When will the first be signed

Anyone think we will get players in quick?
New Year’s Day would be nice to sign a striker and a playmaker.

Part of me was expecting news of a couple of signings ahead of tomorrow's game to give the team and the fans a new years boost but we all know that wont be the case dont we, be the last day again feeding on the scraps that are left over from christmas

Have we not made a signing yet?

C'mon Hursts, get yer finger out.

January 29th, a left back from Bradford

Quoted from Simon

Part of me was expecting news of a couple of signings ahead of tomorrow's game to give the team and the fans a new years boost but we all know that wont be the case dont we, be the last day again feeding on the scraps that are left over from christmas

This

Quoted from Simon

Part of me was expecting news of a couple of signings ahead of tomorrow's game to give the team and the fans a new years boost but we all know that wont be the case dont we, be the last day again feeding on the scraps that are left over from christmas

Have a day off FFS.

want to see quality over quantity dont care when they arrive but lets get these decisions right & we can rise up the table

Scannell is first player to sign till end of season.

Quoted from Morph2000

Scannell is first player to sign till end of season.

I’d think there could be a chance of him and/or Kiernan starting today too !!

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Have a day off FFS.

Truth hurts, we have a few lads out on loan making space for incomings and i really thought we might have had one or two lined up by now, wasn't expecting Ronaldo by the way

We are always late to the party, Hurst will say the same old same old, waiting for movement above blah blah but teams around us are all doing business now

Happy to be proven wrong

Quoted from ginnywings

Have we not made a signing yet?

C'mon Hursts, get yer finger out.

It's not unreasonable to think we would have had a signing or two sorted ahead of the window opening given certain areas of the pitch are in need of desperate improvements. Have a quick check of other League 2 clubs. Several have already made signings. We haven't.

Unfortunately Hurst is an incompetent buffoon. It's time he was sacked, we are going nowhere with him.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

It's not unreasonable to think we would have had a signing or two sorted ahead of the window opening given certain areas of the pitch are in need of desperate improvements. Have a quick check of other League 2 clubs. Several have already made signings. We haven't.

Charlie Austin should be a good signing for Swindon but he's unlikely to have gone anywhere else at this level.

Nichols has moved from Crawley to Gillingham in the neighbouring county.

Matt Derbyshire has spent the last 6 years playing in India, Cyprus and Australia so I'm not convinced it's going to be the successful signing for Bradford that people think.

Quoted from realist

Unfortunately Hurst is an incompetent buffoon. It's time he was sacked, we are going nowhere with him.

Best wishes for 2023!

Quoted from denni266

This

So 2023 starts as 2022 ended - Denni the perennial doomster n gloomster.
Have you ever posted anything remotely positive?

Quoted from realist

Unfortunately Hurst is an incompetent buffoon. It's time he was sacked, we are going nowhere with him.

Hiya John…good new year?

Quoted from AdamHaddock

January 29th, a left back from Bradford

His name’s actually January XXIX - Brazilian mum (or so I’m told) and American father (January XXVIII).

Looking to re-locate from Bradford to the pure air of the east coast, as he has emphysema and is affected by the triple threats of the City’s unique geography, high levels of car use and widespread air pollutants.

Quoted from forza ivano

So 2023 starts as 2022 ended - Denni the perennial doomster n gloomster.
Have you ever posted anything remotely positive?

No. He hasn’t.  Or even anything balanced, even handed, convincingly argued….And he’s not the only one. Half a dozen perpetual negative, boring, overreacting, entitled moaners.

We should be positive and encouraging and supportive, but constructively critical, set high standards and be realistic but ambitious. Let’s get behind the club for 2023.

[quote=140756]

We are always late to the party, Hurst will say the same old same old, waiting for movement above blah blah but teams around us are all doing business now

Happy to be proven wrong /quote]

Amazing how often antiHurst brigade overlook or forget any positive signings made and how early they sometimes occur.

For example we signed John McAtee in June 21. He was an unexpected signing and has turned out to be a great purchase.  He was quality last season, and earned a Championship move. He's also a striker. From the posts on this thread you would think Hurst signed Mohsini, Gomis, Rose etc, or Ring and Ohman.

Hurst signings are usually much better than Runaway or Jolley signings, and have a reasonable success rate  - a McAtee, a Maher, a Holohan more likely than a Longe King.  

Quoted from Simon

Truth hurts, we have a few lads out on loan making space for incomings and i really thought we might have had one or two lined up by now, wasn't expecting Ronaldo by the way

We are always late to the party, Hurst will say the same old same old, waiting for movement above blah blah but teams around us are all doing business now

Happy to be proven wrong

Yup always late to the party, Notts C, Wrexham and Solihull Moors all late arrivals, but clearly you had the same opinion of the manager then too.

Not sure what people expect really? Where a small club located in a remote sh1t hole of a place, we pay ok but not the best but of course the likes of you will be expecting AP & JS to pay for a top class striker out of their current accounts while you head for your seat at 2:59 and then back to the bar after 40 minutes.

Quoted from chaos33

No. He hasn’t.  Or even anything balanced, even handed, convincingly argued….And he’s not the only one. Half a dozen perpetual negative, boring, overreacting, entitled moaners.

We should be positive and encouraging and supportive, but constructively critical, set high standards and be realistic but ambitious. Let’s get behind the club for 2023.

Same people that moaned about the previous regime, then used to justify the ridiculous decisions with ‘at least we have a club’. Then, when folk did challenge it protest they didn’t join in.

