hinsleburg

23 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

The KDB/Partey challenge is a good debate. I think no pen, but lots of people think otherwise. 

I think penalty...

Only one of them has actually gone to play the ball, it's not like Partey has fully got his body there to shield the ball to me it's a trip.

I'm glad however, that when the free kick has been given VAR hasn't got involved, such a subjective call!

Seems the relevant thread for it, but was a bizarre interaction between Nige and the linesman first half Saturday...

The linesman decided to over exaggerate his lunge right in front of Nige which left him looking perplexed, Nige then decided to follow him down the line running like a Chicken. Got a few laughs from the crowd so did it again 10 seconds later!

Given our luck this year I'm surprised he didn't get a red and a fine but think it was a nice moment. Wasn't like Arteta's mimicking of the ref a few weeks ago which was in really bad taste, was a lot more jovial and light hearted!

https://www.footballscotland.co.uk/spfl/scottish-premiership/ross-mccrories-aberdeen-transfer-exit-26764335

Well this one reads quite positively!

It wasn't in the highlights at all and I've not seen it mentioned so I'm worried I'm going insane...

But didn't we have a similar chance, albeit slightly harder, also missed Saturday? Think it was Vyner who may have got the final touch but seemed to be pretty much exactly the same chance...?

4 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

I’ve prevaricated over this one for weeks but whatever happens in the last 4 games (as it appears he certainly won’t feature tomorrow night) have come down on the side that we should part ways.

For what it’s worth (& nothing to do with his concussion) I wouldn’t have retained Baker either, even on reduced terms I felt a player who had featured just 3 times was too much of a gamble, though no one knew what was coming there.

I don’t buy though the revisionism about signing Tomas, we sold Webster for £20m that summer & signing him for £8m didn’t seem excessive in comparison & we also were getting a top quality player we knew & wanted to sign.

Worth pointing out too that he was absolutely outstanding in the side that made the Euro quarter finals & even this season his performance against Man City showed a fit Kalas is still a class above every other defender we have.

However his availability record over the last year is so poor (he’s featured in just 9 squads in the last 50+ league games) that even if we got him to halve his salary, I still cannot be confident it would be good value.

Getting Atkinson fit, having Vyner as an always available, far cheaper squad option & bringing in one Championship proven CB & a fourth probably younger one like the Palace kid this summer is the way forward now.

I agree with most of this.

Like the bloke, like the player but don't have enough faith he will come back the same...

I am concerned though that I think we potentially need 3 CB's this window as have no idea how long or in what condition Atkinson will return. I'm not sure who they are but think we need two Championship ready defenders and I do like the idea of a younger player providing depth. (Assuming Low and Idehen aren't in contention) Naismith's versatility means I'm not sure we can pencil him in as a guaranteed starter at CB and Pring is far more effective at LB.

Got absolutely no idea what's going to happen this summer and it's both terrifying and exciting, I'm confident we won't be signing players for the sake of it though which is a good place to start...

Similar example to Scott would be Keane Lewis-Potter who went for anywhere between £16-£20m last summer. (The range based on various articles but could be more with add ons...)

Worth noting however he only had 12 months left on contract (according to Wikipedia) and was about 12 months older. 

Using that as a benchmark I would say £25m is fair and I believe somebody will pay it this summer.

1 minute ago, redkev said:

Unless behind the scenes it’s all been sorted where ( or perhaps where not ) Scott is off to this summer , is this transfer business going to effect how soon we go for our targets or not as the case may be .

obviously if Scott is off for big numbers ( which is what we are constantly being told it will take for us to let him go ) it will surely change our market / targets depending on what happens , hopefully sorted sooner than later , you know what a few of these prem clubs are like they will play about all summer then week before the season starts they will come in with the big offer and he’s off leaving us in no mans land 

I think our approach will stay the same regardless.

I don't think selling Scott would mean we suddenly look at more expensive players but the quantity of signings may increase which we can be fairly fluid about. 

