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Boxing Day - kick-off 3pm

Scottish Premiership - Kilmarnock v Aberdeen

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Posted

Guy who mentioned it is pretty sound with his info. All is not well down Everton way. Dressing room united in wanting Niasse out apparently. Now I'm only reporting 3rd hand what's been mentioned. Would be a stunning piece of business if there's legs in it....

Posted

Guy who mentioned it is pretty sound with his info. All is not well down Everton way. Dressing room united in wanting Niasse out apparently. Now I'm only reporting 3rd hand what's been mentioned. Would be a stunning piece of business if there's legs in it....

 

Having done a bit of digging, it seems like you're right re: dressing room.  Looks like they're bringing in a number of new strikers in compliment to Tosun and Niasse.  So he'd definitely be going away on loan.  But not to us.

Posted

I assume the trialist keeper is away now?

 

Two signings in a day, both what we needed, and happy with both. Apparently the defender can play anywhere in the back 4 with center being his preference. Provides competition and cover for everyone there which is needed.

 

Based on what I’ve seen we’re two short now. A wide midfielder and the main goal scoring forward. With McGinn, GMS, Wright, and Ross I’ll not be too upset if it’s just a forward we get and youth gets the chance there, but this last signing is the biggest signing of the last 3 years or so. It appears we’ve a strong keeper, have fixed central defense, Gleeson Forrester and Ferguson all look capable in center mid, now we need a goal scorer. We’ve minimal apparent threat up top and I suspect need to lay a few bob for a strong and dominating guy. That Ex-Killie boy would do nicely, moult will be too expensive with a fee, this guy is without a club for now.

Posted

Niasse was the guy, season before last, that Koeman stripped of his shirt number, locker and made train with the U23's, after one second half appearance in a preseason friendly.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/11/everton-oumar-niasse-ronald-koeman-roberto-martinez

 

I remember reading this at the time and thinking he came across quite well. Maybe a bit of pig headed belief and misguided arrogance but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Certainly seemed to work his way back in under Allardyce.

Posted

[

So no striker then, find this quite baffling tbh !  struggling to see where the goals are coming from, ah well hoping May or Cosgrove come good, happy enough with rest of squad apart from up top  :dunno:

 

What's baffling about it? It's very clear that the position has been a priority, but also very clear that we're struggling to fill it. Striker is probably the hardest position on the park to fill (there are an abundance of shite strikers in Scottish - and wider - fitba), and the most expensive as they're the most in demand. I don't rate May or Cosgrove (yet), but they're not totally shite either. It's not as simple as going out and getting the first available striker safe in the knowledge that they'll be good enough, we have to get better - and significantly better - than what we've already got. We were apparently looking at paying £300K+ for Eoin Doyle who is, at best, a tiny improvement on May, which shows the difficulty. As soon as you get into the higher fees then you're outbid for guys like Marquis and the other options being looked at who might be an improvement. Also, there isn't a ready made striker in the SPL that we can pinch either where we know our wage offerings will be an improvement. The obvious signing last season was Moult, but there isn't an obvious one this season. Last season we also had a huge opportunity to immediately re-coup our signing fees through progression in Europe (if we'd bought a striker before Apollon), whereas with the Burnley draw we're likely (realistically) to get punted at the first hurdle and the purchase will be a sunk cost immediately - there is no option of a gamble with good odds, so it's unlikely we can afford to spend a huge amount (>£500K) on a player.

 

I don't think it's baffling at all. I just think we have to accept that it's a very difficult market to operate in and that when we start to get down to our 4th and 5th choices then the margins for improvement make the purchase less worthwhile. We know it's a target, but it may take longer to get that target. There isn't a significant worthwhile gamble in throwing cash at a player for zero european return. We'll get a player before the end of the window, but we just have to accept that it won't be straight forward, and perhaps not before the start of the season.

Posted

its down to poor scouting , or certainly very narrow scouting, Hibs getting Kamberi is type of player that can be got

 

Right.... but they also got Simon Murray (now left) and the boy McLaren (think that was his name), so a 1 in 3 success rate for their scouting. Neither were an improvement on May or Rooney. Even Kamberi isn't that great, but an improvement on what we've got I'd agree.

 

However, their scouting hasn't picked up a goalkeeper that could lace Lewis' boots, or a fullback better than Logan.

 

We have to accept that there is a lot of luck involved in signings, espceially loanees like Kamberi was (I'm 100% certain he wasn't the find of a vast Hibees Swiss-based scouting network). I'm not seeing hibs picking up consistently high calibre signings without error, nor any other team in the SPL (Motherwell or Killie perhaps). The reality is that we're both operating in a tight market with little funds to spend and the margins between getting a good player and a shite one are small, and they probably aren't the barometer of good scouting.

 

Is there any evidence that backs up the assertion that widening the scouting network gets better returns?

 

Are there teams who are getting a higher percentage return that us on their signings year on year? If so, which ones and in which period?

Posted

As McInnes said yesterday, it's a long season ahead and better to wait to get the right guy on board than blow the budget on dross just to bulk out the squad. We got 2 guys in yesterday who have improved the squad substantially in positions that needed strengthening.

 

Our situation it's more important to have a quality striker in place for the sevco game. The Burnley ties should be viewed as a nice little earner with the chance to show the media, both English and Scottish, that despite the gulf in finances, the gulf in quality isn't as large as they think.

 

As the season progresses we should also be looking to get Anderson, Ross and Campbell as much game time as possible.

