Strikers coming through

[eez-eh]

9 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Why? Like anyone else up front he'll get almost zero chances. What difference would he have made last night for example? We could have had Miroslav Klose up front last night and it would have made no difference.

So because we don’t give our strikers good service we shouldn’t bother debating who our best option is? Bit of a strange way to look at it.

[King Kebab]

We haven't a goal scorer of even a semi regular basis since McFadden, and even then he didn't reach 20 goals. Why have we not had someone bang in 30 goals since Dalglish? He and Denis Law are out joint top scorers.

The top scorers of Macedonia (34), Estonia (38), Finalnd (32), Northern Ireland (36), Wales (32), Cyprus (32), Norway (33), Slovenia (35),  Bosnia and Herzegovina (58), Bulgaria (48) and Malta (41) all eclipse our sad decades old record. Latvia and Armenia are just a single goal behind. Lots of other teams have high 20s.

 

Would I be right in saying that McCoist was probably the last decent striker we had playing over a decent number of games, scored about 1:3 iirc!!!!

Not a world beating ratio by any means but fucking tremendous for us in comparison to what we’ve had since!!!

[DA Baracus]

11 minutes ago, King Kebab said:

Would I be right in saying that McCoist was probably the last decent striker we had playing over a decent number of games, scored about 1:3 iirc!!!!

Not a world beating ratio by any means but fucking tremendous for us in comparison!!!

McFadden is the guy. Averaged a goal every 3.2 games, same as McCoist.

Kenny Miller is the only other one close with an average of a goal every 3.6 games.

[PauloPerth]

On 11/10/2019 at 22:41, BB_Bino said:

 

 

 

Can’t help but think that over the years we just haven’t played our inform Strikers at the right time. Rhodes, Boyd, Griffiths, Fletcher, Ferguson (there are others) were overlooked for others whilst scoring for fun at club level. Then when given their chance, it was by and large too late.

 

 

 

I agree with this.

Shankland is playing in the league below, but is banging in goals for fun and his confidence is very high. He may not be the solution long term, but he certainly justified his selection over the two recent games. 

You compare it to players we've stuck with over many caps, your Steven Fletcher's etc that aren't scoring loads and it's often reflected in their performances. Do their bit for the team, but no real hunger to score or intensity to their play.  It's a greedy desire to score above everything else type that we're missing.  

I think back to when Stevie May was banging them in during his first spell at Saints, and Strachan kept overlooking him until he moved down south. He had that swagger and would shoot from everywhere, which is what we're missing at international level currently. (No, I'm definitely not calling for May to be called up now!).

Pick strikers when they're on a hot streak and playing with confidence.

 

 

[Aufc]

Scotland don’t particularly need a striker who scores lots of goals. Most of the time we are playing stronger teams who we will be trying to catch on the break. Therefore we need someone who can hold the ball up to allow our midfield to get up the pitch. Steven fletcher took so much stick off scotland fans but he was ideal at this.

[EH75]

29 minutes ago, Aufc said:

Scotland don’t particularly need a striker who scores lots of goals. 

Would be nice though.

[Scary Bear]

3 hours ago, Aufc said:

Scotland don’t particularly need a striker who scores lots of goals. Most of the time we are playing stronger teams who we will be trying to catch on the break. Therefore we need someone who can hold the ball up to allow our midfield to get up the pitch. Steven fletcher took so much stick off scotland fans but he was ideal at this.

It used to be that most successful international teams had at least one prolific scorer. Has this changed or are we just trying to make ourselves feel better?

[Insaintee]

On 11/10/2019 at 16:07, Mastermind said:

When is the Scottish Messi going to come good? Is he still over in Portugal?

[Aufc]

It used to be that most successful international teams had at least one prolific scorer. Has this changed or are we just trying to make ourselves feel better?

I am probably clutching at straws.

[BukyOHare]

4 hours ago, Aufc said:

Scotland don’t particularly need a striker who scores lots of goals. Most of the time we are playing stronger teams who we will be trying to catch on the break. Therefore we need someone who can hold the ball up to allow our midfield to get up the pitch. Steven fletcher took so much stick off scotland fans but he was ideal at this.

