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Airdrieonians Off Season Thread 2016


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I also don't like our current short-termism, it's not like we're winning...   We are stuck with guys like Gorman for another 16 months.    What is the point of bringing in an experienced player like Mensing to learn off then leave him stewing on the bench.   Shouldn't the likes of McIntosh and Gorman be getting the benefit of that experience?

 

 

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4 minutes ago, DestroyedByMadness said:

I also don't like our current short-termism, it's not like we're winning...   We are stuck with guys like Gorman for another 16 months.    What is the point of bringing in an experienced player like Mensing to learn off then leave him stewing on the bench.   Shouldn't the likes of McIntosh and Gorman be getting the benefit of that experience?

 

 

Possibly, but Gorman's recent displays have been so bad that he had to be dropped. His performance against Livi was just awful. 

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5 hours ago, DestroyedByMadness said:

We had some really dour spells under Bollan.   Remember back to back horsings from Dungfermline and A*r last season where we didn't look like scoring and just indulging in pure hoofball.

I don't care what anyone else says, we were just as shit with Dizzy and Dosey from open play, credit to those 2 donkeys though, they were certainly better at defending set pieces though, tbf, had a better goalie coming for crosses behind them.

Half the goals we've lost this season have been utterly preventable by a merely competent team and coach.

There lies all of our problems.

Just imagine if we had the equivalent of a Cammy McDonald/Lamie,  Buchanan/Stefan,  Gasparotto/Lindsay (BRE),  McManus/McGowan centrehalf  pairing of recent years?     We'd certainly be challenging.

McGregor looks not bad tbf, Mensing has experience but has the mobility of an arthritic carthorse.    Not ideal but if we could tighten up the rest of the team we could actually do ok if we build around them.

We need to immediately sort out our set piece organisation and get everyone briefed on their defensive duties.

We do not defend the left side of our defence well.   I said last week that Gorman should be left back if we're goimg 442 (which unfortunately we're stuck with under dinosaur Dalziel).  McDonald and Stewart could be the wide mids.  

A 442 of Rohan; McIntosh, McGregor, Mensing, Gorman; Stewart, Hutton, Conroy, McDonald; Russell and Ryan would be pretty compact, enough height for defending set pieces and certainly capable of scoring.

They just need organised and motivated.

 

Looking at highlights the organisation at the first goal was horrendous, unbelievable amount of space at the back post, but the 2nd goal looked a simple case of poor play by McGregor and judging by his reaction after he knew it.

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43 minutes ago, Kenny_m said:

Looking at highlights the organisation at the first goal was horrendous, unbelievable amount of space at the back post, but the 2nd goal looked a simple case of poor play by McGregor and judging by his reaction after he knew it.

We have a lot of 6'rs in the team.   McGregor, Mensing, Stewart, McIntosh  and Hutton.  Why can't we defend a corner or fk ffs?

Doddie's Beastie Boys had Evan Balfour and 9 midgets but we got to 2 semi-finals, a cup final and qualified for europe.  Kidd, Sandison, Honor were all 5'10 at a push.  Boyle was 5'5" in his stilletoes. 

Our current team are pussies by comparison.

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They're easily pushed around (with a few exceptions).  I remarked on this way back at the friendly down at Gala, but nothing has really been done about it.  It was probably most noticeable against Livvy.



Adam Brown is probably worst for this. It could be 70/30 in his favour and I still wouldn't be confident that he'd win it, shitebag of a laddie.
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27 minutes ago, Diamond8 said:

 

 


Adam Brown is probably worst for this. It could be 70/30 in his favour and I still wouldn't be confident that he'd win it, shitebag of a laddie.

 

 

Broon has a serious amount of skill, his shooting,  his driven passes but he has no heart.    He doesn't win the ball back, doesn't track runners,  he backs out of 50/50s, hides at defensive set pieces and he won't run past anyone.

There's a player in there but there's a reason he didn't stick at Celtic or St Mirren.  

IMO, he'd be a League 2 superstar.   Clyde should snap him up with relish...  or alternatively, if we don't fire Dalzilson we could keep him for our own L2 campaign next season.

 

 

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I notice that Brown does that thing of shadowing the opposition player but not actually engaging him.

Having said that, just give him a role where he's not expected to track back etc as much.

We'd be as well playing without him most weeks. You can add Russell to that listen also.
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On 27/02/2017 at 20:44, DestroyedByMadness said:

We have a lot of 6'rs in the team.   McGregor, Mensing, Stewart, McIntosh  and Hutton.  Why can't we defend a corner or fk ffs?

Doddie's Beastie Boys had Evan Balfour and 9 midgets but we got to 2 semi-finals, a cup final and qualified for europe.  Kidd, Sandison, Honor were all 5'10 at a push.  Boyle was 5'5" in his stilletoes. 

Our current team are pussies by comparison.

 

Aerial ability is about positioning firstly, and then a desire to attack the ball. Paul Lovering is another great example of the type of players you mention, not the tallest but knew how to attack the ball and had a natural aggression. Height clearly helps but without the first two is largely irrelevant.

Apart from Mensing (who played a lot in midfield in his career, not sure he is a 'natural defender' anyway), those players (add in Brown aswell for someone is no aggression) are all products of pro youth football where there is no physicality and players are wrapped in cotton wool to aid 'development'. Then at first team level they are up against experienced, aggressive players at set-pieces and it shows, they can't compete in the air because they've never faced anything like it. I wouldn't really blame the individual players for it, they are a product of the culture and the environment in which they have developed as players.

In a wider context it's why Scotland (and even England to a lesser extent) cannot find a single centre back who can head and attack the ball. It's all players like John Soutar and John Stones who maybe look nice on the ball but have no physicality and can't defend. Anyway, I digress..

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1 hour ago, Diamonds are Forever said:

 

Aerial ability is about positioning firstly, and then a desire to attack the ball. Paul Lovering is another great example of the type of players you mention, not the tallest but knew how to attack the ball and had a natural aggression. Height clearly helps but without the first two is largely irrelevant.

Apart from Mensing (who played a lot in midfield in his career, not sure he is a 'natural defender' anyway), those players (add in Brown aswell for someone is no aggression) are all products of pro youth football where there is no physicality and players are wrapped in cotton wool to aid 'development'. Then at first team level they are up against experienced, aggressive players at set-pieces and it shows, they can't compete in the air because they've never faced anything like it. I wouldn't really blame the individual players for it, they are a product of the culture and the environment in which they have developed as players.

In a wider context it's why Scotland (and even England to a lesser extent) cannot find a single centre back who can head and attack the ball. It's all players like John Soutar and John Stones who maybe look nice on the ball but have no physicality and can't defend. Anyway, I digress..

You and I rarely agree DaF but we seem to be on the same page for a change.   Playing against Lovering terrified me.    He seemed to be literally 10' off the ground when attacking headers.

Mensing was a right back originally at Clyde, played a fair bit as a central defender and often as a midfield hatchet man.   Probably considered  not quite tall enough for a centre half.

Re. Academy kids not being centre halves, the 4s, 5s and 7s progression doesn't cater for typical Scottish big diddy centre halves.   In 7s football your "defender/s" are the equivalent of your midfield ballwinner.  At 12 years old they move to 11s (4 years after joining academy and 2 years after signing pro forms) and it's literally "bolt a back four onto the 7s set up".    

All u12s football is designed and coaches to have the ball on the deck.   Even the intakes for sfa centres is almost all focussed on attacking players.

The art of defending is being ignored and forgotten.

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