Trotter Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Thought When we played Cowdenbeth, Kane Hemmings looked good took his goal very well scored 6 goals already, should we have signed him? Thought he didn't look the worst during pre season games but the only thing I'd say is there must be a reason why no one other than Cowdenbeath is taking a punt on him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_mac Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Thought he didn't look the worst during pre season games but the only thing I'd say is there must be a reason why no one other than Cowdenbeath is taking a punt on him! Absolutely. No one in the SPL was prepared to give him a deal. None of the full time teams in the 1st division were prepared to give him deal. Tells its own story. If he turns out to be a cracking player and gets a big move, then good luck to the boy. But Archie calls the shots and I'm happy enough with the squad we've got. Baird and Doolan aren't having the best of times at the moment but that happens to all players. The fact that we've done so well when both our strikers are off the boil is a cause for celebration. Once these 2 hit form we could be unstoppable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sunnylaw Jag Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Looking at Craig's goals for us onutube you can see clearly what he does that Dools and Baird dont.Before the ball comes to him he steps back away from his marker or sharply changed the angle of his run.He always seemed to be standing in a yard of free space when he scored Dools, of course, scored plenty for us but a lot of these were running straight in on goals.As I said before a bit of good forward coaching might improve both Baird and Dools out of sight. If you look at Doolan's goal against Ross County, he does take a deliberate movement to step back away from his marker, allowing him the space to score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 How bad was the marking? Reckon these English lower leagues aren't what we sometimes crack them up to be. Good on him though. As someone who has seen a fair bit of lower league English football, I've always said Scots tend to have an unjustified inferiority complex, when it comes to comparing the standards of the English and Scottish leagues. Obviously, the SPFL cannot compete with the English Premiership in terms of resources and standards of player. But, I personally believe it compares favourably with the English Second Tier/ Championship. However, being a smaller country we're never going to compete financially with the English. Spanish or German leagues, and in all honesty we should never seek to try as it will end in failure as it did at Ibrox or Tynecastle. As for Craig, personally I was a bit surprised when we let him go; but, then again thankfully I am not a football manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Of the 150,000 corners we've had this season the most glaring miss came courtesy of Mr C. Balatoni against Hearts. Seems a few of our fans are attributing every missed chance to our strikers... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggy1967 Posted November 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 Bringing this back up again cos in my opinion he is the missing link ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Stevenson Posted November 23, 2013 Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 Bringing this back up again cos in my opinion he is the missing link ! Not in mine. He has scored twice, one a penalty, for Wycombe in League Two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlsarmy Posted November 23, 2013 Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 Not sure if letting Stef Craig go was a mistake,biggest mistake was not having a similar replacement,Archie obviously doesnt trust John Baird to do a job for him or he would be playing him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 John Lambie Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 With a bigger budget I'm sure he'd have been kept on, would he have scored some goals? Possibly but his application was pretty poor near the end of last season & I agreed with the decision at the time. I do think we should have kept Dowie however & still think he would have been a good backup to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 Bringing this back up again cos in my opinion he is the missing link ! I'm not sure if you're reviving this topic with today's game as a particular point of reference but I don't think whoever we had in a striker's role would've had any effect on today's result. As I recall Doolan only had one half chance today if it was even that.. . . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 I'm not sure if you're reviving this topic with today's game as a particular point of reference but I don't think whoever we had in a striker's role would've had any effect on today's result. As I recall Doolan only had one half chance today if it was even that.. . . Spot on we could have had Messi or Rooney up front today and they would have done nothing, we need to CREATE chances for strikers, which we're not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 I do think we should have kept Dowie however & still think he would have been a good backup to have. Andy sits on the bench for Queens these days. I do think that a naturally left sided centreback would've been a good acquisition. We did trial a few central defenders over the summer but I suppose none came up to the mark. The big Czech guy looked the best of the bunch but probably lacked pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 Bringing this back up again cos in my opinion he is the missing link ! You must not have been reading the forum the last couple of months then. Its well stated that Archie regards our main striker as Doolan. Craig would not have been happy at being benched as would have happened this season with the one up front scenario(personally i would prefer us to tray 2 up front now but its not up to me) Also as an aside you are referring to the Steven Craig of the first division, rightly or wrongly Ross County decided Craig was not up to SPL standard last year and got rid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 (edited) Not sure if letting Stef Craig go was a mistake,biggest mistake was not having a similar replacement,Archie obviously doesnt trust John Baird to do a job for him or he would be playing him Well I think he has to get Baird and Doolan on now and try them together rather than the one up front which is failing big time now Edited November 24, 2013 by Third Lanark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thistlenowthistleforever Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 One up front not working Baird needs to play the young laddy has not had a chance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 One up front not working Baird needs to play the young laddy has not had a chance He is actually one of our older players. I agree though we need to play 2 up front as one is not working Baird on with Doolan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Edmonds Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 With regards to the top division, both Craig and Dowie are little more than washed-up fodder, and would offer us nothing more than what we already have. In terms of the assembling of this season's squad I don't think Archibald's done much wrong at all. Osbourne and Higginbotham were terrific coups for us and Gallacher and McMillan gave us a bit of depth where we needed it. Sure, Baird and Kerr are a couple of joke signings, but they haven't played enough to have been much of a hindering factor. However, Archibald was in the position, as any other manager would have been, where he had to rely on last season's performers; the team that won us the league: both in terms of fan pressure, and as a means of them composing such a large part of a successful squad that it would have seemed silly replacing them. But herein lies the problem: these players are not showing at all on a consistent basis that they have the intelligence or quality to be successful top flight players. They deserve a bit more time to try and adapt, but considering so many of them have struggled so badly in the last few weeks and aren't showing the capabilities of changing, it could well be that they won't be here much longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
