| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? 20:01 - Aug 20 with 1340 views | ippy_land |
In terms of importance and critical goals Hirst feels well clear in the 21st century (without being the best 9 player for player)
In terms of proper number 9s we have had in this period.
- Marcus Stewart
- Marcus Bent
- Darren Bent
- Shefki Kuqi
- Alan Lee
- Pablo Counago
- Jason Scotland
- Tamas Priskin
- Michael Chopra
- Daryl Murphy
- David McGoldrick
- James Norwood
- Freddie Ladapo
- Kieffer Moore
- Liam Delap
Would it be only Marcus Stewart who has been more important? [Post edited 20 Aug 21:00]
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 20:09 - Aug 20 with 1293 views | homer_123 |
Steward?!?!?!? Go wash your mouth out! [Post edited 20 Aug 20:09]
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 20:15 - Aug 20 with 1235 views | blueislander |
None of them are anywhere near earlier centre forwards who have played for Town | | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 20:34 - Aug 20 with 1129 views | Simonds92 |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 20:15 - Aug 20 by blueislander |
None of them are anywhere near earlier centre forwards who have played for Town |
Who cares? | | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 20:45 - Aug 20 with 1058 views | IpswichOnThames |
From that list I would say most impactful (over a decent period of time) since Murphy/mcgoldrick | | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 00:03 - Aug 21 with 737 views | BlueBadger |
'Best ITFC number 9 of the 21st century' is, to be extremely respectful of Hirst, a very low bar to clear once you get past Bent, Kuqi, Pablo and Stewart. |  |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 00:17 - Aug 21 with 721 views | MattinLondon |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 00:03 - Aug 21 by BlueBadger |
'Best ITFC number 9 of the 21st century' is, to be extremely respectful of Hirst, a very low bar to clear once you get past Bent, Kuqi, Pablo and Stewart. |
I wouldn’t say a low bar at all - even during the ME years we have had some very good strikers, midfielders, defenders and keepers….unfortunately not in the same team at the same time. |  | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 00:33 - Aug 21 with 695 views | judespiveyg |
Kind of inconsequential to the list as they weren't as impactful as Hirst but Joey Garner and Jon Stead were absolutely proper number 9s, as well as the likes of Connor Wickham, Ellis Harrison and Aaron Drinan. |  |
| I survived Ipswich 0-0 Burton |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 01:28 - Aug 21 with 662 views | Westcountryblue |
If we're talking impact and critical goals...
1.Marcus Stewart
2.Kuqi
3.Bent
4.Murphy
5.Hirst
6.McGoldrick
7.Ladapo
8.K Moore
9.Delap
The rest weren't particularly impactful, nor contributed critical goals. Pablo made the wrong move when he joined us from Celta Vigo. He should have gone to Serie A and had a sterling career better than any on the list. | | | |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 01:59 - Aug 21 with 636 views | IPS_wich |
Technically not a #9 (more a #10) but if we talking goalscorers then I will do my usual pump up for Waghorn - without him we would have been relegated to League 1 a season earlier.
Hirst is going to be difficult to judge because the difference between his best and worst was probably the biggest. Hirst on song was/is a cracking player. A Hirst lacking in confidence is a very poor player. The other thing is that Hirst has never finished top scorer in a season for us, and whilst I acknowledge he has been an important player, I would say that during his time here the likes of Chaplin, Hutchinson and Delap have been more important.
Regardless the top six in your list (Stewart, Bent, Bent, Kuqi, Pablo and Lee) plus Armstrong (who you missed off) and Murphy all had a greater impact than Hirst. | | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 07:10 - Aug 21 with 483 views | Dubtractor |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 01:28 - Aug 21 by Westcountryblue |
If we're talking impact and critical goals...
1.Marcus Stewart
2.Kuqi
3.Bent
4.Murphy
5.Hirst
6.McGoldrick
7.Ladapo
8.K Moore
9.Delap
The rest weren't particularly impactful, nor contributed critical goals. Pablo made the wrong move when he joined us from Celta Vigo. He should have gone to Serie A and had a sterling career better than any on the list. |
Not sure why you'd say mcgoldrick is impactful but Pablo not even on the list. Neither got us promoted, but Pablo scored more goals for us. |  |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 07:16 - Aug 21 with 469 views | chicoazul |
Excuse me but Leon Best??? |  |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:03 - Aug 21 with 377 views | Simonds92 |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 01:28 - Aug 21 by Westcountryblue |
If we're talking impact and critical goals...
1.Marcus Stewart
2.Kuqi
3.Bent
4.Murphy
5.Hirst
6.McGoldrick
7.Ladapo
8.K Moore
9.Delap
The rest weren't particularly impactful, nor contributed critical goals. Pablo made the wrong move when he joined us from Celta Vigo. He should have gone to Serie A and had a sterling career better than any on the list. |
Hirst was part of the 4 brought in which made us the best League 1 team ever. I think without him coming in we don't get started on the crazy journey. He then is a key member of the team which earns the double promotion. There was a spell where he gets injured against Leicester and we saw just how important he was to us, as we were completely toothless for the next few games. Comes back towards the end and overtakes Moore to be the main man again to lead us to promotion.
I think that puts him 2nd behind Stewart as most important / impactful imo. Bent is obviously the best player on the list but he couldn't quite get us to promotion and he left for virtually nothing. [Post edited 21 Aug 9:03]
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:05 - Aug 21 with 373 views | Wakh |
I’d add DJ Campbell to that list of recents TBH. Very impactful for us for a while and far above the likes of Ladapo [Post edited 21 Aug 8:07]
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:16 - Aug 21 with 324 views | NedPlimpton |
This thread made me wonder what Connor Wickham was up to. Currently without a club after a brief stint in the UAE second division with Dubai.
Got to be one of the biggest cases of a player not reaching their potential. He looked fantastic as a teenager back in the championship |  | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:50 - Aug 21 with 258 views | BloomBlue |
These are always clouded by life, plus its often about short periods in the moment. For example a young person just starting starting on their Town supporting journey let's say 10 years ago will see Hirst as that very special No.9.
Murphy for me in many ways in that season when he couldn't stop scoring. Never known a situation in my Town supporting career were you knew our No.9 would score if you gave them the ball. Not might but would, even Stewart was a might not a would.
Stewart had an amazing impact, especially in that first season in the PL.
But unfortunately neither could keep up that scoring levels.
Moore was actually key to getting us over the line into the PL.
Hirst because after years of going backwards he came in and gave the team that focal point, and he was often the one who got the key goal.
Delap in his first PL scored 12 goals which was amazing and I hate to think what our points record would have been without that.
But based on the list its Stewart, mainly because he gave us the impetuous that season to finally get over the line. Then once in the PL his goals kept us there or 2 seasons. |  | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:53 - Aug 21 with 243 views | WeirdFishes |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 01:28 - Aug 21 by Westcountryblue |
If we're talking impact and critical goals...
1.Marcus Stewart
2.Kuqi
3.Bent
4.Murphy
5.Hirst
6.McGoldrick
7.Ladapo
8.K Moore
9.Delap
The rest weren't particularly impactful, nor contributed critical goals. Pablo made the wrong move when he joined us from Celta Vigo. He should have gone to Serie A and had a sterling career better than any on the list. |
If we’re ranking impact, Hirst is surely 2nd. Whilst Bent and Kuqi were better players, their goals were technically in vain, we achieved nothing in reality.
Hirsts goals contributed to 3 promotions, twice to the Premier League. |  |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:57 - Aug 21 with 232 views | hype313 |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:16 - Aug 21 by NedPlimpton |
This thread made me wonder what Connor Wickham was up to. Currently without a club after a brief stint in the UAE second division with Dubai.
Got to be one of the biggest cases of a player not reaching their potential. He looked fantastic as a teenager back in the championship |
I dunno, 10 seasons in the PL is a pretty decent career, and earned life changing money in the process. |  |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:58 - Aug 21 with 221 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 07:16 - Aug 21 by chicoazul |
Excuse me but Leon Best??? |
*ahem* I’ll see your Leon Best and raise you a Nathan “The Duke” Ellington |  |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 09:13 - Aug 21 with 175 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 08:53 - Aug 21 by WeirdFishes |
If we’re ranking impact, Hirst is surely 2nd. Whilst Bent and Kuqi were better players, their goals were technically in vain, we achieved nothing in reality.
Hirsts goals contributed to 3 promotions, twice to the Premier League. |
I suppose you’re right to a degree. If we look at last season his goals were worth an extra 4 points (B’ham away, Pompey home, Stoke away - every other time he scored we’d have won anyway). Strictly speaking that ensured promotion. So he was impactful in that sense last year. That doesn’t take into account his value to the team in other ways of course.
It’s a tough way to judge strikers like Bent and Kuqi though, as they may well have been more impactful individually but let down by other players. E.g. Bent in 04/05 contributed 21 points through his goals. Individually, his worth to the team was far higher.
It’s an interesting way to phrase the question because there isn’t really a right answer. How do you measure impact - is it through goals, points won individually, other contribution to the team, promotions won collectively, etc? | |
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| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 10:00 - Aug 21 with 79 views | LA_Tractor_Boy |
Not sure where I would rank him, but apart from last season Hirst was exceptional for us. Even last season he scored some vital goals, including against Norwich and QPR.
Wouldn't have got back-to-back promotions without his goals and work rate.
And I thought he performed well when called upon in 2024/25. | | | |
| Where does Hirst rank for most impactful 9s? on 10:01 - Aug 21 with 80 views | Swansea_Blue |
I’ve gone down a bit of a rabbit hole on this for the last 30 mins or so and cheated a bit asking AI to pull together stats. It really is a case of how you view impact; whether individual impact of goals lifting up a team counts more (Murphy/D. Bent) or overall contribution to the team and collective team achievements are more important (Hirst). Cheating a bit and pulling it all together with AI came out with this shortlist (AI placement, my annotations):
Exceptional / era-defining:
Marcus Stewart - say no more, I think we can all agree on this
Outstanding individual impact:
Daryl Murphy, Darren Bent. Maybe a surprise given the team didn’t achieve anything great, but both have had the standout individual seasons. Murphy in 14/15 with 27 goals contributing 16 points, the Golden Boot winner, vital to making the POs in an otherwise average team. Bent in 04/05 with 20 goals contributing a massive 21 points towards our total. The best individual contribution to points by far, plus generally a large number of goals at a young age.
Major club impact, but for different reasons:
George Hirst, David McGoldrick, Liam Delap. Hirst and McGoldrick are both undervalued by their stats and we all know how important they were to the team overall. Hirst’s claim is boosted by the exceptional team results over the last 4 years. Delap important for his goals saving utter embarrassment! There’s an argument Delap should be in the individual section, although his goals goal stats are way behind Murphy’s & Bent’s, albeit at a higher level.
Very significant strikers:
Kuqi, Couñago, Ladapo, Waghorn, Lee - nothing much to say. Ladapo probably the standout for his contribution to our L1 promotion (far more impactful than Hirst that season in terms of goals and points contributed).
Important but weaker claim to being impactful:
Wickham, Marcus Bent, Walters
It still doesn’t answer how you rank them though.
Maybe:
Stewart
Bent
Hirst
Murphy
Delap
McG
Ladapo
Kuqi
Couñago
Waggy
Lee | |
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