Attacking Options

[Regiment]

Not that i'm greedy, but now that we have had signings of Saah and Olejnik confirmed, Ling needs to turn his attentions to our attacking options.

With Zebba heading for the exit, and two of our main attacking players from the end of the season (Tomlin and Robinson) long since departed, things are looking a bit flimsy up front.

Any rumours or thoughts about where Ling might be looking next ??

over to you teeboo

[teeboo100]

with teeboo being on a roll i reckon ime 4 out of 4 this week ile get o work and have some guessing games later on

[AustrianAndyGull]

teeboo give me some numbers for tonights euromillions man!!

Regiment, you are greedy!! Torquay signings are like buses at the moment, nothing for weeks then 4 at once! You are right to be a bit concerned though because we are light up top. I don't rate McPhee but i'm prepared to give him another chance. Stevens i am not prepared to give another chance to, he should have been long gone but if he can prove me wrong then i will eat humble pie. Kee is capable but seriously needs to work on his fitness, stamina really more than anything else. We will see who else Ling brings in attacking wise but i need at least three more for me to feel we have some depth. Got no idea who would fit that remit though, maybe ask teeboo!

[Mav]

For me we do not have any striker capable of delivering goals on a regular basis up front if Zebs leaves. I don't rate Kee in his current form/size, if the guy really wants it he could long term be a good player for us, however in his current condition he does not work for me. We need at least two quality players up top, and I am not keen on what we have wide either. Halpin is still learning, macklin has a crap attitude and Stevens is to irratic.

[doogull]

What about steve brooker, has league pedigree and is a decent enough tough guy up top.

[doogull]

also I see romone rose is on a free too.

[Warwickgull]

I wouldn't mind Rose on a free, Calvin Zola as the big'un and buy Stuart Fleetwood from Hereford, I think he is class in this league.

[Jeff]

I think Ling has definately gone about things the right way in securing the defensive unit as a priority. With Olejnik and Saah (note that the OS now has "confirmed signing") secured, I'd say we won't be far off as strong as we were last season at the back. The most important thing is we got the defensive roster sorted out for pre-season. Obviously on Monday they'll be doing mainly fitness work, but it means from the earliest opportunity in pre-season the defense will be able to work on shape, positions, communications. Its obvious that we are going to be lacking a lot of the flair we had going forward from last season, so the most important thing at present is to make us solid, organised and hard to beat. Ling has done the right things to get us there.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of wingers/forwards tipping up as triallists on Monday. I'm a firm believer that you build the base and spine of your team from players you want, with periphal strikers and wingers can be added later. Wide midfield is a place where you can put a young, promising academy throw-out from higher up the leagues and he'll be fine. We may even have some continental trialists to take a look at. I would'nt have expected Ling to fill his squad up without taking anyone on trial, as you never know who you might miss out on.

I also don't expect to see us signing Craig Easton. Don't get me wrong, would be a great signing and I'd be happy if we did, but I don't see we've got the need or the budget to do so. If we brought Easton in, you'd expect to see him in the midfield with O'Kane - so where does that leave Mansell? Play Mansell and Easton in the Centre and O'Kane wide left? Not for me - if Ling only really watched the P/O final he'll have seen how effective O'Kane is in the centre.

We need wingers and I hope we have a couple on trial. I'll look forward to hearing from people with their ears to the ground over whether we have or not.

[ferrarilover]

Seen Zola mentioned more than once now, is there any real link between he and Torquay?

Matt.

[Fonda]

O'Kane is definitely most at home in the centre of the pitch. But he's also more capable wide than any of those considered 'wingers' in our current squad. If we did manage to get Easton on board, i'd be satisfied to see him and Manse in the middle, with Eunan either in front of them or wide.

[leetufc]

I think we need to cut ML some slack with regard to the lack of attacking signings so far. He's obviously had a fairly busy few days, with five signings, negotiating with Stevens and trying to deal with the Zebs business. I imagine he's possibly been waiting to see the outcome of the Zebs negotiations before delving into the market for a striker. If we had kept Zebs then he'll be looking for probably a back-up striker, but losing him means Ling's got to find a back-up and a new man to lead the line. That's assuming he sees Kee as first-choice, otherwise he's probably looking for two first-choice, probably experienced, strikers.

I also agree with Jeff, that I would rather see the defence and centre midfield sorted. It gives the defence time to gel and get to know how eachother work, plus it provides the back-bone of the team. As they say, if you keep a clean sheet you've guarenteed yourself a point. I think thats the best way to work when starting out at a new club, especially one which lost their POTS and defensive leader as we have. Now Ling has all the defence covered, most of the centre midfield, except for possibly Easton, and he can focus on bringing in players to do the business at the other end of the field.

With regard to the O'Kane position debate, I think he plays best in the centre, and has the ability to really control a game, in a way Torquay possibly haven't seen since Alex Russell was here, so would rather see him in there. However, he also makes a very decent winger, and considering the other options we've got there at present, unless they show they're worthy of a regular starting place, I reckon we may be seeing Eunan out on the wings fairly often this season.

[Trojan 67]

I think Ling has definately gone about things the right way in securing the defensive unit as a priority. With Olejnik and Saah (note that the OS now has "confirmed signing") secured, I'd say we won't be far off as strong as we were last season at the back. The most important thing is we got the defensive roster sorted out for pre-season. Obviously on Monday they'll be doing mainly fitness work, but it means from the earliest opportunity in pre-season the defense will be able to work on shape, positions, communications. Its obvious that we are going to be lacking a lot of the flair we had going forward from last season, so the most important thing at present is to make us solid, organised and hard to beat. Ling has done the right things to get us there.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of wingers/forwards tipping up as triallists on Monday. I'm a firm believer that you build the base and spine of your team from players you want, with periphal strikers and wingers can be added later. Wide midfield is a place where you can put a young, promising academy throw-out from higher up the leagues and he'll be fine. We may even have some continental trialists to take a look at. I would'nt have expected Ling to fill his squad up without taking anyone on trial, as you never know who you might miss out on.

I also don't expect to see us signing Craig Easton. Don't get me wrong, would be a great signing and I'd be happy if we did, but I don't see we've got the need or the budget to do so. If we brought Easton in, you'd expect to see him in the midfield with O'Kane - so where does that leave Mansell? Play Mansell and Easton in the Centre and O'Kane wide left? Not for me - if Ling only really watched the P/O final he'll have seen how effective O'Kane is in the centre.

We need wingers and I hope we have a couple on trial. I'll look forward to hearing from people with their ears to the ground over whether we have or not.

Jeff's matchday reports are legend. Now all know why . . . he sees the bigger picture.

[AustrianAndyGull]

I'll drink to that!

[Jeff]

When we are thinking of attacking options and potential trialists, be careful what you wish for...........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13989896.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this one will be looking for another club soon enough

[AlexGulls]

I dont think Knight would be that bad if you can sort out his fitness and more importantly his attitude. Besides the last time we signed someone from Coleraine was O'Kane... though is case would obviously be a bigger differance given Knights past.