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January Signings


Lionel J. Botch
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Baird has barely had a game, and are you mystic meg how on earth will you know who will come good and who wouldnt? Baird wasnt even playing yesterday so amazing how he is the scapegoat and came on when we were 3-0 down with about 15 mins left on monday so its not just him to blame for monday nights defeat

Bearing in mind they are both on 2 year deals I doubt either will be offloaded

He may well not have had much of a game however the limited game time he has had has been fruitless. The fact he has had limited game time suggests he isn't banging down the managers door for a start.

As always I am more than happy to be proven wrong when it comes to Jags players and I give you my word that at the end of the season if either come good and establish themselves in a successful team I will admit my wrongful haste in writing them off. I trust you will do likewise if my observations based on experience are proven to be correct?

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If, and it's a big if, Erskine was available in January I'm sure we would be first choice all round. If he's going to develop an ability to play at this level anywhere it would be at Firhill, and we're hardly direct competitors of United's at the moment. McNamara may be many things but I highly doubt he would let any personal feelings he has get in the way of making the right decision.

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Baird has barely had a game, and are you mystic meg how on earth will you know who will come good and who wouldnt? Baird wasnt even playing yesterday so amazing how he is the scapegoat and came on when we were 3-0 down with about 15 mins left on monday so its not just him to blame for monday nights defeat

Bearing in mind they are both on 2 year deals I doubt either will be offloaded

 

Surely you've been posting on here long enough to realise that's irrelevant. The important thing for some is to find a scapegoat then build a convoluted case for the prosecution. Besides Mark Kerr was just as responsible as Wee Baird for yesterday's defeat.

 

 

McNamara may be many things but I highly doubt he would let any personal feelings he has get in the way of making the right decision.

 

I don't believe McNamara has any feelings, personal or otherwise.

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I am not trying to make Baird or Piccolo scapegoats, just saying it may have been better to keep Dowie and Craig. And I am not criticizing Archie for this either cos I think on balance, of the 6 or 7 he signed for the 1st team, 4 are probably better than their replacements and 3 have struggled to make an impact.

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We don't need a big lumbering striker, we need a striker with pace that can make the run in behind. Or a midfielder that can get beyond the striker. It's all so easy for the opposition defenders when the entire game is played in front of them, no matter how much fancy passing we do.

 

That's it in a nutshell.

 

Jags in possession in their own half, passing side-to-side; other team simply forms two ranks of four in front of their penalty area, and they'll eventually win the ball back as we finally meet up with those ranks.

 

We're missing Erskine's direct running through or past those defenders.

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I am not trying to make Baird or Piccolo scapegoats, just saying it may have been better to keep Dowie and Craig. And I am not criticizing Archie for this either cos I think on balance, of the 6 or 7 he signed for the 1st team, 4 are probably better than their replacements and 3 have struggled to make an impact.

 

Sorry, Lenziejag, but you are criticising Archie. He didn't offer contracts to either Craig or Dowie because in his judgment guys of their age would have to be playing regularly to remain match fit. We have no reserve football, which may or may not have further influenced his decision. It's highly likely that Craig, who was after all released by an SPL club last season, would've been a periphery figure as we only play one up. Dowie was only ever going to play 1st team football if/when Muirhead or Balatoni became unavailable. If of course you're indicating that in your opinion the likes of Dowie and Craig would've been regulars this season then above is largely irrelevant

Archie brought in two players Baird and Gabriel who may or may not cut it this season. Not being party to knowing how much his budget is I'm loath to say if better players (again young enough to come keep match fit) could've been brought in. I did see most of the trialists in pre season and only two others impressed. Neither were snapped up by clubs at our level so I can only imagine they weren't what we needed.

It has to minded and believed that Archie still has enough in the kitty to bring in another forward, perhaps the "deadline" guy he mentioned in late August That cash would not have been available presumably had he spent more in the summer.

I'll wait until at least the end of the January transfer window* before criticisng Archie's judgement. He'll have been in the job for a year by then and will have had the necessary time to complete his squad building.

 

*I might tho' make an exception re Fraser :)

Edited by lady-isobel-barnett
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I don't know what kind of experienced semi-decent central defenders are kicking around but I'd assume we have a semi-realistic chance of getting one, even someone who can just tell them what they need to go to become better on the training ground and only play when required like Dowie/Murray did last season.

 

Of course we need a good striker but we aren't likely to get one, our only chance is a half decent English team giving us a young striker who they want to play in matches for 6 months and paying most of his wages. I don't mean a Henoc Mukendi but someone who is 'amost ready' for the Championship say and lurking in the squads down there with an expectation of really challenging for a place next season. We won't be able to match even League Two clubs for wages I don't think in terms of signing players from down there like someone said ICT have done..

