January 2024 Transfer Window

[RicoS321]

4 hours ago, Panda said:

Semantics darling. My point still stands.

You can't say he has great awareness when he clearly lacks it, is too lazy / lacks the desire to track back, and is part of a defence where only two Premiership teams have conceded more league goals this season.

Jury still out on him I'd say.

He's very good when the midfield in front does it's job. As part of a back five, he should have licence to get forward and have the expectation that someone will cover in behind, either in the shape of Devlin, or one of the midfielders, or Rubezic stepping across if numbers permit. In the games where we've been set up like a serious football team, rather than some weird Robson conceptual project, he's generally held his position well and dominated his opponent.

[tlg1903]

5 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

He's very good when the midfield in front does it's job. As part of a back five, he should have licence to get forward and have the expectation that someone will cover in behind, either in the shape of Devlin, or one of the midfielders, or Rubezic stepping across if numbers permit. In the games where we've been set up like a serious football team, rather than some weird Robson conceptual project, he's generally held his position well and dominated his opponent.

Aye, Gartenmann is probably our best cb to my eye.  

[redordead]

On 31/12/2023 at 09:41, OrlandoDon said:

My regular window post, Mikey Johnson please, the next Niall mcginn. 
would love to see this window used to get us back to 4 at the back and play with two wingers again. Problem is, no clue what we are trying to do. Formation and style of play are shit. Tough to build around absolute bollocks when I don’t buy into the bollocks.

how was baccus yesterday??

I've thought this would be a good move for the last couple of seasons. He needs to get out of the fringes and get the chance to establish himself. 

[Jute]

Liam Harvey released to join Buckie Thistle. There was a lot of talk of him being a top prospect not that long ago. 
 

 

[BigAl]

21 minutes ago, Jute said:

Liam Harvey released to join Buckie Thistle. There was a lot of talk of him being a top prospect not that long ago. 
 

 

Wow, that's a strange one.

I thought the club's hopes for Harvey were higher than Alfie Bavidge.

Maybe one of those who requires to take a step backwards to take two forward.

[RicoS321]

22 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Wow, that's a strange one.

I thought the club's hopes for Harvey were higher than Alfie Bavidge.

Maybe one of those who requires to take a step backwards to take two forward.

Nah. Harvey played a couple of games (sub) under Glass, and maybe one sub under Goodwin in the league cup. Bavidge had already moved ahead of him at that point. Didn't really excite in his brief appearances in the way some young players do, looked a little slow and obviously not physically up to it at that point. 

That said, Bavidge is also a long way from ready too, but he did score in Aberdeen at the weekend at least.

[Panda]

 

[Panda]

 

This one might make everyone nervous.

Don't do it Barry.

[BigAl]

49 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

Nah. Harvey played a couple of games (sub) under Glass, and maybe one sub under Goodwin in the league cup. Bavidge had already moved ahead of him at that point. Didn't really excite in his brief appearances in the way some young players do, looked a little slow and obviously not physically up to it at that point. 

That said, Bavidge is also a long way from ready too, but he did score in Aberdeen at the weekend at least.

A goal, drugs or a woman ?

[BigAl]

40 minutes ago, Panda said:

 

Seems a bit drastic, decapitating him Panda

[wee toon red]

Dadia confirmed as being away back to his parent club.

[Jute]

38 minutes ago, wee toon red said:

Dadia confirmed as being away back to his parent club.

His 45 minutes at Charlton was unbelievably bad. Looked like he had never played the game before. At least only a loan so no real harm done. 
 

Would like to see us get another right back in as cover for Devlin. 

[tlg1903]

1 hour ago, Jute said:

His 45 minutes at Charlton was unbelievably bad. Looked like he had never played the game before. At least only a loan so no real harm done. 
 

Would like to see us get another right back in as cover for Devlin. 

