DUTCH forward Orlando Smeekes has joined Coventry City on trial in Austria.
The 28-year-old scored 17 goals in 35 appearances for FC Carl Zeiss Jena last season
Aidy Boothroyd will make a decision at the end of the week.
hhmm, not the big name we was hoping for, but then again....Ricky Lambert at saints wasn't either!!
yea, sometimes you can find a gem lower down, though his age does concern me slightly. but if he adds to options then fine, i see boothy still hasn't ruled king out yet!
I wouldn't get too excited, his team came 5th in their equivalent of League One last season and his carrer stats are in the region of 46 goals in 197 appearances. Give or take one. 1 in 4 which I suppose is what we got from Clinton and Freddie last year. I'll wager defenders in German league 3 aren't as good as the Championship though.
Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to uncover a Cedric Roussel type success but its doubtful.
More relevant is the fact that he scored 17 goals in his last 35 games, looking at him like that doesn't seem as shabby. He seems to score a lot of goals from a 30-40 yard distance.
Dispite this, I would expect a lot more success from someone of his age. And more concerning is on some videos people were saying he had an attitude and picked up 3 or 4 cards in one season.
As long as he can run and work unlike the previous sloths we have had upfront in previous years i'll be happy.
maybe we are looking at this all wrong!! what if aidy has decided that the way for us to score more is to bring players in to create chances for the team and not just to score all the goals, and he is looking at 3/4 players chipping in with 15 or so goals, that way we are not looking for the dream striker to fire in everything. i would certailnly be happy to see us play as a team and attack as a unit.
Agreed smileycov, instead of putting all our eggs into one basket and banking on one super striker to get all the goals, I'd prefer us to have 3 or 4 strikers who are all capable of creating and scoring goals. If one player is getting all the goals our opponents will soon suss out how ways to stop him and there's also the chance our one great player could get an injury or something and then it's money we haven't got up in flames. While it's nice to have 1 great player you can pin all your hopes on when your a goal down with 10 minutes to go, it's more realistic for a team like us to have a couple of decent strikers who will get goals between them.
Good afternoon from the scorching heat in Germany!
Just wanted to add a bit to inform you about Orlando. In Jena we had a real rollercoaster season last year, as you know. And Orlando played his part.
First of all he is quite a drama queen. You really have to coddle him through the season but if you do he can really be a worthful player.
He is one of the fastest player I've ever seen (who even outruns an opponent on 60 yards from 20 yards behind in the 90th minute...) and has a good shot.
Sometimes too egoistic with the ball but he has his genious moments.
Hope that helps.
Possibly because Aidy wants to get rid of shite ageing average players. Clinton was alright but we need a striker who can actually score goals, not someone who's probably one of the highest earners at the club and scores almost 1 in 5.
Not sure about this one, the side currently has a lack of pace so a speedy player would be a good addition, and Smeekes does have a decent scoring record but he plays in the German third division, so looks could be deceptive.
Morrison was our top scorer for the last 2 seasons,and his record was'nt that bad considering how poor we have been in that time.When you consider his strike partners aswell,people like Eastwood whose strike rate is abysmal,that must have put more pressure on him.I'm also sure if he was erning well the he'd have took a pay cut to stay with us.
As for Smeekes,i would'nt say his goalscoring record is decent.OK,with his current 3RD DIVISION GERMAN CLUB its decent,but previous to that it has'nt been great.We just have'nt got any money,McSheffery was only signed for season ticket reasons although he could do well,but the rest of the signings have been dissapointing.But who know's,lets hope they work out,but to sign so many who have done NOTHING at this level is risky.
I'd be devestated if Eastwood is our main striker,at £1.1 million,he surely must go down as one of the biggest flops in our history,waste of space.
Well I can see where you're coming from but I don't think Morrison staying or going will make that much of a difference as long as we can get someone who can score goals, which could be where Marlon King comes in, seeing as we are lacking money as usual. Yes, he's a complete prick and shouldn't get another chance but it seems Aidy wants to sign him, so maybe the joke that is Freddy Eastwood won't be our main striker.
McSheffrey could have been ruined by injuries but he was obviously signed for more political reasons, like you say.
Agree completely on the signing unproven players though, Roy O'Donovan has been called one of Sunderland's worst ever players by their own fans, it's true that Smeekes has only scored frequently in the last year and I don't know much about O'Halloran.
Against Hinckley he looked as if he liked to run at defenders and he did have pace when he had the ball but he didn't stand out too much, then he got injured by the advertising board