January 2024 Transfer Window

[Jute]

8 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

I actually like sokler and would like him given a chance until the end of the season if miovski were to be a January departure.

2.5 mil for duk, would totally jump at that. Although, euros or pounds, and what’s the difference?!??

About £2.1m. Also from memory there is a sell on agreement with Benfica that is quite substantial. 
 

I agree with your comments on Sokler. There is a player in there just needs game time. 

[Elgindon]

Be slightly gutted if Duk goes,for entertainment value and the fact we'd be unlikely to see more than £1.5m,along with the Miovski uncertainty(seen another Celtic mention ).Almost as well keeping him to the end of his contract,unless a silly offer comes in.

   Also wouldnt be averse to giving Morris more game time if the current formation/confidence continues, to see if theres something more about him

Edited January 4 by Elgindon

[OrlandoDon]

37 minutes ago, Elgindon said:

Be slightly gutted if Duk goes,for entertainment value and the fact we'd be unlikely to see more than £1.5m,along with the Miovski uncertainty(seen another Celtic mention ).Almost as well keeping him to the end of his contract,unless a silly offer comes in.

   Also wouldnt be averse to giving Morris more game time if the current formation/confidence continues, to see if theres something more about him

You and I are usually pretty much in line so I’ll assume you’ve still got a new years buzz. Would rather watch morris dancing. Right mid a January priority, I’d even rather see Richardson recalled and him or devlin at right mid before morris. 

[Jute]

Richardson can’t get a game for Stockport in league 2 in England. Really hope we never see him play in a Dons shirt again. Wide right player is definitely something we should be looking at this window as Morris isn’t good enough either. 

[Elgindon]

38 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

You and I are usually pretty much in line so I’ll assume you’ve still got a new years buzz. Would rather watch morris dancing. Right mid a January priority, I’d even rather see Richardson recalled and him or devlin at right mid before morris. 

    As someone(me) who accused Robson of being intelligent,fair chance you end up being right about Morris. But I'm basing my opinion on the fact most of the team/tactics have been pretty shite most of the season,so maybe unreasonable to write off anyone yet,and the fact brighter football might still be enough to tease something more out of him,....if there is anything else to tease out

Edited January 4 by Elgindon

[RicoS321]

I wouldn't mind Duk leaving. I'd rather that than the fans started to turn on him. I don't think we have the resources to deal with a player like Duk when we need points and performances. He'd be a fantastic asset off the bench, but a couple of good performances and he'd be back in the team where we end up having to switch tactics to accommodate him. If we had a really top class left back, we could probably afford to play him on the left, but we don't. He's better off elsewhere, making cameos for someone else unfortunately. He's been entertaining and frustrating.

[RicoS321]

23 minutes ago, Elgindon said:

    As someone(me) who accused Robson of being intelligent,fair chance you end up being right about Morris. But I'm basing my opinion on the fact most of the team/tactics have been pretty shite most of the season,so maybe unreasonable to write off anyone yet,and the fact brighter football might still be enough to tease something more out of him,....if there is anything else to tease out

Morris' biggest issue is his cowardliness (I don't mean it in a bad way, just can't think of a better description). He doesn't do the  driving runs to the byline that Hayes used to do. He kicks the ball, hesitates, then does his run. He doesn't show for the ball, and he doesn't make runs that will lead to him getting the ball in dangerous areas. He doesn't have the skill of a Niall McGinn, where he can leave a guy on his arse either, so if he's not got the beating of a defender for pace, he's basically fucked. He's also not got a huge potential beyond what he's already shown. The attributes that he's missing - skill and strength - aren't likely to take him to the next level. He's currently a poor man's Matty Kennedy, and his ceiling is probably Matty Kennedy. Matty Kennedy wasn't terrible though, just that we should be looking for better. I'd rather we gave any Morris minutes to Duncan. Duncan has physical attributes that could probably give him a higher ceiling and is still young enough that his confidence can be built over time. I'm not sure he'll make it either, but is certainly a better project. Ideally we minimise the number of guys we have hanging around the squad who aren't at the required level, as inevitably we'll buy more guys who also aren't at the required level. McInnes was quite bad for building up crap in the squad. I'd be happy to see players like Morris and McGarry moved on in the summer, with Hayes moving into coaching. Keep it lean and try and take through youth (like Milne for instance) to make up the numbers. Polvara and McKenzie should be the level we're currently aiming for with our squad players, both more than capable of holding down a position if required, whilst maybe not being part of an ideal first eleven (McKenzie is at the moment of course).

