capt_oats Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Casagolda said: Seems like the most obvious candidate to leave at present. He falls into the same category as Bowman and Rose in terms of being both expendable but we could probably find someone else to take him. Actually looking at our bench yesterday, it’s the strongest it’s been in sometime. So much so that our captain, top scorer and big January signing were all unused subs. That’s also us without guys like Carson, Cadden, Tanner as well as Sammon, ATS and Donnelly. Looking at it, it’s hard to see too many others that you feel Robinson would see as expendable but we could also find other teams actually willing to take them. Maybe why we’ve done very little business since the opening week in the window? You also have to wonder if our current league form/position is making Robinson and co reconsider their plans somewhat. Should be an interesting last few days of the window regardless, however I don’t expect us to be as busy as I did this time last week. I thought it was interesting that Robinson mentioned giving some of the other Young Team a run out this season when he was talking in his post-match yesterday. Quote "I believe as the season progresses we'll see some more young ones come in and that freshness and energy they've provided." You'd think that the way things are looking in terms of league position it would mean that it'd give us more breathing space to introduce guys like Scott and maybe Livingstone. Given Grimshaw seems to have found his calling as a right back I wonder if recent performances have meant we've reappraised things and may just stick with Tait at LB and Grimmy at RB? With Ally Gorrin hitting a bit of form it made me wonder whether there's a re-evaluation due of Robinson's summer window as Gillespie's been a fine stand in for Carson, Johnson's our top scorer and Ally is showing why we were keen to bring him in. Also given the depth on the bench at the moment there was probably a bit of method in his much maligned '12-18' chat. The ones that haven't really worked out are ATS, Donnelly and of course Sammon. Even then you can see why we took a punt on ATS given he's a left back and Donnelly fits the profile of the sort of player we'd target. He came through at Fulham, experienced at N.I u21s etc. Sammon's clearly been Sammon though. No doubt it's taken a bit longer than everyone would have liked but possibly it wasn't the disaster it was looking though. Also, there's the change in shape. Arguably changing up the system means there's been a shift in terms of what we actually need. I saw some mewling on Twitter dot com when the teams were announced about Main getting picked ahead of Johnson because "Johnson scores goals" completely oblivious to the fact that Johnson clearly isn't suited to playing as a lone striker whereas Main at least offers a certain robustness. Without that physicality the shape doesn't work because the ball doesn't stick. Despite being our top scorer at the moment the 433/451 seems to leave Johnson a bit redundant at the moment. Even if we were looking to change it up a bit the fact that (if he ever gets fit) McCormack's on the bench then that's presumably the alternative we'd look to use (short term at least). Just looking at the squad even if we were to find someone that would take Sammon on it still leaves us with Main, McCormack, Johnson and Scott as our forwards but only one legit centre forward spot so adding on top of that seems a bit excessive? The flip of that is that you could see us benefitting massively from someone who's a better fit as a #9 in a 433. The thing is, it's not exclusively goals we need but also someone who's physical enough to play that role and hold the ball up. I take it Killie are the only other team Erwin could play for this season after his brief stint in Iran? Looking at the numbers we've got then including the injured players plus the young team we're at about 28 in total around the first team. It feels like it could do with a bit of trimming anyway. As it stands the following players are out of contract in the summer (not including the u20s) and a decent number of them have seen some game time in the past couple of weeks: Aaron Taylor-Sinclair Christian Mbulu Carl McHugh Chris Cadden (injured) Elliot Frear Liam Grimshaw Gael Bigirimana Alex Rodriguez Gorrin Craig Tanner (injured) Curtis Main George Newell There are presumably a few high wages in there like... Edited January 27, 2019 by capt_oats 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 4 hours ago, Casagolda said: Maybe why we’ve done very little business since the opening week in the window? I also wonder how much Hastie effectively being like a new signing has changed the plans? It's very early days for him but given we were looking for (a) a winger and (b) some pace and directness - Hastie could have solved a problem without us bringing anyone in (and at the very least is clearly worth persisting with). Given that we have relatively little to play for - I would expect/hope that all our younger boys get as much game time as they need in preparation for next season. I think the disaster against County has probably made Robinson's mind up (and mine!) that having Tait out of position at LB and Grimmy at RB is the lesser of two evils, so I assume that we won't be getting a LB in. The only area that urgently needs repaired is a centre forward - like most, I have no criticism to make of Main's effort levels but we simply can't rely on midfielders and defenders to be scoring our goals until the end of the season - so something has to give there.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gianfranco Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 I’d agree that up front is the priority. Given the table, we can get by with Tait, ATS or Livingstone if no one better on a permanent deal becomes available. Livingstone should get some starts as well so Robinson can properly judge him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTamMuller Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 Was there much substance to the Lyndon Dykes from QoTS rumour? From the way a mate from down by that way described him, he’d fit in quite perfectly to the way we’re trying to set up right now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryMcgeorge Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 6 minutes ago, BigTamMuller said: Was there much substance to the Lyndon Dykes from QoTS rumour? From the way a mate from down by that way described him, he’d fit in quite perfectly to the way we’re trying to set up right now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 (edited) Looking at the squad as it is by position I'd say this is roughly where we are: GK: Gillespie / Ferguson RB: Tait / Grimshaw CB: Aldred / Mbulu / Donnelly CB: Dunne / Hartley LB: ATS / Livingstone CM: Campbell CM: Gorrin / McHugh CM: Turnbull / Bigirimana RW: Ariyibi CF: Main / McCormack / Scott / Sammon / Johnson / Newell LW: Hastie / Frear Injured: Carson, Cadden, Tanner So 28 bodies in total. Clearly Tait at LB and Grimmy at RB is most functional but I'd say that before we're able to bring in a more suitable centre forward we could really do with trimming 2 or 3 bodies from that position alone. Clearly when we were recruiting the intention was for us to be playing with 2 