Oatway reckons more firepower is key to Albion's play-off hopes

9:30am Friday 11th January 2013 in Sport By Andy Naylor

Charlie Oatway, centre, believes more striker options would boost Albion's top-six chances Charlie Oatway, centre, believes more striker options would boost Albion's top-six chances

Charlie Oatway fears it will be tough for Albion to finish in the Championship top six if they fail to sign another striker in January.

The Seagulls are a win outside the play-off zone ahead of tomorrow’s visit by fellow challengers Derby County.

Only four points divide Watford in sixth from Blackpool in 14th and Oatway believes firepower could be a key factor in deciding the play-off spots.

The first team coach told The Argus: “I think there could be 12 to 14 teams there or thereabouts in the shake-up and we could be one of them.

“It’s going to be difficult, because a lot of the other sides have got quite a number of strikers and you need to make sure you have got enough.

“We would like to bring in another striker, the more strings you have to your bow the more opportunity you’ve got.”

Oatway is confident Leonardo Ulloa would make a big difference if Albion manage to land the Argentinian marksman from Almeria.

He said: “I went out to Spain towards the end of last season and watched another player but I haven’t watched him. “I’ve only watched clips and they were good.

“If the gaffer likes him I am sure I am going to like him, because everyone he has showed me who he has liked on DVD’s, Bruno or who ever, have come in and done fantastic jobs.

“If we manage to get everything signed, sealed and delivered and he comes here I am sure he would be fantastic for us.”

Comments(39)

Claude Back says...
10:24am Fri 11 Jan 13

Well, who would have thought that?

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fratsomrover says...
10:28am Fri 11 Jan 13

Nothing like stating the obvious ! Haven't 90% of posters on this site been saying this since October. You dont need a UEFA coaching badge to know that.

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Seagulls Over Surrey (SOS) says...
10:28am Fri 11 Jan 13

Go figure, Charlie! Really?

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
10:30am Fri 11 Jan 13

fratsomrover wrote:
Nothing like stating the obvious ! Haven't 90% of posters on this site been saying this since October. You dont need a UEFA coaching badge to know that.
Yeah, he almost certainly got the idea from the posters on The Argus website, the evil plagiarist!

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Alan G Skinner says...
10:45am Fri 11 Jan 13

Have a good feeling about Saturday, just hope we have the undersoil banging away tonight, to ensure the game goes ahead (if you believe the Met Office).

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saraman says...
10:49am Fri 11 Jan 13

Alan G Skinner wrote:
Have a good feeling about Saturday, just hope we have the undersoil banging away tonight, to ensure the game goes ahead (if you believe the Met Office).
Is there under soil heating at The Amex?

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
10:49am Fri 11 Jan 13

Alan G Skinner wrote:
Have a good feeling about Saturday, just hope we have the undersoil banging away tonight, to ensure the game goes ahead (if you believe the Met Office).
It had better go ahead - I've just been given a ticket to the 1901 Club for the match!

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mark by the sea says...
10:53am Fri 11 Jan 13

saraman wrote:
Alan G Skinner wrote:
Have a good feeling about Saturday, just hope we have the undersoil banging away tonight, to ensure the game goes ahead (if you believe the Met Office).
Is there under soil heating at The Amex?
Yes

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duncan 74 says...
10:53am Fri 11 Jan 13

I am starting to get a bit sick of this. Don't get me wrong I think the position of this club at present is the envy of many clubs in the UK. I remember bring sat at the Withdean not too long ago on a Tuesday night with 500 others watching Matt Richards punt the ball long for 90 minutes.

However, one of the main things tha managers should be judged by is the ability to bring in players. Gus has been going on about the need for a striker for a long time now and the time has come to find one. I don't just want to see anyone come in but surely there must be someone suitable in the world. I am always reading about other clubs bringing players in, such as Robbie Brady moving from Man United to Hull, so come on Gus time to find that target man we hear so much about.

I am not having a go at the club like some of the idiotic posts we read on here. I am very grateful we have Gus and more importantly Tony Bloom but the time has come to put up or shut up.