Imagine we have a list of targets who fit our criteria that are all being worked on and will have contingency plans/targets if Scott were to leave. I also believe the club are approaching this window on the basis that Scott won't be here for the start of next season but don't think will shoot ourselves in the foot like when we signed Palmer/Szmodics and had Paterson if he were to stay

Because of his height people do Dasilva's defending such an injustice.

Very rarely get's beat in a 1v1 situation and is positionally very, very good! Much better player in a back 4 than a back 5 and whilst I don't think he will be staying next year will definitely get a good Championship move.

Pring imo is a slightly better all around player, but in terms of just a 'defender' Dasilva edges it for me even with the height element. Pring can get caught ball watching and occasionally dives in whereas Dasilva is consistently solid albeit nowhere near as effective going forward.

Lets also not forget one of the other big factors here is us switching from a back 5 to a back 4

When we signed Wilson he was pitched as a specialist Wing Back, not quite good enough defensively to play in a 4 at RB and not as effective on the Wing. I would hope we've spent the time he's been injured and not playing to try and improve his defensive tactical awareness so he can play in a 4 if needed as an orthodox RB. Wing back is also not a position you can play when not 100%, it's a killer!

So if he's not fully fit or match sharp the last thing we want to do is chuck him into a position where he isn't quite as comfortable. Think it's different when Sykes plays there as whilst not comfortable he's adapted to the level and can cope mentally, Wilson has had a bigger jump and isn't there yet!

Be interesting to see what happens to him in the summer, if we are sticking with the back 4 I don't see him dislodging Tanner at all!

12 hours ago, Maltshoveller said:

Harry Kane =Nothing more than a one season wonder

Tin man will use his right foot

 

Can remember Kane playing against us for Millwall and just looked a big lump

Think he missed a header from about 6 yards and can remember thinking he was never going to make it, wonder what happened to him after that...

On 27/03/2023 at 13:16, SecretSam said:

I wonder if HNM was a bit like Nagy - a good player, but in the wrong country to show it.

I liked Nagy, that game (I think against Huddersfield) where we won 5-2 we played a midfield 4 of Brownhill - Nagy - Massengo - Eliasson and were incredible with Diedhiou and Weimann in front of them!

Looked a young hungry side but also had a lot of balance too, think Brownhill played very narrow and allowed Hunt to push on, but Eliasson played very high and wide with Rowe as cover.

Huddersfield were awful but I don't think I've ever seen a city side play as well as that one did first half, all young players too so it's a shame we couldn't kick on and keep/develop them further!

16 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

He couldn’t play for us this season, as he’s already featured for Fulham in the league cup as well as Nice.

I’m not convinced there will be such a big queue to sign him, he’s barely played in France, not getting on the pitch since November & I’d say we were a very realistic proposition for him, he’s definitely not getting another Prem club & so provided he is willing to be reasonable with his wage demands, if we are interested I could see this happening.

However no way will we simply be offering him what Dasilva is on, the plan is to cut the wage bill, not perpetuate it just with different players.

I think we would be willing to offer him what Dasilva is on personally.

The wage cutting will also occur elsewhere with Kalas leaving and it's already started with Bentley going in January and Palmer in the summer. Think they would have been our 4 biggest earners? It's been made clear the budget is there for players that our deemed worth it and versatility would be massive, I've always liked him in Centre Mid and could actually see him and James working really well as a two in there.

That being said, I don't think this will happen... Whilst the budget is there for 'special players' I think we would be more savvy and target areas where it is needed more (CB/CM). Certainly wouldn't be against it but feels like a luxury and not a signing we need

9 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

For me, we’ve proved that with most of our key players available we are competitive in this league, hell, we’ve had an 8 game unbeaten run and a 13 game one this season.  That doesn’t smack of poor or disappointing to me, but that’s me.  But it’s pretty evident when the likes of James or Naismith (or both) are out, we find it harder to get points.  Not just those two, that’s far too simplistic a reason, include Atkinson too, Pring having to play CB, etc, etc.

