How good is our strike force compared to others?

[Glenn-Murray]

I know everyone gets hung up on a 20 goal a season striker but last season only two strikers made that, Lambert and Vaz te, and they finished 2nd and 3rd. THe team that won the league, Reading, had a top scorer with 12 goals, only 1 more than Barnes, and their next top scorer had 8 goals, one less than CMS, so if the rest of the team chip in and you have a solid defence then it isn't necessary to score loads. 46 goals in total could win you the league. Before our poor run at the end of the season we were only 4 goals and a couple of clean sheets behind reading. Our defence is now looking good and so we should have more freedom and confidence to go forward so more goals should follow. You can look at the team with the best individual players or you can look at the team that plays the best as a team. Germany have shown that internationally that you can go a long way without great players but having a great team.

Gomez, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Ozil, Khedira, Neur etc. ? Germany have some of the best players in the world.

 

[kevtherev]

Have you left out Rickie Lambert because he only scored 27 times for Saints last season

Looks like he left out all the promoted teams, as they are no longer in the division, hence they are not relevant to the thread.

 

[Glenn-Murray]

Which great players has he persuaded to sign then? I must have missed them all! Dougie Freedman, his Lank Greasy hair, and obsession with young men is not going to be the clincher in getting any real quality to sign I'm afraid to tell you.

Joel Ward. Persuaded him to sign for us over Leeds and Ipswich.
Johnny Parr. Turned down Premiership QPR and Swansea and accepted half the wages offered back in Norway to sign for us.

We'll have to see about that last bit. If McCormack signs for us then he will have turned down more lucrative deals elsewhere to do so, and we will have beaten Huddersfield, Ipswich, Burnley, Blackburn, Wolves and yourselves (reportedly) to get him

 

[TheMajor]

Nobody (apart from Clyne, who made it clear he was leaving last year) has wanted to leave Palace this season. Scannell and Ambrose were sold, they didn't ask to leave, as Dougie wanted them off the wage bill and didn't want them for next season.

Dougie is in the middle of a re-building job. Ambrose said he wanted a new contract, and Scannell had signed a 3.5 year deal last season. Dougie just didn't want to keep them. Ambrose's wages were too high, and Scannell apparently had some issues off the pitch as well as not fulfilling the potential he definitely had on the pitch.

Ambrose, Scannell, Clyne, Hills, Gardner and probably others I don't know or can't be bothered about - fire sale -administration 3 ?

 

[TheBigUnit]

This...we dont want to be a one man band!

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Gomez, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Ozil, Khedira, Neur etc. ? Germany have some of the best players in the world.

Gomez is good, not great. From that list i would say Ozil and possibly Khedira. I don't think they are the best, they are effective and very good but not the best. IF they are so good why aren't they commanding the largest wages in europe rather than staying in germany at Bayern?

 

[Albion Dan]

Joel Ward. Persuaded him to sign for us over Leeds and Ipswich.
Johnny Parr. Turned down Premiership QPR and Swansea and accepted half the wages offered back in Norway to sign for us.

We'll have to see about that last bit. If McCormack signs for us then he will have turned down more lucrative deals elsewhere to do so, and we will have beaten Huddersfield, Ipswich, Burnley, Blackburn, Wolves and yourselves (reportedly) to get him

Ward is average Championship at very best. Where is the link saying Parr turned down Prem sides for Palace? If Parr like all your other players is great, them why were you so shit last season? It's the mystery you never seem to try and solve?

 

[Glenn-Murray]

Ambrose, Scannell, Clyne, Hills, Gardner and probably others I don't know or can't be bothered about - fire sale -administration 3 ?

Hills hasn't played for us in over 2 years.
Gardner was only offered a 1 year deal and is massively injury prone. His hamstring came off the bone completely a month before the end of the season. Still not recovered.
Ambrose sold to free up wages.
Scannell simply not good enough.
Clyne has left because he's ready to take on the Premiership.

That's not a firesale. Gardner, Clyne and Hills were out of contract. Ambrose and Scannell left too free up more money for Dougie. All money received is being put straight into Dougie's transfer kitty.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Joel Ward. Persuaded him to sign for us over Leeds and Ipswich.
Johnny Parr. Turned down Premiership QPR and Swansea and accepted half the wages offered back in Norway to sign for us.

We'll have to see about that last bit. If McCormack signs for us then he will have turned down more lucrative deals elsewhere to do so, and we will have beaten Huddersfield, Ipswich, Burnley, Blackburn, Wolves and yourselves (reportedly) to get him

But why would he want to sign for you?

