Bradley Wright-Phillips - he's better than them all?

Bradley Wright-Phillips has netted 12 times in 15 games this season. A remarkable return, even in League One. That gives him a Red tally of 20 in 35 games or a goal every 1.75. He's 26 years old and I would argue that his best is yet to come. We'd all love to see him deliver those goals in an Addicks shirt but much will depend on the money men and just how long a game they are playing.


That scoring ratio makes BWP arguably Charlton's most prolific striker of all time (from those who played more than single figure games and netted like my old pal, Barry Little). Those of us a tad longer in the tooth may scoff at this and want only to consider comparisons over a longer stretch and I have sympathy. So, let's look at two of our recent scoring "legends"....


(Super) Clive Mendonca's Charlton record read 40 goals from 84 matches or a ratio of 2.1 and Andy Hunt (He Plays Upfront) managed 35 in 86 or one every 2.4 appearances. BWP's fledgling record shows up pretty well against these two and if he plays the season out, as I expect him to, and we manage to hang onto him for next season, his record in terms of appearances will be directly comparable to Hunt and Mendonca in less than 12 months time and he's on course to smash their records.


I can hear the cries of what about Halesy and Flash? Well, Mike Flanagan notched 120 goals in 378 showings or a goal every 3.1 matches. Hales was better at 168 from 360 and 2.1. If we look further back, Eddie Firmani scored 89 in 177 outings at 1.9 and Stuart Leary 163 in 403 at 2.4. 


I am not for a moment attempting to suggest that Bradley Wright-Phillips is our best ever striker and I believe he could only stand comparison with these other names as, when and if he hangs around for another few seasons at least and manages to continue scoring in the Championship (and beyond!). This is improbable in today's game as the value of goal-scorers is so much higher than ever before and the cost of maintaining average clubs so equally high, that money talks and every player and every club has it's price.


The other consideration in all this is that those players with longer Charlton careers will naturally have slowed their scoring rates towards the end of their careers as they have aged, although I have to tell you that Wright-Phillips early burst betters all but Leary's. Hales hit 29 in his first 76 games and Flanagan 25 in 67. The great Stuart Leary notched 40 from his first 67 Charlton appearances, a target that Bradley Wright-Phillips could beat.


There, blue touch paper lit.