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Mcgregor, Craig & Stevenson


stuman99

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If you seriously think Newton is a "promising" 22 year old you really need to follow another sport.I would take Stevenson and/or Craig in a heartbeat

Newton has just signed for a Championship team in England.

I seriously doubt that either Stevenson or Craig are likely to get any offers to play at that level.

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Newton has just signed for a Championship team in England.

I seriously doubt that either Stevenson or Craig are likely to get any offers to play at that level.

Stevenson already has and as was posted earlier moved home because of his wife and kid not settling.

McLean and Newton may go on to have better careers and be better players but as replacements for the players they were last year those two aren't bad replacements.

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Newton has just signed for a Championship team in England.

I seriously doubt that either Stevenson or Craig are likely to get any offers to play at that level.

Slightly "bigging" them us as they are newly promoted and could well go straight back down.

Time will tell with Newton, could go either way IMO but good luck to him.

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Stevenson is a decent player and I'd be happy to see him sign. I don't rate Craig at all.

But the suggestion that either represent a step up from Newton or particularly McClean is ridiculous IMO.

Ask St Johnstone fans about Liam Craig. They all rate him very highly.

Who would you like us to sign?

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Stevenson already has and as was posted earlier moved home because of his wife and kid not settling.

McLean and Newton may go on to have better careers and be better players but as replacements for the players they were last year those two aren't bad replacements.

After he signed Stevenson started 3 of 23 games at an Ipswich team who were 15th in the Championship. The idea that he gave up on a successful career in England simply due to his wife and kid is not creditable. I'm sure the fact he couldn't get a game was a more likely explanation.

However even that was a few years ago (he also made a Scotland squad around that time I think) and I don't think think any Championship clubs or Gordon Strachan are likely to be knocking on his door these days.

As I said though, he's a decent player, who I'd be happy to see playing for Saints. But personally I'd rather watch Kenny McLean...

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After he signed Stevenson started 3 of 23 games at an Ipswich team who were 15th in the Championship. The idea that he gave up on a successful career in England simply due to his wife and kid is not creditable. I'm sure the fact he couldn't get a game was a more likely explanation.

However even that was a few years ago (he also made a Scotland squad around that time I think) and I don't think think any Championship clubs or Gordon Strachan are likely to be knocking on his door these days.

As I said though, he's a decent player, who I'd be happy to see playing for Saints. But personally I'd rather watch Kenny McLean...

Stats can read how you want them to I guess.....he broke into the team on the 3rd of March and took part in 11 of the final 14 games of the season including 3 starts in the last 5. To suggest he left because he couldn't get a game, baring in mind he was playing at a new club in a different league, now that he was starting to get a game makes that slightly less likely.

Having, in recent times, watched Thommo, Teale and Kello come to the club and do well towards the latter stages of their career I'd be quite happy to take a punt on Stevenson especially with the number of younger players in the team. I'd be even happier if it was in a side that included McLean and McGinn.

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FFS this has got to be a joke

Replacing 2 promising 22 yr olds who will probably both be playing Championship this season with 2 bottom 6 journeymen pros?

Stevenson is 30 and only lasted 6 months in a poor Ipswich team in the championship before they punted him.

Craig is 27 and played in 34 of 38 league games for Hibs, captaining them to relegation.

Can't see either of them being strongly motivated to play for Saints.

Promising start to TC's career? If you want to be watching championship football the season after next then maybe.

You're missing the point completely. We are never going to be able to sign Championship standard players on permanent deals. The only time we will get players of that quality is when we bring them through as youngsters, like Lappin, McGinn x2 or McLean, or perhaps the odd lucky loan of a youth player like Dummett who will never hang around for long if they prove to be good enough. Newton is not Championship quality incidentally.

All that St Mirren - and every other team in the SPL except Celtic - can do is sign journeymen and bring through kids. As it happens, I don't think Hearts, Hibs or St Johnstone fans would take Newton over Craig or Stevenson, so I think that either of those signings would be a positive step. They might not be as good as McLean, but it is simply not realistic to expect us to sign a like for like replacement. We couldn't even begin to afford a squad player from any Championship side. By way of example, Millwall's wage budget for the season just gone (in which they struggled desperately and avoided relegation on the last day) was £12m. Rotherham, who signed Newton, get average crowds twice our size and will benefit from much higher TV and sponsorship revenues. It's not possible to compete.

Lennon signed untold reams of dross to fit around the youth players he had coming through. Craig's remit has to be to improve the standard of journeymen we bring in, and (on paper at least) Stevenson and Craig look like a much better calibre of player than Lennon managed to attract for the most part. What you should be comparing Stevenson and Craig to is Lennon's equivalent signings - the likes of Grainger, Bahoken, Wylde, Djemba-Djemba, Magennis and Harkins in the last year. I think it's a favourable comparison.

The proof of course will come with the signings Craig actually makes - the speculation doesn't count for anything and prophecies of relegation at this stage are laughable. Hopefully Craig is also able to bring through a few decent young players as Lennon did (although that depends really on the players we have coming through and not on either Lennon or Craig's abilities), and pick up some more Paul Dummetts on loan.

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Lennon signed untold reams of dross to fit around the youth players he had coming through. Craig's remit has to be to improve the standard of journeymen we bring in, and (on paper at least) Stevenson and Craig look like a much better calibre of player than Lennon managed to attract for the most part. What you should be comparing Stevenson and Craig to is Lennon's equivalent signings - the likes of Grainger, Bahoken, Wylde, Djemba-Djemba, Magennis and Harkins in the last year. I think it's a favourable comparison.

My point was exactly that, Stevenson and Craig have more or less an identical pedigree to the players Lennon brought in. Harkins, Wylde, Magennis, Grainger, Imrie etc.

I don't expect us to compete with the English Championship. I was replying to a post that suggested that replacing Newton & McLean with Craig & Stevenson would be a good thing. Given the choice I'd rather watch Newton and McLean.

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My point was exactly that, Stevenson and Craig have more or less an identical pedigree to the players Lennon brought in. Harkins, Wylde, Magennis, Grainger, Imrie etc.

I don't expect us to compete with the English Championship. I was replying to a post that suggested that replacing Newton & McLean with Craig & Stevenson would be a good thing. Given the choice I'd rather watch Newton and McLean.

Nothing wrong with Wylde and it's my opinion, but I believe Newton is overrated and so did his parent club.

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