Squad For 24/25 Season (And Signing Rumours)

[thornwoodjag]

On 9/4/2024 at 7:39 PM, jagfox said:

👀

Bit later than advertised 

[Dick Dastardly]

8 minutes ago, thornwoodjag said:

Bit later than advertised 

Happy with that. He was outstanding for Airdrie against us.

now need to get some out on loan. McKenzie, Lyon, Ricco, Wasiri and even Stanway could use regular game time that we probably can’t offer. 27 first team players is too many

Edited September 16 by Dick Dastardly

[Fawlty Towers]

I hope he does well for us iand t now gives us 2 options at right back with Nilsson there as well. My only concern is that whilst he was a good defender I don't recall in the games against us seeing him bombing down the wing like Milne does on the left. Hopefully he has that in him and it was just the way the Airdrie manager wanted to play that meant we did not see that.

Edited September 16 by Fawlty Towers

[javeajag]

26 players now in the first team and 32 in the extended squad …..Best squad in the league …..hopefully Doolan can now put it together 

[Albert's Ghost]

Would have made more sense if we hadn't signed Nilsson.  Still, increases cover in an important area.  Is Was on the way out now?

[elevenone]

10 minutes ago, Fawlty Towers said:

I hope he does well for us iand t now gives us 2 options at right back with Nilsson there as well. My only concern is that whilst he was a good defender I don't recall in the games against us seeing him bombing down the wing like Milne does on the left. Hopefully he has that in him and it was just the way the Airdrie manager wanted to play that meant we did not see that.

my memory may be hazy @Fawlty Towers but pretty sure the bombing down the wings was his thing?

[Fawlty Towers]

5 minutes ago, elevenone said:

my memory may be hazy @Fawlty Towers but pretty sure the bombing down the wings was his thing?

It might be as I am just recalling the last 3 games I saw him play against us, the 4-0 at Firhill and the play off games in which he looked solid defensively but did not do too much going forward. I did not see much of him apart from that but do know that Airdrie fans really rated him.

[fenski]

Main thing I remember was he kept Fitzpatrick very quiet. Excellent signing.

[JAG1970]

Good signing based on his performances for Airdrie last season. But as others have pointed out we need to get some players out the door, we have a first team squad of 27 (I can’t remember a time when we’ve had such a large squad), and yet we still need a strong defensive midfielder… unless Doolan sees him playing there? 

[ChiThistle]

Interesting flip side to this - next year Dools is either guiding us in the Premiership or he’s gotta be out, right?  It’s a make-or-break year for him.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

3 minutes ago, JAG1970 said:

Good signing based on his performances for Airdrie last season. But as others have pointed out we need to get some players out the door, we have a first team squad of 27 (I can’t remember a time when we’ve had such a large squad), and yet we still need a strong defensive midfielder… unless Doolan sees him playing there? 

We know Crawford, Bannigan, Stanway, Lyon, Turner & Robinson are not cut out for the ball winning defensive mid role. Can add also Muirhead to that list. I suppose there's a few untried. Namely Mackenzie, Wasiri, Nillson & Sayers. Straw clutching right enough. That, or move Luke forward again.   

[JAG1970]

2 minutes ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

We know Crawford, Bannigan, Stanway, Lyon, Turner & Robinson are not cut out for the ball winning defensive mid role. Can add also Muirhead to that list. I suppose there's a few untried. Namely Mackenzie, Wasiri, Nillson & Sayers. Straw clutching right enough. That, or move Luke forward again.   

I know we need general cover throughout the team but with Megwa at RB and Milne at LB I can’t really see either Sawyers or Nilsson getting a look in. Which generally makes this large squad too inflexible if we need to push McBeth into midfield. But maybe the board will sanction player no 28 if the right DMF canines along. If they do then Dools is under real pressure to deliver this season 

[partickthedog]

7 minutes ago, JAG1970 said:

I know we need general cover throughout the team but with Megwa at RB and Milne at LB I can’t really see either Sawyers or Nilsson getting a look in. Which generally makes this large squad too inflexible if we need to push McBeth into midfield. But maybe the board will sanction player no 28 if the right DMF canines along. If they do then Dools is under real pressure to deliver this season 

You must be looking for a dogged defensive mid.

[laukat]

24 minutes ago, ChiThistle said:

Interesting flip side to this - next year Dools is either guiding us in the Premiership or he’s gotta be out, right?  It’s a make-or-break year for him.

