crazylegsjoe_mfc Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 On the face of it, we've had four in, four out in terms of our squad in December until now. Add Maguire back in and we are one player up. I probably wouldn't count McGinley and Mahon in the numbers, as they were out on loan and then left without returning to the squad, McGinley's seat on the bench against Hibs aside. I'm wondering if with McGInley's departure being announced, before Nicholson's signing was, if we've now reached "one in, one out" time. I would expect Shaw's loan to be terminated and another striker brought in, at the least, but I wonder when we need to start being realistic about the numbers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 28 minutes ago, Handsome_Devil said: Expectations need to be realistic...I can see the boat being pushed for what is hopefully one nailed on starting striker given Biereth and Wilkinson have gone. But if Bair is now deemed second in line and Obika still drawing a wage, the other guy(s) will come with the intention of being down the pecking order with the corresponding ability to wage ratio. I think another aspect is the question of what shape we're playing as it probably has a knock on in terms of what we still need. With Biereth and Wilkinson away and Oli Shaw tbc as leaving that's (potentially) 3 bodies out but if the plan is to stick with one central striker then presumably we don't need to replace all 3 whereas if we're planning on playing with 2 up then chances are we do unless we're expecting some sort of Lazarus situation with Obika. Similarly between Montgomery, Gent and Halliday we probably don't need any cover for LWB. Short lived as it was I was pleasantly surprised by the Scott Fraser link as it was someone who you'd have thought would have been a level above what we had/have. Scott on the other hand, would maybe have been fine and we know he can play both wide and as a second striker but it's difficult not to echo @thisGRAEME's point yesterday that given it's so long since he's actually been good it'd have been a risk - which is kind of the opposite of Fraser. 2 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said: On the face of it, we've had four in, four out in terms of our squad in December until now. Add Maguire back in and we are one player up. I probably wouldn't count McGinley and Mahon in the numbers, as they were out on loan and then left without returning to the squad, McGinley's seat on the bench against Hibs aside. I'm wondering if with McGInley's departure being announced, before Nicholson's signing was, if we've now reached "one in, one out" time. I would expect Shaw's loan to be terminated and another striker brought in, at the least, but I wonder when we need to start being realistic about the numbers. If we're sticking with the 3421 sort of shape this is kind of where we look to be at the moment (IMO) another 3 in would have us brought 7 in in total and carrying a squad of 24 (including injuries) which doesn't actually sound that far off what Kettlewell was talking about before the window opened in so much as he wanted to add a couple more on top of what we already had (which I think was around 22 bodies at the time). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I don't know much about Nicholson, I look forward to him playing in a weird position that doesn't suit him. As for McGinley I don't think he wants to play football. Maybe lower league part time will suit him but if he signs then never plays I won't be shocked 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 5 minutes ago, Busta Nut said: I don't know much about Nicholson, I look forward to him playing in a weird position that doesn't suit him. I had a swatch at YouTube last night: I mean...fine? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 6 minutes ago, capt_oats said: I had a swatch at YouTube last night: I mean...fine? I do mind him at Hearts, that was what? 10,9,8,7 years ago? I just hope he's able to play the weird 10/wing role in our 3 part of our 523. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurrayWell Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I think Sam Nicholson is a decent signing, always liked him when he played in the SPFL previously. On general signings, I reckon we're looking at two forwards, leaving us with, Forward 1, Forward 2, Bair and Obika, if he ever gets fit. Can't see us offloading both Shaw and Obika in this window, reason we ended up with Shaw in the first place is we were so light up top and were scrambling for options. IMO if we end up with the window closing have the following then it's a solid effort, especially given where we were: LB - Montgomery RB - Elliot RB 2 CDM - Halliday CAM/winger - Nicholson FW 1 FW 2 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handsome_Devil Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 29 minutes ago, capt_oats said: I think another aspect is the question of what shape we're playing as it probably has a knock on in terms of what we still need. With Biereth and Wilkinson away and Oli Shaw tbc as leaving that's (potentially) 3 bodies out but if the plan is to stick with one central striker then presumably we don't need to replace all 3 whereas if we're planning on playing with 2 up then chances are we do unless we're expecting some sort of Lazarus situation with Obika. We're not going to restrict ourselves to only being able to play one formation, that's utter madness and Kettlewell would never let it oh, wait. Yeah, it's a fair point. I think we'll bring in two forwards, one considered 'good' and one who's basically Shaw but