I'm quite happy with Milne there 2bh Jute 

[OrlandoDon]

3 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

I'm quite happy with Milne there 2bh Jute 

We’re talking back up until the summer at worst, I’d say Milne or gartenmann are good enough there. The excitement of Richardson returning in June too, will be like a new signing.
I actually think gartenmann could be pretty good out wide from what I’ve seen, with ruby macdonald and Jensen in the middle, plus Mackenzie can play left center if needed. Think we still need to prioritize the midfield. My weekly mikey Johnson shout now with Celtic signing another winger…..

[Jute]

8 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

I'm quite happy with Milne there 2bh Jute 

Milne is not really a right back though. He  looks more a midfielder to me and it was where Kelty played him on loan last season. Looked really good there in game I saw him 
 

Gartenmann definitely could play there but I would rather see him as one of centre backs whether that is in a 4 or a 5. 
 

We have space to get in an actual right back until the summer and would rather we got in someone in who’s usual main position is right back rather the shoe horning someone in to a position that is not their usual role. 

[Jute]

5 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

We’re talking back up until the summer at worst, I’d say Milne or gartenmann are good enough there. The excitement of Richardson returning in June too, will be like a new signing.
I actually think gartenmann could be pretty good out wide from what I’ve seen, with ruby macdonald and Jensen in the middle, plus Mackenzie can play left center if needed. Think we still need to prioritize the midfield. My weekly mikey Johnson shout now with Celtic signing another winger…..

Meant to say in original post that I don’t disagree that midfield should be priority although would think first we would be looking for is filling the Ramadani role before getting in a winger although we do need better wide options than we currently have. 

[RicoS321]

55 minutes ago, Jute said:

Meant to say in original post that I don’t disagree that midfield should be priority although would think first we would be looking for is filling the Ramadani role before getting in a winger although we do need better wide options than we currently have. 

I don't think we need to fill the Ramadani hole, and a large part of me hopes that we don't. The Ramadani hole is completely of Robson's own making. You simply change setup, as he has maybe now done, and the hole vanishes. Another Ramadani in means reverting to the failed formation and hoping that the new recruit actually is another Ramadani and not another Gueye, Morris etc, etc.

I'd look for width. Other than that, risk sticking with what we've got until summer, unless we lose a player.

[RicoS321]

Probably time to review the season's signings again though. 

Doohan - not let in a single goal. Success

Jensen - solid enough signing, a bit underwhelming in all areas. Not nearly as good as Scales or Considine. Jury's out

Rubezic - aggressive and has some good qualities. Will be interesting to see if the mistakes can be ironed out with age. Jury's out.

Gartenmann - some great games. Suffers when setup is shite. Success

Williams - is that his name? Fail

Dadia - fail

Devlin - success (as he was always going to be, known entity)

McGrath - success (when played correctly, as expected)

Sokler - He has some fantastic attributes such as pace and movement. Dives around too much and is a bit weak, but those are areas that can be easily improved. Jury's out (probably success)

Gueye - fire into the moon - fail

Is that everyone? Not including the signings from last season of course. If so, about a third success rate. Maybe 40% if we include Sokler as a success. About the same success rate as McInnes was getting that he was regularly (correctly) chastised for. It does seem this recruitment thing isn't as easy as folk make out. 

 

[wee toon red]

Mikey Johnston would be a good signing if it was permanent and not another loan. I don't think it's realistic though as he's an international and I reckon would get offered more money elsewhere.

If we go to four at the back permanently then I don't think we need a right back as we've an abundance of centre backs, so using Gartenmann and Milne to cover for Devlin should be fine. Not like we've got too many games where we'd need to rotate the team either.

As Rico says, width is what we need if we're going 4-5-1 from now on.

[Jute]

Still not convinced Robson will come away from the 5. If he does then accept that we are not needing a replacement for the Ramadani role and need to get width but given Robson’s comments after County game I am not convinced he will not revert to the formation he has used for most of the season. 
 

 

[tlg1903]

 

1 hour ago, Jute said:

Still not convinced Robson will come away from the 5. If he does then accept that we are not needing a replacement for the Ramadani role and need to get width but given Robson’s comments after County game I am not convinced he will not revert to the formation he has used for most of the season. 
 

