00:00Coxy, striking options are what all the fans always look at, and we'll be looking at this
00:13summer with Albion. Obviously, Daryl Deke is still on the treatment table. We suspect
00:17Carlin Grant's going to go out on loan. That leaves Josh Madger, Brandon Thomas, Sassante
00:22in the squad. Do you think, come the start of the season, will the main striking burden
00:29fall on those two players, or will Albion be looking to make a statement signing or
00:36bringing in another number one, number nine, so to speak?
00:41Yeah, it will be interesting to see when we get to put it to Carlos, actually, when we
00:45first see him in this pre-season and get a chance to interview him, just where Deke is
00:50exactly and whether, if you think about, I want four strikers in my squad for the season.
00:57Whether Deke is factored and included in one of those, to add to Thomas Sassante and Madger.
01:01Now, I think projections were the end of 2024, weren't they, sort of December time. If he
01:07beats that and we're looking at November, ironically, the kind of time he's returned
01:11from injury before, then great. I don't think November, December is too late for Deke to
01:20be factored in as a part of the squad, a number in the attacking options. I do think it's
01:25naive to expect he'll come back, hit the ground running and be fine. Two ruptured achilles
01:31and injuries before that, it's going to be tough, even when he's fit enough to deem to
01:36train and stuff. So, Deke aside, situation aside, but say he is factored, obviously it's
01:41three. I expect Albion to be in the market for a fourth, I really do. I'd be amazed if
01:46not. We know Josh Madger's situation arrived this time last year, debut season basically
01:52ruined really by a couple of injuries that obviously weren't his fault and obviously
01:57sort of omitted from the playoffs, quite oddly, at the end of last campaign and then Thomas
02:02Sassante. So, I see another arriving, I think that's pretty clear. It goes, it remains to
02:11be seen whether that's on a permanent or a loan basis. I think everything perhaps points
02:15to a loan, I would say, finances and so on. I think Albion need to be careful they don't
02:22repeat a Callum Marshall mistake, basically. It's easy to say that, isn't it? And maybe
02:28the Marshall deal was low cost, low risk, opportunistic, I get all of that. His record
02:32was frightening at under 21 level, absolutely. And he could have come into this first loan
02:36and been a revelation, but I think if you're putting it all under a one striker recruit
02:44again this summer, and I get it, Madger feels like a new sign, but then it needs to be someone
02:48of a bit of calibre, even if it's a loan. Someone who's a little bit older maybe than
02:52an 18-year-old, had a loan before and done okay. There are examples, aren't there? Speaking
02:57to someone the other day, not related to Albion, but about the boy Stansfield, the Blues had
03:04last season, was it from Fulham? Did really well. Someone who's had loans in the league,
03:09done really well, that can be ready to really compete with Thomas Sassante, Madger and then
03:15hopefully DK, because I just don't want to see, and I don't think it's remotely fair,
03:19another season of Thomas Sassante being flogged every game and all of the burden being on
03:23him. If Madger struggles again, fitness availability, injury, and then it becomes a problem, doesn't
03:29it? If the one recruit doesn't happen. There could be a world, there could be a conversation
03:34where Albion are looking to bring in more than one striker. I'd be a little surprised
03:39given how tight the financial situation is, but could be the case. I suppose it remains
03:44to be seen what Carlos Corbijn tells us later this summer. In an ideal world, Madger can
03:51settle, DK returns okay and can become a regular, and the at least one striker that comes in
03:59to aid Sassante and Madger can hit the ground running and become a regular feature and find
04:06the net for Albion.
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