The Dundee United Thread 22/23

[mishtergrolsch]

3 hours ago, arab_joe said:

I still think the guy has, overall, done a great job in difficult times.  But yesterday was a really disappointing, self-inflicted loss of two points at a point in the season where we really should be putting everything into getting into the top 6.  I know that he is cautious, and that has generally worked well, but we are well on course to stay up and were a goal up against a team that has not won a game since 9 January and has not scored since 30 January - going to 5 at the back was embarrassing.

Yeah, I agree hes done very well. He seems very cautious, too cautious at times. Again, he obviously dosent really rate most of the players and will opt for the "don't lose" instead of "go for the win". I hope its just to consolidate this season and we'll see more expansive stuff next season after some of the pish we have is away.

3 hours ago, arab_joe said:

If Connolly is a better option in centre-mid than Hoti then Hoti must be absolutely atrocious...

There's no chance we will find anyone willing to take him off our hands - he is too old, too well paid, too bad at football.  We are stuck with him until 2023.

Depends if we could punt him on loan to someone desperate enough? Or pay something towards his wages at another club? Not ideal but would be better than nothing...

I remember saying all last season that the guy is terrible and we'd struggle with him in the team in the top league. The extension is absolutely fucking mind boggling. Worse than the Reynolds one imo.

Hoti going to Forfar straight away and not getting a single chance here speaks volumes to me. Recruitment has been terrible recently. Connolly isn't the answer to any question other than "who is our worst defender?".

Never thought I'd say this after his first game but Edwards has been very good, particularly when he keeps it simple.

[ArabianKnight]

If we can get another defender in about the same level as Edwards for next season and have Connolly and Reynolds as experienced back up I'm fine with that. 

It's going to be an interesting summer of transfer activity. I reckon we'll end up 7th by the end and that's an absolutely fine position to be in all things considered. To be fair even 10th place and comfortably clear of the play offs wouldn't be the worst. 

As a more general point its going to be insightful on how some clubs budget for the coming season, I wonder if some borrowed from next seasons budget to make some signings this season meaning they won't be doing much business in the coming months

[mishtergrolsch]

1 hour ago, ArabianKnight said:

If we can get another defender in about the same level as Edwards for next season and have Connolly and Reynolds as experienced back up I'm fine with that. 

It's going to be an interesting summer of transfer activity. I reckon we'll end up 7th by the end and that's an absolutely fine position to be in all things considered. To be fair even 10th place and comfortably clear of the play offs wouldn't be the worst. 

As a more general point its going to be insightful on how some clubs budget for the coming season, I wonder if some borrowed from next seasons budget to make some signings this season meaning they won't be doing much business in the coming months

Yeah thats a good point re budgets. Id hope we budgeted for 10th and anything else is a bonus - finishing 7th would be a brilliant season.

I hope we could move King on, Powers will be gone, Pawlett will be gone or on very reduced terms if he's offered another deal. Benji will be sold i assume. Same as Shankland if we get any reasonable bids (although id rather he left on a free if we could have a squad that would get him15/20 goals next season unless we give him what we save on Pawlett wage to extend!). Im sure we could move one or two on.

If we can get anyone to take Harkes and Connolly id be stunned and delighted. 

[ArabianKnight]

39 minutes ago, mishtergrolsch said:

Yeah thats a good point re budgets. Id hope we budgeted for 10th and anything else is a bonus - finishing 7th would be a brilliant season.

I hope we could move King on, Powers will be gone, Pawlett will be gone or on very reduced terms if he's offered another deal. Benji will be sold i assume. Same as Shankland if we get any reasonable bids (although id rather he left on a free if we could have a squad that would get him15/20 goals next season unless we give him what we save on Pawlett wage to extend!). Im sure we could move one or two on.

If we can get anyone to take Harkes and Connolly id be stunned and delighted. 

King, Powers and Pawlett will be definitely gone. Depends on bids for Benji and Shanks but I wouldn't be shocked to see one of them here next season. Either will be pivotal in how United fairs next season and hopefully we retain both. 

Be good to see some properly thought out signings with a defined shape and tactics next year which is positive and attacking rather the doldrums of this season

[invergowrie arab]

Top 6 was always a bit of a pipe dream but would have been a decent chance to get into Europe of the cup isn't going to be completed this season. 

