The Daily Echo has run a poll and it seems that Saints supporters think that Ronald Koeman needs to sign a striker in January.

But do Saints need to sign another striker ? at the moment there are five attacking players in the first team squad, Pelle, Sadio Mane, Shane Long, Jay Rodriguez & Juanmi, also chomping at the bit is Ryan Seager who is highly rated at the club.

This being the case it semis that Saints have a lot of cover in this area and plenty of options, the issue though is if and when Pelle is unavailable through injury and suspension, there is no completely like for like option, the nearest would be Jay Rodriguez and he is out till mid January and there is no guarantee he will either be fit then or back to his old form.

That would leave Saints unable to play their normal game should Pelle be out for an extended time, luckily that hasn't happened so far but could be the case in future.

The problem Saints would have in signing a back up striker is that the calibre of striker needed would not be likely to want to come to St Mary's and be merely back up, Pelle is so crucial to the way that Saints ply that any potential transfer target would question the opportunities that would be available to him.

Saints would be unlikely to pay top dollar, so that would leave them looking at either a loan option or a promising youngster from the lower leagues.

A loan option would be difficult due to the opportunities to play, any candidate would want game time and he is not going to get that.

Likewise a promising youngster, that would be effectively writing off Sam Gallagher as a future first team player, Gallagher could also be an option, but he could not get a game at MK Dons, so would he be up to the job here ?

My thoughts are that Saints have plenty of options, we need to use those options more rather than adding to them, but what are your views.

Photo: Action Images

DPeps added 08:47 - Nov 26 I doubt we'll get anyone in this Jan, except maybe a couple of loans if injuries force it. I'd say it's the creative spark in midfield that is too often missing this season. Tadic can be the man but only seems to play well for about 20 mins every other game. Might be time for Ron to haul him in for another 'chat'
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darthvader added 10:01 - Nov 26 Bring back Sam from mk . He will train with first team and regain confidence from being around them , learn from pelle and get on the bench at least . Phucking him off elsewhere isn't helping .
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A1079 added 11:59 - Nov 26 I know this isn't going to be a popular thing to say, but Koeman has many qualities, one being, his ability to cope with building a team very quickly and reacting to changes and losses in personnel in a positive way. One area he appears weak on and Pochettino seems much better on, and that is bringing on academy, home grown and young players. DPeps and darthvader make valid points.

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luffy22 added 12:41 - Nov 26 The problem we have is that our strikers need to be more accurate, its great having 20 shots a game which shows they are getting into great positions and that the rest of the team are helping them, but when only 2 of them are on target its not really good enough, I don't have any stats to hand to back up my comment but quite often its the case, I know we have lost games recently where the visitors had two shots and scored twice, we've have 20 shots with non on target.

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Whatsforpud added 12:52 - Nov 26 Determining the size of a squad must be a difficult balancing act. Ideally you should have a good idea of your best starting eleven, and each member of that eleven would have a deputy - therefore a like-for-like second string. The reality is that everyone would like to play every game. There must be a fine line between having a good squad, and keeping everyone happy. I guess Premier squad wages is a help here.

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SonicBoom added 13:10 - Nov 26 I would say we have lots of forward players but only one striker. Every good team needs competition in every position and Pelle has none. He knows if he's fit he starts. The club should sign another quality striker. Nick says that a striker is unlikely to come and not be first choice. I would say get a promising 22-23 year old with confidence. I'm sure there is a striker somewhere that will come here with the determination and confidence to think they can dislodge Pelle. I've always thought it odd he has no direct competition and when he's not available we have to change the way we play.

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saintsnutcase added 13:49 - Nov 26 I regret to say that Sam Gallagher is not the solution. The only youngster that RK has treated badly is Reed. The rest of the latest crop are not yet good enough for this level of the Prem. Seager may or may not be.
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ItchenNorth added 13:56 - Nov 26 I've heard that Juanmi is struggling to settle in England and this may be the underlying reason why we have not seen too much of him so far, however Keoman must be seeing something in him now (in attitude or training) to be giving him the chance off the bench. Perhaps with a run of games, Jaunmi might still be able to offer something, if not we sign a striker in the summer imo.

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IWOZTHERE added 16:03 - Nov 26 Never really seen the alleged potential in Gallagher. Also, our 'fast tracking' of youngsters has slowed as our expectations have increased. The weight on Pelle's shoulders makes it almost inevitable that he will fade a bit again so I would try to get in a loan signing in the hope that Jayrod comes out of his problems OK. As you say though, how do we tempt anybody if we can't promise game time? We might have to stick with what we've got.

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aceofthebase added 19:07 - Nov 26 The big squad is needed to play in Europe. Now out of it we need a quality first team with a few gooduns on the bench. RK has ignored our youngsters or shifted them elsewhere.
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lockseaf77 added 19:53 - Nov 26 Put Mane up front in Pelle's spot and put Long in the hole behind him. We have pace up the wings with Soares and Bertrand. Pelle seems to be a marked man these days.Rodriguez looks gone for the rest of the season. Juanmi and Ramires want out. If they don't want to buy another striker try Clasie or Yoshida up front. Get radical
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Big_T added 21:32 - Nov 26 I would love to see Reed,Ward Process, Hesketh ,Sims and Gallagher and Seager make their mark soon, I know we have pressure now to finish top eight but development of our younger players is important. I would rather have tenth and youngsters in the squad but I'm probably on my own on with that thought.
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BoondockSaint added 03:46 - Nov 27 Five attacking players? You could have fooled me.. Pelle- OK, but out for one game and double-teamed by opposition when he plays, and should stop moaning to the refs as they just ignore him. J-Rod-out indefinitely and hasn't been really on the team in a year. Jumani-having trouble settling and needs to bulk up and get a bit nasty to survive in this league. Shane Long-not clinical enough, when he ges the ball in front of goal, it's a coin flip. So that means we have only one true striker that worries the opposition: Mane. Give Gaston a shot, at least he's tall and that might help on our dreadful set pieces. Plus with Mane and Tadic, he'll have players around him that have some sort of similar creativity. I know really good strikers are hard to find, but if we can't, can we at least get a couple of hard-nosed players that can frighten the opponent? If you give the Scouse, Citehad, Arse 'n al and Spuds a couple of knocks early in the game they go to pieces.

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Aussie added 06:14 - Nov 29 I agree with Big_T in that I would prefer Koeman to be a bit more brave in giving that group of more developed youngsters a good go, even if it results in less points - little difference between finishing 8th and 12th while we're preparing the squad for a better assault on the European places. Even having at least one of them on the bench each game so if we're winning they can be chucked on for the last 20-30mins. In relation to strikers, Pelle seems to be the only one that's good enough to lead the line with our style of play (the other four I think are far more effective in the 3 of a 4-2-3-1). I think Charlie Austin would suit but yeah don't know if he'd want to be 2nd choice. My hope would be that the scouting team could pluck an up and coming target man out of obscurity for 10mill like most of Saints buys. Pelle isn't gonna be around forever,

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