Town boss Mick McCarthy says he’s “cool with” his striking options, despite having been unable to add another frontman to his squad on the final day of the transfer window.

After Daryl Murphy moved on to Newcastle over the weekend, the Blues had a bid for Barnsley frontman Marley Watkins turned down on Tuesday and then turned their attention to QPR’s Northern Ireland international Conor Washington on deadline day, but the two clubs were unable to agree a deal.

“We had bids in for strikers but for one reason or another they didn’t come off. That happens,” McCarthy told the club site.

“I’m cool with what we have. We’ve got good players here. Pits [Brett Pitman], Freddie, Leon Best, Varns [Luke Varney].

“We’ve got Didz [David McGoldrick] to come back. Tom Lawrence can play up front, Wardy [Grant Ward].

“We have reinvested the money we got for Murph [Daryl Murphy] with the players we have brought in and we will look to add to the squad again in January."

Photo: TWTD

CBMTOBWMMBG added 15:22 - Sep 1 Good mix of new players with different skills and plenty to prove. Could be exciting style of football too. Let's see! Need Sears to start scoring again though, quickly
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hoppy added 15:29 - Sep 1 Hardly likely to say "Oh, Shît... look at this lot we're left with.", is he? Hope the new options work out and Pitman and Best thrive on new responsibility and Sears can get back in the goals as he was when he first signed.
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Pessimistic added 15:29 - Sep 1 Play Freddie Sears down the middle instead of out wide and the goals will return both for him and us!
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blueblood66 added 15:29 - Sep 1 Did we spend £3m then? Surely Murphy was a top wage earner, so add that, Stewarts wages...and in January no one will want to sell. Lets hope the ones we have are good enough for a top 6 finish
6

KuqiCoup added 15:36 - Sep 1 After all the incomings we were still prepared to pay £2m for Washington, plus a few for the Pompey lad, plus both sets of wages. So probably the best part of £3m was going to be invested had those deals come off. Given that half the Murphy fee had already gone towards other players, it means Evans was prepared to put in another £1.5m on top of what we received. Good news in that he's starting to see what McCarthy can do when fees are spent. Grant has started amazingly well, Bart is a legend, Sears was superb initially. When Mick has money he's usually done well and Webster was cracking against Wolves and Norwich too.

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Bontcho1983 added 15:40 - Sep 1 I am enjoying KuqiCoup making up the amounts we bid for players! It really is entertaining. How I read it is that we "reinvested" Murphy's cash in a player who has scored less than 9 goals in 6 seasons (Best), a player who is injured for another month or so and in a player in Lawrence who might be ok, but you have no idea about? The seven figure bid could have been £1m and it seems MM is ok with not getting a decent CF in, so we will be playing tiki taka in no time I am sure!

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BackTheBlues added 15:56 - Sep 1 Reading Stuart Watson this morning - we've spent 2 million on wages and loan fees the last couple of days - leaving the 1.5m to supposedly spend in Jan. Which - hold your breath - let's say we're there or there abouts in January and we have a million or so to spend on a real quality player - may just breath the new life into the team for a final push!
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planetblue_2011 added 15:58 - Sep 1 Conor Washington would of been a good signing👍🏻
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KuqiCoup added 15:59 - Sep 1 Bontcho, You may wish to read Phil's article where it states that we offered significantly more than the £1m offered for Watkins. Also seen £2m quoted by a number of reliable journalists.
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KuqiCoup added 16:10 - Sep 1 In fact Phil has now confirmed in the 'QPR Failed Striker' thread on the forum that he believes that the sort of amount we were offering. Don't you dare question Mr Ham.
3