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pjwilk says...
10:55am Fri 11 Jan 13

saraman wrote:
Alan G Skinner wrote:
Have a good feeling about Saturday, just hope we have the undersoil banging away tonight, to ensure the game goes ahead (if you believe the Met Office).
Is there under soil heating at The Amex?
Yes their is under soil heating and the game is 100% certain to go ahead.

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tug509 says...
11:12am Fri 11 Jan 13

What happened to the Macheda loan deal?.UTA

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Bob! says...
11:15am Fri 11 Jan 13

pjwilk wrote:
saraman wrote:
Alan G Skinner wrote: Have a good feeling about Saturday, just hope we have the undersoil banging away tonight, to ensure the game goes ahead (if you believe the Met Office).
Is there under soil heating at The Amex?
Yes their is under soil heating and the game is 100% certain to go ahead.
...unless the away team can't get here
....or there is ice on the approaches
.....or.....

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4everaseagull says...
11:20am Fri 11 Jan 13

Duncan 74 you make a very good point. Yes we have come a long way since Withdean in a very short space of time and sadly we can all be guilty of having short memories as football supporters. We all want things straight away. The Albion are still very much a work in progress however I am like you getting fed up and bored with all this striker talk. We have known for 18 months now what we need. Gus mentioned on an article before Xmas he will spend big on a striker unless I miss interpreted what he said. Then we are told we cannot afford to buy British and have to go abroad and next we are trying to get a striker who cannot sign yet as he does not have a Spanish passport. Ive said it before is Gus too fussy or are we genuinely unable to afford these players. Just a thought is it not time to try and take a punt with a League 1/2 striker who will not break the bank but has the potential. Two that spring to mind are Tom Pope at Port Vale and Clayton Donaldson at Brentford. Both fit the bill in the target man sense and both have decent scoring records. Just a thought. Views anyone?

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tug509 says...
11:29am Fri 11 Jan 13

4everaseagull wrote:
Duncan 74 you make a very good point. Yes we have come a long way since Withdean in a very short space of time and sadly we can all be guilty of having short memories as football supporters. We all want things straight away. The Albion are still very much a work in progress however I am like you getting fed up and bored with all this striker talk. We have known for 18 months now what we need. Gus mentioned on an article before Xmas he will spend big on a striker unless I miss interpreted what he said. Then we are told we cannot afford to buy British and have to go abroad and next we are trying to get a striker who cannot sign yet as he does not have a Spanish passport. Ive said it before is Gus too fussy or are we genuinely unable to afford these players. Just a thought is it not time to try and take a punt with a League 1/2 striker who will not break the bank but has the potential. Two that spring to mind are Tom Pope at Port Vale and Clayton Donaldson at Brentford. Both fit the bill in the target man sense and both have decent scoring records. Just a thought. Views anyone?
I think you have said it all 4everaseagull,i agree especially about the two target men you have mentioned,i have wondered about Tom Pope being a possibility myself. UTA

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Hovite says...
11:30am Fri 11 Jan 13

duncan 74, I can understand why you think this way, though I would put this down to other clubs willing to pay them a lot more. The worse thing we could do is panic buy and over pay.

We are just one of a number of clubs competing for these players.

Gus was the typical number 9 target man striker in his day, so I am confident that he knows what we need.

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
11:33am Fri 11 Jan 13

Hovite wrote:
duncan 74, I can understand why you think this way, though I would put this down to other clubs willing to pay them a lot more. The worse thing we could do is panic buy and over pay.

We are just one of a number of clubs competing for these players.

Gus was the typical number 9 target man striker in his day, so I am confident that he knows what we need.
Surely Gus was an attacking midfielder, not a typical number 9!?

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Alan G Skinner says...
11:44am Fri 11 Jan 13

Gus started his career as a Striker, but moved into Midfield in his Zaragoza days.

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
11:46am Fri 11 Jan 13

Alan G Skinner wrote:
Gus started his career as a Striker, but moved into Midfield in his Zaragoza days.
So, not a typical number 9 in his day - maybe BEFORE his day! ;-)

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Hovite says...
11:49am Fri 11 Jan 13

You need to be able to play in both positions. Fellaini is a striker but Moyes also likes him to play in midfield.

