What type of striker(s) should we be aiming for?

[Il Postino Pat]

I guess the obvious answer is anybody that scores goals. How does that type of striker fit into the way Sunderland play and does the way we play need to change to accommodate the type of striker you want to see at the club? If you were to expand on the type of striker how would that compare to the last crop of main strikers we have had at the club.

Darren Bent - The guy could score goals but the drawback (if you can call it that) tended to be that we were a counter attacking team with a direct style of play. As his Sunderland career came to a close we saw the emergence of Asamoah Gyan and a different and more attractive style of play. It looked like the dawn of a new exciting era but obviously, as it is Sunderland, it failed to materialise. Bent could score goals, I don't think anybody will dispute this. Finding another Bent is not an easy task as there are not many 20 goal a season strikers confined to the subs bench in Premier League teams...not that I know of.

It's interesting to note that Bent has not really found the same consistent form at Villa that we enjoyed in his only full season at the club.

58 league games, 32 goals - 1 goal every 1.8 games (for Sunderland)

Kenwyne Jones - On his day he could manhandle a defence but those days increasingly became few and far between. I don't think that we set up to make the most of Jones' main abilities and certainly didn't put enough crosses into the box for him. Jones became number two to Bent for obvious reasons. However, the ideal fit for Jones, Stoke haven't been able to get any more goals out of Jones than what Sunderland achieved. Jones was the last main target man we had until Bendtner.

94 league games, 26 goals - 1 goal every 3.6 games (for Sunderland)

Nicklas Bendtner - It was as frustrating watching Bendtner play up front and get in the box for Denmark in Euro 2012 as it was watching him not do it for us last season! There are obvious reasons why he dropped deep and wide and I think it gets back to our style of play and limitations in midfield. ultimately not the striker we were looking for but maybe we didn't use him correctly to get the best return from him.

29 league games 8 goals - 1 goal every 3.6 games (for Sunderland)

Asamoah Gyan - Gyan offered something different. He could offer something truly genius or something quite comical. It was painful watching him at the start of last season knowing exactly what he was capable of. It showed that even having a good striker sometimes isn't enough, especially if he isn't interested anymore. We didn't really have one full season with Gyan in the team when you consider that he joined at the end of the summer transfer window and in effect I don't think we saw the best from him. We surely weren't going to either!

34 league games 10 goals - 1 goal every 3.4 games (for Sunderland)


We are left with three rather inexperienced strikers and many of their games played are from the subs bench.

Fraizer Campbell - being the most experienced however his Sunderland career has been very stop star and has long spells out wide. Probably the quickest of our strikers.

38 league games 5 goals - 1 goal every 3.4 games

Ji Dong Won - provided the most memorable highlight of last season but rarely featured and bagged two goals from the bench. Will he be 'more settled' this next season and feature more?

19 league games, 2 goals -1 goal every 9.5 games

Connor Wickham - the long term development of Wickham was sacrificed due to the Gyan debacle. At times he looked dangerous, other times looked lost but there is definitely something there. It just needs to be nurtured and turned into a consistent level of high performance.

13 league games, 1 goal - errrr do the math

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From my point of view we need goalscoring experience at a high level first. We need someone capable of at least threatening 10 goals a season. If the player has physical presence, avoid being bullied like Bendtner was at times. I guess this is what Fletcher brings to the table without necessarily having the fancy flicks and over elaborate control. Still, I don't think it would be fair to have the burden rest with Fletcher to get a high proportion of our goals. But then do you bring in another expensive big name striker to the club, in full knowledge that we will be playing a 4-4-1-1 system with Sess playing off the main striker?

It's a tough one, MON gets paid to sort these issues out but what do you think?

Fletcher - 96 Premier league games, 30 goals - 1 goal every 3.2 games (Premier League)

[The Cabbage]

To an extent the goal record is secondary IMO. If we persist in one up front - and I fully expect us to - the striker needs to work extremely hard, create for others, provide a varied and physical test and provide sufficient goal threat to keep the opposition honest.

Ideally he'd do all of the above while being a threat from nothing and scoring a consistent 15+ a season. However, if he provides a platform for the rest of the team to play I'll be happy enough.

[Windypants]

We should be aiming for the next RVP, Thierry Henry and Didier Drogba.

They're almost certainly kicking about the Dutch or French leagues. All it needs is Pop Robson to point them out.

[Il Postino Pat]

Originally Posted by The Cabbage

To an extent the goal record is secondary IMO. If we persist in one up front - and I fully expect us to - the striker needs to work extremely hard, create for others, provide a varied and physical test and provide sufficient goal threat to keep the opposition honest.

Ideally he'd do all of the above while being a threat from nothing and scoring a consistent 15+ a season. However, if he provides a platform for the rest of the team to play I'll be happy enough.

Was Bendtner close to that or did he fall way short in your opinion?

[raven_5]

Originally Posted by Il Postino Pat

Fletcher - 96 Premier league games, 30 goals - 1 goal every 3.2 games (Premier League)

Let's not forget he didn't starts 20 of those games and he doesn't take spot kicks (even if he's not that good at taking them Bent scores 3-4 goals from the spot every season, Fletcher has 1 goal from the spot in 3 seasons).

From your list, I would say Fletcher is the best fit for MON's revolution. Of course there are other options out there.

[Cowboy Dan]

Frustratingly, the way Bendtner was playing in the Euros is exactly the way our lone striker needs to play. Perhaps, as you say, it was the lack of real creativity in our CM that meant he dropped deep and arsed around when he was up front for us.

[Those bloody beagles]

The simple answer is one who knows where the fucking net is!

[THELORDROWELL]

Ryan Noble

[Agnew's Head]

Fair play on writing all that man!!!

[ck1.gsy]

I would say one that scores goals in this league, but nee one wants Fletcher apparently.