SpoonTon
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Posts posted by SpoonTon
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19 minutes ago, port-ton said:
Was that Hamilton game not the game he was flung in to the middle of a back three for the first time and looked lost? He was then swapped with McLean and moved out to the left and looked absolutely fine again.
Other than that I don't really remember any other nightmarish performances from him off the top of my head or major troubles reading the game tbh.
Yeah, that was the game and that was my point as well - you could see some of the weaknesses when exposed. It's all to be expected of a young defender. He came to learn about the game, and you could see why he had to do that (and some of the bumps he had along the way). There was another one down at QotS (when the whole team had a stinker). He's at a stage that he's going to play a part in a good team, but might struggle to bring up the level of those around him (and might struggle in the wrong circumstances) - totally understandable for his age but carries that risk which goes along with that. It's not like Cadden going down to that level, who we all could say with confidence that he brought up the level of those around him while with us.
He was pretty much as good as can be expected of one of those young English Premier League loans, which is to say that he really needed the experience of proper competitive football but was able to adapt ok on the whole (and actually had some ability and a good attitude). Much better than our other two loan players from that level last season.
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2 hours ago, Super Saddler said:
Hi Walsall fan in peace here. We've just signed Oisin McEntee. What did you make of him on his time with you last season? We got burned with our last player signed from Scotland, the terrible Ash Taylor who was one of the worst defenders I've seen in a Walsall shirt in over 40 years. Oisin on paper looks a much better prospect. All the best next season.
I was never completely sure about McEntee. He came across as a likeable, hard working young player, with good physical defensive attributes and fairly comfortable on the ball. He's still got quite a bit to learn about the game (as can be expected) and if he does that quickly then I'm sure he'll be a success and go on to have a very decent career, but he did put in some nightmarish performances - one of the final games of the season, against Hamilton, is one that particularly springs to mind. You just never know which young defenders will go onto gain that judgement and reading of the game needed and which won't.
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1 hour ago, madton said:
It was always the concern initially that we couldn't afford to look after ourselves sufficiently and it looks like that has proved to be the case after just 1 year. We just don't have the numbers/patrons to make it work. MCT are on their knees, and i say that as someone who contributes £500 a year to MCT so we simply need investment to compete in this division and hopefully challenge for the top 4. The Easdales clearly see that and feel its now time to get involved which can only be a good thing in my eyes. These guys have just been announced as being in the top 10 richest in Scotland so if they want to invest, let them, its the only chance we have of being successful.
I'd much rather they just take complete control now and put their own men in charge, I'm guessing that will happen further down the line anyway.
It would take an awful lot to convince me that it would be a good idea for them to take control of the club. Their influence at the club is undeniable though, with the farce of our only current signed up first team striker showing the extent of that.
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I've never rated Baird. Thought he was poor for us, and could be pretty catastrophic for St Mirren against us. He didn't seem to improve at Ayr.
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3 minutes ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:
Not sure about the need for a winger to be honest. In general I think they're a bit shit at our level but appreciate they're handy for stretching the defence out and offering something different but, more than that, I think at least one of the young players will get a chance to take that role. Garrity didnae impress me much in an off the boil Annan team last night but the reports from there in general paint a decent picture of a promising young player. Right back and two centre backs are the key areas. Ideally one who can cover left back as well. If Wilson remains then another centre mid isn't as pressing for me.
I was just about to say something pretty much the opposite to some of this. Towards the end of the season I thought our lack of a creative midfielder and winger was telling. That's why I'm surprised Oliver is being offered a new deal - he was used to try to fill those gaps in the squad last season, and didn't really do it. When we were crying out for a substitute to try to stretch a game and offer a bit of zip, we'd bring on Oliver (who isn't a player I particularly dislike) who would offer a wee bit of ball retention and circling around but not what we needed. We could really do like a player like Imrie himself was - not necessarily an old fashioned winger, but a player who knows how to push forward and make use of space in the final third (either by coming inside or going outside). I'd be very surprised if Garrity would be able to fill that lack in or squad, same with McGregor or King - they all seem a bit away from Championship level. Tom Allan was meant to be that player last season, but was hopeless.