hopefully a fraction better. We'll then have them, Spittal off the front in emergency and if Obika is available great, if not meh. We need work in summer though...four viable strikers, even if one is only a promising youth, is needed for proper cover over a whole season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 7 minutes ago, MurrayWell said: I think Sam Nicholson is a decent signing, always liked him when he played in the SPFL previously. On general signings, I reckon we're looking at two forwards, leaving us with, Forward 1, Forward 2, Bair and Obika, if he ever gets fit. Can't see us offloading both Shaw and Obika in this window, reason we ended up with Shaw in the first place is we were so light up top and were scrambling for options. IMO if we end up with the window closing have the following then it's a solid effort, especially given where we were: LB - Montgomery RB - Elliot RB 2 CDM - Halliday CAM/winger - Nicholson FW 1 FW 2 I doubt we'd sign another RB, We've SOD in there and McGinn if needed. Two forwards now needed I agree 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurrayWell Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Just now, Busta Nut said: 2 minutes ago, Busta Nut said: I doubt we'd sign another RB, We've SOD in there and McGinn if needed. Aye very true, think I'm just really thinking of them both as CBs now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP_81 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I'm actually feeling kinda optimistic with the way the windows gone so far . Really seriously need a good quality forward now and I'd be happy. As much as he's a good big lad a team with Bair as the 1 up front has the cutting edge of a marshmallow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezz Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Yeah, I reckon we're looking at 2 strikers now. A nailed on starter to replace Biereth and someone to compete with Bair for 2nd/3rd spot. Obika, if he's ever fit, or one of the youth players can the the 4th choice/emergency option. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_MFC Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Stunning news 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Manhattan Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 21 minutes ago, MP_MFC said: Stunning news 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurrayWell Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 30 minutes ago, MP_MFC said: Stunning news Still fancy him to score a few against St Mirren. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Me now that they have been mentioned in The Thread: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Getting knocked back by Curtis Main and James Scott in the same window is a bit of a riddy. George Newell is about to tell us to f**k off any minute. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 2 hours ago, Handsome_Devil said: We're not going to restrict ourselves to only being able to play one formation, that's utter madness and Kettlewell would never let it oh, wait. Yeah, it's a fair point. I think we'll bring in two forwards, one considered 'good' and one who's basically Shaw but hopefully a fraction better. We'll then have them, Spittal off the front in emergency and if Obika is available great, if not meh. We need work in summer though...four viable strikers, even if one is only a promising youth, is needed for proper cover over a whole season. Tbh, that's kind of why I was looking at us being interested in Scott as having a potential upside (optimistically overlooking the fact he hasn't kicked a baw since we got coin for him) since with the addition of Nicholson we'd have a couple of players who can play wide - if that's what we wanted to do - and a Halliday, Davor and Miller midfield 3 could be robust enough. Like, going (shock) 433 probably puts us in a weird place trying to accommodate Spittal but simply having something vaguely resembling a Plan B would be quite nice. I mean that's not to say that there aren't other players out there with a similar skillset and profile to Scott so if we're still in the market for someone like that it probably wouldn't be the worst thing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisGRAEME Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 8 minutes ago, capt_oats said: I mean that's not to say that there aren't other players out there with a similar skillset and profile to Scott so if we're still in the market for someone like that it probably wouldn't be the worst thing. Get big weird Harry back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handsome_Devil Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 4 minutes ago, capt_oats said: Like, going (shock) 433 probably puts us in a weird place trying to accommodate Spittal but simply having something vaguely resembling a Plan B would be quite nice. If we didn't fancy Spittal in the three (and I reckon he could play at the top point ahead of two of the others fine), we could have a solid central three, tell Gent or Nicholson to stand on the left flank for width and have Spittal going rogue from the right. Which is not to say we absolutely should do it but we're suddenly looking at the sort of options most clubs will feel should always be available. As it happens, I would really like us to try something different on Saturday with a back four but chance will be a fine thing there I suspect. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boozyBJ Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Oli Shaw go bye bye 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.