Moaning is just entrenched in some folk…

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Charlie Austin should be a good signing for Swindon but he's unlikely to have gone anywhere else at this level.

Nichols has moved from Crawley to Gillingham in the neighbouring county.

Matt Derbyshire has spent the last 6 years playing in India, Cyprus and Australia so I'm not convinced it's going to be the successful signing for Bradford that people think.

Stockport signed that striker from Millwall who smashed it for Sutton in the Conference too, Sutton brought someone in and Barrow have just signed Elliot Newby so that's six teams in the division all bringing strikers in before the first match of the window.

Quoted from Son of Cod

Stockport signed that striker from Millwall who smashed it for Sutton in the Conference too, Sutton brought someone in and Barrow have just signed Elliot Newby so that's six teams in the division all bringing strikers in before the first match of the window.

One could argue that if a side is happy to let a striker go, a position that we’ve been told by many a folk in the game, is a premium position then you could argue that perhaps they’re not very good?

Quoted from Son of Cod

Stockport signed that striker from Millwall who smashed it for Sutton in the Conference too, Sutton brought someone in and Barrow have just signed Elliot Newby so that's six teams in the division all bringing strikers in before the first match of the window.

I need to tell you something, despite what we sing in the song we’re not “the mighty Grimsby” we haven’t been for 2 decades and though we punched above our weight for a good while I’m not sure we’ve truly been mighty, but we have been good.

Some of our competitors are better placed geographically & financially to attract players than we are even though they may not have our or any real history.

Not nice to accept but it’s the reality of the situation I’m afraid.

Quoted from realist

Unfortunately Hurst is an incompetent buffoon. It's time he was sacked, we are going nowhere with him.

Oddly enough Dave Moore in his interview said the opposite. He must know something you don't.

Hurst was asked in a recent Radio Humberside interview about having any signings lined up and he said that supporters would be disappointed if they were expecting anyone to come in as soon as the window opened. Considering it's been obvious for so long that we need a striker i'm a bit annoyed we haven't managed to use our 'competitive' budget to line anyone up over the past few months for a Jan 1st signing like some of our rivals have been able to.

Judging by all the negative comments and high expectations, regardless of today's result, we should be in for a bumper FA Cup crowd to help pay for all these million pound signings - at least 6000+,
Looking forward to it

Quoted from aldi_01

One could argue that if a side is happy to let a striker go, a position that we’ve been told by many a folk in the game, is a premium position then you could argue that perhaps they’re not very good?

Those incomings that are unattached are also unattached for a reason.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Have a day off FFS.

TBF they waited a whole 17 minutes in to the new year

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Yup always late to the party, Notts C, Wrexham and Solihull Moors all late arrivals, but clearly you had the same opinion of the manager then too.

Not sure what people expect really? Where a small club located in a remote sh1t hole of a place, we pay ok but not the best but of course the likes of you will be expecting AP & JS to pay for a top class striker out of their current accounts while you head for your seat at 2:59 and then back to the bar after 40 minutes.

Let's not kid ourselves about last season, we were average at best finishing 6th but somehow we pulled off the impossible and got promoted via the playoffs, an amazing achievement but those three games were last season and to date we have not come anywhere near that level of performance

Now on to this season, at the start we had on paper a very strong squad & for the first time in a long time strength in depth. I along with many others (6000) were very optimistic for the season ahead but we soon found out that life in L2 wasn't going to be as easy as we thought, worryingly with the squad available i think Hurst couldn't work out the best system/lineup and we still look out of sorts, lets hope today we all get behind the team and they respond on the pitch with a win but we never do well in front of a full house so it could be a long afternoon

Where a small club located in a remote sh1t hole of a place, we pay ok but not the best but of course the likes of you will be expecting AP & JS to pay for a top class striker out of their current accounts while you head for your seat at 2:59 and then back to the bar after 40 minutes This bit has annoyed me as you know nothing about me, i have supported Town since the mid 70's, a season ticket holder, sponsor, shareholder do i need to go on? I don't expect JS & AP to bankroll anything, far from it and i love the way they are turning the club round, what i am frustrated with is PH and his style of football

Quoted from Chrisblor

Hurst was asked in a recent Radio Humberside interview about having any signings lined up and he said that supporters would be disappointed if they were expecting anyone to come in as soon as the window opened. Considering it's been obvious for so long that we need a striker i'm a bit annoyed we haven't managed to use our 'competitive' budget to line anyone up over the past few months for a Jan 1st signing like some of our rivals have been able to.

Exactly that!!!

We’ve got better at getting them earlier but we’re still historically very slow to move, especially in Jan.

The faint hope of staying up we had last time was extinguished by the fact we made shite signings right at the end of Jan, by that point we’d been beaten by everyone around us in a short period of time.

Hopefully we can bring some exciting names in but our recent form may put a few off. A striker is absolutely imperative and Hurst/The Club will absolutely deserve any stick they get if they don’t deliver on that this time round IMO.