A midfield player who really knows how to pass a ball (and take a set piece) would be ideal as well. I agree that right back and centre back positions are key. Replacing Brandon and Reilly and improving on Ledger, Oliver, and McEntee would have been my immediate priorities this summer. Moving on Jacobs, who doesn't seem to fit in at the moment, would've been another. I don't know why McGrattan and Easdale are still here at their age - replacing the pair of them with one (actually useful) player would've seemed more sensible to me (but who knows what's going on there).
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14 minutes ago, Toby said:
Disappointed with the omission of Donovan Simmonds.
I get the feeling I'm just going to be haunted by more players I'd forgotten about over the next few days. Adam Coakley, Jay Shields... I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night cause my brain has suddenly thrown up some other abomination into my nightmares.
Simmonds might have challenged Kelbie's place in the squad. No-one could take Ferguson's place, though. I was a young teenager at the time, and I'd never seen a player before who had such a fundamental issue with being able to kick a ball - it's etched into my brain. I remember watching him warm up before a game at Ayr, and he never properly connected with a single shot. At the time I simply hadn't realised a player could be that bad. I think he left the club the following week. He'd go on to get more yellow and red cards than goals over the rest of his career.
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That was really tough, and there will be loads that I’ve forgotten about.
Goalkeepers: Ryan Scully, Sam Ramsbottom
Defence: Stephen Frail, Dylan Kerr, Anton Smith, Chris McLeod, Kevin McCann, Marc Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Page, Darren Cole.
Midfield: John Gibson, Darren Kearney, Colin Reilly, Ross MacLean, Kieran McAnespie, Derek Young, Tony Wallace, Jake Nicholson, David Robertson, Dylan Dykes.
Attack: Kevin Kelbie, Jonathan Toto, Ian Ferguson.
Shout out to some of the many who didn’t quite make the cut:
Stefan Gonnet, Colin Stewart, Andrew Dallas, Stephen McConalogue, Colin McMenamin, Andy Barrowman, Artur Correia, Shaun Dillon, Grant Evans, Jamie McCormack, Andy Millen, Gregor Buchanan, Sean McGinty, Kabba Cham, Scott McLaughlin.
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I'm not sure how to feel about this. I'm not a massive fan of streaming football matches, because Livescore invariably knows if there has been a goal about a minute before it happens on the stream. That drives me crazy.
On the other hand I finally gave up on Sky Sports at the end of last year, and have no will to sign up for another 18 months, so I'll have to buy Now TV passes for games anyway. If this is cheaper than that then I have no complaints.
Overall it might not be great for the national game, though, as it will undoubtedly mean much lower viewing figures and exposure.
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14 hours ago, jm86 said:
Looking at the highlights, it’s perfectly clear that the ref got all 3 chalked off “goals” correct. For the first Ugwu simply clattered into the goalie without touching the ball himself. Seemed to stick his elbow into the goalie’s chest and had an arm across his face. He might also have handled the ball, not sure. Also, for good measure, he simultaneously almost had Muirhead’s shirt off his back. If you’re going to commit a foul, might as well go the full Monty.
For the second, again he didn’t touch the ball but had the goalie in a brief headlock just as he was about to catch the ball. Quite hard to spot in real time, but the ref had a clear view. Big Ugwu clearly likes to put himself about a bit, which is admirable (within reason).
For the third, the guy who headed the ball back to the “scorer” was yards offside. Linesman’s flag went up immediately he touched the ball.
For Ayr’s goal, an opponent has no obligation to get out of the road of the goalie. You see this sort of thing in almost every game.
To call it a headlock is a bit bizarre but he does put his hand over McAdams face (limiting his view) so, like with the other disallowed goals, I think the ref made the correct call. That being said, McAdams was weak with both of them.
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18 hours ago, AYRSHIRE_ANGUS said:
It was an e-ticket for the first game. Obviously that was too convenient for people. A long queue and a missed kick-off it is then.
The WDE only has old style turnstiles, and we can only scan e-tickets at the fully electronic turnstiles (no handheld scanners or anything like that*), so make a choice: pick up ticket/pay at gate or sit in the main stand.