 

[Glenn-Murray]

Ward is average Championship at very best. Where is the link saying Parr turned down Prem sides for Palace? If Parr like all your other players is great, them why were you so shit last season? It's the mystery you never seem to try and solve?

Parr på vei til England - sport - Dagbladet.no Google translate. Even without it, you can still see QPR and Swansea.

Parr played almost 100 games last season. He was absolutely knackered by the end of it. Also, we weren't "shit" last season. Our first XI was easily good enough to finish in the top 10, unfortunately our squad didn't have the depth required. In the last 2 months pretty much all of our players got injured and our kids/reserves had to play every game, which they simply weren't ready for. We slipped down to 17th which was the lowest we had been all season.

 

[Glenn-Murray]

But why would he want to sign for you?

Clearly people actually involved in the game view Palace a little differently than Brighton fans do.

 

[TheMajor]

Ward is average Championship at very best. Where is the link saying Parr turned down Prem sides for Palace? If Parr like all your other players is great, them why were you so shit last season? It's the mystery you never seem to try and solve?

Johnny Prr - worst full back in the Championship last season. Absolute clown of a player. The Football League show was worth watching each week just to see his latest howler. Surprised the league allowed him to play with those boots of his.

 

[Glenn-Murray]

Johnny Prr - worst full back in the Championship last season. Absolute clown of a player. The Football League show was worth watching each week just to see his latest howler. Surprised the league allowed him to play with those boots of his.

Wow. Very strange that he won our Player of the Year then. Can you actually remember any howlers he made?

I think he gave away one penalty last season, and also missed a penalty in the Cup. Apart from that all I can remember are a series of excellent performances and a couple of fantastic goals. Not bad for a player who played far more games than anyone else in the league last season.

 

[TheMajor]

Wow. Very strange that he won our Player of the Year then.

That's because you know f*ck all about watching decent football.

 

[Discodoktor]

Looks like he left out all the promoted teams, as they are no longer in the division, hence they are not relevant to the thread.

This is true, it's all about this season.

I also agree that our particular set up is about the entire team. Similar to Spain or Germany.

I also feel that Hoskins has a lot more potential as does CMS. Barnes is also getting better and could become a true hero. Service does make these players. Toby also provides options and is under rated.

I would have liked Rhodes or ribbeana whatshisname who is now at monaco he sounded very tasty from what I read.

Imho ...We are close to a playoff team and yes both strengthening our box to box midfield and a top striker would significantly feel like a strong push towards it.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

Parr på vei til England - sport - Dagbladet.no Google translate. Even without it, you can still see QPR and Swansea.

Parr played almost 100 games last season. He was absolutely knackered by the end of it. Also, we weren't "shit" last season. Our first XI was easily good enough to finish in the top 10, unfortunately our squad didn't have the depth required. In the last 2 months pretty much all of our players got injured and our kids/reserves had to play every game, which they simply weren't ready for. We slipped down to 17th which was the lowest we had been all season.

Not having a dig but how did Parr play nearly 100 games in a season?

 

[kevtherev]

Parr på vei til England - sport - Dagbladet.no Google translate. Even without it, you can still see QPR and Swansea.

Parr played almost 100 games last season. He was absolutely knackered by the end of it. Also, we weren't "shit" last season. Our first XI was easily good enough to finish in the top 10, unfortunately our squad didn't have the depth required. In the last 2 months pretty much all of our players got injured and our kids/reserves had to play every game, which they simply weren't ready for. We slipped down to 17th which was the lowest we had been all season.

Your first XI.....FFS there were times last season when we had 8/9 first team players missing. Every team even those promoted have injuries and suspensions. You end up where you deserve to be over 46 games and in your case that was 17th, if I was you, i'd take that now for next season.

 

[Glenn-Murray]

Not having a dig but how did Parr play nearly 100 games in a season?

He played a full season for Aeslund in the Norwegian top flight, then without a break signed for Palace and played almost every game for us too.

 

[Mutts Nuts]

Looks like he left out all the promoted teams, as they are no longer in the division, hence they are not relevant to the thread.

 

[Glenn-Murray]

Your first XI.....FFS there were times last season when we had 8/9 first team players missing. Every team even those promoted have injuries and suspensions. You end up where you deserve to be over 46 games and in your case that was 17th, if I was you, i'd take that now for next season.

Thankfully you're not me. I wouldn't even dream of taking 17th next season. We'll be disappointed if we don't get a top 10 finish.