KEVIN KEEGAN will meet chairman John Wardle ahead of tonight's opening pre-season friendly at Bury and ask him for another striker.
The Blues supremo will be encouraged to sanction the arrival of a hitman ready made for the Premiership.
Having sold Argentinian Matias Vuoso to Mexican club Santos Laguna, the manager is keen to have five goal scorers on his books.
He is mindful that injury and loss of form could strike at any time and he doesn't want to be short of options.
Keegan's request will come with the caveat that he has now given up on the idea of bringing in another central defender, banking instead that the ones he already has, plus the recently returned David Sommeil and the emerging Mikkel Bischoff and Paddy McCarthy, will provide more than adequate cover.
"I am looking for a fifth forward," declared the boss. "I am looking for one that can play in the Premiership. I like the way Bradley Wright-Phillips has trained and there is no doubt that he has got something, but he is not going to be a first team regular for a while.
Youth opportunity
"If he keeps going the way he has, then he has got a chance, and I would say the same with Lee Croft, but these are kids, 18 and 19 years old, who have no experience.
"The two are not a Rooney or an Owen at the moment, but I am not going to say they will not end up being one, because you never know with football. I will have a chat with the chairman about getting one more striker in, and then we will be covered.
"Antoine Sibierski could play up there, as could Trevor Sinclair and Shaun Wright-Phillips, so if we don't get one in it is not a problem, but I think it's the only position in the team we are a bit thin on. I will not be talking to him about a central defender."
If Wardle gives the go-ahead, then City could rekindle their interest in Marseille's Egyptian striker Mido, possibly on a long-term loan.
Is Keegan right to target a striker rather than central defender? have your say
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getting a midfielder or defender on loan is one thing getting a decent striker is another.I haven't seen anything of Mido so I dont know about him but it seems to me KK might have his work cut out on this one,there are a few journeyman strikers out there but if like KK keeps saying about buying quality players he might struggle with this one.
We have strikers, though if getting another quality player upfront would mean the end of Fowler at City then that would be great. With Anelka, Wanchope and hopefully someone like Wiltord or Mido as our main forwards we'd be sorted for firepower upfront next season. If we can't get anyone else, the Anelka-Wanchope partnership was looking good at the end of last season.
How can he say that he will use inexperienced players (Jordan, Bischoff and McCarthy) in defense but wont use them (Croft and Wright Phillips) in attack? The mans an idiot and he wants sacking
Sorry KK, I disagree. Strikers are not the only position we are thin on the ground on at all. As you rightly say, SWP, Sib or Sinclair COULD play up there in emergencies. In the back four however, if you take out Distin and Dunne we are in major trouble. Sommiel shouldn't even be playing sunday league, so hes a no no, Bischoff and McCarthy and Flood are totally inexperianced at first team level. That area is in deffo need of strengthening. Why at the begining of the close season, DVB was a No 1 must signing to bolster our central defence, then you sell Weikens and Tiatto, now it isn't a priority. Maybe Dr Trueman Sommiel has learnt something in Marseille. Please Please buy a centre back.
With Bradley Wright-Phillips and Lee Croft getting closer to first team football, Mido (only 20) should not even be considered, the striker for the immediate future should be Wiltord.
Sofa King frustrated ! Buy a Left Winger ! Or clone another Shauny !
here we go again! why don't we see what Bradley Wright-Phillips can do at that level instead of pushing him so far down the pecking order that he loses his enthusiasm. even if loss of form hits our two main strikers he keeps playing them anyway! if some of the other players received the patience that fowler has been afforded, we may actually bring some of the youngsters through. wanchope finished a far better bet alongside anelka at the end of last season so it will be interesting to see who starts the season up front. everyone on this site posts that we need a central defender and a creative midfielder more urgently than a striker and i would agree. the problem is that we are left with the likes of sinclair, Macca et al who no-one else would consider taking off our hands. also if KK is convinced that Macken can't cut it at this level then why not off load him now?
It's So frustrating, KK buy a Left Winger to provide service to the 3 strikers and the scouse bloke!
Or clone another Shauny with a left boot!
KK is losing it. Any sane person can see we need a class central defender. Our defence was lacking last season, and for a glimmer of time DVB made it look more solid. KK announced that DVB was his number one transfer priority, but having lost out on him the central defender role is now fully covered by a group of youngsters???
Errors in defence due to inexperience are where a team gets punished, not upfront, Kev!!!
KK is talking out of his arse.
We need a commanding
central defender who can head the ball to one of our players not to the opposition a la
Dunne/Distin.
DVB was priority No 1
Now he wants another
forward, what planet is he on.
