Next Season Line Up

[Chambo 197]

Probably the 100th thread on the topic but just wondering where Ally is going with the players he has brought in. I am pretty happy with the signings thus far and I'm sure we'll see another couple come in, particularly in defence.

What formation will he play and how will he fit them into the team? He has signed 2 CM's in Law and Peralta where we already have Black, McLeod and Hutton which makes me think we will play with 5 in the middle. But then that leaves 1 upfront, having signed Daly and Clark to add to Little, McCulloch and Shields.

It's definitely good we have a better quality of squad with more depth but there is going to be some reasonable experienced players unhappy at spending time on the bench.

Could we see this next season in 4-2-3-1.....

Bell

Foster NewCB McCulloch Wallace

Peralta Black

Little Law Templeton

Daly

Which leaves guys like Shields, McKay, Clark, McLeod, Mitchell and Smith on the side lines?

Or Will we play 4-4-2

Bell

Foster NewCB McCulloch Wallace

McKay Peralta Law Templeton

Daly Little

Which still leaves Shields, Clark, McLeod, Mitchell, Smith and Black on the sidelines!

What formation do you think we will adopt and which players do you think will be the winners and losers?

[JamieG54 812]

Bell

Wallace

Luca

Jig

Cole

Law

Lewis

Peralta

Temps

Daly

Clarke/Little

[Sweeney 241]

Am I the only one who doesn't want to see McCulloch in defence? He's not a defender. Filling in when necessary is one thing but being moved permanently is completely different. It's all well saying hes strong, can tackle and win a header, buts its about having the mindset of a defender. Positioning, reading the game, defenders instincts etc. Personally I would rather stick with the actual CBs we already have or sign new ones.

[coatbrigpirate 23]

Wallace and mcleod were the best two players a seen play last year and are 1st two in team for me. Think dean shields cud be a player for us too if stays injury free, sayin that a cud say same for temps, mckay, aird etc a think the futures bright duck knows how theyll play this season but am hopin for more from the boys and a think theyll deliver

[coatbrigpirate 23]

Christ forgot about the defence need two good defenders Thats a must. Piss poor last year a think allys got to get this pair right dont want to see jig daly comin bac

[Hackle 43]

I don't suppose Stevie Smith will play centre back?

[1st_Jan_1994 4,868]

Has anyone that's put Perlata in their XIs actually seen him play?

[Amac9 2,060]

MacLeod on the bench? No way.

Bell

Foster McCulloch ??? Wallace

Black MacLeod Law

Little Daly Templeton

I don't really want to see McCulloch in defence but at the moment with our lack of decent CB's he is the only one that sticks out for me. Ideally I would like us to sign two dominant CB's who can defend. Don't want to see the likes of Argyriou, Faure, Cribari, Perry... make up most of the back four.

I still think Shiels will play a big part but only if we get him playing in the right position and keep the ball on the deck with players in and around him the way he played at Killie.

As for Ian Black I think we will see a much better player this season. With a good pre season under his belt I think he will do a lot better. I have seen absolutely nothing of Peralta so have no idea what he is all about.

[TheDarkStRangers 11]

How can anyone on this forum put Peralta in their starting lineup already? Have you seen him play yet?

Bell

Foster Luca McCulloch Smith

Templeton McLeod Law Wallace

Little Daly

I'd keep the likes of McKay, Clark, Crawford, Naismith, Shiels, Black on the bench...

I'm actually quite happy with any starting line up this year, I just hope some of our younger players who played well last year when it counted (McKay, McLeod, Aird) get the opportunity still with some older players in the mix.

[Chambo 197]

I agree that McLeod along with Wallace was one of our better players last season, I just think that with Peralta, Law and Black all being McCoist signings that they may find themselves in the starting lineup. Admittedly I've never seen Peralta playing but obviously McCoist has seen something that has made him strenghthen a position we were already reasonably strong in. Or maybe he sees McLeod being developed differently this year, last year he was probably the most important player in the middle of the park for us in terms of controlling games but maybe McCoist doesn't want him with that responsibility at his age and feels playing him at the correct times will help McLeod avoid burn out before he's 20?

I also hope we sign better centre halfs that avoids having McCulloch there, but at this point in time, due to his experience, I think he's the best centre half we have!

[MCLACHLAN1 49]

McCulloch should be nowhere near our starting 11 next season. In any position.

[Goianegra 4,684]

:Bell:

:McCulloch:

Defence needssorted obviously, but with what we currently have, this is what I'd go for. Nice to know that a few months ago we could barely field 11 players, now it's hard trying to squeeze in our best ones and put certain players on the pitch over others. Shiels, Clark, Peralta, McKay etc could all still push for starting positions.

[bonhillbear 58]

These threads are pointless. The team will chop and change most weeks. We have a 25 man squad, not 11 starters and 14 reserves.

