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Squad deficiencies


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Manager problem aside, the three league games so far have confirmed the weaknesses in the squad that many had highlighted before the season started. Morelos looks decent but he needs someone of substance up front alongside him. Windglass was poor but we had no option out on the left when he went off, the fullbacks are weak defensively as it is and the only real cover is Hodson. Not even going to touch on central midfield because Pedro seems to be creating the problems himself here. Does the board close the chequebook following Pedro's shit show and leave us with these problems at least til January?

 

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2 good, capable full-backs (right and left)

A talented winger. A consistent one. Candaies has looked OK but wingers are generally inconsistent by definition but we need someone like McCann where even if he's having an off-day not being able to skin a man, he can at least put a decent cross in that will be a sure goal.

A predator in the box. Someone like Kris Boyd of 10-years ago or a Griffiths.

If there's anything left then a more complete, rounded goalkeeper too.

Apart from the 2 full-backs, I don't think the others come cheap but that's immaterial as we need them regardless. 
 

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Miller is a waste of time, Kranjcar is a waste of time, Dorrans isn't yet what we hoped he would be, Windass still doesn't look good enough most of the time, Wallace is weak defensively and his final ball is chronic, Pena... where is Pena? Herrera has looked ordinary. Dalcio has disappeared.

Dunno if I'm being too pessimistic too early, but the squad lacks quality all over the place IMO and I'm already becoming concerned that Aberdeen will be a tough challenge, never mind sellic.

 

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4 minutes ago, K.A.I said:

2 good, capable full-backs (right and left)

A talented winger. A consistent one. Candaies has looked OK but wingers are generally inconsistent by definition but we need someone like McCann where even if he's having an off-day not being able to skin a man, he can at least put a decent cross in that will be a sure goal.

A predator in the box. Someone like Kris Boyd of 10-years ago or a Griffiths.

If there's anything left then a more complete, rounded goalkeeper too.

Apart from the 2 full-backs, I don't think the others come cheap but that's immaterial as we need them regardless. 
 

KAI....i want ure honest opinion, I think morelos has a good bit of quality but Miller is shot and I just can't see Herrera making the grade...we have missed the boat with Stevie May, I believe him and the buffalo would of been a good pairing for us?

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I know a lot of people didn't like him but I think we made a mistake selling McKay without any proper replacement lined up.

For as inconsistent as he was he was one of the few players in our squad who was capable of making things happen in the final third and we really don't have that anymore.

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3 minutes ago, hammer93 said:

KAI....i want ure honest opinion, I think morelos has a good bit of quality but Miller is shot and I just can't see Herrera making the grade...we have missed the boat with Stevie May, I believe him and the buffalo would of been a good pairing for us?

Morelos will be fine IMO and will get better the more games he plays as will Hererra but he's not a regular goalscorer. 

Miller could still have a role to play but as an impact. He can't keep starting these must-win games then be shifted into midfield to accomodate him anyway possible when things don't work out.

I've always liked Stevie May. He'd have been a good signing for us with wee Morelos. I agree with you. But then again, under a different manager and set-up imagine Garner with wee Morelos going on his pre-season and early season form?

 

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Our left hand side is abysmal, Wallace and Windass are absolutely out their depth and will never be good enough to be part of a championship winning team as a partnership.

Windass has a decent performance In a friendly and a half decent 45 vs Motherwell and people are creaming over him, the boy just does not have the mindset nor the heart to play for us.

Wallace is just far too predictable but he played a bit better when Windass went off.

Miller is clearly finished, everything breaks down at him and he doesn't have the speed of thought nor the quickness in the feet to shift the ball quick enough if he drops off which he does far too much.

Tav has improved slightly but still has the same old lapses that exposes the centre halves when teams counter quickly down his side.

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8 minutes ago, hammer93 said:

KAI....i want ure honest opinion, I think morelos has a good bit of quality but Miller is shot and I just can't see Herrera making the grade...we have missed the boat with Stevie May, I believe him and the buffalo would of been a good pairing for us?