Quoted from Simon

Let's not kid ourselves about last season, we were average at best finishing 6th but somehow we pulled off the impossible and got promoted via the playoffs, an amazing achievement but those three games were last season and to date we have not come anywhere near that level of performance

Now on to this season, at the start we had on paper a very strong squad & for the first time in a long time strength in depth. I along with many others (6000) were very optimistic for the season ahead but we soon found out that life in L2 wasn't going to be as easy as we thought, worryingly with the squad available i think Hurst couldn't work out the best system/lineup and we still look out of sorts, lets hope today we all get behind the team and they respond on the pitch with a win but we never do well in front of a full house so it could be a long afternoon

Where a small club located in a remote sh1t hole of a place, we pay ok but not the best but of course the likes of you will be expecting AP & JS to pay for a top class striker out of their current accounts while you head for your seat at 2:59 and then back to the bar after 40 minutes This bit has annoyed me as you know nothing about me, i have supported Town since the mid 70's, a season ticket holder, sponsor, shareholder do i need to go on? I don't expect JS & AP to bankroll anything, far from it and i love the way they are turning the club round, what i am frustrated with is PH and his style of football

So as an invested stake holder like myself why do you insinuate that only the 2nd manager in post war history to win 2 promotions with the club is incompetent?

Like myself you’ve clearly been going since the mid 70’s so will know the peaks and troughs and in terms of managers what good looks like. Just because you don’t like the way a manager operates doesn’t mean to say it’s wrong.

Some context since the mid 70’s - Lyon’s, Roberts, Law, Roger, Newell, Slade (V2) Bignot & Jolley all pretty ropey.

Lawrence good when he could pay big money, Laws good but a bit unhinged.  

Quoted from pontoonlew

We’ve got better at getting them earlier but we’re still historically very slow to move, especially in Jan.

The faint hope of staying up we had last time was extinguished by the fact we made shite signings right at the end of Jan, by that point we’d been beaten by everyone around us in a short period of time.

Hopefully we can bring some exciting names in but our recent form may put a few off. A striker is absolutely imperative and Hurst/The Club will absolutely deserve any stick they get if they don’t deliver on that this time round IMO.

It really wouldn’t have mattered who we signed that January, we were already down well before Christmas. We deserved to go down and it actually was a blessing in disguise.

People are wanting something that isn’t really available, any striker currently scoring goals regularly isn’t gonna be released by their club. With that in mind, whoever we sign, people will moan, simple as that…

Quoted from aldi_01

It really wouldn’t have mattered who we signed that January, we were already down well before Christmas. We deserved to go down and it actually was a blessing in disguise.

People are wanting something that isn’t really available, any striker currently scoring goals regularly isn’t gonna be released by their club. With that in mind, whoever we sign, people will moan, simple as that…

I’ll moan if anybody else uses that old washed up excuse that you’ve just used. This narrative that we couldn’t possibly get a striker who can score goals is absolutely nonsense and it gets churned out on here window after window, whilst other clubs in our division (a lot with smaller budgets) manage to achieve it.

The proper transfer business needs doing in the summer when players are out of contract etc.. hoping to get quality players in Jan sounds like wishful thinking and panic buying because the summer window hasn't worked..

Quoted from HertsGTFC

So as an invested stake holder like myself why do you insinuate that only the 2nd manager in post war history to win 2 promotions with the club is incompetent?

Like myself you’ve clearly been going since the mid 70’s so will know the peaks and troughs and in terms of managers what good looks like. Just because you don’t like the way a manager operates doesn’t mean to say it’s wrong.

Some context since the mid 70’s - Lyon’s, Roberts, Law, Roger, Newell, Slade (V2) Bignot & Jolley all pretty ropey.

Lawrence good when he could pay big money, Laws good but a bit unhinged.  

The good thing about football is we are all entitled to our opinion be it good or bad, i have never liked Hursts style of play but that is just my opinion

Facts are facts, he has got us two promotions and i applaud him for that achievement especially the last promotion because it was my worry we would be down there a while just like last time

But those three games aside we are very poor and very easy to beat, take the game against Salford a sloppy goal in the first minute, that happens and we rallied and upped our work rate to really get at them and get the equaliser but then we just switched off, almost like we were happy with a point as early in the game as that which invited pressure on us when at home we should have been taking it to them

Youth, Hurst doesn't give the youngsters a chance. I was fooled by Holloway and the reason why he was here but what did he see in some of the youngsters that Hurst doesn't, Ben Grist a fine example, Louis Boyd another, gets his debut under Hollowhead then nothing not seen for 18 months, something Dave Moore touched on in his interview in his day we had seven local lads playing, we are never going to attract the top players here but why can't we produce our own just got to believe in them and give them a run in the team. In our current squad Hunt, Richardson, Tomlinson, Essel etc give them a go

Quoted from pontoonlew

I’ll moan if anybody else uses that old washed up excuse that you’ve just used. This narrative that we couldn’t possibly get a striker who can score goals is absolutely nonsense and it gets churned out on here window after window, whilst other clubs in our division (a lot with smaller budgets) manage to achieve it.

Serious question, how do you know other club’s budgets is it on a site like opta etc.. somewhere?

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Serious question, how do you know other club’s budgets is it on a site like opta etc.. somewhere?

I think based on players sides sign, you can have a relatively good stab at which teams are spending more than others.

I spent my Boxing Day watching us play against a side that certainly have a lower budget than us, with a striker who was much better than any of our own. I must’ve been still drunk though, because I’m led to believe players like this cannot possibly exist.

