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Who plays centre half in march?


greenockraver

Who Plays Centre Back V Israel?   

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I'd probably stick with McKenna and Gallagher to be honest. What we really need is a partnership and these two could do with striking up a run and who knows maybe Gallagher will have the mentality to step up and do well at international level, some players just do.

What's the point in chopping and changing bang average (or worse) players, let's see how these two go as a partnership for ten games.

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I actually have a radical idea for the play-offs. Hopefully Steve Clarke is a reader.

Two games....two teams.   

We have two very different games to play, very close together. 

The first game we are at home against a team we are better than and should comfortably beat.  We will want to play high up the park, high press etc.

So we will wants CB's who have a bit of pace, who are comfortable playing 50 yards from their goal and can turn and run if they have to when a ball is played in behind. Because we also will dictate possession we want these two to be good on the ball. 

So for me against Israel its Souttar and Cooper. They have the right attributes, Cooper's team play this way very effectively, and Stendel is implementing it at Hearts. 

For the second game, however, its a completely different scenario. We are away from home against a team a bit better than us. We will be playing much deeper, defending round the edge of our box, under more pressure, and have less of the ball.

For this game you would want CB's that are proper defenders, that are good at repelling crosses and winning headers, making blocks and interceptions. The game will be mostly in front of them so less pace is not a big problem, you want disciplined ball-winners with aggression and physicality. So Gallagher and  McKenna are ideal.

You can extrapolate that out throughout the whole team. For example, against Israel you will want a striker who is a goalscorer, natural finisher, poacher etc.  As we will have a lot of the ball and will create chances.  So Shankland is the man.

In the second game its either 1- someone who can play with their back to goal, hold the ball up, take it in to their chest or feet and bring midfielders into play, and is decent in the air, or 2- a whippet with serious legs who can run in behind and be a threat on the break, stretch the opposition and close them down.

Option 1 Fletcher would have been your man but he's done. Naismith has a lot of the necessary attributes but his fitness and effectiveness at the highest level are increasingly questionable. I actually think a good left-field option for this is Ryan Christie, who is a bit of a mixture of 1 and 2 and could potentially do a very good job up top.

The midfield for both games would be different too. For Israel more technical and more offensive players, so, assuming a 4-2-3-1, Fleck and McGregor with McGinn in front of them. Forrest and Fraser wide.

For game two, a midfield of Jack and McTominay if fit, with Armstrong in front (as he would retain possession better than McGinn).

You could even make a case for Robertson v Israel then Tierney, as Tierney is arguably the better defender.  O'Donnel for Israel then Palmer.

All based on hypotheticals re fitness etc. 

The obvious benefit is also we go into the final with a team mostly rested so fresh, unlike our opponents. We could pick a team for both games and the team, or the bulk of it, for game two, could have all week to prepare for the final as we will play the same way whether its Serbia or Norway.

We have two very specific games coming up which we have a lot of time to prepare for and a large pool of players to pick from.  We could feasibly almost pick a different team for each if most of our players were fit. 

Edited by Carnoustie Young Guvnor
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On ‎18‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 10:29, Carnoustie Young Guvnor said:

The hatred some Scotland fans have for McKenna is weird. He's so obviously our best CB it's not even funny.  Do we have any other CB's that EPL clubs are willing to pay £6 million for, or are even interested in?  He's criminally underrated by Scotland fans, he isn't Beckenbauer but a really solid decent option and by far the best we have.

Calm down! would hardly say I'm displaying any hatred!

I'm simply basing it on an opinion after seeing him play for us this campaign And for what its worth, I walked down the street back into Budapest after the game in 2018 arguing that based on his performance that night, it was a case of who partners McKenna....

This year, he was caught and at fault for the goal in Belgium, and along with Souttar was rotten in both Israel and Kazakhstan.... not that I'm saying others haven't been at fault - I'm not. I still like McKenna, I was just more impressed with Gallacher and Cooper in the time I saw them this campaign. Theres not much to be honest between McKenna, Souttar, Findlay, Cooper or Gallacher. Any one of them can go on and shine and make that position their own.

Which EPL team has paid £6m for him anyway? Lots of talk about it, but nobody actually prepared to stump up the cash????

 

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On ‎18‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 13:29, Gordopolis said:

Souttar and McKenna are the pairing with most potential and with time on their side. I want McKenna to prove everyone wrong but he has been badly caught out at least once in most of his caps.
That said, I'd much rather stick with the clear potential in the younger players rather than chopping and changing with guys who are never likely to earn more than a handful of caps or going back to older guys like Mulgrew.

I agree with this, we have defenders there with potential. What we need is for a couple of them to kick on and make the CB position their own. Could we even factor Tierney in to that?

 

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14 hours ago, Carnoustie Young Guvnor said:

I actually have a radical idea for the play-offs. Hopefully Steve Clarke is a reader.

Two games....two teams.   

We have two very different games to play, very close together. 

The first game we are at home against a team we are better than and should comfortably beat.  We will want to play high up the park, high press etc.