100%. He has been well backed and we now have 2 players in every position that arguably get into most other teams starting 11 in this league.

We really need to let some go as its going to be difficult to keep them all happy. Lyon and Williams are obvious ones to let move out. Mackenzie needs a season starting somewhere for his own development. If the right midfielder became available perhaps Bannigan or Stanway might also go out on loan.

Diack could probably do with a season on loan but with Robinson not fit I think we need him as cover.

[JAG1970]

2 hours ago, partickthedog said:

You must be looking for a dogged defensive mid.

The curse of predictive text! But yes, someone with a real bite

[Jaggernaut]

Happy with the Megwa signing.

But,

our squad looks bloated, with three or four players (more, for midfield) hoping to fill too many positions.

ETA: Or should that be "too few" positions?

Edited September 17 by Jaggernaut

[Lenziejag]

11 hours ago, JAG1970 said:

Good signing based on his performances for Airdrie last season. But as others have pointed out we need to get some players out the door, we have a first team squad of 27 (I can’t remember a time when we’ve had such a large squad), and yet we still need a strong defensive midfielder… unless Doolan sees him playing there? 

The thing is, we haven’t lost a goal from open play when we have had 11 players on the park - only 2 penalties which were either soft or needless. The defence is doing fine. It’s creating the chances that’s the issue this season. As far as Megwa’s concerned, he only had one good game against us - the 1st playoff game. But, I guess if Hibs have given him a 4 year deal they must see something pretty decent there. 

[Lenziejag]

11 hours ago, JAG1970 said:

I know we need general cover throughout the team but with Megwa at RB and Milne at LB I can’t really see either Sawyers or Nilsson getting a look in. Which generally makes this large squad too inflexible if we need to push McBeth into midfield. But maybe the board will sanction player no 28 if the right DMF canines along. If they do then Dools is under real pressure to deliver this season 

Milne will get an injury at some point, so Sayers will get a shot. I think, though, it means that they will both be able to be subbed, which wasn’t really the case for McMillan or Milne previously without putting players out of position.

[JAG1970]

2 hours ago, Lenziejag said:

The thing is, we haven’t lost a goal from open play when we have had 11 players on the park - only 2 penalties which were either soft or needless. The defence is doing fine. It’s creating the chances that’s the issue this season. As far as Megwa’s concerned, he only had one good game against us - the 1st playoff game. But, I guess if Hibs have given him a 4 year deal they must see something pretty decent there. 

Yes, and maybe Megwa will give us some additional attacking intent down the right with whoever plays in front of him. But the midfield remains the problem. Doolan has tried it seems all the permutations without a solution. The absence of a Docherty/Osman type to break up play and get others quickly on the ball is killing us right now. 

Edited September 17 by JAG1970

[laukat]

2 hours ago, Lenziejag said:

The thing is, we haven’t lost a goal from open play when we have had 11 players on the park - only 2 penalties which were either soft or needless. The defence is doing fine. It’s creating the chances that’s the issue this season. As far as Megwa’s concerned, he only had one good game against us - the 1st playoff game. But, I guess if Hibs have given him a 4 year deal they must see something pretty decent there. 

I think you identify something that might be a bit of a change in approach this season.

Under previous seasons with Doolan we were a very good attacking team who scored goals but unfortunately also conceded goals. In the last 2 seasons we scored the most goals in the league bar the team that won the league. However our defensive record was 4th best 2 seasons ago and only 7th best last season. 

This season we haven't played well and have had various personnel used in the small number of games played but so far we are joint 2nd best in terms of goals conceded. If we can avoid periods were we don't pick up points for a 4-6 week period like we have in the last 2 seasons and get points on the board when we are not playing well then that's usually a good sign. Everyone remembers from 12/13 how good we were in attack but the key stat was we lost less than 30 goals all season when usually conceding less than 40 gets you in contention for the title. Kilmarnock won the league a few years ago with only scoring 50 goals because they only conceded 27.

Alex Ferguson was quoted as saying "attack wins you game, defence wins you titles" Maybe Doolan is changing tack slightly from the free flowing attacking football to a style that grinds out results when we aren't firing on all cylinders and maybe our criticism of the midfield is more about not liking that they are designed to be defensively better and less effective in attack ?

 

[JAG1970]

2 hours ago, laukat said:

I think you identify something that might be a bit of a change in approach this season.