Can't agree with KK! 4 strikers is enough. I would only bring a new striker in if one was leaving. Also, I like many would like a new central defender, midfielder and left winger. Unfortunately without the money to spend it is unlikely we could improve on the players we have at present, so there is no point in signing anyone.
We need a decent left sided midfielder (not Mcmanaman)not another striker who'll never get a game.
THIS IS INSANE !!!!
sell vuoso for a loss, let a promising young striker go for nothing and then say you are short of strikers !! already viduka and hasselbaink have found new homes so we are left scrambling around for a loan player or a has been ! if we must get someone get one who can cover the left wing too, i.e wiltord, free, only have his wages to pay, great player. consider consider no-one else.
the season hasn't started yet and kk is making ludicrous comments and decisons. my feeling is he'll be out by christams.
The truth is Fowler can not play with Anelka. KK is rightly looking for a striker who can play with the elk. I don't know anything about Mido but i like the sound of him being a fastleft sided striker. This sounds like the perfect partner for Anelka who favours his right foot, but it would be stupid to bring him in to play on the left wing. It would be best if city could bring in a left midfielder as well maybe overmars. If this mido is any good we should sign him as sounds like he could build a partnership with Anelka.
Fowler, Macken, Vouso, Anelka, Toure (?)
No strikers please - its time to see what the ones we have earning god knows how much a week can do. Keegan said that they are getting another chance this year - so lets sit back and see what they can do then -THIS season.
The solution, Mr Clueless Keegan, is not to eternally shout BUY BUY BUY -but make the so called stars that YOU bought just a short year ago ACHIEVE what YOU said they would.
Simple isnt it?
And please can we stop using 5 year old kids like language when discussing our players - IE SIB, SWEEP,THE ELK ETC - I EVEN SAW KEEGAN REFERRED TO AS KEGGY !!!!!! OUR PERFORMANCE OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS AND LAST SEASON IS EMBARRASING ENOUGH WITHOUT MAKING UP PATHETIC NAMES FOR OUR PLAYERS/ MANAGER
Well, I agree with KK,s arse, if indeed that is from where he speaks. It seems to me that we have one quality striker. We then have three average or below average strikers (however you rate them)to pick from to play alongside him. Thinking back to last season, the main cause of the bad run was that the goals dried up. Chances not taken at home especially led to teams sitting out the early attacks from City and then gradually killing the game and grabbing one themselves. Many games were lost this way last year, games in which only one team wanted to play football. We went out of Europe because of the same inadequacies. I honestly think if we can find somebody to form a partnership with Nico, we will end the season closer to the top than the bottom. KK,s comments on BWP and Croft are correct. It would be madness to throw these kids in if they are not ready. I would however like to see these two get more involved. I don't anything about this Mido, but from what I've read on here from people that do, he could be a talent if he 'clicks' with Nico.
keegan has just announced he will be talking to chairman today about getting a proven striker who can perform in the prem now.This is good news and may mean Mido or Wiltord will be coming after all either would be good.What it also means is he has gone back on trying to get a young unproven striker to replace elliot which would not have been a good idea as all the players we have signed in the past with the "one for the future tag" have been awful ie peacock,alsop,buster phillips to name but a few. So come on Kev get something sorted this week and lets all look forward to the new season with optimism and get behind ANYONE who wears the blue shirt.
Dunne and Distin are fine players and Mills, Thatcher, Sun and Bischoff can all provide CB cover next year. I'd support a year-long loan move for Mido as nobody has been close to Anelka for 2 years and look to move on Macken in January.
I realy do believe that we need a first class international not over the hill in the box striker who is capable of scoring at least 20 goals per season. One who is purely a goalscorer.
Get Mido. The guy is top quality and before a premature move to Marseille he was seen as one of the best prospects in Europe. More importantly, he's left-footed and he could provide some much needed cover on the left hand side. To buy Mido would be a major transfer coup, and his wages won't be too steep either
I with most of the faithful on this one. Still no decent central defender, and probably even more important, still no creative midfielder. 3/4 bad results and it's bye bye Kev before Christmas. Bring on Fulham
Give Folwer to BlackBurn, sell the Chop to Lecce then bring Mido in. still i rather we a get center back.
BWP is nowhere near good enough, saw him a lot last season, not sure he has what it takes.It is also a bit of an insult to our intelligence to use the transfer of Vuoso as justification to bring in another forward.
On the other hand,its funny how not many of our forwards can play with Anelka yet when he was suspended last season our "other" forwards did remarkably well as I recall. Are we not looking in the wrong direction here?
Smacks of the Kings new clothes to me>
the midfield is the problem. SWP on the right and then it gets pretty vague, especially in central midfield, bosvelt can't hack it, reyna is not a defensive midfielder and there is no place for macca, it's all a bit of a mess.