In the second of our pre-transfer window Scouting Reports, our resident Head of Scouting, wee_od, turns his attention to the striking department…
In the second of our pre-transfer window Scouting Reports, our resident Head of Scouting, wee_od, turns his attention to the striking department…
STRIKERS
With Samaras’ departure looming, Murphy not filling anyone with confidence, and the likelihood of McGowan, Hutchinson and Rasmussen all being sold either in January or the summer, some decent back-up for Stokes and Hooper is required. We also need a striker to offer a different approach in some games – for example; the long ball to a target man.
As I see it, Stokes and Hooper are great in-the-box strikers, when the ball is played to their feet from low crosses or when we split open defences with pace, but sometimes its good to have a big striker who can get his head on the ball, turn a defender in the box – after holding him off – and then slot the ball home. Essentially, a target man. It is the one attribute missing from our current striking options. Samaras should be able to offer us that but, as we know, he just doesn’t do it!
First up, we have Graziano Pelle, a 25-year-old Italian striker currently playing for AZ Alkmaar. Pelle has 18 months left on his contract and is used mainly as an impact substitute for AZ. His goal scoring record this season is played 8 games (4 of those as a substitute) scoring 4 goals and providing 1 assist. Now, that may not sound particularly outstanding but when you watch the video(which can be viewed in our forum), I think you will understand why I continued to look at him.
He is big, at 1.93m/6ft 3in (slightly taller than Samaras) and is also strong. Pelle likes to be in the box or playing through the middle, you won’t find him drifting out wide. The majority of his goals come via crosses from the wide areas – where he either gets up well to win the header or makes a run to the front or back post.
The next striker on my list is Denni Avdic, a 22-year-old, Bosnian born, Swedish international.
Another big guy at 1.93m tall, Avdic, who currently plays for IF Elfsborg, has been attracting strong interest from English Premier League clubs Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers. His goal scoring form has been a bit hit or miss at times but he loves to be involved in the play. The problem with this guy, I think, is that he reminds me a bit too much of Samaras.
Unlike Pelle, Avdic has a tendency to drift out to the wings and he also likes to drop deep to pick up the ball. He can take a man on and has good feet for a big guy, but is still a relatively raw talent who is perhaps lacking the experience we would ideally want. However, the potential and eye for goal are definitely there with him.
Avdic has a scoring record of 22 goals from 36 appearances in all competitions, and has also provided 4 assists this season.
The major plus with this guy is that his contract runs out on the 31st of December, so he wouldn’t cost us a transfer fee. However, and as I mentioned above, he has been attracting strong interest from other clubs so we might struggle to get him.
wee_od – Vital Celtic Head Scout
Two more strikers from wee_od tomorrow…
Scouting Report #1 can be found here.
