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Where Is Our 20-Goal-A-Season Man?
Written by Pessimistic on Thursday, 8th Aug 2013 14:23

I know it is early doors. I also know that I will be crucified for having the audacity to suggest that Mick the Man has got it wrong but I firmly believe that he has!

Our pre-season friendlies were little more than a walk in the park and sadly there was no big curtain-raiser that we all have become accustomed to at Portman Road; in fact all the opposition we faced were inferior on paper to ourselves, wherever we played them.

What happened to that second game that we were promised with Lazio when we parted company with Matteo Sereni - that misfit of a keeper that we acquired from Italy. Actually it is a sad reflection of our purchasing prowess over the years that he remains our most expensive signing at almost five million quid!

The sad reality is that we did not face any serious opposition before the big kick-off and this resulted in us looking jaded in the last 15 minutes against Reading, as Mick Mills pointed out on Radio Suffolk last week. This was a major error by Mick the Man in my view and cost us dearly in a game that we should and could have got something from.

His next big mistake was to put Tommy Smith at left-back in the League Cup game in midweek at Stevenage. Tommy is a great centre-back but we have seen before that this is not his favoured position. David October was eagerly waiting in the wings and he had proved in pre-season that he had the potential to step up to the plate, so in a team of many changes why was he not used?

And finally on to perhaps the biggest long-term error of all. Where is our 20-goal-a-season striker? Once again, as we recruited ten new players for next to nothing, no thought was seemingly given to this prolonged conundrum of finding a tested goal-getter, which has plagued Town for many seasons now.

David McGoldrick is potentially a 20-goal-a-season man but perhaps at a lower level. He was on 17 when we got him from Coventry but he scored these against inferior opposition and the big question remains, can he replicate this much higher up the ladder?

Paul Taylor is effectively starting from scratch and no matter how many games he get under his belt this term, he is unlikely to get much above double figures. Are we relying then on our midfielders to wade in with goals?

Jay Tabb scored our only goal of the season so far against Reading it is true but he went 89 games with Reading without scoring.

Luke Hyam is improving all the time in the goalscoring department but we cannot at this stage expect him to get many. Cole Skuse was not exactly prolific with Bristol City and nor was Anthony Wordsworth at Colchester, so does this mean we will have to rely on our defenders Tommy Smith and Aaron Cresswell to get us out of trouble again? Sadly Daryl Murphy and Frank Nouble are one in four men so they won't save our bacon!

I may once again sound like the harbinger of doom and gloom but I am bringing this to your attention before it is too late. The transfer window remains open and instead of worrying about the left side of our team, let us focus instead on finding a prolific goalscorer that could make the difference between success and possible promotion and failure and another depressing season in no man's land.




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Sindre94 added 15:44 - Aug 8
Good blog mate.
Just pointing out something, neither Hull or Cardiff had a player who scored more than 8 goals last season, and both were promoted:-)

COYB
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bigolconnor added 15:44 - Aug 8
"Our only goal this season" how many league games have we played and who was that one game against. Pipe down.
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bedsitfc added 15:56 - Aug 8
We have imo 2 twenty goals a season players in mcgoldrick and Taylor its just that Taylor may take time in getting up to speed. Big nick I think will be forced into what I think is our best team on Saturday with Murphy on the left and Taylor joining up with mcgoldrick up front.
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broadside added 15:56 - Aug 8
Long had concerns about our firepower up front. McGoldrick certainly has plenty of goals in him but who else? Murphy just knocks one in here and there and has never been a consistent scorer. It's a bit early to tell but surely MM has money in the bank if we need another DJ type. I would also like to defend Matteo Sereni. Great shot stopper. He was let down by the collapsing defence in front of him and made a scapegoat by Burley. He did well back in Italy and at one stage remember him rated as number three keeper for the national team. Oh and a great song too, and we don't have many of those at Portman Road!
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tractorblue99 added 16:00 - Aug 8
I can understand writing a blog like this in December, if we were struggling. I can't see the sense of writing this pretty negative blog when we have only played two games. This is the problem with many town fans that we expect instant results. This team will score goals, I am very confident about that.