Quoted from Simon

The good thing about football is we are all entitled to our opinion be it good or bad, i have never liked Hursts style of play but that is just my opinion

Facts are facts, he has got us two promotions and i applaud him for that achievement especially the last promotion because it was my worry we would be down there a while just like last time

But those three games aside we are very poor and very easy to beat, take the game against Salford a sloppy goal in the first minute, that happens and we rallied and upped our work rate to really get at them and get the equaliser but then we just switched off, almost like we were happy with a point as early in the game as that which invited pressure on us when at home we should have been taking it to them

Youth, Hurst doesn't give the youngsters a chance. I was fooled by Holloway and the reason why he was here but what did he see in some of the youngsters that Hurst doesn't, Ben Grist a fine example, Louis Boyd another, gets his debut under Hollowhead then nothing not seen for 18 months, something Dave Moore touched on in his interview in his day we had seven local lads playing, we are never going to attract the top players here but why can't we produce our own just got to believe in them and give them a run in the team. In our current squad Hunt, Richardson, Tomlinson, Essel etc give them a go

Yeah possibly but not all the lads who have been under Woodsy are actually local, many of them aren’t. I think the generation that came through in the mid late 70s was once in a lifetime, it would be nice to think it would happen again but the reality is it’s unlikely at this club as it is at many others too. Also the model is different now as clubs develop to sell on as much as they do to breed long term servants.

In terms of Hursts football I’m not sure it’s been any better in between his 2 spells and I’m not convinced it’s as negative as people make out, look at the periods under Jolley & Slade V2 we where sh1te.

Quoted from pontoonlew

I’ll moan if anybody else uses that old washed up excuse that you’ve just used. This narrative that we couldn’t possibly get a striker who can score goals is absolutely nonsense and it gets churned out on here window after window, whilst other clubs in our division (a lot with smaller budgets) manage to achieve it.

Do they though? Just because they sign someone in that position doesn’t mean they’re any good…wanting a striker and wanting and getting one that scores regularly are two very different things…

I mean Stockport are paying one a shed load of cash and quite frankly, he may as well have sat with me today…

Quoted from Simon

The good thing about football is we are all entitled to our opinion be it good or bad, i have never liked Hursts style of play but that is just my opinion

Facts are facts, he has got us two promotions and i applaud him for that achievement especially the last promotion because it was my worry we would be down there a while just like last time

But those three games aside we are very poor and very easy to beat, take the game against Salford a sloppy goal in the first minute, that happens and we rallied and upped our work rate to really get at them and get the equaliser but then we just switched off, almost like we were happy with a point as early in the game as that which invited pressure on us when at home we should have been taking it to them

Youth, Hurst doesn't give the youngsters a chance. I was fooled by Holloway and the reason why he was here but what did he see in some of the youngsters that Hurst doesn't, Ben Grist a fine example, Louis Boyd another, gets his debut under Hollowhead then nothing not seen for 18 months, something Dave Moore touched on in his interview in his day we had seven local lads playing, we are never going to attract the top players here but why can't we produce our own just got to believe in them and give them a run in the team. In our current squad Hunt, Richardson, Tomlinson, Essel etc give them a go

Hurst Gave Max Wright his first pro deal and harry his first taste of mens football. Same with Josh Venney.

Tomlinson and Essel are on loan at Clee Town and GY Boro. They clearly are not ready for mens League football yet, you talk about Louis Boyd. He was 15 ffs in one of the worst sides in GTFC History. Your points are franky ridiculous and yet another made up point to dig at PH About

Wow that post by Simon slipped the net by me! Ben Grist was signed for a decent sum before he could realistically even be given a chance! Most times I've had a glance at the youth team results in the last 2 seasons, Boyd hasn't even started!

It's hard to throw a young lad in when you're under pressure to get promoted or survive.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Wow that post by Simon slipped the net by me! Ben Grist was signed for a decent sum before he could realistically even be given a chance! Most times I've had a glance at the youth team results in the last 2 seasons, Boyd hasn't even started!

It's hard to throw a young lad in when you're under pressure to get promoted or survive.

Boyd had a long term injury, think he’s back playing now.

Hurst also has a good record for bringing in top quality young loanees, notably england players like Dean Henderson and Ben Godfrey, but also Townsend, Matete, which again is overlooked by critics.

We are keeping more young pros on than before, be fascinating to see how this intake plus Khouri Battersby and others do going forward.  

Utm!

Ethan Robson, Elliott Embleton and more. Hurst does have an eye for a young player and is willing to play youth or younger players if good enough.  Think we are a striker and a creative midfielder away from a decent side. Especially on today's evidence

Quoted from Stew0_0

Ethan Robson, Elliott Embleton and more. Hurst does have an eye for a young player and is willing to play youth or younger players if good enough.  Think we are a striker and a creative midfielder away from a decent side. Especially on today's evidence

Embelton came in under Jolley and I think either him or Holloway brought Robson in.

Quoted from Stew0_0

Ethan Robson, Elliott Embleton and more. Hurst does have an eye for a young player and is willing to play youth or younger players if good enough.  Think we are a striker and a creative midfielder away from a decent side. Especially on today's evidence

Hurst didn't sign Robson or Embleton

Quoted from Davec

Hurst didn't sign Robson or Embleton

Both Jolley signings.

Quoted from aldi_01

Do they though? Just because they sign someone in that position doesn’t mean they’re any good…wanting a striker and wanting and getting one that scores regularly are two very different things…

I mean Stockport are paying one a shed load of cash and quite frankly, he may as well have sat with me today…

Given the fact none of our strikers feature in the top 20 goal scorers (and likely more) then I’d say yes, other sides do sign good strikers, unless you genuinely believe that isn’t the case?

Sounds like Madden had a bad game yesterday, but he has scored 9 goals with 3 assists, which is miles ahead of our strikers.