*Or any scanners that even work fully most games.
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On 13/03/2022 at 21:35, Cowshed said:
Wilson’s had a rough start to his Ton career no doubt about it but against Partick he had one his best games for us always looking for the ball and looking for the attacking pass a few which he didn’t execute well but I thought he had a pretty decent game and deserves a start Friday for that reason
He'd be in my preferred starting line-up for Friday, so I'm not being particularly critical of Wilson. But something hasn't been working with our starting line-ups for at least half a dozen games now. We've won no games with the line-up or shape of team we've started a match with for quite a while now, and have relied on subs and tactical changes to get the points that we've managed to get. I think that Wilson and Jacobs would be better suited playing in front of a back four, and I think that bringing Muirhead into a front three would suit us with those players deeper. On the other hand, if we're sticking to our shape, I think we need more attacking players with more guile in midfield, who are going to press high and make runs into the box. Blues, Lyon, and Oliver made an unlikely middle three, but it worked for a while in the set-up that we had. I don't think Wilson is going to give the same type of thing and it gives us a lack of players getting into really good areas in the final third.
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I wouldn't mind seeing Muirhead in for Ledger. Either that or drop Wilson and Jacobs for 2 of Blues and McGrattan. If we go for the same again, don't make mistakes, and play out a boring 0-0, I won't complain either.
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6 minutes ago, sergie's no1 fan said:
Keeper at fault possibly? Or am I being harsh?
He can absolutely save it, but it's the type of goal that keepers concede all the time at this level. It's not a bad goalkeeping error at this level.
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I was impressed by Imrie in an interview I saw recently. I get the impression that we've picked a guy with the right attitude. He seems like the type who deserves a shot at a job like this - and it's a helluva job he's got on his hands.
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9 hours ago, Thereisalight.. said:
It was all going so well for the first 18 mins...
The defence had a shocker tonight. Even steady heads like Corsie and Docherty were all at sea. We missed Beattie at the back. Midfield was non existent leading to the likes of Cuthbert and Evans getting no spark to be creative. A blessing really that it was "only" 8-0 Spain dominated and could easily have won 13-0. Not a single Spain player looked knackered at the end and I dont believe they were playing to their full pelt. We dodged a bullet and that's embarrassing to say after an 8-0 defeat
This. The midfield was non existent against Ukraine and Hungary as well. And I mean that in a very literal way - we're playing without a recognisable midfield. There's a massive empty space in the middle of the pitch where the midfield should be. At times against Ukraine on Friday we had a line of 4 at the back and a straight line of 6 up the pitch. It's really weird and it isn't working. The players look like they don't really know what they're meant to be doing. It comes across as an experimental mess - and a huge part of that is down to a manager who seem doesn't know how to get the most out of the players we have.
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1 hour ago, Dunning1874 said:
This is going to be an odd experience for Dunfermline fans, being on the other side of the "no, you really don't understand how shite we are and we are not going to win this game no matter how much you think it would be typical of your club to lose to a team in this form" match thread.
Hopefully Ugwu's fit to start and Jacobs is back as well, meaning we could actually put out an XI with no McLean, Blues, Oliver or Reilly here. No doubt MacPherson will keep at least two of them in though.
They're probably all still going to start.
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9 hours ago, d_t_b said:
I see my post match mini rant has had quite a reaction
For clarity, yes I accept that between Popescu's injury at the start of the second half and a couple of bog standard time wasting incidents that we see week in week out there was a bit of injury time merited.
8 (EIGHT) minutes though? Behave yarselves.....
The free kick for the goal was awarded just after 6 minutes. I definitely feel like the ref would've blown for full time from the throw in just before that if the Hamilton players hadn't been milking the time wasting for it quite so much.
I can't remember the last time I saw three players booked for time wasting in a match - I don't think it was bog standard. The ref quite clearly had no time for it and for the Hamilton players to keep going at it the way they were was really naive. And to add to that, when they had the chance to take the ball into the corner deep into stoppage time they, instead, gave the ball away with a poor cross. Hamilton only have themselves to blame here.
