hippo Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 1 hour ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: Wait, another striker? I thought that was a joke first time I read it, but it seems to be doing the rounds. Kodjia, Hogan, Gabby, RHM, Davis, O'Hare. Kodjia and Hogan are proven goalscorers at this level, Gabby looks fitter than he has in a decade and we know what we're getting from him which should be capable at this level. Then we have 3 young strikers of varying styles backing them up, you have to think one of them will make some kind of impact. McCormack is still on the books at this present moment too. Another striker? Nah not for me, no more money for strikers thanks. Bruce has to work with what he has. kodjia is currently recovering from a serious injury. Hogan has looked mostly poor since joining us, RHM is only just back from Injury and like the other two is untested at this level. We struggled for goals last year - a fully fit kjoidia has proved he can get goals for us - the others all have pretty big question marks for me. - Id welcome another striker to be honest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 17 minutes ago, 7392craig said: It should be a surprise due to the fact he's looked like a natural goal scorer until he joined us, and still showed glimpses of it during his time here. He was either injured or carrying an injury last season so I'm not passing judgement on him yet until he's had a full season. I think judging players too quickly is one thing our fans do too much. Im judging him on what I have seen in his time on the pitch since joining us. Now granted, that's quite a small sample, but personally I wouldn't gamble our promotion on Hogan coming good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 I've seen some positives this pre season and the standard of our squad is so much better than last year. My only concern is goals, and it's a big concern. I don't know how long it's going to take kodjia to become 100%. Hogan doesn't look like he's going to click straight away and while Gabby will cause problems he is not a consistent goal scorer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BOF Posted July 31, 2017 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted July 31, 2017 7 minutes ago, DCJonah said: I've seen some positives this pre season and the standard of our squad is so much better than last year. My only concern is goals, and it's a big concern. I don't know how long it's going to take kodjia to become 100%. Hogan doesn't look like he's going to click straight away and while Gabby will cause problems he is not a consistent goal scorer. I'm quietly confident that Hogan will pleasantly surprise. If we (Hourihane, Elmo) can provide for him, I'd say he could rival the Kodger. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 1 hour ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: Wait, another striker? I thought that was a joke first time I read it, but it seems to be doing the rounds. Kodjia, Hogan, Gabby, RHM, Davis, O'Hare. Kodjia and Hogan are proven goalscorers at this level, Gabby looks fitter than he has in a decade and we know what we're getting from him which should be capable at this level. Then we have 3 young strikers of varying styles backing them up, you have to think one of them will make some kind of impact. McCormack is still on the books at this present moment too. Another striker? Nah not for me, no more money for strikers thanks. Bruce has to work with what he has. Could you trust gabby if Hogan gets injured while Kodjia is still waiting to return? RHM is always injured so we cant count on him for the moment. davis doesnt look ready to me. Cnat comment on the last player as only seen two pre season games. I think a possible loan I would not be opposed to but I think we need a winger /attacking midfielder more 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Hardly surprising that a fair few of our players need to improve on last season given that Adomah and Kodjia were the only one's who really shone going forward. Elmohamady looks like he's going to fit right in and prove some of the doubters wrong at the moment. So we look pretty well set down the right to me. Can't understand everyone worrying so much about Hogan though I have to say. I'm definitely in the 'if we gave him better service he'll put them away' camp at the moment with him and I have bigger question marks over the other 2 up front (Gabby and McCormack). It's unrealistic to expect us to be paying the wages of any more than 4 first team strikers imo which is why trying to offload McCormack makes so much sense given that we are resigned to/happy about another year of Gabby. If we do offload McCormack another striker may be on the cards and it probably wouldn't surprise many to see Bruce bring in a target man. I'll be hoping they are more Carew than Gestede if we do. Depends how much Bruce rates RHM and Davis at this present time I suppose too. But Lansbury, Bree, Hourihane, Johnstone, Bjarnason as well as Hogan have had their grace period. Time to deliver for the lot of them when/if they get given their chance. Whether Hourihane or Lansbury can start delivering a little more going forward and whether we can get something going down the left is more the issue for us as a team right now in my opinion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 21 minutes ago, BOF said: I'm quietly confident that Hogan will pleasantly surprise. If we (Hourihane, Elmo) can provide for him, I'd say he could rival the Kodger. I've only seen 45 mins in pre season that make me think he could be an excellent player here. The rest of the time he just hasn't done enough, off and on the ball to look anything like a threat. We desperately need him because I don't think we can get promoted by just relying on Kodjia who has had no pre season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan-scott Posted July 31, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2017 Going into the first few games with Kodjia, Jedinak, Johnstone, Adomah and Grealish injured isn't ideal. Arguably 4 of our 5 best and most influential players from last season. Thankfully we seem to have cover for each of them apart from Grealish, I just hope they can hit the ground running and we get off to decent start. Don't want to be playing catch up from day 1. IMO we should still have enough to get off to a good start and then these guys coming back in will give us an extra boost. I hope anyway!