So we will wants CB's who have a bit of pace, who are comfortable playing 50 yards from their goal and can turn and run if they have to when a ball is played in behind. Because we also will dictate possession we want these two to be good on the ball. 

So for me against Israel its Souttar and Cooper. They have the right attributes, Cooper's team play this way very effectively, and Stendel is implementing it at Hearts. 

For the second game, however, its a completely different scenario. We are away from home against a team a bit better than us. We will be playing much deeper, defending round the edge of our box, under more pressure, and have less of the ball.

For this game you would want CB's that are proper defenders, that are good at repelling crosses and winning headers, making blocks and interceptions. The game will be mostly in front of them so less pace is not a big problem, you want disciplined ball-winners with aggression and physicality. So Gallagher and  McKenna are ideal.

You can extrapolate that out throughout the whole team. For example, against Israel you will want a striker who is a goalscorer, natural finisher, poacher etc.  As we will have a lot of the ball and will create chances.  So Shankland is the man.

In the second game its either 1- someone who can play with their back to goal, hold the ball up, take it in to their chest or feet and bring midfielders into play, and is decent in the air, or 2- a whippet with serious legs who can run in behind and be a threat on the break, stretch the opposition and close them down.

Option 1 Fletcher would have been your man but he's done. Naismith has a lot of the necessary attributes but his fitness and effectiveness at the highest level are increasingly questionable. I actually think a good left-field option for this is Ryan Christie, who is a bit of a mixture of 1 and 2 and could potentially do a very good job up top.

The midfield for both games would be different too. For Israel more technical and more offensive players, so, assuming a 4-2-3-1, Fleck and McGregor with McGinn in front of them. Forrest and Fraser wide.

For game two, a midfield of Jack and McTominay if fit, with Armstrong in front (as he would retain possession better than McGinn).

You could even make a case for Robertson v Israel then Tierney, as Tierney is arguably the better defender.  O'Donnel for Israel then Palmer.

All based on hypotheticals re fitness etc. 

The obvious benefit is also we go into the final with a team mostly rested so fresh, unlike our opponents. We could pick a team for both games and the team, or the bulk of it, for game two, could have all week to prepare for the final as we will play the same way whether its Serbia or Norway.

We have two very specific games coming up which we have a lot of time to prepare for and a large pool of players to pick from.  We could feasibly almost pick a different team for each if most of our players were fit. 

you need to play your best team against Israel, get through that, then pick your best team for playing in the final once we are there. Games are 5 days apart. should be no issues with fitness. What you are doing is picking a team for the final before we even get there. Its a semi final and a final. Not 2 friendlies.

Best team available plays in the semi. Best team plays in the final, if we get there.

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I get the argument for establishing a long term partnership and McKenna and Souttar seem the most likely options for this given their ages and respective skill sets but we are two games away from a spot at Euro 2020 here. All the focus should be on getting through these two games and Clarke should be picking the two CB’s he thinks gives us the best shot of doing that.

If we get papped out them by all means start building for the longer term but for now the sole focus should be getting through these playoffs whether that means picking Hanley, Gallagher, McKenna, Cooper or whoever else.

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On 20/01/2020 at 15:15, GhostZapper said:

you need to play your best team against Israel, get through that, then pick your best team for playing in the final once we are there. Games are 5 days apart. should be no issues with fitness. What you are doing is picking a team for the final before we even get there. Its a semi final and a final. Not 2 friendlies.

Best team available plays in the semi. Best team plays in the final, if we get there.

But our best team isn't the same team for both games. 

They are different games with different demands, we have a bunch of players who are very similar in standard but a little different in style.

Its logical to then pick the ones whose style suit each game.  Against Israel we would want completely different defenders as in the second game, as its a completely different game. 

So Souttar and Cooper suit the Israel game very well, but McKenna and Gallagher suit the second game much better.

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22 hours ago, Carnoustie Young Guvnor said:

But our best team isn't the same team for both games. 

They are different games with different demands, we have a bunch of players who are very similar in standard but a little different in style.

Its logical to then pick the ones whose style suit each game.  Against Israel we would want completely different defenders as in the second game, as its a completely different game. 

So Souttar and Cooper suit the Israel game very well, but McKenna and Gallagher suit the second game much better.

We only have 1 game at the moment. Pick the best starting 11 to get us through that game, then if we have a final, lets worry about that when it comes!

 

I note you didn't pick McKenna for your nest team for the semi either.... after that outburst about being our best defender.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Caulker doing alright still.

Last 7 league games his team have won 5, drawn 1 and lost 1 game and sit 4th in league ( highest ever position).

Seems to be having a good season

Sure it was CraigKillie was having a small debate with about him. I'm sure the scouts will have been looking at his good progress...

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Caulker would be worth a look but for the next campaign. 
For these games coming up I'm now leaning towards Hanley and McKenna at the back, as long as Hanley keeps getting regular game time at Norwich.
I think they're the best we have available right now, and they're not shite they're half decent.

Hanley must be in Clarke’s thoughts and he’s playing at a high level but it’d be pretty harsh on Gallagher after his decent display in the last double header.
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