Striking options

Was just talking to my son and was finding it hard to think the last time we had a strike force of this calibre. I apologise if I've got their ages and contract lengths wrong, but hope you get the idea

Cox - by far one of the best strikers we've had in years, 31 and signed on for 2 years

Fortune - proved many wrong, hard working and brings others in to play, 35, deserving of 18 month contract

Robinson - brings pace to the forward line and a different dimension, 29 and signed on 2 year contract

Nouble - no doubt has qualities, are we the club he finally settles at, time will tell, but at 25 needs a club to prove his worth, 6 months to prove himself

Mooney - feel a bit sorry for him, but doubt he will be offered a new contract, and way off those mentioned above
Williams - simply not good enough, bye bye in the summer

Then there is Mr R. No doubting his qualities as a footballer, at 25, age on his side. Offered a 3 year contract, so PB had belief in him. Can't deny he has shot himself in the foot, time will tell whether he stays or goes. Hard to see him coming back from another set back, and u feel the next one is around the corner. If he stays then we still have ourselves a very good striker. Would probably mean the end for Nouble in the summer. But what PB has done is build a very good strike force, on contracts beyond this season meaning that in the summer it's one area less to worry about, maybe might need one more depending on Ranger/Nouble. For that I applaud PB

Cox is 29.

Have to agree with you, we've got some great options up front. In terms of numbers I think you'd have to go back to 06/07 but looking at the quality - Foran, Paynter, Harrold, Hooper at the time, etc. you could easily say that the current bunch are an upgrade.

I think Cox is 29, so if we can keep hold of him, he's got a good 5 years left in him at least.

Quality signing.

As opposed to Karen Brady who apparently was "24" when Brum came to visit some time ago .....:unsure:

Plus Robinson has only just turned 28.
I agree....it's a great looking strike force....all of which would seem to compliment each other well.

shrimperjon said:

Was just talking to my son and was finding it hard to think the last time we had a strike force of this calibrate.

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I think you meant Caliphate. I must say I think that elevates Browny above his current station. :unsure: :whistling:

Thinking our best is Cox + Fortune/Ranger with Nouble and Robinson coming off the bench.

manor15 said:

Cox is 29.

Have to agree with you, we've got some great options up front. In terms of numbers I think you'd have to go back to 06/07 but looking at the quality - Foran, Paynter, Harrold, Hooper at the time, etc. you could easily say that the current bunch are an upgrade.

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Agreed with this, I think they are an upgrade. PB has defiantly realised that to get promoted we need quality upfront. 6 strikers :stunned: I've never known us to have 6 and also others who can play up front too.

manor15 said:

Cox is 29.

Have to agree with you, we've got some great options up front. In terms of numbers I think you'd have to go back to 06/07 but looking at the quality - Foran, Paynter, Harrold, Hooper at the time, etc. you could easily say that the current bunch are an upgrade.

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Wasn't McDonald here at the same time?

Rattus Norvegicus said:

Wasn't McDonald here at the same time?

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He replaced Eastwood in the summer of 2007 after relegation.

Nile who?.....really want the guy to get his life sorted out...but we didn't miss him today. We were potent in attack....good signings Phil.

If NR is a disruptive influence then imo he can stay away

Simon Cox, the player we were told was a terrible signing on 60k a week or something.

In double figures with 6 goals in last 7 games.

5th in the table for assists with 7 assists (not sure that includes Saturday).

Realistically, if we do retain Ranger, then he must be at least 4 weeks off match fitness, maybe longer, and even then probably would only be able to do 60 minutes before puffing. Would I give him first dibs over Fortune? not on Monsieur Marc's current form. So, does Ranger become our main impact sub ahead of Robinson, again a difficult choice for PB. As for Nouble I think currently he is a 'just in case' squad player. I've yet to decide what I think on Ranger as I still don't know the complete facts, or what the FA have actually done/will do to him.

Nevertheless, it's great to have the options we have at the moment and let's hope they take us to the promised land of the Championship. Failure to do so could very well see Cox making a departure to a higher team in the Championship come the summer. Then we would need all the remaining fire power we have, including Ranger, to make up for his loss. I've not mentioned Mooney, but like others on here, I reckon he will be gone come summer.

Out of those strikers, Ranger is the one most likely to have a big impact on the Championship if we were so lucky to get there. With Cox close behind. Robinson not far behind those two and Nouble i have no idea yet. So Ranger could well be the one we really need should we be going up. Probably why the club might be sitting this out on a wait and see basis in more ways than one.

I think any discussion of strikers if "we go up" is rather premature, isn't it?

First we have to cement a place in the play-offs - our current form suggests this is a possibility but we should remember that we have gone on bad runs in the past.

And then we would have to get through the play-offs.

Still, it's rather cheering to see that we have strikers who can do the job. :thumbsup: