Summer transfer window

[Mattster]

Parker wants a number 9 to provide a physical platform first and foremost. Ideally they’d run in behind as well, but that’s a desirable rather than an essential.

Whatever Amdouni is, he ain’t going to do any of that.

That's how it was last season, it's hard to say whether that's what he'd want this season because you would assume/hope we'll be changing our approach given we're going from having better players than everyone else to being one of the weaker teams. And physically, PL defenders are on a whole other level from Championship ones.

[Big Vinny K]

See above post. I think if we went in to next season with our current midfield we could have Haaland up top and it wouldn’t make a lot of difference.

I’m not saying a new striker wouldn’t be nice, just that for me the midfield is absolute number one priority first. If we had a strong midfield I’d back Foster/Amdouni to nick enough goals to keep us up.

I agree it’s the hardest position to recruit. Look across Europe and there aren’t many leagues or teams that have 20+ goal forwards. And the ones that do don’t want to sell, or they probably don’t want to come to a relegation contender, or there’s question marks over whether they can step up from a lesser league. They’re expensive. Hence if we had limited budget, I’d put it in midfield, if we can afford both, great.

We had arguably the strongest set of wide players and midfield in the league and as much strength in depth as anyone and playing against some bang average defenders most weeks and yet Foster still couldn’t hit a barn door and you think he could do it against some of the best defenders in the world ?

In terms of a 20+ striker based on what these usually go for in the EPL that would probably cost us between £50m and £100m. So safe to say that way beyond our expectations - but every now again you could end up with a Wissa or even Delap having a great season.

If we can get a couple of strikers who can get us into double figures as we did in the past with Wood and Barnes that gives us a better chance of staying up (as we saw under Sean Dyche)

[RVclaret]

We had arguably the strongest set of wide players and midfield in the league and as much strength in depth as anyone and playing against some bang average defenders most weeks and yet Foster still couldn’t hit a barn door and you think he could do it against some of the best defenders in the world ?

In terms of a 20+ striker based on what these usually go for in the EPL that would probably cost us between £50m and £100m. So safe to say that way beyond our expectations - but every now again you could end up with a Wissa or even Delap having a great season.

If we can get a couple of strikers who can get us into double figures as we did in the past with Wood and Barnes that gives us a better chance of staying up (as we saw under Sean Dyche)

In fairness, Foster had the highest goal contributions in our entire squad in the last PL campaign, and he was out for half the season.

[Ziggy Stardust]

No chance we are getting 40m for Trafford. Think they will take 30m plus a few add ons. We need to offset these new signings with some incoming cash. Possibly need to offload Amdouni as well. Don't know how the finances are at the moment but I don't think we are flush with cash. I think at least 50m needs to come in to cover new signings.

[Steddyman]

In fairness, Foster had the highest goal contributions in our entire squad in the last PL campaign, and he was out for half the season.

Maybe true, but that was all before his mental health issues. When he came back, he was ineffectual.

[jlup1980]

We're in big trouble if we think Foster is the answer. He needs shipping out in my opinion. He simply hasn't worked out, apart from a 6 week spell at the start of the last PL season. He's been very poor for the rest of his time here.

[Pearcey]

I’d quite like to see what Amdouni has to offer under Parker’s coaching. There’s no doubt he’s skilful and can finish. If he could bring the physical side in, he could be a real asset.

[Hedontplayforyou]

Amdouni is difficult to out your finger on regarding position. He’s definitely capable but the desire isn’t there for me .

Loum is most definitely a winger

[boyyanno]

Maybe true, but that was all before his mental health issues. When he came back, he was ineffectual.

I thought Foster also looked in his best shape physically at the start of the last PL campaign. If we can see that Lyle Foster again he will be an asset for us.

[Big Vinny K]

In fairness, Foster had the highest goal contributions in our entire squad in the last PL campaign, and he was out for half the season.

That was quite a low bar in that season.
I’d love it if Foster can recapture some of the form he showed in the first half of that season - all Burnley fans would.
But this period of playing well is now a good while ago and whilst there were obviously some extenuating circumstances he was miles off that player last season against far inferior defences.
The good games he has played for Burnley are becoming an ever smaller fraction of his career with us. 8 goals in 2 and half seasons from your “main” centre forward is not good enough for any team at any level.

[CyrilEbokiPoh]

With the business we've so far done early, along with the loan system to help plug any gaps, there's nothing to worry about. We seem to be going about things very well.

The only thing TO worry about is how strong everyone else is.

That said, I remain convinced we can drag a few teams in and be more competitive this time around against the likes of Wolves and Bournemouth etc

[Guller Bull]

Salford links again

https://www.footballfancast.com/burnley ... t-as-well/

[CoolClaret]

If, for some bizarre reason, Foster had one of those mental 10-year Chelseaesque contracts, I feel as though we'd be making the same hopeful predictions year after year, always finding some new area for improvement that would supposedly unlock his potential.

But realistically, it's never going to happen.

[Silkyskills1]

I specifically mentioned Foster and Amdouni. Barnes is obviously there for the craic and keeping the team lifted during the inevitable difficult parts of the season.

Amdouni is a decent finisher, Foster less so but has pace for transitions and playing against high lines.

Foster is nowhere near good enough for the Premier league. This aptly demonstrated by him not being good enough for the Championship. Your theories all sound well and good regarding him but the harsh reality has been on display in front of us for the last 30 months. There isn't a 'striker' worthy of the name good enough at the club to meet a Premier league challenge and yet you appear to see that position as one not to prioritise.

[CyrilEbokiPoh]

Haa there been any indication on Calvert-Lewis? Has he got himself a contract yet?
Would fit in with the recovery squad we are building.

He could be an incredible addition

He is crap and crocked and clearly doesnt care much for being a prem player.

No from me.

[boyyanno]

He is crap and crocked and clearly doesnt care much for being a prem player.

No from me.

He's crocked but he's not crap, if he is fit he would walk in to our team and quite a few others.

[NewClaret]

Foster is nowhere near good enough for the Premier league. This aptly demonstrated by him not being good enough for the Championship. Your theories all sound well and good regarding him but the harsh reality has been on display in front of us for the last 30 months. There isn't a 'striker' worthy of the name good enough at the club to meet a Premier league challenge and yet you appear to see that position as one not to prioritise.

That’s may be so, I don’t know. I certainly don’t think Flemming, Hountondji and Barnes are Premier League standard, so it’s Foster or Amdouni that we’d be relying on as things stand.

Both have scored goals at Premier League level last time out.

I accept that’s a risk, but not in anyway near as big as a risk as not strengthening our midfield, in my view. If that gets strengthened and we can afford a striker on top, great. For now though, my priority would be sorting out our midfield that is definitely not Premier League standard or it wont matter who is up front.

[Woodleyclaret]

Like Magic Mike you mean?

[123EasyasBFC]

Parker wants a number 9 to provide a physical platform first and foremost. Ideally they’d run in behind as well, but that’s a desirable rather than an essential.

Whatever Amdouni is, he ain’t going to do any of that.

Flemming didn’t run in behind, Flemming is more physical but Amdouni’s ball control would be massive in the 9

[123EasyasBFC]

Can’t understand anyone turning down Calvert-Lewin, it would be an unbelievable signing

[CyrilEbokiPoh]

As an option, wouldnt mind Adebayo at Luton. Not a link. But someone for the right fee, would be a good option as a plan B / off the bench.

[CyrilEbokiPoh]

Can’t understand anyone turning down Calvert-Lewin, it would be an unbelievable signing

For the wages and given his injury record, I just think we could get far better value for money for what would be our highest paid / main striker

[ksrclaret]

Flemming didn’t run in behind, Flemming is more physical but Amdouni’s ball control would be massive in the 9

You must have a different recollection of Amdouni’s ball control than I do. Decent finisher when he bothered to put himself in a position, but the ball used to bounce away from him for fun.

I feel confident in saying that Amdouni is just about the opposite of what Parker looks for in a forward.

[Woodleyclaret]

Zeki Amoundi is top scorer for Swiss national team and given decent service will do well for us .

[Newcastleclaret93]

You must have a different recollection of Amdouni’s ball control than I do. Decent finisher when he bothered to put himself in a position, but the ball used to bounce away from him for fun.

I feel confident in saying that Amdouni is just about the opposite of what Parker looks for in a forward.

I think if Amdouni plays anywhere it’s in the Brownhill role.

But i agree, he’s the total opposite player of what Parker wants.

[CoolClaret]

I feel confident in saying that Amdouni is just about the opposite of what Parker looks for in a forward.

I would agree with that statement.

Mitrovic, Solanke, this lad we're rumoured to be in for, Arokodare are all archetypical '9s', which Amdouni most definitely isn't.

[jlup1980]

I quite like the idea of Flemming and Amdouni as a front two. They both like to drop deep, so they could alternate being 9 and 10. They clearly have different attributes. Flemming brings that bit of physicality, Amdouni brings the spark of quality. Out of our current limited options, these would be my starters.

[fungus_the_bogeyman]

As an option, wouldnt mind Adebayo at Luton. Not a link. But someone for the right fee, would be a good option as a plan B / off the bench.

Adebayo was absolutely terrible last season. Luton’s strikers couldn’t hit a barn door. Busted flush.

[Big Vinny K]

Amdouni’s “ball control” ?

He’s like a dog chasing a balloon.

On the positive side sometimes his first touch is so bad it ends up being a decent ball through for the on rushing midfielders and if Amdouni doesn’t know where he is going when he sets off with the ball nether do the defenders !!

Every cloud and all that

[ArmchairDetective]

I'd like to see Amdouni again this season. But he's a no. 10 not a 9.

[Mattster]

Zeki Amoundi is top scorer for Swiss national team and given decent service will do well for us .

Agreed.

Keep seeing people say he doesn't have the fight/desire etc. He started his career in the 4th tier of Swiss football, moved to the 2nd, then the top tier. You can't do that without fight.

[CrosspoolClarets]

I think if Amdouni plays anywhere it’s in the Brownhill role.

But i agree, he’s the total opposite player of what Parker wants.

But maybe not the total opposite of what Parker ‘needs’?

There will be a time in games to have Plan A, B or C in operation. The Calvert Lewin type hold up player who doesn’t score bags of goals is fine for Plan A, but then we need other attributes including clever movement and finishing which Amdouni has. Physicality and pace and the two things he lacks, whereas Foster as an example is the total opposite.

I just fear a season where we get <40 goals which won’t get us to 17th. Ipswich got 36 last season.

[CyrilEbokiPoh]

Adebayo was absolutely terrible last season. Luton’s strikers couldn’t hit a barn door. Busted flush.

agree - Luton in general were terrible. But overall he has been a decent championship target man and was good for Luton in the season they were at this level. 10 goals in 27 games is not to be sniffed at. Granted it was one season at this level. But for a few million he would be a good option for us.

[RVclaret]

Lots of time yet but I’m quite confident we’ll see a mix between a 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 and 3-4-2-1 (two ‘inside 10s’) this season, depending on opposition / game state etc. Amdouni fits into the role of one of those duel 10s, I think. Probably would have to be him or Edwards as I don’t think you can get away with two small, lightweight types in your team. So one of them with Hannibal/Koleosho as the other one, for their tenacity / infectious energy. Definitely need a new striker to compete with Flemming and Foster, and likely an upgrade (I see Sunderland looking to sign Mathis Abline, despite having Isidor and Mayenda on the books).

[Firthy]

agree - Luton in general were terrible. But overall he has been a decent championship target man and was good for Luton in the season they were at this level. 10 goals in 27 games is not to be sniffed at. Granted it was one season at this level. But for a few million he would be a good option for us.

He's better than what we've got.

[Woodleyclaret]

He's pony and not a patch on Ash Barnes or Flemming. Also didn't he do his cruciate
Sorry at best league 1 level

[claretspice]

Agreed.

Keep seeing people say he doesn't have the fight/desire etc. He started his career in the 4th tier of Swiss football, moved to the 2nd, then the top tier. You can't do that without fight.

I don't think that per se, Amdouni lacks fight or desire, but I do think there are a couple of issues with Amdouni that might be perceived that way. The first is that the Premier League is a vastly more intense, dynamic league than any that Amdouni has played in before and that takes a lot of getting used to - we did not have the scope two seasons ago to support him through that process, and seems to me doubtful we will this time either. The second is that Amdouni appears to want to play as a natural number 10, getting the ball to feet (often in a static position, which links to the first point- the need to be constantly moving to find space is far greater in the Premier League than in leagues which lack the same intensity). This second point means he's not really got a role in a team that doesn't have plenty of the ball, and at times two years ago we struggled to find a position on the pitch for him.

Admittedly, all this was not helped by the fact that we were trying to fit not only Amdouni into the team, but also Odobert and on occasion Tresor, plus a willing but naive kid in Koleosho - the team as a whole lacked the aggression and defensive discipline. We looked far more effective in the run in once we re-introduced Vitinho on the right wing and stopped trying to get 2 or 3 players who were less effective out of possession into the same team. Had Amdouni joined Dyche's 2018 version of Burnley, he might have had enough discipline and aggressive running around him to step up (much like the team covered for Defour when he joined, and initially found the step up hard). Maybe Parker's team will be more in that mould and that will help. But it might just be that it's better for everyone if Amdouni moves on. I'm not clear how he and Flemming fit into the same team - Flemming is a similar player in that he wants to play just off the number 9 role and is probably naturally a second striker. The difference is that Flemming is far far stronger, and therefore increasingly as last season went on gave us a focal point to play into that Amdouni never did. That's why Flemming might become a natural "false 9" option in a team at the bottom of the league, whilst Amdouni probably won't.

[KRBFC]

In fairness, Foster had the highest goal contributions in our entire squad in the last PL campaign, and he was out for half the season.

I still don’t understand how long it will take before fans see Foster isn’t the answer and needs to be sold. He’s been here for 2 and a half years and had a handful of good games.

It’s very weird how Foster can get all the support for over 2 years (with most of that in the 2nd tier) despite producing nothing when the likes of Amdouni and Trafford were absolutely slaughtered on here after a few months in the PL.

It must be a sympathy thing because of his mental health issues. Fans see a player so out of his depth, who has the technique of an amateur they feel sorry for him.

[KRBFC]

Can’t understand anyone turning down Calvert-Lewin, it would be an unbelievable signing

I wouldn’t want Calvert Lewin here because of his dress sense.

I don’t agree with a footballer promoting cross dressing to children.

[KRBFC]

People say Amdouni lacked fight and didn’t work hard, total myth. I remember the West Ham at home game, he had to come off he was out on his feet. The game changed when he went off, we shipped 2 late goals and lost 2-1

[Woodleyclaret]

I don't care what he wears but imo he's lost the desire to be a top player and his injury record of late isn't great I think this young guy is a better bet.

[burnley007]

I wouldn’t want Calvert Lewin here because of his dress sense.

I don’t agree with a footballer promoting cross dressing to children.

You forgot the winking emoji.

[burnley007]

Sounds like he's off to Fulham anyhoose

https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/f ... 76678.html

[AlbertFish]

If Flemming isn’t a striker I don’t know what he is because aave his goal contributions I thought his all round play and falling over made him highly ineffective last year.

Flemming made 37 appearances last season in all competitions, scored 14 goals and made 4 assists and this made him “highly ineffective “?!!

No matter what you think about his ability to lead the line in the premier league, he was definitely not “highly ineffective”.

[PremierLeagueClass]

I still don’t understand how long it will take before fans see Foster isn’t the answer and needs to be sold. He’s been here for 2 and a half years and had a handful of good games.

It’s very weird how Foster can get all the support for over 2 years (with most of that in the 2nd tier) despite producing nothing when the likes of Amdouni and Trafford were absolutely slaughtered on here after a few months in the PL.

It must be a sympathy thing because of his mental health issues. Fans see a player so out of his depth, who has the technique of an amateur they feel sorry for him.

Stay classy

[Barn4Burn]

I think some on here are forgetting that this thread is for saying how poor players are that we’ve got. How poor players are that we’re linked to are. All this positivity is great to see.

[Big Vinny K]

Flemming made 37 appearances last season in all competitions, scored 14 goals and made 4 assists and this made him “highly ineffective “?!!

No matter what you think about his ability to lead the line in the premier league, he was definitely not “highly ineffective”.

Spot on. Like a lot of the team he improved as the season went on and ended up with some really good statistics considering the difficult start he had and struggling to find full fitness.

If his season was “highly ineffective” I have no idea how you would describe Fosters contribution.

Personally I think Flemming will be given a chance by Parker because he can see his development, his strength and technically he is decent. But i also think Parker will look to buy one or possibly two more centre forwards to supplement Flemming as I don’t think he will want to play Foster.

[TsarBomba]

People say Amdouni lacked fight and didn’t work hard, total myth. I remember the West Ham at home game, he had to come off he was out on his feet. The game changed when he went off, we shipped 2 late goals and lost 2-1

So that’s one game in a whole season you can remember he put a shift in? Says it all. You earn the right to play, and Amdouni didn’t. Not even remotely. He was the epitome of what went wrong under VK.

The amount of times he lost the ball on the edge of our 18 yard box trying to play out, was ridiculous too. Unless he was instructed to play that way by VK, which was equally moronic.

If Amdouni stays then I’m sure we will all get behind him, but there needs to be a sea change in his attitude and mentality.

[123EasyasBFC]

Amdouni’s laidback approach made people think he wasn’t putting a shift in, I thought in lots of games he was a level above along with Berge.

I would actually like to see Flemming and Amdouni play together

[NewClaret]

Flemming made 37 appearances last season in all competitions, scored 14 goals and made 4 assists and this made him “highly ineffective “?!!

No matter what you think about his ability to lead the line in the premier league, he was definitely not “highly ineffective”.

I was replying to a post suggesting he was not a striker. That’s a crucial bit of context to my post which explains why I called him “highly ineffective”.

That post was meant to read “apart from his goal contributions”, so basically I was agreeing with you that he scored a decent number of goals - some crucial ones too. He also seemed to be our only player capable of taking a decent free kick.

But take those goals out of his game and I thought “highly ineffective” was being polite. He was slow, couldn’t hold up, couldn’t link up, miss-placed many simple passes, never on the half turn, threw himself to the floor claiming fouls that never were.

So yeah, did ok in front of goal (pretty weak in the air for a man his size, missed some good chances with his head - thankfully not the all important one!) but all round game disappointing for me. So as a striker, yes, but cannot see him playing the 10 for us unless there’s a dramatic improvement in his game over summer.