the majority of Albion fans becoming ever so slightly tetchy.
Our recent form has been patchy to say the least and the competitive nature of this division has seen us slip from first to third, with a whole clutch of teams ready to take advantage of us dropping any more points.
Maybe it is the need for points here and now that is fuelling both mine and many other fans frustration, I just hope that we have some of our injured players back available, namely Chris Brunt and Roman Bednar for the Watford game this Saturday.
We need goals and we need them now, so to be honest at this moment in time I don’t care where they come from. This season we will witness a number of teams parking the proverbial bus in front of their goal, and we need more than ever to score goals in games as soon as possible.
But does our answer lie within our squad, or from taking advantage of the loan system?
In truth maybe a bit of both.
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I’m not so convinced by the “we need a goalscorer” argument, because we already have them: Bednar, Cox, Moore, Woods and even Reid.
Time and time again the delivery of crosses has been poor. Against Coventry how many times did Dorrans kick free kicks into the stands? Corners were poor. Jerome Thomas is, I feel only merits his inclusion after his display at Reading and is too inconsistent. Dorrans and Koren have seriously gone sour. The short-term problem at the moment is the injury of Chris Brunt and Marek Cech, and some time soon – James Morrison, if only he’d leave his singing career to rest and get his boots back on for the Albion. With Cech/Brunt, Mulumbu and Teixeira in midfield, and Bednar, Moore and Cox up front. Meaty.
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surgical blog once again Jarrod.
I haven’t had this feeling since the grim days of the Premier League…but I’m seriously debating where our next 3 points are coming from.
Maybe its me being of a biased mind, but I feel that everytime we have a chance to pull ahead of the group we fail miserably and often to lesser opposition. The question I’d like to put forth to you guys and girls today is,
Do WBA enjoy doing it the hard way?
Your thoughts…
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simon cox is the man he must be given a chance luke moore has been given a chance and is not up to the job he is utter cr.p if we dont start scoring we a,int going up i am now starting to worry about rdm he must hate cox
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Bomber, spot on as usual – there is nothing wrong with the team at this level other than the lack of goals & we shouldn’t start imagining problems elsewhere just because the forwards aren’t scoring. The added steel throught the spine of the side has been a revelation this season – how easily some supporters forget how poor we have been in this area over the past few years.
My view on the forwards is that we DO have the answer right under our noses – a combination of Bednar and Cox with Wood on the bench should be fine. Add Miller to that line up sometime in the new year (although I think it will take him time to find his feet after a long layoff)and we have the jigsaw completed.
I don’t include Luke Moore in any of this – I like to think I am pretty fair minded and give people a chance, but my patience has run out after nearly two years of laziness and lack of application. No doubt someone else will take him on, thinking that they can rediscover the striker who scored a hat trick in the Premiership, but the reality is that no amount of ability (and he is no superstar anyway) can overcome a bad attitude. Give him a couple more years and he will be playing in the lower leagues with his brother. Maybe when he retires in years to come, he will realise what an opportunity he has wasted.
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1. FRICKEN RIGHT THEY DO!
WHATS HOLDING US FROM GETTING A REAL GOALSCORER LIKE WE ONCE DID WITH KP. OR ARE WE TO STAY IN THIS DIVISION FOR EVER? PEACE PLEASE ANSWER.
• ANYONE INTERESTED TO JOIN THE MALTA BAGGIES SUPPORTERS CLUB PLEASE CONTACT ME ON ALFREDMILLER71@YAHOO.COM FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
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I can’t argue with the assessment that we need a finisher, and quick, but it also needs saying that ‘all we need is a finisher’ because I can’t see much wrong with the rest of it. We dominate most games and a goal would bring out the bus from in front of their goal, making more space to add another goal. Simples. Squeak! Nor can I totally agree that Moore is c.r.p as preston says. All the attributes are there, speed, skill, power, etc., but no determination or grit. His head drops so quickly and he has become a luxury we cannot afford. I am reminded of Ellington when I watch Moore. PS: Is Ellington playing on Saturday?
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Duke playing on Saturday ? He will SCORE on Saturday ! Why do we have 5 strikers and no goalscorers ? Boing and, indeed, Boing !
