Depth of squad.

[Firthy]

We beat one of the in form teams quite convincingly yesterday without Tella, Vitinho, Zaroury, Westwood and Twine/Churlinov not match fit. Really does show the depth we have in the squad which IMO was our achilles heel last season. If we can hold on to all our players in January and even bring in a new striker then we really will have a strong team when we get promoted. I just hope we are in a financial position where we don't have to sell to survive. I'm really enjoying our football and this team will only get better. Long may it continue.

[jojomk1]

A striker is our main requirement for Jan window
Whilst they have scored goals, Jay and Ash just don't seem to have the speed and quickness of thought to make the absolute best of the rest of current squad
Ideal time to bring a new guy in (someone capable of starting) so that they can get used to the current system and squad for next season when we will hopefully be back in the Premiership
Hope to see someone in now rather than next summer

[helmclaret]

Not sure about this requirement for a striker. Aren’t we the top scoring team in all 4 divisions?

[Rowls]

Not sure about this requirement for a striker. Aren’t we the top scoring team in all 4 divisions?

There are two ways of looking at it.

1. We're top of the league so therefore we don't logically need to change anything
2. We don't possess a pacy, powerful centre forward and a striker fitting this description would improve the squad

[NewClaret]

Not sure about this requirement for a striker. Aren’t we the top scoring team in all 4 divisions?

My view would be that there’s always room for improvement and you should always try to build from a position of strength.

Does make it harder to find someone who’d improve you though.

[jdrobbo]

The MAIN reason for buying a striker in January, for me, is so that we can invest in a talented player who could likely make the step up to the premier league in eight months time and no doubt, increase his sell-on value. That player right now should be Gyokeres at 12-15 million.

[agreenwood]

I think we do lack a different option to Jay & Barnes to lead the line. It showed yesterday when, without Tella, we didn’t really have any pace to stretch their high line.

We only really started to get any joy when they dropped deeper and it allowed Benson to get on the ball in the final third.

[Mattster]

A striker is our main requirement for Jan window
Whilst they have scored goals, Jay and Ash just don't seem to have the speed and quickness of thought to make the absolute best of the rest of current squad
Ideal time to bring a new guy in (someone capable of starting) so that they can get used to the current system and squad for next season when we will hopefully be back in the Premiership
Hope to see someone in now rather than next summer

I reckon if you asked VK he'd say Jay is the perfect striker for the system we play. The goals come from across the whole team thanks to the movement, workrate and linkup play of Jay. If you put a "20 goal a season" poacher type striker in his place you'd see a drop off in the performance of the whole as a result. If he spent more time in the box the ball wouldn't reach the box as often IMO.

I do agree we need another striker but one in the mould of Jay but younger that, as you say, can rotate in and learn the role.

[RVclaret]

The MAIN reason for buying a striker in January, for me, is so that we can invest in a talented player who could likely make the step up to the premier league in eight months time and no doubt, increase his sell-on value. That player right now should be Gyokeres at 12-15 million.

Yeah, agree with this. We should definitely test Coventry for Gyokeres but not sure it’ll be below 15m.

[Casper]

A keeper who can catch a ball would be a welcome addition.

[helmclaret]

Dervişoğlu hasn’t had a chance to prove himself yet. I don’t think a striker is a must right now.

[helmclaret]

A keeper who can catch a ball would be a welcome addition.

Ah back to this again.

[ClaretInLeeds]

A keeper who can catch a ball would be a welcome addition.

Every season the fans need a scapegoat

[Claretmisterg]

We need somebody with pace and ball skills to partner Jay. Similar to Ings when he was with us.

[conyoviejo]

Every season the fans need a scapegoat

I wouldn't say he's a scapegoat,he's just a bit dodgy on crosses as people have pointed out.

[CaptJohn]

I'm of the opinion that we don't need to invest in a striker right now. The goals are coming from all over the park and by not having an out-and-out target man, it encourages runs into the box from the other players to devastating effect. With a target man the emphasis changes to crosses into the box, which most teams can negate fairly effectively. I'd probably rotate Jay and Ash more frequently so as to get the best out of them in their advanced years. I also think Churlinov will be a welcome surprise to many when he regains match fitness, so no need to spend heavily in January.

[Stayingup]

There are two ways of looking at it.

1. We're top of the league so therefore we don't logically need to change anything
2. We don't possess a pacy, powerful centre forward and a striker fitting this description would improve the squad

Yes and as the saying goes and as VK has said 'there is always room for improvment'. Both the current strikers are 33 I think.

[Stayingup]

A keeper who can catch a ball would be a welcome addition.

Yes with his arms up he must be 8ft. Problem is he is not good at getting hold of the ball or indeed punching it, as we saw yesterday. But he is young enough and should improve because overall he is not a bad keeper.

[warksclaret]

If we want to get the job done, ie secure promotion, then a central striker is the most pressing position. Dervisoglu we understand is moving on soon, Jay in the last two games has looked very passive and quiet and is prone to injuries, whilst Barnes who was sensational v Rovers , is unlikely to repeat that type of performance on an even semi regular basis. I think in goal keeping terms we can get by with Muric and Peacock Farrell in the Championship, but someone who can compete with Muric, if we get promoted, is an absolute priority close season for VK.

[Cooclaret]

‘The top of a mountain, is just the base of another.’

Always served me well as a thought.

[claretgimmer]

A keeper who can catch a ball would be a welcome addition.

Totally agree, saving penalties is okay but has the same problem with crosses as Dracula, just can`t cope with them, as Sheff Utd highlighted

[jojomk1]

‘The top of a mountain, is just the base of another.’

Always served me well as a thought.

Never seen two mountains stacked on top of one another

Think I might try some of this mularky stuff called cannabis and see if I get a similar illusion

[jojomk1]

My view would be that there’s always room for improvement and you should always try to build from a position of strength.

Does make it harder to find someone who’d improve you though.

Given our current league position I would think we would be a very attractive proposition to a great deal of players

[Tribesmen]

Yep need a striker ......

[tiger76]

Our squad depth will be tested over the next few weeks especially with the cup ties to consider, however we easily boast the strongest squad in this league and that's now showing as we start to pull clear of the rest.

Potential 2nd XI could be

BPF
Lowton Egan-Riley McNally Taylor
JBG Bastien Westwood Costelloe
Dervisoglu
Barnes.

And it's no surprise our bench has often been the difference when we've needed to change things up in search of a goal.

[claretandy]

Our squad depth will be tested over the next few weeks especially with the cup ties to consider, however we easily boast the strongest squad in this league and that's now showing as we start to pull clear of the rest.

Potential 2nd XI could be

BPF
Lowton Egan-Riley McNally Taylor
JBG Bastien Westwood Costelloe
Dervisoglu
Barnes.

And it's no surprise our bench has often been the difference when we've needed to change things up in search of a goal.

JGB is first choice at the minute, more likely to play churlinov and twine to gain match fitness.

[tiger76]

JGB is first choice at the minute, more likely to play churlinov and twine to gain match fitness.

Yes he is but he wasn't at the start of the season, and if injuries and suspensions do hit we have ready made replacements perfectly capable of stepping in.

And this also offers VK the luxury of rotation or even resting players in the case of Cork and Jay Rod.

[Cooclaret]

Never seen two mountains stacked on top of one another

Think I might try some of this mularky stuff called cannabis and see if I get a similar illusion

You’ve never climbed then…

Perhaps it could fit to show that we’re top of the table, but bottom of the Prem. We need to embed players now that will be in the next squad iteration. Spending in January is essential.

[Casper]

Every season the fans need a scapegoat

Or just stating a fact

[Hipper]

We beat one of the in form teams quite convincingly yesterday without Tella, Vitinho, Zaroury, Westwood and Twine/Churlinov not match fit. Really does show the depth we have in the squad which IMO was our achilles heel last season. If we can hold on to all our players in January and even bring in a new striker then we really will have a strong team when we get promoted. I just hope we are in a financial position where we don't have to sell to survive. I'm really enjoying our football and this team will only get better. Long may it continue.

Three of those players have hardly played - Westwood we've no idea what's going on or indeed if he can fit in (you'd think he could) and we haven't seen enough of Twine and Churlinov to comment. I thought we did miss Tella or Zaroury yesterday and didn't think we had any real creative options on the bench if we were struggling for a breakthrough.

[ecc]

‘The top of a mountain, is just the base of another.’

Always served me well as a thought.

I'd never heard that expression before. I think it's rather good.

[Quicknick]

There are two ways of looking at it.

1. We're top of the league so therefore we don't logically need to change anything
2. We don't possess a pacy, powerful centre forward and a striker fitting this description would improve the squad

Option 2, Rowls.

[Quicknick]

Yeah, agree with this. We should definitely test Coventry for Gyokeres but not sure it’ll be below 15m.

But is Gyokeres EPL standard?

[Vegas Claret]

The MAIN reason for buying a striker in January, for me, is so that we can invest in a talented player who could likely make the step up to the premier league in eight months time and no doubt, increase his sell-on value. That player right now should be Gyokeres at 12-15 million.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ nail on the head

[Quicknick]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ nail on the head

Yes, assuming he is good enough.

[Notsosuperstevedavis]

As well as six months to bed in, theres also the ‘premier league tax’ to consider.

Any striker we look at now, knows they’ll get a shot a prem, but will cost circa £10m.

As soon as we are up. That same striker will cost £15-20m - and they’ll be totally fresh.

Rather get VG now if we can. To me on the clips I’ve seen of him. He looks like a cheaper version of Haaland. And that seems to be going well for Blue friends from down the road.