Long to WBA

[Friday's Legacy]

This is looking like a 31st August job like Siggy.

his face when acknowledging the fans at swindon suggested he was leaving soon. real shame, especially when we know we wont see much if any of the money reinvested into the playing staff. i really do worry for where the goals will come from in his absence.

[urz13]

This is looking like a 31st August job like Siggy.

his face when acknowledging the fans at swindon suggested he was leaving soon. real shame, especially when we know we wont see much if any of the money reinvested into the playing staff. i really do worry for where the goals will come from in his absence.

Hunt, Manset, HRK, Kebe always gets a few, Elwood can score, Obita, McAnuff may hit form, Harte, etc.

[Friday's Legacy]

This is looking like a 31st August job like Siggy.

his face when acknowledging the fans at swindon suggested he was leaving soon. real shame, especially when we know we wont see much if any of the money reinvested into the playing staff. i really do worry for where the goals will come from in his absence.

Hunt, Manset, HRK, Kebe always gets a few, Elwood can score, Obita, McAnuff may hit form, Harte, etc.

you sound like a chairman trying to convince his manager. kebe doesn't add many goals. mcanuff certainly doesn't. leigertwood might add 5 a season, hrk - unknown, manset - unknown, hunt injury jinxed but is the most likely to add 15 if he can stay fit for 9 months.

if long goes we do need a replacement, and a penny pinching risk is not enough.

[urz13]

Hunt, Manset, HRK, Kebe always gets a few, Elwood can score, Obita, McAnuff may hit form, Harte, etc.

you sound like a chairman trying to convince his manager. kebe doesn't add many goals. mcanuff certainly doesn't. leigertwood might add 5 a season, hrk - unknown, manset - unknown, hunt injury jinxed but is the most likely to add 15 if he can stay fit for 9 months.

if long goes we do need a replacement, and a penny pinching risk is not enough.

Kebe gets 8 or 9 a season, 10 if we're lucky - 9
Hunt will stay fit IMO, he's just been unlucky - 18
Mcanuff is unknown but if he can get those ones from the edge of the area he should be looking at a couple - 6
HRK will play as a striker, and CAN score - 11
Leigertwood got around 3 a season for QPR - 3
Manset should chip in with some off the bench OR starting with hunt - 8
Church will get a few - 5
Harte will get his usual 8 or so free kick's + penalty duty, another 8 or so - 16
Karacan always pops up with a few - 4
Khumalo & Pearce shoul get some from the corners between them - 7

Total: 87
I know we'll end up scoring below that, but I do believe my estimates for each player are quite realistic, injury to each permitting. However if they all were scoring similarly to what I have estimated we'd have no problems getting goals. 87 would in fact have put us top of the Goals Scored charts.

[pea]

West Brom haven't accepted any bids for Miller at the time of writing. Doesn't mean they're not on the table, I expect him to leave WBA in the next week.

[Ian Royal]

Hunt, Manset, HRK, Kebe always gets a few, Elwood can score, Obita, McAnuff may hit form, Harte, etc.

you sound like a chairman trying to convince his manager. kebe doesn't add many goals. mcanuff certainly doesn't. leigertwood might add 5 a season, hrk - unknown, manset - unknown, hunt injury jinxed but is the most likely to add 15 if he can stay fit for 9 months.

if long goes we do need a replacement, and a penny pinching risk is not enough.

Kebe gets 8 or 9 a season, 10 if we're lucky - 9
Hunt will stay fit IMO, he's just been unlucky - 18
Mcanuff is unknown but if he can get those ones from the edge of the area he should be looking at a couple - 6
HRK will play as a striker, and CAN score - 11
Leigertwood got around 3 a season for QPR - 3
Manset should chip in with some off the bench OR starting with hunt - 8
Church will get a few - 5
Harte will get his usual 8 or so free kick's + penalty duty, another 8 or so - 16
Karacan always pops up with a few - 4
Khumalo & Pearce shoul get some from the corners between them - 7

Total: 87
I know we'll end up scoring below that, but I do believe my estimates for each player are quite realistic, injury to each permitting. However if they all were scoring similarly to what I have estimated we'd have no problems getting goals. 87 would in fact have put us top of the Goals Scored charts.

Bit generous all over there I'd say, but a decent go.

