Boo Khaki Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 By all accounts the French LB who went on the pre-season trip looked to be some player, yet McCann implied he wasn't up to scratch and declined to offer him a contract. Of course, it's entirely possible that's just PR and the lad wanted far more than we can afford, but yes, it's starting to become a worry that McCann is holding out for a very specific type of player, or one whose abilities merit payment far beyond that which we can afford to pay, and simply missing out on filling rather glaring holes in the squad as a result. The situation with Spanish Jon really confuses me. I thought he was obviously superior to Holt, and would pretty much solve our current LB issue if he was still around. There was talk about his attitude in training being less than acceptable, yet McCann still saw fit to extend him after his initial short-term deal. He was effective enough on the park though, so why run a player like that off when there's clearly no adequate replacement and we're still searching for one months and months later? McCann deserves credit for recruiting the likes of Kamara, Hendry, and Caulker, but his inability to address the LB and striker shambles, and his constant chopping and changing of the formation and line-up is infuriating. I honestly believe the latter is costing us points and isn't going to somehow lead to us stumbling upon a secret formula for success, especially when he changes away from things which are reasonably effective to systems and personnel which have already failed. As far as this season is concerned it's still early days, but it's depressing to think that being realistic, we're looking at yet another long, hard, exasperating slog against relegation. This squad is capable of far better even with it's obvious flaws. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry94 Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 5 minutes ago, Louis Litt said: At what point does being patient because you don't want to bring in the wrong sort of player work against you, though? Realistically, how many decent strikers are going to be in a position right now where they're on a free transfer or at an English club(where we look likely to deal) who're willing to loan them out? Is it literally a case of waiting until the last day of their transfer window and hoping that it all goes right? And I agree about Mendy, he looked clever enough on Saturday. I agree, it's a tricky trade-off. I think the rewards for getting it right are pretty high though so I'd say that get to the last week of the window and if it isn't working out, we can get some temporary mediocrity on the scrap heap to tide us over and then try and sort in January. A big problem under Hartley was that we'd often maybe make early signings for players that weren't necessarily the worst in the world but then we'd be committed to them for 2-3 years. This also happened with Wolters and Moussa (who isn't the worst player in the world and we do get some use of but I doubt many of us would be queuing up to sign him if he was out of contract). I think getting those long-term contracts wrong is what puts you in real danger more than anything else tbh as it just totally wrecks you when you've realised plan a is pish and need players off the wage bill asap. I know Motherwell signed Sammon on a year deal (who I don't actually think would be an improvement for us) but there isn't really anyone who has went to a rival this summer that I could say would be an obvious improvement on paper. I think Tony Watt maybe could have been but then there is obvious baggage there and we've already got a bit in that regard. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Khaki Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 I think Hamilton could well prove to be this season's Wolters/Moussa millstone. We paid a fee for a player Hearts had apparently given up on. Those types are bound to be released once their contracts expire, and yes, it then becomes a free-for-all, so we essentially 'bought' exclusive negotiating rights. I don't see how it's value for money though. Someone at the club must be convinced that he's merely a wee bit of corrective coaching and experience/confidence away from becoming something, but I'm not at all convinced. I thought he looked shaky as hell v's Dunfermline, and the less said about Saturday the better. You pay fees to improve the squad, not bring in a player who is arguably no better than what you have and is being written off by his existing club, especially when there's a significant enough body of work to be able to objectively evaluate him, and also not when it's a player who is at an age whereby the very obvious flaws should be gone from his game in any case. Aye, he's young by keeper standards, but my concern is that if he's still rooted to his line/flapping at anything aerial and having brainfarts like Saturday at his age, then he's simply never going to get rid of that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Algebraist Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 People are bound to be pissed off about the weekend but I think we should give the guy a break. That mistake could be a blip or a career defining catastrophe. The fans have a role to play in determining which. If we get on his back now we shouldn't be surprised if he tanks long term, if we support him through it who knows. