Ross McCrorie signed - Confirmed

[Davefevs]

31 minutes ago, SBB said:

Post reporting fee is £1m up front with a further £1m in add-ons 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-transfers-live-mccrorie-8495405

Yes, much closer to where I thought the fee would be.

If true, I guess the twitterati who posted stuff like “£3m - he better be worth it” and “£3m for an SPL player!!” can calm down!

9 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Plus the significant amortisation savings from their departures, Baker and his final year which we rightly kept paying despite his sad retirement also off the books.

Yep we've worked as a club very hard to get into this position of relative comfort and a little bit to spend too. Shown significant market discipline plus of course the Semenyo hit that you mention.

Accelerating the departures too of Bentley and Massengo plus I assume partial payoffs for Klose and Martin also will have helped- although short term hit to depth but we were heading towards midtable anyway.

Yep, I already factor this in, as I have each year’s amortisation baked in, both prior and future years.

[!james]

Aberdeen fans going to be upset when they realise its not £3million... 

https://afc-chat.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/46057-ross-mccrorie/page/49/

[Spike]

I was having a look at McCrorie on a few sites and so on and apparently he can play Center back, is primarily a defensive midfielder but I was surprised to learn he can play Right Back too. I'm wondering if this is a part of his appeal, that he could be back up for RB if injuries and selection becomes a problem? I watched him play a game as a RWB and he didn't look very suited but it surprised me none the less that he can play there.

Going into next season is he and Dickie sign I'm curious to see what our tactics will be, I really don't want to see us go back to a back 3 so I'd be hoping it would be Dickie and Atkinson/Vyner as CB's, Pring LB, Tanner/New Signing RB with McCrorie playing that defensive midfielder who can drop into a CB role should a CB be out of position and allowing James to be a more traditional box to box midfidler where he can help make those passes we've been missing due to him sitting deeper. I am curious who would play the CM/AM role though if Scott does leave, which I think goes without saying it going to happen.

[Finley_Smith10]

16 minutes ago, Spike said:

I was having a look at McCrorie on a few sites and so on and apparently he can play Center back, is primarily a defensive midfielder but I was surprised to learn he can play Right Back too. I'm wondering if this is a part of his appeal, that he could be back up for RB if injuries and selection becomes a problem? I watched him play a game as a RWB and he didn't look very suited but it surprised me none the less that he can play there.

Going into next season is he and Dickie sign I'm curious to see what our tactics will be, I really don't want to see us go back to a back 3 so I'd be hoping it would be Dickie and Atkinson/Vyner as CB's, Pring LB, Tanner/New Signing RB with McCrorie playing that defensive midfielder who can drop into a CB role should a CB be out of position and allowing James to be a more traditional box to box midfidler where he can help make those passes we've been missing due to him sitting deeper. I am curious who would play the CM/AM role though if Scott does leave, which I think goes without saying it going to happen.

Right now, if Bryan comes, I could see it being;

Sykes Mehmeti Bryan

Conway

will be interesting if we’re looking to sign attacking players later in the window. Maybe a PL loan. Would like Rak-Sayki who was on loan at charlton

[Northern Red]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Yes, much closer to where I thought the fee would be.

If true, I guess the twitterati who posted stuff like “£3m - he better be worth it” and “£3m for an SPL player!!” can calm down!

Yep, I already factor this in, as I have each year’s amortisation baked in, both prior and future years.

Oh they'll find something else to have a meltdown about, they always do.

[Spike]

1 minute ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

Right now, if Bryan comes, I could see it being;

Sykes Mehmeti Bryan

Conway

will be interesting if we’re looking to sign attacking players later in the window. Maybe a PL loan. Would like Rak-Sayki who was on loan at charlton

Yeah I can see how that could work:



Would be a decent line up, we Know both Sykes and Bryan can switch roles with Tanner and Pring which would allow great overlap opportunities, James is very solid in the middle and would be great at linking players up, McCrorie would be able to drop in between Atkinson or Dickie or even rotate with them if Atkinson or Dickie brought the ball forward. I think the only question mark would be Mehmeti as we've not really seen him in that role too often, although he is exactly what we need in terms of someone to get the ball in a central position and threaten the opposition back line by going at them or looking for passes to Conway or even Bryan or Sykes coming in from the wide positions. A few diagonal passes from that AM position to the wide men cutting in could cause real issues for the opposition.

[formerly known as ivan]

2 minutes ago, Spike said:

Yeah I can see how that could work:



Would be a decent line up, we Know both Sykes and Bryan can switch roles with Tanner and Pring which would allow great overlap opportunities, James is very solid in the middle and would be great at linking players up, McCrorie would be able to drop in between Atkinson or Dickie or even rotate with them if Atkinson or Dickie brought the ball forward. I think the only question mark would be Mehmeti as we've not really seen him in that role too often, although he is exactly what we need in terms of someone to get the ball in a central position and threaten the opposition back line by going at them or looking for passes to Conway or even Bryan or Sykes coming in from the wide positions. A few diagonal passes from that AM position to the wide men cutting in could cause real issues for the opposition.