 

I'm guessing that other SPL teams have some half decent players on loan from English clubs who get regular games in the SPL or have I made that up?

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I don't know what kind of experienced semi-decent central defenders are kicking around but I'd assume we have a semi-realistic chance of getting one, even someone who can just tell them what they need to go to become better on the training ground and only play when required like Dowie/Murray did last season.

 

Of course we need a good striker but we aren't likely to get one, our only chance is a half decent English team giving us a young striker who they want to play in matches for 6 months and paying most of his wages. I don't mean a Henoc Mukendi but someone who is 'amost ready' for the Championship say and lurking in the squads down there with an expectation of really challenging for a place next season. We won't be able to match even League Two clubs for wages I don't think in terms of signing players from down there like someone said ICT have done..

 

I'm guessing that other SPL teams have some half decent players on loan from English clubs who get regular games in the SPL or have I made that up?

 

I don't know what our chances are of getting in loan signings that will make a difference. I'm guessing Archie & Shaggy may not have the contacts other Scottish managers have but strongly in our favour is the way we play football.

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I don't know what kind of experienced semi-decent central defenders are kicking around but I'd assume we have a semi-realistic chance of getting one, even someone who can just tell them what they need to go to become better on the training ground and only play when required like Dowie/Murray did last season.

 

Hmm.... if only we knew of a couple of experienced former central defenders who could explain to the defence what they need to do.... :thinking:

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I've read a few posts now saying we need to be a bit quicker going forward. If I would criticise Higgy for one thing, this would be it. Tremendous on the ball and able to beat a man and get a shot away. However, he does tend to slow the attack down when he receives the ball. We're not seeing the same crisp one touch passing we seen last season around our opponents box that created space for the likes of Erskine and Lawless to score so often last year. More 1-2's around the box and shifting the direction of the attack please Thistle.

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I don't know what our chances are of getting in loan signings that will make a difference. I'm guessing Archie & Shaggy may not have the contacts other Scottish managers have but strongly in our favour is the way we play football.

 

The biggest teams in England are forever lending 'big players' to lower Premiership teams or Championship teams. Obviously we aren't going to get one of them but is it out of the realms of possibility to get one off a Championship club for example? Contacts are a major problem for us I guess but look at the difference a Wolves squad player made at Hibs last season.

 

I've read a few posts now saying we need to be a bit quicker going forward. If I would criticise Higgy for one thing, this would be it. Tremendous on the ball and able to beat a man and get a shot away. However, he does tend to slow the attack down when he receives the ball. We're not seeing the same crisp one touch passing we seen last season around our opponents box that created space for the likes of Erskine and Lawless to score so often last year. More 1-2's around the box and shifting the direction of the attack please Thistle.

 

Is the passing the problem, we are still playing some lovely one touch stuff. For me the problem is that we had Erskine and Lawless running all over the place beyond Doolan/Craig and nobody is doing that this season so gaps don't open up. It could very well be that the reason for that is that SPL teams are too good to do it against. This year our threat is all about our full backs, last season it was about a lot more than that.

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I don't think we're playing it in the same ares though Uber. When Higgy gets the ball, he wants to beat the man with dribbling. Slows the whole pace of the attack down. The TV footage of Saturdays penalty incident is a classic example. A full 30 seconds pass from him receiving the ball and getting his shot away. That's fair enough on occasions, but it happens all to frequently at the moment. I feel we need a bit of variety.

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it will be interesting to see how far Archie makes 30 bob stretch!

 

The options will be limited to free agents or loan signings from England. Alan Gow, mentioned earlier on this thread, has a two-year deal at Exeter City. Does anyone have serious, i.e. realistic, suggestions?

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The options will be limited to free agents or loan signings from England. Alan Gow, mentioned earlier on this thread, has a two-year deal at Exeter City. Does anyone have serious, i.e. realistic, suggestions?

 

and if we're to assume the option we'd be prioritising is a striker it would be reasonable to also assume this free agent/loanee will be a player who hasn't scored first team goals this season. I guess we can all see the importance why, whoever it is we do get, the guy's motivation has to be spot on. I've never been too keen on free agent/loan players coming in during the second part of a season as there's inevitable questions about their commitment. What's often crucial to us is not nearly so crucial to them.

Edited by lady-isobel-barnett
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and if we're to assume the option we'd be prioritising is a striker it would be reasonable to also assume this free agent/loanee will be a player who hasn't scored first team goals this season. I guess we can all see the importance why, whoever it is we do get, the guy's motivation has to be spot on. I've never been too keen on free agent/loan players coming in during the second part of a season as there's inevitable questions about their commitment. What's often crucial to us is not nearly so crucial to them.

