[Albion] REALISTIC signings for next season?

[GT49er]

Or Richards. A left footed, goal scoring midfielder. Exactly what we need.

Or Longman.

 

[Frankworthington]

I've not said it. Just sharing what Dan Ashworth has said.

Fair point but i was referring to your top paragraph,

I am not expecting us to be West Ham or Villa,spunking money left,right and center.

 

[GT49er]

It's clear from our goals scored column last season that we do not score enough to progress we need to score more as a team. I say team because while the forwards didn't cover themselves in glory nether did the midfield. We need another viable option upfront but we need the midfield to chip in more too. Any forward we get is going to be young with potential not the finished article, we cannot afford the finished article. We need as a team to find 10-15 more goals per season that is unlikely to come from just one man...

To take that argument one step further, if the likes of Bissouma, Gross and Lallana were chipping in with four or five goals each we wouldn't be having discussions about needing a new striker!

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

To take that argument one step further, if the likes of Bissouma, Gross and Lallana were chipping in with four or five goals each we wouldn't be having discussions about needing a new striker!

Yes, but they aren't!

 

[Swansman]

To take that argument one step further, if the likes of Bissouma, Gross and Lallana were chipping in with four or five goals each we wouldn't be having discussions about needing a new striker!

Oh there would. Doesnt matter what league or club it is, doesnt matter how the strikers perform, everyone always wants a new striker.

 

[vagabond]

Our stated goal is top 10. To achieve that we have to acquire a top striker. The club need to start thinking bigger or continue to struggle.


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Words. Easy to say. But how?

How do we do this? Genuinely keen to know as we can’t compete for elite strikers.

 

[zefarelly]

Fair point but i was referring to your top paragraph,

I am not expecting us to be West Ham or Villa,spunking money left,right and center.

IF we could just spunk some in one direction it would help. Assuming thgere's a player out there who wants to play for 'teams like these' that fits the bill, and passes the NDP . . .not an easy ask.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

To take that argument one step further, if the likes of Bissouma, Gross and Lallana were chipping in with four or five goals each we wouldn't be having discussions about needing a new striker!

We would because it doesn’t remove the fact that our finishing last year was poor.

Urgent upgrade required IMO.


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[chaileyjem]

Words. Easy to say. But how?

How do we do this? Genuinely keen to know as we can’t compete for elite strikers.

You have to invest in options like a leading championship player, or a frequently injured or ageing England international, or scout young forwards doing well in France or Belgium or South America or Poland and/or bring through players from the u18s or u23s and hope they can step up and you're very good at it. And accept that sometimes - especially with strikers of course - it won't succeed. White, Lamptey, Bissouma, Moder, Webster etc shows though that this is a possible strategy. But £50m on a Bundesliga top scorer or an out of favour Chelsea 24 year old. - its unlikely. Everton or Arsenal or Villa will pay more...or rather thats the Ashworth approach as i understand it.

 

[The Fits]

It's unlikely because we've never done it..we haven't sold players for £50 million plus either, yet...

 

[Rinkmaster]

Our top scorer for next season may already be one of the squad. Andone, Swiss Andy, Tau, or even dare I say it playing Lampty out of position. Stranger things have happened.

 

[b.w.2.]

Words. Easy to say. But how?

How do we do this? Genuinely keen to know as we can’t compete for elite strikers.

You need to be asking this question of the leadership of our club and their recruitment team


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[b.w.2.]

Fair enough criticism but Dan Ashworth is pretty clear about their recruitment policy, heavy investment in the academy, reliance on loanees for development and its risks and how targeting "top" players already PL ready is not their strategy. A lot of the time its paying off and last week they bid £25m+ for a striker according to reports (but these days thats still a risk for that market) but of course sometimes it won't.

"If we are going for a 25-26-year-old who is Premier League ready, I’d say two-thirds of the Premier League would be able to outbid us from a transfer fee and wages point of view.
“Our recruitment strategy has got to be a bit different. If we go fishing in the same pond as them, we may not get the player we want.
“Hence, we’ve tended to either go to a different market or buying potential rather than performance. The danger of that is you are buying potential, so you don’t quite know; they don’t always come to what you’d hope they’d be.”
https://theathletic.co.uk/2650407/2...ial-is-helping-keep-pace-with-richer-rivals/#

Thank you. Very useful. It does beg the question ; how do Lala and Welbs fit into that model? Answer is; they don’t!


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[b.w.2.]

The strategy in place to achieve those goals is one you disagree with. That’s clear. Doesn’t make it wrong and to be fair the people who devised and are executing that strategy do have a lot more football knowledge than your good self.
I think what you are missing is that this is all about playing the odds. We may sign a striker for 20 to 25 million. A few people on NSC will have heard of him and his goal scoring record will be decent. However he will not be a ‘top striker’ at that price. If he fails to deliver you will say ‘I told you so, we should have signed a top striker.’ If he succeeds you will say ‘I told you so, that’s what happens if you sign a top striker.’ The reality is that the strategy is the same whatever the outcome. That’s what Tony does.

So far, it is the latter I want for our club, but have not got. Here’s hoping.


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[perseus]

Off course

He is coached by Bielsa

How far off course?

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Off course

He is coached by Bielsa

It took us a couple of years to fix Bielsa's failed coaching of Bissouma.

 

[AlbionInUs]

To take that argument one step further, if the likes of Bissouma, Gross and Lallana were chipping in with four or five goals each we wouldn't be having discussions about needing a new striker!

I see this point made a fair bit around here, but I would argue that the reason our midfield does not score more is because of style, not a lack of quality. Collectively, Neal Maupay, Danny Welbeck, Aaron Connolly, and Andi Zeqiri have scored 16 goals from an xG of 26.64 (1.7 xG/Goal). Bissouma, Gross, and Lallana, on the other hand, have scored 5 goals from an xG of 7.7 (1.5 xG/Goal). Our midfield oftentimes focuses on defensive aspects (Bissouma), or creative aspects (Gross), rather than offensive aspects. Asking for 15 goals from a midfield that only accumulated 7.7 xG is a mighty task. If we wanted to accumulate more xG for the midfielders, that would come at the expense of opportunities for our strikers. Our problem is being clinical in all areas of the pitch, but this problem is more clear amongst our strikers, not our midfield.

 

[GT49er]

Yes, but they aren't!

Yes, we know that.

 

[GT49er]

We would because it doesn’t remove the fact that our finishing last year was poor.

Urgent upgrade required IMO.

Another dozen or 15 goals in the right place at the right time, we'd have been top ten, even pushing for Europe (but probably not quite getting there). We'd have been purring with delight, not fretting that our forwards weren't scoring enough. All goals count, whoever scores them ................

 

[chaileyjem]

Thank you. Very useful. It does beg the question ; how do Lala and Welbs fit into that model? Answer is; they don’t!


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Different market - free transfers / high wages but risky given injury or age and less demand from elsewhere . Both arguably paid off.