You are missing Vyner who I’m sure will be a starter off the back of the season he has had.

[Finley_Smith10]

1 minute ago, formerly known as ivan said:

You are missing Vyner who I’m sure will be a starter off the back of the season he has had.

Good to have some strength in depth.

if everyone fit, and that’s the team. that’s a bench of. 

New Keeper, Vyner, Naismith, Williams, Weimann, Cornick, Wells

Wilson, Bell etc still there

[glynriley]

2 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

You are missing Vyner who I’m sure will be a starter off the back of the season he has had.

Nah, you know what it's like on here. Every new signing must go straight into the team, and the player they replace is obviously leaving or out of favour with the manager...

[joshbristol]

8 minutes ago, Spike said:

Yeah I can see how that could work:



Would be a decent line up, we Know both Sykes and Bryan can switch roles with Tanner and Pring which would allow great overlap opportunities, James is very solid in the middle and would be great at linking players up, McCrorie would be able to drop in between Atkinson or Dickie or even rotate with them if Atkinson or Dickie brought the ball forward. I think the only question mark would be Mehmeti as we've not really seen him in that role too often, although he is exactly what we need in terms of someone to get the ball in a central position and threaten the opposition back line by going at them or looking for passes to Conway or even Bryan or Sykes coming in from the wide positions. A few diagonal passes from that AM position to the wide men cutting in could cause real issues for the opposition.

That looks a very strong side 

[GrahamC]

5 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

You are missing Vyner who I’m sure will be a starter off the back of the season he has had.

Plus it includes Atkinson, who we’ll be lucky to see much before November.

[petehinton]

15 minutes ago, Spike said:

Yeah I can see how that could work:



Would be a decent line up, we Know both Sykes and Bryan can switch roles with Tanner and Pring which would allow great overlap opportunities, James is very solid in the middle and would be great at linking players up, McCrorie would be able to drop in between Atkinson or Dickie or even rotate with them if Atkinson or Dickie brought the ball forward. I think the only question mark would be Mehmeti as we've not really seen him in that role too often, although he is exactly what we need in terms of someone to get the ball in a central position and threaten the opposition back line by going at them or looking for passes to Conway or even Bryan or Sykes coming in from the wide positions. A few diagonal passes from that AM position to the wide men cutting in could cause real issues for the opposition.

Good keeper is that Edit. 

[Spike]

21 hours ago, Port Said Red said:

When he leaves? I have already people questioning his contribution in the last couple of weeks alone.

I remember saying what a talent Brownhill was and how £4m was a steal when we sold him only for some of our fans to claim he was overrated and that we'd robbed Burnley... so I get it, there will be vocal and delusional fans haha

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

Good to have some strength in depth.

if everyone fit, and that’s the team. that’s a bench of. 

New Keeper, Vyner, Naismith, Williams, Weimann, Cornick, Wells

Wilson, Bell etc still there

You beat me to it.  For me this is “building a squad” good enough to not be weakened by injury / rotation.  It isn’t perfect, but it’s a significant step in the right direction (on paper).

1 minute ago, Spike said:

I remember saying what a talent Brownhill was and how £4m was a steal when we sold him only for some of our fans to claim he was overrated and that we'd robbed Burnley... so I get it, there will be vocal and delusional fans haha

£7m 

[Spike]

Just now, petehinton said:

Good keeper is that Edit. 

Didn't bother with the keeper as we all know it's O'Leary unless we sign someone new. That said we've not been linked with any GK's as far as I've seen so I'm clued out as to what's going on there.

[Spike]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

You beat me to it.  For me this is “building a squad” good enough to not be weakened by injury / rotation.  It isn’t perfect, but it’s a significant step in the right direction (on paper).

£7m 

Yeah it was before the final fee was announced that people were saying it was £4m and they still thought we'd robbed them.

I also agree with the depth there although I do feel James is irreplaceable with our current players. Naismith is ok there but James does so much off of the ball that no-one else in the entire squad comes close to, we really do need another midfielder of his type, someone who does the stuff that is overlooked by most. I think that with Dickie, McCrorie and Bryan signing we still need another midfielder like James, who will run the midfield and a Right Back to compete with Tanner. I know realistically we can drop Sykes back to cover Tanner should Tanner be unavailable but I think we should be looking to avoid that as Sykes should be focussing on his attacking side of the game rather than reverting back to the right back role where he's not as natural. 

All in all, if we could sign Dickie, McCrorie and Bryan I'd still be hoping for a better quality goalkeeper, some competition for Right back and a solid box to box midfielder which I know be a bit much to ask for.

