Harry Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Come the end of this season (hopefully with us still in the Championship) we will of course have a large number of players out of contract. Mr McInnes will have a big task in the off-season to put together a squad of his own. Now, there is a fair amount of cynicism flying around the forum that DMc will be bringing in every available Scotsman he possibly can. I doubt that's the only market he is looking to, but it has got me thinking about the potential summer recruitment drive and the markets we should be tapping into. I've studied the other teams in the Championship and I have come to the conclusion that we need some more foreigners. I don't think there are enough quality foreign players in this league and I firmly believe that with the addition of some cheapish continental quality we could turn our clubs fortunes around. I've looked at Scottish and Foreign players who've played a significant amount of games in this league this season (by foreign I mean any players not from the UK and Ireland, or those who qualify for international teams based on their ancestry - I'm talking real, proper foreigners, born, raised and schooled for football outside of these shores). Scottish players of significance in this league are : Jim McNulty, Jay Mceveley, Jim O'Brien, Andy Gray, Steven Caldwell, Chris Burke, Matt Gilks, Stephen Crainey, Barry Ferguson, Gordon Greer, Craig Mackail-Smith, Ross Wallace, Kevin McNaughton, Don Cowie, David Marshall, Kenny Miller, Craig Conway, Craig Bryson, Martin Woods, Tom Cairney, Robert Snodgrass, Ross McCormack, Paul Gallagher, Barry Robson, George Boyd, Alex Pearce, Danny Fox, Chris Iwelumo, Craig Forsythe and of course our own Stephen McManus, Richard Foster, Louis Carey and Stephen Pearson. Significant Foreign players are : Nikola Zigic, inigo Calderson, Romain Vincelot, Andre Bikey, Aron Gunnarson, Julian Speroni, Jonathan Parr, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Mile Jedinak, El Hadji Diouf, Robert Koren, Ibrahima Sonko, Luciano Becchio, Sol Bamba, Rhys Williams, Julio Arca, Marvin Emnes, Faris Haroun, Nadjim Abdou, Guy Moussi, Radoslav Majewski, Marko Futacs, Erik Huseklepp, Kaspars Gorkks, Jimmy Kebe, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jose Fonte, Guly Do Prado, Jos Hooiveld, Prince Buaben, Julien Faubert, Frederic Piquionne and of course our own Kalifa Cisse and Chris Wood. Now, if you selected a team from each of those to play each other you'd probably find the foreigners just coming out on top, but the Scots would put up a decent side and it'd be a close game. Looking at this in detail though, there aren't a huge amount of foreign players in this league, and those that there are, do tend to make a bit of a difference and are a key member of their squad. I would suggest that if we tap a little more into the Scottish market I wouldn't be too disappointed. You could easily put a squad together from the above list of Scots that would easily win this league. However, I would really like to see us go continental and find 2 or 3 quality foreign players to be the key men in the squad. We all know the Premier League is overloaded with foreigners but the Championship does appear to be a lot more selective in this regard. To be successful in this league you need grit and guile. You can have as many 'battlers' in your team as you want but you need some of that extra special guile and quality to really make the difference. I'd be very happy if we stocked the squad full of decent Championship standard Scots, but backed it up with a bit of flair, artistry and importantly technique from a trio of talented foreigners. I believe that it would only take 3 or 4 key players to make a huge difference in this league, and therefore not cost heaven and earth. So - there's my shout. DMc - lets get some technically gifted foreign players in for next season and shape the squad and style for the Premier League push. I'll stop wittering on with my nonsense now! What does everyone else think about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Porter Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Im happy to see ET,Johnny5, or Yoda down the gate aslong as it improves the team. Good post BTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbcfc Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 We need more quality. It doesn't matter where they come from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWRed Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Looking abroad, with the right scouts, can get better players for cheaper prices. Look at Swansea, spending alot less than us they managed to find some gems from elsewhere for a cheap price. The players are often so much more technically gifted. Remember Sno, now he wasn't used properly as a centre midfield, but his first touch and close control was absolute class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Im happy to see ET,Johnny5, or Yoda down the gate aslong as it improves the team. Good post BTW Yoda would never make it - too short. Bit too much of the Lee Johnson's about his game apparently! I suppose ET could play in goals with his fingers? We need more quality. It doesn't matter where they come from. But I suppose this is my point - I think you'd get a better quality of player abroad than you would within these shores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red-Robbo Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 It's about value isn't it? Quality Scottish players have in recent years been cheaper than their English counterparts due to so many Scottish clubs being in dire financial straights and the players wishing to play in front of bigger crowds (in some cases). The same applies to players from lots of the rest of the world. The problem for a club of our size is how careful is the scouting and how well can we help the player settle in the UK. The examples of D'Agostino, Wilkshire, Anderson, Testimetanu, Sebok and many more all show that there are bargains to be found out there if you bother looking. But anyway, Scotland will be "foreign" soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbcfc Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 The examples of D'Agostino, Wilkshire (bought from an English Club), Anderson, Testimetanu, Sebok and many more all show that there are bargains to be found out there if you bother looking. But for every testimetanu theres a Styvar, for every Soren anderson there's a bo anderson and worst of all for every sebok there's a zwijnenburg Lets be honest we have managed to find some s***e from every corner of this globe. Could we get value for money abroad possibly but at this current point I'ld rather have some bloke whose played 250+ games at a decent level in England (who could still be crap as we have plenty down the gate at the moment English and crap) than a Latvian with a bit of the unknown about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
And Its Smith Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Who is d'agostino? Carey isn't Scottish More risky buying from abroad but also cheaper which is why people do it. Only really worth it if you have the scouts as Benny proved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinmansleftboot Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 I assume the OP means Paul Agostino - Australian centre forward that went on to play in the German first division. If I recall correctly PA scored 4/5 against St Albans in a 9-2 win in about 1996. Might be wrong. Louis Carey is considered Scottish for international selection. Again, I might be wrong, but I believe he played for a junior Scottish rep team. He considered himself Scottish at one point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murraysrightplum Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 English players are rediculously over-priced. Just look at Carroll, Henderson, Maynard (if he had gone to Leicester)... If you can find a gem in scotland they are likely to be cheap and fit into the English game better than foreigners who play a different type of game, might not speak the language etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42nite Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 A team full of young hungry English players with West Country accents, who have all graduated from our long standing Academy would be great.....But that's another subject! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tragy Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Tadanari Lee from Southampton on loan if they are promoted? anyone likes the idea? Theguy is great, at the same time I don't he is EPL level just yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 English transfermarket is somewhat overpriced at times, could do well to look abroard I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notsobigfatdave Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 FK the Scots what about the Welsh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notsobigfatdave Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 English transfermarket is somewhat overpriced at times, could do well to look abroard I'd say. Wales is abroad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcc Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 There are a few African guys who have a kick about in Eastville park on a sunday afternoon. Well worth a look. Could really add to our current setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.