What is the point? We now have a pretty balanced squad, full of young, incredibly talented players. Estevao and Andrey Santos will add to an already very young squad next summer. 

This season is one for growth and going back to UCL football. But if we are to take the next step then IMHO we have to pull the trigger and add at least one renowed CF and CB. 

Having a team full of young players is nice, but we need that extra experience too and that extra fear factor, you need opposing teams to give extra attention and fear certain players. At the moment there is only Palmer who fits this criteria, other than that there is nobody in key areas that gets special treatment. I mean don't think there is any defender getting that worried of facing Jackson or any attacker getting scared of facing Disasi and Tosin. 

But this could change if we also add some proven names in there.

12 hours ago, OneTommyLangley said:

Bluff and bluster - ideal for beating an out of sorts team but will never be elite level, great workrate but in truth championship quality.

File under : Caveman. Location : Strasbourg 

Tommy, bit off topic I know, but did you ever meet the real Tommy "Leather Lungs" Langley? When I had a season ticket in the Shed Upper he used to sit 3 rows directly in front of me. 

I can see @Liam absolutely loving this kid. Not only does he have the same name, he also has that JFH arse that makes his shorts look three sizes too small.

Imagine City let go of him, Lavia, and Cole Palmer. Tragic. If that was us, we would be fuming and rightly so. Although the jury is still out how good he'll be. He's still a young player. 

Great striker for that particular set up of counter attacking but won't transition well to a team expected to have lots of the ball and pin teams back. 

14 hours ago, 19seventyone said:

You’ve not seen much of him? His touch is excellent.  He also hits the target with his shots more often than not.  He certainly did tonight when our attackers couldn’t score in a brothel.

Scott believes there is this perfect striker out there who is not only strong in the box but has the first touch of Bergkamp and the finishing instincts of Henry. Fact is we live in a generation where there are a lack of elite STs compared to the 2000s. We aren't getting Gyorkeres and Osimhen has red flags attitude wise. 

I just saw a 21 year old who bullied our entire backline for 90 minutes. He was a box presence and was a continuing nightmare for Tosin. If we did a ChatGPT to summarize what we disliked about Jackson these past 18 months, it would be his finishing and how he isn't that strong in the box. 

For me, last night was Delap's audition and I say pull the trigger. 

I don't think being able to batter our sh*t defence, or being better than Jackson, are reasons to sign a striker.

Having said that this kid seems to have something about him, and I love that sh*thouse attitude, Diego had that.

Sign him tomorrow.

23 hours ago, just said:

I can see @Liam absolutely loving this kid. Not only does he have the same name, he also has that JFH arse that makes his shorts look three sizes too small.

You might like him too Just, as long he doesn't score too many goals. Liam could play for Ireland though his head has been turned and he'll end up making 3 sub appearances for the oppressors.

We are cryinfg out for a target man. Not had any kind of platform up front since Giroud. 

Delap or Strand Larson. We could send Neto back to Wolves as part of the deal. 

I'd take Rory Delap up front if it meant Jackson wasn't a starter anymore

On 01/01/2025 at 11:33, bluetrooper said:

We are cryinfg out for a target man. Not had any kind of platform up front since Giroud. 

Delap or Strand Larson. We could send Neto back to Wolves as part of the deal. 

What??? I’m really happy with Neto, aren’t you?

I've been impressed with Delap when I've watched Ipswich. He would definitely give us a different option up front. What sort of price would we be looking at though?

28 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I've been impressed with Delap when I've watched Ipswich. He would definitely give us a different option up front. What sort of price would we be looking at though?

In this window probably around £75m since you will be automatically relegating Ipswich. In the summer something around £50m. City have a £30m buy back clause though.

12 hours ago, ducavis said:

In this window probably around £75m since you will be automatically relegating Ipswich. In the summer something around £50m. City have a £30m buy back clause though.

Doubt he goes back  to City as he plays every week at Ipswich and as long as Haaland is there his minutes will be limited.

26 minutes ago, 19seventyone said:

Doubt he goes back  to City as he plays every week at Ipswich and as long as Haaland is there his minutes will be limited.

Does he have an opinion on these things if Ipswich were to get relegated? City could buy him at a bargain and sell him on for a profit. 

Definitely an option, instead of paying big for young players yet to be tried out in the league, be a no-brainer to get a proven player that's ready to lead the line on day one. Yes he will cost a lot, but success has a price. We may just need to shed a few squad players, and to be honest I don't mind that at all.

