Managers & Strikers

Peter Anderson ⚽️ You've gotta feel for the football managers sometimes, especially the ones managing the clubs near the bottom of the table.

Quite often, their performance has more to do with the form of one or two players than with anything they control. Premier League watchers know that to survive in the EPL you need goals. You can set up your team as well as any in the division, but without a goal scorer you will not get enough points. Draws in the EPL are not sufficient. For the bottom clubs, good strikers are like hen's teeth. They scour the market and take massive risks to get one and if he works out, they will almost certainly lose them to a big club in a year or two. But it is all worth it if they can get a fit and functioning goal scorer on board, the manager's job will almost certainly depend on him.

I remember in the 2010/11 season, Steve Bruce was at Sunderland and he had Darren Bent, Asamoah Gyan and a young Danny Welbeck on loan. His young team started the league really well. All three of his strikers were scoring regularly. Unbelievably, they let Bent leave in the January window, but Gyan and Welbeck kept scoring and the team finished in mid table. That summer they let Gyan leave and Welbeck went back to Man Ure to be replaced by Niklaus Bendtner and Seb Larsson. Bruce was sacked in November. You couldn't help but feel for Bruce, the club sold his goal scorers then sacked him for poorer results. How many of Sunderland's good results were down to Bruce and how many to the club having 3 good strikers? We all know what happened next to Sunderland.

This season we have seen Lampard in a tight situation. He has a top striker in Calvert-Lewin, but he's always injured. Everton bought Maupay from Brighton to deputise, but Calvert-Lewin got injured in pre-season and Maupay had to start. It didn't go well and Everton struggled to stay out of the relegation zone. Then Calvert-Lewin makes his return, scores a goal and suddenly they are off and running. Everyone's form takes an uptick, Gordon and McNeil chip in with a few goals and Everton start to climb the table. Now Fat Frank is a great guy!

Leeds will be watching what is happening at Everton with a jealous eye. Last season their top striker Bamford was missing for most of it, but Raphinha managed 11 goals to keep Leeds up. Now the Brazilian has gone to Barça and Bamford is back, but can't buy a goal. After last week's home defeat to Fulham, everyone thought Leeds' American manager, Jesse Marsch, would lose his job if they lost at Anfield, but amazingly Leeds won with a last-minute Summerville goal. Neither Bamford nor top rated youngster, Gelhardt, have scored in the EPL this season. Can Summerville and Rodrigo score enough goals to keep Leeds from the trap door? Doubtful. March will be praying that Bamford finds his form soon. Yet again, a manager's job may rest on his striker.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.