My suggestion of what we could reasonably expect:
Hunt - 15, Manset - 10, HRK - 10, Church - 5
Kebe - 8, McAnuff - 4, Legs - 3, Karacan - 3, Howard - 2
Pearce - 2, Harte - 10, Odds & Sods - 3
Total: 75

Now that's possibly a bit pessmistic and it'll never be bang on for everyone obviously, the unexpected always crops up a bit. If Long goes I'd expect us to get fewer penalties, and I'd be pessimistic about Harte scoring as many free kicks too, but I'd expect him to do about the same if you add penalties in. Khumalo is a bit of an unknown, I'd hope he'd be good for a few goals, but he's got no pedigree that I can see other than that WC one. If Morrison plays 20 games or so I'd expect him to get the odd goal from his record, but him playing is the question. Howard didn't score any last season, but he's got a few in his previous seasons.

[Royal Rother]

Bit generous all over there I'd say, but a decent go.

My suggestion of what we could reasonably expect:
Hunt - 15, Manset - 10, HRK - 10, Church - 5
Kebe - 8, McAnuff - 4, Legs - 3, Karacan - 3, Howard - 2
Pearce - 2, Harte - 10, Odds & Sods - 3
Total: 70

Now that's possibly a bit pessmistic and it'll never be bang on for everyone obviously, the unexpected always crops up a bit. If Long goes I'd expect us to get fewer penalties, and I'd be pessimistic about Harte scoring as many free kicks too, but I'd expect him to do about the same if you add penalties in. Khumalo is a bit of an unknown, I'd hope he'd be good for a few goals, but he's got no pedigree that I can see other than that WC one. If Morrison plays 20 games or so I'd expect him to get the odd goal from his record, but him playing is the question. Howard didn't score any last season, but he's got a few in his previous seasons.

I make that 75.

But Church will get more than 5.

[Ian Royal]

Correct, knew I should have taken the time to count properly.

I agree Church could score more, but if he does I think it may come at more limited chances for one or more of Manset, Hunt or HRK, meaning they'll get fewer.

Then again, I'm still not convinced Long will go, so I may not have adjusted my thinking enough on how much Church will play. If Long stays, add 18 and take away half a dozen or so from a combination of Manset, Hunt & HRK.

[urz13]

Bit generous all over there I'd say, but a decent go.

My suggestion of what we could reasonably expect:
Hunt - 15, Manset - 10, HRK - 10, Church - 5
Kebe - 8, McAnuff - 4, Legs - 3, Karacan - 3, Howard - 2
Pearce - 2, Harte - 10, Odds & Sods - 3
Total: 70

I think Harte could get a few more, at least 13/14 with penalties. Anyway, I doubt we'll struggle for goals even if long leaves as I have full confidence in Hunt and co. (bar church). Anyway, personally I think we've always done better when the goals were spread out rather than based around one player. i.e. The 106 season and our first in the premiership, Also Coppels last where we nearly snatched automatic promotion.

[Elmer Park]

If we create enough chances I think Hunt and Manset could notch a decent tally of goals but, apart from Kebe, the midfielders in our squad usually score less than the average number of goals for players in their positions. That is slightly balanced by Harte usually scoring well above average for his position but is a concern for me.

There are question marks over both Hunt and Manset in my view as regards their fitness for different reasons but HRK may be able to get a few and I haven't quite given up on Church yet.

Long also creates goals, I would say more than the remaining strikers would over a season. I'd also say that Long would beat any of them for pace over twenty yards.

All in all we may be able to 'get by' but it certainly couldn't be seen as a progressive move to not replace Long, should he leave.

[urz13]

If we create enough chances I think Hunt and Manset could notch a decent tally of goals but, apart from Kebe, the midfielders in our squad usually score less than the average number of goals for players in their positions. That is slightly balanced by Harte usually scoring well above average for his position but is a concern for me.

There are question marks over both Hunt and Manset in my view as regards their fitness for different reasons but HRK may be able to get a few and I haven't quite given up on Church yet.

Long also creates goals, I would say more than the remaining strikers would over a season. I'd also say that Long would beat any of them for pace over twenty yards.

All in all we may be able to 'get by' but it certainly couldn't be seen as a progressive move to not replace Long, should he leave.

Hunt can replace him. When he's not been injured he's scored more consistently than long.

[Hoop Blah]

When he's not injured being quite a significant part of that statement though.

I'm not sure we'll score enough goals with the players we have left, there are some pretty optimistic numbers above if you ask me. However, someone like Church of Manset could get on a run and get a decent 15 or so goals if we hit some form. It's worth remembering that Longs excellent goal return did include 7 or 8 penalties last year so in some ways it's not as impressive as often made out.

Having said that, one thing that I think we will miss (and the guesstimates above don't seem to take into account) is Longs ability to win penalties by getting just infront or alongside a defender and falling over. As much as Harte should've been taking them last year, and I'd back him to score a very good percentage of his pens going forward, without Long in the side to win the penalties he did I'm not convinced we'll win half as many penalties as last year (credit to Long for his knack for winning soft pens).