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Khaki Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Despite slating him for his performance, my gripe isn't really with Hamilton himself, it's about the fact the club saw fit to pay a fee to get him out of his contract. We know what he's about thanks to having a body of work to judge him on, but that's exactly the issue, i.e. why have we paid a fee for a player who has been nothing but mediocre so far? Unless the club think they see something that Hearts haven't, it makes no sense. I want him to succeed as much as anybody and will be thrilled if he has a cracking season and proves me wrong. I can't see it though, and my point about him being a millstone is that going by McCann's previous habits, it's likely that even if he continues to be an obvious glaring weaklink costing us points week after week, McCann will continue to play him, or drop him for Parish, only to see Parish outperform him but be dropped after a few matches himself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juantwothree Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 The while Hamilton situation is getting a bit out of hand now, the guy made a mistake, the only problem is that when keepers make a mistake 99% of the time it's ends in a goal but does anybody remember what Speroni done on his debut for Palace? Exactly what Hamilton done and now he's a club legend at Palace aswel as here, not saying Hamilton is anywhere as good as Speroni but I bet palace fans have forgotten all about it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 34 minutes ago, Juantwothree said: The while Hamilton situation is getting a bit out of hand now, the guy made a mistake, the only problem is that when keepers make a mistake 99% of the time it's ends in a goal but does anybody remember what Speroni done on his debut for Palace? Exactly what Hamilton done and now he's a club legend at Palace aswel as here, not saying Hamilton is anywhere as good as Speroni but I bet palace fans have forgotten all about it. He was dropped for about 3 seasons as a result. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girth Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Shanks signed yet? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ah-dee Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 posted this in the aberdeen match thread instead of here so im rectifying that now!does anyone know where i can get my hands on these 2 shirts? any help is appreciated. thanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossBFaeDundee Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 (edited) All I've seen so far today. https://twitter.com/The_Tman10/status/1026804784551141376 Edited August 7, 2018 by RossBFaeDundee 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Litt Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 (edited) I think Shankland would be decent but for the money getting bandied about there's no way we should even consider paying the fees getting discussed for someone who's not proven at anything above league 1 in Scotland. It would be massive money by our standards and the guy's got previous for failing at championship level. Edited August 7, 2018 by Louis Litt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 250k is Ayr's asking price tbf. They'd probably settle for 150k and a whole host of add ons (As much as Ayr fans would say otherwise). That said, that in itself is probably more than we are willing to pay. I think we've enquired, been given a price, backed off, and the papers have nothing else to write about so it's turning into a saga. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deecent Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 2 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said: 250k is Ayr's asking price tbf. They'd probably settle for 150k and a whole host of add ons (As much as Ayr fans would say otherwise). That said, that in itself is probably more than we are willing to pay. I think we've enquired, been given a price, backed off, and the papers have nothing else to write about so it's turning into a saga. Ayr just knocked back 150k from down south: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 5 minutes ago, Deecent said: Ayr just knocked back 150k from down south: I think that confirms we are looking elsewhere then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 4 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said: I think that confirms we are looking elsewhere then. Six figure bid = 100k and probably very little in the way of the add ons. Add ons are ridiculous now in the modern game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deecent Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 3 minutes ago, Crawford said: Six figure bid = 100k and probably very little in the way of the add ons. Add ons are ridiculous now in the modern game. It says within the statement it was 150k 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigOutYourSoul Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 They've been clever in making this public IMO, everything they've done so far has been cleverly geared to getting as much money as possible without ruling out selling him. Generic statements of "remains our player" and "committed" mean nothing to me in football. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derry man Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 I think that confirms we are looking elsewhere then. Probably ayr just trying to bump the price up or they would have said what club offered the £150k 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Algebraist Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Although it probably puts paid to our hopes of signing him he is worth more than 150k imo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derry man Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Although it probably puts paid to our hopes of signing him he is worth more than 150k imo.Agree but you never know, I reckon we can still get him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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