 

Edit: also, we should look to use the winter break to leave Gueye on an uninhabited island somewhere too.

Edited January 4 by RicoS321

[Panda]

Besuijen is a better player than Morris.

And you all know it.

[Jute]

2 hours ago, Panda said:

Besuijen is a better player than Morris.

And you all know it.

Don’t disagree which makes you wonder what he’s done to be so far out of the picture. 
 

 

[RicoS321]

4 hours ago, Panda said:

Besuijen is a better player than Morris.

And you all know it.

I don't think either are particularly good. Besuijen reminds me of Jeffrey De Visscher. Technically good and composed, but easy to brush off the ball, and lacking in any pace to get away from a player. He's a level below what we're looking for too.

[Panda]

Klopp on Rhys Williams:-

I will have to talk with him about why his loan spell didn’t work out, that was obviously different and the boy I know I would expect to play in Scotland, 100 per cent, from the first to the last second if it is not Celtic or Rangers where it is always slightly different, and he didn’t. 

“I will have to talk to him about that and I didn’t do that yet, but it will happen, definitely, and then we will see what’s the outcome of that conversation.”

[tlg1903]

Past few games that Morris has come on in he hasn't been awful by any stretch, he also seems to be the only wide player we have that consistently goes for the by-line and I would play him over Vinny at the moment 2bh.  Vinny is an odd player, it's really hard to say what his best position is.  I would say he is better in the center than out wide, he's not exactly rapid and he couldn't skin a potato. 

The Duk to young boys rumour is interesting.  Benefica have 50% of any fee and he's only got 18 months left.  If we got 1.5 mill for him (as in a 3 mill fee) I would see that as pretty decent business but I wouldn't be disappointed if we kept him either though. Swiss league doesn't seem a huge step up but he will get a shot at CL football most likely so he would probably want to go. 

 

 

[OrlandoDon]

3 hours ago, RicoS321 said:

I don't think either are particularly good. Besuijen reminds me of Jeffrey De Visscher. Technically good and composed, but easy to brush off the ball, and lacking in any pace to get away from a player. He's a level below what we're looking for too.

100% vinnie is not suited to the wing back role with a back 3, he’s an attacking wide player, maybe even a 10, but if we play 4-2-3-1 I think he could be useful ahead of devlin or maybe Mackenzie. Think there’s talent there but we’ll never know exactly what happened between him and Robson. I’d take vinnie over morris, that’s for sure.

[RicoS321]

50 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

100% vinnie is not suited to the wing back role with a back 3, he’s an attacking wide player, maybe even a 10, but if we play 4-2-3-1 I think he could be useful ahead of devlin or maybe Mackenzie. Think there’s talent there but we’ll never know exactly what happened between him and Robson. I’d take vinnie over morris, that’s for sure.

I misread that and thought you were suggesting he play at fullback! You're right, he can't be relied on to be a wing back, and a 4-2-3-1 is definitely his best formation. He played number ten in one of Glass' teams from memory and he did okay. He's definitely got talent, I just think it's in the same way Cammy Smith did, at a level below. Between him and Morris, to be honest I don't care, and if one has a bad attitude and the other doesn't, then that probably sways it. I think it was as long ago as the Atlanta trip that Besuijen was frozen out, so I think it even precedes Robson. He was shiter than Matty Kennedy in my opinion anyway.

Edited January 5 by RicoS321

[BigAl]

Findlay Marshall off to Edinburgh City on loan until end of the season.

[OrlandoDon]

Vinnie is only 22, I think there is potential there if used correctly. Matty had peaked in my opinion and we saw what he had, not that much. Morris is just fast, not much else to say there, Rico is pretty accurate in his thoughts re morris.

see McKenna linked to both rangers and Celtic. Would obviously hope he doesn’t go to either but ultimately just want him to sign for anyone for a fee than end up getting nothing from a pre contract and summer move. We got nothing for Fraser, obvious don’t want to miss out again.

[SeeBass]

Can I play Devil Advocate and ask what do we do if both Bojan and Duk leave this window?

I'd be heartbroken to see these two go but I'd rather them both go at same time than one or the other.  I need them to see out the season together or not at all.

