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Speculation Thread


jimdickloyal

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Thought Carswell was man of the match on Saturday & wasn't scared to get stuck in when required.

Nothing personal against Carswell but going from being absolutely honking to absolutely average over 45 mins is not an endorsement for me (I thought he had a poor first half at Greenock - along with everyone else I may add). Although I admit he was a lot better in the second half. Also note that Morton played with 4 in midfield against our 5 and 2 of their 4 'midfielders' were central defenders due to injuries ruling out their normal midfield - 'Duffy played two centre halfs in centre midfield and two central midfielders on the wings.' from a Morton fan on P&B. And their midfield still created more chances than we did.

Carswell has been with us for 6 months and it took until the second half on Saturday before he put in a tackle. Why has he not done it before now? And his passing is still too defensive and inaccurate.

If he can tackle and pass for 90 mins consistently then maybe I would say he is a capable Championship player but he has done nothing so far to convince me.

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Although he has been pretty terrible whenever I have seen him, and the rest of his game was awful, Carswell actually put in a few (by which I mean maybe three or four) good tackles against Livingston the week before. That was the first time I'd seen him make a tackle. Sounds like he continued it against Morton.

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Notice that Aberdeen are trying to sign 20 year old striker Sam Gallagher on loan from MK Dons. Does that mean they are losing interest in Shankland?

Shankland hasn't exactly set the heather on fire in the Championship so I don't see him being a hit in the Premiership. Baird is a good example of this, didn't do great in the top flight but has scored plenty for Falkirk.

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Shankland hasn't exactly set the heather on fire in the Championship so I don't see him being a hit in the Premiership. Baird is a good example of this, didn't do great in the top flight but has scored plenty for Falkirk.

Whilst I agree, 3 in 3 under the new gaffer suggests he might prove more of a goal threat now he's getting a run. Hopefully by the end of the month we have at least a player or two who can unlock a defence and provide him some more chances on front of goal.

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Shankland is a goal scorer, and we would do well to hang onto him. Its a low risk option while he remains contracted to another club, and won't be costing us the earth.

Let's face it, not one of our players shone under Murray, so perhaps should not be prematurely judged on their showings while he was the manager (albeit I'm not suggesting that they should be absolved of all responsibility).

I would be fine with Shankland staying on.

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Shnkland has woeful awareness and positioning sense, Someone needs to coach him on this if he is to have a hope of netting double figures in a season. In all the games I have seen him play, when a ball comes into the box from open play he seems to be always two yards away from connecting/collecting it.

Its not a fitness thing, its a game head he needs.

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Shnkland has woeful awareness and positioning sense, Someone needs to coach him on this if he is to have a hope of netting double figures in a season.

We're in January and he's scored five while being in and out of a very poor team - it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he could score another five.

Edit: Soccerbase says that's five in ten starts, plus four sub appearances. One goal every other start isn't bad, no matter which way you cut it.

Edited by Magic Monkey
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Shnkland has woeful awareness and positioning sense, Someone needs to coach him on this if he is to have a hope of netting double figures in a season. In all the games I have seen him play, when a ball comes into the box from open play he seems to be always two yards away from connecting/collecting it.

Its not a fitness thing, its a game head he needs.

Woeful positional sense, is that what he displayed last week at cappielow??

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We're in January and he's scored five while being in and out of a very poor team - it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he could score another five.

Edit: Soccerbase says that's five in ten starts, plus four sub appearances. One goal every other start isn't bad, no matter which way you cut it.

Also 11 in 33 games for Queens Park (as a 17/18 year old) and 7 in 13 games for Dunfermline..........for a young lad he certainly knows his way to goals!!

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Woeful positional sense, is that what he displayed last week at cappielow??

Saw his goal at Cappielow and even Usain Bolt would have struggled to get out of position in time to miss the opportunity!

It fell right for him, but far too many times in the game he picked the wrong positional run/space when we were on the attack leaving McMullen and the midfielders no one to slide a quick ball or cross to.

That is where we failed to kill the game off, and Morton came back into it.

I think he has "it" but he needs the guile to get the most out of "it"... Like a certain, Jet-Blackhaired teamate in his heyday. Like I said he needs to be "coached/mentored" by someone who did it instinctively.... Do we have any players on the books with thzt pedigree... Hint, hint!