 

Perhaps but thats the first time I can remember him starting with the back 4 since he took over.  Given it worked really well and he does tend to stick with a team that has won I would be surprised if he switched.  Obviously the 2 weeks off are a bit of a curve ball though. 

 

Fwiw I don't think it's a bad thing to be able to switch between a 3 and a 4 depending on who you are playing.  Some seem to be forgetting a back 3 has worked very well for us at times this season, particularly in Europe, and was hugely effective domestically last season in getting us into Europe. Robson has consistently mentioned how little time he has had on the training pitch with the squad.  Now he's just had a week with them it makes it all the more interesting to see which formation he goes with and how good the team looks as a result. 

[RicoS321]

2 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

 

Perhaps but thats the first time I can remember him starting with the back 4 since he took over.  Given it worked really well and he does tend to stick with a team that has won I would be surprised if he switched.  Obviously the 2 weeks off are a bit of a curve ball though. 

 

Fwiw I don't think it's a bad thing to be able to switch between a 3 and a 4 depending on who you are playing.  Some seem to be forgetting a back 3 has worked very well for us at times this season, particularly in Europe, and was hugely effective domestically last season in getting us into Europe. Robson has consistently mentioned how little time he has had on the training pitch with the squad.  Now he's just had a week with them it makes it all the more interesting to see which formation he goes with and how good the team looks as a result. 

Absolutely. I would expect, and agree with, the five coming out for the Tims. Personnel wise it's not too different, but you'd probably choose one of Barron or Clarkson in order for the same success we saw in some European games. It shouldn't be a five though, it should be more like a three, that's where we saw benefit when it worked, when McKenzie and Devlin played a bit higher and there were two sitting midfielders to cover them sideways. A 3-4-2-1 basically. You could fit Clarkson higher up and Barron sitting, but I think that Polvara suits the high up role as part of a two better. 

Either way, the key in my opinion is to have the two sitting at all times (unless chasing a game). That brings out the best in our midfielders and allows the most combinations of personnel. 

Of course that might slightly change if Barron goes, but I still think the personnel that remain suit the two sitting better.

[tlg1903]

Just watched the pre match pressers with Robson and Roos.  Points of note for me were we are probably in talks with at least one player andbarron  and Roos potentially could  re-sign but they are wanting to see what else is available before they do.  I would say Barron more likely than Roos

[OrlandoDon]

On 18/01/2024 at 04:34, wee toon red said:

Mikey Johnston would be a good signing if it was permanent and not another loan. I don't think it's realistic though as he's an international and I reckon would get offered more money elsewhere.

If we go to four at the back permanently then I don't think we need a right back as we've an abundance of centre backs, so using Gartenmann and Milne to cover for Devlin should be fine. Not like we've got too many games where we'd need to rotate the team either.

As Rico says, width is what we need if we're going 4-5-1 from now on.

I’d say the same argument for Johnson here could have been had for Niall mcginn? I’d also compare it to Ryan Christie in a way, could be very good for us if we’d spend a little. He’ll do well for us and a loan here would in turn put him out our price range like Christie (if it hasn’t already).

also interesting, he has 8 caps for ROI. Jamie McGrath has 12. I think this would be a really good signing for us.

Edited January 19 by OrlandoDon

[RicoS321]

1 hour ago, OrlandoDon said:

I’d say the same argument for Johnson here could have been had for Niall mcginn? I’d also compare it to Ryan Christie in a way, could be very good for us if we’d spend a little. He’ll do well for us and a loan here would in turn put him out our price range like Christie (if it hasn’t already).

also interesting, he has 8 caps for ROI. Jamie McGrath has 12. I think this would be a really good signing for us.

The Tims will be wanting close to seven figures for Johnston. He's contracted until 2026. Undoubtedly a good player, but the only way he'll be coming here is on loan. Hopefully the previous burnings of Christie and Scales will put us off this.