Striker Delay Is No Surprise

It seems to happen year after year - we target a player for a position early in the pre-season, and we wait until as late as possible to get our man, it's just the Wednesday way...

Frustrations have heightened in recent weeks with regards to bringing in a new striker to bolster the books at S6, something which boss Brian Laws has said he'd like to do before the big Championship kick-off.

Names such as Freddie Sears and Victor Anichebe have come and gone - Leroy Lita seems to have been linked with every Championship club - and the season is just weeks away - it's understandable that some fans are worried if this mystery striker will ever come.

Marek Saganowski and French under-21 Elliot Grandin are the names on the rumours list this week, while thoughts also turn towards Marcus Tudgay's future at the club.

I'm a firm believer of the term 'good things come to those who wait' and I believe (or possibly hope) that that'll be the case this pre-season.

That saying is probably as meaningful to Wednesday fans as any other supporters in the land, with the takeover, return to the Premier League etc. etc. is concerned.

Patience is certainly key if you're an Owl.

It's funny how quickly things can change in a few weeks or months - the atmosphere around S6 has been a lot better than in previous seasons thanks to the new regime that's in place, and the new signings that have come in so far in Darren Purse and Tommy Miller.

But now panic seems to be setting in with the constant links of Tudgay going to Burnley and the apparent lack of striker coming in the other direction.

I believe Brian has it all under control, though.

A club in our position can't go round spending money like there's no tomorrow, we all know that.

And when loan deals are concerned, clubs, especially Premier League clubs, will be wanting to assess their squad until the very last minute as they look to bolster their squad ahead of the new campaign.

It's quite understandable, then, that Laws is looking for the best man for the job at S6 and not rushing into signing 'cast-offs' and what not.

You could look at it as Laws being exactly the opposite of us fans - with plenty of patience in building his squad.

In an ideal world we'd love to get our squad ready, and together, as early as possible to play together in pre-season matches and train together, but we all know that's not the case.

The Owls boss is also faced with the task of keeping his star man at the club in Marcus Tudgay, while he continues to look for further options in attack.

I'm sure Laws will also be looking at Akpo Sodje and Francis Jeffers' fitness during the pre-season to assess what kind of striker he needs to bring in for the 2009-10 season.

Bearing all that in mind, I'm sure we'll see a new striker in the blue and white shirt in time for the new season - and it'll be very interesting as to who it'll be.

Let's just hope it's not another David Graham, eh?!

Keep the faith.

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