arab_joe Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 21 hours ago, Steven W said: Robbie faces a wee dilemma after the last two matches - what to do with Butcher / Connolly / Harkes. A good problem to have no doubt, but we've definitely looked a better side with Harkes in the middle, and Butcher at CH (or maybe just having Connolly out the side all together). As the dust settles on Friday night's game work of art, I don't think it is the sort of game that we should read too far into - although Butcher and Harkes both played really well, personally I would continue with Reynolds (who, it has to be said, was outstanding on Friday night) and Connolly at centre half. Although Connolly looks uncomfortable at times, our defensive record since the pair starting playing together is excellent. 21 hours ago, ArabFC said: This is the thing, everyone was worried about the tough start we had - if we can beat Ayr (a) next, then the 3 fixtures after that give us a golden chance to basically rip the league apart... Arbroath (h), Morton (h), Alloa (a) http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/scot_prem/7155388.stm - this is Dundee United! We have always put in better performances against big teams than we have against lessor opposition... I would be astonished if we take 9 points from those 3 games. 6 hours ago, Jock Tamson said: Seriously, who's going to stop us? The only club that can stop it happening is us. You've answered your own question - us. Friday night (/Saturday morning with the time difference here) was an absolute pleasure to watch. Although I thought we played poorly in a couple of spells (the first 20 minutes and the 20 minutes after half time) we rode our luck and overall had some outstanding performers - Butcher, McMullan, Pawlett, Appere could all have got MOTM in my eyes. Here's hoping we can keep the momentum going! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Friday night was great fun and we’ve had a great start to the season but talk about winning the league at this point in the season is crazy. A win for Ayr in the next round on their home ground would see them on level points. The one positive thing is that Neilson has now accepted that we need to playing in a more attacking formation and I am very heartened and encouraged by that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumigoo Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 3 hours ago, Granny Danger said: Friday night was great fun and we’ve had a great start to the season but talk about winning the league at this point in the season is crazy. A win for Ayr in the next round on their home ground would see them on level points. The one positive thing is that Neilson has now accepted that we need to playing in a more attacking formation and I am very heartened and encouraged by that. Agree, apart from a few remaining bits of mockery (for many tomorrow morning at work will be fun) we will quickly have the next league game upon us, albeit with a two week gap. The break is a good and bad thing but the Ayr match is huge. I would accept a draw against them given our league start and that we would still be top, however we are more than capable of winning. I'm intrigued to see if Neilson's tactics remain the same or begin to change slightly given that we have a small cushion this early on. I hope he continues in the same way and I would like to think that having Appere/Sow and Clark/Shankland will provide us with enough to keep two strikers on the pitch at all times. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 8 minutes ago, stumigoo said: Agree, apart from a few remaining bits of mockery (for many tomorrow morning at work will be fun) we will quickly have the next league game upon us, albeit with a two week gap. The break is a good and bad thing but the Ayr match is huge. I would accept a draw against them given our league start and that we would still be top, however we are more than capable of winning. I'm intrigued to see if Neilson's tactics remain the same or begin to change slightly given that we have a small cushion this early on. I hope he continues in the same way and I would like to think that having Appere/Sow and Clark/Shankland will provide us with enough to keep two strikers on the pitch at all times. If Neilson starts going more defensive I think there would be a lot of pissed off Arabs. I really don’t think he will, what we’ve achieved so far is a result of positive attacking football and he will know this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mishtergrolsch Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Just now, Granny Danger said: If Neilson starts going more defensive I think there would be a lot of pissed off Arabs. I really don’t think he will, what we’ve achieved so far is a result of positive attacking football and he will know this. If Neilson goes back to his defensive shenanigans then our lead at the top will crumble faster than our defence when Connolly plays. If we continue to play fast, direct football with 2 strikers and 2 wingers, like alot of folk have been banging on about for years, then we have the potential to pump this league into submission by the end of the January window. Which will be handy because Barca will swoop for 60 goal Shankland by then. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumigoo Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 (edited) The dynamics of the squad mean that you would assume Neilson will stick to the current style. We have enough going forward to use two strikers every week and hopefully now that he has seen how well the team can cope against some of the toughest sides in the division it will hopefully breed confidence in him to stick to his guns. My big thing will be how we approach games that we are definitely expected to win and against sides who will sit in. Every team we have faced so far has come out to attack us in spells but we will face some teams this season who will be happy sit in. Edited September 1, 2019 by stumigoo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loemba90 Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Seen elsewhere that Michael Devlin from Aberdeen is rumoured to be a target 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumigoo Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 If we have a bit of budget left then I personally wouldn’t have a central defender near the top of my list. I hope we are looking at a left sided midfielder but beyond that I’m not sure we need much else at the moment. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 31 minutes ago, stumigoo said: If we have a bit of budget left then I personally wouldn’t have a central defender near the top of my list. I hope we are looking at a left sided midfielder but beyond that I’m not sure we need much else at the moment. It might be that after a dozen games you’ll change your mind. If our only/best option is dropping back Butcher then we will be getting stretched thin. Is King going to be another Sporle? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mishtergrolsch Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 I'd say a centre half should be near the top of the list. Connolly is an angry Rhino of a boy and will pick up cards willy nilly. Butcher is, as seen in the demolition derby, much calmer, composed and better on the ball. But I prefer him in midfield. So I'd be saying a centre half please. I also think King will be the next Sporle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dundee Hibernian Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 There have been quite substantial spells in three of the four league games so far where the team has dropped out of the match, especially at Firhill, so I'd think United fans shouldn't be too cocky about having the league sewn up this early. I have concerns about the defence, especially Connolly and Siegrist, and the lack of cover there. I'll admit Siegrist has improved but still is prone to errors of judgement, while Connolly has never looked consistently good enough after his promising debut against Morton. Any additions should be prioritised as defensive, unless a player is offered on loan who is so much better than what we presently have in midfield or up front. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Szamo's_Ammo Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 I'd like us to sign a left back but I can't see it happening. Although no horror shows so far this season, Robson is unconvincing still and Sporle appears to be a dud. I think we'll reach agreement with Aird so he can move across the road. Hopefully get Frans off the wage bill too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 1 minute ago, Szamo's_Ammo said: I'd like us to sign a left back but I can't see it happening. Although no horror shows so far this season, Robson is unconvincing still and Sporle appears to be a dud. I think we'll reach agreement with Aird so he can move across the road. Hopefully get Frans off the wage bill too. I can see no reason to criticise Robson so far; I certainly can agree with an ‘unconvincing’ tag. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArabFC Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 36 minutes ago, Granny Danger said: I can see no reason to criticise Robson so far; I certainly can agree with an ‘unconvincing’ tag. As someone who was never convinced by Robson, the way he is playing at the moment is easily good enough for us at this level. Connolly is a bombscare imho, but, the next centre-back we buy needs to be someone who is good enough to play in the Premiership - if we have to wait until January or even the summer, so be it. We still need a left-sided winger - sure we have other square-peg options there - but if we're going to keep playing an attacking brand of football which is serving us well, we need options for when say McMullan/Pawlett get injured, which is hardly unlikely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 5 minutes ago, ArabFC said: As someone who was never convinced by Robson, the way he is playing at the moment is easily good enough for us at this level. Connolly is a bombscare imho, but, the next centre-back we buy needs to be someone who is good enough to play in the Premiership - if we have to wait until January or even the summer, so be it. We still need a left-sided winger - sure we have other square-peg options there - but if we're going to keep playing an attacking brand of football which is serving us well, we need options for when say McMullan/Pawlett get injured, which is hardly unlikely. Yeah, I was very critical of Robson but the lad seems to have got his act together and is working really hard. No reason to replace him. A left sided player that can offer what McMullan does on the right would be excellent, so long as Neilson doesn’t try to shoehorn in Pawlett and change the 4-4-2. BTW who would have thought that Appere would look such an important player for us. Absolutely delighted with his start to the season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacArab Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 21 minutes ago, ArabFC said: As someone who was never convinced by Robson, the way he is playing at the moment is easily good enough for us at this level. Connolly is a bombscare imho, but, the next centre-back we buy needs to be someone who is good enough to play in the Premiership - if we have to wait until January or even the summer, so be it. We still need a left-sided winger - sure we have other square-peg options there - but if we're going to keep playing an attacking brand of football which is serving us well, we need options for when say McMullan/Pawlett get injured, which is hardly unlikely. Yip. Couldn't agree more. We became immeasurably better on Friday once Connolly went off, and Butcher dropped back. He is hot headed and unconvincing, which to me is not a good combination for a defender. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mishtergrolsch Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 14 minutes ago, Granny Danger said: Yeah, I was very critical of Robson but the lad seems to have got his act together and is working really hard. No reason to replace him. A left sided player that can offer what McMullan does on the right would be excellent, so long as Neilson doesn’t try to shoehorn in Pawlett and change the 4-4-2. BTW who would have thought that Appere would look such an important player for us. Absolutely delighted with his start to the season. Appere is showing the young lads how to go about making it in football. Hopefully Banks is taking note, if the rumours are true, of course. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loemba90 Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 4 hours ago, Loemba90 said: Seen elsewhere that Michael Devlin from Aberdeen is rumoured to be a target Just seen Devlin has been called up to the Scotland squad so safe to assume this is bollocks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Szamo's_Ammo Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Appere has been excellent. Calm and composed and has the strength to hold off players and get us up the park. Great partner for Shankland. What a finish on Friday as well! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaspianChris Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 7 minutes ago, mishtergrolsch said: Hopefully Banks is taking note, if the rumours are true, of course. What is the rumour about Banks? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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