The comments above are all valid and hopefully those who believe we should acquire a midfielder rather than a attacker may feel a change of opinion. It has always been the case that we are fine in that area when the playes are fit. This is one area where Stu as been wise in having players been able to adapt and be accomadated in other positions. As for McClaren there was a spell where earlier in the season whereby i was questioning what he was actualy doing e.g. he was playing very deep and rarely dominating as i thought he might. When o the ball he is extremely comfortable and competent passer and just before the injury was showing why Stu covetd him so much. Hopefully we are not risking him and rushing him into another injury. Overall though if we can get the players back it shows thw strengths of the squad that we are siting so high in the table.

We have Thorne 11 goals, Boulding 7 goals, Conlon 7 goals, Boulding 3 goals for the reserves, and Osbourne as central strikers. Daley and Lee have both scored 3 goals. Apart from Shrewsbury who put seven past Gillingham which distorts their stats we have scored the most goals. Why on earth do we need another striker now?
We have Heckingbottom, Arnison, Bower and Ainge as a 'reserve' back four. We have Jones, Daley and Nix who can play on the wing. We will have Colbeck and Brandon who both play as wingers back soon. At present Bullock and Furman are out. McClaren's form has not been hugely impressive, and he is coming back from injury. That leaves Law.
To often this season we have been pinned back at home with other teams dominating possession at crucial times in the game. We need a strong influential playmaker, capable of winning the ball, holding up play and then making 'telling' passes. That will help us achieve promotion.
I guess that rather than having a rant I have set out a good case. If you must have more strikers then perhaps Rory Boulding and Osbourne should go, so any ‘new’ signing have a better opportunity of playing in the starting line up, as such we should be able to attract a better calibre of player and have the combined wages to lure someone.

There are no arguments from me to any of your points apart from the fact that Thorne is clearly not 100%, Baz is supposedly carrying a knock now. If either one of the main three get injured then we are relying on two playrs. as i stated in my original post one of these was done as part of the Boulding deal and he has not fatured suggesting that he is not what is required and the other is not ready. There are loads of first team midfielders at our club, many of whom can operate in different areas. Brandon for one wil be like signing a new midfielder anyway when he is ready and we have managed to just about get by. Thats not counting any reserves or youngsters ala Osbourne who in albeit limited appearances has not yet done it. that would mean that any new signing would be above them both in the pecking order or they would not be worth it (unless a talented youngster with potential which if the Topp situation is anything to go by is not possibly high on the agenda). Nix is a better player inside than nout wide in my opinion, good tackler, works hard and can deliver a pass.

You have stated yourself the amount of players who can play midfield wide areas. We currently have Law, McClaren, Bullock, Furman, Brandon (and other albeit players who will have to play out of position e.g. Nix) Thats 5 established proven players for 2 positions whereas there are only 3 similarly established proven forwrd players for 2 positions. (this equates to 2 more midfielders for same amount of positions) I hope you now understand my point and see my constructive discussion i.e. not a rant. I do see where you are coming from but this is all down to injuries which eventually will be rectified. Come to think of it what would yopu do to keep them all happy when this occurs???

soulman couldn't agree with you more mate...yeah we do have a few options in the middle of the park but i dont see anybody who can grab the game by the scuff of the neck and dominate like some players we have come up against this season. I think mayeb brandon could but this is to be seen. We dont eed strikers we have 3 scring and 1 who hasn;t been needed yet. A 5th choice sriker wouldn't be worth having i dont beleive.
I'm waiting for somebody to mention windass

would be interesting to who people would pick for the midfield 4 if everyone was fit including loan players....i'd probably go Colbeck, Furman, Law(brandon if fit), Daley if all fit.
That would leave Mclaren, Bullock, Law/Brandon and Nix out not bad cover really.

What about City signing Windass? Ah, only joking.

I agree with dannbradfc on this one. We have so many options in the middle of the park already and McCall clearly rates the players at his disposal. I do understand your comments about a midfielder that can 'boss' the middle, but we have those players already at the club. Bully can do that role (and did last season alongside Nix), Nix himself isn't scared of putting the boot in and Brandon will possibly be earmarked for that role on his return. Yes, we currently have injuries in midfield, but have the replacements been that bad? We are 2nd with a make-shift midfield and some of the players are soon to return.

Our strikers HAVE been doing the business this season and I see no reason to replace any of them. That goes to all the Conlon knockers too. However, if Thorne's back doesn't clear up, Boulding picks up another injury or Bazza goes through a drop in form, where would that leave us? Rory hasn't been pulling up trees in the reserves and for that matter, neither has Ossie. We have just got rid of a striker in Topp, so surely that means there is a place available in THAT position?

gspot wrote:
would be interesting to who people would pick for the midfield 4 if everyone was fit including loan players....i'd probably go Colbeck, Furman, Law(brandon if fit), Daley if all fit.
That would leave Mclaren, Bullock, Law/Brandon and Nix out not bad cover really.

My preferred 4 across the middle would be Daley, Bully, Law, Colbeck.

I would also be looking to make Jones my new signing to replace Topp. He would be competing with Colbeck AND Boulding on matchdays and would be the first name on the bench (unless he could prise a shirt off one of them). He has pace and a good cross. He can also score and so would give good competition for Colbeck as well as offering us something different up front...pace.

Look either I have seen different matches or we are missing the point. My opinion is that on several occassions we have lost the midfield even against 10 men! The anchor position of a talented/commanding/
confident/able nidfielder would go a long way to remedying the situation. That in turn would take the pressure off the defence. So on that basis I go for a central (not a wide man) midfielder. I would only add a striker if we get rid of the two weakest links OR had a serious injury.
Whatever come on City lets do D & R on Saturday. Remember last seasons emarrasment.

Waynus I confess that I am not Baz's biggest fan! But he is doing the business. So unless he dry's up, then lets keep him and enjoy his 'interesting' style of play. Despite my reservations I would never Boo Barry, even if he went to another club. Now DW that is a different matter. Never forgot McCall's dignified return to VP with the blunts when he scored. Now that was the actions of a true Gent!

I do believe that w aynus as concurred, repeated even everything that i said (which is a first mate so have a ber on me). Soulman lets clarify that whilst i agree with your view that the midfield is quite often losing the battle and that includes the first choicers. The fact remains that there are TOO MANY when all fit and neither the squad nor budget warrants another player in that area. Were we to ship out a couple then yes that would be a priority. Touting Jones as the man is also premature from W aynus we will have to se if he is consitent. Lets be fair its amazing what the chance of a new contract can do to players as they suddenly put the effort in. not saying Jones is one of those only that we need more time to consider. Anyone remember Andy Todd? scored a few goals, fans sang sign him up, we duly did and bought what in effect was a sunday league player got lucky. So lets not get carried away.

Ultimately Soulman whilst the fans are talking about strengthinig this area and that perhaps we may not actually get anyone. It is not hard to see the board suggesting that giving Baz a new contract and the returning injured players will be enough. Indeed we must think of the future and no more 6 weeks of madness. Stu himself stated in the defeat by udderscum that we were beaten by a better team. Well next year we need to be beating them and the many teams are above em in the league so perhaps we should wait and save any signings to see what league we are in? Just a point to be considered and not necessary a fact i believe in. Still to few proven strikers as i hope we dont have to witness if even 1 or dare say 2 of them get injured. In fact SOULMAN what would you suggest we do if Thorne and Baz got injured for instance whereas the midfield problems have been largly overcome Boulding and his brother, Bulding and Daley or Jones. All looks lightweight to me.

Why would any City fan want to boo Dean Windass?
The man should get a standing ovation whenever (if) he returns to VP. You cannot blame him for joining the team he supports and remember he turned down Wigan's offer of a transfer to stay at City a few years ago.
He may not have been everyone's cup of tea but he knew where the net was.

Meat Pie wrote:
Why would any City fan want to boo Dean Windass? The man should get a standing ovation whenever (if) he returns to VP. You cannot blame him for joining the team he supports and remember he turned down Wigan's offer of a transfer to stay at City a few years ago. He may not have been everyone's cup of tea but he knew where the net was.

totally agree ok he did a few stupid things like the 2 footed lunge against bournemouth when we was rightly sent off but that happens somewhere most weeks without his goals we would have been playing 4th tier football way before now too many fans forget the good times by past players but always remember the bad times

With regards to needing another striker I think SM gave you your answer when he talking about releasing Topp. He said it gives him the chance to bring another striker in, in January. What happens if we get a couple of injuries to the strikers? If we want to get promoted we need good quality back up. We cant just cross our fingers. I expect Jones who played up front with Ashton at Crewe to stay and he then offers cover up front and on the wing. He said himself that Burnley dont want him and as he is out of contract in the summer he might relisha longer stay.

J4CKO wrote:
With regards to needing another striker I think SM gave you your answer when he talking about releasing Topp. He said it gives him the chance to bring another striker in, in January. What happens if we get a couple of injuries to the strikers? If we want to get promoted we need good quality back up. We cant just cross our fingers. I expect Jones who played up front with Ashton at Crewe to stay and he then offers cover up front and on the wing. He said himself that Burnley dont want him and as he is out of contract in the summer he might relisha longer stay.

Spot on J4CKO. I have seen Jones play, before last weekend, and he is a good player. He created a lot of the chances for Dean Ashton at Crewe too, which gave the lad a crack at the Premiership.

Jones has played International football for N.Ireland. Now I know they aren't the bed-rock of international football teams, but if he is good enough for N.Ireland, I am sure he is good enough for League 2. That said, I do understand why some people want to see more of him before making their opinion.

Soulman is right about needing a player to boss the midfield. However, I would argue again that we have one in Bully, who is only a week or so away from a return. Unless McCall offloads an existing central midfielder, such as Law, Nix or Furman, we won't bring in another. We just can't afford a squad approaching 40 players, despite our improved financial position.

Finally, when I saw the "Now DW that is a different matter" comment, I thought it referred to Wethers. Doh! Personally, Windass is one ex-player I wouldn't boo. He got paid to score goals and rough up defences. That is exactly what he did for us over a number of years.

I dont think Windass joining in January is out of the question tbh.
I appreciate a few dont like him for what ever reason but his physical attributes, all round ability and goal scoring record would make him an excellent addition to our squad. Windass for me equals auto promotion.

well said Jacko join my and waynus' gang. I believe Stu agree's with us too.

Wasn't that just like Deano, against Stoke? Warming-up down the touchline & getting booked for deliberately impeding Delap's long throw. Genius!

Just how long did it take Deano to decide to leave City to go to Middlesborough? Apparently 4 seconds! No... "Well it was a tough call, I have really enjoyed my time at VP, the fans were great and I hope the team do well. However I now need to move on and relish the challenge of playing for the Borough". When he was 'down and out' at Sheffield he was 'down and out', we rejuvenated a 34 year old 'cast off'. Undoubtedly he did well for us, in some ways, but his alleged wages drained funds from other signings. I could go on.

No I would NEVER Boo David Wetherall, the guy comes across as the total antithesis of Windass.

Now lets win tommorrow, we all agree on that!

soulman wrote:
Just how long did it take Deano to decide to leave City to go to Middlesborough? Apparently 4 seconds! No... "Well it was a tough call, I have really enjoyed my time at VP, the fans were great and I hope the team do well. However I now need to move on and relish the challenge of playing for the Borough". When he was 'down and out' at Sheffield he was 'down and out', we rejuvenated a 34 year old 'cast off'. Undoubtedly he did well for us, in some ways, but his alleged wages drained funds from other signings. I could go on.

No I would NEVER Boo David Wetherall, the guy comes across as the total antithesis of Windass.

Now lets win tommorrow, we all agree on that!

Understand what you are saying Soulman. Windass didn't take long to make his mind up to join Boro. However, let's look it from his point of view.

He had just made the top-flight and at the age of 32, he was set to play in the second tier once more. He wasn't even getting played up front and had to make do with an attacking midfield role.

We were on the verge of being relegated and one-time England coach, Terry Venables approached City to ask if we were prepared to sell. They agreed a fee (believed to be around £600k) and the decision was left for Deano.

Personally, I can't blame him for wanting to sign for Boro under those circumstances.

As far as signing new players is concerned I'd like to see us bring in a pacey forward, to replace Topp, but who can also play out wide.