Under previous seasons with Doolan we were a very good attacking team who scored goals but unfortunately also conceded goals. In the last 2 seasons we scored the most goals in the league bar the team that won the league. However our defensive record was 4th best 2 seasons ago and only 7th best last season. 

This season we haven't played well and have had various personnel used in the small number of games played but so far we are joint 2nd best in terms of goals conceded. If we can avoid periods were we don't pick up points for a 4-6 week period like we have in the last 2 seasons and get points on the board when we are not playing well then that's usually a good sign. Everyone remembers from 12/13 how good we were in attack but the key stat was we lost less than 30 goals all season when usually conceding less than 40 gets you in contention for the title. Kilmarnock won the league a few years ago with only scoring 50 goals because they only conceded 27.

Alex Ferguson was quoted as saying "attack wins you game, defence wins you titles" Maybe Doolan is changing tack slightly from the free flowing attacking football to a style that grinds out results when we aren't firing on all cylinders and maybe our criticism of the midfield is more about not liking that they are designed to be defensively better and less effective in attack ?

 

Fair point but I also think we’ve become so slow and predictable middle to front that most opposition managers have sussed us out, even Clyde and Alloa. Doolan really needs a change of approach, maybe we saw the first steps on Saturday and with Megwa added ( and hopefully a defensive midfielder if he can find one and if an already stretched budget allows) then maybe we can as you say be as successful as Archie’s 12/13 season.

[laukat]

There are alternative ways forward for Doolan without bringing in another CDM.

Clearly he could put McBeth in there but I think Doolan doesn't see McBeth as a CDM any more. I think McBeth struggles to organise like Docherty could and equally gets caught chasing players too high up the park to do the Osman role of just protecting the back 4 and only really getting in the opposition half for set pieces

The other way is to change formation. 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2 both demand 3 midfielders and usually one that's very defensive.

4-4-2 doesn't require 3 midfielders or a specialist CDM it requires 2 central ones that can get up and down the park. work as a pair and be proficient in most matters. That is pretty much what Crawford and Turner do.

Personally I think we had our best performance in the game against Motherwell and it was a close to a 4-4-2 as we have been. Mackay played as a traditional winger, Robinson was in the main very close to Graham as to be a second striker. Crawford and Turner were very good and just kept the ball moving about. With addition of Ablade it surprises me we have not tried it.

I don't see 3-5-2 lasting for long as we would have too many wingers sitting idle. So its either back to 4-2-3-1 minus CDM and not making the most of Ablade's pace or 4-4-2

[jaggymct]

Wasiri has just randomly retweeted a Dundalk FC tweet. Wonder if he is off on loan?

(ETA : they have just announced a takeover so maybe not)

Edited September 17 by jaggymct

[lady-isobel-barnett]

57 minutes ago, laukat said:

There are alternative ways forward for Doolan without bringing in another CDM.

Clearly he could put McBeth in there but I think Doolan doesn't see McBeth as a CDM any more. I think McBeth struggles to organise like Docherty could and equally gets caught chasing players too high up the park to do the Osman role of just protecting the back 4 and only really getting in the opposition half for set pieces

The other way is to change formation. 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2 both demand 3 midfielders and usually one that's very defensive.

4-4-2 doesn't require 3 midfielders or a specialist CDM it requires 2 central ones that can get up and down the park. work as a pair and be proficient in most matters. That is pretty much what Crawford and Turner do.

Personally I think we had our best performance in the game against Motherwell and it was a close to a 4-4-2 as we have been. Mackay played as a traditional winger, Robinson was in the main very close to Graham as to be a second striker. Crawford and Turner were very good and just kept the ball moving about. With addition of Ablade it surprises me we have not tried it.

I don't see 3-5-2 lasting for long as we would have too many wingers sitting idle. So its either back to 4-2-3-1 minus CDM and not making the most of Ablade's pace or 4-4-2

Much as I see it tho' even a 4-4-2 would benefit from having a midfielder that could be described as a ball winner. Perhaps more a "Docherty" than an "Abdul" under that system. 

The best antidote for not having a ball winner/def mid in a team is possession. One of our big failings is losing possession too quickly and too often. We'll continue to struggle under any positive formation if we keep giving the ball away so cheaply. Of course possession in itself offers little positively if we don't move the ball at pace. 

Edited September 17 by lady-isobel-barnett

[scotty]

Talk elsewhere that Wasiri has been released fron his contract.