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Mccall's Tactical Ability


Ian-in-Oz
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It appears to me that when we are winning or drawing McCall knows what he's doing but as soon as we go a goal down he doesn't have a clue how to change it around. I honestly cannot remember the last time we came from behind to win a game. Have we ever achieved that under McCall's reign?

Take the Dunfermline game a few weeks back. The first half they never had a kick of the ball so at half time the manager changed some personnel & the formation & they came right back into it. Now compare that to the St Johnstone game. We looked as dangerous as a yellow duster in the first half so at half time McCall keeps the same personnel & formation & in the second half we are still as dangerous as a yellow duster. It does't take a tactical genius to work out that if you are getting beat & playing piss poor then either the personnel or the formation has to be changed to try & get back into the game.

Yes we came from a goal behind against HIbs and almost won it but at home to the bottom of the league we still ended up getting beat. Now i think McCall is doing a fine job but can anyone tell me when we last won a game from a losing position due to a personnel or formational change?

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Take a look at the bench, cos that's where you will find the (lack of an) answer.

Would anyone on the bench be any worse than the team that remained on the park against St Johnstone? Putting some of them on with 20/30 mins left would have done no worse than keeping faith with the players who were playing utter pish. It also doesn't explain why he can't change the formation and tactics when the ones he's using have clearly not worked for the last 70mins.

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To be fair we created a few chances against St.Johnstone but we couldn't break them down,players also weren't playing well which no amount of tactics can fix.

Which is why I'm saying putting a few of the boys from the bench on could have helped. The worst thing that could have happened is we would still have got humped but at least these boys had got more game time. In the end we got humped with no positives at all. All players have off days that's fair enough but when they are having an off day instead of persevering with them the manager should be saying ok it's not your day come off & let someone else on instead of sitting there thinking he's been rank for 70mins but I'm sure he'll come good in the last 20.

And i still don't know if we have ever came from behind and won a game under McCall.

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A thing that came to my mind last night was the manager in summer saying he wouldnt bring anyone to Fir Park who is not better than what is there already well is Daley better than whats there?

 

Who fuckin knows? I don't and neither do you.

 

He's played about an hour of football at Fir Park tops and we've got him written off.

 

Holy utter fuckin Jesus!

 

He looks pretty decent to me - might be even better if he gets some game time.

 

Is he better than the unused shirt lying in the corner with Steve Jones name on it?

 

Fuckin better believe it - so that'll do for me!

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Got to blame McCall for us going out last night, 2-1 up with 5mins to go and the defence had played p1ss poor all game, why not shore it up by slinging Page or Forbes on? The players were out on their feet from about 70mins and the only change he made was taking off Humphrey and putting on Daley and the only reason he done that was because Humphrey told him he was knackered….for some reason he doesn’t want to make subs. With the defence we have currently, we will lose more goals than we’ll score………Tim Clancy looks decent one minute, putting in good tackles and winning headers and then seconds later looks like a total bombscare, don’t know how many times our centre-halves were out of position.

 

 

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It appears to me that when we are winning or drawing McCall knows what he's doing but as soon as we go a goal down he doesn't have a clue how to change it around. I honestly cannot remember the last time we came from behind to win a game. Have we ever achieved that under McCall's reign?

Take the Dunfermline game a few weeks back. The first half they never had a kick of the ball so at half time the manager changed some personnel & the formation & they came right back into it. Now compare that to the St Johnstone game. We looked as dangerous as a yellow duster in the first half so at half time McCall keeps the same personnel & formation & in the second half we are still as dangerous as a yellow duster. It does't take a tactical genius to work out that if you are getting beat & playing piss poor then either the personnel or the formation has to be changed to try & get back into the game.

Yes we came from a goal behind against HIbs and almost won it but at home to the bottom of the league we still ended up getting beat. Now i think McCall is doing a fine job but can anyone tell me when we last won a game from a losing position due to a personnel or formational change?

 

This is fucking drivel.

 

We have lost four games this season. Two against Rangers and Celtic (no huge surprise there) We lost to St Johnstone and essentially they turned up and we didn't and their defence was brilliant from the front to the back. Also all their goals came from really bad mistakes from us. Bad day at the office - happens to every team on the planet.

 

Last night we lost a cup tie on penalties to a Hibs team with probably the best striker outside the Old Firm in their team. Again thats not really a big upset and from the sound of it we played some brilliant football and it was a great game.

 

McCall has us playing some fantastic football and a couple of bad results and we get pant wetters like you questioning his ability to change games around. The fact is we have probably the smallest and youngest squad in the SPL and our best defender is also injured so of course its going to be tricky to turn a game around with personnel.

