When the club reported that Juho Makela was injured, I have to admit that I was disappointed but only because I was concerned that it might lessen our chances of shipping him out come January. Rumours of £5k per week and the same again in appearance fees did little to soothe growing concerns that signing him had been one of the biggest mistakes of the last few years, and the brief glimpses of him that we've had since his return from FC Thun have served only to emphasise his lack of goal scoring ability.
However, Csaba Laszlo's startling decision on Saturday to replace a petulant Christian Nade with David Obua rather than benchmate Jamie Mole highlighted the lack of confidence that our manager has in any of the striking options currently available to him.
There's no doubt that after 15 appearances this season alone, Jamie Mole has been given ample opportunity to prove that he could live up to the reputation he had amassed for being a training ground goal scoring guru but while his workrate can't be faulted, he too has failed to impress. While it is wouldn't be completely daft to consider the possibility that it was partly a tactical move, Csaba's decision to leave him on the bench and play over one hour of the match against Dundee United without a recognised striker must surely indicate that an exit from Tynecastle is beckoning for Mole.
Mike Tullberg is still injured and Gary Glen's promotion to the first team appears to have been put on ice for the time being, so with no other real contenders coming through from the reserves or youth ranks it appears that our options are somewhat limited to say the very least. Indeed, the composition of the bench on Saturday might suggest that Glen's return to the first team could be even further away than expected. Financial constraints or not, it's surely inconcievable to think that even Vladimir would believe that we can sustain a challenge for third place without bringing in at least one striker in January?
However, Csaba Laszlo's startling decision on Saturday to replace a petulant Christian Nade with David Obua rather than benchmate Jamie Mole highlighted the lack of confidence that our manager has in any of the striking options currently available to him.
There's no doubt that after 15 appearances this season alone, Jamie Mole has been given ample opportunity to prove that he could live up to the reputation he had amassed for being a training ground goal scoring guru but while his workrate can't be faulted, he too has failed to impress. While it is wouldn't be completely daft to consider the possibility that it was partly a tactical move, Csaba's decision to leave him on the bench and play over one hour of the match against Dundee United without a recognised striker must surely indicate that an exit from Tynecastle is beckoning for Mole.
Mike Tullberg is still injured and Gary Glen's promotion to the first team appears to have been put on ice for the time being, so with no other real contenders coming through from the reserves or youth ranks it appears that our options are somewhat limited to say the very least. Indeed, the composition of the bench on Saturday might suggest that Glen's return to the first team could be even further away than expected. Financial constraints or not, it's surely inconcievable to think that even Vladimir would believe that we can sustain a challenge for third place without bringing in at least one striker in January?
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