Don't see us making any progress signing players like May, McLean or Moult. All very ordinary IMO.

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We desperately need a tall goal scorer, the reason I say tall is because we don't appear to have anyone who can attack any of the crosses that Candias has been whipping in, I'm sick and tired seeing good balls coming in from him only for opposing CH's lapping them up with no challenge whatsoever, I think we have enough for most of the SPFL teams if we were to get our tactics right, but someone who can score with his head or create a bit of havoc in the box is desperately needed, Herrera is not the answer but for a couple of hundred quid I'd take the chance on Moult.

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I would like to see us play 3 at the back. With Tav and Wallace wide. Jack and Dorrans middle. With Morelos up top and candyass and a new signing playing in a narrow front three. 

Kenny clearly should be sub at best. Nico just doesn't have the style of play we need. 

 

If windass plays then he should be played up top with Morelos or Herrera. 

Between now and the deadline it is critical that a good left winger is brought in.

 

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Windass is the same situation as McKay imo - he's great on his game, maybe more effective, but probably shows it less often. There's clearly a player there but we won't see it enough for it to be worth keeping him in the team every week.

We really, really need to drop Miller. For as much as he's saved our arses so many times over the years, he's done. Every play forward breaks down when the ball comes to him, that's if he even gets onto the end of it. He's rarely getting into the right positions, dropping way too deep, and worst of all the manager has a propensity to drop him into midfield instead of using one of our midfielders on the bench (which in itself is an entirely separate and deeply worrying issue).

I really think we need a new LB too even though Wallace played fine today imo. I'm not really worried about our defence too much, I am way more concerned about our dire lack of firepower, but I just often feel Wallace contributes little going forward and is prone to errors.

We need extra options on either wing and another player up top to replace Miller. That's the base requirements for me and if that's not addressed then I really don't see how we'll do any better than last season.

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We need creative wide players.  One on the left is glaringly obvious.  I would also say we need another striker to partner Morelos as Herrera doesn't look up to it and Miller's finished.  As things stand, we'll struggle to break teams down all season long. 

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Morelos looks decent up front but Miller is finished and Herrera so far looks like a shite version of Joe Garner so we need a new striker.

We need another winger, preferably one comfortable playing on either side as we don't have anyone to come in when Windass or Candeias aren't available since Dalcio seems to have vanished.

We need a left back. Wallace is absolutely brutal. He's a shite defender and his runs forward usually just get him in the way of Windass.

We need another right back to either compete with or replace Tav. Hodson isn't capable of doing either.

If we could move on some more passengers then another quality midfielder would be good. Dorrans and Jack look the part and Rossiter hasn't broke again yet either which is encouraging but, for me, the options to come on and replace them are poor. I don't think Krancjar or Holt are good enough to take us forward and I don't know what the fuck is happening with this Pena guy. Reportedly our most expensive signing and we've seen fuckall of him bar the odd cameo where he's looked well off the pace.

I'd also give Alnwick a run of games to see if he's any better than Foderingham. If he isn't then we need a new keeper because our current number 1 isn't good enough. We got away with it because Hearts are shite and created next to nothing today but again he looked vulnerable from a long range effort but luckily the ball hit the woodwork when he was well beaten.

That's about 6 players we need IMO. We'll probably end up getting 1 more in if we're lucky though.

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2 minutes ago, LaudrupsPatrickBoots said:

Morelos looks decent up front but Miller is finished and Herrera so far looks like a shite version of Joe Garner so we need a new striker.

We need another winger, preferably one comfortable playing on either side as we don't have anyone to come in when Windass or Candeias aren't available since Dalcio seems to have vanished.

We need a left back. Wallace is absolutely brutal. He's a shite defender and his runs forward usually just get him in the way of Windass.

We need another right back to either compete with or replace Tav. Hodson isn't capable of doing either.

