2022/23 ins & outs discussion

[FirParkCornerExile 247]

4 minutes ago, dennyc said:

The defensive concerns are not purely down to the players concerned. In fact every one of them at times has shown they are half way decent. Played in their natural positions and not hung out to dry by a formation/tactics that sees midfield and them overrun, I think they can all do a reasonable job. Games at Utd, County and home to Hearts highlighted that. 
Not saying an upgrade or two would be a bad thing but I don’t agree the defence is as terrible as some are making out.

I think I'd need to disagree in part. I agree if the manager picked players for their right position and played a decent formation we might see improvements. However for me OJala is quite simply awful .. slower than a week in the jail and positionally naive....Solholm I don't rate either however I think his inadequacies could possibly be lessened by strength along side him.

[weeyin 4,153]

2 hours ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

With the style of play GA favours Davis talents would be wasted , even if he was good enough.

Maybe I'm over optimistic, but I expect to see that style change next season.

I remember GA saying he originally tried to implement a style that was playing out short passes from the back and transitioning through the thirds - (aye, I said  "transitioning through the thirds") - but had to give up in that because the players couldn't handle it. Of course, I think he overcompensated and started to rely on Kelly's long ball distribution and we ended up at the other extreme.

Now he knows who can handle the tactics he wants to play and who couldn't cut it I'm hoping we see a marked difference.

As for Maguire, he's an academy trained, 2 footed midfielder that can pick a pass, tackle and has a decent shot. He's suffered a bit during Covid due to lack of U20/Reserve games when he's not been in the team, but I still think he's a player. In fact when we play 3 in mid, I still think Slattery, Goss and Maguire give us the best balance in there.

[weeyin 4,153]

4 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

I think I'd need to disagree in part. I agree if the manager picked players for their right position and played a decent formation we might see improvements. However for me OJala is quite simply awful .. slower than a week in the jail and positionally naive....Solholm I don't rate either however I think his inadequacies could possibly be lessened by strength along side him.

You have to hope Ojala was carrying an injury in 2022, because I can't remember seeing another player who was that slow.

[bobbybingo 300]

9 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

However for me OJala is quite simply awful .. slower than a week in the jail and positionally naive.

Alexander obviously knows more than us, but I can't see what Ojala will offer us next season, even as cover. He could easily have been hooked early on in several games and moved with the ease of a guy waiting on a hip replacement. 

[bobbybingo 300]

8 minutes ago, weeyin said:

You have to hope Ojala was carrying an injury in 2022, because I can't remember seeing another player who was that slow.

His expression did literally look pained most of the time. 

[dennyc 377]

41 minutes ago, FirParkCornerExile said:

I think I'd need to disagree in part. I agree if the manager picked players for their right position and played a decent formation we might see improvements. However for me OJala is quite simply awful .. slower than a week in the jail and positionally naive....Solholm I don't rate either however I think his inadequacies could possibly be lessened by strength along side him.

I agree Ojala  and Solholm were certainly poor after they came back from injury. Nobody can deny that. When he first came into the team Ojala formed a decent but short lived partnership with Solholm.  Ojala did the no nonsense defending and Solholm looked to be the more cultured of the two. I'm hoping a rest followed by a good pre season might restore both to the players they presented as on first appearing. Worth the try in my opinion unless those injuries are career ending.  But at present Lamie is my first choice central defender with Mugabi ahead of both Ojjala and Solholm. Hopefully we stick with three at the back to accommodate wingbacks and then we can judge each of our much criticised defenders in a formation that matched their strengths. 

By all means upgrade those positions if the opportunity arises, but I would prioritise finding some decent midfielders and and at least one more above average forward. And as many have said, better quality less numbers.

[stv 247]

2 hours ago, AllyMax said:

He sounds like he'd be a great player.  Up there with other brilliantly named players of our past, like Abel Thermeus, Casper Sloth, Esteban Casagolda and Stevie Cowan.

Still got the Stevie Cowan appreciation society badge somewhere

[steelman1991 266]

3 minutes ago, stv said:

Still got the Stevie Cowan appreciation society badge somewhere

"He's fat, He's round, He's worth a million pounds - Stevie Cowan"

[wellsince75 201]

48 minutes ago, steelman1991 said:

"He's fat, He's round, He's worth a million pounds - Stevie Cowan"

That’s one of my favourite chants of all time .

only trumped by

’theres only one joe McLeod ……….fan”

[Hope Springs 77]

Happy to learn that Ricki Lamie has signed up for two more years. He has more than earned it with his goals in the run in. 
As for the argument that he was the best of a poor defence, I would prefer to think of it as being a good player who would actually be better if the players around him were doing their job as well as him. 

[Richie 179]

Aye, Lamie has shown he can be useful.

On Maguire, I'm also in the 'quite like him' camp.
He's quite tidy and relatively composed on the ball.
Not going to control a midfield himself, but there's a decent enough player in there.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[texanwellfan 606]

29 minutes ago, Richie said:

Aye, Lamie has shown he can be useful.

