Lex Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Might be controversial, but I wouldn't be surprised if we had another centre mid coming in January. Ethan has been a revelation, but is prone to a bit of sloppiness. We need to remember he's only 19 and a little break might do him good. Goodwin clearly doesn't trust Cammy for whatever reason, and Foley is really just a CD. Ideally Flynn would be back and would solve the problem. Ethan has a big future ahead of him, hopefully with us, but a few errors - misplaced passes, not tracking runners - are creeping in.The issue there is Flynn. If he is going to be fully fit any time soon then we don’t need another centre mid. We have JDH, Erhahon, MacPherson, Foley and Flynn. I’d be comfortable with any two of those five starting as a pairing, Ethan and JDH have the jerseys just now.There must be some concerns about Ryan’s long term fitness though. He’s been ‘back’ and on the bench several times recently, but Goody doesn’t seem to trust him on the park as a sub much less starting him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 2 minutes ago, Ric said: DJC may be the person to ask... Yeah. Nothing substantiated but heard he's done for whatever reason. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coventry Saint Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 6 minutes ago, djchapsticks said: Yeah. Nothing substantiated but heard he's done for whatever reason. Shame; his contributions over the past few weeks have probably been about as good as they've ever been. As an option from the bench to help the ball stick up front, albeit not one that was ever going to worry the opponent's goal, he was alright. I assume we'll be releasing him, then? He's on contract to the end of the season, right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttocks Brown Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Shows that we're in a good place if movement in and out this month is going to be minimal. Better still that, given circumstances, I can't imagine this will be an easy window to operate in. 2 years ago was the mad rescue job to sort out the Stubbs' squad: Muzek, Hladky, Popescu, Lyons etc joining. Doubt many of those signings would have gone through under the cloud of C19. Last year ended up being fraught as well with the defence pretty much needing rebuilt: McLoughlin, McGinn and Broadfoot away with Famewo, McCarthy and Hodson coming straight into the team. Definitely in a superior position, in a lot of ways, this season. A wee leftfield signing in the vein of of Isma, Nazon or Chabbi would be nice though.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendo Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 7 minutes ago, Buttocks Brown said: Shows that we're in a good place if movement in and out this month is going to be minimal. Better still that, given circumstances, I can't imagine this will be an easy window to operate in. 2 years ago was the mad rescue job to sort out the Stubbs' squad: Muzek, Hladky, Popescu, Lyons etc joining. Doubt many of those signings would have gone through under the cloud of C19. Last year ended up being fraught as well with the defence pretty much needing rebuilt: McLoughlin, McGinn and Broadfoot away with Famewo, McCarthy and Hodson coming straight into the team. Definitely in a superior position, in a lot of ways, this season. A wee leftfield signing in the vein of of Isma, Nazon or Chabbi would be nice though.... Not Nazon, he looked the part but was pretty ineffective, Chabbi i've no idea as he only played about 20 minutes for us. Isma on the other hand... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTOF Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Apart from the obvious need for a striker, I think we need an experienced creative midfield player, who can chip in with a couple of goals. Someone in the Stephen McGinn mould when he signed in for us in the championship. Maybe some LB cover too. As much as I think that Mason does a decent job further up the park, he has been found wanting playing at LB. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 While I can see the reasoning behind another central mid, you have to factor in Flynn and Foley who are effectively on the fringes of the team just now but come the run in to the end of the season I can see being valuable readmissions to the first team squad. It would be nice to find someone like a Dorman, but it's unlikely to happen, and even less so in the current climate (not just Covid but fucking tory Brexit ) and I don't see the point in gambling in that area when JDH, Erhahon and McGrath (and even McAllister) all seem capable of being that creative mid. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTOF Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 minute ago, Ric said: While I can see the reasoning behind another central mid, you have to factor in Flynn and Foley who are effectively on the fringes of the team just now but come the run in to the end of the season I can see being valuable readmissions to the first team squad. It would be nice to find someone like a Dorman, but it's unlikely to happen, and even less so in the current climate (not just Covid but fucking tory Brexit ) and I don't see the point in gambling in that area when JDH, Erhahon and McGrath (and even McAllister) all seem capable of being that creative mid. It was just a thought, when I watched Charlie Adam's contribution to Dundee's win last night. A midfielder who could, with a couple of moments of class, lay it on a plate for our forwards. Would also open up a forward pass outlet for JDH. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, FTOF said: It was just a thought, when I watched Charlie Adam's contribution to Dundee's win last night. A midfielder who could, with a couple of moments of class, lay it on a plate for our forwards. Would also open up a forward pass outlet for JDH. As I say, I totally understand where you're coming from. That link up between middle and last third is (imo) the reason we don't score enough goals. I genuinely feel if given enough decent chances Obika would put them away. JDH and Connolly have both helped there though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthBank Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 If strikers don't shoot they don't score. And ours want to walk a ball into the net. They cannot hang about waiting for someone else to set it up on a plate for them. They have to have a pop at every opportunity and they don't. And even when it is on a plate they fail to score. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTOF Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, NorthBank said: If strikers don't shoot they don't score. And ours want to walk a ball into the net. They cannot hang about waiting for someone else to set it up on a plate for them. They have to have a pop at every opportunity and they don't. And even when it is on a plate they fail to score. Both goals against The Fakes came from quality deliveries from McAllister, who "laid it on a plate" for the forwards, albeit Erwin's wasn't that easy a finish. McGrath's against the blue bigots came from Connolly passing into the six yard box with Obika laying the ball off for McGrath. Connolly needs to improve his delivery into the box. Dennis' goal came from a great cross into the box to the edge of the six yard box. Even McCarthy's goal against the blue bigots came from a quality delivery from McGrath. If you don't put a suitable quality of ball into the box, you make it very difficult for your forwards to score. Given the paucity of goals being scored by strikers in this league, I'd suggest that it's not just a problem that we're encountering. I'm certainly not saying that our strikers are wonderful, and they need to improve too, but give them better service and I reckon we'll see a greater return. Edited January 4, 2021 by FTOF 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthBank Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 5 hours ago, FTOF said: Both goals against The Fakes came from quality deliveries from McAllister, who "laid it on a plate" for the forwards, albeit Erwin's wasn't that easy a finish. McGrath's against the blue bigots came from Connolly passing into the six yard box with Obika laying the ball off for McGrath. Connolly needs to improve his delivery into the box. Dennis' goal came from a great cross into the box to the edge of the six yard box. Even McCarthy's goal against the blue bigots came from a quality delivery from McGrath. If you don't put a suitable quality of ball into the box, you make it very difficult for your forwards to score. Given the paucity of goals being scored by strikers in this league, I'd suggest that it's not just a problem that we're encountering. I'm certainly not saying that our strikers are wonderful, and they need to improve too, but give them better service and I reckon we'll see a greater return. I am not disputing that quality of balls into the box is important. My issue is not our midfielders or defenders shooting because they do when they get a chance. My issue is our strikers, the guys who are in the team primarily to score goals, who fail to shoot when they get a chance. If you shoot you can score directly (Ethan at Pittodrie); score from a deflection (Fraser at Dingwall); score from a mistake from the keeper (McGrath via Aberdeen); score from a rebound off the keeper or off the woodwork; or get a corner. At least it raises the morale. Our strikers do not shoot enough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTOF Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 7 minutes ago, NorthBank said: I am not disputing that quality of balls into the box is important. My issue is not our midfielders or defenders shooting because they do when they get a chance. My issue is our strikers, the guys who are in the team primarily to score goals, who fail to shoot when they get a chance. If you shoot you can score directly (Ethan at Pittodrie); score from a deflection (Fraser at Dingwall); score from a mistake from the keeper (McGrath via Aberdeen); score from a rebound off the keeper or off the woodwork; or get a corner. At least it raises the morale. Our strikers do not shoot enough. The one thing that Morias does is shoot, albeit from unrealistic positions. Erwin has forced a few good stops from 'keepers of late. Obika doesn't seem to be able to strike the ball cleanly and unfortunately, unless it's a dead ball, Durmus falls into the same category. Resulting in powderpuff shots, and easy saves for 'keepers. Obika is probably the most guilty of taking too many touches, but it's usually when he is running in on goal and possibly overthinking things. If you look at his goals this season, they've all been from between the penalty spot and the six yard box, where he's got less time to think. What I want to see is the likes of Connolly/Durmus/McAllister getting a good ball in from wide positions to our strikers in and around the six yard box. I was trying to recall balls across the face of the goal or decent cut backs and I don't remember many. I think Dennis, in particular, would thrive from service like this. We rely too much on hopeful long crosses that give opposition defences too much time to regroup. Although, on occasion, you get incidents like Saturday's, where one of the opposition defenders has a disaster and gifts us a goal. Our midfielders, in their more creative moments, do try and play through the middle, and have created some goals and chances. However, far too often, the pass isn't good enough, despite getting into decent positions to make them. Hence, my call for someone with a little more quality in midfield to make better balls into the box. Anyway, I've said more than enough on the matter. Fingers crossed we can sort it out with a couple of decent signings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch Stanton Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Shug Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Looks like top six Tony is willing to splash the cash. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Jean King Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Smelling bullshit here. Wouldn't be the 1st time we have been used to provoke interest in a player by agents. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accies1874 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 If strikers don't shoot they don't score. And ours want to walk a ball into the net. They cannot hang about waiting for someone else to set it up on a plate for them. They have to have a pop at every opportunity and they don't. And even when it is on a plate they fail to score. Looks like top six Tony is willing to splash the cash. I honestly don't think there is a better pairing of posts within a short space of time on this entire website. It's almost too perfect. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Shug Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 6 minutes ago, accies1874 said: I honestly don't think there is a better pairing of posts within a short space of time on this entire website. It's almost too perfect. Ah cmon , didn’t you see the johnnies fans spend hours claiming they weren’t the saintees only for their own clubs Twitter account to then tweet, once a saintee always a saintee . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyle Lanley Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 I for one can't wait for Jack Ross to sign him in 2022. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch Stanton Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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