If they do leave will it be a case of hoping a Kevin Van Veen can fill in for rest of season with Ester Sokler and maybe another coming in on loan to tide us over til Summer?

[Jute]

2 hours ago, SeeBass said:

Can I play Devil Advocate and ask what do we do if both Bojan and Duk leave this window?

I'd be heartbroken to see these two go but I'd rather them both go at same time than one or the other.  I need them to see out the season together or not at all.

If they do leave will it be a case of hoping a Kevin Van Veen can fill in for rest of season with Ester Sokler and maybe another coming in on loan to tide us over til Summer?

Would like to think we would have someone else lined up as a permanent replacement if both left as it has always been a possibility that we could get bids for both that could not be turned down. 
 

As said above I like Sokler and would like to see him get more game time so if only one was to leave I would like to see him get a chance. 
 

If both leave we definitely need a replacement to come in as we cannot rely on Gueye on evidence so far. 

[OrlandoDon]

8 minutes ago, Jute said:

Would like to think we would have someone else lined up as a permanent replacement if both left as it has always been a possibility that we could get bids for both that could not be turned down. 
 

As said above I like Sokler and would like to see him get more game time so if only one was to leave I would like to see him get a chance. 
 

If both leave we definitely need a replacement to come in as we cannot rely on Gueye on evidence so far. 

I’d say sokler is the direct replacement for miovski. At least he should be given until the summer to show he’s capable. As for duk, selling him is intriguing as, as he’s been stated many times, he was the main cause of the whole 3 at the back, we changed an entire system to get him in the team when he did well but we found out he’s not a wide player. Losing him gives us the opportunity to really look for a wide player, left or right, and go back to 4 at the back and hopefully 4-2-3-1. Even 4-3-2-1 if we don’t get wide players in this window, McGrath and one other playing off sokler in that case.
Agree with whoever said it, Mikey johnson scoring twice the other week gave Celtic something to think about, plus maybe put him on the radar for clubs, but I still see him as what we need. Possibly Rocco vata too??

random one and nothing to do with these two, max Lowe is out of contract this summer, worth a look?? Can we afford his wages? I know we’re now trying to sign youngsters and sell them on for profit, but he’s one I would take back and he’s only 27.

[RicoS321]

23 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

I’d say sokler is the direct replacement for miovski. At least he should be given until the summer to show he’s capable. As for duk, selling him is intriguing as, as he’s been stated many times, he was the main cause of the whole 3 at the back, we changed an entire system to get him in the team when he did well but we found out he’s not a wide player. Losing him gives us the opportunity to really look for a wide player, left or right, and go back to 4 at the back and hopefully 4-2-3-1. Even 4-3-2-1 if we don’t get wide players in this window, McGrath and one other playing off sokler in that case.
Agree with whoever said it, Mikey johnson scoring twice the other week gave Celtic something to think about, plus maybe put him on the radar for clubs, but I still see him as what we need. Possibly Rocco vata too??

random one and nothing to do with these two, max Lowe is out of contract this summer, worth a look?? Can we afford his wages? I know we’re now trying to sign youngsters and sell them on for profit, but he’s one I would take back and he’s only 27.

Think both Tims are well out of our range. Pretty certain the Tims are wanting to keep Vata, but clubs in the EPL are trying to get him. Lowe would be a great signing, but I'm guessing that he'll be miles out of our reach, given he's still getting minutes in the EPL.

[SeeBass]

Should maybe go after those two who are tearing it up together at Peterborough United Jonson Clarke-Harris and Ephron Mason-Clark!! 

[Jute]

Not sure those two have really scored enough to be on our radar. 

[tlg1903]

Defo don't want Van Veen.  Seen that movie too many times, one good season does not make an ageing striker worth a big contract. 

[Barcosente]

It's clear as day that although many in the Dons support didn't fully appreciate him, there is a large Ramadani sized hole in the Dons midfield.

 

To replace him is to resolve a large part of the issue in that part of the team.

 

Also, as much as Duk has been a part of any Dons success in the last 18 months, he has also been part of some mediocre or terrible team performances.

 

If we achieve any fee over 3 millions for him, that would be a good outcome.

Over to the manager and the board to make their next move.

[wokinginashearerwonderland]

23 hours ago, SeeBass said:

Can I play Devil Advocate and ask what do we do if both Bojan and Duk leave this window?

Play in the Championship next season