So the gist of it for me is that we need to improve depth…and that doesn’t mean hoarding players, just a few more true first team options rather than debutants and 34 year old CMs (no dissing of Andy King).

I agree with the above.

I think if everybody was available and we were to pick our 'Best 11' it's easily a top 10 side regardless of if we all agree on every player/formation.

Think the lack of depth is a real indication of where we've had to cost cut and we've gambled our core of 15 or so 'first teamers'  will get us through with help from academy prospects etc. Where we are at an advantageous situation for next season is a lot of these academy players have now had first team football. Players like Taylor-Clarke and Bell almost move up into that 'core group' having had more exposure to first team and as a result are more viable options if needed.

Assuming Scott goes we need to be clever on how we spend it, we know we're not going to get another Alex Scott from nowhere so will need to have a clear strategy and plan for the year. But if we can recruit well and increase that core group to 19-20 not including academy products who haven't played first team or King then we will be in a much better situation going forwards!

Where we are at a disadvantage is likely losing Scott and Kalas so need to replace with quality there to ensure that best 11 stays top 10 without compromising the budget and leaving us with no depth.

Feels like I say it every year but this summer will be a really interesting one as there's so many different potential routes and strategies the club could choose to adopt!

1 hour ago, Percy Pig said:

Sort of player we've been missing for years!

I think we have previously but I disagree at the moment, we've got plenty of players who like to stretch the rules as much as possible. Weimann, Williams, Tanner, Pring amongst others are all very good at it!

Don't rate O'Nien, think he's a stretch too far and seems to get a lot of positive attention because of the Netflix documentary where they pitched him well as the 'nice kid, came from nothing' when in reality I think he's a shit. Don't think he stands out as a player either, unsure what his best position is and seems to be missing in most games.

I would be tempted to switch back to the back 3/5 for this game given the players we have injured. The thought of Vyner and Pring/Tanner in a two worries me somewhat, whilst not ideal I think we need to be flexible and try something slightly different to ensure we don't just get bombarded at the back. We aren't going to win many first balls so important we have enough players around to pick up 2nd and 3rd balls, Pring is comfortable carrying the ball out and Tanner is an absolute warrior. This formation also potentially allows Wilson to get half hour if fit enough and can also be fluid in game by dropping Dasilva back and pushing Sykes on if needed. Far from ideal and wouldn't be my go to but needs must...

                    O'Leary

          Tanner  Vyner    Pring

Sykes                                     Dasilva

               James    Scott

Cornick                                   Mehmeti

                         Wells

Got some bollocks on him this kid, few key headers when he knew he was going to be clattered.

Doesn't shirk a tackle nor does he hide from the ball. Been really impressed since we signed him, injuries haven't helped him but felt he's consistently delivered 7/10 performances. Today was definitely a big game for him, pushed his game to the next level against tough opposition.

Very good in the air considering his height. Always rated this signing and is exactly the sort of gamble we should be making in the transfer market, low risk high reward.

According to Bristol Live Swansea are out the Cornick race...

Just watching some of the clips, if this geezer doesn't get us a penalty we've got no bloody hope!

Looks a really exciting signing, whilst not a 'like for like' with Semenyo it certainly fits the profile of the squad and what we need.

If we can get the 3 deals over the line today and shift a couple I think it'd been a great window.

Announcements now are essentially used as Marketing tools, most things now get announced late afternoon/early evening as that's when it will generate the most likes/clicks etc. As alluded clubs often sync announcements, if we are very close to Cornick then I wouldn't be surprised to see Semenyo at 5 and Cornick at 6...

This would have all been completed late last night/early this morning and don't think there's anything sinister or exciting (Joe Bryan, Steve Bruce, Motorway...) going on...