I do also believe he will benefit immensly when Goodwin and whoever is signed in midfield come in. At present Agnew is feckin incapable of distributing the ball forwards, Mallan has good and not so good games, Carswell trudges on. With one or two genuine defensive/holding midfielders Mallan would be freed up to push on, McMullan wouldnt have to collect deep so often, and you could pair Shankland with Thommo as the latter wouldnt be required to run till his arse was gasping for breath in an organised attack minded side.

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I hate playing with one striker!

I think Shankland and Thompson upfront is worth a try!

I really don't get why we go with one upfront and thought we would change when Rae came in hopefully we sign another striker who can play a bit deeper.

I don't get playing one upfront when Scott Agnew does nothing surely better having two strikers on than a passenger midfeilder who is finds it impossible to find a Striker as he can't pass a ball forward!

Wee need another striker and we need rid of Gow and McGrath!

Being honest the best fit would be Billy Mehmet a striker that plays deeper and has experience BUT only if affordable!

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Saw his goal at Cappielow and even Usain Bolt would have struggled to get out of position in time to miss the opportunity!

It fell right for him, but far too many times in the game he picked the wrong positional run/space when we were on the attack leaving McMullen and the midfielders no one to slide a quick ball or cross to.

That is where we failed to kill the game off, and Morton came back into it.

I think he has "it" but he needs the guile to get the most out of "it"... Like a certain, Jet-Blackhaired teamate in his heyday. Like I said he needs to be "coached/mentored" by someone who did it instinctively.... Do we have any players on the books with thzt pedigree... Hint, hint!.

I disagree I don't think positional sense can be coached a player either has it or they don't. He scored against Morton and against Dumbarton iirc where he latched on to a bad back pass, therefore I think he has it, he also looks to be fairly composed in front of goal. But as you allude it's all about opinions

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I hate playing with one striker!

I think Shankland and Thompson upfront is worth a try!

I really don't get why we go with one upfront and thought we would change when Rae came in hopefully we sign another striker who can play a bit deeper.

I don't get playing one upfront when Scott Agnew does nothing surely better having two strikers on than a passenger midfeilder who is finds it impossible to find a Striker as he can't pass a ball forward!

Wee need another striker and we need rid of Gow and McGrath!

Being honest the best fit would be Billy Mehmet a striker that plays deeper and has experience BUT only if affordable!

Why the hate for McGrath?

He plays for our U/20s

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But as you allude it's all about opinions

Absolutely , especially at our club. I learned that early when I saw Ally McLeod subbed and booed off at LS shortly before he was transferred , and he scored 62 goals in 90 games for us !

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Absolutely , especially at our club. I learned that early when I saw Ally McLeod subbed and booed off at LS shortly before he was transferred , and he scored 62 goals in 90 games for us !

Too many of our support love the headless chickens who look busy and put in a shift

Shankland will score if he gets a supply

He has scored from scraps so far

It's our midfield that's the biggest problem at the club and needs sorted

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I hate playing with one striker!

I think Shankland and Thompson upfront is worth a try!

I really don't get why we go with one upfront and thought we would change when Rae came in hopefully we sign another striker who can play a bit deeper.

I don't get playing one upfront when Scott Agnew does nothing surely better having two strikers on than a passenger midfeilder who is finds it impossible to find a Striker as he can't pass a ball forward!

Wee need another striker and we need rid of Gow and McGrath!

Being honest the best fit would be Billy Mehmet a striker that plays deeper and has experience BUT only if affordable!

We played 4-4-2 in Rae's first two games, an after getting scudded by Livi, we switched to 4-2-3-1 against Morton. I think this was to make us compact and solid, and to give us a stricter shape. Even though we were still murder, it's the first time I've seen the team stick to a formation rigidly, and they actually looked like they knew where they were meant to be positionally. The one up front system was more of a reaction to the Livi game than anything else.

We'll probably keep playing this way until Rae trusts the players to defend as a team and keep a shape consistently. It's a wise move, in theory. Then we can start to play with a bit more freedom.

Edited by ulysses
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