Charlie Austin on loan

[redinjun]

Just on Sky sports, in advanced talks.

I don’t remember him scoring a hatful in a promoted team last year so not sure he still has it, would love to be wrong.

[Satch]

I agree, i checked and he got 10 in 34 averaging 44 mins a game. So whilst that's not bad and if we were pushing for promotion and needed to throw on a poacher as an impact sub it might look like a good deal. For us though, now, i can't see him being able to lead the line, he's struggled for fitness for quite a few seasons, albeit at a higher level, not sure if that's how he looks after himself or just the wear and tear of coming up through the non league system. We'd have to put chances on a plate for him and whilst he's still probably got the movement and instinct to put away half chances we haven't been creating much for the strikers we have.

If it happens fingers crossed we're wrong but i'm skeptical and it seems like it would be an odd way for us to spend the money.

[ANDREW1302]

Well to me he is way better than what we have, is well liked by the fans and if he can keep injury free i would much prefer him to Murray etc.

[Giorgio]

...guess that at this level he still knows where the net is.....

and I still remember the first time I saw him live....he had joined from Burnley but he was kept seating on the bench for the first couple of matches...then he finally came on as a sub...and as soon as I saw him moving on the pitch - fast and always heading into the box - I thought "Gosh....that guy is real DANGER..."

[dm]

It would be a huge gamble given his injury record. And, it never seems to go well when a player returns for a second spell at a club. On balance I think Glen Murray would be a better bet.

[Greyhound]

Austin > Murray > Rhodes

[Andy_N19]

Austin > Murray > Rhodes

Not a great triumvirate of ideas is it

[Greyhound]

They're not ideas - they are, in diminishing order, quality of striker by application to our current predicament

[SM]

I for one would love to see him return. It’s just a shame there won’t be any fans to welcome him back.

[UxbridgeR]

Sounds like another one of the board's crowd pleasing ideas. What could go wrong ?

[beaglebum]

Personally I'd be happy if Sir Les put his boots on again!

Murray, Rhodes and Austin are all better than we have and can also improve the other strikers and boost team morale. All the other players on the pitch would know these guys are less likely to waste decent chances and so they'll be under the kosh less. At the moment, by us not scoring, one mistake means the team loses and that must add to the pressure as evidenced by the free flowing attack minded team last season who conceded for fun but still won games. This season without the goals we are struggling even with a better defence.

[bigbobb]

Charlie has suffered from injuries for most (all?) of his career - of course we did have another player that came to us with that same reputation and the same negative comments but Paul Furlong did pretty well for us I seem to remember...

I would say that as long as the deal involves some level of pay per play he could be just what we need up front at the moment as he is confident (cocky) enough to let other players know when they are not doing their jobs, especially if not giving him the ball in the right places!

He could really help Dykes develop into the player a lot of us think is in there but not getting the outlets to show.

Worth a go certainly as Charlie has always been a player who believes in shoot on sight which we are currently hesitant to do at the mo.

[W12Allstars]

Sounds like another one of the board's crowd pleasing ideas. What could go wrong ?

Boom!

Exactly what I thought when I heard it. Fair bit of negativity swirling around due to our league position? Bring back a crowd favourite!

That said, if we're shopping for veteran strikers I'd be happy for him to have a crack. Not sure any of them are the answer, I'd prefer someone which a lot of experience to create chances for Dykes, Bonne and Kelman. If they get decent chances and still don't score, then fair enough they may not be good enough, or not good enough yet, but not sure many strikers would score for us unless we get the ball forward faster and into the box more.

[Hanuhoff]

Depending on how much of his wages we're paying, it's got to be worth a go. As long as we're not under any pressure from WBA to play him. He's still only 31, he's always been prolific when playing regularly at this level and he's better than what we've got. I'd also imagine Kelman could learn considerably more from him than from our other strikers who are still learning their trade themselves.

And in terms of former strikers coming back later on in their careers after a few injuries - yes, it can be a mistake but didn't work out too badly with Gallen, so let's not write it off.

[Bevan]

FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS

Bring him home!!!!

Just be excited for once