Whites lose star players

It's clear Sordell can score goals when played in the right system - as has been said many times before on here, if the manager tailored the tactics towards the players rather than the players towards the tactics we'd be in a much better position.

In a 4-4-2 Sordell would score 20 goals a season at this level, especially if partnered with Juke.

If I was Dougie I'd go all out to sign Hutton & Juke, and playing a 4-4-2 we'd finish at least in the play-offs.

This team could challenge, and it would cost very little:

Bogdan

Hutton - Mills - Wheater - Tierney

Lee - Spearing - Ream - Danns

Juke - Sordell

Trust me, with Reams passing ability in midfield we would be a decent team next season.

Natasha Whittam wrote:It's clear Sordell can score goals when played in the right system - as has been said many times before on here, if the manager tailored the tactics towards the players rather than the players towards the tactics we'd be in a much better position.

In a 4-4-2 Sordell would score 20 goals a season at this level, especially if partnered with Juke.

If I was Dougie I'd go all out to sign Hutton & Juke, and playing a 4-4-2 we'd finish at least in the play-offs.

This team could challenge, and it would cost very little:

Bogdan

Hutton - Mills - Wheater - Tierney

Lee - Spearing - Ream - Danns

Juke - Sordell

Trust me, with Reams passing ability in midfield we would be a decent team next season.

This looks a decent option for some/home games. My only misgivings are that I think the younger players should be given some hope of securing a spot, that there may be better players to buy within our budget (I'd have a really good look around before committing to these) and that there is no fall back position if the 442 system fails again as it did this season once teams had worked out how narrow it is. But this line up would tear the blind school a new one.

"and that there is no fall back position if the 442 system fails again as it did this season once teams had worked out how narrow it is."


If it's not working, sacrifice Sordell and bring another (attacking) midfielder on.....surely?


That's basically what we've done all this season anyway, so the players must know that system already.


But it won't happen because Doug wants to only play "his" way and won't even consider tailoring the system to the players, rather than the other way round, as Nat has already pointed out.

Breadman wrote:"and that there is no fall back position if the 442 system fails again as it did this season once teams had worked out how narrow it is."


If it's not working, sacrifice Sordell and bring another (attacking) midfielder on.....surely?


That's basically what we've done all this season anyway, so the players must know that system already.


But it won't happen because Doug wants to only play "his" way and won't even consider tailoring the system to the players, rather than the other way round, as Nat has already pointed out.

As mentioned elsewhere, we're hoping he'll buy a round peg in the summer seeing as a square hole isn't an option in Dougie's mind.

Natasha Whittam wrote:It's clear Sordell can score goals when played in the right system - as has been said many times before on here, if the manager tailored the tactics towards the players rather than the players towards the tactics we'd be in a much better position.

In a 4-4-2 Sordell would score 20 goals a season at this level, especially if partnered with Juke.

If I was Dougie I'd go all out to sign Hutton & Juke, and playing a 4-4-2 we'd finish at least in the play-offs.

This team could challenge, and it would cost very little:

Bogdan

Hutton - Mills - Wheater - Tierney

Lee - Spearing - Ream - Danns

Juke - Sordell

Trust me, with Reams passing ability in midfield we would be a decent team next season.

i like the look of that team, i've always thought that Ream could do a great job in front of the back four and let Spearing get further forward.

Norpig wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:It's clear Sordell can score goals when played in the right system - as has been said many times before on here, if the manager tailored the tactics towards the players rather than the players towards the tactics we'd be in a much better position.

In a 4-4-2 Sordell would score 20 goals a season at this level, especially if partnered with Juke.

If I was Dougie I'd go all out to sign Hutton & Juke, and playing a 4-4-2 we'd finish at least in the play-offs.

This team could challenge, and it would cost very little:

Bogdan

Hutton - Mills - Wheater - Tierney

Lee - Spearing - Ream - Danns

Juke - Sordell

Trust me, with Reams passing ability in midfield we would be a decent team next season.

i like the look of that team, i've always thought that Ream could do a great job in front of the back four and let Spearing get further forward.

