A look at our strikers
One position that has really let us down in recent years is our stikers, our attackers, our forwards- whatever you want to call them.
Since the days of Nicolas Anelka, I don’t think we’ve had a striker with the proper ‘killer instinct’, possessed by all of the best up front. There have been times where Joe Mason and Jermaine Beckford have looked promising but neither have been able to prove themselves to be good enough, week-in week-out.
Let’s have a look at our options up front:
Craig Davies: Cravies has worked very very hard this season as departures left room for the big man who looked set to leave earlier this year. You can tell that he has the desire. However, his lack of goals from open play is worrying. -6
Joe Mason: I think that Joe Mason is a good player, however, he’s always been one that I’m not completely sure about. I often finding myself asking what he offers to the team, other than the odd neat finish every now and again. His four goals this season top the charts, though. -6
Jermaine Beckford: Jermaine Beckford simply hasn’t been the same player since his Leeds United days, however I think that if anyone would be able to get the best out him, it would be Neil Lennon. Before his injury, I thought he was set for 15-20 goals last season. He has frustrated many fans with a lack of conviction up front and a ‘poacher’ like him really needs that as there is very little else to their game. -5
Max Clayton: I don’t know Max Clayton very well, nor do I think do many Bolton fans. From watching him warm up and seeing him train on YouTube- he looks very promising though. He’s played a lot of football during his short career so far, though his scoring record may not do his case many favours. He’s definitely one that deserves playing time. -7
Connor Wilkinson: Connor Wilkinson was backed by many to play a big role in our season. However, I didn’t think he was ready- nor did Dougie who sent him out on loan at Oldham. There, he played quite well and they hope to see him return. He’s a tall lad and is good on the ball- it’ll be interesting to see how he develops over the next year or so. -6.5
Zach Clough: From what I know, Clough is quite small and is meant to be the ‘nippy’ type. He scored a well taken goal with the first team during pre-season and has seemed to be training with some of the more senior players hence his inclusion in this article. I’d like to him go out on loan to get some playing time. -6
Tom Eaves: Aaaah, Tom Eaves has been so frustrating. He looked very promising on loan two seasons ago. Then the next season he just couldn’t find the back of the net at Shrewsbury. He did seem to be a bit of a random signing from Coyle, but it’s clear that he has some talent. I see that he has recently gone for the Nicklas Bendtner hairstyle which is very fitting as (I think I mentioned this in the comments of a previous post) his presence at Bolton has been very similar to that of the Dane. He’s still relatively, but now he’s at the point where he either needs to step up, or drop to League 1 or 2 where he may spend much of his career. -4.5
It was very hard to rate the youth team players as I really don’t know that much about them. These ratings are based on what I think of their potential and how well they could do this year.
Please leave your thoughts below.