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I agree with Jarrod; sorry, but I don’t see any of the current strikers in the 20+ bracket. I’ve been studying Luke all season and believe he isn’t “lazy”; I don’t want to slate the young man, but there are issues here that neither he nor the club are facing up to. He is not at fault, the problems are related to his eye/ball co-ordination – his body isn’t always quick enough to “read” what he sees.
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luke moores stats
Year : 2009
Games : 21
Starting Line-up : 5
Substitutions : 16
Goals : 1
Penalties : 0
Yellow Cards : 1
Red Cards : 0
Minutes Played : 679
1 goal in 679 minutes for year 2009 hardly going to set the league on fire maybe if he gets another yellow card he might score again
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We just need a goal scorer!and if the ones we have don’t start doing the biz,then they can shove off.How much would we get for the bunch that perport to be forwards at the moment?not a lot.Perhaps £3m for Bednar and Moore.Should we take the dough in Jan for ‘em?maybe,if anybody wants them.Of course if These 2 scored 15 goals between them by Jan.then they might be worth keeping,o’h blimey theres a pig just fled past my window.It’s a worry,the lack of goals at the moment,it needs to be addressed quickly.
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things aint that bad,i won a raffle last night i won 4 tickets to wolves end of season party,anybody want to come,its next sunday.aye boing boing
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Some of you so called supporters have short memories. Yes last season we had flowing football but we also had the worst defence because TOMO hadn’t got a clue on how to defend.
Give RDM a chance he has tightened up the defence by at least 60%, now he has got that problem sorted he will concentrate on the attacking and finishing aspect, so that we start scoring again.
As far as Cox is concerned TOMO did exactly the same with Dorrans he never played him until he thought he was ready and now look at him. RDM is following the same rule he has got to let Cox settle into our style of football coming from the lower divisions. That is why they have training, it’s just like any job you have to be trained to become proficient, only when he is ready will RDM put him in to start a game, then I believe we will have another Dorrans in the making.
Meanwhile patience is a virtue I want to see the Baggies score goals as much as anyone else.
Booing and moaning at the players is being “childish” If we were third from bottom instead of third from top I could understand it, when we get all of the Squad fit again we will start to kick ass, until the be patient we be back in the “Prem” next season.
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I’m in agreement with 99% of you that Moore needs taking out the team but its not just up front that we have issues.
Mattock is the worst left back we have had for years. He needs taking out the team asap. Cech or Jara should play there next match.
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WANTED – A chairman who will seriously give our club a chance of staying in the Premier should we ever get back there.Morrison,Clement & Miller have long term injuries,players who would walk into our current team and they have not been replaced.Dispondency and reality set in with many fans at Coventry on Saturday and many are waking up and realising that we try to do everything on the cheap.Some supporters delight at the deals our chairman does when he gets big money for players who leave(most of it is never seen again)
This present team could not live with the one we had two years ago,our club is going backwards while the chairman rakes it in.He put the club up for sale last year (FOR A MONTH),how serious was that??
Come on Jeremy, Put the club up for sale and lets try and take the next step to compete seriously for the fans sake.
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Well said. We have been suffering from a lack of firepower since KP. Connor, trying to find fault in a midfield that has been solely responsible for our table topping displays this season is absurd. The answer is far simpler and always has been. I would like to give Cox a bit of a chance but not at the Baggies. Loan out Cox and Reid, sell Moore for as much as possible, keep Wood for the future and find two decent strikers that Bednar and Miller have to overhaul for a place in the 1st team. I’m afraid Bednar and Miller probably arn’t Premiership quality at the moment. They need competition to inspire the best out of them. If we do loan out Cox and Reid (to championship level teams) then we must be prepared to make a decision as to weather or not they are indeed good enough to keep on the books. I’m sorry to go on but this has been one of my qualm’s with our set up for a couple of years now. Jarrod is spot on, at least one prolific striker on loan please before X-mas and we can pull away in this league. I know it’s hard to find such a player but most teams at the top of our league have managed it and we’re a far better prospect than all but the Magpies and possibly Boro. A goal scoring midfield and defence is an invaluable weapon but you can only win a league with great strikers.