Even if we had a striker who could get us 12-15 goals, that’d be great. I really cannot understand the mentality of some that it’s somehow unattainable?

Quoted from ex-merseymariner

Hurst also has a good record for bringing in top quality young loanees, notably england players like Dean Henderson and Ben Godfrey, but also Townsend, Matete, which again is overlooked by critics.

We are keeping more young pros on than before, be fascinating to see how this intake plus Khouri Battersby and others do going forward.  

Utm!

It’s easy to say that but you’ve named 4 there out of god knows how many? Worth noting he didn’t play Henderson whilst he was here, it was after he left and Bignot utilised him, which then sparked Hurst to take him to Shrews.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Given the fact none of our strikers feature in the top 20 goal scorers (and likely more) then I’d say yes, other sides do sign good strikers, unless you genuinely believe that isn’t the case?

Sounds like Madden had a bad game yesterday, but he has scored 9 goals with 3 assists, which is miles ahead of our strikers.

Even if we had a striker who could get us 12-15 goals, that’d be great. I really cannot understand the mentality of some that it’s somehow unattainable?

Would you be happy to be paying Madden £180k/year for that return of goals/assists? https://www.google.com/search?.....=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Having said that, I've just come across this website - and it looks like we've got some high earners not far off the above - https://salarysport.com/football/sky-bet-league-two/highest-paid/

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

Would you be happy to be paying Madden £180k/year for that return of goals/assists? https://www.google.com/search?.....=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Having said that, I've just come across this website - and it looks like we've got some high earners not far off the above - https://salarysport.com/football/sky-bet-league-two/highest-paid/

Not particularly, but I’d happily settle with somebody like Armstrong, Waters or even Umerah (who we turned down last season). All had decent seasons so far and certainly wouldn’t have broken the bank.

FWIW I think we can go one better than those 3, but they’d all be an improvement on what we have.

Yeah, I'd be happy with either of them too, problem is they will all be under contract, as will most half decent strikers, so we'd have to pay a fee if we want one is this window.

I can't believe pepple and symonds are both earning 180K and 155K respectively, according to that salary sport website. I hope we are only paying a small proportion of those figures, if not then we need to offload them both asap.

That site probably uses wages from football manager. I doubt there's a real list of players wages anywhere. Maybe Black &white bear can compare them.

Quoted from Roast Em Bobby

Would you be happy to be paying Madden £180k/year for that return of goals/assists? https://www.google.com/search?.....=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Having said that, I've just come across this website - and it looks like we've got some high earners not far off the above - https://salarysport.com/football/sky-bet-league-two/highest-paid/

All the Town players are on loan, so I would imagine that their parent clubs will pay a chunk of their wages.

Quoted from pontoonlew

It’s easy to say that but you’ve named 4 there out of god knows how many? Worth noting he didn’t play Henderson whilst he was here, it was after he left and Bignot utilised him, which then sparked Hurst to take him to Shrews.

I think you've missed my point.  The critics never do give credit for the young successes Hurst has had.  Its easy for me to say, but they never do say.  

Sometimes loan players don't work out, why not list the numbers if you are bothered.  God's know how many is just lazy. But instead we just hear nonsense like he's supposedly rubbish with young players.  

There's a clear effort to bring young players through, and nearly all of them are developing with loan spells in non league.  Will be interesting to see if /when they start to feature over next 6/12/18 months.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Given the fact none of our strikers feature in the top 20 goal scorers (and likely more) then I’d say yes, other sides do sign good strikers, unless you genuinely believe that isn’t the case?

Sounds like Madden had a bad game yesterday, but he has scored 9 goals with 3 assists, which is miles ahead of our strikers.

Even if we had a striker who could get us 12-15 goals, that’d be great. I really cannot understand the mentality of some that it’s somehow unattainable?

I don’t think that mentality actually exists within the club and to say it does feels a bit disrespectful towards people’s professional efforts. The more I read your posts it just feels like you’re anti Hurst.

We’ve seen quite a few sides in this league who have played against us with no real striking threat, a few have real threat for sure but not every team does.

In terms of Hurst and young players in terms of his first spell I can’t think of any of our products who where ready to push anyone out of the starting 11 but to memory he did give starts to Walker, Winfarrah, Venney and intergrated H and Max Wright. The first 3 on that list now play local part time and the other 2 in the EFL.

Khouri was re-signed and is involved and we have Ghoudry, Essel and Battersby out on loan to get game time. I think when Hurst was here before he did the same with Max at Brid and H at Gainsborough.

In terms of loans yes we’ve had some that just didn’t work but we’ve had others as detailed above that did. As much as we despise him now Palmer made a difference when he arrived so I’d add him to the list of one that worked. Though I’d like to see more of him Hunt was a loan too.

For what’s it’s worth as it will never happen in his case but if we got someone like Madden (ideally a year or two younger) I’d be more than happy to see them come in as the top earner based upon a mix of good salary and goals bonus. I don’t actually think he had a bad game yesterday he was once again well marshalled by our defenders, not for the first time.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I don’t think that mentality actually exists within the club and to say it does feels a bit disrespectful towards people’s professional efforts. The more I read your posts it just feels like you’re anti Hurst.

We’ve seen quite a few sides in this league who have played against us with no real striking threat, a few have real threat for sure but not every team does.

