WeeDiamond90 Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, DestroyedByMadness said: I'm in the mood now for blowing things up a bit to see what we've got when clearly even some of the supposed remedies are worse than the problems they were meant to cure. For starters, despite being good where he is, Scott Stewart is a box to box central midfielder. McIntosh is going to settle in central defence. Young Craig Truesdale really impresses me. He's a right full back, only 17 but a bright prospect. I think we're at the stage we could do with a bit of a reset. A bit of a reset? Could do with ripping the whole operation down from the top right down to ripping that soul destroying stadium down and starting afresh! I do agree with you regarding the youngsters though, add in young Higgins, Loudon and potenitally Cairns, if he can learn to control his temper, and you have some potentially very good core of players who could be developed over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waysider Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 As the season has gone on there has been a gradual moving away from giving youngsters a chance. For example, McLaughlin hasn't been on the park for ages. Maybe if we get to the stage of not being in line for relegation the likes of Truesdale and Higgins might get some game time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airdrie♢Diamond Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I am surprised Dean Cairns hasn't had more game time. Against Rovers at New Year I thought he was impressive. Would also like to see more of McLaughlin again. Not sure about Truesdale. Haven't really seen enough of him to voice an opinion. At 17 though I wonder if he's ready for first team fitba. Wilson could do worse than giving these young lads 10 or 15 mins game time now and again. Against Stenny the other week we didn't make a single change and we were in total control of that match. Oh, and we should bring back Bo the Destructor! ♢♢♢ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DestroyedByMadness Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, waysider said: As the season has gone - or to be more precise Dalziel/Wilson arriving - there has been a gradual moving away from giving youngsters a chance. Yes and we've been improving for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DestroyedByMadness Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, Airdrie♢Diamond said: I am surprised Dean Cairns hasn't had more game time. Against Rovers at New Year I thought he was impressive. Would also like to see more of McLaughlin again. Not sure about Truesdale. Haven't really seen enough of him to voice an opinion. At 17 though I wonder if he's ready for first team fitba. Wilson could do worse than giving these young lads 10 or 15 mins game time now and again. Against Stenny the other week we didn't make a single change and we were in total control of that match. Oh, and we should bring back Bo the Destructor! ♢♢♢ Not sure big Dean will ever make a League 1 or better footballer. Conor needs to improve workrate off the ball. Truesdale is just a kid but his defensive technique is good and he's really athletic. Thomson could develop into a really good striker in time. Very powerful. Leighton is another on the cusp of needing a break. Good ballwinner, passer, runner and can finish too. Not sure about Bo though. Before his demotion he was being targetted. He was a danger to other players and gonna get some really bad treatment and get into a lot of bother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBuckfastTriangle Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Not a chance of this happening for at least another fortnight - and frankly there's no incentive for MW to do so. If he's in any way serious about management then leading a FT team to mid-table league 1 isn't exactly a highlight on the CV, so he has to push for the playoffs until there's zero chance of it happening. Playing kids is high risk and low reward. Using the Stennie example above, we were only 1-0 up even though we were in control. If we lose a late goal after he's brought on a youngster then he's wide open to criticism for throwing points away. If he doesn't make the playoffs will TW keep MW? If he leaves will anyone else give him a job? That's why we need to look long term with the manager - whoever it is - there needs to be an incentive to play the young lads and give them a chance. I'd also say that for Ferguson, McIntosh and Stewart (possibly Brown too given that it's the first year he's had more starts than subs apps) this has been their "breakthrough" year really, and while it's not MW's doing playing a team with no experience isn't the answer either. With regards to youth development this year the disappointment for me has been that over the course of the season we've been going for Scullion, McGregor, McKay and Hutton from other clubs rather than using Loudon, Cairns, McLaughlin, Leighton, Truesdale, Thomson, etc. For me, Hutton in for Fitz knowing he was out for the season is the only sensible one of the bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airdrie♢Diamond Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, DestroyedByMadness said: Not sure big Dean will ever make a League 1 or better footballer. Aw, how no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redandwhitearmy78 Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 If they where any good they would be starting Dean cairns looked a passenger in the rovers game too light weight,Higgins is just plain n utter shite and for loudon and truesdale are the only ones that we've seen that could make it as a footballer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DestroyedByMadness Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 2 hours ago, Redandwhitearmy78 said: If they where any good they would be starting Dean cairns looked a passenger in the rovers game too light weight I fairness to Dean he was played in centre mid but he just didnt know what he was doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds are Forever Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 5 hours ago, Airdrie♢Diamond said: I am surprised Dean Cairns hasn't had more game time. Against Rovers at New Year I thought he was impressive. Would also like to see more of McLaughlin again. Not sure about Truesdale. Haven't really seen enough of him to voice an opinion. At 17 though I wonder if he's ready for first team fitba. Wilson could do worse than giving these young lads 10 or 15 mins game time now and again. Against Stenny the other week we didn't make a single change and we were in total control of that match. You've answered your own point, it was a crucial game that we were in control of, why would he put a youngster on just for the sake of it and risk losing control? If they can't do enough in training and development matches to force themselves into the team, especially a team this bad, they are clearly nowhere near the standard required. The only one that we've really seen much of was McLaughlin who I thought looked like a lost boy whenever he played. McBride had already started to phase him out when he realised, and Wilson continued that. Bollan was criticised for the same thing, and one look at where those youngsters are now totally justifies his decision not to mess about by giving them a game. If they were any good they would be demanding a game through their performances in