strikers but circumstances have obviously changed and 6 skulls for 1 role is just too many. McCormack's clearly not going anywhere (which is fine given the chat that we've got him here for less than we're paying for Sammon) and from the sound of things Robinson's up for keeping Scott around rather than loaning him. It's worth mentioning that Hastie can play through the middle too. IIRC he had something like 14 goals for the u20s a couple of seasons back. You'd think that Sammon would be one of the more obvious ones given he's not actually our player so he's no actual value to us (nae offence to the big man) and seeing as Hearts don't actually want him back they're not going to be fussed where he is as long as someone's matching our contribution to his wages. Also, it feels like we should just pretty much write Newell off as a favour to his old man from Robinson. Absolutely wild we extended his deal another year. It'll be interesting to see who's in the Reserves line up tomorrow given Robinson mentioned there were a "few boys" who'd be in there to show their fitness before being considered for contention for the first team. Edited January 27, 2019 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casagolda Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) 14 hours ago, Swello said: I also wonder how much Hastie effectively being like a new signing has changed the plans? It's very early days for him but given we were looking for (a) a winger and (b) some pace and directness - Hastie could have solved a problem without us bringing anyone in (and at the very least is clearly worth persisting with). Given that we have relatively little to play for - I would expect/hope that all our younger boys get as much game time as they need in preparation for next season. I think the disaster against County has probably made Robinson's mind up (and mine!) that having Tait out of position at LB and Grimmy at RB is the lesser of two evils, so I assume that we won't be getting a LB in. The only area that urgently needs repaired is a centre forward - like most, I have no criticism to make of Main's effort levels but we simply can't rely on midfielders and defenders to be scoring our goals until the end of the season - so something has to give there.... It probably has. I think Frear following up his performance against Accies by setting up two goals in two games since the break has probably helped as well. He’s now got 3 wingers playing for 2 places with Cadden still to return as well. As for centre forward, I still think it’ll be McCormack. The guys clearly not fit but we were told when he signed he wouldn’t be fit till the end of January/early February. He’s been out injured since November and we chucked him straight in against Ross County after a about a weeks training. Probably cause Robinson’s not a great fan of his other options. He might not have the mobility he once had or the physical presence of Main, however he has the technique and footballing intelligence to make the ball stick and bring others into the game(see Ciftci last year). Assuming that he both gets himself fit and we actually play the ball into his feet rather than launching it at him at head height, I still retain high hopes for McCormack. Edited January 28, 2019 by Casagolda 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat_tony Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Just imagine if we still had big Ciftci now we're playing with wingers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 31 minutes ago, fat_tony said: Just imagine if we still had big Ciftci now we're playing with wingers. Feel like pure shit just want Nadir back. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Sparra is joined by Busta and Jay for a much more positive episode of the MFC Podcast. We look back on wins over Hibs and Dundee, discuss the end of the transfer window, David Turnbull, Maurice Ross’ appointment new head of 18s to 21s, look ahead to Livingston and more. https://www.mfc1886.com/mfc-podcast-2018-19-episode-26/ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) So here's the Reserves line up today...no Sammon at the weekend, no Sammon today. Then again he doesn't really need the minutes for fitness I guess. Absolutely zero idea what sort of formation that will be...I count 4 strikers and 2 left backs there. I see McKinstrey's on the bench too. Edited January 28, 2019 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) 19 hours ago, capt_oats said: So here's the Reserves line up today...no Sammon at the weekend, no Sammon today. Then again he doesn't really need the minutes for fitness I guess. Absolutely zero idea what sort of formation that will be...I count 4 strikers and 2 left backs there. I see McKinstrey's on the bench too. Edited January 29, 2019 by well fan for life 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I'd actually forgotten about Dod Newell 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoss Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Some strength in that team, wonder how McCormack is feeling about his path from being a £12million striker to playing Accies reserves on a Monday afternoon? Certainly will be a gauge of how much he wants to be here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 10 minutes ago, AndyRoss said: Some strength in that team, wonder how McCormack is feeling about his path from being a £12million striker to playing Accies reserves on a Monday afternoon? Certainly will be a gauge of how much he wants to be here. In all fairness he looks like he's just back from a week in Ayia Napa. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoss Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 1 minute ago, well fan for life said: In all fairness he looks like he's just back from a week in Ayia Napa. We all need a break mate... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie McSquackle Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Who is Dean Cornelius? Never seen his name crop up before? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 3 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said: Who is Dean Cornelius? Never seen his name crop up before? At the risk of just parroting the official site he signed from Hibs during the summer. https://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/player/dean-cornelius/ Reserves 2-1 up at HT. Bigi and Scott with the goals. Big Chris Mbulu off injured after 16 minutes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie McSquackle Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Cheers. Only 17 - there's a real mix of youth and experience in that team. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) 55 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said: Cheers. Only 17 - there's a real mix of youth and experience in that team. Aye. McKinstry was subbed on when Mbulu went off so that's a 16 year old (McKinstry), two 17 year olds (Cornelius and Semple) and an 18 year old (Scott) all on the park. Edit: that's ATS aff at HT and Yusuf Hussain on. So that's another 17 year old. 3-1 McKinstry scores from a McCormack short free kick. Final edit: Finished 3-1 Bigirimana, Scott and McKinstry for us. Penny for Accies. Edited January 28, 2019 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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