QUOTE (rumple @ Nov 4 2007, 20:38)
I use to be willing to give Daquin the benefit of the doubt because his presence does help the team keep a balanced shape, and he does provide cover for whoever's playing right back.
McDonald and Robertson are automatic choices for central midfield, and Swánkie might be inconsistent, but he's too much of a threat at this level to be left out. He's always capable of doing something explosive.
So that all effectively ruled McHale out of a starting slot. I'd been starting to doubt this, howerver, and after the second half yesterday I now think that McHale has to start in place of Daquin.
You're right. McHale is not a box to box player, but if he's in the holding role then that allows McDonald and Robertson to rampage forward, and both are capable of scoring. I'm sure the presence of McHale was a major factor in the good performances of McDonald and Robertson in the second half.
I'd also been concerned about a lack of width on the right after Daquin went off, but Robertson, Lyle and Davidson just took it in turns to peel off there, and their constant movement with players switching and making diagonal runs to and fro in front of the defenders opened up a lot of space.
We've taken some valid criticism (or scepticism) for our lack of a greedy, 20 goal a season goalscorer, but I think if we persist with McHale in a sitting role, allowing others to get forward then we'll get enough goals to be in contention till the end of the season.
As for Saints; they showed they can play good football and gave us a real hounding for 25 minutes, but there seemed to be just the one plan. My question would be - why didn't or couldn't Coyle react to Dundee's changes to try and rescue the midfield?
Rae showed his hand 5 minutes before half time when he sent on McHale, so Coyle knew Saints would be facing three central midfielders in the second half.
Also, Swánkie was pulled into the dressing room just a couple of minutes into the half time warm-up. We all knew he had to be coming on in place of either Dixon or Malone, but it seemed to take Saints by surprise. Did none of the Saints subbies think to warn their boss that Swánkie was coming on? It's not like Swánkie's an unknown threat.
If Coyle was bending the ref's ear at half time about Mackenzie not being sent off (as I hear he was), then he was surely being remiss. He should have been getting the team prepared for a different Dundee approach. Mind you, given the inordinate time before Coyle made any changes, maybe it's unreasonable to have expected him to use half time more constructively.
4-5-1 is working for Accies, without a guy that you'd naturally expect to make a good lone striker doing well. If Dundee can get the runners (Robertson, McDonald, Swa
nkie forward) it could be the answer for them as it would also firm things up in the middle of the park to try and eradicate these early goals. On another week, those chances will fall to the right players and the game will be over before it's started.
When Rae took Daquin off I thought he was making a huge mistake as he basically reacted to the first time the crowd really got on his back. It's worked out alright in the end but he's done Daquin no favours at all.
We didn't have the personnel to react to Rae's changes and that's maybe something Coyle needs to address when chosing his subs. Lawrie is a right back come centre back, Weatherston a forward we play on the wing and MacDonald and Stewart out-and-out strikers. Even when the changes did come, they were nothing changes. MacDonald offers a bit more strength and did ok but Weatherston for McLaren is a nothing change that isn't going to dramatically increase our chances of a win and isn't gonna shore us up. When it got to that stage he'd have been as well sticking with the XI on the field but telling them just to take the point and not press forward like we were trying to do. His other option was to move McLaren to the left and then bring Weatherston on for McInnes or Sheerin, an attacking change if you like. If we lose the game from there at least he was trying to win it, the change he made was just for the sake of it almost. His use of the bench in general is poor though.
QUOTE (davidy233 @ Nov 4 2007, 20:49)
Radford - having viewed the highlights I'm not convinced that big Gazza even handled - it was very much shoulder country.
Referee didn't know that though, so still made an arse of things.
QUOTE (doogster @ Nov 5 2007, 00:48)
Malone's tackle that earned a booking was a shocker.
Get used to it, he's a nasty little cu
nt. The St Mirren fans love him for it but it's not so good when the yellows or reds start appearing and costing you.
QUOTE (doogster @ Nov 5 2007, 00:48)
The midfield is a nightmare this season - both McDonald and Robertson can be class acts - however, as seen yesterday, they both have the ability to rate 2/10 (1st half) or 8/10 (2nd half). If you could bottle what Rae said to them at half time you'd be laughing. Any time I've seen McHale he's been one of the best players on the park so I'd accommodate him, whatever it takes.
Do you think the temptation might be there to cash in on Robertson in January, since he's the one that won't get you any compensation in the summer? Could argue only the squad will be weakened as McHale is a more than suitable replacement and it would maybe give the midfield a bit more balance with McHale sitting and then McDonald pushing forward. Robertston money could then be used to offer better contracts to a few of the others?
) How much & how long does it take to join the Club Dundee thingy??
Re: Dundee vs. St Johnstone 03/11/07 With a bit of perspective upon yesterday you can see people are clearly hurting after losing to the scum! Haven't read all the thread but this is my view...
& Arbroath 
