City Chat: We should have real firepower with Stead and Pitman signings (From Gazette Series)

Bristol City fans' panel by Will Collins

2:30pm Thursday 26th August 2010 in Sport

NEW City manager Keith Millen made his first foray into the transfer market on Monday by signing strike duo Jonathan Stead and Brett Pitman.

I must say I’m very pleased with both transfers and we should now have some real firepower up front in the absence of injury victim and last season’s top scorer Nicky Maynard.

Stead joins from Ipswich Town with manager Roy Keane admitting that ‘ideally’ he’d have liked the former Blackburn Rovers player to stay.

But City’s offer of a three-year contract prized Stead away and City also beat off competition from Premiership new boys Blackpool. Stead is a target man who is also very useful with the ball at his feet. He turned in a man of the match display in his final game for Ipswich and now ironically looks set to start against his old club as City visit Portman Road on Saturday (3pm). Stead’s first interview for the club filled me with confidence as he seems a player who genuinely feels he’s at the top of his game at the moment.

Brett Pitman has a fantastic goalscoring record for Bournemouth and arrives at Ashton Gate with real pedigree. He also turned down a move to Blackpool and City beat off a late advance from Portsmouth for the Jersey-born player’s signature. I must admit to have not seen Pitman play, but in short he is billed as a natural goalscorer. He also arrives in good form having scored a hat-trick in his last game for Bournemouth.

He is young, can score goals with both feet and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in a City shirt.

His first interview at the club suggested an underlying arrogance which is no bad thing for a striker in my view.

The last striker we had with real arrogance was Leroy Lita and he didn’t do too badly.

The defence may need a bit of shoring up following Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Barnsley, however we do have captain Louis Carey and Lewin Nyatanga to come back from injury and Nicky Hunt still looks off the pace following an injury picked up in pre-season.

We could do with a positive result at Ipswich before the international break kicks in. It’ll be tough, and I’d take a draw.

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