The January transfer window has finally opened, and as expected Forest have already been linked with a vast number of players in numerous positions. It's clear to everybody who has seen Forest play this season that the all important 'missing piece of the jigsaw' is a clinical striker. There are six strikers already at the club who, for whatever reason, have all been struggling to get that bit of consistency needed to reach the "20 goal a season" mark that seems so integral to any club wanting to achieve promotion. Although it is always nice to see a Forest player blossom into a confident goalscorer, patience is wearing thin and if this season is to be a memorable one, which it certainly has the potential to be, the time is right to invest in a striker who will do the one thing that Forest have failed to do this season - convert chances. Billy Davies has hinted that he will be considerably backed this January, but what are the best pieces of business Forest could do? Let's consider some of the options.
Unfortunately, there is no margin for error this time around. In the past Forest have been notorious for chasing players of undoubted quality for so long that they've been left empty handed when the transfer failed to materialise. Fans have almost come to expect disappointment on deadline day. If nothing has been sorted out earlier on in the window, and in a season that Forest lie in the play offs, 4 points clear of 7th place, it would be a terrible shame to see that happen again. This time, Forest need a plan B. Not only that - they also need to be actively pursuing these players early on. Unfortunately, I'm not in charge of transfer dealings this January, but if I was, these are four players I would be keeping a close eye on:
ADAM LE FONDRE, Reading
Perhaps it's unsurprising that he has already been linked to Forest after his comments on New Year's Day about seeing his future elsewhere, but Le Fondre would certainly fit the bill. He managed 12 Premier League goals for Reading last season, which surpasses what our own leading goalscorer Billy Sharp managed in the Championship in the same season. What makes this even more impressive is that many of these goals came from the bench. He won the Premier League Player of the Month award in January 2013, but has found himself struggling to get regular game time at Reading this season. At the age of 27, he has an impressive career goal tally, with 141 league goals in 346 games. That's an average of over 0.4 goals per game. Although the majority of these were in the lower leagues, he has since proved that he can also do it in the Championship and even the Premier League. This season alone he has 7 goals to his name, which puts him level with our own top goalscorer's tally for the season. Unlike Rhodes, this transfer would not require a huge fee or monstrous wages, and with his publicly stated desire to play regular football, he may well be interested in moving. I see this as being the best 'Plan B' option, if not one of the best options full stop.
DAVID NUGENT, Leicester City
Another player already linked with Forest, Nugent is also consistently reaching a respectable goal tally. With 12 league goals this season, he is proving to be far more clinical than anybody we already have, and which makes him the joint 4th highest scorer in the league, ahead of Charlie Austin who came so close to joining Forest in the summer. With 16 goals last season and 16 the season before, it appears that Nugent will score just over 1 in every 3 games, although many of these goals have been penalties. One of the reasons that Nugent has been, and continues to be, linked to Forest is that he is one of a long list of Leicester players whose contracts run out in the summer. From this month, he has the right to talk to other clubs and he may well be tempted by a move to a fellow promotion hopeful in Forest. Although he wouldn't be the big name signing many fans may be hoping for, he would certainly be a nuisance in the box, and would almost certainly put away a higher percentage of chances than the current Forest strikers do. The last time any Forest striker got more than 16 in a season was in 2009/10 when Rob Earnshaw got 17, and Nugent looks more than likely to have smashed that total by May. I would rank Nugent as the 2nd best 'Plan B' option after Le Fondre
CALLUM WILSON, Coventry City
Unlike Le Fondre and Nugent, Wilson is completely untested at Championship level, but has been free scoring for Coventry in a very difficult season for the club (14 goals in 23 appearances). At just 21, his entire career is ahead of him, and it won't be long until a bigger club snaps him up. With Coventry in such a terrible financial mess, it could be a fantastic bit of business. Admittedly a risk, Wilson would be thrown in at the deep end if he was expected to lead us to promotion, but in recent seasons several prolific lower league goal scorers have gone on to be successful in the Championship. Le Fondre spent a large chunk of his career with Rochdale and Rotherham, Grant Holt kick started his career in impressive fashion with Shrewsbury and then Norwich, and Rickie Lambert moved up the leagues with remarkable ease. Wilson has been leading the Coventry line with Leon Clarke, and together they have managed 29 league goals. But at such a young age, it seems that Wilson has the potential to hack it at a higher level. Joint second highest goalscorer in League One, only behind his own teammate Clarke, Wilson would certainly be the riskiest of the lot, but with the relatively small fee Coventry may settle for, it seems like a risk worth taking.
KRIS BOYD, Kilmarnock
Perhaps a surprising choice, but one that could certainly work. Boyd's brief loan spell under Davies at the City Ground in the latter stages of the 2010/11 season was more successful than many predicted, with 6 goals in 10 league appearances. With Davies now back in charge, and looking for a striker, Boyd may well be in his thoughts. He's currently the second top goalscorer in the SPL with 12 goals in 19 appearances, and his stats at Rangers were even better, with an incredible 101 goals in 143 league games. Many may take these statistics with a pinch of salt because of the lack of quality in the SPL, but his previous spell at Forest shows that he has the ability to be that '1 in 2' striker. If this could be repeated in the second half of the season, it could be a very shrewd bit of business from Davies. Kilmarnock will be reluctant to part with their talisman but it seems likely that Forest can afford whatever they ask for. Many capable strikers seem to fade away as soon as they join Forest, yet Boyd is one striker who appeared to fit in straight away. He actually gained confidence from being here. It's a move seriously worth considering.
It doesn't necessarily take the signing of Jordan Rhodes, Shane Long or Danny Ings to get us promoted. In fact, it may be better to actively pursue players who won't cost the kind of money they would involve. At the end of the season, if Forest haven't been promoted, we are in serious danger of being hit with a transfer embargo or any number of other punishments for failing to keep in line with FFP regulations. Perhaps it is the time to start spending sensibly, and acting on stats rather than chasing big names. Let's hope that Billy and Fawaz get together and make some wise decisions this January, and that we can finally fit that last piece into the jigsaw.
No comments:
Post a Comment