[TMB 14,167]

Probably the 100th thread on the topic but just wondering where Ally is going with the players he has brought in. I am pretty happy with the signings thus far and I'm sure we'll see another couple come in, particularly in defence.

What formation will he play and how will he fit them into the team? He has signed 2 CM's in Law and Peralta where we already have Black, McLeod and Hutton which makes me think we will play with 5 in the middle. But then that leaves 1 upfront, having signed Daly and Clark to add to Little, McCulloch and Shields.

It's definitely good we have a better quality of squad with more depth but there is going to be some reasonable experienced players unhappy at spending time on the bench.

Could we see this next season in 4-2-3-1.....

Bell

Foster NewCB McCulloch Wallace

Peralta Black

Little Law Templeton

Daly

Which leaves guys like Shields, McKay, Clark, McLeod, Mitchell and Smith on the side lines?

Or Will we play 4-4-2

Bell

Foster NewCB McCulloch Wallace

McKay Peralta Law Templeton

Daly Little

Which still leaves Shields, Clark, McLeod, Mitchell, Smith and Black on the sidelines!

What formation do you think we will adopt and which players do you think will be the winners and losers?

If we play a 4-2-3-1 Shiels will feature in it just behind the ywo strikers. Also, Lewis was one of our best performers last year and you have him on the bench. I have no doubt Lewis will be a starter.

[MDYT 47]

These threads are pointless. The team will chop and change most weeks. We have a 25 man squad, not 11 starters and 14 reserves.

Ok let's just not post anything as there is no point.

[GOAT 30,449]

Never even noticed this thread, maybe admin can merge mine into this.

[GOAT 30,449]

from my thread.

________________Bell___________________

Foster_____New CB____New CB_____Wallace

______Peralta/Black____McLeod__________

New R/W__________Law__________Templeton

______________Clark/Little_____________

Maybe not everyones preferred tactic? But it's the way I think we should line up. It let's ys change to 4-3-3 if needed, or let's us revert to a 442 as Temps/Law can sit behind the main striker.

Goalkeeper: Bell speaks for itself. He's our number one.

Defenders: Foster will probably be our main right back, has SPL and European experience. He isn't the best defender in the world, but one thing your guaranteed is hard work. Now we've lost Goian and Boca, our defence is nowhere near good enough on evidence of last season, we need 2 centre backs to fill the void. Cribari, Perry, and Faure are all not good enough, if anything we should be looking to get rid of at least one of them, Perry being my preferred option. The rest should be used as back-up only. Left back speaks for itself, Wallace. Good at defending, better at going forward. The best Scottish left back right now.

Midfield: Get's a bit difficult. Black was poor last season, but at the same time him and Hutton cancelled each other out. I don't know what to expect for Peralta, so it will probably be a choice between the two of them. Either way, this position is to do the dirty work and sit in front of the back four. McLeod is obvious, was one of the shining lights pre injury last season. His main job is to sit sit in the middle, get the ball and pass it to the wings to start attacks, but also help defend when need be. Left winger, Templeton speaks for himself aswell, had a decent season last year, expect better this year with better players about him. Him and Wallace should be working together down the left to create the chances. Centre attacking midfielder has to be Law. I'm expecting him to be one of our best players this year after being one of Motherwells. His job is obvious attack, sit behind the striker and create chances for the team, and get his own chances. Right wing, we need a winger there it's that simple. Someone to do the same job as Templeton and to work with Foster when attacking down the right. Ideally I'd like to see the three attacking midfielders to swap positions every now and then to pull the defenders out to create chances for the team. Have Temps swap with Law at times, just to confuse the defenders, especially if they are trying to man mark the centre attacking midfielder. Also obvious that Sheils, Aird and McKay can play these positions if required, although I don't think Aird will ever be good enough, have hopes McKay can make it, but he needs the proper coaching. Will he get it here?

Forwards: Nicky Clark has to be first choice for now. You must have an eye for goal to score the amount he did in this league last season. With the players about him, he's only going to get more chances. If we decide to put another man up there, we obviously have McCulloch, Daly or Little, although I don't think McCullochs quick enough to be up top anymore.

With that tactic we obviously have the choice to change it to suit the game or conditions we're in. Change it to 4-3-3, by just a few movements or a substitute. Or even 4-4-2 if we need to. It's my ideal team, but we defo need three more signings in the positons higlighted. Everyone needs to stick to their positions and know their job. McCoist needs to tell them what he expects during the game from them.

Also no more of this every man back in the box defending corners and free kicks, we need at least one man up there, probably two quick players to start counter attacks. It's absolute madness to have every player back for a corner.

Over to you Mr McCoist.

[Dutchy 1,200]

These threads are pointless. The team will chop and change most weeks. We have a 25 man squad, not 11 starters and 14 reserves.

I've not got a clue either what's going to happen on the playing field, but I will be out celebrating if we ever start with two up front, which is always a strange feeling especially given that Ally was a striker