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 31, 2017 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2017 4 minutes ago, DCJonah said: I've only seen 45 mins in pre season that make me think he could be an excellent player here. The rest of the time he just hasn't done enough, off and on the ball to look anything like a threat. We desperately need him because I don't think we can get promoted by just relying on Kodjia who has had no pre season. I think he's more naturally prolific i.e. a natural finisher. It's a great combination to have. You have the unorthodox goal-from-nowhere unpredictability of Kodjia who defenders can't switch off to for a second, and you've got the very fast alert on the shoulder Hogan who; if the mids can get on his wave length and provide the slide rule passes; he'll slot them away all day. It's the best first choice strike force in the division IMO. It's up to Bruce and the other players to capitalise on that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 1 hour ago, Demitri_C said: Could you trust gabby if Hogan gets injured while Kodjia is still waiting to return? RHM is always injured so we cant count on him for the moment. davis doesnt look ready to me. Cnat comment on the last player as only seen two pre season games. I think a possible loan I would not be opposed to but I think we need a winger /attacking midfielder more If's, but's and maybe's. Just how big a squad do we want here? Do we further stifle the promising youth players? Kodjia is back in training, he's probably a couple of weeks away. I know every game counts but yes, I'm perfectly fine with going with Gabby and Hogan for that short period. We just spent nigh on £9m for the latter and whilst we haven't gotten the best out of him yet I'm not ready to scrap that investment. Those 3 are more than ample. We have options to play 1 up top if we get a couple of injuries, that wouldn't be unprecedented. I think fans sometimes want to spend money for the sake of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 I will say - if we were to add a target man for pennies as a plan b/c then I would be fine with that, but that is a tactical decision rather than a necessity. Though Davis has shown he can handle that role reasonably well IMO. Give the lad a chance. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7392craig Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 1 hour ago, hippo said: Im judging him on what I have seen in his time on the pitch since joining us. Now granted, that's quite a small sample, but personally I wouldn't gamble our promotion on Hogan coming good. So unless players come in and click straight away then we should assume they won't and it's a gamble to play them? We'll certainly go through some money thinking like that. Half a season to come good or they should not be risked? That's a touch harsh don't you think? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 1 hour ago, BOF said: I think he's more naturally prolific i.e. a natural finisher. It's a great combination to have. You have the unorthodox goal-from-nowhere unpredictability of Kodjia who defenders can't switch off to for a second, and you've got the very fast alert on the shoulder Hogan who; if the mids can get on his wave length and provide the slide rule passes; he'll slot them away all day. It's the best first choice strike force in the division IMO. It's up to Bruce and the other players to capitalise on that. On paper it sounds a great partnership and as you say it should be the best partnership in the division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodsBarkeep Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 12 hours ago, mikeyp102 said: I think we'll see more goals this throughout the team, especially from set pieces. Terry -6 Chester -4 Samba - 4 Jedinak -3 Hourihane - 7 Lansbury -6 Green - 4 Grealish -6 Elmohamady - 4 Gabby - 7 Hogan - 12 Kodjia - 21 I expect nothing less of Gabby, but hopefully not all players will finish the season in minus figures 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 26 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: If's, but's and maybe's. Just how big a squad do we want here? Do we further stifle the promising youth players? Kodjia is back in training, he's probably a couple of weeks away. I know every game counts but yes, I'm perfectly fine with going with Gabby and Hogan for that short period. We just spent nigh on £9m for the latter and whilst we haven't gotten the best out of him yet I'm not ready to scrap that investment. Those 3 are more than ample. We have options to play 1 up top if we get a couple of injuries, that wouldn't be unprecedented. I think fans sometimes want to spend money for the sake of it. I wouldnt mind so much going in if 1. Kodjia was fit and raring to go 2. Hogan isnt so injury prone 3. Gabby was the old gabby we know and was always a danger Like I said I would prefer a loan as cover if Mccormack goes. If he is still here I would bring him back in as opposed to spending more money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 1 hour ago, 7392craig said: So unless players come in and click straight away then we should assume they won't and it's a gamble to play them? We'll certainly go through some money thinking like that. Half a season to come good or they should not be risked? That's a touch harsh don't you think? I think going with Hogan as our number 2 goalscorer is a massive gamble. The rest of you post are the consequences of that gamble. The question is will he score enough goals to get us promoted ? You seem to be thinking he will - where as I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Even if Hogan is a gamble, it's one we have to take imo. We can't keep signing more and more players. If I were Bruce right now, I'd get my arm around him and tell him he's got the shirt for the first 5/6 games. If the guy gets some confidence, I think he'll be banging them in. The only case I'd make for another forward, would be another old head on a one year deal. Someone like Crouch, different to what we have and experienced enough to cope with the pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 5 hours ago, hippo said: Im judging him on what I have seen in his time on the pitch since joining us. Now granted, that's quite a small sample, but personally I wouldn't gamble our promotion on Hogan coming good. At what point do you draw the line though? I get it's about opinions and everyone's entitled to theirs, but the answer to everything seems to just be 'buy more players' Any new signings are going to be a gamble too. How about we show some faith in the gambles we've already taken? You could re-frame your argument to fit the defence, midfield or attack. We need another centre half, we can't gamble our promotion on Chester and two old blokes who haven't seen much football lately. We need another central midfielder, because the 15 others we have aren't creative enough. We need more wingers, because although we probably won't play 442, we still need cover for things that don't need covering If VT ran the club by committee, we'd have a squad of about 75 players and we'd only be handing out 3 month contracts! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 31, 2017 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2017 14 minutes ago, wazzap24 said: We need another centre half, we can't gamble our promotion on Chester and two old blokes who haven't seen much football lately. That is something which concerns me... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, BOF said: That is something which concerns me... Don't be concerned. If the 3 all get injured at once, we still have RDL and Jedi to come before anyone has to worry about Elphick and Richards. See what I mean though? We have 4 career centre halfs, 2 who could do a job if called upon and errrm, Micah Richards. I get people will have opinions on the quality of those players, but we aren't short on numbers and we can't keep buying new players every window! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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