George Hirst

[Xen]

15 hours ago, An Sionnach said:

Ayoze is a very good player but has never been a principal striker. He should get ten or so this season which will be fine and as good or better than Shinji or Ulloa. We still need a fifteen to twenty man to stay in the top four. Jamie can do that but my point is we need a back up striker who can do a goal every two matches . Man City have Aguerro, Sterling and Jesus , they do not rely on one man ,neither do Liverpool , Arsenal or Chelsea. If we can't bring a striker through soon we are looking at 80 million to buy one.

There were only 8 players in the entire division last season who managed >15 goals. We're not at the caliber yet where we could have two of them even if they were both guaranteed starters, let alone convince one of them to sit on the bench as back-up.

 

FWIW, Ayoze Pérez was joint 16th on 12 goals (despite having a far worse team behind him), level with Firmino. He's a very capable back-up and would definitely be able to deputise at ST for a half-season or so if needs must.

[Aus Fox]

Who’s further ahead in terms of a possible bench appearance, Eppiah or Horst?

[Guest An Sionnach]

Eppiah or Hirst should definitely make the bench in a cup game this season . Very few of our loaned players look like they are going to make the grade . You can't keep loaning them out till they're 25 unless they are going to premiership clubs.

[The_Rorab]

Just now, An Sionnach said:

Eppiah or Hirst should definitely make the bench in a cup game this season . Very few of our loaned players look like they are going to make the grade . You can't keep loaning them out till they're 25 unless they are going to premiership clubs.

I've got to say I am impressed with how dedicated you are at being Hirst's hypeman.

[Guest An Sionnach]

Just now, The_Rorab said:

I've got to say I am impressed with how dedicated you are at being Hirst's hypeman.

He is our player you know, I am not pushing somebody from Q.P.R.  A while ago it would have been Chilwell or Hamza being pushed . He scores goals that is enough for me.

[Jimmy]

7 minutes ago, The_Rorab said:

I've got to say I am impressed with how dedicated you are at being Hirst's hypeman.

given our back up striker is Iheanacho and most would agree we need to replace him why not try Hirst, Eppiah or Muskwe and see if one of them makes the step up

[Grebfromgrebland]

Let's see how many goals Madison and Tielemans get along with Barnes and Perez.  We might already have enough goals from the rest of the squad. 

 

There's a good chance we'll get a centre back and a striker in January I think.

 

 

[Dahnsouff]

3 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Let's see how many goals Madison and Tielemans get along with Barnes and Perez.  We might already have enough goals from the rest of the squad. 

 

There's a good chance we'll get a centre back and a striker in January I think.

 

 

You may be right, a CB has the most urgency I would think, but of the names linked, Diego Llorente seem hugely left field - he wouldn't come here to bide his time surely? 

[coolhandfox]

On 05/11/2019 at 19:09, Jimmy said:

given our back up striker is Iheanacho and most would agree we need to replace him why not try Hirst, Eppiah or Muskwe and see if one of them makes the step up

I'm pretty sure Perez would be used as a striker first with either Albrighton or Gray taking Perez right mid position before we went down the path of nacho.

 

I actual think that was part of the thinking behind the move for Perez in the first place.

[OntarioFox]

Would like to see him in the team for the FA Cup.

Sh*t's getting a bit too real in the League Cup to throw him in at this point, but I'd definitely like to see him get a chance in the first team at some point in a game with less pressure. You never know until you try - it took 5 years for Harry Kane to get his chance for Tottenham after half a decade of knocking on the door and underwhelming loan moves (as we know all too well) - he scored once in the Prem and never looked back.

[car1os]

1 hour ago, Dahnsouff said:

You may be right, a CB has the most urgency I would think, but of the names linked, Diego Llorente seem hugely left field - he wouldn't come here to bide his time surely? 

Can’t see us paying £45 million in January for what could be a 3rd choice CB.

We do need one but we might find it difficult this season as it’s clear that Evans and Soyuncu are our first choice pairing. I’d like us to promote from our U23’s but not sure if any would be ready for next season.
 

I can see us going back in for Dunk next summer should we get European football 

 

As for George Hirst... would like to see him in some FA cup games in Jan/Feb if we draw suitable opposition as again I’d like us to promote youth where we can. 

Edited 8 November 2019 by car1os

[Guest An Sionnach]

Dunk would be way too expensive to consider , we must be patient with Benko , he was considered every bit as good as Soyuncu only six months ago .

Edited 8 November 2019 by An Sionnach

[Dahnsouff]

8 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

Dunk would be way too expensive to consider , we must be patient with Benko , he was considered every bit as good as Soyuncu only six months ago .

Agree about Dunk, but I am hesitant about Benko. As much as I want him to do well (as well as Soy would be grand), but I fancy he might be an injury prone guy, which would be sad for all parties.

Time will tell and if they do bring in a "serious" looking CB over the winter window, it does not bode well for Benko's longer term role I would argue.

[Gerard]

5 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

Dunk would be way too expensive to consider , we must be patient with Benko , he was considered every bit as good as Soyuncu only six months ago .