[urz13]

When he's not injured being quite a significant part of that statement though.

I'm not sure we'll score enough goals with the players we have left, there are some pretty optimistic numbers above if you ask me. However, someone like Church of Manset could get on a run and get a decent 15 or so goals if we hit some form. It's worth remembering that Longs excellent goal return did include 7 or 8 penalties last year so in some ways it's not as impressive as often made out.

Having said that, one thing that I think we will miss (and the guesstimates above don't seem to take into account) is Longs ability to win penalties by getting just infront or alongside a defender and falling over. As much as Harte should've been taking them last year, and I'd back him to score a very good percentage of his pens going forward, without Long in the side to win the penalties he did I'm not convinced we'll win half as many penalties as last year (credit to Long for his knack for winning soft pens).

Long is very good at winning penalties yes, however if we won 10 or 11 penalties last year, then thanks to long leaving only won 7 or 8, I doubt it would make a massive difference. Also, I think HRK and Hunt are equally adept at winning
penalties as they too are fairly quick and Hunt plays similarly to Long, while HRK has the skill to get past defenders and get fouled.

[loyalroyal4life]

West Brom haven't accepted any bids for Miller at the time of writing. Doesn't mean they're not on the table, I expect him to leave WBA in the next week.

I am sure accroding to sky sports they have accepted bids from leicester and forest


Sky Sports sources understand West Bromwich Albion have accepted £2million bids from Leicester City and Nottingham Forest for Ishmael Miller.

The striker is on the periphery at West Brom and turned down the chance to join Millwall on a season-long loan last month.

However, he could now be poised for a permanent exit away from The Hawthorns after the Baggies accepted bids from two Championship clubs.

Leicester have been long-term admirers of Miller and were keen on signing the 24-year-old on loan towards the end of 2010.

Foxes boss Sven Goran Eriksson worked with the powerful forward at Manchester City and is now trying to fix up a reunion.

Eriksson is eager to improve his striking options before the close of the transfer window and confirmed earlier in the week that Miller was one of several names on his list of targets.

He has now stepped up that interest by tabling an offer, which has been matched by Championship rivals Forest.

Steve McClaren is looking to make his mark on the City Ground squad after taking charge in the summer and is jostling his former England colleague for Miller's signature.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Whatever happens Reading won't replace Long, that is to say they may bring in an unproven "unknown" from the lower leagues but they will not move for a proven striker at this level.

So much for any realistic ambition, usual policy of someone who might turn out to be useful in 2 years by which time we'll have sold the other half of our squad and have more untried unknowns we're waiting for 2 years into the furure to see. Result: treading water at best.

All that said it seems to be working at the moment but how long can we keep it up once the last dregs of our Premiership squad have finally b*ggered off?

[M-U-R-T-Y]

Our ratio of cheap potential's successes to flops isn't particularly bad recently.

Off the top of my head...

David Mooney
Alan Bennett



There are probably more.
Williams still has a chance but I can't see how he will break into the first team at all.

[roadrunner]

Our ratio of cheap potential's successes to flops isn't particularly bad recently.

Off the top of my head...

David Mooney
Alan Bennett
Marcus Williams
Paul Brayson


There are probably more.
Williams still has a chance but I can't see how he will break into the first team at all.

Joing the conversation late, they may have been discussed.

[M-U-R-T-Y]

With Williams I meant Brett, but I suppose that counts for Marcus too.

[urz13]

Yet if we find one 'gem' in those we can't complain. Manset may be that 'gem' this season

[Hoop Blah]

Our ratio of cheap potential's successes to flops isn't particularly bad recently.

Off the top of my head...

David Mooney
Alan Bennett



There are probably more.
Williams still has a chance but I can't see how he will break into the first team at all.

Depends what you call recently, and of course who you deem to be a success or a failure.

A few names you might've included if going back to since we won promotion (it's a time when our requirements and resources soared almost overnight). My criteria is non-established players, not just freebies like De La Cruz, who we were buying for the future (so not like Stack who performed his job as backup).

Hit
Andersen (even though he's not played)

Miss
Mate (might only have been a loan actually - do they count?)
Sodje
Bozanic
Vasilev
Thorvaldsson

Maybe
Williams, M
Williams, B
Cummings
Manset

Sure I'm also missing a few more, and the likes of Vasilev and Bozanic are borderline because of their ages. Perhaps if they're in then others like Sigurdsson and Ilugasson should be too (the difference being we signed these two as 18 year olds I think, and paid money for Vasilev too).