It was actually quite refreshing to see a ref give the time back which was lost to time wasting. Next time, they should understand when a ref isn't having it and stop being so blatant with it.
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20 minutes ago, Ad Lib said:
What are the arrangements for away fans at Cappielow at the moment? Can they get in PATG, or do we have to buy tickets online?
It's usually a queue for your ticket then queue again to get in sort of thing.
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I feel like Gus has just managed to bloat the squad with mediocre players again, with no significant overall difference to what he inherited. I mean, we could have played Jacobs, McGrattan, and Ledger instead of Oksasen, Allan, and McEntee and there wouldn't have been much difference at all. And, apart from that, players like Muirhead and Blues are still getting starts.
We're playing Allan and Muirhead in wide positions, who have both been abysmal, but there's no obvious quality waiting to replace them in wide roles. Maybe Mark Russell, if we're playing him further up the pitch, but there's a real lack of creative forward players or wingers. Yesterday was another example that nothing much of significance has really changed since Gus took charge.
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2 hours ago, 19QOS19 said:
Forgot Reilly is at Morton the now. Not scored yet I see (got to be decent value for a goal on Saturday then!). How has he done so far?
He didn't even give the 'keeper a save to make from this chance, which just about sums up how effective he has been.
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We missed 2 absolute sitters and gave away 2 very preventable goals in a game in which lacked creative attacking play from both teams. On another day...we would've probably done the same kind of thing. We're not good at scoring goals, and we're not very good at preventing them either. ICT took the chances presented to them very well. You can see why they're where they are in the league and why we're where we are.
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6 hours ago, Mr.Blue said:
We've lost 3 league games on the bounce. Leaking poor goals against Queens and Partick. Hopefully the new boys have settled in and make more of an impact than last week. Would also be helpful if Ugwu and Jacobs were available to start. Please get muirhead as far away from that starting 11 as possible.
Hamilton
Ledger Lithgow mcentee strapp
Oksanen Jacobs Lyon
Ugwu Reilly Allan
Subs- Wylie, Hynes, Blues, Russell, McGregor, Oliver, Knowles.
My worry with that line-up would be just how off the pace Oksansen and Allan were on Saturday. Lyon has been well off the pace this season as well. If McEntee doesn't hit the ground running, then we run the risk of quite a few players being well off the pace of the game. As much as Blues has his weaknesses, at least he's been up with the pace of the game. I'm also not sure that Strapp is doing enough to stay in the team in front of Russell. Adding defensive slips into his lack of contributions going forward isn't helping his case. I think while the above might end up being our strongest team further down the line, I'm not sure it would be at the moment.
I like the idea of an Ugwu/Reilly partnership up front. We could go back to the back five, with those two up front and perhaps try integrate Oksanen into the midfield instead of Oliver, with Jacobs in there for more cover. Or just stay with the same as Saturday with Ugwu and Jacobs back in for Oliver and Blues/Oksanen and replace Muirhead with Blues/Russell/McGregor/Knowles. Or perhaps something like:
____________Hamilton
Ledger___McEntee___Lithgow___Russell
______Blues___Jacobs___Oksanen
_____________Lyon
________Ugwu______Reilly
I must admit I'm not really sure about any line-up at the moment. Maybe put in Hynes for Oksanen in the above and go with the back five. I don't think I could forward a forceful argument for any line-up at the moment. We've got loads of new options, but no real clear path forward.
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1 minute ago, Jambomo said:
Much as I like Tierney, he’s been rubbish this season for Arsenal so far and it looks like his form isn’t getting much better for us. 1st goal is definitely on him.
It's also down to the amount of space we give teams to play in our own half. You can't allow teams of this quality so much time to pick out their crosses from dangerous positions.
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3 minutes ago, Fratelli said:
That contract extension could end up looking very fucking daft
It was already daft to do it after a really poor start to qualifying and a disaster of a Euros.
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The Greenock Morton Thread - It's Better Than Yours
in Scottish Championship General Chatter
Posted
I'm having the same issue. I have absolutely no help for you, other than to say that you're not the only one.
Last year I gave up on the website and signed up for the direct debit instead. I'll try calling the club tomorrow, but I might just end up going down the direct debit route again.