OSA, if you check out this Gus video, he finishes like a striker

http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=IU30JdAUD
1w

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Freeloaders says...
12:05pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Hovite wrote:
duncan 74, I can understand why you think this way, though I would put this down to other clubs willing to pay them a lot more. The worse thing we could do is panic buy and over pay.

We are just one of a number of clubs competing for these players.

Gus was the typical number 9 target man striker in his day, so I am confident that he knows what we need.
As much as i hate to say it Hovite is spot on with most of this post.Apart from the typical number 9 bit.But i can forgive him that because he underlines two very good points.The club must not panic buy or over pay players just to keep the fans happy.Because we all know where that can lead to.

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mark5 says...
12:07pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Now i know why Charlie is in the position he is.............he really does know his stuff and this sort of insight is a rare quality!!

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
12:09pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Hovite wrote:
You need to be able to play in both positions. Fellaini is a striker but Moyes also likes him to play in midfield.

OSA, if you check out this Gus video, he finishes like a striker

http://www.youtube.c

om/watch?v=IU30JdAUD

1w
Sorry, I was only being picky - Gus was a great finisher and could easily have coped with being a CF, but I think this would have lessened his impact as a player.

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tug509 says...
12:10pm Fri 11 Jan 13

mark5 wrote:
Now i know why Charlie is in the position he is.............he really does know his stuff and this sort of insight is a rare quality!!
Very good. UTA

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mikeygit says...
12:15pm Fri 11 Jan 13

mark5--such sarcasm!! ho ho--but agree--stating the bl----g obvious!! i think we fans are between a rock and a hard place---we here no news on a striker and ask 'what is going on''--we get 'news' that they are still looking and we moan that this has been going on too long!! But agree it would be good to get this striker business done and dusted

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Hovite says...
12:24pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Old Scrote of the Amex wrote:
Hovite wrote:
You need to be able to play in both positions. Fellaini is a striker but Moyes also likes him to play in midfield.

OSA, if you check out this Gus video, he finishes like a striker

http://www.youtube.c


om/watch?v=IU30JdAUD


1w
Sorry, I was only being picky - Gus was a great finisher and could easily have coped with being a CF, but I think this would have lessened his impact as a player.
That's ok, you can be picky.

I see Bobby Z as a striker and an attacking midfielder, and I think our target man?, would also be used in this way.

These forward positions are fluid and they all should be able to play anywhere on the pitch. It's more of a team thing than a strict position thing.

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Albion23 says...
12:30pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Said it before got to speculate on a big deal if we want s quality striker. It might be a bigger lay out but if we get the goal ratio go get us where we want to be then it will pay for itself. To go after a fella who cant get a passport once is unlucky twice is bordaring on the ridiculous.

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duncan 74 says...
12:43pm Fri 11 Jan 13

I'm def not saying go out and panic buy or loan. Goodness we all had to watch Billy Paynter for far too long. I think we have the nucleus of a fantastic team and we should all be so grateful for where we are and how the club is being run. All I want is us to finally settle on someone. I totally agree with having a look at some of these guys banging them in at a lower level. After all people like Charlie Austin and Bobby Z started there. There is a lot to be said for goals breed confidence in a striker so the step up for soneone like Pope might not be as tough as some might imagine.

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Major Bloodboil says...
1:03pm Fri 11 Jan 13

I see that Spadger has gone to Crawley until the end of the season. When I saw him play one of his first games for us at Swindon and he scored 2 cracking goals, I thought that he would be great for us....but nothing went right for him, which is a pity. I wish him all the best.

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Hovite says...
1:07pm Fri 11 Jan 13

duncan 74, I think our biggest problem is that most of the players in England are based in the north and most would choose a club based nearer to their families over ours. These players may even want more money from us to persuade a move.

I have to agree that looking down a division or two there are some gems but I think if we sign someone now, for a promotion push, we have to bring someone in who fits perfectly.

Maybe a Tom Pope player is on the list.

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VegasSeagull says...
2:09pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Great start to this thread, well done guys.