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stop taking the pee out of wolves 14 when our club is in a worst state than theirs
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Streetly, we are third in a tight league. Middlesbrough and Newcastle aren’t running away with it either. We need a goal scorer urgently. Do you think that Roberto and JP are not aware of this if we are? I’m sure the accounts of the club are available to view so that your damaging assessment of the Chairman can be challenged or verified. The club was put on the market for a month and withdrawn so as NOT to disturb the season. We are NOT a big club. We are a medium sized one and probably will ever be so. If JP were ‘raking it in’ would he not have taken just ANY shirt sponsor? Any money is better than no money. Or is it? Be careful what you wish for when it comes to selling the club. You might just get it!
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Connor Davies is talking rubbish. He says his team with Moore would be ‘meaty’! Moore is useless and has proved himself to be useless on many occasions. Perhaps Connor, you pay a visit to the mosque you admire so much and request divine intervention…….
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17,Point taken Cyril,but with three promotions and three relegations with three different managers and the same chairman,WHERE IS THE PROBLEM ???
Jeremy cant take us to the next level,just like Ellis couldnt at Villa or Sullivan/Gold at Blues.
So what would you prefer a chance of promotion and then guaranteed relegation so back to square one or a fresh start with someone(WHOEVER THAT WOULD BE)to give the club the opportunity to try and compete in the Premier?
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Just WHO are these prolific scorers we could go and sign now?
Which retarded manager/chairman would allow the transfer to us, of such a prolific scorer??
If we could get someone in would’t said prolific scorer, need time to gel with the team.
Why would we send out on loan, our very own prolific scorer – 32 goals – BEFORE we even give him a run in the first team???
Lets see what the situation is after another 4 or 5 games.
If things are still the same then alarm bells should be ringing for RDM and Albion.
LET’S BACK THE TEAM 100% THROUGHOUT THE GAME ON SATURDAY.
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17 Cyril.
Well answered. All I would add Streetly is that I’m surprised your post got past the E&S regulator. You are on the borderline of accusing the Chairman of fraud or at the least, improper practices.
Whenever we have a couple of bad results you come on singing the same old song. Warren has explained to you many times that the accounts are there to see but this doesn’t suit your argument.
I hope you have a good lawyer and very deep pockets because one day JP may read one of your innuendo filled posts.
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19 Streetly.
Just seen your answer to Cyril. Look at where Blues were when Sullivan and Gold took over. These two are in a different league money wise to JP, yet we’ve had similar recent records and you want to get rid of him. Do you really want to be in the hands of someone you know very little about like Carsen Yeung? Pay heed to what Gordon Strachan said yesterday at Boro’, ‘I know where the money comes from’ what do you think he was hinting at? Have a look at what’s going on at Portsmouth before you answer that question. Also have a look at Charlton, Leeds, Bradford, Sheff Wed, Norwich the list really is a long one.
I see your answer is to sell the club to, and I quote ‘someone (WHOEVER THAT WOULD BE.)’ I hope you don’t work in the financial world. I think I’d rather have Laughing Wolf looking after my money.
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Brunt 4
Bednar 3
Cech 3
Thomas 3
Moore 2
Wood 1
Jay Simpson 6
Says it all….
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No disrespect to Coventry, but on current form they’re no better than a league 1 side. You know, that league in which Simon Cox netted 32 goals last season!
Loan signings. Hard enough finding a club willing to allow a proven goalscorer go out on loan but then you’ve gotta allow the lad a couple of games to settle in, adjust to our style of play and find his match fitness not to mention sharpness, as invariably, he will have come from his parent clubs reserves. Ok so some loans work great, but for every Andy Hunt theres 10 Brett Angels! Always a gamble then! A bigger gamble than starting Cox?
Kevin Philips. That would be a superb loan signing, i really hope it happens. But unfortunately i live in the real world! He scored 20plus goals over two consecutive seasons here, we shouldv’e given him whatever he wanted but we messed him about. Would he want to return? And why would Blues let a player go out on loan who played and scored for them the other week – whats in for them?
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9 – Elaine, he had a penalty against Ipswich this season & guess what…. he missed it! I really thought finally Luke moore was gonna turn the corner but there is something wrong and Im not sure if he ever will.
We have a natural goalscorer and his name is Ishmael Miller. The sooner we get him back the better. His size, abilty & the unusual combination of speed as well, made him perfect for this league.
But in the mean time we DO need someone proven in scoring!