Let's just calm down and judge this team in a couple of months.
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Ole_Pablo_Ole added 16:03 - Aug 8
Great blog, nice to see someone write something bold knowing that most won't agree. If everyone just wrote what they thought would be popular this would be a very boring site.

Not sure if a 20 goal a season man will make the difference. If McGoldrick, Murphy and Taylor all get around 10 then I think we might be fine.

That said we were the divisions lowest scorers last season and as soon as we got DJ Campbell he did what others couldn't.
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NorseBlue added 16:04 - Aug 8
I do share your concerns. Pretty concerned about how Berra looked at CB against Stevenage as well. Shame for me we had to get rid of JET too, who was young enough to continue to develop and always looked good when coming on as sub. Anderson didn't look particularly thrilling on Tuesday night.

However, Wordsworth - if he plays - is potentially a goal-scorer. He scored 35 goals for our Essex cousins, one goal every five games, which is not bad. And I have to say that Paul Taylor looked really up for it, full of running, speed (unusual for Ipswich), and was always looking to shoot or provide a killer-pass. He could score a few this season.
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confoosed_dot_com added 16:19 - Aug 8
Yeah the season is over. Only one goal all season......pff
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Lightningboy added 16:25 - Aug 8
If things are still looking a bit iffy by the end of the month maybe Marcus will get his wallet out - i'm thinking Lee Tomlin maybe??
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Pessimistic added 16:45 - Aug 8
Lee Tomlin would be an excellent choice Lightningboy and thanks too to all of you who have the foresight to see the wisdom of some of the points I am raising here.
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Incublue added 16:49 - Aug 8
Couldn't play at home pre season due to the pitch being relaid. We are hardly going to fly everyone out to Italy to play Lazio in a friendly! Although i do agree the away opposition were too weak.

Think we have the strikers to put the ball in the back of the net, just need the service. Like to see Taylor play wide especially at home.
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itfc24 added 16:55 - Aug 8
20 goal a season strikers are hardly 10 a penny, every team is after one. MM has brought in McGoldrick for free who has scored at every club he has been at apart from Forest and Taylor, who I think anyone who has seen can agree the boy has got bags of talent, skill and running. I recon between them those 2 will get 25 goals plus this season.

Not sure what your suggestion would be as a 20 goal a season striker who a, we can afford and b, would want to join us.

Christ we are only one game into the season lets reflect in a few months time if we are struggling for goals shall we.
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Surco72 added 16:58 - Aug 8
Good blog for me , I have the same concerns don't think McGoldrick has anywhere near 20 goals in him in this league likewise Murphy and Nouble . I am hoping Taylor will come good but for me the real issue is the lack of flair in the whole squad to beat a man or make a killer pass ,our squad seems to be another work hard team put together . I was shouted down on here for not supporting the letting go of Garvan and again when we released JET , in my opinion teams should be built around these players with hard workers ,we have looked very average for large parts of pre season and 150 minutes of our games this season against a poor Reading side used to losing and Stevenage , am hoping for a big performance against Millwall or the recent trend of bad starts to the season will continue
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andys_legg added 17:00 - Aug 8
Thing is if wenow go batter millwall 4,5 or 6 nil on saturday this point your making wont be as valid. Its too early in the season pal. Simple. A good read though
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BillBlue added 17:23 - Aug 8
Yes pessimistic I too share all of your concerns. Why was October not played at left back and why was Smith played there when it is very common knowledge he is unhappy there and yet is like the rock of Gibralter at left CB. But again, why try to supplant half of the team when it is pretty obvious the first team need to play together to gell. The mistakes made in pre-season (such as it was) were repeated on Tuesday evening. Regarding your 20 goal a season striker I think we have one but he is lanquishing in the under 21's, yes I am talking about Jack Marriott, and while MM has said "if they are good enough etc.." this one has not been given a single game. If MM has the bottle I would like to see him play both October and Marriott but I doubt I will see it. The great BR would have and did! Before all the MM lovers start hitting the negative button I would ask them, in all their wisdom, to answer me one question. What has MM achieved so far that his predecessor, who saved us from relegation after the Keane debacle, didn't?
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CalneBlue added 17:43 - Aug 8
I liked this blog and have thought similarly myself. Several comments posted saying it's too early to judge but you allow for this at the start of your piece and in any case good blogs should generate discussion. A 20-goal a season striker will take the pressure off the rest of the team and free them up to play flowing mistake-free football. Anyone remember a proven goalscorer called Marcus Stewart and what he did for us?
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LankHenners added 19:02 - Aug 8
Can people please stop banging on about a 20-goal-a-season striker?! As Sindre94 pointed out the top two teams didn't have one so why should we? We don't one for goodness sake! We need a decent contribution from our four main strikers (8-10 for the main starters, 5-7 for the "subs"), midfielders (around 5 each) and defenders (just a few here and there). Also if we concede few, we stand a far greater chance of (at least) not losing. Some people on here are going on as if all is doomed because we lost the first two games of the season and someone hasn't banged in 5 goals already! Give it a break!
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LankHenners added 19:05 - Aug 8
I must add though that in games were we lack inspiration (e.g. 2nd half Reading), JET would have been an ideal man to bring on as his unpredictability and flair could have kicked some life into us. I stand by my opinion that his departure was a mistake by Mick.
0

