Striker

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Been needing a striker for the past 10 years , but with them costing alot of cash we seem to toodle along happy with free agents hoping one will click and bang us 20 goals in, no luck yet but unless we pay big money we will have to be happy with taking punts on strikers and hoping we get someone who costs nothing but all of a sudden bangs them in.

Armstrong from Harrogate is costing 400k so that goes to show what you're looking at when your paying money,  I just don't understand why we never really look at taking strikers from the lower leagues who has a decent record on a cheaper rate hoping they show something whilst with us . Peterborough are the masters at it , taking scorers proven lower down and making big money on them. It works they prove that

In the last ten years we’ve had Andy Cook, Ross Hannah, Omar Bogle, John-Lewis, Amond… McAtee was not an out and our striker but still scored 14 in a season…

Unfortunately for us the days of the home produced players like Drinkell, Wilkinson and Ford are long gone , they were players that produced a lot of goals for us but local talent seems to have disappeared over the last few years.

Quoted from Spurn boy

Unfortunately for us the days of the home produced players like Drinkell, Wilkinson and Ford are long gone , they were players that produced a lot of goals for us but local talent seems to have disappeared over the last few years.

Harry Clifton?!

Quoted from Brummie Codfather

Harry Clifton?!

Stand corrected 👍

Btw guys the 10 years was a tongue in cheek exaggeration lol

Quoted from Spurn boy

Unfortunately for us the days of the home produced players like Drinkell, Wilkinson and Ford are long gone , they were players that produced a lot of goals for us but local talent seems to have disappeared over the last few years.

It hasn't disappeared, the game has just changed. For the worst in my opinion.

An awful lot of local talent is now just hoovered up by bigger and richer clubs than ours.  Of course they didn't go onto make it in the professional game but Adam Drury and Jack Barlow were ridiculously talented at youth level, yet got picked up by clubs with better resources than ours.  Harvey Cartwright is a Grimsby lad, yet ended up over the bridge.

There's countless examples of talented kids from this area who have gone onto be picked up elite Academy set-ups just because they can.  Personally I think their development can be as stunted in that environment as it can be developed with the better resource and facilities.  

Ben Grist is another.  Showed fleeting promise as a youth team player, Leicester City snap him up for a decent fee.  There's very little to nothing that the club can do about it.  That money is great and it can go towards helping develop even more talented youngsters, but that's probably more of the pathway now rather than seeing a steady line of young talent coming through the set-up and into the first team.  In the last 20 years I can only think of 2 of players who have come through the youth set-up from a young age and gone onto make more than 100 appearances, Harry Clifton and Peter Bore.  Danny North is close with 80ish.  That's really telling.  Ryan Bennett made over 100 but joined as a 16-year-old, Mattie Pollock just shy of 50 but another who joined as a scholar.  Nick Hegarty made over 100 appearances but I think he joined as a 15-year-old.

Whichever way you cut it, the return is minimal when you measure it against how many go onto progress into the first team on a consistent basis.

Bradley Wood?

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Bradley Wood?

Never played up front and banned from football for another 12 months, but still not the worst suggestion I’ve seen on here this window.

Yes, good shout. Although another I believe came here at 16.  

Don't get me wrong it's a pathway that has worked very successfully.  Gary Croft, Peter Handyside, John McDermott...countless others trod that path.  Was initially thinking of those who have come through from a relatively young age and stayed with the club.

Quoted from Poojah

Never played up front and banned from football for another 12 months, but still not the worst suggestion I’ve seen on here this window.

Ban actually ends in April.  Could get him on a non-contract deal until then, just to monitor his fitness (of course he can't train with the side as part of his ban) and then get him in for the final games of the season.

It's either this or the 'shall we try Efete up front' shouts which I reckon we've got about 3 weeks before they're aired.