The usual supposed ITK sources have been busy again recently telling us that Spurs have either already made a bid or are likely to bid for Christian Benteke or Danny Ings. Of course this may amount to little more than speculation, but if we are to speculate I cannot understand why Charlie Austin would not be in the list, not least because I believe the fee would represent much better value than for the others. By the way, I am not knocking the abilities of Benteke or Ings, but I think there is a very strong case for Austin.
As we know, stats do not tell the whole the story, but I thought it might start a discussion if I kick-off (sorry) with the stats and maybe the other attributes could come out in comments.
To help the consideration, I have also put in our own Harry Kane as a benchmark. On another note, I really hope Harry and Hugo are going nowhere other than WHL!
OK, so here we go. The stats are for 2013-14 EPL, and I accept that could also be an issue, being a single season. If I use Harry Kane as a benchmark I cannot go back further than that because of the constraints I popped in. Again, if there are comments on earlier seasons these may help flesh this out further. Also, there may be off-field factors, some being as simple as where players prefer to live. I do not have any ITK stuff on this. The figure in brackets after appearances indicates the number of full games played. I have included no defensive statistics at all. None of them are sparkling in that area and that is not what I would want a striker to be doing.
| Kane | Austin | Benteke | Ings | |
| Age | 21 | 25 | 24 | 23 |
| Appearances | 34 (22) | 35 (32) | 29 (23) | 35 (24) |
| Goals | 21 | 18 | 13 | 11 |
| Goals to appearances | 1 in 1.6 | 1 in 1.9 | 1 in 2.2 | 1 in 3 |
| Shot accuracy | 58% | 67% | 45% | 43% |
| Chances created | 27 | 23 | 33 | 35 |
| Pass accuracy | 75% | 66% | 67% | 71% |
| Duel wins | 40% | 36% | 49% | 45% |
| Yellows / Reds | 4 / 0 | 5 / 1 | 1 / 1 | 6 / 0 |
The figures for Austin are extremely good. We need a striker to add to Harry who scores a minimum of 1 in 2 games. Austin fits the bill. We need a striker who scores when he shoots (as much as that is possible). At a shot accuracy of 67% Austin is far superior in that regard to Benteke and Ings. If all a striker gives is in 1 in 2 and shot accuracy I can live with it. Fulfilling those two and being further down on pass accuracy and chance creation is fine by me. I think we had too many seasons where we suffered in the opposite direction and would say things like ‘Yes, X is not scoring, but is creating chances’. Let’s get someone to join Harry who also knows where the goal is!
COYS!