Is Mellon perfect - nuh 

Are we higher up the league than our squad should be - yes 

[Granny Danger]

6 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

Top 6 was always a bit of a pipe dream but would have been a decent chance to get into Europe of the cup isn't going to be completed this season. 

Is Mellon perfect - nuh 

Are we higher up the league than our squad should be - yes 

We have played better football the last four games than we have most of the season, that’s despite shipping 4 to Sevco and probably being second best yesterday.  It’s a pity that it’s taken Mellon so long to figure how to get the best out of the squad, regardless of said squad’s quality.

A top six spot might have been a pipe dream but better use of the players we have earlier in the season could have resulted in just that.  We are 2-3 results away from having achieved top six and at least a dozen games of wrong team selection/formation/tactics.

[ArabianKnight]

28 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

We have played better football the last four games than we have most of the season, that’s despite shipping 4 to Sevco and probably being second best yesterday.  It’s a pity that it’s taken Mellon so long to figure how to get the best out of the squad, regardless of said squad’s quality.

A top six spot might have been a pipe dream but better use of the players we have earlier in the season could have resulted in just that.  We are 2-3 results away from having achieved top six and at least a dozen games of wrong team selection/formation/tactics.

Yeah that's quite the frustration. 

So many draws this season and if being generous a third each could have been a win or a loss. We might have been comfortably top 6 right now. 

[mishtergrolsch]

Thank f**k we are at least in the position to say "ach, top 6 woulda been nice but we've missed out with a game or two to go" rather than "Jesus Christ we're only 2 points off 11th".

[Alert Mongoose]

The only issue I have with Mellon so far is the overbearing propensity to display too much upper chest.  I’m not advocating utilising the top button but there’s a happy medium.

[Ray Patterson]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, if Rangers do us a favour on Saturday, then it gives us a small chance although we'd need to beat both Celtic (unlikely) and Aberdeen (decent chance) and hope that St Mirren only draw against Accies. We also need Saintees to drop a few points as well.

It's a longshot but not a huge amount to lose, we're almost certainly safe now.

[PartyFears2]

Offer on the table for Declan Gallagher. 

[Junior_Arab]

57 minutes ago, PartyFears2 said:

Offer on the table for Declan Gallagher. 

Would be nice, but I’d imagine he’s hoping for better offers than that. 
 

And whilst we’re talking about recruitment, here’s a Guardian article which gives our Indian scouting dept a bit more of a positive spin than the likes of Tom English managed. That story has garnered quite a lot of press given the guy is basically a glorified work experience boy or intern. If he’s half as good at scouting as he seems to be at self promotion he should unearth us a good few gems. 
 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/feb/27/how-data-is-pushing-twitter-scouts-and-bloggers-into-footballs-big-time

Edited February 28, 2021 by Junior_Arab

[mishtergrolsch]

So, bottom 6 beckons really.

Whats the prediction for post split points tally?

I think well end up with 8. 

Win - County, Well 

Draw - Hamilton, Fermers

Lose - Killie

[AmericanFan]

On 27/02/2021 at 15:47, ArabFC said:

Not really sure I understand why they did this if the guy is complete garbage?

[mishtergrolsch]

31 minutes ago, AmericanFan said:

Not really sure I understand why they did this if the guy is complete garbage?

There's an ex agent in charge of recruitment full time. Id imagine hes got contacts across the UK, if not Europe.

The manager has worked in the lower English leagues which are full of talent which has done well for us over the years.

Between them they've thought "Aye, this is a really good idea. We can't get anybody better than this".

Oh, also, we've got some guy working on scouting half way across the world too.

Mental.

[AmericanFan]

1 hour ago, mishtergrolsch said:

There's an ex agent in charge of recruitment full time. Id imagine hes got contacts across the UK, if not Europe.

The manager has worked in the lower English leagues which are full of talent which has done well for us over the years.

Between them they've thought "Aye, this is a really good idea. We can't get anybody better than this".

Oh, also, we've got some guy working on scouting half way across the world too.

Mental.

 

[arab_joe]

19 hours ago, mishtergrolsch said:

Hoti going to Forfar straight away and not getting a single chance here speaks volumes to me.