LankHenners added 19:05 - Aug 8
*where
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Bergholtblue added 19:13 - Aug 8
Whilst it is a bit silly writing a blog like this after only 1 league match, in Pessimistic's defence I do have to say that last year we were the lowest scoring team in the Championship and I don't see what MM has done to rectify that.

Big Mick got us back out of Sh*t creek without a paddle by emphasising the defensive needs of each and every player, he made us difficult to beat and we stayed up by taking the draws and nicking the odd 1-0 win.

Like it or not this season will be pretty much the same.
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Blue041273 added 19:21 - Aug 8
You talk about a 20 goal a season man as if it is commodity easily purchased in the High Street. Sadly such an animal does not exist. No striker will score 20 goals unless he is presented with enough scoring opportunities. It goes without saying the better strikers generally have a higher goals to chances ratio but until we, as a team, get the ball in the box quicker, and more often, we won't score bucketloads of goals. As yet we do not play at a tempo that stretches opposition defenses. That may come with time but I have no concerns that given the opportunities, Murphy, McGoldrick, Taylor et al will be unable to deliver the goals.
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Lightningboy added 19:53 - Aug 8
Slightly off topic,what are fans early opinions on Skuse?

Personally this was the most underwhelming signing this summer for me..was hoping for somebody dynamic in midfield who could get 5-10 goals a season ala Holland/Norris etc.

Any views?
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GAH added 19:59 - Aug 8
You certainly wont get crucified by me TWTD as i agree 100% with just about all you've said in your blog...I'm not convinced that MM has improved our chances of being anything but a mid-table team, and as far as i'm concerned it's the same old same old etc.... just hope they prove me wrong !!

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SheffieldBlue1 added 20:04 - Aug 8
A point to be made here, although people are citing the examples of Hull and Cardiff last season of teams that have success without a prolific goalscorer, they were aided by creative, forward thinking midfielders. Look at Koren at Hull and Whittingham at Cardiff.

Although i'm not trying to be pessimistic, we do need our strikers to be scoring our goals, as looking at our midfield it isn't packed with goals. For instance our starting midfield 4 against Reading. Edwards got 3 last season, Hyam and Tabb got one, whilst Skuse didn't register a goal.

Whilst teams can go up without their strikers scoring 20+ goals, ours isn't a squad that can be afforded such a luxury.

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The_Tomonator added 20:25 - Aug 8
Someone fetch me a band aid as my eyes are bleeding from that!!
Firstly, this whole 20 a season man ideology is.. well just that. Titles and promotions are won from goals all over the park these days and 20 a year men are never on the transfer market. Even if they were they would never leave and come to statistically quite a mediocre club like us and that is not a negative swipe at the lads as I do believe we are about to turn a corner

I would bet a lot of money that even if messi came to town he would not bag 20. Tops scorers are only so because of the service they are given.

Secondly, "bought to our attention before its too late." What the blazers can we do about it?
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