This post has been merged from a topic called 'Charlie Austin (rumour)' by james03

Odds on Charlie Austin coming to Palace have dropped from 33-1 to 8-1 on Skybet in the last 24 hours. Charlie Austin has a young family and only moved into a new house in West London last year.
He is just what we need and we could suit him if we continue our good start to the season. This will go to the wire but QPR must sell, if they wait till January his price drops further.
Pardew is putting Murray and Gale in the shop window and hoping they score a goal so there price increases, but they will go once we land Charlie.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Charlie Austin (rumour)' by james03

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Charlie Austin (rumour)' by james03

I have never wanted Charlie Austin BUT...

"Can we afford him?" is the wrong question. The right one is "can we afford NOT to buy a goalscorer?", whether Austin or someone else. The bottom line is we've invested in Cabaye, Sako, Mutch, Souare and countless other players who create chances. But what use is that if there's no one to finish them? It's like spending 100,000 on a Mercedes, and then putting budget tyres on it.

Three games, six goals is a great start BUT...three scored by defenders, one from midfield, and two from wingers. Not a single goal...in fact, I don't think a single assist, from our strikers. Love Murray and Gayle as much as you want (and I DO love the former) but that's a poor return by anyone's standards.

I have little doubt we will stay up this year with the squad we have. Adding a quality finisher may well be the difference between fighting for 7th place and settling for 12th.

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Charlie Austin (rumour)' by james03

I'd be very excited about this signing, and wouldn't be distraught if it meant losing Gayle and Murray - although I hope we can keep one of the two. We're looking a scarier team all the time and Austin up front would really have teams paying us respect.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Charlie Austin (rumour)' by james03

It might just be an impatience thing but I would be very excited over the signing of Austin over having wickham up front. While wickham might turn out to be class, as he's got all the tools, I'm not sure he can score enough goals for us this season.

Can't help but feel he was bought in with the intention of replacing gayle on the substitutes bench, with Austin always being our main target, probably knowing that QPR wouldn't sell him before the last knockings.

Parish has said in the past that Austin is someone we would be interested in but he's likely to move to someone above us. Well..... If the reports are true, that it's just us and leister who have put in serious bids, I think that statement might have to be reevaluated.

He is a very good striker and I'm sure would basically serve as the new murray and possibly become a palace legend in the process. While I am intrigued to see how wickham gets on, I'm not sure he could do it for us consistently.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Charlie Austin (rumour)' by james03

The only thing missing from our team apart from another CB is a prolific scorer and Austin fits the bill. If he wants to stay in London we seem to be his only option