Jamie Philpott

Here’s another Millwall youngster who might be without a club this coming season and, if he is, he could well be another Jack Marriott. I keep stressing that buying a 20-goal a season striker is folly, there’s no such thing, and there’s as much value in looking at young players from the top two tiers as there is trying to thrash a few goals out of a League Two journeyman.

He’s scored 13 goals in 61 games so far, not a terrible return for a 21-year old who has had limited chances. The bulk of those goals have come in loan spells with Woking and Welling, he’s bagged just once for his parent club, that on his debut away at Wolves.

He’s looking for a chance to get some regular football under his belt, having been stifled at the Den and he might be the sort of player who comes good very quickly. He’s billed as a traditional number nine, a goal scorer, a ‘fox in the box’ who is maturing with every outing. He was highly rated at both Welling and Woking and if he is released, he’s going to have clubs queuing up to give him a chance.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

“He has outstanding qualities and the build you dream to have (6ft 3in). It is down to him how far he wants to go because he has big potential.” – Arsene Wenger

I first saw JET (as he likes to be known) playing for the Arsenal kids against City in the late 2000’s and he looked the real deal. He’s tall, powerful and back then was quick too. He’d flirted with the Arsenal first team and it seemed as though his career was only going one way, up.

Fast forward a decade and he’s been released by QPR, unlikely to find another move in the Championship and probably struggling for a big contract in League One either. His loan spells there, with Blackpool and MK Dons, haven’t been brilliant, but I’m sure the 27-year old has a lot to offer.

He’s suffered by being played in a variety of positions when I think he’s an out and out striker. At Bristol City he played behind the front two and on the flank, whereas his raw power is far more suited to the centre of attack. He still scored 24 goals in 82 games for the Robins, his most prolific spell.

Last season he scored 10 goals for Gillingham in League One, another decent return at a level he can thrive in, but his release from QPR leaves him looking a bit like damaged goods. With his upbringing and attributes I think he could tear up League Two and do a job in League One and we should absolutely be thinking about having a look.

Ibrahim Meite

Meite joined Cardiff from Harrow in January 2017, but has been on loan at Crawley recently. He’s due for a new deal this summer but if it doesn’t materialise, we should absolutely take a look.

He’s a tall, pacey striker in the Simeon Akinola mould, but younger and perhaps better. He shot to fame as Harrow went on an FA Cup run, catching the eye of Leicester and Cardiff. The later won the race and plucked him from obscurity. His goal scoring prowess, a his record of 17 goals in 30 appearances for Harrow, convinced the Bluebirds there was value in him.

The youngster had a troubled background, growing up on a tough Roehampton council estate and being sent to the Ivory Coast at 16 for two years to attend a football academy. After the Ivory Coast he went on to the United States to continue his progress before a return back home to London with the AG football academy who soon placed with Harrow Borough.

He’s another one of those players I’m trying to spot that could be the next Jack Marriott. Every season or two a player released by a Championship club ends up in League Two and takes it by storm, just as Marriott did last season. Meite certainly has a lot of positive attributes and could well be that player.

Clayton Donaldson

Let’s end on a big lump up top shall we? Clayton Donaldson might be 34-years old but he’s been performing in the Championship this season, bagging a couple of goals for Sheffield United and still proving to be the same handful he always was.

He’s been around a bit, a late bloomer after spells at York and Crewe, he finally ‘arrived’ with Brentford in League One, scoring 53 goals in 155 games. That prompted Birmingham to take him where he hit 33 in 117 matches. In total he’s played 573 competitive games, scoring 197 times. They’re not bad figures you know and he’s still doing it this season.

Whether he’s dropping down to League Two or not is another matter, but any team battling at the top of the Championship will surely want a younger, fitter player up top. That said, Donaldson is still an athletic unit, predatory in front of goal but not quite as mobile as he once was.

He would certainly fit into a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2, maybe even as the loan striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation, meaning he could offer Danny and icky plenty. He might not be the typical striker we go for because of his age and his wage demands might not be reachable, but he would certainly add value to the squad.

All players contract details are correct at time of writing as per www.transfermrkt.com

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