training and development games, they are clearly not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thediamonddude Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 You've answered your own point, it was a crucial game that we were in control of, why would he put a youngster on just for the sake of it and risk losing control? If they can't do enough in training and development matches to force themselves into the team, especially a team this bad, they are clearly nowhere near the standard required. The only one that we've really seen much of was McLaughlin who I thought looked like a lost boy whenever he played. McBride had already started to phase him out when he realised, and Wilson continued that. Bollan was criticised for the same thing, and one look at where those youngsters are now totally justifies his decision not to mess about by giving them a game. If they were any good they would be demanding a game through their performances in training and development games, they are clearly not. God, I miss Gary Bollan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waysider Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, thediamonddude said: God, I miss Gary Bollan. He had his good points and bad points. His face clearly didn't fit with TW from early on and I think he saw the writing on the wall and stopped trying. One thing for certain is that if he had stayed on we wouldn't be the defensive shambles we now are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DestroyedByMadness Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 14 hours ago, Diamonds are Forever said: Bollan was criticised for the same thing, and one look at where those youngsters are now totally justifies his decision not to mess about by giving them a game. If they were any good... Oh let's be revisionist then? Parker > Coogans will grate me forever. We'd been offered £80k by Celtic months earlier but the club held out for more. Parker comes in and scores 1 fkn goal from open play (a tap in from a McLaren shot). Coogans still bagged 2 from a mere 65 mins on the pitch towards the end of that season but the club bagged £60k less for him. That worked out really well. Nicky Cadden was a player I was told he hated. He eventually played him regularly under duress just before leaving. And Chris O'Neill was another he didnt want to play but he kept coming back to. O'Neill has more chance of promotion than us this year. Ricky Lamie was another player he let go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waysider Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Surprisingly I agree with this. Bollan' s aversion to young players may well be one of the factors which led to TW being against him. On the other hand, the way he turned our season round and saved us from relegation was one of the few highlights of the last few years. As I said previously he had good and bad points. However, I'm sure that if he had been brought in mid season this year he would be doing better than the present mob. At least he would have attended matches! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airdrie76 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 There's no question that Bollan didn't want to play youngsters and that some didn't seem to get a fair crack. It was one of the reasons given to him when Livvvi emptied him so it wasn't a new thing (although he argued that he did there). I don't believe we'd be the disorganised shambles we are now if he'd been allowed to put a full time team together though. Sure, it'd likely be sh1t football and bare no resemblance to what we have now but that's a different argument. Nonpoint really debating though. He's long gone and you could question whether he even wanted to be there as long as he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiviLion Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 48 minutes ago, Airdrie76 said: There's no question that Bollan didn't want to play youngsters and that some didn't seem to get a fair crack. It was one of the reasons given to him when Livvvi emptied him so it wasn't a new thing (although he argued that he did there). It was quite bizarre by the board, given he brought through McNulty and Scougall who we ended up selling to Sheffield United. Same board who later binned a manager winning games with their statement saying they refused to comment. Anyway, as you were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DestroyedByMadness Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 44 minutes ago, LiviLion said: It was quite bizarre by the board, given he brought through McNulty and Scougall who we ended up selling to Sheffield United. Same board who later binned a manager winning games with their statement saying they refused to comment. Anyway, as you were. I don't think there was as much moaning about Bollan not playing youngsters with us, more to do with the absolutely turgid fare he dished up regularly. After a terrible losing run to start with he turned things around his first season, bringing in particularly Craig Barr as well as Grant Adam, Stefan Milosevic and others, and we went on a very nice wee run. The main gripe for me at that time was constantly playing Parker over Coogans, Parker really polarised the fan base. 2nd year, he was compromised by low calibre signings again, but as per previous season he turned things around with a winter window campaign that included getting in quality like Ross Docherty, plus the best defensive pairing we had in years, Luca Gasparotto and Liam Lindsay. At the end of that season, youth coach Stevie Findlay left amongst rumours of a rift about not giving the u20s much opportunity. After that he had again to go with a lower calibre team to start last season, plus he was handicapped by having those snakes King and Woleki in the background, clearly interfering and plotting against him. Bollan only seemed to be in it for himself. His own record and reputation seemed to be more important than the good of the club in general. If anything, I'd have said that Woleki and King were far more damaging for not playing our youth. We had a young core to build around here last season including Chris O'Neill, Liam Watt and Nicky Cadden. As the season wore on, the snakes brought in Ferguson and Mackin from Motherwell, Thompson from Rangers, and played them at the expense of our own players, "Hopeless" Hugo Faria directly replaced Watt too, and there was a clear discord between our young core of players that resulted in none of them wanting to be at our club. It's all in the framing of the arguments. Bollan didn't seem to have an eye on the future but he did play the kids when he thought they were good enough. Maybe he could have done a little more to get some experience in to them though, which is something I'd advocate a lot more of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mybitchunderprotest Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 So who's the trialist who has so far scored twice in the development league game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulloch Gorum Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 A hat-trick now. It's not Kevin Schmidt, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el Gringo Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Knowing our luck he'll be a young Maltese hot shot and we can't sign him cos Brexit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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