Paul Taylor - New Reds Striker

The Evening Post today reports that Vauxhall Motors striker Paul Taylor will sign for the Reds next week. We know they got it woefully wrong saying that Jason Crowe from Northampton had signed last season, but this time they may have called it right.

Desperate needs call for desperate measures and we are certainly desperate in the striker department. What with the £1M bid for Best being turned down and the signing of a Billy Sharp type player being unlikely, then the signing of Taylor may prove the next best thing. Good strikers are hard to come by as Forest are finding out.

Taylor would be a risk, but the likely fee of around £100,000 would make it a small one in this day and age. Vauxhall Motors have recently turned down a bid of £50,000 for his services from League 2 side Chester, so an improved offer on that figure should get him you'd think.

His stats for this season are impressive with 15 goals in 26 games for the Blue Square North side. He had a trial with the Reds and played in the reserve game against WBA in midweek and scored within a minute of the game kicking off and was also credited with an assist in the 5-1 romp.

Calderwood has played down his potential telling the Post. 'The way he scored his goal raised a few eyebrows in the stadium at Kidderminster, straight away people were asking who he was. He gave a nice performance but ran out of legs a bit. The question is what he would be like after a pre-season and a bit of full-time training -but that is the exciting prospect.'

Gary Birtles is testament to the fact that you can pluck players from obscurity and make them into world beaters. He was playing for Long Eaton United before he was spotted and turned into one of the best strikers the club has had. Could Taylor be the next big thing to hit the City Ground turf? It's a definite possibility. If the club were to decide he's too much of a risk, why not get rid of Scott Dobie? The saving on his wages alone would pay for Taylor.