fizoxy

Im looking forward to the next transfer window to find out who we tried to get this transfer window. Were we not after the striker hearts just released?

Petravicius and Newell were signed with a view to the future (but on one year deals weirdly enough) so although neither have had an impact, not a lot was expected. I think there were some injuries in there too. Plummer was signed to compete for a place in the first team and hasnt done so when there were opportunities to get in the side. Fisher was Robbos first signing, and it was probably on the back of his goals against us, but hasnt looked like any kind of finisher in his half season. He may not have had a run of first team games, but Im sure that if he was showing great promise in training wed persevere. One thing in his favour is that I dont think we expected to still have moult at the start of the season, nor did we expect bowman to find form, so that probably hit his form/confidence and he hasnt recovered. I think most of us were positive when we signed him, and I wouldnt put him on the Paul Keegan/John hendry level of terrible strikers, and seems a nice guy, so good luck to him.

I dont know if it was in this thread or the Hamilton one, but I mentioned that Peter Hartley had a lot of praise for the work that McHugh does in front of the defense, mentioned it in both games he was on commentary for.

The three center backs that show up best in training / better match the opposition will get picked. Should be good competition, but we probably need another left sided option because dunne is all we have there.

Id go with Carson too.

Has dunne missed a game outside of suspension?

Fisher got on on Saturday, but Petravicius got the spot on the bench today, so Id take it as more horses for courses than anything else. I think bowman is the only one likely to knock any of the current front 2 out of the team.

Hartley went into some detail how important McHugh is to the team, so replacing him with a defender who is hardly a ball player isnt going to improve much. Tanner is also benefiting from playing in behind the strikers, so sticking him on the left would limit him. Shoe-horning players into positions is a Craig Brown thing, Id rather we picked the best players for the system we choose.

Theyve been doing these post match videos for a few games now, but I think theyre another nice touch

I particularly enjoyed his suggestion that someone should put one on Ngog to welcome him to Scottish football, and calling hammel satnav

3 points and a clean sheet, exactly what was ordered. And the teams below us all lost.

Hartley confirmed for commentary btw.

There are always going to be players that the manager sees something in but we dont, and for some reason they tend to be midfielders. It will be interesting to see who starts when everyone is fit, but Rose has had enough appearances this season to suggest that the manager wants him in there, as opposed to him playing because hes the only option. What exactly it is the manager likes, Im not sure, but my guess is that hes big and works hard.

Bowman was injured in training on Friday, they said so on commentary. Hartley also said that bowman had raised his game in training since the new guys came in.

He also mentioned that bowman was flying in training, but got injured yesterday. Hope its not a bad one. Great to see Tanner really grabbing his opportunity and become a key player.

Weve had players on commentary before (moult I think) but hartley has really taken to this and hes giving us a lot of insight into the team and is really into it. He doesnt like accies either.

2-0 tanner pen

Rose is right wing Back, Tait on the left FYI.

Accies og, and hartley loved it, 1-0 to the good guys.

Sounds like hartley on commentary on mixlr, should be fun.

Looks like a back 4 to me.

Mixlr always works well for me, and is fine as long as the referee doesnt do anything at all and all throw ins are taken properly from the correct location

Listed as 2 first team matches as per the Sfa website (those that are just for league matches are specified as such) The next league game is going to be a bad one with him, Tait and mchugh all missing, along with whoever the ref sends off on Saturday. https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/2958/los26-4-january-2018-docx.pdf

Ciftci and main will be short of match practice, so Id be surprised if both started, but who knows. I do see the new defender starting since hartley is suspended.

Assigning individual stats to a player in a 100% team sport is always going to be difficult compared to sports like cricket and baseball where there is a clearer individual aspect. The problem with assists as a statistic is that youre relying on the person youre assisting to actually finish. You could be putting in perfect passes and crosses but have nothing to show for it because the striker is a diddy. Or you could be putting half decent balls in a general area for an excellent striker to convert. All assists arent equal. If you take Caddens assist for Moults goal against Aberdeen, any other striker and that probably isnt a goal. Goals as a stat also has a bunch of factors which can skew its usefulness too, how many chances did the player have to score? Does he take penalties or free kicks, is he being played in a position where it is expected to get into goalscorimg positions, etc. Overall, I think the eye test works best. Ive looked at the advanced stats out there and they are interesting, but i still think there is a long way to go as there are too many intangibles in football compared to some of the more stat friendly sports.