Who was best, Viduka, Boksic or Ravanelli?

The strikers that excited me the most when signing obviously Rav & JFH, but when I watched Boksic & Viduka they were on another planet for me, cracking question

Once Venables got Boksic's head on & he came off the sick bed then he could be the one for me, but then I will sit down & watch those players scoring goals again & come up with a different answer with Viduka, then you see JFH smash an 80MPH shot from 50 yards & say, he's the one, but, for me there's no one in the same league as Mr Middlesbrough John Hickton 👍😎
 
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As Boro players then Viduka for me. Much more of a team player than the others and better in the air. Never seen a more dangerous player with his back to the goal.

Over the full career then Boksic (and he was very, very good on his day for Boro).

As for Ravanelli, controversially I don't see him in the same bracket. One footed and no heading ability, he also had a heart that was smaller than his big mouth. Look at where he scored his goals in the one prolific year he had with us, take out the goals against teams like Hereford and his tally doesn't look as great. Then notice he actually only scored two league goals away from home and maybe you'll see what I mean?
 
As Boro players then Viduka for me. Much more of a team player than the others and better in the air. Never seen a more dangerous player with his back to the goal.

Over the full career then Boksic (and he was very, very good on his day for Boro).

As for Ravanelli, controversially I don't see him in the same bracket. One footed and no heading ability, he also had a heart that was smaller than his big mouth. Look at where he scored his goals in the one prolific year he had with us, take out the goals against teams like Hereford and his tally doesn't look as great. Then notice he actually only scored two league goals away from home and maybe you'll see what I mean?
Rav scored a brace in our 6-0 FAC 3rd round win over Chester City, if he'd have scored a hattrick he would have made history which most likely would never have been repeated with scoring 3 goals & more, on his PL debut, League Cup debt at home to Hereford he scored 4 & FAC debut
 
Here's the Boro goalscoring records for the 3:

Viduka 72 (26)
Boksic 68 (22)
Ravanelli 35 (17)

2 other strikers worthy of being in the conversation:

Hasselbaink 58 (22)
Yakubu 73 (25)

In my mind Viduka played loads more for Boro than Boksic so surprised how close in games they were. Out of the 3 I'd go for Viduka as better as a Boro player, Boksic better in general. Out of the 5 quality strikers I'd pick Jimi, the only one out of the 5 without some degree of an attitude problem.
Hang on, if you going bring Yak n Jimmy we need Big Ham in there too

Ricard 115 (33) and still our highest scorer in the PL. (Am I right, he didn't take penalties?)
 
Feel incredibly lucky to have seen all three in a Boro shirt, might add Jimmy Floyd to the list too. However in terms of talent, Rav wasn't fit to lace Boksic's boots....a real flat track bully, the white feather,....one decent game for us against a top side his debut v the scousers 😉

Viduka was the best of the three for us and similar to Boksic career wise, with a better attitude he could have been one of Europe's best playing regularly in the Champions League.

I always got the impression that it was all too easy for Boksic and he really didn't like football much. There's a good paragraph in one of Southgate's books about how he tried and failed to talk football with Alen!
 
Hang on, if you going bring Yak n Jimmy we need Big Ham in there too

Ricard 115 (33) and still our highest scorer in the PL. (Am I right, he didn't take penalties?)
Yep good point, Hammy is the one others have to beat
He scored the odd penalty, he scored one V Arsenal at the Riverside
 
Like others have said its amazing that we had them all here in a very short space of time and I don't think we've ever had a better strikeforce than Viduka, Jimmy and Yakubu.

It's impossible to pick one but I wouldn't go for Ravanelli because of the disruption he caused in the dressing room.
 
Ravanelli doesn't enter the conversation. Flip a coin between Viduka and Boksic...both supremely talented and both should've been playing at a higher level than what we could offer.
 
On their day Viduka and Boksic were virtually unplayable, but for us I thought Viduka turned up pretty much every game and offered more all round for the team in terms of hold up play, lay offs and goal threat. We had both when they were still pretty much at their peak, same with Rav and Yak. Jimmy was further past his peak I thought, still great and he was influential mentally. We tend to forget about Yak, but wasn't he player of the year? I'm not sure any of the others were, which seems crazy.

My order would be

1. Viduka
2. Boksic
3. JFH
4. Rav
5. Yak
6. Ricard

Although I have the softest spot for Ricard as he won me a bet with my mate that he'd score 15 goals that season. :)
 
That side with Jimmy and Duke would be up there this season.
Add someone like VVD and it could win leagues.
Absolutely outrageous looking back. 😍
 
I was there too, with the signings of Boksic, Job and Karembeu we looked absolutely class that day.

I thought we were destined for Champions League not a relegation scrap.
Yeah 100% agree; we ripped them apart. Some of Boksic's goals for Lazio were unbelievable and he was past his best with us but still utter class.
 
Just seen some old footage of Boksic on a twitter feed, got me thinking.

Only my opinion but those 3 feel like the same 'type' of player - skillful classy but maybe dont offer a lot in general play...
If we are talking about their time at Boro, then it's Viduka>Rav>Boksic
If we are talking their whole career it's Boksic>Viduka>Rav
I can see why you say they are similar, but there were key differences.

Boksic was the quickest of the 3, and was great at clever finishes (dinks, chips, bending around defenders) but wasn't as clinical with normal chances.

Viduka was the best link up play and probably at dribbling too, but not too quick

Rav was the best at moving off the ball and clinical finishes, but very one footed and didn't really burst past players with pace and skill

If you could take the clever finishes and burst of pace of Boksic, the back to goal play and dribbling of Viduka, and the movement and left foot accuracy of Rav you would have one of the greatest strikers ever. Add in the power of a JFH shot and he would outscore Messi
 
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That side with Jimmy and Duke would be up there this season.
Add someone like VVD and it could win leagues.
Absolutely outrageous looking back. 😍
That relegation team the following season would've won the lot. Talk of Batistuta, Roberto Carlos coming in; people laugh when I tell them it would've happened but we were paying far more than anyone else to make it happen. Imagine a team with Juninho, Ravanelli and Batistuta upfront!
 
Jimmy for me, he didn’t have all the skills and tricks Viduka had but he was a deadly finisher and an all round more likable bloke than Viduka.
 
Hang on, if you going bring Yak n Jimmy we need Big Ham in there too

Ricard 115 (33) and still our highest scorer in the PL. (Am I right, he didn't take penalties?)
Ha ha I'd forgotten Ricard.

There's another fairly remarkable period striker wise. Boro in the Championship and buying Ricard, Branca and Armstrong in a week 😮
 
All 3 of them outstanding but has to be Viduka. Especially when you consider who he was playing with.. Jason Euell, Lee dong gook, etc etc
 
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