[Jimbo123]

17 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

You beat me to it.  For me this is “building a squad” good enough to not be weakened by injury / rotation.  It isn’t perfect, but it’s a significant step in the right direction (on paper).

£7m 

Hate the idea of playing Mehmeti as a 10.

He's the one player we have other than Scott (who probably won't be here) that's capable of being direct and taking on a man, he needs to stay out wide.

We need a new 10. Twine would be my somewhat ambitious suggestion, if not then I'd be very content with Azaz.

[bcfc01]

5 minutes ago, Spike said:

Yeah it was before the final fee was announced that people were saying it was £4m and they still thought we'd robbed them.

I also agree with the depth there although I do feel James is irreplaceable with our current players. Naismith is ok there but James does so much off of the ball that no-one else in the entire squad comes close to, we really do need another midfielder of his type, someone who does the stuff that is overlooked by most. I think that with Dickie, McCrorie and Bryan signing we still need another midfielder like James, who will run the midfield and a Right Back to compete with Tanner. I know realistically we can drop Sykes back to cover Tanner should Tanner be unavailable but I think we should be looking to avoid that as Sykes should be focussing on his attacking side of the game rather than reverting back to the right back role where he's not as natural. 

All in all, if we could sign Dickie, McCrorie and Bryan I'd still be hoping for a better quality goalkeeper, some competition for Right back and a solid box to box midfielder which I know be a bit much to ask for.

McCrorie can play right back.

[wayne allisons tongues]

6 minutes ago, Spike said:

Yeah it was before the final fee was announced that people were saying it was £4m and they still thought we'd robbed them.

I also agree with the depth there although I do feel James is irreplaceable with our current players. Naismith is ok there but James does so much off of the ball that no-one else in the entire squad comes close to, we really do need another midfielder of his type, someone who does the stuff that is overlooked by most. I think that with Dickie, McCrorie and Bryan signing we still need another midfielder like James, who will run the midfield and a Right Back to compete with Tanner. I know realistically we can drop Sykes back to cover Tanner should Tanner be unavailable but I think we should be looking to avoid that as Sykes should be focussing on his attacking side of the game rather than reverting back to the right back role where he's not as natural. 

All in all, if we could sign Dickie, McCrorie and Bryan I'd still be hoping for a better quality goalkeeper, some competition for Right back and a solid box to box midfielder which I know be a bit much to ask for.

Kane Wilson is a capable RB, depends if NP feels he’s suitable for us.

[Kid in the Riot]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo123 said:

Hate the idea of playing Mehmeti as a 10.

He's the one player we have other than Scott (who probably won't be here) that's capable of being direct and taking on a man, he needs to stay out wide.

We need a new 10. Twine would be my somewhat ambitious suggestion, if not then I'd be very content with Azaz.

His best form for Wycombe was definitely when played out on the left. 

[Jerseybean]

The last bit here suggests the fee is lower than has been reported elsewhere.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-transfer-rob-dickie-8495799

[Jimbo123]

6 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

His best form for Wycombe was definitely when played out on the left. 

It's where he looks threatening for us too, I read a NTT20 piece the other day and the Sunderland correspondent they had said Mehmeti was the best opposing player at the SOL this season.

What's your view on Bryan re-signing KITR? Him and Mehmeti both very different left wingers (if we chose him to play there) but both have different qualities, could be very effective for us.

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, Jimbo123 said:

Hate the idea of playing Mehmeti as a 10.

He's the one player we have other than Scott (who probably won't be here) that's capable of being direct and taking on a man, he needs to stay out wide.

We need a new 10. Twine would be my somewhat ambitious suggestion, if not then I'd be very content with Azaz.

You’ll know by now I hate “best elevens”, and hate formations being the be-all and end-all, but breaking my own rules:

                    O’Leary

Tanner Dickie Vyner Pring

                    James

       McCrorie     Bryan

                  Weimann

           Conway Wells

Really it’s 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards.  Can you remember when Williams played “front sweeper” but we still played WSM?  I think Nige ideally wants to play two forwards with one in behind.  The full-backs can provide the width.

 

[Silvio Dante]

13 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

You’ll know by now I hate “best elevens”, and hate formations being the be-all and end-all, but breaking my own rules:

                    O’Leary

Tanner Dickie Vyner Pring

                    James

       McCrorie     Bryan

                  Weimann

           Conway Wells

Really it’s 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards.  Can you remember when Williams played “front sweeper” but we still played WSM?  I think Nige ideally wants to play two forwards with one in behind.  The full-backs can provide the width.

 

I think it’s often missed that, notwithstanding when he doesn’t score, we scored more goals per minute with Wells on the pitch than anyone else so I’d probably concur with the above largely. My concern would be creativity - I’ve said before that Andi is more of a runner off the front side than a creative 10, and when you take both Scott (for reasons of sale) and Naismith out we do lack creativity on the above. I’m wondering if you have McCrorie RB over Tanner and Kal in midfield to combat that.

