January transfer window.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,530]

8 minutes ago, RoboBear said:

3 points seperate the top four, few people expect Hearts and Dundee United to stay the distance, but if the do, then it's not just the league at risk, the CL qualifiers will be at risk as well.

Obviously we don't want serious financial problems, but we still need to speculate to accumulate.

Fanny.

[Prso's headband 35,428]

I’d be touting Goldson to all and sundry for a move in the first week in January, he doesn’t want to be here. 
 

One of Hagi or Aribo on top of that and hopefully you’d be looking at £10-£12m. Reinvest £8m for example and get a CB who wants to be here and a midfielder who can control a game. We’re either carrying one or both of those players in the majority of our games, their consistency levels are incredibly poor
 

I fear for us if we stick with what we have. 

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,540]

3 hours ago, 6superbarry6 said:

Rather keep Aribo, Hagi I like but his lack of pace is becoming a problem I’d let go for the right price 

Shows how fucking warped our system is when a number 10 whos main attribute is supposedly his range of passing, looks awful because he has no pace

Play hagi centre, 2 forwards in front of him, and he'll shine every game imo

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,540]

6 minutes ago, Prso's headband said:

I’d be touting Goldson to all and sundry for a move in the first week in January, he doesn’t want to be here. 
 

One of Hagi or Aribo on top of that and hopefully you’d be looking at £10-£12m. Reinvest £8m for example and get a CB who wants to be here and a midfielder who can control a game. We’re either carrying one or both of those players in the majority of our games, their consistency levels are incredibly poor
 

I fear for us if we stick with what we have. 

I cannot see the board taking in 12mill in fees and spending 8mill of that, our accounts due out anytime are going to ve horrendous, and this year wont be much better given we just keep adding to the wage bill and not actually bringing any extra money in bar ticket sales etc

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,775]

1 minute ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

Shows how fucking warped our system is when a number 10 whos main attribute is supposedly his range of passing, looks awful because he has no pace

Play hagi centre, 2 forwards in front of him, and he'll shine every game imo

A central number 10 is a dying position atm. You don’t see many teams playing with one now, especially top teams.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,530]

3 minutes ago, DBBTB said:

A central number 10 is a dying position atm. You don’t see many teams playing with one now, especially top teams.

The league we play in and the amount of possession we have makes us a bit different though. 

[Prso's headband 35,428]

5 minutes ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

I cannot see the board taking in 12mill in fees and spending 8mill of that, our accounts due out anytime are going to ve horrendous, and this year wont be much better given we just keep adding to the wage bill and not actually bringing any extra money in bar ticket sales etc

We have to do something tbh. I think £4-6m to put towards the debt whilst refreshing the squad is a fair risk considering the league title wipes out our debt and finally puts us in the black with money to spare. 

[the brown brogue 1,909]

29 minutes ago, DBBTB said:

I think we have plenty of players capable of playing like that, mainly Aribo, Hagi and Kent.

I think the problem is we just play with absolutely no freedom at all. They are all coached and instructed to within an inch of their lives. You look at the likes of Jota, Rogic, Turnbull and Kyogo across the city and they play like players who have been let off the leash and told to go and influence and win a game.

The only player who ever feels like that for us at the moment is Kent.

Yip, with us it's almost like player A starts with the ball, he's only allowed to pass to player B, player C or player D.

He passes to player C, who's then only allowed to pass to player E, player F or back to player B. 

Player E is then only allowed to pass to player G or back to player C, but not allowed to shoot as that's player J's job and players H and I have to touch the ball before it gets to him. 

OK that may be a bit extreme, but every player looks like they're having to pause for a second or 2 to process what they're supposed to do next and pretty much nothing is done on instinct. I've thought it before that Gerrard maybe struggles to implement on the pitch what's in Beales head and we're vastly over-complimenting things when we just need to get the basics right and build from there. 

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,775]

1 minute ago, The Specky Liar said:

The league we play in and the amount of possession we have makes us a bit different though. 

What is a central number 10 going to do when we play against low blocks near enough every week?

Everybody moans about the sideways passing and crosses into the box, but that’s how go about creating space in a low block and breaking through it.

If you play a central number 10, they just get crowded out and that’s before you even get into a discussion about how inconsistent Hagi, who I like, is.

 

[RoboBear 162]

27 minutes ago, The Specky Liar said:

Fanny.

