jaggy Posted August 17, 2013 Report Share Posted August 17, 2013 Archie seems to want one or other, but i thought last night it would have been better if he had kept Kris on and maybe taken Lawless off. Some of Bairdy's good work on the left might have led to goals if Doolan had been in the box. I know last season Doolan & Craig didn't seem to work, but maybe Doolan & Baird would at times. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted August 17, 2013 Report Share Posted August 17, 2013 I get the impression that no matter who it is playing up front he will be subbed far more often than not. There's no question Doolan isn't super fit but I think he's programmed to go out and give his all for no longer than 70 mins. I'm not that convinced that even if we were chasing goals that we'd play both Doolan and Baird for any length of time. Not disagreeing in any way that Baird down the left with Doolan in the centre wouldn't be a worthwhile idea. Just don't think it's viable if Kris is already knackered from his exertions upfront on his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboy Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 In My honest opinion. I do not think Doolan is our answer to scoring goals this season, given his chances, to his actual goal ratio. He holds the ball well bringing others into play.but an out and out striker he is not.. The game on Friday night should have been put to bed in the first half with the chances he had against a weakened Hearts team. And I feel this is where we need a big target man. who has the capability of putting these chances away. We need a seasoned. striker sooner rather than later,otherwise our season is going to be plagued by chances that he should have taken and matches we should have won. I hope he proves me wrong but I think others feel the same way I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) I've asked it elsewhere and no-one's answered, so perhaps someone here can. What chances in the three league games to date has Doolan failed to convert that a "big target man" would have? Would we even have created them had this fantasy player been in the squad or would we have altered our style of play to suit him? Three games, one goal. That's good enough for me at the moment. I can't believe people are writing Kriss off so early in the season. Some of the stuff I've read recently is frustrating, verging on the embarrassing. Edited August 19, 2013 by Dark Passenger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briogadh Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 In My honest opinion. I do not think Doolan is our answer to scoring goals this season, given his chances, to his actual goal ratio. He holds the ball well bringing others into play.but an out and out striker he is not.. The game on Friday night should have been put to bed in the first half with the chances he had against a weakened Hearts team. And I feel this is where we need a big target man. who has the capability of putting these chances away. We need a seasoned. striker sooner rather than later,otherwise our season is going to be plagued by chances that he should have taken and matches we should have won. I hope he proves me wrong but I think others feel the same way I do. A 'seasoned striker ' yes. Not convinced by the 'big target man' idea -that's not the way this team plays. This late in the transfer window such a player will be hard to find , unless among recent signings he is already on the books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) Thistle's top scorers in our last two season's in the top flight - Jamie Mitchell and James Grady. Hardly target men, powerful forwards or whatever other crap cliche people want to use. I think we'll all agree that neither of the sides they featured in were as talented as the current one. Nor did they have as many goals throughout the team. No panic. Edited August 19, 2013 by Dark Passenger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yokerjag Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 I've asked it elsewhere and no-one's answered, so perhaps someone here can. What chances in the three league games to date has Doolan failed to convert that a "big target man" would have? Would we even have created them had this fantasy player been in the squad or would we have altered our style of play to suit him? Three games, one goal. That's good enough for me at the moment. I can't believe people are writing Kriss off so early in the season. Some of the stuff I've read recently is frustrating, verging on the embarrassing. the chance against hearts with the glancing header? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Well f*ck me with a feather. Doolan missed one chance. Clearly not the answer. A ball flashed at speed across the face of goal. I've seen strikers miss easier chances in the three weeks Sportscene has been showing highlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 As far as I'm aware we've shown interest in at least Sutton & Graham. On both occasions we were outbid, We released Craig, another player who I'd bracket in the same sort of "target man" mold. Craig wasn't in County's plans last season, is now another year older and I think we can see why Archie didn't renew his contract. So in a homespun logic kinda way Archie may well be on the lookout for a target man if not better than Craig at least younger and at the same time less demanding financially than the likes of Brian Graham. Maybe it's just me but I think our requirements are in quite a narrow band especially if you add the tag "proven goalscorer at our level". Myself I'm not too sure that we shouldn't wait till January and take it from there. Decisions will have to made re Mukendi's loan and the future of McGuigan. If