There is nothing more exciting than getting new players into the club, and if they are strikers, then it is even more exhilarating! Manager Kieran McKenna delivered but did he get the right ones? Let us first take a look at their CVs.

George Hirst only began scoring regularly when he joined Portsmouth on loan in the 2021/22 season, netting 13 goals in 40 appearances.

The 23-year-old started his career at Sheffield Wednesday, where he came through the academy. Having scored three goals for an anonymous second-division Belgian team, he was signed by Leicester City in 2019 but has still only made two appearances without scoring.

He has been constantly pushed out on loan since and with the barest amount of success. That is why I am surprised that the Foxes agreed on a new contract with the forward until 2025. I can only assume it was to ensure they got a fee for him when he finally left the club.

Here are his Football League stats so far: Total appearances 106, goals 16.

Nathan Broadhead is another forward and, unlike a loan deal, he is here to stay, having signed a three-and-half-year contract earlier this month.

Broadhead joined Everton at the age of 10 and apart from brief spells on loan with Burton Albion, Sunderland and Wigan Athletic, he has never been long away from his parent club - until now that is!

On 2nd August 2019, Broadhead signed a one-year contract extension until 2021 and that was before he went on the briefest of travels elsewhere.

Having spoken to several Everton supporters about why he did not make the grade for a club that he joined at the age of 10, the consensus is that he is not good enough for them but might succeed at a lower level.

The cash-strapped Toffees must be very satisfied to have accrued an estimated £1.5 million for what some suggest is "a very average striker."

He will be 25 in April, so this is the time to stand up and be counted, and at just 5ft 10 inches, he has an awful lot of standing up to do for a striker it would seem and when you look at his Football League stats so far it does not exactly jump out at you. Total appearances 62, goals 17.

And now let’s look at Ipswich-born and Town fanatic Macauley Bonne. He made his debut for Charlton on Saturday as a sub against Barnsley after 58 minutes and the hosts made it 2-0 just on the hour mark, as substitute Bonne’s shot came back off the left post to present Jesurun Rak-Sakyi with a simple finish for his seventh goal of the campaign.

By all accounts, it was an impressive start with the Addicks, and I suspect he will be firing on all cylinders again soon, and perhaps at our expense. McKenna says he likes the player and the door would remain open for him.

In an interview with the EADT, he said, “You’ve got to remember that I grew up on a council estate in Chantry being able to hear the roar of that crowd at Portman Road. As a kid, I told myself that one day it would be me they would be cheering for."

Bonne scored an incredible 11 goals in his first 16 Ipswich matches but then managed just one in his final 30 games. There were, however, mitigating circumstances for his fall from grace. His wife miscarriaged for a third time during his lean spell and McKenna - unlike Paul Cook was playing him sporadically.

And on that departing chat with the manager Macauley remained positive. "We sat down at the training ground with a coffee and had a good chat. He said he likes me, sees me as a hybrid forward that can do a bit of everything, and that Ipswich Town is not a closed book."

If we regard our manager as an honest fellow, then we can only assume that Ipswich were already on the way to agreeing on deals with Hirst and Broadhead before Bonne became available to sign because his stats are much more impressive, he would have cost a lot less and his heart is clearly beating with Town blood.

Total Football League appearances 300, goals 79.

Enough said, I think.

Big_Jase added 16:24 - Jan 18 Well written Macauley.
0

Pessimistic added 19:18 - Jan 18 Macauley Bonne might be a good striker, but I doubt whether writing is his thing. If he needs a new agent though, I would gladly volunteer for the job!
0

ITFC62 added 19:22 - Jan 18 I think you need to work at your sums. Broadhead's strike rate is a goal every 3.65 games, Bonne's is 3.8, so on that indicator alone, Broadhead is better. No wonder you are so pessimistic!!
0

ChrisFelix added 20:09 - Jan 18 I recall Bonne was a late substitute in the first game of the season. I consider he got lucky by scoring a later equaliser in that game & also for robbing the keeper in the Wednesday game. But for me like Ladapo he misses too many simple chances inc many one on one with the goal keeper. His local roots also helped him. Our club has pursued Hirst for several months & I suspect both he & Broadhead will provide just what our talented team needs. Natural goal scorers

1

Nthsuffolkblue added 21:33 - Jan 18 "The striker has played a key role in the Black Cats' promotion bid, scoring five goals in April as he helped his loan club secure a play-off berth. Two of those goals were stoppage time winners and he scored the only goal against Morecambe on Saturday in a game Sunderland needed to win to be sure their season was kept alive." https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/late-call-everton-s If Hirst is half as good as his Dad he will be a very useful player. At Portsmouth, he played 144 minutes off the bench in his first 10 appearances. In his next 10 he scored 3 goals. The following 10, he scored 7 goals. In his last 10 for them he scored 5 and an assist. 12 goals in 20 matches would be fine with me.

0

Pessimistic added 21:48 - Jan 18 TIFC62, I rather think it is you that needs an arithmetic test! Broadhurst has played just 62 games, whilst Bonne has made 300 appearances. It is a bit like saying that if a striker scores 5 goals in his first 10 matches that this record is likely to be maintained. Bonne scored 11 in 16 for us but I don't base this argument entirely on that.
1

ElephantintheRoom added 15:42 - Jan 20 Bonne stopped scoring as soon as McKenna arrived so I doubt there was ever a chance he’d sign once McKenna had sterilised him. However I do agree that signing two utterly unproven professional loanees half way through the season is dubious. Who will they replace? The players signed at the start of the season presumably- which hardly suggests long-term planning by the right-on, stat-obsessed recruitment team - especially as they’ve been doing quite well. Interestingly both have failed utterly in the championship too -so they can’t be seen as long term either.

-3

carsey added 09:45 - Jan 21 I'd have had Bonne back in a heartbeat for his work rate and enthusiasm alone. Yes his goals dried up but he's a real nuisance for defenders never letting them rest. Ladapo on the other hand almost walks around the whole match. Hopefully Hirst and Broadhead start doing the business and quickly because the defence can't be relied on to stop the opposition or to chip in with regular goals. 442 is what we need to try for e change.

1

buzbyblue added 15:59 - Jan 29 I don't understand the signing of Hirst, he didn't wanna come before and went to Blackburn - who's fans were celebrating when he was recalled as they state he is useless? Doesn't really want to sign for us either - Just seems more like we were the only option Maybe sour grapes maybe not, but as in this piece apart from the pompey loan he's hardly set the world on fire, bit like piggot when he signed for us?

1

blues1 added 16:03 - Mar 20 Buzbyblue. Great to see another fan talking bs. How did blacknmburn fans think he's useless? He never played for them. Doesn't want to sign for us? Really. Strange? He has done. As for anyone moaning v we didn't sign bonne? Wake up. He barely gets more than 5 or 10 minutes in any game at charlton. And his last goal was for us against gillingham last January. Tells you everything u need to know about him.

0

petersongoal added 14:56 - Apr 20 This has aged wonderfully.
3

Fatboy added 10:04 - Apr 27 And I'm glad it has, petersongoal. It reminds me of the comments on an article from 10+ years ago when we were linked with a £1m bid for a certain Jamie Vardy from lowly Fleetwood.
1

StockholmDave added 23:50 - Apr 28 Good job McKenna knows a bit more about football than Pessimistic! If Bonne had had a half decent second half of last season, Town might have picked him up, but he was very average.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers