Tekel Towers » Prolific strikers who suddenly go off the boil

25/6/2019 8:44 am

They are a funny breed & here are two examples -

Stevie May (67 goals in 117 games up to 5 seasons ago, 15 goals in 112 games since)
David Clarkson (scored in 8 successive games 5 seasons ago & a grand total of 2 goals since & now retired age 33)

any others spring to mind?

Tek · 25/6/2019 8:52 am

First one that springs to mind is Alex Mathie.

Goal machine for a spell with Ipswich.

Then once his form evaporated he couldn't hit the proverbial 'Coo's erse with a banjo'.

Confidence is a vital component of being a Striker. Once it's gone, it can be hard to get back.

PatReilly · 25/6/2019 9:14 am

Nicky Clark scored 41 goals in a season six or seven years ago. Just for comparison and to stir up debate.

Macho Man · 25/6/2019 9:46 am

Roy Donovan and Warren Feeney

kiwiarab · 25/6/2019 10:03 am

fran sandaza
fernando torres
michael owen

alex mathie is still united's worst ever signing in my opinion. he may have scored goals in england before signing for us, but for the fee we paid and for the performances he put in for us, worst ever.

lifesanocean · 25/6/2019 10:13 am

Owen Coyle scored loads of goals for every team he played for, apart from us. Granted he scored a vital one.
Alex Mathie already been dealt with above.
Stevie Crawford was a goal machine at Dunfermline and Raith but was honking for us and scored hardly anything.
James Keatings scored goals for fun for Hamilton, Hearts and Hibs when he got a game, but did absolutely nothing for us, granted there were mitigating circumstances with this one.
Tommy Coyne scored goals in abundance everywhere else apart from us which is weird given that the Utd team was by far the best team he played in during his career.

At Utd we seem to prefer strikers who either offer a bit more work rate or technical skill and flair rather than just goal poachers who do nothing for 89 minutes then pop up with the winner in the 90th. You look at someone like Noel Hunt who was nothing more than a busy fringe player at Dunfermline (behind Crawford) yet when he signed for us our fans took to him massively because of his effort (and he scored a decent amount of goals). Derek Lilley was another our fans liked because of his work rate even though his goals return wasn't great. Paddy Connolly and Scott Crabbe were never that prolific but our fans loved them because they had real skill and technique. Pavol is probably the best modern example. He missed some amount of sitters but was loved by many because of his work rate. Johnny Russell's goal return was ok but he had a really clever football brain.

Last edited by lifesanocean (25/6/2019 10:17 am)

kiwiarab · 25/6/2019 10:35 am

Derek Lilley when he was having a poor game - chase down defenders when we didn't have possession, make himself available for any pass from his team mates when we did, run channels to open angles for other forwards, put 100% effort into a potential assist.

Mathie when he was having a poor game - walk around, hands on hips, pointing and yelling at team mates.

Lilley every time for me

Beharder · 25/6/2019 11:42 am

Add John Bourke to that list He came with a reputation for scoring goals, did not happen at Tannadice.

TangerineDream · 25/6/2019 11:52 am

Derek Lilley, one of my favourite players. Had his faults but the passion and commitment from the lad was unquestionable. That goal and his reaction at the Fermers gehm to keep us up summed Del up. Will always remember that.

Mathie was a complete minter of a player.

Seem to have some good memories of Tommy Coyne, perhaps time has blurred the negatives.

DontOfferMeThat · 25/6/2019 12:16 pm

What his pus from Hearts that Brewster told
to bugger off

lifesanocean · 25/6/2019 12:30 pm

DontOfferMeThat wrote:
What his pus from Hearts that Brewster told
to bugger off

Lee Miller. Fucking arsehole. Another good example. Scored loads for Falkirk and Hearts, was a waste of space for us, on massive wages and spent most of his time diving to the floor at the slightest touch, or diving on burds in Fatties.

Beardy23 · 25/6/2019 12:50 pm

Coyne was always decent, just couldn't get a run in the team

25/6/2019 11:06 pm

Does the old adage apply here, form being temporary & class being permanent?
And Steven Dobbie's maybe the perfect example.
I still can see his dip of the shoulder & change of body position to play in Jacobs to score at the Shed end.
Laurence Shankland's performance in the 0-5 game wasn't shabby either mind.
He looked worth a couple of million that night.

kingdomarab · 25/6/2019 11:19 pm

I really hope we aren’t coming back to this list in a year or two’s time.

LarsErikKjell · 26/6/2019 9:16 am

Billy McKay another one

Rocky Raccoon · 26/6/2019 9:55 am

United have a history of signing prolific strikers then playing them on the wing, Coyle and Crabbe are perfect examples.

lifesanocean · 26/6/2019 10:37 am

Rocky Raccoon wrote:
United have a history of signing prolific strikers then playing them on the wing, Coyle and Crabbe are perfect examples.

Agreed, Crabbe was decent there tbf. Coyle was shite.

kdyteejay · 26/6/2019 11:37 am

Rocky Raccoon wrote:
United have a history of signing prolific strikers then playing them on the wing, Coyle and Crabbe are perfect examples.

Why the heck do we do this?

Tangy · 26/6/2019 11:58 am

it could be argued that there's always some luck in signings. We took Dodds who had an OK record and he turned into a goal machine - likewise pars fans were laughing when we spent 50k on noel hunt......even ciftci had a terrible record, pre united and turned into a million pound signing (who hasn't been near the same form, since he left) Its always easy to look at the negatives and maybe we are all still smarting over the last 5 years but maybe Shankland will turn into an amazing signing.

26/6/2019 12:56 pm

Hope so Tangy. And whatever way you look at it, us signing LS would be a coup and a half.
A marquee signing.
A mark F even