If we could move on some more passengers then another quality midfielder would be good. Dorrans and Jack look the part and Rossiter hasn't broke again yet either which is encouraging but, for me, the options to come on and replace them are poor. I don't think Krancjar or Holt are good enough to take us forward and I don't know what the fuck is happening with this Pena guy. Reportedly our most expensive signing and we've seen fuckall of him bar the odd cameo where he's looked well off the pace.

I'd also give Alnwick a run of games to see if he's any better than Foderingham. If he isn't then we need a new keeper because our current number 1 isn't good enough. We got away with it because Hearts are shite and created next to nothing today but again he looked vulnerable from a long range effort but luckily the ball hit the woodwork when he was well beaten.

That's about 6 players we need IMO. We'll probably end up getting 1 more in if we're lucky though.

You know what is even more depressing than what you have mentioned,.......even if by some miracle we could replace all of them we still couldn't cover any short term never mind long term injuries, our squad is way to thin.

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58 minutes ago, K.A.I said:

2 good, capable full-backs (right and left)

A talented winger. A consistent one. Candaies has looked OK but wingers are generally inconsistent by definition but we need someone like McCann where even if he's having an off-day not being able to skin a man, he can at least put a decent cross in that will be a sure goal.

A predator in the box. Someone like Kris Boyd of 10-years ago or a Griffiths.

If there's anything left then a more complete, rounded goalkeeper too.

Apart from the 2 full-backs, I don't think the others come cheap but that's immaterial as we need them regardless. 
 

Agree with everything you are saying.

What really worries me is that the manager clearly has his preferred formation and his preferred 1st XI and it is now obvious for anyone to set up a team against us.

Coupled with this problem is the fact we don't have the squad depth or quality to change things up enough.

One of the hard things about our formation is that the type of wingers needed to play in it don't really exist anymore in great abundance.

I think its probably down to the prevalence of 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 over the past decade where the wingers are more wide forwards rather than midfielders.

Candeias seems to have the work rate for it though.

One thing not helping Windass is I don't know if his role in the system has been communicated well enough.

Last week Tav had a go at him for not tracking back but Pedro was actually giving him instructions to stay up in pretty much the wide forward position.

Two things concern me with that though. One is clearly instructions and team roles seem to not be understood. The second is that Pedro wants a wide forward on one flank which means the formation is lopsided and in a 4-4-2 you can't have any passengers defensively in the first bank of four.

 

 

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Just now, slimjim1690 said:

You know what is even more depressing than what you have mentioned,.......even if by some miracle we could replace all of them we still couldn't cover any short term never mind long term injuries, our squad is way to thin.

It's a catch 22. Some of the guys we've got rid of in this window could have at least added a wee bit of depth to the squad just now even though they weren't great but then if we hadn't sold them or got them off the wage bill then we probably couldn't have added what we have.

It seems like Pedro doesn't even want to use what's at his disposal at the moment though. Last week we had Kenny Miller playing centre mid after Jack went off while Rossiter sat on the bench. This week we had him playing on the left wing after Windass went off while Dalcio couldn't even make the squad.

It's baffling.

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Disagree on Windass, I thought he looked well up for it, and was taking the piss out of the guy marking him,and could have seen his marker sent off. until he took a really bad winding, and never really recovered.  i think he would be a good squad player for us, but i'd like to see him replaced with a better winger.  I have not seen much of Walker but wasn't really impressed with him at all today and didn't see what he would add to the squad.

I think we need another striker, Maybe another right back to challenge Tav. I'd also like a really exiting young loan prospect in the door too.

 

I am still trying to remain optimistic this season, but it's not fucking easy :lol:

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1 hour ago, shaka said:

It'd be good if we could get some good players in on loan, if the board aren't willing to give anymore money to Pedro. Definitely need some quality on the left side, a new left back and left wing.

Heard an interview with Harry Redknapp today - he was talking about beefing up his Birmingham team.

He said he was getting asked for £1million LOAN fees.

Bearing in kind that would be from the same kind of talent pool Toral came from, we might be struggling to even get decent loanees!

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