On Maguire, I'm also in the 'quite like him' camp.
He's quite tidy and relatively composed on the ball.
Not going to control a midfield himself, but there's a decent enough player in there.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
 

I agree, thought he was coming onto a game but then got injured. Was looking faster and stronger than previous seasons. 

[wellsince75 201]

decent news on Lamie - as expected really and happy to have him. 

Maguire I'm personally not sold but I do like having players coming through the ranks and no question he works his arse off.  A very decent squad player who can at least fill in. 

[spudmfc 24]

6 hours ago, Winning by Name said:

It was about Davie Cooper, Tom Boyd improved beyond all recognition after Cooper arrived and O'Donnell only played in the season we won the cup while Cooper had already started to make Arnott, Boyd and others into much better players. Davie Cooper was in a league of his own.

Im not disputing that,he was one of the finest players ive seen,my point is he had legs round about him,if we're to take a punt on davis we need the same in the middle of the park,u cant expect a 37 year old guy t do all the donkey work

[wellsince75 201]

3 minutes ago, spudmfc said:

Im not disputing that,he was one of the finest players ive seen,my point is he had legs round about him,if we're to take a punt on davis we need the same in the middle of the park,u cant expect a 37 year old guy t do all the donkey work

worth noting that Cooper was 33 when he arrived.  Quite different to the 37 years old when he left - was used sparingly. 

Davis I suspect won't last a full season but completely agree he'd be a great influence. 

[Ya Bezzer! 1,797]

8 hours ago, weeyin said:

Maybe I'm over optimistic, but I expect to see that style change next season.

I remember GA saying he originally tried to implement a style that was playing out short passes from the back and transitioning through the thirds - (aye, I said  "transitioning through the thirds") - but had to give up in that because the players couldn't handle it. Of course, I think he overcompensated and started to rely on Kelly's long ball distribution and we ended up at the other extreme.

Now he knows who can handle the tactics he wants to play and who couldn't cut it I'm hoping we see a marked difference.

As for Maguire, he's an academy trained, 2 footed midfielder that can pick a pass, tackle and has a decent shot. He's suffered a bit during Covid due to lack of U20/Reserve games when he's not been in the team, but I still think he's a player. In fact when we play 3 in mid, I still think Slattery, Goss and Maguire give us the best balance in there.

We missed Maguire when he was injured.  And we missed him even more when Donnelly came back from injury about the same time!

Also good news on Lamie.  He's our best central defender.  If we could bring in a strong signing to partner him that would have potential but I still think the full back positions are the big problem.

[texanwellfan 606]

2 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

decent news on Lamie - as expected really and happy to have him. 

Maguire I'm personally not sold but I do like having players coming through the ranks and no question he works his arse off.  A very decent squad player who can at least fill in. 

It’s good that Lamie signed and isn’t pissing about waiting to see if anything better comes his way. 

[Yabba's Turd 767]

17 hours ago, El Grew said:

Who is Cornelius Maguire? 

One of Jane's I suspect.

[Winning by Name 117]

13 hours ago, spudmfc said:

Im not disputing that,he was one of the finest players ive seen,my point is he had legs round about him,if we're to take a punt on davis we need the same in the middle of the park,u cant expect a 37 year old guy t do all the donkey work

Agreed!

[Big Stall 445]

Rangers have offered him a contract so the chances of us getting him are slim. We can't match wages,  we can't offer guaranteed European group football and we are miles behind Rangers in player quality and he has no connection with the club unlike he has at Rangers. The only thing that might temp him is some kind of player/coach role but if that was a clincher, then Rangers might offer it up too.

I will be shocked if he arrives at Fir Park.

[bobbybingo 300]

19 minutes ago, Big Stall said:

Rangers have offered him a contract so the chances of us getting him are slim. We can't match wages,  we can't offer guaranteed European group football and we are miles behind Rangers in player quality and he has no connection with the club unlike he has at Rangers. The only thing that might temp him is some kind of player/coach role but if that was a clincher, then Rangers might offer it up too.

I will be shocked if he arrives at Fir Park.

He was a great option for Rangers at the tail end of the season, when injuries caught up with them, but for quite a while, he was a bit part player. Probably the only thing we could offer that they can't, is regular football.  Maybe he wants that, maybe he wants to prolong his career by playing sparingly. It seems to have helped him keep going for Northern Ireland.

For all the reasons you listed, I agree, it would be a major surprise if he signed for us.

[steelboy 1,275]

It was worth inquiring about Davis but it's always going  to be unlikely that we can sign a player that just performed well in a European final.

 

[mfc 396]

9 minutes ago, steelboy said:

It was worth inquiring about Davis but it's always going  to be unlikely that we can sign a player that just performed well in a European final.

 

There was definitely no harm in inquiring about davis,hopefully its an indication that were looking at quality over quantity this time around.

[Yorkyred 748]

57 minutes ago, mfc said:

There was definitely no harm in inquiring about davis,hopefully its an indication that were looking at quality over quantity this time around.

We sort of say that every summer

[weeyin 4,153]

40 minutes ago, Yorkyred said:

We sort of say that every summer

It's a good plan when it works.

When it doesn't work, we end up with 9 fit players in December and Lamie playing at left wing-back.

A fine balancing act for a club with our relatively limited resources.