I know that people have been saying that we have too many midfielders, but this is because we currently have 3 who are on loan to cover injuries. Out of those 3, I would only anticipate that Furman might stay beyond January. When you take away the loan players, we have 6 players (Colbeck, Daley, Bullock, McLaren, Brandon, Nix), covering 4 positions which leaves us vulnerable in the event of injuries and suspensions. I'm not including in this young Sharry and Osborne, who while promising are not quite ready at this moment in time. I would like to see us get Furman on loan until the end of the season, to ensure that we have enough ball winning midfielders in the event of yet more injuries to Bullock.

People have said that we need a dominant midfielder who can break up possession, and provide that telling pass, but we haven't had that since Stuart was in his prime over 20 years ago! I still don't think we've seen the best of McLaren, and I'm also hoping that Brandon can fulfill that role, which by signing someone who can also play out wide, will give him more opportunity to play centrally.

I still think though that we could do with someone with a bit of pace out wide to provide competition to Colbeck and Daley. We look a much better team when we attack teams with speed on the flanks, and as this season has proved, they are not going to play every game. Even when only one of them plays, we appear one dimensional as all the play is concentrated down that side.

By signing a striker who can also play out wide, this would ensure that we have enough options in the forward positions, but would also mean that we could always play to our strengths in being able to stretch sides out wide.

You've got to be realistic, and we are not going to be paying a fee for a player, so I fully expect it to be someone on loan or on a short term contract to replace Topp.

Maybe that "mystery player" is Steve Jones who can play in the afforementioned positions. I know that he will be on significantly higher wages, but if Burnley are so desperate to get rid of him, they could subsidise his wages until the end of the season. This would allow both he and the club (us) to see if it was a beneficial deal come the end of the season.

Bradford1903 wrote:
As far as signing new players is concerned I'd like to see us bring in a pacey forward, to replace Topp, but who can also play out wide.

I know that people have been saying that we have too many midfielders, but this is because we currently have 3 who are on loan to cover injuries. Out of those 3, I would only anticipate that Furman might stay beyond January. When you take away the loan players, we have 6 players (Colbeck, Daley, Bullock, McLaren, Brandon, Nix), covering 4 positions which leaves us vulnerable in the event of injuries and suspensions. I'm not including in this young Sharry and Osborne, who while promising are not quite ready at this moment in time. I would like to see us get Furman on loan until the end of the season, to ensure that we have enough ball winning midfielders in the event of yet more injuries to Bullock.

People have said that we need a dominant midfielder who can break up possession, and provide that telling pass, but we haven't had that since Stuart was in his prime over 20 years ago! I still don't think we've seen the best of McLaren, and I'm also hoping that Brandon can fulfill that role, which by signing someone who can also play out wide, will give him more opportunity to play centrally.

I still think though that we could do with someone with a bit of pace out wide to provide competition to Colbeck and Daley. We look a much better team when we attack teams with speed on the flanks, and as this season has proved, they are not going to play every game. Even when only one of them plays, we appear one dimensional as all the play is concentrated down that side.

By signing a striker who can also play out wide, this would ensure that we have enough options in the forward positions, but would also mean that we could always play to our strengths in being able to stretch sides out wide.

You've got to be realistic, and we are not going to be paying a fee for a player, so I fully expect it to be someone on loan or on a short term contract to replace Topp.

Maybe that "mystery player" is Steve Jones who can play in the afforementioned positions. I know that he will be on significantly higher wages, but if Burnley are so desperate to get rid of him, they could subsidise his wages until the end of the season. This would allow both he and the club (us) to see if it was a beneficial deal come the end of the season.

Exactly what I have been saying and I fully support your view. However, I can understand why some others would prefer to see Jones a little more before committing. I have seen him a few times and he has always excited me. I am sure he could do a job for us in this league and probably higher...in both positions.

Jones was one of the better players as a winger on Saturday. However he missed an easy opportunity and also inexplicably played the ball back into the box at one point whilst in an unchallenged point blank shooting opportunity. So perhaps his striking credentials need further scrutiny. However from a standing start his acceleration is incredible and i could see him causing trouble with balls played 'over the top'.