28 minutes ago, brad blit said:

People may be hoping (so do I) that we look to sign a strong/quick player to replace Semenyo (or at least those attributes) but I’m glad we are going for someone like Cornick - someone with some trickery and ability to get past players, it’s something we are lacking with this team, genuine creativity and inventiveness 

I've heard that we were targeting two players, Cornick being one and a more physical option! (Don't know who but won't be a huge fee if we do it!)

Obviously with the Semenyo funds and wages cleared up such as Bentley and hopefully some others gives us a tiny bit more wriggle room without being able to massively splash the cash!

17 minutes ago, Percy Pig said:

To be fair, we don't have anyone to aim for when we go long. There's nobody decent in the air at all!

Kicking it into the wide area means you've got a good chance of the opposition full back heading it out for a throw in and technically retaining possession.

It's not ideal and looks shite, but sometimes you've got to find a weird solution to an otherwise unsolvable problem. 

I can remember when we used to put Flint left wing for goal kicks to try something different.

Sadly Fielding was in goal and whilst Flint was tall the header was often won in Dolman row E... Not applying too much blame to the keepers here though, better to go too long and give a throw in on halfway than short and gives the opposition team an opportunity to counter.

I posted on the Bajic thread that it would be an interesting summer in terms of Goalkeepers, do we go out and get somebody to challenge for Number 1 or do we go with Max/Bajic next season. Looks like we will get an indication on that in the next week! Seems a sensible move this for all parties, hopefully we can get decent cover in cheap and source a signing elsewhere with the funds be it loan or cheap OOC player

For me it's Weimann

Not just in terms of distance covered but the intelligence of his movement and runs.

I think work rate is often stereotyped as just 'who runs the most' but I'd be interested in seeing 'number of sprints' as think that's a much better metric, as alluded to above somebody could probably amble about for 90 minutes and cover a good chunk of ground without working too hard. But Weimann has the ability to go 100% right until the end constantly making runs and pressing, think he's a freak in the best possible way! Constantly harassing opposition and officials as well as covering team mates where needed, very lucky to have had him for so long and think we are a better side with him in it!

Agree with the Stead shout above as well for similar reasons, I think what was in some ways more impressive about Stead was physically he's not as well built for it compared to people like Weimann

8 hours ago, robin_unreliant said:

He wasn't fit, then when he was, NP decided to keep him on the bench. I don't think it is any coincidence that after a run of games where he started he has got his mojo back. I do struggle to understand why he wasn't given a run of games earlier. Similar questions about why Cam Pring wasn't in the team. I question some of Nige's selection decisions, while accepting I don't know what goes on off the pitch.

To be fair to Pearson, when Antoine regained fitness Wells and Conway were playing well so he had to wait his turn like everybody else.

Antoines injury record concerns me and wouldn't be surprised if that's another reason he took a long time to be fully reintroduced. Seems to get lots of niggly injuries that hang about longer than everybody would like...

My gut feel is he will go this window, my concern is that if he does go we actually need two players to replace him. A striker for when we play with 2 up front and also a winger for when we go with 3, I'm not sure there's many players out there like Antoine that can do both!

Loved watching him last few weeks, arguably our only player who gets bums off seats, when he gets the ball on halfway you just want him to back himself and beat his msn which has been happening more and more as confidence rockets

I've always liked Tony Mowbray and has always been one last few vacancies I would have liked to see us try and tempt away from Blackburn at the time.

In terms of other leagues I don't think Marco Silva gets enough credit, seems to have done a good job everywhere other than a brief stint at Everton where nobody has succeeded! Also been really impressed with the approach and temperament of the new Brighton Manager, will be watching them with interest next 12 months as could still go either way when a lot of the work Potter did gets changed/adapted!

1 minute ago, roddy-d said:

Has anyone found a stream for this game ?? 

For those in the UK it will be streamed with some bookies via their app such as PaddyPower and Bet365. Obviously no idea as to the quality of these streams, would suggest it would be basic at best...?