Golden Graham, how will Danny Graham fare at Wolves?
At last, Wolves seem to have finally signed a striker with proven quality in the second tier. Danny Graham has been signed on loan until the end of December to give the team some much needed firepower up front.
Graham's record speaks for itself at this level, and despite a shaky past 18 months, he showed he can play at this level whilst out on loan to Middlesborough. But after the unsuccessful loan of Yannick Sagbo, how will the Northerner fare down at Molineux?
Graham was brought by Swansea following their promotion to the Premier League, after displaying his fine form at Watford.
In South Wales, Graham showed he had the ability to be a well rounded striker. With Swansea philosophy of pass and move football, he was able to hold up the ball and link up play to allow the midfield to join in attack. Considering Wolves tend to play a more patient brand of football, the centre forward in the system needs to be able to join up the play, move the opposition, and exploit the space.
As well as being a good team player, Graham showed the predatory instincts of a classic number 9. He scored a wide variety of goals that season. From a one-on-one, to a six yard tap in, to a header at the far post; Danny Graham is an archetypal striker.
As previously mentioned, Graham's record in the Championship is very strong. At Watford, he scored in 41 of 98 games, and while on loan at Middlesbrough last season he averaged a goal every three games.
In the Premier League he scored in 12 of 36 games in Swansea's inaugural season, before being restricted to substitute appearances.
However, Graham has not performed to his high standards since leaving Swansea. He is yet to score for his parent club Sunderland, having already made 12 appearances, and only managed one goal while on loan at Hull City in 18 outings for the Tigers.
He did well at his home-town club Middlesbrough whilst on loan there in the second half of last season, but it might have indicated his Premier League form at Swansea was only temporary.
The other worry about signing Graham on loan is the fact he has not played any competitive football so far this season. One of the main problems with Sagbo whilst he was down at Molineux was he clearly wasn't 100 per cent fit. With Graham not having played competitively since May, there may be fears he is lacking match sharpness when Wolves need someone to hit the ground running.
Overall, Danny Graham could be a very good acquisition at Championship level. He might lack a bit of sharpness to begin with, but he is almost certainly better than all our other forwards, bar Nouha Dicko. Kenny Jacket will be hoping to have the Danny Graham of Swansea and Watford, and not the Danny Graham of Sunderland and Hull.
Read more blog posts from Richard Hobbs here.
