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We saw some new tactics in last night's match which clarifies a bit the direction Martindale is looking to go in and why certain transfers have been made.

The same 4-3-2-1 was began with. Isma came into the team at left attacking mid which saw Shinnie moved to right centre mid and Kelly to left centre back. 

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After Dun Utd's early first goal, a 4-4-2 wide diamond midfield was switched to. Isma moved to left centre forward and showed some promise in that position.

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Kicked off the second half in a lop-sided 4-4-2 diamond where Omeonga was playing wide on the right with Devlin holding a conservative position behind him, but Holt was playing very narrow on the left with Montano charging past him into a wide left position when Livi had possession. Shinnie moved to the base of the diamond. The thinking here was probably that both full backs joining attacks, combined with wide midfielders and two forwards had been leaving us open to counter attacks through the centre in the first half which Dundee Utd had been exploiting. This formation was a dead end down our right. With no winger ahead of him, Nouble not peeling wide much and Devlin not overlapping him, Omeonga was left to try and dribble himself down the right flank and that's not his game.

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Guthrie then Bahamboula came on and a 3-4-1-2 was changed to. Both substitutes showed up well. Bahamboula was receiving the ball at a much lower starting position than when playing as a winger and this gave him the space to build up a head of steam with his dribbling before encountering his opponent. He hit an excellent early cross too. Guthrie is a back-to-goal target man. He looks like he could be very useful for drawing defenders away from Nouble (or Anderson).

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The new formations tried in this match all had two forwards which fits with Martindale saying he's wanting Nouble and Anderson to play as a forward pair. The move to two forwards is why Guthrie has been signed and the move away from wingers is why Mullin has been let go. 

Edited by FreedomFarter
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Aye think we could be doing with using wingers, Nouble is being marked out the game as a No9 now, with 2 players man marking him, often grabbing onto both his arms, and getting no protection from the refs. The minute he went wide he was back to his old self, taking 2 and 3 players on at the byeline and beating them, and getting balls into the box, he did it at both wings. Then when Bahamboula came on we had wide players on both wings.

Omeonga was wasted last night, he isn't a wide player and even his usually dependable passing was way out, as was mentioned by  Atlis, Pittman had a stinker too. Too many negative passes, breaking down any counter attacks we got going, whereas Utd were right up into our half with 2 quick passes and players breaking up the pitch. 

We started ok and Nouble got in a great position in the box to hit a pass across the 6 yard box, but went for a wild shot, then once they scored we went to pieces, with slow movement pissing about passing in our own half and punts up to Nouble, which was mopped up all day long by Utd defenders, you'd have thought it was us a goal up with the lack of urgency in our play. As i said though, it wasn't till we changed Nouble out wide, brought on Guthrie, then Bahamboula, that we looked a threat in attack. FFS don't start against Hearts with anything resembling that first 45 mins formation last night. I fear what McKay will do to our defence too, Kelly and Obileye aren't a good CB pairing.

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Other than the rangers game, Nouble's best performances have been on the wing. I get he's been playing centrally due to Anderson not being fit but we now have Guthrie who can take up that number 9 role and allow Bahamboula and Nouble to be the wide men where their height would give the opposition more issues. If the opposition were to try to double up on them out wide, it would either require the CBs to push wider and leave gaps for Guthrie/Anderson/Pittman to exploit or would pin back their wingers which allows Montano/Devlin to bomb further forward with less of a worry on counter attacks

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6 minutes ago, ATLIS said:

I'd take Shaughnessy if St Mirren are letting him go.

Just said exactly this but I do think in Boyes, Fitzwater and Obileye we have 3 pretty good options already. 4 decent centre backs probably unnecessary as much as I like Shaughnessy. 

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26 minutes ago, EdinburghLivi said:

Just said exactly this but I do think in Boyes, Fitzwater and Obileye we have 3 pretty good options already. 4 decent centre backs probably unnecessary as much as I like Shaughnessy. 

Yeah true, Boyes coming back has been under the radar a bit. Think we possibly need one more, but we could end up loaning someone in. Last night must've been a bit of an eye opener for Martindale.

You'd think though that a Shaugnessy/Fitzwater pairing would be more than good enough for a top 6 defence especially with Nicky at the side and the from Montano has been in. Even then with Penrice to come back too.

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41 minutes ago, LiviLion said:

3 year deal for Kelly apparently. 

Think he'll do well but it's very David Martindale to sign a CM when we're all waiting on a CB and a winger :lol:

I stand to look foolish, but he won’t.  He’s rotten. 

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1 minute ago, Savage Henry said:

I stand to look foolish, but he won’t.  He’s rotten. 

To be fair, we're paying a 'nominal' fee and he's only likely to be rotation this season so won't be relying on him. He's got a year to settle in then step into the first team for the 23/24 season

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2 minutes ago, ATLIS said:

To be fair, we're paying a 'nominal' fee and he's only likely to be rotation this season so won't be relying on him. He's got a year to settle in then step into the first team for the 23/24 season

Fair.  Keep your expectations low, and ignore the social media analysis of his game.  County were promised a potential star who would waltz into the team. 
 

 

Edited by Savage Henry
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5 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

Fair.  Keep your expectations low, and ignore the social media analysis of his game.  County were promised a potential star who would waltz into the team. 
 

 

We had the same with Robby McCrorie. Turned out to be shite for us. Young though so who knows. 

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kelly.thumb.png.3b5a0bc41feaa1c7469d2da63fcc0a96.png

Be interesting to see how Livi use him, as I know you're ball deep in stats based recruitment. Seems to me like you'd want him as the attacking midfielder in a 3, but I don't know how Livingston are setting up this season to know where he'd fit. Looks ~average but hes still young and finding his role.

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1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

kelly.thumb.png.3b5a0bc41feaa1c7469d2da63fcc0a96.png

Be interesting to see how Livi use him, as I know you're ball deep in stats based recruitment. Seems to me like you'd want him as the attacking midfielder in a 3, but I don't know how Livingston are setting up this season to know where he'd fit. Looks ~average but hes still young and finding his role.

Martindale has been using a weird christmas tree formation, 4321 - having two AMs in behind Nouble up front although you'd imagine we go back to the usual 4231 with wingers and Pittman in the AM role when we've got Anderson back fit. It looks likely he's there as Pittman succession/rotation

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1 minute ago, ATLIS said:

Martindale has been using a weird christmas tree formation, 4321 - having two AMs in behind Nouble up front although you'd imagine we go back to the usual 4231 with wingers and Pittman in the AM role when we've got Anderson back fit. It looks likely he's there as Pittman succession/rotation

Was thinking the same thing. Love Scotty to bits but would say a bit more competition for his spot would benefit the team. 

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1 hour ago, hoobahabba said:

We had the same with Robby McCrorie. Turned out to be shite for us. Young though so who knows. 

Old Firm prospects are very rarely any much better than anyone else’s prospects.  They just happen to get more hype.  

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I'm a luddite with social media so these videos probably get tweeted out or something and everyone already knows about them. In case anyone isn't aware, though, the Livi Youtube channel uploads short match previews and reviews with Martindale for every match. They provide good insight. Latest:

 

 

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