Mark De Vries

[Milky]

Even in his little cameo, Dj looked lively and very threatening. He constantly made runs, showed tight control and looked to get in behind at every opportunity.

To get promotion we need two strikers to find the net regularly. That surely has to be Hume and Dj.

[Nick]

He has had less of a chance than some others though. Who in the time under levien were just as bad, if not worse.

Teblin, again, you are right.

I just think we could use another option just on the off-chance he has another season of poor performances.....

I am simply not comfortable with our current options

i) Youth and inexperience - needs a while to grow (not literally - apparantly Ricky played against our academy squad while at QPR and was impressed by the quality and the set up and said as much....)

ii) MDV - Not the complete player i'd like certainly not as first choice big-man. I've stated my reasons earlier in the thread. He's a squad player for me.

iii) Carl if he gets off the physio's table long enough to get his eye in would be great. History suggests this will not happen for any sustained period.

I am simply pissed off with accepting and selecting the least worst option. MDV is the best option we have if the manager wants to play a big target man. No dispute there. I just want another, more skilled, reliable, quality option.

Is that fair?

[reynard]

This whole debate shows one thing. We simply do not have the quality of front line needed to get us out of this league.

There are two ways out of this division.

1 is to score lots of goals (somewhere between 65 and 75) that's 20 more than we managed last season.

2 to only concede a max of 1 goal per game on average and win lots 1-0 like derby last season and west brom a few years befors.

our defence doesn't look like it can manage that so we have to go the other route.

should mdv start?

If we want to play 1 big striker with 1 small striker then at the moment the answer has to be yes. why? well we simply don't have anyone else as Cort is not fit and when he has been has scored only 2 goals in his starts in the last 2 years.

will mdv score the number of goals we need from a centre forward then the answer is probably not. But how nmany will any of the others get? hume is not a prolific scorer and imo will not beat last season's total. Personally I am not convinced by DJ but hope to be prov4d wrong. Fryatt is a natural goalscorer but lacks the pace to get 18-20 goals a season.

so mdv will probably start because unless we sign another striker either permanently or on loan at present we simply have no other choice if we want to play one big striker alongside 1 small striker.

[Thracian]

I've rarely read so many posts demonstrating excactly why we need to use three strikers at once - Campbell, DeVries and Hume with Fryatt and Odhiambo in reserve.

And why people should be worried by that prospect I've no idea. Because other threads talk about our indifference on either flank and I certainly cannot see many of the 75/80 goals we need coming from there.

Unless the personnel pack is shuffled once again with yet more new arrivals Martin Allen is faced with a classic example of needing to play a system that suits his squad rather than fitting the squad to his preferred system.

It is not discipline, hard work, fitness, knowledge of what goes into making a football team, attention to detail nor anything that requires effort which will decide whether Martin Allen is successful managing Leicester.

It will be his tactics. His ability to think and to get the best out of the players available - without seeking to do the job for them.

And with what we've got right now we need three strikers, including one with height who's capable of holding the ball.

[TheBlinding]

The problem with playing three strikers is that we'll be so exposed down the wings and our full backs are not a strong point as it is.

[Thracian]

The problem with playing three strikers is that we'll be so exposed down the wings and our full backs are not a strong point as it is.

Whichever system we play will expose shortcomings with the current squad. But using three strikers would give us a chance of the goals we need, while using two with two wide men would help leave us short of potential scorers.

Your point is valid and would need dealing with. But as City adopt zonal marking whichever side play develops I think we would have enough to stiffle attacks with help from the outer members of our three man midfield, especially with our full-backs pushing high as well.

[Ultra]

It's a little sad, but as things stand MDV is the best striker to play alongside Hume.

Cort is unfit, while DJ has yet to settle. His finishing yesterday against Pompey veered disturbingly close to Hammondesque!

Fryatt could be used as part of a trio. I doubt whether MA would risk pairing him with Hume as a strike duo. That partnership showed last season it's not productive enough in this league.

So, with some reluctance, I voted yes.

[BartonFox]

When will it sink in

de Vries, for being a cumbersome oaf, will create a hell of al lot more chances for the likes of Hume or any of the midfield because is an awkward customer. He isn't a world beater, he has never portrayed himself as one and neither has Allen.

We listed 5 or 6 players and only one has been able to impress himself enough on Allen for the manager to come out and state how valuable he now thinks he is. Get a half decent left hand sided player and get the ball in the box and we will score. Allen knows that whacking the ball up for him to compete against 2 centre halves isn't an answer so he uses him in other ways and he has helped Hume no end.

Get over the fact that we will be a better team with him in it and expect to see Hume replaced by Campbell more than de Vries making way for DJ. For the simple reason when MdV is about something is going to happen.

[teblin]

When will it sink in

de Vries, for being a cumbersome oaf, will create a hell of al lot more chances for the likes of Hume or any of the midfield because is an awkward customer. He isn't a world beater, he has never portrayed himself as one and neither has Allen.

We listed 5 or 6 players and only one has been able to impress himself enough on Allen for the manager to come out and state how valuable he now thinks he is. Get a half decent left hand sided player and get the ball in the box and we will score. Allen knows that whacking the ball up for him to compete against 2 centre halves isn't an answer so he uses him in other ways and he has helped Hume no end.

Get over the fact that we will be a better team with him in it and expect to see Hume replaced by Campbell more than de Vries making way for DJ. For the simple reason when MdV is about something is going to happen.

Couldn't agree more, other than he looks slightly less cumbersome now he's lost some pounds.

[He's not bald]

When will it sink in

de Vries, for being a cumbersome oaf, will create a hell of al lot more chances for the likes of Hume or any of the midfield because is an awkward customer. He isn't a world beater, he has never portrayed himself as one and neither has Allen.

We listed 5 or 6 players and only one has been able to impress himself enough on Allen for the manager to come out and state how valuable he now thinks he is. Get a half decent left hand sided player and get the ball in the box and we will score. Allen knows that whacking the ball up for him to compete against 2 centre halves isn't an answer so he uses him in other ways and he has helped Hume no end.

Get over the fact that we will be a better team with him in it and expect to see Hume replaced by Campbell more than de Vries making way for DJ. For the simple reason when MdV is about something is going to happen.

True...usually involves lot's of swearing!

[Chrysalis]

start fryatt and mdv as they both need to show something.

[Thracian]

Couldn't agree more, other than he looks slightly less cumbersome now he's lost some pounds.

He's definitely shown better control than I've seen before. We've badly needed his sort of player which is why Kelly bought Horsfield when he should have been in the knacker's yard and MA bought Cort.

I see no reason we should just whack the ball up to him rather than play it through midfield and through the opposition defence. Both are options if he's there because we have so many passing players now and DeVries has looked as good on the ground as any of them.

I don't think MDV has been the only listed player to impress MA - he remarked that some weren't bad players at all. It's just that MDV is a type we need especially after the early indications of how injury prone Cort continues to be.

[Stevosevic]

Well it is.

Fair point Stevo, well done for noticing the mistake. Extra sweets for you at break-time. Good lad.

But FFS it feels like I've been watching bollox strikers for a lifetime.

I just think if we shot all the strikers in the face except Hume, DJ and Fryatt, we'de have a better sense of where we really are. Which is without a reliable big man.

To be honest i would prefer a chocolate muffin.