In terms of Hurst and young players in terms of his first spell I can’t think of any of our products who where ready to push anyone out of the starting 11 but to memory he did give starts to Walker, Winfarrah, Venney and intergrated H and Max Wright. The first 3 on that list now play local part time and the other 2 in the EFL.

Khouri was re-signed and is involved and we have Ghoudry, Essel and Battersby out on loan to get game time. I think when Hurst was here before he did the same with Max at Brid and H at Gainsborough.

In terms of loans yes we’ve had some that just didn’t work but we’ve had others as detailed above that did. As much as we despise him now Palmer made a difference when he arrived so I’d add him to the list of one that worked. Though I’d like to see more of him Hunt was a loan too.

For what’s it’s worth as it will never happen in his case but if we got someone like Madden (ideally a year or two younger) I’d be more than happy to see them come in as the top earner based upon a mix of good salary and goals bonus. I don’t actually think he had a bad game yesterday he was once again well marshalled by our defenders, not for the first time.

Bit of a lazy point re anti Hurst, I’m pretty comfortable with him as manager and I’ve said as much multiple times. I’ve no doubt people work hard to get strikers, but since Hurst came back we’ve had no real goal scorer and he’s been here 2 years now. I personally don’t feel that’s acceptable, no matter what way people want to spin it, and I don’t think that’s so out there to suggest? I also never said that mentality exists within the club, but within our fan base, and that’s undeniably true because it’s all over this board.

We have this debate every window and so far those worrying about our ability to sign a striker are yet to be proven wrong in their worries.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Bit of a lazy point re anti Hurst, I’m pretty comfortable with him as manager and I’ve said as much multiple times. I’ve no doubt people work hard to get strikers, but since Hurst came back we’ve had no real goal scorer and he’s been here 2 years now. I personally don’t feel that’s acceptable, no matter what way people want to spin it, and I don’t think that’s so out there to suggest? I also never said that mentality exists within the club, but within our fan base, and that’s undeniably true because it’s all over this board.

We have this debate every window and so far those worrying about our ability to sign a striker are yet to be proven wrong in their worries.

Thanks for clarifying

Quoted from pontoonlew

Bit of a lazy point re anti Hurst, I’m pretty comfortable with him as manager and I’ve said as much multiple times. I’ve no doubt people work hard to get strikers, but since Hurst came back we’ve had no real goal scorer and he’s been here 2 years now. I personally don’t feel that’s acceptable, no matter what way people want to spin it, and I don’t think that’s so out there to suggest? I also never said that mentality exists within the club, but within our fan base, and that’s undeniably true because it’s all over this board.

We have this debate every window and so far those worrying about our ability to sign a striker are yet to be proven wrong in their worries.

I understand your point but it's easy to forget Mcatee got 16 in 39 games last season, which is pretty good going.

We really miss Taylor and clearly need a striker. I think people were probably right when they said we should've kept Mani this season because he would've certainly featured.  
I'm pleased that Hurst wants more quality and fully expect him to find it in this window. I'd like to see us sign two strikers but I think the priority will be somebody to lead the line and hold the ball up, rather than a goalscorer. If we can keep the ball higher up the pitch we have players that can score goals.

Tom Hopper would be the ideal striker to compliment our squad IMO, I know it's been rumoured, but not sure how realistic it would be.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Bit of a lazy point re anti Hurst, I’m pretty comfortable with him as manager and I’ve said as much multiple times. I’ve no doubt people work hard to get strikers, but since Hurst came back we’ve had no real goal scorer and he’s been here 2 years now. I personally don’t feel that’s acceptable, no matter what way people want to spin it, and I don’t think that’s so out there to suggest? I also never said that mentality exists within the club, but within our fan base, and that’s undeniably true because it’s all over this board.

We have this debate every window and so far those worrying about our ability to sign a striker are yet to be proven wrong in their worries.

McAtee did well for goals last year. Khan doing well this.

I’m not a fan of Taylor. For me we have been more creative and scored more since he’s been out of the team.

Quoted from monkeyboy

I’m not a fan of Taylor. For me we have been more creative and scored more since he’s been out of the team.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

People clearly conflate the concepts of ‘old fashioned number 9’….strong, line leading, hard running etc and ‘goalscorer’. The Alan Shearer type is a dying breed and everyone wants one. For me, we’ve got goals in us from lots of players - real positive - but we would obviously benefit from a ‘9’ who could play ahead of McAtee and Khan etc and hold it, and be a target and a threat. Taylor is in this mould but can’t stay fit so we understandably would like another. Tricky old process that as so many clubs are looking for this type -probably the fastest declining traditional position in football. The idea that we could go out and sign a line-leading, physical, skilful 20 goals a season unit of a striker as a middling L2 club is for the birds, for so many reasons. They’re hen’s teeth.

Quoted from chaos33

People clearly conflate the concepts of ‘old fashioned number 9’….strong, line leading, hard running etc and ‘goalscorer’. The Alan Shearer type is a dying breed and everyone wants one. For me, we’ve got goals in us from lots of players - real positive - but we would obviously benefit from a ‘9’ who could play ahead of McAtee and Khan etc and hold it, and be a target and a threat. Taylor is in this mould but can’t stay fit so we understandably would like another. Tricky old process that as so many clubs are looking for this type -probably the fastest declining traditional position in football. The idea that we could go out and sign a line-leading, physical, skilful 20 goals a season unit of a striker as a middling L2 club is for the birds, for so many reasons. They’re hen’s teeth.

Exactly.