A tremendous evaluation as to our position by Mr. Oatway, I can see why he has his job.

Is Guss being fussy about who we should sign, I hope so. Is he being too fussy, I doubt that as he knows that when on a limited budget every purchase has to be right.

The Newcastle game was big, I think the Derby game is bigger. If we are to be in that top six the drive starts Saturday as from now on, every point counts, this could all come down to goal difference. ,

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
2:32pm Fri 11 Jan 13

VegasSeagull wrote:
Great start to this thread, well done guys.

A tremendous evaluation as to our position by Mr. Oatway, I can see why he has his job.

Is Guss being fussy about who we should sign, I hope so. Is he being too fussy, I doubt that as he knows that when on a limited budget every purchase has to be right.

The Newcastle game was big, I think the Derby game is bigger. If we are to be in that top six the drive starts Saturday as from now on, every point counts, this could all come down to goal difference. ,
The only game I got to last season was Derby - a nice 2-0 win and amazing performances from Kaz and Vicente. My only game this season is... Derby! A repeat performance would go down a treat.

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VegasSeagull says...
2:46pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Old Scrote may the footballing Gods look down on you and smile. Oddly enough I managed a few games last season and the biggest of them was the defeat of Newcastle.

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Old Scrote of the Amex says...
3:39pm Fri 11 Jan 13

VegasSeagull wrote:
Old Scrote may the footballing Gods look down on you and smile. Oddly enough I managed a few games last season and the biggest of them was the defeat of Newcastle.
Another amazing stat is that I'm taking my dad and he has yet to see Brighton lose or draw a home match since 1997. How can the Albion possibly fail? :-)

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VegasSeagull says...
3:53pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Old Scrote of the Amex wrote:
VegasSeagull wrote: Old Scrote may the footballing Gods look down on you and smile. Oddly enough I managed a few games last season and the biggest of them was the defeat of Newcastle.
Another amazing stat is that I'm taking my dad and he has yet to see Brighton lose or draw a home match since 1997. How can the Albion possibly fail? :-)
it's in the bag.

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CantUseNSCatWork says...
4:46pm Fri 11 Jan 13

tug509 wrote:
What happened to the Macheda loan deal?.UTA
Rumoured to be going to our "friends" up the other end of the A23 as part of the Zaha to Utd deal according to today's Torygraph.

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CantUseNSCatWork says...
4:49pm Fri 11 Jan 13

Old Scrote of the Amex wrote:
VegasSeagull wrote: Old Scrote may the footballing Gods look down on you and smile. Oddly enough I managed a few games last season and the biggest of them was the defeat of Newcastle.
Another amazing stat is that I'm taking my dad and he has yet to see Brighton lose or draw a home match since 1997. How can the Albion possibly fail? :-)
Another "amazing" stat while we're at it then....

Tomorrow will be the 4th home match I've missed this season and we're unbeaten in the other 3 I've missed; Leeds, P'boro & Newcastle.

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VegasSeagull says...
5:37pm Fri 11 Jan 13

When I looked at this game yesterday I was sure that Derby would come to the Amex looking for three points, no parking of the bus. Today, having read two or three articles in their website I am not so sure.

Clough talks of preserving the point they have when the game starts, of doing better than they have been against us.

Clough also speaks, and quite rightly so, of our most recent results at Ipswich and at home to Newcastle. He tells of the quality football we play.

I think we might see Derby defend a tad deeper than we might like and try to hit us on the break. This of course is a common tactic adopted by our opponents but it is not one that Derby have adopted in their recent run of matches.

I think Clough is more than a little concerned about tomorrow, he could well set his stall out for a goal less draw.

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tinker111 says...
6:01pm Fri 11 Jan 13

When did Charlie take over as manager have i missed something GUS can state the obvious and does so mouth shut charlie leave it to the Boss

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VegasSeagull says...
6:43pm Fri 11 Jan 13

tinker111 wrote:
When did Charlie take over as manager have i missed something GUS can state the obvious and does so mouth shut charlie leave it to the Boss
Maybe Gus was busy talking with Almeria.

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