I think our main problem with strikers is we sign them and don't play them or expect them to tackle, run out wide and mow the pitch as they walk off at full-time. I'd love us to play to a strikers strengths.
Only last season we had two strikers storming the goal scoring charts for the division. This season we'd already got two of our strikers in double figures for league goals before this crazy lockdown. Winnall and Watkins got 11 and 10 goals respectively, obviously with Winnall leaving the end of January, but before that would it have been Dyer and Shipps?
Both Moore and Woodrow had to score some worldies to get their tallies. Winnall relied heavily on Hourihane too. I agree Dyer and Shipps were last pair of out and out strikers we had.
I'll give your Woodrow but I don't think Moore scored any worldies. He was definitely an out and out striker! The amount of goals Woodrow scored with his first touch inside the 18 yard box though?
I don’t like the role Woodrow is being asked to play but understand why we are asking him to do it. His natural instincts are still getting him in the right positions but it’s a big ask of him.
We're nowhere near dangerous enough in and around the box. Time to take the square pegs out of the round holes. Get Woodrow back up top alongside Chaplin. Get midfielders running at the opposition more often. Get the wide players further up the pitch and attacking the box. Put more balls into the box and across the keeper. Shoot with some ****ing venom and keep the ball down. And do a better job of retaining possession. Too many lazy or sloppy passes. Does my head in. There. Fixed it.
He was down the pecking order behind Big Trev, Derrick Parker and Glyn Riley. At that stage in his development, rightly so. So he left to try to further his career and never looked back. Might look worse with hindsight than it did at the time but don’t many things?
Flicks and back heels do my head in when we gift away possession because someone thinks it's a hot coal. Most of the players that do it are **** scared of holding onto the ball.
I think that’s just the way the game’s gone, it’s not just us. Doubt we’ll see another Andy Payton type striker any time soon.
In all fairness, David Speedie was never a striker for us. He was a midfielder and was behind Glavin, Lester, Banks and Norman Hunter who was played on the left hand side of midfield towards the end of the 1979/80 season. Darlington signed him as a midfielder during the Summer of 1980 and was played in that position by them, until they had a number of strikers unavailable. He was moved up front and the rest is history.
Loved the one on Saturday though. If Brown had placed that anywhere but straight at the goalkeeper we'd be talking about it for years.
It'll be interesting to see how often Woodrow gets in the box today. He barely went near it at the weekend. He's our best player - we have to be doing everything we can to be getting him the chances to have shots in the box.