I second that. Its a great looking team. We need an out-and-out goal scorer and that player is already on our books! Can't quite believe that Doug does not see a future for Sordell. We pay £3.5mil for a player that has a history of scoring goals in this league when he has an extended run in the team, but because of the stupid manager's dreams of being the next Fergie, the player is totally wasted. All he wants to do is play. When he's playing he's not wishing he could be anywhere else. FFS even Zat Knight questioned what reason there was to reward a player that played blinder one week with the bench the following week. Fergie might have rotated the team but Dougie should be shown some videos of Man Utd that players like Rooney were player week in week out. I think thats why I will be expecting the same poor run which ultimately might result in the sack and we can put these 3 years of wasted time behind us. Big Sam will be free by then!

Have you seriously just compared "Marvellous Marvin" to Wayne Rooney, JAH.......?

Go and lie down in a dark room for a bit.

JAH wrote:

Norpig wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:It's clear Sordell can score goals when played in the right system - as has been said many times before on here, if the manager tailored the tactics towards the players rather than the players towards the tactics we'd be in a much better position.

In a 4-4-2 Sordell would score 20 goals a season at this level, especially if partnered with Juke.

If I was Dougie I'd go all out to sign Hutton & Juke, and playing a 4-4-2 we'd finish at least in the play-offs.

This team could challenge, and it would cost very little:

Bogdan

Hutton - Mills - Wheater - Tierney

Lee - Spearing - Ream - Danns

Juke - Sordell

Trust me, with Reams passing ability in midfield we would be a decent team next season.

i like the look of that team, i've always thought that Ream could do a great job in front of the back four and let Spearing get further forward.

I second that. Its a great looking team. We need an out-and-out goal scorer and that player is already on our books! Can't quite believe that Doug does not see a future for Sordell. We pay £3.5mil for a player that has a history of scoring goals in this league when he has an extended run in the team, but because of the stupid manager's dreams of being the next Fergie, the player is totally wasted. All he wants to do is play. When he's playing he's not wishing he could be anywhere else. FFS even Zat Knight questioned what reason there was to reward a player that played blinder one week with the bench the following week. Fergie might have rotated the team but Dougie should be shown some videos of Man Utd that players like Rooney were player week in week out. I think thats why I will be expecting the same poor run which ultimately might result in the sack and we can put these 3 years of wasted time behind us. Big Sam will be free by then!

No room for Mavis or Holden in your mid-field. ???
Not much creativity in your lineup and the fullbacks are not renowned to overlap to join in the attack. Sordell needs a lot of service at his feet to score IMO.

Reebok_Rebel wrote:
Shame as he was a 20+ goal a season striker and we desperately need a natural goalscorer, 

One of the reasons I have doubts about Juke is that he isn't a 20+ goals a season striker - and in a team that's going to challenge the main man needs to score at least 20 if not more. That is especially true of our team where we aren't getting loads of goals from midfield to supplement the tally.
For us he scored 7 in 20 which equates to 16 a season - just not enough IMO. 
Dougie would prefer someone in the Jermain Defoe mould for his system if we could find an affordable one i.e. like Beckford but with quality and ruthlessness.
Obviously we can't afford the finished article, but it would make sense to scour the planet for a prospect in that mould before blowing the majority of the budget on a known quantity that isn't likely to improve further.

when was the last time we had a striker who scored 16 goals a season nevermind 20? I would take that anytime.

I think he is worth splashing out on, he can lead the line if playing upfront on his own and if we could find a goal poacher to play alongside him they would benefit from his knockdowns as he is great in the air.

Norpig wrote:when was the last time we had a striker who scored 16 goals a season nevermind 20? I would take that anytime.

The last time anyone came close was Michael Ricketts during the 01/02 season when he bagged 15.

Since then, the most anyone has managed is 12.

The average highest goal scorer by season total between Rickett's feat and now is 10.5, so Norpig's point is a good one.

I'd take Juke in a heartbeat.

Play him with Sordell (or someone similar) off him and who knows........?

Breadman wrote:

Norpig wrote:when was the last time we had a striker who scored 16 goals a season nevermind 20? I would take that anytime.

The last time anyone came close was Michael Ricketts during the 01/02 season when he bagged 15.

Since then, the most anyone has managed is 12.

The average highest goal scorer by season total between Rickett's feat and now is 10.5, so Norpig's point is a good one.

I'd take Juke in a heartbeat.

Play him with Sordell (or someone similar) off him and who knows........?

What is the harm in looking around for alternatives first? There may be better buys out there and if not, perhaps a show of "lack of desperation" may influence the price favourably?