 

Also the people saying Omar Daley might not be good enough need to get tae fuck and jump off a cliff.

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We are playing with two diddy centre halves who get very little protection from an under-par midfield and full-backs that are instructed to create. Given that we were up against two quality strikers last night, it is slightly concerning that there was no gameplan to try and nullify their threat, particularly when their is such a gulf in class between O'Connor/Griffiths and the rest of the Hibs team.

 

As much as I enjoy watching our attacking football when it clicks, we are inevitably going to concede far more goals than we score this season. If it was Mccall's plan to provide the defence with little protection this season, he should have ensured that there we had 1 or 2 more players that show composure in front of goal.

 

As well as being tactically naive, his transfer dealings have left us exposed at both ends of the park.

 

Nevertheless, it was an enthralling game last night and the players gave it their all. With a bit of luck we could have been out of sight.

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If it was Mccall's plan to provide the defence with little protection this season, he should have ensured that there we had 1 or 2 more players that show composure in front of goal.

 

As well as being tactically naive, his transfer dealings have left us exposed at both ends of the park.

 

 

Where is exactly are these players that are:

 


     
  • A in our price bracket in terms of wages
  • B willing to play for us
  • C FREE

 

Some of our fans are living in a Football Manager dreamland. We don't have the money to sign quality backup players.

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Where is exactly are these players that are:

 

  • A in our price bracket in terms of wages
  • B willing to play for us
  • C FREE

 

Some of our fans are living in a Football Manager dreamland. We don't have the money to sign quality backup players.

 

 

Following the arrival of Nicky Law, Weir claimed that there was sufficient funds to bring in a player of similar calibre and two loan deals. That hasn't materialised.

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I think it would be harsh to blame McCall for last night. We were winning, having come back from 0-1 down, with only minutes remaining.

 

But I think you can realistically look at the tactics and say 'we could be making things easier for ourselves'.

 

Back when we lost to Rangers I said that we were far too open in midfield and they were exposing the defence badly meaning we conceded more goals than we should have. At the time I thought it was only going to be a problem against the Old Firm with their higher quality players. It's obvious from the last two matches it's now a problem against any team in the SPL.

 

Some of our defenders have made bad personal mistakes that they shouldn't have but you also have to except that we have a pretty ramshackle defensive line up at the moment. You have Craigan on the left side, which isn't his strongest position, and Clancy, who you can tell by watching him doesn't know the position. You have to help them out a bit, you have to protect them. Teams are running straight down the middle of us and to me that's not good enough, even the worst sides with a little organisation can force teams to go wide to get any joy.

 

In midfield Lasley hasn't been in good form, although he came good last night, Jennings, the major problem in the side right now, has been stinking all season, he is just not doing his job game after game after game. Humphrey does not track back, but we all knew that before. Murphy on the other side is being played out of position and isn't as effective but probably has to play there while Hutchinson is out. Law, also, is defensively weak. We need to beef up the midfield to protect the back line and McCall hasn't done this and has remained far too loyal to one or two players in particular.

 

I also think his reluctance to bring players off the bench while is a negative and will be a bigger one in the long run. Firstly, if things clearly aren't working like on Saturday there is nothing to lose bring players off the bench. You might get lucky, but if you just leave it and nothing happens you open yourself up to criticism. Secondly, over the season our 'first team' players in a small squad are going to have to play more football, meaning more fatigue over the season, more chance of injury (both are linked surely?), more chance of cards etc. Thirdly, there will almost certainly come a time, probably during mid winter, when we have to play guys like Page, Lawless, Forbes etc, because there will no one else due to injuries and suspensions. When that time comes, it looks like they will be thrust into the team at a very important stage of the season, in bad weather and pitches with hardly any game time. Forbes has some experience now, but the others have very little experience in the first team and as they say 'make hay when the sun shines'. If you are 3-0 up against Dunfermline, put some of the kids on. If you are gubbing Inverness, put some of the kids on. There is a time and place to do it but so far McCall hasn't done it when he had the chance and I really think he has to re-think that part of his decision making.

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Following the arrival of Nicky Law, Weir claimed that there was sufficient funds to bring in a player of similar calibre and two loan deals. That hasn't materialised.

 

 

There may have been the funds, but the players in mind might have decided not to come. You can't wave a magic wand and expect players to just appear.

 

All teams in the SPL are suffering the exact same problem. Just look at Aberdeen. Brown and Knox have tried but not really managed to bring in any real quality.

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I think it would be harsh to blame McCall for last night. We were winning, having come back from 0-1 down, with only minutes remaining.