another striker comes in just now the likes of Elliott will be even further marginalised and I can't see why Archie on a tight budget and who obviously rates Elliott would wish for that. At the same time Archie won't turn up the opportunity to sign a further striker this month if the right man is available within budget. Who that could be would be anyone's guess but I doubt there's any obvious candidate that we know about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yokerjag Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Well f*ck me with a feather. Doolan missed one chance. Clearly not the answer. A ball flashed at speed across the face of goal. I've seen strikers miss easier chances in the three weeks Sportscene has been showing highlights. you asked the question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Precisely because I wanted to demonstrate that he's hardly missed any chances and those that he has missed might not necessarily have been scored by anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_frank Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Now im a big fan of Doolan, I think he adds a lot. I don't however think his attributes necessarily compliment our style of play. While he is an excellent finisher with both feet, he isn't the best in the air. The way we are playing so far this season we are exploiting the width provided by ATS and SOD and are getting a lot of balls into the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberteeb Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 A big powerful forward who bangs goals in at SPL level for fun. I really can't understand why Archie hasn't signed at least one of these players, I mean every other club in this division has a couple of these players on their bench that are surplus to requirements and who would take a drop in wages to come and play for Thistle. I'm beginning to wonder if Archie knows what he's doing. And we already know he isn't enjoying himself. Maybe if he was happier he would have signed one of these players? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 The way we are playing so far this season we are exploiting the width provided by ATS and SOD and are getting a lot of balls into the box. When they beat the first man... To answer my own question from earlier, I can remember one chance from a ATS/SOD cross that Doolan just failed to connect with and that was in the first game against United when Sinclair swung in a ball from the left. One. That's it. One chance that a bigger forward/someone better in the air (not that I think Kriss is lacking) may have done better with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 When they beat the first man... To answer my own question from earlier, I can remember one chance from a ATS/SOD cross that Doolan just failed to connect with and that was in the first game against United when Sinclair swung in a ball from the left. One. That's it. One chance that a bigger forward/someone better in the air (not that I think Kriss is lacking) may have done better with. he had two similar cghances. one he just missed and one he made a slight connection but didn't hit the target. to be honest i'm totally behind all the calls for a big target man. i'm sick of watching us play this ball on the deck out on the wings stuff. get it straight down the middle. as i'm often heard shouting in the NS.... "get the ball in the fckin air, thistle". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted August 19, 2013 Members Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Personally, I think Kris is pretty decent in the air, times his jumps well and has the ability to 'hang'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Arch Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 If Doolan has a 1 in 3 record for the whole season then that would be very good going. County finished 5th last year without any real quality strikers. If the build up play is good enough, we'll get enough goals shared throughout the team to have a good season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Now im a big fan of Doolan, I think he adds a lot. I don't however think his attributes necessarily compliment our style of play. While he is an excellent finisher with both feet, he isn't the best in the air. The way we are playing so far this season we are exploiting the width provided by ATS and SOD and are getting a lot of balls into the box. Doolan has scored a fair few with his head, probably more when he first joined us than now though. Looking back at when he first joined and was competing with Buchanan, Buchanan tended to get himself in great positions all the time, but need four or five sitters before he scored one. Doolan drops back and invites the midfield forward (exactly what our style of play needs), gets fewer clear cut chances but tends to put a decent percentage away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Murray Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) We definitely need another striker, preferably somebody who can give us a different option to Doolan. Steven Craig did that for us last year and we need somebody similar to him but better. Craig fitted well into the style we played last year so I don’t expect any other similar striker to him having any problems. Nobody has mentioned though Doolan had an excellent start and finish to last season, he had a pretty average middle. We need somebody to challenge him for the lone striker role and provide cover if he gets injured. It’s a tough ask for Archie to bring somebody on our budget with the quality we are looking for but let’s hope he can. Edited August 19, 2013 by Alan Murray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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