Yes it's an interesting comparison. Austin scoring rate was much better than Beattie's barring 1 season. When we signed Beattie he had only 1 season where he got 15+ league goals. Austin has scored more than 15 goals in 5 of his last 6 season. However this is including League 1 (for one season) and the championship (for 4 seasons).
Having watched them both I am more optimistic about Austin than I ever felt about Beattie. I'm not sure if thats just down to ability, I just think Austin suits our style a bit more than what Beattie did at the time. Beattie was a big poacher type playing for a side as a loan striker who needed a striker to work tirelessly into the channels. It was a bad fit.
Austin feels like a good fit. He's a big lad who will score more "scruffy" goals than Lukaku. He will also help us defending and attacking set plays. Finally he will do a lot of things that Lukaku finds difficult, holding the ball up, bringing others into play and occupying the centre halves.
I think people have to get out of the mindset that we are definitely playing 4-2-3-1. I suspect we will play 4-3-3 more this season, at times with 3 central midfielders who are defense minded. That will allow for 3 attacking players. Austin can play centrally and potentially give Lukaku more of a free reign to run in behind fullbacks and not get bogged down with two oil centre halves bullying him.
When push comes to shove we need a boost. I think Austin is a better around player and goal scorer than Beattie and I think will help Lukaku. We all know we need a number 10. At present those players may not be available. If Stones goes, we may need to wait a year or so to finally fill the position and muster through for another season with Osman.