I thought Bednar would do the job again like he did the last 2 seasons. But I hate to say this, he hasnt been the same since the whole drugs thing!
We cant sit around & wait for the likes of Cox etc to start scoring, we will have waisted valuable points that could make all the difference by then.
As 12 – Baggie68 said players like that take time as Dorrans did, so lets have patience… but we DONT have the time for that now. We need a striker in! The blog is right we shouldn’t be tormenting ourselves, thinking of the best candidates. Im tired of naming names.
Just get someone in RDM please.
P.S do we have to wait till January or can we use the ‘Emergency’ loan market??
Because I think is a big enough Emergency! :)
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Streetly, Doug Ellis may be compared with Jeremy Peace in that he is rich by our standards but not compared with the ex Blues Board who could amass around 1.2 billion squid betwixt them. Yet their ticket prices were frightening and they didn’t spend much more than we did overall. What I cannot argue about is, if we get up this year with our present strike force, we shall come down again. Yet the team is showing great signs that the defensive problems are being sorted and we do have the makings of a fine side. If JP and Roberto aren’t aware of all this I would be amazed. I am prepared to be patient while we find a goal scorer because that’s all we need in my view. Oh, and for the Mattock knockers, I don’t agree with them either. What does tickle my fancy though are the ones who never stopped cussing about ‘tippy-tappy’ football under the previous manager, (whose name escapes me), yet now it was sweeping, flowing, exciting, etc. It was DIFFERENT and I happened to prefer it to the Meggo style. Stoke are establishing themselves but I’m not sure I could stick around to watch that stuff at my age. Gruel will keep you alive but I prefer steak, chips, mushrooms and peas. Even if I get occasional indigestion!
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I reckon someone like David Healy from Sunderland wouldn’t be a bad bet on loan? Then a permanent move for Jermaine Beckford in January?
Thoughts???
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27 – David Healy’s not a bad shout at all!
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I wish Jeremy Peace would just swallow his pride
and get this loan signing we so desperately need.
After that dismal performace against Swansea Iam
seriously thinking of knocking the Albion on the
head,Iam not a season ticket holder so I
pick and choose my games.
That SW game was a disaster from start to finish
and it doesnt help when you have a spotty little kid frisking you before you enter the
ground.
There was one thing Tony Mowbray was good at
it was breaking teams down at home,using 4 out
and out creative midfeilders,
GERA,KOREN,GREENING,MORRISON.
This is where Roberto Di Matteo is going wrong
by insisting on using 2 holding players in
games,hense the problem of our strikers not
scoring goals.
With this Albion 11 Iam sure we could score
bags of goals and beable to break teams down.
=============================================
carson.zuiverloon.jara.olsson.cech.
brunt.koren.dorrans.thomas.bednar.cox.
=============================================
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Why do people keep going on about Bednar? Time and time again he’s proven that he ain’t the man we seek to put the ball in the back of the net. He has been well fed by the midfielders in recent games but can’t win a ball to save his life. And on the odd occasion he does, he simply doesn’t know what to do with the ball. I say get rid. Unfortunately, whilst up-and-coming, Wood and Cox lack the experience in front of goal.
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I think the headline is a misprint.
It was intending to say STRIKERS NEED FIRING.
A bit like the rest of the team.
Terry you are obviously dyslexic. It says on those raffle tickets End of season celebration. Premiership Standard. Baggies supporters welcome bring you own Coca Cola!!!!!
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31 – It’s good to see at least one of the Wulfies have managed to find some pride and actually post anti Albion remarks as an honest Dingle.
The real shame is that judging by his name, he’s obviously more concerned about our little fizzy pop league team, instead of his own team of world beaters…..bless!
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DorransLB. I’m almost with you on one point. We do have one or two buxom blondes on security and it should be compulsory for them to do the frisking. At Coventry a big, burly bloke frisked my big, burly nephew. I refused to be frisked unless it was done by a lush blonde in the same outfit who was helping him, pleading ‘sexism’, ageism and any other ‘ism’ I could think of.
It nearly worked too! I’m pleased to say the Coventry security had a great sense of humour, especially whenI told her I’d never had any toys as a child.
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Awwww why dont u ask santa for a goalscorer for xmas, and if you’ve been good, he might even keep you up this year
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32 Shouldn’t that be PinNed Ball???
Shame really.
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