Based on last season, I don’t yet see Mehmeti in the best team. Not saying he won’t be, but definitely needs to learn a bit more that less is more and what to do when.

[Davefevs]

22 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think it’s often missed that, notwithstanding when he doesn’t score, we scored more goals per minute with Wells on the pitch than anyone else so I’d probably concur with the above largely. My concern would be creativity - I’ve said before that Andi is more of a runner off the front side than a creative 10, and when you take both Scott (for reasons of sale) and Naismith out we do lack creativity on the above. I’m wondering if you have McCrorie RB over Tanner and Kal in midfield to combat that.

Based on last season, I don’t yet see Mehmeti in the best team. Not saying he won’t be, but definitely needs to learn a bit more that less is more and what to do when.

Exactly why I don’t do best elevens, because I could’ve written that team out a dozen or so ways.  One way, just like you have.  Also, I wouldn’t see it as a rigid diamond either, just did it like for explanation purposes…and to kinda show there’s a lot of room for full-backs to join in if you have a disciplined “sitter”.

Its all a but hypothetical anyway….but I hope it starts to show that we are creating depth without needing to recruit 8 or so players (as I’ve seen elsewhere).  Nige us creating a competitive core.  It is that core that will hopefully move us up the table.

[Kid in the Riot]

3 hours ago, !james said:

Aberdeen fans going to be upset when they realise its not £3million... 

https://afc-chat.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/46057-ross-mccrorie/page/49/

Yep:

So a new report saying we are only going to receive £1m up front the rest add ons this deal is looking like we have had our pants down 

[1960maaan]

38 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

You’ll know by now I hate “best elevens”, and hate formations being the be-all and end-all, but breaking my own rules:

                    O’Leary

Tanner Dickie Vyner Pring

                    James

       McCrorie     Bryan

                  Weimann

           Conway Wells

Really it’s 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 forwards.  Can you remember when Williams played “front sweeper” but we still played WSM?  I think Nige ideally wants to play two forwards with one in behind.  The full-backs can provide the width.

 

I'd have concerns with moving Vyner to LCB, purely because when his form dipped it was after moving positions. That LCB role finished Taylor Moore here, he'd looked solid on the right but that little move over seemed to disrupt him so much he lost all confidence. Not saying that would happen, but I think Zak looked as though he was turning into a quality RCB , but familiarity and confidence does seem a large part of his game. Dickie I believe has played LCB, according to my mate he's better in a 3 but not sure we will start like that, though the option is there with the same players.
Totally with you on the front two. It felt like Nige was juggling things and looking at options towards the end of the season, the Conway / Wells pairing is the best combination we've had for some time. They seem to improve each other, which is massive.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Yep:

So a new report saying we are only going to receive £1m up front the rest add ons this deal is looking like we have had our pants down 

I think that is the reality of the Scottish market itself, unless you are selling to a PL team.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

I'd have concerns with moving Vyner to LCB, purely because when his form dipped it was after moving positions. That LCB role finished Taylor Moore here, he'd looked solid on the right but that little move over seemed to disrupt him so much he lost all confidence. Not saying that would happen, but I think Zak looked as though he was turning into a quality RCB , but familiarity and confidence does seem a large part of his game. Dickie I believe has played LCB, according to my mate he's better in a 3 but not sure we will start like that, though the option is there with the same players.
Totally with you on the front two. It felt like Nige was juggling things and looking at options towards the end of the season, the Conway / Wells pairing is the best combination we've had for some time. They seem to improve each other, which is massive.

He’ll play where he’s told to play!

FWIW there’s a huge difference between playing LCB3 and LCB in a two…positional and spacing wise.

Who knows, we might sign another CB and Vyner doesn’t get it at all???

[bcfctim]

49 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think it’s often missed that, notwithstanding when he doesn’t score, we scored more goals per minute with Wells on the pitch than anyone else so I’d probably concur with the above largely. My concern would be creativity - I’ve said before that Andi is more of a runner off the front side than a creative 10, and when you take both Scott (for reasons of sale) and Naismith out we do lack creativity on the above. I’m wondering if you have McCrorie RB over Tanner and Kal in midfield to combat that.

Based on last season, I don’t yet see Mehmeti in the best team. Not saying he won’t be, but definitely needs to learn a bit more that less is more and what to do when.

Surprised to see Naismith out of so many suggested XIs. Has the best passing range in the squad by far, we looked a much better more fluid side with him in it last season

Also if we're playing the shape @Davefevssuggests I'd love to see Kane Wilson come good. As solid as Tanner's been, if we were playing that system long term we'd want a FB who offers more going forward imo, like Pring does on the left