Quoted from chaos33

People clearly conflate the concepts of ‘old fashioned number 9’….strong, line leading, hard running etc and ‘goalscorer’. The Alan Shearer type is a dying breed and everyone wants one. For me, we’ve got goals in us from lots of players - real positive - but we would obviously benefit from a ‘9’ who could play ahead of McAtee and Khan etc and hold it, and be a target and a threat. Taylor is in this mould but can’t stay fit so we understandably would like another. Tricky old process that as so many clubs are looking for this type -probably the fastest declining traditional position in football. The idea that we could go out and sign a line-leading, physical, skilful 20 goals a season unit of a striker as a middling L2 club is for the birds, for so many reasons. They’re hen’s teeth.

Rather harsh on Ryan given the fact this is the first prolonged injury he’s had and played nigh on every game last season.

Quoted from chaos33

McAtee did well for goals last year. Khan doing well this.

Khan has hit a purple patch, hopefully he’ll kick that on. The point is though, none of those players are strikers..

Well it kind of is and isn’t the point. What’s it matter who gets the goals?

We managed to get promoted without the fabled 20 goal striker. We did under Buckley too.

There are strikers out there but they are difficult to procure. The better they are, the more difficult they are to recruit.

I don't think fans are saying they don't exist, just that they are scarce unless you throw tons of cash at it and the new owners wont do that.

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

Rather harsh on Ryan given the fact this is the first prolonged injury he’s had and played nigh on every game last season.

It’s not harsh on Ryan - the point isn’t really about him. It’s about the conflation. When he’s fit there are some on here (who make me wonder how long they’ve been watching football) who post ‘we need better than Taylor. He’s finished at this level. He doesn’t score enough goals’ and so on and so on. As though 25 year old prolific, line-leading units are actually available?! Taylor enables us to play a certain way that makes the most of others in the team - others who contribute plenty of goals - McAtee, Clifton, Holohan, Khan etc.

We do not struggle for goals. We let too many in. Every club in this country would like a prolific number 9, but the’yre fast becoming a myth. I don’t know why. I’m drawing attention to the conflation. I think we would benefit from a strong, mobile type to lead the line and play ahead of McAtee, Khan, Clifton etc…hold it up and bring them into play. We are proven potent in that regard. Whether they’re a ‘goalscorer’ or not is somewhat immaterial and probably exceedingly rare and unlikely to be coming to a mid table L2 club near you any time soon.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Khan has hit a purple patch, hopefully he’ll kick that on. The point is though, none of those players are strikers..

Most of the big teams don't play strikers anymore, it's a dead concept in football to have the one or two strikers who just stay up front looking for goals, nobody plays like that anymore. Everybody has to play and score from all over the pitch these days to be successful.

If we got a striker in and he scores a shitload of goals for us he would be gone in the summer and we'd be back to square one

You could see yesterday especially in the first half that we needed someone to either arrive in the middle at the right time or check a run into the box to find space etc.. etc.. some of the things strikers do well. We’re actually quite good at getting in behind teams we just need something extra than what we’ve currently got.

Quoted from ginnywings

We managed to get promoted without the fabled 20 goal striker. We did under Buckley too.

There are strikers out there but they are difficult to procure. The better they are, the more difficult they are to recruit.

I don't think fans are saying they don't exist, just that they are scarce unless you throw tons of cash at it and the new owners wont do that.

I don’t know how loudly I need to shout this, but nobody is asking for a 20 goal striker. That’d be nice, but I’d snap your hand off for 12

Quoted from Kris2

Most of the big teams don't play strikers anymore, it's a dead concept in football to have the one or two strikers who just stay up front looking for goals, nobody plays like that anymore. Everybody has to play and score from all over the pitch these days to be successful.

Haaland , Kane  Salah ... I can go on if you like

Quoted from mimma

If we got a striker in and he scores a shitload of goals for us he would be gone in the summer and we'd be back to square one

Good point, no point then!

Quoted from chaos33

It’s not harsh on Ryan - the point isn’t really about him. It’s about the conflation. When he’s fit there are some on here (who make me wonder how long they’ve been watching football) who post ‘we need better than Taylor. He’s finished at this level. He doesn’t score enough goals’ and so on and so on. As though 25 year old prolific, line-leading units are actually available?! Taylor enables us to play a certain way that makes the most of others in the team - others who contribute plenty of goals - McAtee, Clifton, Holohan, Khan etc.

We do not struggle for goals. We let too many in. Every club in this country would like a prolific number 9, but the’yre fast becoming a myth. I don’t know why. I’m drawing attention to the conflation. I think we would benefit from a strong, mobile type to lead the line and play ahead of McAtee, Khan, Clifton etc…hold it up and bring them into play. We are proven potent in that regard. Whether they’re a ‘goalscorer’ or not is somewhat immaterial and probably exceedingly rare and unlikely to be coming to a mid table L2 club near you any time soon.

I meant your point on him not always being available, I’m a big Ryan Taylor fan. You have to be an idiot to not see how he enables us to play. He’s the Gary Jones to Mcatee’s Reddy.

Quoted from Kris2

Most of the big teams don't play strikers anymore, it's a dead concept in football to have the one or two strikers who just stay up front looking for goals, nobody plays like that anymore. Everybody has to play and score from all over the pitch these days to be successful.

Worth noting that 5 of the top 7 in our league have a striker in the top 9 goal scorers in the league.

If you go down a bit further, it’s 8 of the top 10…

Quoted from It Bites

Haaland , Kane  Salah ... I can go on if you like

Yes, go on. Name more. What you’re doing is illustrating the point. There aren’t that many. There are 20 prem clubs and nigh on 60 other clubs above us in the pecking order. Do share all those line leading, big unit 20 goal a season strikers that exist.

Quoted from It Bites

Haaland , Kane  Salah ... I can go on if you like

With the exception of Haaland, the other two don’t just hang around up top…Kane drops in to his own half regularly to try and inject some pace in to a move…Mane, Messi, Ronaldo, Bogle, Hearn, Saka, and then list goes on…all strikers who score 15+ but don’t just goal poach…the games moved on, nobodies denying we couldn’t do with a more effective front man but it’s not the be all and end all…9 goals in the playoffs…2 ‘strikers’ scored 3 goals…

Quoted from chaos33

Yes, go on. Name more. What you’re doing is illustrating the point. There aren’t that many. There are 20 prem clubs and nigh on 60 other clubs above us in the pecking order. Do share all those line leading, big unit 20 goal a season strikers that exist.

He said Top teams and neither of us mentioned a big unit . Toney

Quoted from pontoonlew

I don’t know how loudly I need to shout this, but nobody is asking for a 20 goal striker. That’d be nice, but I’d snap your hand off for 12

Shout as long and loud as you like, it won't speed things along.

We'll get someone in eventually.

Quoted from ginnywings

Shout as long and loud as you like, it won't speed things along.

We'll get someone in eventually.

I’m sure we will, I hope it’ll be this window, but if we don’t, how many more windows do we keep churning out the ‘eventually’ card? Genuine question, because 2 years is ample time for me.

Seems strange to say ‘speed things along’ as it’s somehow impatient to want a striker after 2 years of looking

Someone posted something earlier and it got me thinking. Would it be wise to get that star striker in now on a 2.5 year deal, only for someone to buy him in the summer, putting us back at square one and having to wait another 4 windows for a striker?

Quoted from pontoonlew

I’m sure we will, I hope it’ll be this window, but if we don’t, how many more windows do we keep churning out the ‘eventually’ card? Genuine question, because 2 years is ample time for me.

Seems strange to say ‘speed things along’ as it’s somehow impatient to want a striker after 2 years of looking

But that would suggest we haven't had a striker for 2 years, which isn't the case.

Taylor and McAtee got us promoted last season if I'm not mistaken.    

  What you are basically saying is that we haven't signed a striker that you deem worthy of the name.

We get balls on behind plenty, we need a poacher .
Taylor isn’t a poacher at all. Yes he holds the ball up and gets headers to no one as he’s isolated most of the time.

I’m not a fan but he would be a good foil for another speedy striker running off him bits that not what hurst does.
We need a bit of speed up top with someone that gets into scoring positions.

Quoted from chaos33

Yes, go on. Name more. What you’re doing is illustrating the point. There aren’t that many. There are 20 prem clubs and nigh on 60 other clubs above us in the pecking order. Do share all those line leading, big unit 20 goal a season strikers that exist.

Ivan Toney, Mitrovic...I'm sure people can keep adding to the list, Man City went for Haaland for that exact reason, they knew the missing piece to their jigsaw was a big, physical striker and look how imperious they are now. They are a dying breed, they command top dollar and down out our level they are even rarer.

Quoted from monkeyboy

We get balls on behind plenty, we need a poacher .
Taylor isn’t a poacher at all. Yes he holds the ball up and gets headers to no one as he’s isolated most of the time.

I’m not a fan but he would be a good foil for another speedy striker running off him bits that not what hurst does.
We need a bit of speed up top with someone that gets into scoring positions.

I suspect Paul Hurst won’t mind.

Quoted from monkeyboy

We get balls on behind plenty, we need a poacher .
Taylor isn’t a poacher at all. Yes he holds the ball up and gets headers to no one as he’s isolated most of the time.

I’m not a fan but he would be a good foil for another speedy striker running off him bits that not what hurst does.
We need a bit of speed up top with someone that gets into scoring positions.

Like McAtee for instance?

We have had our bad spells when either one of them has been unavailable.

McAtee last season and Taylor this season.

It’s probably worth reflecting that, following last new year, we would go on to sign the likes of Amos, Abrahams, Dieseruvwe, Holohan and Cropper, to name just five, that would make such significant contributions to our season. Christ, it’s easy to forget now that Holohan and Cropper didn’t even sign until late March.

It’s worth remembering that most if not all of those signings ranged anywhere from “ok” to “slightly underwhelming” in the opinions of most on here and yet they would all go on to play a major part in the most incredible end to a season in this club’s history. In the case of Mani, there can’t be many players (or even any) who have made a more significant impact with fewer minutes in a Town shirt.

This time last year was strange. It had all gone to shít for no obvious reason. It was going wrong alright, but it wasn’t quite clear where. This season our deficiencies are clearer; we simply don’t have a presence up front without the ageing Taylor.

However, all I’d say is this. We may may or may not get that elusive marquee target man that is understandably sought after. If the last three transfer windows are anything to go by, “not” seems more likely. But that doesn’t mean we won’t sign someone in that position, or elsewhere, that won’t go on to make a significant contribution.

Who’d have thought a year ago that, come the end of the season, an Irish midfielder no longer wanted by Hartlepool, a serially unprolific journeyman striker from Tranmere and our second-choice right back (none of whom were even with us until February) would go down in GTFC folklore?

Not all heroes wear number 9 shirts.