milo Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Still utterly baffled by the signing of Robinson...we now have 5 strikers in the squad, we play our best one in midfield to try and protect our weaklink midfield, we can not ever play one up front. Had Fletcher been injury free today, we'd have had a bench with 3 experienced strikers in its number. Robinson might be absolutely dynamite, but I still don't understand it at all because he will either be warming the bench or keeping Moult and Fletcher kicking their heels. Agree with all of that. It might start to make sense however if you consider that Fletcher is crocked, McDonald needs dropped and Clarkson isn't even remotely in his plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmac Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Two wins on the bounce haven't changed much - we are still rank rotten in midfield and look susceptible to conceding. Expecting to see a defensive central midfielder coming in and hopefully a right back. Will we see anyone going the other way? Maybe we don't have the budget to be freeing players, however I wouldnt be surprised to see Clarkson moved on and maybe Reid - although that is perhaps asking too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welldaft Mk1 Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Agree with all of that. It might start to make sense however if you consider that Fletcher is crocked, McDonald needs dropped and Clarkson isn't even remotely in his plans. Flow explained clearly on Twitter. We always required and targeted 5 strikers as we had last season. The point he made clearly is that the Manager knows the priorities but getting players in - in order of priority rarely happens. We wanted Robinson and so did other clubs in Scotland and England, so we were hardly going to wait until we got another central midfielder . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Flow explained clearly on Twitter. We always required and targeted 5 strikers as we had last season. The point he made clearly is that the Manager knows the priorities but getting players in - in order of priority rarely happens. We wanted Robinson and so did other clubs in Scotland and England, so we were hardly going to wait until we got another central midfielder . I get that. I, and others, just think that 5 strikers seems excessive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stv Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Ill go with the manager and flow and say you and some others may be incorrect . Lack of goals and a decent striker last year was bad, competition for striking places or cover for injury problems for the whole season a good thing. If we have good strikers taking chances we win games . News guy looks strong and quick . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 I'll not lie, I felt 5 strikers is excessive. On a regular basis we'll have 2 on the park (McDonald +1) and two on the bench so on the face of it that means you've got one guy just kicking his heels. Again, taken on face value that seems like a waste of a wage. Ultimately though that 5th player is an insurance policy. At the moment Fletcher is out so the 4 we have available are part of the match day squad, further down the line there may be another injury (long or short term) or alternatively there may be a suspension. When it comes down to it having 5 strikers on the books is only excessive if everyone is fit and available. You can argue about whether it's a luxury or whether or not we'd be better served looking to promote one of the u20s if we need someone to fill that 'insurance' role but as it stands we've managed to get 5 strikers all with fairly diverse (positive) attributes. As I said before I'd much rather have the players in than realise we're short of a striker in 2 months time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gullane Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Robinson comes with a better pedigree than Moult and Fletcher. He looked the part yesterday. I hope Watt gets a chance to show his potential soon. If we can move on Reid, it will be good to bring in an experienced right back. Central midfield is clearly our weak area. Lasley cannot play every week. Perhaps alternate with Pearo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wispy Flossy Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 it will be good to bring in an experienced right back. Central midfield is clearly our weak area. Lasley cannot play every week. Perhaps alternate with Pearo. Are you fucking insane? If a new midfielder comes in and improves the team and pearo is fit those are the two who should be playing - no alternating required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superward Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Jonathan Sutherland said yesterday the club are hoping to bring a couple of midfielders. So people will have to get on with life around the right back situation... As much as there were not many options I don't think it is a coincidence that when Leitch needed replaced we brought on Laing and tried him at right back and moved Law in. Other option would have been Cadden or Clarkson straight in. The management team will be able to see Law has been targeted every game and is not really coping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yassin Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Ross County have apparently had a bid rejected for Nathan Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Ross County have apparently had a bid rejected for Nathan Austin. I hope we make a bid for him. We could do with another striker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bop Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Heard we're looking at Nathan Austin and Ched Evans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggischomper Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Heard we're looking at Nathan Austin and Ched Evans. Only if the mcgeady deal falls through. He's superb on Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Two wins on the bounce haven't changed much - we are still rank rotten in midfield and look susceptible to conceding. Expecting to see a defensive central midfielder coming in and hopefully a right back. Will we see anyone going the other way? Maybe we don't have the budget to be freeing players, however I wouldnt be surprised to see Clarkson moved on and maybe Reid - although that is perhaps asking too much? We aren't "rank rotten" in midfield. Against Dundee Utd it was pretty even with both teams playing the same system, matching up and the general play showed that. Against Aberdeen they dominated, but they had an extra man in midfield and when they went to a four man midfield taking off Flood and putting on a striker we came more into the game. Against Kilmarnock we were fairly comfortable for most of the match but our final ball was poor and the longer the game went on we started to get nervous about defending a 1 goal lead and started getting deeper and deeper, as most