 

But I think you can realistically look at the tactics and say 'we could be making things easier for ourselves'.

 

Back when we lost to Rangers I said that we were far too open in midfield and they were exposing the defence badly meaning we conceded more goals than we should have. At the time I thought it was only going to be a problem against the Old Firm with their higher quality players. It's obvious from the last two matches it's now a problem against any team in the SPL.

 

Some of our defenders have made bad personal mistakes that they shouldn't have but you also have to except that we have a pretty ramshackle defensive line up at the moment. You have Craigan on the left side, which isn't his strongest position, and Clancy, who you can tell by watching him doesn't know the position. You have to help them out a bit, you have to protect them. Teams are running straight down the middle of us and to me that's not good enough, even the worst sides with a little organisation can force teams to go wide to get any joy.

 

In midfield Lasley hasn't been in good form, although he came good last night, Jennings, the major problem in the side right now, has been stinking all season, he is just not doing his job game after game after game. Humphrey does not track back, but we all knew that before. Murphy on the other side is being played out of position and isn't as effective but probably has to play there while Hutchinson is out. Law, also, is defensively weak. We need to beef up the midfield to protect the back line and McCall hasn't done this and has remained far too loyal to one or two players in particular.

 

I also think his reluctance to bring players off the bench while is a negative and will be a bigger one in the long run. Firstly, if things clearly aren't working like on Saturday there is nothing to lose bring players off the bench. You might get lucky, but if you just leave it and nothing happens you open yourself up to criticism. Secondly, over the season our 'first team' players in a small squad are going to have to play more football, meaning more fatigue over the season, more chance of injury (both are linked surely?), more chance of cards etc. Thirdly, there will almost certainly come a time, probably during mid winter, when we have to play guys like Page, Lawless, Forbes etc, because there will no one else due to injuries and suspensions. When that time comes, it looks like they will be thrust into the team at a very important stage of the season, in bad weather and pitches with hardly any game time. Forbes has some experience now, but the others have very little experience in the first team and as they say 'make hay when the sun shines'. If you are 3-0 up against Dunfermline, put some of the kids on. If you are gubbing Inverness, put some of the kids on. There is a time and place to do it but so far McCall hasn't done it when he had the chance and I really think he has to re-think that part of his decision making.

 

Totally agree with this ^. Give the boys a chance now!

 

 

 

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the team on the pitch has been screaming out that it needs changed during the bad times, and some would say even more so when we've been cruising and these lads need game time

 

Last night it couldn't have been more obvious that our midfield were getting overrun, and it should have been shored up

 

why doesn't McCall do it? I dont think we'll ever know, but it sure is frustrating to watch

 

but sadly it has to be said one of the managers isn't doing there job if we cannot put on a sub 60-70 minutes into a game to strengthen the team defensively

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Dont you just love fans opinions that they know better than professionals. Every manager in the world is tactically inept, has no plan B, poorly timed subs, dont sign the right players. Arsene Wegner anyone?

 

As ive said previously it seems our team can combine results with little given away at the back, and then combine to undo the good work and do the opposite over a period of fixtures. Some would say thats inconsistency. Given that we play the same teams over and over again in a small area of the country is it hardly suprising that opposition managers can suss our tactics and plan accordingly, i.e. there defence drops a little deeper, man mark Murphy etc etc.

 

We are at the stage where we are playing good football, teams are wary of this, and set up as if they are playing the old firm. After all, it's easier to setup and stop opposition play and play boring negative football, and hope to pinch a goal via a set piece. We've done that with Brown and that was dull and probably made some fans give up. For me realisticly we will always struggle to win anything, so its better having a go at being entertaining. Sure, we might lose a few goals, but we might also score a few ourselves, and be entertained.

 

We do have an honest team of players, who suprisingly given the flack they get, usually give there all. Sometimes, luck deserts us like last night, and we lose. Nothing new there, so why the over the top reactions? We've been here so many times before after a defeat. When players are lacking confidence, why do certain fans feel the need to abuse them verbally? Do they think it does any good? Surely, by now our fans should be able to tell that abusing certain players does not get the best out of them.

 

I do have concerns about what Weir said about wage budgets and what materialised. Whether it was McCalls fault that more players did not arrive is difficult to confirm, as we dont have all the facts, and we probably wont be told.

 

I would say that is was not that long ago, fans were asking for Hutchison to be given his chance, at a time when he admits he was struggling in the reserves. He was given the chance probably because we had no other options, and has never looked back. Fast forward to this season, and i can see similar situation with Page. I hope he gets that chance, is encouraged by the fans, and shines.

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