The Spreadsheet and Strikers.

How flexible/Unflexible is the Club prepared to be in our search for a striker.
I am starting to feel that our normal policy of buying raw talent from the lower leagues has hit a stumbling block, in term of Strikers.
The last couple of seasons has seen quite a few Clubs follow us in signing young inexperienced players, couple this with the Premier League Clubs hording of any young player who has scored more than half a dozen goals for their Junior School and what we have ended up with is no players that fully fit our template being available.
Is it time to temporarily put down the spreadsheet and recruit an experienced Striker such as, and this only an example, Daniel Graham. We previously bent the spreadsheet rules to sign Adam Hammill.
I suppose the wage costs will be churned out as to why we cant sign such a player, but I would hope that by creative Contract Negotiations could we get round this by rewarding the striker for goals, appearances and assists.

 

You maybe have a point, although im sure there are still one or two players that fit our criteria that we have missed and would be available still somewhere out there. Danny Graham is a bloody awful example though. I would'nt have him if it was for free and we were paying him in old fish and chip newspapers.

 

I fear that finding a striker from the lower leagues who is going to hit the ground running, score 15 plus goals in their first season at Championship level is a big ask.
It is pity that experienced Strikers don't seem to drop down the leagues in the twilight of their careers like Hendrie, Wilkinson and Clarke did.
The young guys today are Millionaires by their 21st Birthday and gone from the game at 30

 

I think if you look at the type of players that have successfully fit the model over the past few seasons, one of the main key factors about players from lower leagues is that they've been captains.
Mawson, Roberts hourihane, yiadom, scowen, McDonald etc.
It's very rare that you have forwards as captains so you have to looke at different parameters i.e young but regular scorers over a decent period. We did this with win all, Hemings, Bradshaw and then topped up with smaller risk signings like white, Payne, tuton etc.
The problem is that players like marquis, boggle and Michael smith who we had on loan and was dogger, have only done it for 1 season and therefor it is a risky buy. Others that have scored year in, year out are going for a couple of million but more importantly want more wages than we can afford to upset the apple cart for. Therefor I think 2 season long loans for players we can't afford to buy is the way to go short term but unfortunately their clubs haven't made them available yet.
Just my opinion like

 

You mean like Shola Ameobi who's just signed for Notts County and was at Fleetwood too?

 

I am not sure who I mean, but I am sure it is not Shola. It maybe someone like Glen Murray

 

Just looking around the leagues for players who maybe in our price bracket - but i'll be honest, I know nothing about them.

Would the spreadsheet likely pick up any of these two?

Louis Moult - Motherwell
James Collins - Crawley

And as for the new and improved French spreadsheet:

Adama Niene - Troyes
Denis Bouanga - Tours FC

(disclaimer - i know nothing about these players)

 

Graham would be a good signing if we could get him (unlikely).
I still think we need a few experienced players sprinkled through the squad


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We may as well be playing on a different planet when it comes to these types of players....

 

The problem with that is that a Wilkinson like player Jon Walters now costs 3 million quid.


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We have accrued more than 3 million in this summer alone. There is time to sell, and time to re invest for the future. We need to be in this league come May or there will be no Hecky, and we will have been is a one season wonder. I know us Yorkshire folk are famous for being tight, but the Board need to get their hands in those deep pockets and support Hecky now.

 

In addition to the 3 million quid you are probably committing the same and more on wages. I'm not sure that's worth the gamble. Wilkinson contributed a lot but goals weren't his forte the same could be said of Walters


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We arn't going to sign Walters, he has just signed for Burnley. Walters, perhaps is the type of player we are looking to sign. So if it does cost us 6 Million signing a player, what is that compared to relegation.
We saw so called talented Strikers, Armstrong, make little or no impact at this level. We need an experienced motivated 12 to 15 goals a season player. Those type of players don't grow on trees.

 

Those sort of players no longer drop down the divisions certainly not to us. We are better served looking to uncover an Ashley Fletcher style player either through loan or permanent.


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Murray on 40k a week. Graham on £25k. Some of you live in cloud cuckoo land.

 

Admitted those type of players in recent season have not pulled on a Barnsley shirt, but have we even being looking. Bruce Dyer, Neil Shipperley, Jan Arger Fjortoff,Ashley Ward, Craig Higgnet are all examples of players who enjoyed some success after being written off.

 

And some think" Little old Barnsley we should be happy to be just to be in the league". If you listen to Hecky's interview after Tuesday I feel that you can sense his frustration at the current state of play. The Board need to release the cash and let him get some quality in now. We have some potentially winnable fixtures in August, which we won't get a return from if the strikers are not allowed time to bed in.

 

I think we should look abroad for strikers. They are ridiculously overpriced in the UK market. We will get better value for money and possibly someone who will score actual goals.


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