Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: Mike Field 
Date:Thursday April 17 2008
Time: 3:36PM
UK time is: 08:53:20
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Villa After 20 Season A Season Man
Martin O'Neill has given his biggest indication yet that he is on the hunt for a true and full bloodied 20 goal a season striker.
Speaking to the Evening Mail whilst praising the spread of goals through the team this season, O'Neill commented quite obviously that he was looking for somebody to stand out amongst the goalscoring pack and with neither Carew or Gabby really known for being larger goalscorers it seems obvious O'Neill will be looking for an addition.
'Generally speaking we have shared the goals around a bit.
'Now, wouldn't it be phenomenal having somebody stand out? Somebody scoring 20-odd league goals a season, especially this year where people like Fernando Torres and Ronaldo have scored a lot of goals.'
It has been over 20 years since Villa last had a player who scored over 20 goals in the league, if my memory is serving the only ones close since have either been Yorke or Saunders but Peter Withe and that beautiful shin was the last one to actually achieve it.
This season so far we've hit 62 goals. Two ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea, and only two less than Arsenal. Carew sits proud on top, with Gabby (9), Barry (8), Laursen (6), Young and Harewood (5).
O'Neill continued: 'Deep down I think that the better statistic to look at is the number of goals we have scored. We are up there with the Arsenals and Liverpools.
'If you are scoring, I don't think you tend to worry too much about it.
'If you aren't, then of course you are on the look-out for somebody who can break the 20-goal mark.
'I think that all top-quality sides have a goalscoring mid-field player and a centre-forward who is getting over 20-a-season in the league.'
The spread of goals is impressive and it's good to see we can hit the net from a variety of sources and aren't just reliant on one man. But the downside to that is when you look at the points that we have lost, the chances that have been wasted that could've gone in had they been taken by a clinical finisher.
A player who can hit 20 plus on their own would be a big part of the jigsaw if we intend on improving further next season.
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Your Comments
Good to see us scoring from everywhere means we arent running for the hills when the top scorer is missing from injury... i think we should send out the reserves against Man Utd and liverpool and get them to break ronaldo and torres' legs... where would the pool be without him or gerrard...
shortshadyuk
What's a 20 season a season man?
jonah
How many did Angel get that year he got 23 didnt he across all competitions.
young_jonah
yeah but not 20 goals in the league! Is 20 too much to ask for?
The Usual Suspect
LMAO nice headline!
pulse
Its going to be a tough one to get a twenty goal a season man, only adebayor torres and Ronaldo have managed this in the league so far. However if we do get this type of player we could easily finish within the top four.
villabikes29
Yeah but considering we never make Europe anymore and we get knocked out in the 3rd round of the FA Cup every year 23 is not bad going!!
young_jonah
If we want a 20 (season) goal a season striker than we have to take a gamble on a player like ...diego forlan or adriano because the reality is a striker who guarantees around 20 goals a season wont come to villa!!!! i think adriano would be a good gamble hes out of favour at the mo,hes a bit lazy but his shot is so strong and if hes on song can be unplayable!!
so the choice is yours...either bid for strikers we have no chance for or go for a gamble!!!
danielmonks
Good call DanielMonks i wouldnt mind us going for Adriano although I hear he had a problem at the brazilian club he's loaned out to... he needs a brummie girl to sort him out :-P
shortshadyuk
Whats the Vagner Love like?
young_jonah
Defoe.....8 games at Portsmouth and 8 goals, 7M.... MON really missed out there.
Villa 4 Ever
Knowing MON as little as I do but seeing him in action over 18 months, he will be scouring England for a young 7 foot tall, strong target man. The only one that fits the bill can also do the robot but don't think he would come and he can't score 20 + anyway. Anyone playing Champs league now won't come so he has surely got to take a gamble????
Villan444
Villa 4 ever - MON didn't miss the boat. We bid, but Defoe wanted to work with Harry. Harry and Jermaine have history, Harry gave JD his big break at West Ham. You can't blame MON for trying, or JD for going with that he knows. I agree that JD would have been a brilliant signing.
The Usual Suspect
Villan444 - Crouch wants to leave the 'pool, so we may yet get him!
The Usual Suspect
Withe was closer to thirty years ago! You missed the player who probably did 20 in the league in a villa shirt, step forward David Platt! Of course Platty wasn't really a forward, wasn't really a midfielder but he was a goalscorer. I think he is still 4th or 5th all time England goalscorer even though most of his games were midfield. The only player since to come close was Yorkie, mid you in Platty's day we had a centre half who scored 14 - 15 in all comps in the 89-90 season, one Derek Mountfield, thought Laursen might have got close to that at one stage but his goals have dried up now.
All that said, it was the standard requirement in less hyped pre premiership days, be nice to see a real world class forward up front but not one of the exotics mentioned, Berbatov's the best I've seen recently unless Va Va Voom Henry wants to come back to the prem!
Waldorf
At the risk of incurring everybody's wrath; I wouldn't mind Darren Bent. If he starts every game then thats as close to guarnteeing 20 goals as we can realistically expect to get at Villa, and i could see him linking up well with either Carew or Gabby, where as Carew and Crouch would never work.
I also don't see MON ever going for anyone like Adriano, he was a flash in the pan. Throwing money at over-rated big names like that is surely reserved for Newcastle!
SchoolBoyError
I hope that the 20 a season man he thinks of is not James Beattie...
delirium
Platt didn't get 20 league goals in a season - his best haul was about 18 in all competitions. Since 1980 only Withe and Yorke have done it. Platt was prolific for England but now he's just a chubby TV "expert" who is a worse manager than Graeme Souness!
gmvillan
Do we consider taking a punt on someone like ishmael miller or ebanks blake or even both?
DudleyPhill
We may already have our 20 goal a season man! We just maybe don`t give him enough minutes on the pitch. Harewood!!!! He has scored 5 and has hardly played. Try comparing goals to minutes on the field in comparison to Carew on Gabby!
dazh
unfortunately for him, i reckon harewood is an impact player from the bench. if we are going to sign a striker we should be looking for an internationally proven goalscorer, or a very highly rated youngster
ric112
Last weekend was the perfect opportunity to play delfouneso (spelling!). By all accounts he may be a star in the making....
nottinghamvillain
We missed out on the best 20 goal per season man out there, in allowing Defoe to move to Fratton Park. Sure hope that Crouch doesn't fit MON's idea of a goalscoring centre-forward.
glensider
Scoring goals isn't our problem. It's the other end where things aren't quite right. Just look at the table. 44 against is the difference between 7th and top four.
Adam Deuce
Adam Deuce makes a good point. We've certainly proved ourselves capable of scoring the goals, and thats without a twenty-goal per season man, but its this habit of giving goals away left, right, and centre, that has to give serious cause for concern. Maybe bringing in a proven, quality striker, is not our number one priority after all?
glensider
Kevin Phillips? He's still banging 'em in for West Brom. What I should say I guess, is we need a 25 year old Super Kev.
glensider
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