If Hoti was not good enough to come on when we needed a centre-mid then, quite simply, he should not be taking up a space on our bench.  I thought he was bought with the future in mind, which is fine, but then don't put him on the bench - especially as yesterday must have destroyed his confidence.  I mean, imagine Connolly being chosen to go on instead of you... 

19 hours ago, ArabianKnight said:

If we can get another defender in about the same level as Edwards for next season and have Connolly and Reynolds as experienced back up I'm fine with that. 

I wonder if some borrowed from next seasons budget to make some signings this season meaning they won't be doing much business in the coming months

That would mean four centre-backs on big wages.  Great in an ideal world, but surely given our financial situation we would be far better off using that money elsewhere in the squad?

In relation to the bold wording - if you are subtlely letting us know that we are in for a summer of intense disappointment, then please let us know sooner rather than later so that we can adjust our expectations...  

17 hours ago, mishtergrolsch said:

Yeah thats a good point re budgets. Id hope we budgeted for 10th and anything else is a bonus - finishing 7th would be a brilliant season.

Budgeting for 10th place in the Premiership would have been sensible... so no chance we did that.  I would guess we are paying higher wages than every side outside the Old Firm, Hibs and Aberdeen.

16 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

Are we higher up the league than our squad should be - yes 

Can't argue with that - Saturday's second half was disappointing but good to look at the bigger picture.

16 hours ago, Granny Danger said:

A top six spot might have been a pipe dream but better use of the players we have earlier in the season could have resulted in just that.

The other side of that coin is that worse use of the players earlier in the season could have seen us sitting far, far closer to the bottom of the league...  

9 hours ago, ArabAuslander said:

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, if Rangers do us a favour on Saturday, then it gives us a small chance although we'd need to beat both Celtic (unlikely) and Aberdeen (decent chance) and hope that St Mirren only draw against Accies. We also need Saintees to drop a few points as well.

It's a longshot but not a huge amount to lose, we're almost certainly safe now.

There is 0% chance of us beating both Celtic and Aberdeen.  0%.

St Mirren's ridiculous penalty award, coupled with our ridiculous substitution, have killed that pipe dream.  Now time to ensure that we finish 7th.

5 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

Not really sure I understand why they did this if the guy is complete garbage?

Neither do we.  Neither do we.  Neither do we...

[mishtergrolsch]

2 hours ago, arab_joe said:

Budgeting for 10th place in the Premiership would have been sensible... so no chance we did that.  I would guess we are paying higher wages than every side outside the Old Firm, Hibs and Aberdeen.

Probably true. When I think of it, Shanklands on £65,000 a week (without goal bonus, obvs) and hes not even our highest paid player, Pawlett is allegedly on more than him. Which is alarming.

Connolly, Reynolds, Butcher, Clark, Powers and Harkes won't all be on magic beans either to be fair. And were all signed when we were under Robbie trying to squeeze out the Championship paying idiotic wages for what we got in return (except Sir Shankland).

 

[ArabianKnight]

1 hour ago, mishtergrolsch said:

Probably true. When I think of it, Shanklands on £65,000 a week (without goal bonus, obvs) and hes not even our highest paid player, Pawlett is allegedly on more than him. Which is alarming.

Connolly, Reynolds, Butcher, Clark, Powers and Harkes won't all be on magic beans either to be fair. And were all signed when we were under Robbie trying to squeeze out the Championship paying idiotic wages for what we got in return (except Sir Shankland).

 

Our budget hasn't been stretched cause of Shankland not scoring as often

 

Eta @arab_joe was alluding more to other teams going by what I've heard. 

Edited March 1, 2021 by ArabianKnight

[AmericanFan]

3 hours ago, mishtergrolsch said:

Probably true. When I think of it, Shanklands on £65,000 a week (without goal bonus, obvs) and hes not even our highest paid player, Pawlett is allegedly on more than him. Which is alarming.

Connolly, Reynolds, Butcher, Clark, Powers and Harkes won't all be on magic beans either to be fair. And were all signed when we were under Robbie trying to squeeze out the Championship paying idiotic wages for what we got in return (except Sir Shankland).

 

If Pawlett is making more than £65K a week he is stealing money.