 

It depends on the individual and his personal motivation. Free agents on short-term deals are playing for contracts. Scott Fox initially played for nothing as a free agent and won himself a deal. There was no question over Andy Dowie's or Jordan McMillan's commitment at the end of last season. Gary Fraser's loan deal ends in January. Should his commitment be questioned?

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It depends on the individual and his personal motivation. Free agents on short-term deals are playing for contracts. Scott Fox initially played for nothing as a free agent and won himself a deal. There was no question over Andy Dowie's or Jordan McMillan's commitment at the end of last season. Gary Fraser's loan deal ends in January. Should his commitment be questioned?

 

Three players coming from a club in administration two of whom later signed contracts. Sean Welsh another. Yes, that's the sort of committed player we should be looking for.

 

I take it the Gary Fraser reference is a joke..

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Sorry, Lenziejag, but you are criticising Archie. He didn't offer contracts to either Craig or Dowie because in his judgment guys of their age would have to be playing regularly to remain match fit. We have no reserve football, which may or may not have further influenced his decision. It's highly likely that Craig, who was after all released by an SPL club last season, would've been a periphery figure as we only play one up. Dowie was only ever going to play 1st team football if/when Muirhead or Balatoni became unavailable. If of course you're indicating that in your opinion the likes of Dowie and Craig would've been regulars this season then above is largely irrelevant

Archie brought in two players Baird and Gabriel who may or may not cut it this season. Not being party to knowing how much his budget is I'm loath to say if better players (again young enough to come keep match fit) could've been brought in. I did see most of the trialists in pre season and only two others impressed. Neither were snapped up by clubs at our level so I can only imagine they weren't what we needed.

It has to minded and believed that Archie still has enough in the kitty to bring in another forward, perhaps the "deadline" guy he mentioned in late August That cash would not have been available presumably had he spent more in the summer.

I'll wait until at least the end of the January transfer window* before criticisng Archie's judgement. He'll have been in the job for a year by then and will have had the necessary time to complete his squad building.

 

*I might tho' make an exception re Fraser :)

 

I am not criticising. I don't think any manager makes the right decision every time -some signings work out, some don't. My opinion is that under the current circumstances we could do with some experience at the back. Dowie had it, whether he would have made any difference vs Aberdeen/St Mirren I can't tell. Craig put himself about a bit last season. Would he have been able to do that this season. Again I don't know. Having said that I also don't think we need to panic or make wholesale changes yet, but for the next few games we need to tighten up and if that means being less adventurous then so be it.

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Craig put himself about a bit last season. Would he have been able to do that this season. Again I don't know.

 

Stevie Craig has only had 5 appearances and managed 1 goal for League 2 Wycombe. If we were moving for a guy with that recent pedigree would people on this board be keen? I doubt it.

 

Doolz is 5th (equal) top scorer in the SPFL Premiership (i.e. in the top 9 goal scorers):

 

http://espnfc.com/stats/scorers/_/league/sco.1/scottish-premiership?cc=5739

 

He also appears in the "assists" table:

 

http://espnfc.com/stats/assists/_/league/sco.1/scottish-premiership?cc=5739

 

I think that's a pretty good contribution for a guy who has less top level experience than anyone else in that top 9 scorers bar Stevie May, yet there appear to be some who think he is hopeless. Hard to fathom.

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I think that's a pretty good contribution for a guy who has less top level experience than anyone else in that top 9 scorers bar Stevie May, yet there appear to be some who think he is hopeless. Hard to fathom.

Exactly David. I think some people forget that (along with most of our players) this is the highest level Dools has ever played at. he (and the others) are still learning. Surprise package for the first quarter, second quarter teams know what we're about. We'll have to counter that again in the third quarter by the players putting into practise what they've learned so far and hopefully we can push on.
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This might be a far cry from realistic, but I wonder if we could take a look at someone like Freddy Adu?

 

Although no longer the prodigy he once was, he's supposed to be fantastic but has never put it together, as he's about to join his TENTH club at only 24 years old. After being released again, he's finding options more limited and was linked with moves to South Korea and possibly the NASL, America's Division II. From what I've read, those leagues pay wages much closer in line with what we can afford.

 

So he's already going to have to take a lower wage than what he was on. At this point, wages shouldn't be his primary motivator as he was making millions earlier in his career. The selling points would be attractive, passing football on a team that needs creativity/goals from a midfield position, along with TV exposure to England and America. Plus, there's precedent for the move with US national team players like Beasley and Bocanegra coming over to play for Rangers. A guy like Adu needs to succeed but to also be in a position where he can be seen doing it.

 

Maybe just wishful thinking?

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