So you think 1st or 2nd is guaranteed. I wish I had your optimism

[falkirkNS 6,298]

2 hours ago, The Specky Liar said:

Priority should be getting what we can for Goldson and replacing him.

He has completely chucked it. Can fuck off to West Brom or Norwich or whatever diddy club he's going to end up at.

This is the main one, he should have been shifted before aaugust transfer deadline.

Massive mistake from Gerrard which might just cost him his job. Barasic too.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,530]

30 minutes ago, DBBTB said:

What is a central number 10 going to do when we play against low blocks near enough every week?

Everybody moans about the sideways passing and crosses into the box, but that’s how go about creating space in a low block and breaking through it.

If you play a central number 10, they just get crowded out and that’s before you even get into a discussion about how inconsistent Hagi, who I like, is.

 

Shoot from distance, thread the eye of a needle, ball get into the box/beyond the striker. All things that can break a team down.

I don't really want Hagi to be a starter btw just don't agree that it's a position that wouldn't be of use to us.

[bluenoz 30,832]

If we are still in Europe come January, there might be some funds.

A CH is needed and not an old one like Alves, McAuley or Senderos.

A creative midfielder but then again we have needed one of those for years.

A true leader when the going gets tough. We don't have one (maybe Jack when fit)

[NeoGeo7 10,501]

5 minutes ago, bluenoz said:

If we are still in Europe come January, there might be some funds.

A CH is needed and not an old one like Alves, McAuley or Senderos.

A creative midfielder but then again we have needed one of those for years.

A true leader when the going gets tough. We don't have one (maybe Jack when fit)

A creative midfielder? That’s what bacuna was meant to be, I have to say the coaching staff must not rate him because our midfield is gash just now and he can’t get near a starting berth.

agree with the leader, would be better if it came from within but jack really is the only one in that vein and I fear he won’t be back at the level he reached before.

[sausagetrunks 6,022]

see tbh i couldn't give a fuck who gets punted as long as they are replaced with quality, this team is stale and we need frsh faces, id  say about 3-4 good quality players if were going to sell but this isn't going to happen in january. im hoping we get it together and are still top in january. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, DBBTB said:

What is a central number 10 going to do when we play against low blocks near enough every week?

Everybody moans about the sideways passing and crosses into the box, but that’s how go about creating space in a low block and breaking through it.

If you play a central number 10, they just get crowded out and that’s before you even get into a discussion about how inconsistent Hagi, who I like, is.

 

Whilst I agree with the premise of what you are saying here, Aberdeen did not play a low block last night - they were happy to leave space behind their back 4, they were compact however and squeezed higher up the pitch. A 10 last night would have been pointless unless 1) they were willing to run beyond the striker or 2) Roofe/Morelos ran in behind and stretched the Aberdeen defence to create that space for a central 10. 

Of course, none of the above is possible without a midfielder/defender willing to play a ball in behind which I'm sure everyone is fed up of me going on about on here

[Colin Traive 22,741]

3 minutes ago, psb07158 said:

Whilst I agree with the premise of what you are saying here, Aberdeen did not play a low block last night - they were happy to leave space behind their back 4, they were compact however and squeezed higher up the pitch. A 10 last night would have been pointless unless 1) they were willing to run beyond the striker or 2) Roofe/Morelos ran in behind and stretched the Aberdeen defence to create that space for a central 10. 

Of course, none of the above is possible without a midfielder/defender willing to play a ball in behind which I'm sure everyone is fed up of me going on about on here

Your post reminded me of two great midfielders of the past who would often pop up as our most advanced players - Alex McDonald and Ian Durrant.

Cant see any of the current lot making those kind of runs not to mention the absence of a quarter back to find them.

You’re  right in pointing out that Aberdeen didn’t do a Motherwell and we should have been able to take advantage of that but there was only one team pressing last night and it wasn’t us.

Its as if we’ve lost ten to fifteen percent of our energy levels. Whatever the problem is, it has to stop. One of these games, we’ll not manage to pull it out of the fire.

[NeoGeo7 10,501]

10 minutes ago, psb07158 said:

Whilst I agree with the premise of what you are saying here, Aberdeen did not play a low block last night - they were happy to leave space behind their back 4, they were compact however and squeezed higher up the pitch. A 10 last night would have been pointless unless 1) they were willing to run beyond the striker or 2) Roofe/Morelos ran in behind and stretched the Aberdeen defence to create that space for a central 10. 