read'n'yell Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 With regards to the top division, both Craig and Dowie are little more than washed-up fodder, and would offer us nothing more than what we already have. In terms of the assembling of this season's squad I don't think Archibald's done much wrong at all. Osbourne and Higginbotham were terrific coups for us and Gallacher and McMillan gave us a bit of depth where we needed it. Sure, Baird and Kerr are a couple of joke signings, but they haven't played enough to have been much of a hindering factor. However, Archibald was in the position, as any other manager would have been, where he had to rely on last season's performers; the team that won us the league: both in terms of fan pressure, and as a means of them composing such a large part of a successful squad that it would have seemed silly replacing them. But herein lies the problem: these players are not showing at all on a consistent basis that they have the intelligence or quality to be successful top flight players. They deserve a bit more time to try and adapt, but considering so many of them have struggled so badly in the last few weeks and aren't showing the capabilities of changing, it could well be that they won't be here much longer. I have to disagree r.e. Craig. I think we should of kept him, and I think he could of really done a job for us. I would rate Craid alongside Thompson at St Mirren and he has done well over the past few seasons. We need a seasoned pro up front, or else a good youngster. Doolan has done well on the score sheet but sadly his inability to enflict any damage to the opposition has been crucial in our inability to score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Wragg Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 What about Derek Riordan , if hes still free , ive heard a number of guys at the games mentioning this, is there something about the guy that we dont know ? has he already turned us down ? yesterday was a complete flop up front , no dangers anywhere, we will have to start scoring and soon !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhs Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 What about Derek Riordan , if hes still free , ive heard a number of guys at the games mentioning this, is there something about the guy that we dont know ? has he already turned us down ? yesterday was a complete flop up front , no dangers anywhere, we will have to start scoring and soon !!! Paul Hartley was quoted saying Riordan is about 6 weeks off match fitness, I think. He has been offered something at Dunfermline but wont commit. He obviously has his sights set on the Premiership but needs to get fit and prove his worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberteeb Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 I have to disagree r.e. Craig. I think we should of kept him, and I think he could of really done a job for us. I would rate Craid alongside Thompson at St Mirren and he has done well over the past few seasons. We need a seasoned pro up front, or else a good youngster. Doolan has done well on the score sheet but sadly his inability to enflict any damage to the opposition has been crucial in our inability to score. Things Steven Craig has never done... Been an established SPL striker. Played in the second tier of English football for years. Played with and learned from (previously) world class talent. Won a major Scottish trophy. Played in an FA Cup Final. Played for Scotland. Scored for Scotland. Can you guess who has done all of these things? Can Steven Craig even play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 What about Derek Riordan , if hes still free , ive heard a number of guys at the games mentioning this, is there something about the guy that we dont know ? has he already turned us down ? yesterday was a complete flop up front , no dangers anywhere, we will have to start scoring and soon !!! 4 - 1 wasn't it. I know it was a pen, but Forbes shot was heading in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulo Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 I know it would be nice to have a world class striker, but if we can find someone who can score 4 goals in every game, I'd say we won't keep him for long. Surely conceding 3 and 4 every week might be seen as a problem first and foremost? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjptfc Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 I know it would be nice to have a world class striker, but if we can find someone who can score 4 goals in every game, I'd say we won't keep him for long. Surely conceding 3 and 4 every week might be seen as a problem first and foremost? Just thinking that myself!! Can't believe the focus at the moment is on the attacking area of the team when we have conceded 14 goals in 5 games. (Please don't say 'defending starts from the front'). Everybody's favourite, Muirhead, has been found out at this level in terms of his positional sense. Balatoni for me has been better but probably lacks a yard of pace. It was frightening how much we missed O'Donnell on Saturday as McMillan's positioning was terrible for at least two of the goals. Maybe he should be played at centre back while balatoni is suspended because he certainly isn't a right back. (Spoke to a H*n on Saturday night who said when they tried to play him at RB he was the same). Sinclair gave the ball away a few times but still performed OK I thought. Would like to get Welsh back in with Osbourne again and O'Donnell back from suspension. At least get it shored up a bit. You can sign the best striker in the world but if you're losing 4 goals you'll lose 99% of your games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_mac Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 Muirhead's lack of pace at this level really is frightening at times. Couple that with Conrad's inability to stay on his feet and the full backs thinking they are Brazilian - we have MASSIVE problems at the back. Some people I think are still too cosy with the players in that respect. Gabby has taken a hell of a lot of stick for the few games he's played, when in actual fact Muirhead and Balatoni have been culpable on a much grander scale. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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