If we are genuinely interested, I imagine the Maresca and Palmer connection would appeal greatly to Delap, albeit I can't see anything happen until the summer. Survival in the PL is worth £120m+ a year, and you won't achieve that by selling your best striker in January.

 

Maybe im going against the grain here, but I'm not sold on him. 

Goal scoring record is pretty average in the championship, Abraham's is miles better. 

He is strong, he works hard, runs the channels, and is decent technically.

But considering we were in for Osimhen until the dying embers of the summer window, I don't get why would go in for another striker that has no resume, and will take at least a season or 2 before he maybe becomes good enough.

Duran has had a great season so far scoring some big goals, I'd have him.over Delap but have big reservations about him too. 

Then there is the 2 over in Portugal, Gyokeres and Samu. Samu again extremely raw, and the fact he has 13 in 16, actually makes Gyokeres's scoring record look a little suspect too. 

Striker market is awful these days. 

Personally I'm still taking Osimhen, bit more experienced, has a league winning campaign under his belt, where he has had to perform week in, week out under pressure. Aerially one of the best around at the moment, and offers a different option to Jackson.

If the rumours about Napoli going in for Casadei are true, then hopefully we edge back towards Osimhen, and see if we can break that Galatasaray loan and get him here mid-season.

I have on question...

Does he immediately improve us if he comes into the first team?

For me it's no. Absolutely not the profile of striker we need to get us to the next level.

We should be looking as Isak,Osimhen or Gyokeres.

18 minutes ago, Luca Vialli said:

I have on question...

Does he immediately improve us if he comes into the first team?

For me it's no. Absolutely not the profile of striker we need to get us to the next level.

We should be looking as Isak,Osimhen or Gyokeres.

I mean given that we have Nkunku or Guiu to choose from on the bench, I'd say yes. He immediately improves our first team. At this rate, I want anyone who can come here and remove Jackson from the XI when he's off form, which he has been for ages now. 

As far as profile goes, Delap plays a similar role to Jackson at Ipswich. He drops deep to collect the ball and loves to dribble in transition. Given that Maresca's system is dependent on the versatility of his attackers, I think he would fit well here. He's also significantly stronger than Jackson.

Isak, Osimhen, and Gyokeres just aren't obtainable given the price and wages. 

 

44 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I mean given that we have Nkunku or Guiu to choose from on the bench, I'd say yes. He immediately improves our first team. At this rate, I want anyone who can come here and remove Jackson from the XI when he's off form, which he has been for ages now. 

As far as profile goes, Delap plays a similar role to Jackson at Ipswich. He drops deep to collect the ball and loves to dribble in transition. Given that Maresca's system is dependent on the versatility of his attackers, I think he would fit well here. He's also significantly stronger than Jackson.

Isak, Osimhen, and Gyokeres just aren't obtainable given the price and wages. 

 

Agreed. Some still believe we will make signings like Roman would have done, or even how Todd acted as SD with the huge contracts given to Sterling, Koulibaly, Cucurella and Aubameyang.

Is not how this model works, much as we would like a top striker.

5 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Agreed. Some still believe we will make signings like Roman would have done, or even how Todd acted as SD with the huge contracts given to Sterling, Koulibaly, Cucurella and Aubameyang.

Is not how this model works, much as we would like a top striker.

Excuse my spelling in the last post, No idea what happened there.

If we have ambitions to be a top-four team again we're not going to achieve that by signing players like Liam Delap.

29 minutes ago, Luca Vialli said:

Excuse my spelling in the last post, No idea what happened there.

If we have ambitions to be a top-four team again we're not going to achieve that by signing players like Liam Delap.

Bit harsh I think.

I agree that Delap is more of your old fashioned type of striker and not the fancy, flair striker we see more of in the modern game. He's a short sleeve and no gloves striker - even in UK Winter time, which for me is refreshing. He will bully defenders and give them a hard time - something Jackson just isn't capable of. I think he would 100% improve us and score goals, so I would be all for it.

 

48 minutes ago, Luca Vialli said:

Excuse my spelling in the last post, No idea what happened there.

If we have ambitions to be a top-four team again we're not going to achieve that by signing players like Liam Delap.

Agreed, but all we have to go on is people like Feliciano saying the priority is business first, sport second.

On 01/01/2025 at 09:46, Liam said:

You might like him too Just, as long he doesn't score too many goals. Liam could play for Ireland though his head has been turned and he'll end up making 3 sub appearances for the oppressors.

Can't imagine it was a difficult decision for the English born lad that's lived in England all his life. Its like choosing to play for Chelsea or Cowdenbeath.