 

You would like to think Benkovic has no long term fitness problems and at some point this season replaces Morgan on the bench and starts to put pressure on Evans and Soyuncu for a starting place. Benkovic has great pedigree after excelling at Celtic last year and was linked with elite level clubs before playing for us and has already been capped by Croatia. I'll be very disappointed if he's not the answer for our third CB. Just look what they were saying about him in Glasgow less than 12 months a go. 

 

 

[coolhandfox]

1 hour ago, Gerard said:

 

You would like to think Benkovic has no long term fitness problems and at some point this season replaces Morgan on the bench and starts to put pressure on Evans and Soyuncu for a starting place. Benkovic has great pedigree after excelling at Celtic last year and was linked with elite level clubs before playing for us and has already been capped by Croatia. I'll be very disappointed if he's not the answer for our third CB. Just look what they were saying about him in Glasgow less than 12 months a go. 

 

 

But with Morgan more than likely leaving at the end of he's contract in the summer, we are going to need one more anyway.  We need 4 fighting for a place in the match day squad. 

[Gerard]

Just now, coolhandfox said:

But with Morgan more than likely leaving at the end of he's contract in the summer, we are going to need one more anyway.  We need 4 fighting for a place in the match day squad. 

 

The quality and profile of the next CB we buy will be dependent on Benkovic. Can he be trusted to be that CB who is at least third choice and putting pressure on Evans and Soyuncu? If he can then our 4th choice CB can be a promotion from the U23's or a solid player possibly on a Bosman.

[coolhandfox]

8 minutes ago, Gerard said:

 

The quality and profile of the next CB we buy will be dependent on Benkovic. Can he be trusted to be that CB who is at least third choice and putting pressure on Evans and Soyuncu? If he can then our 4th choice CB can be a promotion from the U23's or a solid player possibly on a Bosman.

It's going to be interesting to see which way this goes, I'd also also like to know what BR thinks of Amartey  as a CB.

[Guest Eamonn]

City's succession planning / squad building is pretty good...Soyuncu, Justin, Choudhury. I reckon we'll get through to Summer without another cemtre back.

 

I reckon they are more interested in looking for players who could challenge or improve the squad in any position rather than trying to fill a specific gap.  Is there another Kante, Mahrez, Soyuncu or Ndidi out there and can we get to them first?

Edited 8 November 2019 by Eamonn
typo

[Guest An Sionnach]

I think we are pretty safe at CB , I'm  sure Wilf could do a good job if necessary and with Hamza as cover we are  strong really.

[Foxxed]

There's too much excitement about Hirst atm. He's great in the u23s. But based on our previous academy experiences that means next year league one then hopefully the Championship then maybe the first team. Maybe Bren will fob off Ian, after a return to some form, and take Hirst under his wing but I doubt it.

[Guest An Sionnach]

Well we could spend 25 million on yet another overated dud I suppose who will then get the usual right royal kicking on here .

[Wolfox]

Genuine question, as I don’t follow the U23, how well is George H doing at the moment?

[Lizhang]

22 minutes ago, Wolfox said:

Genuine question, as I don’t follow the U23, how well is George H doing at the moment?

I would seriously like to know as well. People in here seem to think he's good enough to debut in a Leicester cup game? It's only been 6 months or so, since he was playing for us and i would never have imagined him making such a step in such short time, since he was really (really really) not good when he played for us. If he's really at that level, then all props to him, and i stand corrected.

[urban.spaceman]

1 hour ago, Wolfox said:

Genuine question, as I don’t follow the U23, how well is George H doing at the moment?

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/george-hirst/leistungsdaten/spieler/420808
 

Played 10, scored 6 and assisted twice. 

1 hour ago, Lizhang said:

I would seriously like to know as well. People in here seem to think he's good enough to debut in a Leicester cup game? It's only been 6 months or so, since he was playing for us and i would never have imagined him making such a step in such short time, since he was really (really really) not good when he played for us. If he's really at that level, then all props to him, and i stand corrected.

It seems we intend to take the cups seriously this year so whenever it’s a tough fixture we’ll play almost full strength. Our second XI has been rolled out against lower teams with one or two first team players playing. Iheanacho has scored in both his games so I imagine he’ll get the nod again. 
 

Hirst is still only young so perhaps he just wasn’t ready for the Belgian league? It seems like not much else was going well for you last season so maybe that played a part. 

[WigstonWanderer]

1 minute ago, urban.spaceman said:

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/george-hirst/leistungsdaten/spieler/420808
 

Played 10, scored 6 and assisted twice. 

It seems we intend to take the cups seriously this year so whenever it’s a tough fixture we’ll play almost full strength. Our second XI has been rolled out against lower teams with one or two first team players playing. Iheanacho has scored in both his games so I imagine he’ll get the nod again. 
 

Hirst is still only young so perhaps he just wasn’t ready for the Belgian league? It seems like not much else was going well for you last season so maybe that played a part. 

Maybe language barrier, off his patch, etc