Of course, none of the above is possible without a midfielder/defender willing to play a ball in behind which I'm sure everyone is fed up of me going on about on here

Bring back the goal scoring number 10 Pena 

We got joy from the long diagonal and I have no doubt if Kent had been playing last night we’d have won comfortably in the end but there was definitely space to be had behind them.

I also think this 3 number 10 /inside forward approach just isn’t working, I felt like when we got to the byeline last night if we just had some late runners into the box we’d have got quite a lot of joy.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Colin Traive said:

Your post reminded me of two great midfielders of the past who would often pop up as our most advanced players - Alex McDonald and Ian Durrant.

Cant see any of the current lot making those kind of runs not to mention the absence of a quarter back to find them.

You’re  right in pointing out that Aberdeen didn’t do a Motherwell and we should have been able to take advantage of that but there was only one team pressing last night and it wasn’t us.

Its as if we’ve lost ten to fifteen percent of our energy levels. Whatever the problem is, it has to stop. One of these games, we’ll not manage to pull it out of the fire.

McDonald is well before my time, but (post-injury) Durrant was great at it. 

Our system is too rigid and I don't think the midfielders are really 'allowed' or encouraged to make those runs. 

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,775]

12 minutes ago, psb07158 said:

Whilst I agree with the premise of what you are saying here, Aberdeen did not play a low block last night - they were happy to leave space behind their back 4, they were compact however and squeezed higher up the pitch. A 10 last night would have been pointless unless 1) they were willing to run beyond the striker or 2) Roofe/Morelos ran in behind and stretched the Aberdeen defence to create that space for a central 10. 

Of course, none of the above is possible without a midfielder/defender willing to play a ball in behind which I'm sure everyone is fed up of me going on about on here

I think we need a midfielder who can break from the middle of the park a lot more than we need a number ten.

Being completely honest I don’t think pulling Hagi ten yards infield transforms him to the level that some people seem to think it will. He might play from the right for us, but he doesn’t exactly play like a winger does he?

[Guest]

Just now, DBBTB said:

I think we need a midfielder who can break from the middle of the park a lot more than we need a number ten.

Being completely honest I don’t think pulling Hagi ten yards infield transforms him to the level that some people seem to think it will. He might play from the right for us, but he doesn’t exactly play like a winger does he?

It depends on whether the Management team really take the shackles off or not IMO. If they simply replace personnel but don't allow anyone to move away from our current tactics I think you're right.  I said above to @Colin Traive (and I think we have had this conversation before) that our system is too rigid and we seem to encourage very strict patterns of play. The first half v Hearts we seemed to let go a bit and we had multiple over/under loads all over the park, lots of fluidity and creativity but for whatever reason we couldn't keep it up. That was the first time we really saw players not really playing in this rigid flat 3 we like in midfield and 2 10s we like. It was far more fluid

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,540]

1 hour ago, DBBTB said:

What is a central number 10 going to do when we play against low blocks near enough every week?

Everybody moans about the sideways passing and crosses into the box, but that’s how go about creating space in a low block and breaking through it.

If you play a central number 10, they just get crowded out and that’s before you even get into a discussion about how inconsistent Hagi, who I like, is.

 

The only way they'd get crowded out is if our system puts other players in their space, last night the sheep played a 352, we should have absolutely battered them down the wings to create space, but we didn't, 

When we are up against 451's we need midfielders to sit wide, so that their fullbacks or wide mids dont come inside to double up on players, our system the npw invites an opponents wide man wether its the fullback tucking in or the wide mide coming inside, to stifle the space in the middle of the park, 

Doesn't have to be wingers, hell walter managed to do it with lafferty and davis out wide mid, 

[bluenoz 30,832]

What I would do to see a Ferguson, Mendes or Tugay grace our midfield again. We need to win the league this year to get that wish.

Most of midfielders are defensive minded and similar. Jack, Kamara, Davis, Lundstram. It's tough to watch at times.

[Guest]

Also, I have never personally watched him play as I don't really watch the B team, but people are consistently raving about Alex Lowry. Isn't he the type of midfielder you are referring to @DBBTB?

Hopefully he can kick on. It has been a long time since we had that type of midfielder and I'm astounded we haven't made it a priority in any of the last 4-5 transfer windows to nail that position down. 

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,530]

Aribo/Hagi/Kent/Wright should be told to just cause havoc against these wee diddy teams and 'cheat' instead of worrying about the team shape. Gerrard's biggest weakness imo, getting the most out of flair players as he favours a system over letting individual talent.