Dons V Hertz

[Chris Frae Killie]

 

 

Reynolds commitment to not looking to where he's playing the ball is seriously worrying. He's competing better than he has in the last 18 months but his distribution is horrendous.

 

 

I didn't see the highlights from yesterday but I was thinking exactly that when I watched the St. Johnstone match. I thought he got very lucky a few times. That said he is playing a lot better than last season and looks a lot more confident.

[manc_don]

Another game where we controlled the play but failed to really create a worthy goal scoring chance.

 

Only real positives to take was that O'Connor played really well I thought, he certainly bailed Taylor out a few times. Jack I also thought had another decent game.

 

The substitutions were a strange one, McLean at the moment is really not playing well and it is clear to everyone that the centre midfield operates better when he is not in it, so why McInnes put him on in CM was a strange one.

 

Burns looked decent as did Storey when he came on. Rooney never really did much but again the lack of decent service was shocking. Our crossing was atrocious.

 

How Pawlett was named MOTM I will never know, he had a decent opening 10 minutes and was then a spectator. In fact I had actually forgotten he was even on the pitch until he made a run in the second half and then it was clear he was breathing out his..

 

Maybe Pawlett is leaving and that is why, other than that it was a decision that totally baffled me. In fact, Pawlett starting the game baffled me.

 

He seems to constantly want to bring McLean on for Burns when Burns is actually having a decent game.  I haven't bothered watching the two league games so far purely on the basis that from what people have said about them hasn't enthused me to do so. I think DM is hoping McLean will come good, possibly by magic or fluke, I'm not sure. It is however, clearly not working for the team at the moment.

 

Bit of a shame to read Pawlett was actually pointless again. Was hoping that he may be turning it around.

[RicoS321]

He seems to constantly want to bring McLean on for Burns when Burns is actually having a decent game.  I haven't bothered watching the two league games so far purely on the basis that from what people have said about them hasn't enthused me to do so. I think DM is hoping McLean will come good, possibly by magic or fluke, I'm not sure. It is however, clearly not working for the team at the moment.

 

Bit of a shame to read Pawlett was actually pointless again. Was hoping that he may be turning it around.

 

I think that's a little harsh on Pawlett, he had a decent first half and caused them a few problems.

 

Regarding McLean and Burns, the biggest problem we have is predictability. I said to my mate at half time that Rooney and McLean would be on very quickly in the second half. I wasn't sure whether it would be Burns or Pawlett that would make way however. McInnes has his favourites, and it's obvious - so it must be obvious to both them and the players that are making way for them. Since he's been here, McInnes' preferred starters are given disproportionate opportunities to impress. Consider Pawlett of last season and Smith in the last two (Low, Shug, Wright etc are similar). When given a start they were always taken off early in the second half. When on the bench, they would be taken on late in the second half. If McGinn is dropped, he nearly always gets 30+ minutes to impress. If McGinn is playing badly, he rarely gets under 75 minutes on the pitch. To me it's a huge flaw in McInnes' strategy, because it's so obvious. If I'm Pawlett or Smith, I'm immediately under pressure as I know I'm going to get hooked early and if I'm sitting on the bench I know that the guy who's having a shite game is going to get 80 minutes and I'm going to have to charge around for the last 8 minutes just to justify having a shower.

 

In the Hertz game, there was nothing to suggest that McGinn was suddenly going to come to life. Burns and Pawlett both had better games. McInnes should base his decisions on the game in hand rather than a pre-conceived notion of who the better player is (it's McGinn, obviously). Some will say that McGinn can create something out of nothing and he will one time, however this ignores the silent evidence of the number of games where McGinn is having a poor game and continues this trend for the full 90 minutes, offering nothing. McLean is just another McGinn in this regard (or another Jack last season). He gets a disproportionate time to prove his worthlessness in a single game.

 

If I knew what our subs would be yesterday, then you can bet yer airse that Neilson did too. 

[Reidzer 1314]

He seems to constantly want to bring McLean on for Burns when Burns is actually having a decent game.  I haven't bothered watching the two league games so far purely on the basis that from what people have said about them hasn't enthused me to do so. I think DM is hoping McLean will come good, possibly by magic or fluke, I'm not sure. It is however, clearly not working for the team at the moment.

 

Bit of a shame to read Pawlett was actually pointless again. Was hoping that he may be turning it around.

 

Maybe my comments on Pawlett are a tad harsh, some Dons fans seem to think he played well, I personally think he played well for about 10-15 minutes in the first half and then drifted out of the game.

[rocket_scientist]

We all saw how good Tony Watt was last week. Apparently he was even better today.