The myth of the prolific striker being crucial to success...

Kermit said:
Aye, obviously you still need to consider the strikers other attributes. Its no good having a system that is based around a lone striker holding the ball up, and then signing a small, fast poacher type. The question was whether you need a goalscorer to be successful, the vast majority of the time you do, regardless of their playing style. For example, Drogba could do the job asked of wyke but got the goals as well.
Click to expand...
Drogba didn't actually score that many goals. He had 2 prolific seasons at Chelsea where he got 20+ in the league, and the rest of time had a far more modest return.
 


prehab26 said:
Silly idea. The person who is the most advanced areas need to be trusted to put the ball in the next. The rebound of the post to Wyke and his back pass to the keeper agaisnt Ipswich is the prime example of why wyke isn't good enough.

If we had a Toney, we would be top 2 and go up automatically.
Click to expand...
The Wyke effort with the rebound was typical of a league one striker. We see it most weeks sometimes from one of our players and often from opposition players.

Players like Ivan Toney and Keiffer Moore are better than league one and yes we would have benefited from someone like that but unfortunately we blew that money on Grigg so we have to try to succeed with what we’ve got.
 
James said:
Wyke is unquestionably holding the side back though, no matter how you dress it up. He can't score for toffee, all he's doing is putting a shift in which is appreciated but not enough. If he'd have converted even half his sitters this season we'd be top.

At some point Gooch and Maguire will stop scoring so regularly, as their careers suggest, and we're going to need him to step up. He needs to score more to at least take the pressure off those two digging us out with solo efforts.
Click to expand...

This too
 
I’d rather have the whole team scoring goals than a prolific striker. Don’t like a reliance on one or two players, it means with an injury or suspension or sale in January that you’re knackered. Sunderland’s midfield doesn’t contribute anywhere near enough on that score.
 
norfolk mackem said:
The Wyke effort with the rebound was typical of a league one striker. We see it most weeks sometimes from one of our players and often from opposition players.

Players like Ivan Toney and Keiffer Moore are better than league one and yes we would have benefited from someone like that but unfortunately we blew that money on Grigg so we have to try to succeed with what we’ve got.
Click to expand...

That's wasn't the question posed in the OP though. So your reply has zero relevance here.

Is it a myth? No.

Just because we don't have one doesn't mean it's a myth. It's not a myth. If we had a better 9 then we would be higher in the league and likely to go up automatically. It's unequivocal.
 
prehab26 said:
That's wasn't the question posed in the OP though. So your reply has zero relevance here.

Is it a myth? No.

Just because we don't have one doesn't mean it's a myth. It's not a myth. If we had a better 9 then we would be higher in the league and likely to go up automatically. It's unequivocal.
Click to expand...
Just trying to broaden the discussion, this being a message board for discussion n’ all.
 
James said:
Wyke is unquestionably holding the side back though, no matter how you dress it up. He can't score for toffee, all he's doing is putting a shift in which is appreciated but not enough. If he'd have converted even half his sitters this season we'd be top.

At some point Gooch and Maguire will stop scoring so regularly, as their careers suggest, and we're going to need him to step up. He needs to score more to at least take the pressure off those two digging us out with solo efforts.
Click to expand...

I agree it would be good to see him scoring goals to take the pressure off. Not sure it's fair to say all he does is put a shift in though.

He's becoming pretty important to the way we play tbh and some of his hold up play and touches have been great since our upturn in form. He doesn't give me confidence in front of goal but if the team keep performing I'm happy.
 
Kermit said:
I think the fact that no team has run away with it, coupled with the fact that there are only a couple of 'prolific' strikers spread over the teams toward the top, would suggest its not a myth. Put a 15/20 goal striker in our side and we would likely be in the top 2. Same as Portsmouth, Coventry etc.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Don't these stats suggest that League 1 sides cannot afford a 'prolific' goalscorer and that Peterborough who have one, unfortunately for them have a poor team overall otherwise they'd be well on top.
 
Black Cat Gypsy said:
Saying you don't need a prolific striker is like saying you don't need a good keeper or a strong defense to win a league.

This is probably the weakest League One has been for a well. No one is running away with it, the points total is down this season and 85 points might be enough to win it. If we can get a striker won can get 1 in 3 between now and the end of the season our chances would improve greatly.
Click to expand...
It would also help massively if our centre midfielders could manage more than the one league goal between the two of them that they currently have. The big issue is that we're far too reliant on just Gooch and Maguire for goals. Barely anyone else looks like scoring.
 
Scarborough mackem said:
Exactly. Don't these stats suggest that League 1 sides cannot afford a 'prolific' goalscorer and that Peterborough who have one, unfortunately for them have a poor team overall otherwise they'd be well on top.
Click to expand...

It's all relative though, clubs at this level find prolific strikers at this level all the time. Score better than one in three and eventually you'll get a chance in the league above but lots fail, come back and end up prolific again
 
For the past 4 seasons the top goalscorer was playing for the league winner. Not really a myth.
Getting automatic promotion without a prolific goalscorer is the exception, not the rule.
 
Look at the table though, no team is breaking the 2 points per game barrier which normally happens for automatically promoted teams.
This season is an anomaly
Last season
Luton - Collins 25 (94pts)
Barnsley - Moore 17, Woodrow 16 (91 pts)
Charlton - Taylor 21
 
Last edited:
Windypants said:
Rotherham: Freddie Ladapo, 10
Peterborough: Toney, 23
Coventry: Godden, 10
Wycombe: Akinfenwa, 8
Sunderland: Maguire, 10
Portsmouth: Curtis, 11
Ipswich: Norwood, 11
Doncaster: Sadlier, 10
Fleetwood: Madden, 15
Oxford: Henry, 9
With the exception of Peterborough (and maybe Fleetwood), none of the top sides possess a prolific goal scorer - most teams have strikers no more prolific than Gooch and Maguire. Throughout the season, people have said we'll need to sign a prolific goal scorer to get promotion. With that in mind, who will join Peterborough and Fleetwood in getting promotion, or, is the idea of 'you need a 20 goal striker' just not true?
Click to expand...

On the other hand you could say that the reason it's so tight at the top is because nobody has a prolific striker to set them apart. Plonk a Josh Maja, Tom Eaves or a Lyle Taylor in most of the top 7 and they would probably win the league.
 
You fail to mention that a lot of those teams also have another couple of players who are on between 7-10 goals. If Wyke was on 10 goals this season along with Gooch and Maguire's goals I'd bet we would be at least 2/3 places higher which shows how important having a striker that scores goals is.
 

Back
Top