For me, this is exactly the sort of mentality we need to get away from.

You watch the top teams (club sides and at international level) and there isn't this isolation of one player while the rest run 30 or 40 yards to catch up with him as he battles manfully to retain possession.

The whole team moves up and down the pitch as one when they have possession and when they're trying to win the ball back. There's a fluidity and spontanaiety about their play.

We've got on paper at least a very strong set of midfielders who should be able to retain possession and have the engines to get up and down the pitch, bringing the rest of the team with them.

Of course we'll have limitations but let's try and push those limits by starting to get away from the type of habits that have seen our standards and ultimately results plummet.

 

[Aufc]

For me, this is exactly the sort of mentality we need to get away from.
You watch the top teams (club sides and at international level) and there isn't this isolation of one player while the rest run 30 or 40 yards to catch up with him as he battles manfully to retain possession.
The whole team moves up and down the pitch as one when they have possession and when they're trying to win the ball back. There's a fluidity and spontanaiety about their play.
We've got on paper at least a very strong set of midfielders who should be able to retain possession and have the engines to get up and down the pitch, bringing the rest of the team with them.
Of course we'll have limitations but let's try and push those limits by starting to get away from the type of habits that have seen our standards and ultimately results plummet.
 

Yes, in an ideal world, we would play this way. However, we don’t have the players to do this. We need to make ourselves hard to beat

[BukyOHare]

23 minutes ago, Aufc said:

We need to make ourselves hard to beat

 

Having a lone striker to hold the ball up doesn't necessarily make you hard to beat, you could argue it gives the opposition more of the ball, mainly because the lone striker will battle manfully to hold it up, and lose it generally because he's outnumbered and isolated.

You're then looking at long spells defending and being on the back foot generally.

If we're looking for things to generally improve then we've surely got to get away from the mentality and tactics that's caused the problems in the first place.

Let's harness our natural energy and passion to play with tempo, to be brave on the ball and ultimately cause problems for the opposition in their third of the pitch.

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by BukyOHare

[Scumjob]

On 12/10/2019 at 21:05, DA Baracus said:

McFadden is the guy. Averaged a goal every 3.2 games, same as McCoist.

Kenny Miller is the only other one close with an average of a goal every 3.6 games.

We could do with a partnership like that now!

[Guest DAVIDB69]

Having a lone striker to hold the ball up doesn't necessarily make you hard to beat, you could argue it gives the opposition more of the ball, mainly because the lone striker will battle manfully to hold it up, and lose it generally because he's outnumbered and isolated.
You're then looking at long spells defending and being on the back foot generally.
If we're looking for things to generally improve then we've surely got to get away from the mentality and tactics that's caused the problems in the first place.
Let's harness our natural energy and passion to play with tempo, to be brave on the ball and ultimately cause problems for the opposition in their third of the pitch.
 

This one up front non goal scoring one forward set up has been failing us for years and we will never be any better till we get away from it.

[gonzohiggy]

13 hours ago, DAVIDB69 said:

 

 

This one up front non goal scoring one forward set up has been failing us for years and we will never be any better till we get away from it.

 

 

There's merit in what the OP says. A striker with link up play is very important to most teams especially if you are playing with 1 up front but even with 2. Look how Fletcher brought Fraser, Forrest and Christie into play against Albania and Israel. 

On the other hand a goalscorer would be great too but it can't be a Kris Boyd type as that's detrimental to the overall team dynamic. Mcburnie and Griffiths don't really have the former but Griffiths certainly has the latter.

Shankland could grow into a decent squad player but my hopes are on Hornby. 

[Rabinho]

Another goal tonight for Hornby.

[Bing.McCrosby]

Every time I see Hornby I think he looks like a player. 

He should deff be under consideration soon if he keeps scoring in Belgium.

[Marshmallo]

"Keeps scoring"? He's scored in 2 games.

[Burnie_man]

Griffiths reportedly in line for a start for Celtic today.

[Gordopolis]

"Keeps scoring"? He's scored in 2 games.

3 now.
4 goals in 9 games I think. Not bad. Not amazing either but will be interesting to see how the season pans out for him.