BlueySwede added 16:11 - Sep 1 Disappointed that McCarthy call some players by their actual names, and not Searsy, Besty or Lawzy.
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cleggo added 16:20 - Sep 1 I severely hope we didn't squander the money we got in for a permanent player on 3 short term fixes. Some good additions, no reason to think we shouldn't be able to content for top 6
7

strikalite added 16:28 - Sep 1 I hope you're right Mick, because right now looking at the strikers you mention they're hardly prolific in front of goal....ok Pitman can finish I know that, just a tad concerned right now... Conor Washington must be desperate for game time after leaving Posh where he looked quality...real shame that didn't happen.
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runningout added 16:52 - Sep 1 Yet again some are suggesting Joe Bloggs and his mate would have been good signing... Rubbish 'might have been' certainly.. Go on MM take a gamble on Nicklas Bentner.. Why not!
3

bedsitfc added 16:58 - Sep 1 We haven't just off loaded Stuart's wages we have paid him off, upfront to terminate the contract! We have done well in the window Williams and Lawrence are loans we pay a fee plus a % of wages
6

thebeat added 17:03 - Sep 1 After the 2m on loan fees and wages for the season dont forget we arent paying Murphs or Stewarts or the Poles wages for the rest of the season. So thats easily 1m + we've saved there. So its basically 1m reinvested. Not even half of what we got. Its got to the point where i dont believe a word they say anymore, id be amazed if they genuinely tried to get another striker in.

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Mark added 17:09 - Sep 1 My feeling now is let's give Best a real chance and get behind him, as given the number 9 shirt and a run in the side he may well be the answer. Why not? His scoring record at Rotherham was 4 goals in 16 games, which is better than both Watkins (6 in 36 for Barnsley, mostly in League One) and Washington (0 in 17 for QPR) at their current clubs. Best is still 29 (turns 30 next month) so now is the time to settle down and make the most of his career. Pitman will score given the chance, and with players like Sears, Ward, Lawrence and if they come back well from injury Williams and McGoldrick around him he should get more chances than in the past. I was disappointed we didn't sign a new target man yesterday, but hopefully we can adapt a less direct playing style and play to the talents of our new signings.

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rinkydinkpanther added 17:31 - Sep 1 @BlueySwede - Funny thing is that Mick even does it to himself, calling himself McCarthy.
3

jas0999 added 17:38 - Sep 1 Time will tell. By January we may be within the top six and looking great having scored lots of goals or we may have missed the boat due to our failure to score. I personally think Pitman is our only main threat from the bench. Varney won't score many, whilst Sears is massively out of form. Best may be good may not. Unknown in terms of fitness and sharpness. McGoldrick can be ruled out. Overall, I remain disappointed with Evans failure to sign a replacement for Murphy.

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SheptonMalletBlue added 17:40 - Sep 1 Well said Pessimistic. It's so obvious Freddie needs to play in the middle!!
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cowboynickblue added 18:01 - Sep 1 Hope we have enough upfront only time will tell. Playing sears out wide has killed him. Hopefully he won't do the same with bishop. Pleased to see that we were willing to pay for players just gutted we didn't get anybody else in to play up front.
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Jimmy86 added 18:25 - Sep 1 Think that's the thing though, there's paying over the odds and paying silly money, or there's saying, yea we want to sign this player so pay that bit extra for him, that's what we just don't do
1

ArnieM added 18:30 - Sep 1 I'm quote looking forward to seeing how Mick moulds his new squad now. So many new options and combinations. Opponents certainly won't have a clue how Mick's team will be lining up now . Our predictability may now be a thing of the past. Bring it on !!
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Seasider added 18:51 - Sep 1 Agree Arnie,as they were pretty certain about the personnel,formation and style of playing. Hopefully they wont be so certain now and Mick has more flexibility,in style;and could change format during a game . Yes I look forward to seeing how this all pans out,hopefully well. Wonder if any of the non renewers are having second thoughts yet,although once you lose a regular fan,think it will take a lot to woo some of them back,especially with the matchday prices;but think its a good move by the club to introduce part season tickets. COYB

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maninashed added 19:04 - Sep 1 We almost certainly paid up Stewart and Malarczyk's contracts so there was probably no saving there. Best and Varney combined are likely to be earning more than Murphy. Lawrence and Williams wages and loan fees probably account for the rest.
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