Charlie Austin - should he be dropped?

[hh9]

If he scored from the penalty spot against Hull it would have been 2 in 4 matches - that would be 19 for the season.
Of course he should not be dropped but I think he worked to hard this summer on his muscles so he is not as mobile but it will come

[Midgeyboy]

You bunch of Judas`s, have you forgot who scored the goals to get us here?
The guy is a legend in the making, it`s not who had a better game between him and Crouch, it`s who had a team that supported, attacked and gave him options.
Charlie is isolated every game, so making it easy to defend against him.
When the midfield learn that they need to support and even run past Charlie from time to time, giving him options better support and deliveries you WILL see goals, if not then drop him.
But I do agree Harry has left him with a big weight on his shoulders not signing at least 1 proven striker.

[West London is Rss]

This would be a feasible thread if we had someone up top to replace him..

[Bluehoop]

There were alternatives to Defoe and Borini et al. which HR simply did not explore. There was not a lot of time, but I don't think HR was crystal clear on our need for an additional striker (or two), and his ambivalence (at the time) will cost us during the first half of this season.

[QUOTE=stationcafe;1327424]Yeah that was poor on Arry/the board's part.


Please enlighten us, who were these quality strikers, available at the last minute within a reasonable budget

[West Acton]

Still think Austin will bag minimum of ten points if we create opportunities

[Burnside]

Can't drop him as theres nobody else, getting Fer/Kranjcar closer to him might help.

[RoryTheRanger]

I don't really know what you expect him to do when he's not getting any service. With the exception of the penalty and the goal he actually did score can anything really think of any great chances Austin has been provided with??

[stanistheman]

He's not scoring. Is the Premiership a step to far? Would dropping him be brave or foolish? What is the meaning of life?

I may be repeating others' responses, but who would replace him? Zamora can't play 90 mins let alone on a regular basis and Vargas is not even a centre forward.

[stanistheman]

Remy left last minute, toronto refused to let defoe join us and borini gave us a total custard pie. Proves HR did not think it would be ok to have one striker.

True, but Remy was always going to go given the low price in his release clause. Believing he was going to stay was foolish (fans are entitled to believe, but managers should be more realistic).
Two strikers should have been signed in the summer before the season started.

[zeberdee]

This is classic rangers. Only a few weeks ago some of our more optimistic posters were predicting 20 goals from him this season. I said before the start of the season that if as a newly promoted striker he breaks into double figures that will be a good return. Now he doesnt score for a couple of weeks some are suggesting we drop him for mr nobody. Just have to stick with him and hope that come the first of jan the club has two other options ready to sign rather than dragging it out yet again.

good post. imo assuming he has reasonable luck with fitness and appearances I strongly fancy him to get to double figures. Which would be a very good return for his first epl season. More concerned with how many the rest of the team chip in tbh.

[TBLOCKRANGER]

He is our main striker and he's got to be up front all season.

The problem we have had is unlike other clubs we save for the Warnock season have not built a team. Whether Austin does it or not this season, for me makes no difference, he's done enough in his career so far to show he can be one of our main strikers for the next 5 years at least. We can't start dropping everyone who has potential. Some on here think we can just shed players like Chelsea.

We need to stop panicking and acting like spoilt kids in Charlie & the Chocolate factory and start building a team for at least a 5 year period, our policy of stop gap/knee jerk/rubbish galacticos/OAPfinalpayday/constantly injured players needs to stop and we need to be patient with at least the true talent we have and build a younger leaner hungry football team and I certainly for one do not doubt Austin should lead the attack.

[The Legendary No. 10]

He is our main striker and he's got to be up front all season.

The problem we have had is unlike other clubs we save for the Warnock season have not built a team. Whether Austin does it or not this season, for me makes no difference, he's done enough in his career so far to show he can be one of our main strikers for the next 5 years at least. We can't start dropping everyone who has potential. Some on here think we can just shed players like Chelsea.

We need to stop panicking and acting like spoilt kids in Charlie & the Chocolate factory and start building a team for at least a 5 year period, our policy of stop gap/knee jerk/rubbish galacticos/OAPfinalpayday/constantly injured players needs to stop and we need to be patient with at least the true talent we have and build a younger leaner hungry football team and I certainly for one do not doubt Austin should lead the attack.

Great post spot on

[Joon]

Please enlighten us, who were these quality strikers, available at the last minute within a reasonable budget

If you believe the Mirror, HR now wants Hugo Almeida. If HR wanted to sign him, or any other striker, he should have gotten it done. There are also a bunch of other free agent strikers who were not signed over the summer.

Certainly, there must have been young, decent-quality strikers in other leagues as well that we could have signed if we really wanted to, without breaking the bank.

[Bluehoop]

There were alternatives to Defoe and Borini et al. which HR simply did not explore. There was not a lot of time, but I don't think HR was crystal clear on our need for an additional striker (or two), and his ambivalence (at the time) will cost us during the first half of this season.

Yeah that was poor on Arry/the board's part.

I'd rather have Bobby/Vargas up top than Austin. This baptism of fire is gong to absolutely destroy him as a player, it's way too much pressure for a youngster needing to be eased in to this league..

If you believe the Mirror, HR now wants Hugo Almeida. If HR wanted to sign him, or any other striker, he should have gotten it done. There are also a bunch of other free agent strikers who were not signed over the summer.

Certainly, there must have been young, decent-quality strikers in other leagues as well that we could have signed if we really wanted to, without breaking the bank.

You criticised the manager and said "there were alternatives which HR simply did not explore". Station Cafe jumped on board and I asked you to enlighten us.....................you are now supporting your criticism with that??

[Joon]

You criticised the manager and said "there were alternatives which HR simply did not explore". Station Cafe jumped on board and I asked you to enlighten us.....................you are now supporting your criticism with that??

I named Hugo Almeida as a response to your post, since it is rumored that HR wants to sign him. I also mentioned the other free agents that were/are available, who were also listed by the Mirror (and I posted) earlier.

As for strikers from other leagues, I guess I can name some, but that would just sidetrack my point, that HR was not decisive enough in looking for and signing a striker over the summer.

Are you trying to say that HR really, badly wanted to sign a striker, but simply could not because there were no decent strikers available?