Posted

Aye agreed TC.  I posted a few days back that I wonder if the success in McKenna has given DM a bit more confidence in playing kids and he's planning on giving Anderson, Campbell and Ross more game time this season. 

 

Re the coulibally rumours.  Yes please,  he would be a great addition. 

Posted

Aye agreed TC.  I posted a few days back that I wonder if the success in McKenna has given DM a bit more confidence in playing kids and he's planning on giving Anderson, Campbell and Ross more game time this season. 

 

Re the coulibally rumours.  Yes please,  he would be a great addition.

 

Regarding Coulibally, there are 1.5 million reasons why that one isn't going to happen and all of them are $'s

Posted

Regarding Coulibally, there are 1.5 million reasons why that one isn't going to happen and all of them are $'s

 

So he was fined a mill and a half for walking out on his Egyptian club? Maybe he’s strapped for cash and will be delighted to come! One can only hope....

Posted

[

What's baffling about it? It's very clear that the position has been a priority, but also very clear that we're struggling to fill it. Striker is probably the hardest position on the park to fill (there are an abundance of shite strikers in Scottish - and wider - fitba), and the most expensive as they're the most in demand. I don't rate May or Cosgrove (yet), but they're not totally shite either. It's not as simple as going out and getting the first available striker safe in the knowledge that they'll be good enough, we have to get better - and significantly better - than what we've already got. We were apparently looking at paying £300K+ for Eoin Doyle who is, at best, a tiny improvement on May, which shows the difficulty. As soon as you get into the higher fees then you're outbid for guys like Marquis and the other options being looked at who might be an improvement. Also, there isn't a ready made striker in the SPL that we can pinch either where we know our wage offerings will be an improvement. The obvious signing last season was Moult, but there isn't an obvious one this season. Last season we also had a huge opportunity to immediately re-coup our signing fees through progression in Europe (if we'd bought a striker before Apollon), whereas with the Burnley draw we're likely (realistically) to get punted at the first hurdle and the purchase will be a sunk cost immediately - there is no option of a gamble with good odds, so it's unlikely we can afford to spend a huge amount (>£500K) on a player.

 

I don't think it's baffling at all. I just think we have to accept that it's a very difficult market to operate in and that when we start to get down to our 4th and 5th choices then the margins for improvement make the purchase less worthwhile. We know it's a target, but it may take longer to get that target. There isn't a significant worthwhile gamble in throwing cash at a player for zero european return. We'll get a player before the end of the window, but we just have to accept that it won't be straight forward, and perhaps not before the start of the season.

 

 

Didnt realise that the over inflated English Championship was the only league to find a striker ?? If we were willing to pay a £300/400k fee for a player, why not look in Eastern Europe or Scandinavia ? Lazy scouting network thats what it is. 

We should not be starting the season without a recognised striker, just hope we get someone in in the next week or so, or we will struggle.

Posted

 

Didnt realise that the over inflated English Championship was the only league to find a striker ?? If we were willing to pay a £300/400k fee for a player, why not look in Eastern Europe or Scandinavia ? Lazy scouting network thats what it is. 

We should not be starting the season without a recognised striker, just hope we get someone in in the next week or so, or we will struggle.

 

There is zero evidence that having the cost of a scouting network in another country returns a better calibre of player suited to the Scottish game. Name one team in Scotland that has a succesful european/scandinavian scouting network. The cost associated with that type of scouting network would far outweigh the benefit. It's not simply a case of getting Jimmy's brither to visit a few games in Holland to pick up the next Dave Bus, it requires in country knowledge and the ability to visit multiple grounds per week and see lots of games at a level that would be comparable to our own where the players are affordable. Laziness? Do you think there's a scout standing at the train station in Esjborg thinking "I'm nae sure I can really be arsed going to the Copenhagen game the day, it's raining"? It's pragmatism and cost.

 

We might be able to pick up a good foreign player through well placed and trusted contacts and I expect we have some people in that regard, but to suggest we start setting up scouting networks shows no real understanding of the cost and associated benefits. There's a reason no other club does it. We may also manage to pick up the odd loanee/out of contract player via a tip-off that would be worth a gamble on like hibs did with the half-decent Kamberi (remember, hibs don't have some massive Swiss-based scouting network that have so far only managed to find one player, it was a gamble on a loanee that paid off).

 

By all means suggest something different, but back it up with some evidence. Name one club in Scotland who has taken players from one particular area not in the UK with regularity that would suggest a succesful scouting network in that area/country. Alternatively, suggest an area that would allow us to take in multiple games per week where players in our affordable range would be regularly on show, that would involve serious cost and travelling hours.

Posted

The boy that Hibs signed a couple of weeks back Kamberi was up for sale at a quoted £2million by his parent club in Switzerland. Within the month Hivs got him on board for around £250k......

 

Doidge will be sold for around £300k in the end. Whether or not that's to us remains to be seen.

Posted

Possibly a long shot, but got me thinking last night as I saw him sat on the bench, perhaps we could approach Burnley themselves & enquire about the availability of Nakhi Wells on a season long loan? He's only made around 9 appearances for them since joining & he's well behind Vokes, Barnes & Wood in the pecking order.

 

He's a pacey striker who's goal ratio isn't great, but it isn't bad either & certainly an improvement on the likes of Eoin Doyle... etc....

 

Like I said, possibly a long shot, but he'd certainly be an improvement.

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