"We need a striker"

Well, yes, that's pretty clear.

However, we have two Austrian players on the books whose position is supposedly just that. I think it's fair to say these are the signings of the manager who shares their nationality. I can't buy an argument that suggests we took on an Austrian manager and then, coincidentally, without any input from that manager, also signed two of his countrymen.

So whose fault is it that we don't have a decent striker? The board who have signed two players in that position on the recommendation of the manager, or the manager? I'm not a fan of our board, far from it, but I find it difficult to find fault with them on this.

We've since sold Jacob Brown, a player I like a lot. By doing so we're not as effective at pressing from the front. As that's the style of play Struber likes to adopt, it's a crucial loss. We need a replacement for him. But we haven't lost a striker who scores goals.

We already had Jacob when Struber arrived. Struber's job was to add players to the squad who complimented what we'd already got, and improve where we were deficient. Listening to his interviews he clearly believes scoring goals is the problem area, to which we would all agree, but he was backed in the transfer market to rectify that problem and he didn't. It's not the board's fault Struber recommended the wrong players.

The worst part of this: if Struber leaves, we're stuck with them.

 

Struber had a say in Shmidt?

 

Have I got it wrong? Was he here before Struber? If so, forget all that

 

Patrick Schmidt was brought in a few months before Struber arrived.

 

I thought there was some more skulduggery from the board, lining Struber up and getting his players in before Daniel had even left!!!

 

Well they had been in touch with him throughout Daniels tenure remember and he was apparently always their first choice

 

Another way of looking at it: we have someone on the scouting team with connections to Austria.

 

No, just a huge error on my part.

 

But it’s a good point about Frieser. If Struber didn’t see him as a replacement for Brown, and he’s not a target man. What role has he been brought in to do?

 

You've set the bloody conspiracy theorists off now, even if you didn't mean to.

 

Regarding Schmidt , I personally think he could be a very good striker & I do not think he is getting a very fair crack , after his performance against Middlesboro I thought he had earned the right to more game time but alas no , I feel sorry for the lad . I would start him infront of Chaplin & alongside Woodrow as a two in a 442 system

 

I see us missing more a player with a bit of pace and movement who can pull defenders out of position to allow Schmidt and Woodrow to score. Someone like the bloke we've just sold.

 

We do have a decent striker in Cauley Woodrow, I agree he needed to compliment what we already have. We don’t have any variation from midfield to attack. We do need to have a variation

 

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Chaplin and Woodrow are clearly decent strikers. Schmidt has also shown that he can finish. Before Struber arrived, we were scoring regularly, but our defence was atrocious. It's fair to say that (Wednesday apart), our defensive problems have, by and large, been solved. However, the goals seem to have dried up at the other end. This suggests that the issue is with the system, rather than the ability of the strikers. In the two league games I've watched this season, it wasn't like we were creating loads of chances that if we'd had someone as clinical as Abraham up front we might have taken. We were creating half chances at best, albeit quite a few of them in the first half at Reading. I'm not saying that we don't need more options or variety up front, just that signing a new centre forward may not be the quick fix some people seem to think it is.

 

Headers

 

The pace needs to come from the back with players making runs before the opposition defence are set back in default nicely marking their men.

 

Wonder if he’ll take any of our players with him?

 

Bet Ritz didn't start yesterday cos he's going too.

 

but non seem to want to come to Barnsley.

 

Bit I don't get is that CW and CC scored nearly 30 goals in a mostly bottom 3 side....... Even Leeds and WBA who went up didn't get that. All I can see is we replaced scoring for not conceding. But what do I know ....... ?!?