teams do in that circustance. Rather than being "rank rotten" I think we are very small margins away from being half decent but so far our final ball, whether its shooting, passing or crossing hasn't been good enough. We need a mobile midfielder that can get up and down the pitch and has an attacking instinct because playing Leitch and Lasley together isn't going to unlock many defences and a more offensive midfielder will help us score more goals but I've not seen teams completely dominate us in the middle of the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 When does the transfer window close in Scotland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammy Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Tuesday at either 11pm or midnight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 We aren't "rank rotten" in midfield. Against Dundee Utd it was pretty even with both teams playing the same system, matching up and the general play showed that. Against Aberdeen they dominated, but they had an extra man in midfield and when they went to a four man midfield taking off Flood and putting on a striker we came more into the game. Against Kilmarnock we were fairly comfortable for most of the match but our final ball was poor and the longer the game went on we started to get nervous about defending a 1 goal lead and started getting deeper and deeper, as most teams do in that circustance. Rather than being "rank rotten" I think we are very small margins away from being half decent but so far our final ball, whether its shooting, passing or crossing hasn't been good enough. We need a mobile midfielder that can get up and down the pitch and has an attacking instinct because playing Leitch and Lasley together isn't going to unlock many defences and a more offensive midfielder will help us score more goals but I've not seen teams completely dominate us in the middle of the park. Depends what we mean by "midfield". Does that include the wingers or more likely the central midfield? Assuming its the latter, there's no doubt Pearo has been a huge loss, but even without his box to box style we have been weak defensively in central midfield for some time. I wouldn't say that we've been rank rotten there but rather have been weak and ineffective. Now we are never going to dominate a game for 90+ minutes - that just isn't going to happen. Our weakness in centre mid is down to a combination of factors, one being playing with 2 wingers which means we can be outnumbered there. Yes we do lack creativity there but I don't blame Leitch or Lasley for that - they simply aren't that kind of player. I haven't seen enough of Taylor to pass comment. More than any other area of the pitch, midfield has to be a balance of skills. In the games I've seen this season (Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Kilmarnock and most notably East Fife) the opposition has for long spells in the match dominated the game and pinned us back. We've lost, by Ian Baraclough's own admission too many individual 50/50 battles. We haven't been closing opposition players down and haven't been winning 50/50 balls or second balls. To do something with the ball you have to win it first. Its not nice and not exciting to watch but you have to outbattle the opposition and do the dirty spadework to allow more talented players to perform. I don't know the kind of player that Ian Baraclough intends to bring in, but suspect it will include a combative energetic defensive central midfielder. If so I would envisage them replacing Keith Lasley either immediately or gradually over the course of the season. Presumably they would partner a fit again Pearo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Not really sure where anyone can find an assessment that Robinson "looks the part". I'm in no way judging him at this early stage but he looked utter baws in the short time he was on yesterday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wispy Flossy Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Not really sure where anyone can find an assessment that Robinson "looks the part". I'm in no way judging him at this early stage but he looked utter baws in the short time he was on yesterday. How would you describe and rate clarksons level of fitness and performances on the baws scale so far this season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dossertillidie Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 utter baws? Haha we well fans are something else. Not ones to make a snap judgment are we Hope the guy ends up player of the year with 30 goals after that comment God help anyone daft enough to sign for us over the next 48hrs, we have less patience than the old firm now when it comes to new signings or indeed anyone who pulls on the claret and amber 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 utter baws? Haha we well fans are something else. Not ones to make a snap judgment are we Hope the guy ends up player of the year with 30 goals after that comment God help anyone daft enough to sign for us over the next 48hrs, we have less patience than the old firm now when it comes to new signings or indeed anyone who pulls on the claret and amber I'm sure Frazzle said that he wasn't judging him on the little he saw of him. In the same way it's difficult to say someone "looks the part" on the basis of 30 minutes. Unless he's replacing Sutton more in his aesthetic qualities... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 God help anyone daft enough to sign for us over the next 48hrs, we have less patience than the old firm now when it comes to new signings or indeed anyone who pulls on the claret and amberHeavens to Murgatroyd. We've got some right roaster posters but surely we haven't reached the gruesome twosome level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzie Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 I love the mock outrage on here- yer some laugh. As was pointed out already, I'm not dismissing the guy after twenty odd minutes of football, but he was dispossessed a few times and needlessly caught offside at least once. He played two good passes that I remember, and the recipient miscontrolled the ball both times which I know isn't his fault but seemed typical of a frustrating first shift for him. On Clarkson- not sure if the relevance but I've seen almost nothing from him since he came back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dossertillidie Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 so what we having today, couple of new arrivals today and tomorrow or some signing scrambles with 20mins of the window to go? Any rumors out with McGeady and messi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 No names doing the rounds but it wouldn't surprise me if Conor Grant was a player to come in if we're looking at two midfielders. Doesn't seem anywhere near the Everton first team and Baraclough knows what he's capable of. I could be a mile out but wouldn't be stunned if he arrived... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts