TommyDickFingers Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 12 minutes ago, Gianfranco said: Is Ash Taylor a bit of a liability? Yes Seriously tho, the description of him given so far by @DrewDon , @RandomGuy. and @Merkland Red is as good as you are going to get. But a leader? no. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 After a slow start I'm beginning to get semi excited about our signings/rumours. Shields looks like the mythical, talented young lower league striker everyone has wanted us to sign for about a decade now and you have to hope at least one of our anywhere across the front three from down south will turn out to be a baller. Add in a talented Dutch arsehole and Ashton who, if nothing else, is a bit of a name then this season should at least be more of a laugh than last term. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, YassinMoutaouakil said: After a slow start I'm beginning to get semi excited about our signings/rumours. Shields looks like the mythical, talented young lower league striker everyone has wanted us to sign for about a decade now and you have to hope at least one of our anywhere across the front three from down south will turn out to be a baller. Add in a talented Dutch arsehole and Ashton who, if nothing else, is a bit of a name then this season should at least be more of a laugh than last term. Given we're effectively looking to replace the spine of our squad in this window: Kelly/Carson, Gallagher, Campbell, Polworth, Cole the doubt I had was really what our recruitment would look like given Alexander had never managed in Scotland before pitching up here and our new HOR is in the same position. The idea of potentially filling our squad with a bunch of dweebs from EPL/EFL academies or a raft of lower league jobbers was very much not the one for me. So, regardless of whether he signs or not, if we're looking at someone like Taylor as a Gallagher replacement then it's vaguely reassuring to think that we realise that at least a handful of our signings need to be of a level to drop straight into our starting XI. Equally Shields and Woolery were both starters for their respective sides - same with King and KVV who we either have in the building or have been strongly linked with. I mean none of it's particularly sexy at the moment but it feels like a slight change to the rhetoric we were regularly getting from Robinson about the "level" of player we were able to bring in eg: squad players from Leagues 1 & 2. Which is nice. Edited June 27, 2021 by capt_oats 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim McLean's Ghost Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 We definitely need to be signing some experienced guys. On Carson. It feels a bit like Dunne for me, just too many times he hasn't been able to be on the park that we have to move on. If we didn't sign another capable number 1 and Carson went down again everyone would be rightly asking questions after last season's goalie nightmare. Really not sure about Ash Taylor unless he has found himself a touch and a yard of pace. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, Archie McSquackle said: It just doesn't sound likely to me as I don't think we could come close to what he's been on at Aberdeen or could get if he returns south. I mean, it's pretty clear we don't pay anywhere near as well as Aberdeen but it's probably worth noting that (with respect) Aberdeen have been his ceiling. It's not like he's someone with the CV of McManus when he signed (again, with respect). His career has been Tranmere Rovers (League 1) > Aberdeen (Scottish Premiership) > Northampton Town (League 1 - relegated - League 2) > Aberdeen. He's 31 come September. Most of our signings over the past few seasons have literally been from Leagues 1 & 2 down South and realistically that's where he'd be heading as it's doubtful that he'll be looking at a Hibs or Hearts type move up here. It's really a case of whether or not he wants to go back down the road or not. If he's happy to stay in Scotland then it's a Motherwell, Dundee, United, St Johnstone, Livi, County, St Mirren type level of club and renumeration he's looking at and clearly the likes of St Johnstone aren't in the market for an Ash Taylor. For all I'm a Robinson fan we've had a fairly constant rhetoric from him about how low our budget is and how we don't pay well etc (he's still banging on about it in his Morcambe interviews). And that's fair enough, there's obviously an economic reality about being a fan owned club with 4.5k ST holders. That said, I wonder if the the club have looked at the amount of wastage we saw on Robinson's watch and had a re-think in terms of the actual value we were getting out of having what at times ended up being a bloated squad on lower wages and decided to make some adjustments accordingly. Edited June 27, 2021 by capt_oats 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 13 hours ago, capt_oats said: And that's fair enough, there's obviously an economic reality about being a fan owned club with 4.5k ST holders. That said, I wonder if the the club have looked at the amount of wastage we saw on Robinson's watch and had a re-think in terms of the actual value we were getting out of having what at times ended up being a bloated squad on lower wages and decided to make some adjustments accordingly. Aye I think the club will be hesitant to have such a bloated squad again. I kind of understood why Robinson was trying his whole improving 12-18 strategy but that squad at the end of last season was a flabby mess. I think it's preferable to be signing players who can drop straight in to a starting XI as a priority then we can look at improving the squad as a whole. That and having a big weird Dutch guy up front. We'll be sound. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Agree with this - I think the 12-18 thing was fine in theory and I was totally in favour of it but in practice it didn't actually help during last season's injury madness as we ended up trying to improve that vital 18-50 part of the squad instead and ended up with the biggest, lowest quality squad in living memory. I would be content to go down the quality over quantity path that the manager has indicated, as long as we don't blow the budget entirely and have some room to change in January if need be. My only nagging doubt is that a small squad relies somewhat on us having some young boys that can step in (which is obviously a good thing in terms of the "pathway") but at the moment our youth/reserve setup feels (partly due to Covid, partly due to a generational change) unprepared to provide 1st team ready players. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthefringes Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 For me, the strengthening of 12-18 is a natural progress achieved by adding quality to the first eleven. The drop off naturally strengthens the positions desired rather than a focus on signing fodder. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 (edited) 43 minutes ago, well fan for life said: Aye I think the club will be hesitant to have such a bloated squad again. I kind of understood why Robinson was trying his whole improving 12-18 strategy but that squad at the end of last season was a flabby mess. I think it's preferable to be signing players who can drop straight in to a starting XI as a priority then we can look at improving the squad as a whole. That and having a big weird Dutch guy up front. We'll be sound. Yeah, I think you also have to factor in the impact of the Dempster/McCall era approach to budgeting along with the natural uncertainty as a result of Hutchison bailing early and the transition to being a fan owned club. All that would inform our reluctance to start tying down players on inflated salaries. So in that respect I totally understand the logic behind the approach signing a raft of players on lower weekly wages on 1 year deals and hoping a handful come good enough to negotiate an extension (or multiple extensions in Kipré's case). It feels far less of a risk as, being cold about it, you can just cut loose the dross at the end of the season. Where it becomes problematic IMO is when you're recruiting players at the lower end of the wage scale in the hope they come good and none of them do. So you end up carrying them for a season (maybe two). That just becomes a massive false economy. Fwiw: I don't necessarily think that there was anything untruthful about what Robinson was saying about our budget (although recently saying we had the 2nd lowest in the league is a stretch) but often a lot of it felt like semantics he was choosing to lean into in so much as that there are probably half a dozen clubs in the league who have roughly similar budgets so the reality is it's what you choose to do with that budget. Another club offering a couple of hundred extra p/w maybe isn't as massive a handicap or hurdle as it seems in the grand scheme of things. If you're opting to cap a wage at say £700 p/w and you're bringing in 3 players for one position hoping one comes good but another team is paying one guy £2.1k p/w then it becomes a bit disingenuous to say "we can only afford to pay £700 p/w and can't match what that other club is offering". I mean, that is a hugely reductive interpretation and I get that there's far more nuance to it that that but I'd like to think it'd be a sensible approach for the club to take to review the nick of the squad last season and ask questions about value. Edited June 28, 2021 by capt_oats 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 6 minutes ago, Onthefringes said: For me, the strengthening of 12-18 is a natural progress achieved by adding quality to the first eleven. The drop off naturally strengthens the positions desired rather than a focus on signing fodder. Hugely agree with all of this. But mainly the last bit. No sure I can handle us signing 8 pish wingers that never play for another season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Aldo Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 For me, the strengthening of 12-18 is a natural progress achieved by adding quality to the first eleven. The drop off naturally strengthens the positions desired rather than a focus on signing fodder.Exactly. Our "12-18" policy seemed to be based on signing guys to come in and do a job if "1-11" couldn't play for any reason.I'd imagine that trying to convince guys to come and be backup players at Motherwell is a hard sell, hence we ended up with a load of shite. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 No Dutchmen announced? Truly a concerning level of silence. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowsdower Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 I think the club should suspend Twitter birthday announcements until all signings are announced. I may start replying to them demanding signings otherwise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 8 minutes ago, rowsdower said: I think the club should suspend Twitter birthday announcements until all signings are announced. I may start replying to them demanding signings otherwise. For the full effect you need to reply to whatever Burrows is tweeting about. Doesn't matter if he's wishing his wife a happy anniversary or if he's just got a new couch delivered. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Just now, well fan for life said: For the full effect you need to reply to whatever Burrows is tweeting about. Doesn't matter if he's wishing his wife a happy anniversary or if he's just got a new couch delivered. I think the ninja-level reply guys send stuff straight to his missus in the hope he gets nagged about the lack of a creative midfielder over dinner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Aldo Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 I think the ninja-level reply guys send stuff straight to his missus in the hope he gets nagged about the lack of a creative midfielder over dinner."Alan, I won't ask you again - get the budget Bergkamp signed. And after you've done that can you do the dishes?" 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Aldo Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 SIGN REAL PLAYERS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowsdower Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 I think we should get a sell-on if someone else signs Van Veen. He's been our player for over a week now. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santheman Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 9 minutes ago, Ron Aldo said: SIGN REAL PLAYERS Madrid,Sociedad or Betis? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gianfranco Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Madrid,Sociedad or Betis?More likely Real Kashmir. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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