Unless you think there's a queue of clubs desperate to sign him.

No harm at all really, but I don't think we'll find one.

(Bird in the hand and all that.)

And I'd hate to be in the position where we say "No thanks" to Boro now, then have to go back, "cap in hand" come August and they say "Ah, just come over here a minute whilst we strap you over this barrel" and try charging us over the odds for him.

Breadman wrote:No harm at all really, but I don't think we'll find one.

(Bird in the hand and all that.)

And I'd hate to be in the position where we say "No thanks" to Boro now, then have to go back, "cap in hand" come August and they say "Ah, just come over here a minute whilst we strap you over this barrel" and try charging us over the odds for him.

Which is why you'd think the club would be working overtime to identify new targets whilst maintaining negotiations with Boro - who already have us over a barrel.
"Bird in the hand" is one proverb but so are "eggs in one basket", "don't look , don't find" and "keep your options open" - although I don't think the last one is a proverb.

The Juke would be a great buy - Most people at the club want him

wanderlust wrote:

Reebok_Rebel wrote:
Shame as he was a 20+ goal a season striker and we desperately need a natural goalscorer, 

One of the reasons I have doubts about Juke is that he isn't a 20+ goals a season striker - and in a team that's going to challenge the main man needs to score at least 20 if not more. That is especially true of our team where we aren't getting loads of goals from midfield to supplement the tally.
For us he scored 7 in 20 which equates to 16 a season - just not enough IMO. 
Dougie would prefer someone in the Jermain Defoe mould for his system if we could find an affordable one i.e. like Beckford but with quality and ruthlessness.
Obviously we can't afford the finished article, but it would make sense to scour the planet for a prospect in that mould before blowing the majority of the budget on a known quantity that isn't likely to improve further.

Can't agree with that, if we got a striker who scores 16 a season but also contributed to our attacking play and hold up the ball as well as Juke then it would be an excellent addition.

Not saying Juke is the man for that, I think we're better with him in the side but I think fitness and consistency are his issues.

Does Juke make the people around him better... Yes IMO. Now getting someone next to him might be stretching the budget a bit.

I've soured on Sordell and I highly doubt he will be back next season but if he is, maybe Juke can make him the player we thought we were getting.

bwfc1874 wrote:

wanderlust wrote:

Reebok_Rebel wrote:
Shame as he was a 20+ goal a season striker and we desperately need a natural goalscorer, 

One of the reasons I have doubts about Juke is that he isn't a 20+ goals a season striker - and in a team that's going to challenge the main man needs to score at least 20 if not more. That is especially true of our team where we aren't getting loads of goals from midfield to supplement the tally.
For us he scored 7 in 20 which equates to 16 a season - just not enough IMO. 
Dougie would prefer someone in the Jermain Defoe mould for his system if we could find an affordable one i.e. like Beckford but with quality and ruthlessness.
Obviously we can't afford the finished article, but it would make sense to scour the planet for a prospect in that mould before blowing the majority of the budget on a known quantity that isn't likely to improve further.

Can't agree with that, if we got a striker who scores 16 a season but also contributed to our attacking play and hold up the ball as well as Juke then it would be an excellent addition.

I'm not saying he wouldn't be an excellent addition. I'm saying that as we know we're skint and that Boro are likely to put a price on him that would significantly eat into our limited budget (and thereby restrict our options for other signings) we should look around elsewhere just to make sure that overall he's the best we can get for our money. If we don't look we'll never know.
£2 million got Michu who is a 20 goal a season striker - at premiership level. There could be better deals than that around if we look hard enough.

"£2 million got Michu who is a 20 goal a season striker - at premiership level."


Sorry to be a pedant, but he's scored 2 league goals this season and his overall record for them is 20 in 52 games.

wanderlust wrote:
I'm not saying he wouldn't be an excellent addition. I'm saying that as we know we're skint and that Boro are likely to put a price on him that would significantly eat into our limited budget (and thereby restrict our options for other signings) we should look around elsewhere just to make sure that overall he's the best we can get for our money. If we don't look we'll never know.
£2 million got Michu who is a 20 goal a season striker - at premiership level. There could be better deals than that around if we look hard enough.

Ha ha, because obviously we can afford players who guarantee you more than 16 goals a season.

If we had a striker who scored 15 and another striker or midfield who scored 10 we'd finish inside the top 6.