Widge Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 I suspect Smith could look better in a team who actually looked to play forward thinking football or with width. Hes the only one in the squad who actively tries to move it on quickly but often he’s stifled by the fact he has nobody ahead of him. Phillips is a player I like, as others have alluded to though whilst he wins and keeps the ball, he actually dwells on it too long and I’d say he actually makes the most errors of any of our current midfielders. Hes a good player to have but he’s not irreplaceable. I hope he goes on and does well though as he’s not one you can ever say didn’t try or was shying away at any point. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJFCtheTeamForMe Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 3 hours ago, Theyellowbox said: Not having Phillips contribute much in terms of goals and assists would be fine if he was the midfield disrupter and others were getting the goals and assist, but we have all our current midfielders not contributing enough to goals. Phillips, Max and Smith, (could even throw in Crawford and MacPherson) are all decent technical footballers, but offer way way to little in terms or real offensive contributions. Possibly unfair on Philips as he breaks things up and Smith does try to get the ball forward, but generally, the are not contributing enough. I'll be proved wrong with stats I'm sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if our midfield have net backwards and sideways passes vs forward and if it is positive to the forward, it won't be by much..... Funny thing is Crawford has probably scored more than the rest of the names have combined for Saints I know one stat (if it ends up being correct) in isolation means very little though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) 4 hours ago, Theyellowbox said: I wouldn't be surprised if our midfield have net backwards and sideways passes vs forward and if it is positive to the forward, it won't be by much..... What WyScout lists as our "midfield", not sure why Carey is missing. Carey is.... Forward passes: 11.66 (61.32%) Backward passes: 6.64 (90.61%) Sideways passes: 11.66 (77.99%) Not a clue how it compares to the league without a deeper dive that I can't do just now. Edited March 19 by RandomGuy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 5 hours ago, Widge said: I suspect Smith could look better in a team who actually looked to play forward thinking football or with width. Hes the only one in the squad who actively tries to move it on quickly but often he’s stifled by the fact he has nobody ahead of him. He's very George Williams-y, I think. Looks good and is exciting to start with, but the more you see the more you realise that nothing tangible ever comes of it. Like he'll squeeze away from someone on the flank, nutmeg another, then shank his cross straight out the park. Then vanish for 20 minutes. Not wanting to restart the debate but he's definitely one who needs to scoring/assisting regularly from open play. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJFCtheTeamForMe Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Levein quote of the day: "you find the attacking players are generally better at creating than the defensive ones." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSJ.84 Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 4 hours ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said: Levein quote of the day: "you find the attacking players are generally better at creating than the defensive ones." Suspect that’s one of those that comes across terribly written down as it’s a little bit tongue in cheek. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muirton Saint Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Sprangler out for 2-6 weeks, Considine stopped training yesterday after feeling something with his groin. Levein hopeful of having Olufunwa back for Dundee. Drey Wright running now, soon be involved with team training. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Almost as if having older centre backs isn’t a good idea. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zamora Fan Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Phillips could be a star if he was managed right, there’s a lot of untapped potential there. It’s another case in the post Tommy Wright era where the player is completely right not to extend their contract since their career progression has stalled here — if you compare how he’s playing now to a year ago there’s been little improvement, even though he’s a young player who should be coming toward their best years. See also Melker Hallberg, Cal Hendry. I get why no one is upset about Phillips leaving, but just to offer a counterintuitive view: does anyone really expect us to replace him with someone better or at least at the same level? Our record on that front in recent years is not good. We’ve eventually upgraded on Zander Clark, but I can’t see any other areas where we’ve managed to get close to the varying levels of quality that keep leaving us. Could make a case for a couple of the loanees. It’s just been a steady decline in the quality of the squad since Tommy Wright left, without some miracle work from Levein that will continue this summer with Phillips out, and some of the ageing types like Considine and Carey who have helped paper over the cracks either also gone or declining further. Spoiler Off the top of my head.. Clark < Mitov Tanser >> Gallacher McCart > Considine Kerr >>>>> all of the clowns who’ve had a turn at RCB McNamara >>> Brown Rooney = Drey Wright McCann >>>>> Aldi McCann Bryson = Phillips Wotherspoon > Carey Hallberg >> Smith Jamie Murphy >>> Costelloe Hendry >> Clark 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Looks like he's going down South or abroad but Phillips is the one player that I've thought looks decent for you lads in the games against each other this season so far. I don't think he'd currently get ahead of Mo Sylla but he was a player that I was hoping we'd be in for if you went down and he was open to staying in Scotland. Looks a talent and in a more fluid team, think he can be a big asset. I know the feeling when you have a terrible season that everyone is rubbish, but he's definitely a stand out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muirton Saint Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 1 minute ago, Ludo*1 said: Looks like he's going down South or abroad but Phillips is the one player that I've thought looks decent for you lads in the games against each other this season so far. I don't think he'd currently get ahead of Mo Sylla but he was a player that I was hoping we'd be in for if you went down and he was open to staying in Scotland. Looks a talent and in a more fluid team, think he can be a big asset. I know the feeling when you have a terrible season that everyone is rubbish, but he's definitely a stand out. He's good at pressing the ball and getting it past 2 or 3 guys at once. I think if he had better passers around him he would excel. But because of the players around him he usually holds the ball too long, or miss-hits his passes which lead to it either out of play or back with the other team. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 17 minutes ago, Zamora Fan said: I get why no one is upset about Phillips leaving, but just to offer a counterintuitive view: does anyone really expect us to replace him with someone better or at least at the same level? Our record on that front in recent years is not good. We’ve eventually upgraded on Zander Clark, but I can’t see any other areas where we’ve managed to get close to the varying levels of quality that keep leaving us. Could make a case for a couple of the loanees. It’s just been a steady decline in the quality of the squad since Tommy Wright left, without some miracle work from Levein that will continue this summer with Phillips out, and some of the ageing types like Considine and Carey who have helped paper over the cracks either also gone or declining further. It's easier to get quality when you're able to focus on three or four positions, rather than trying to scout/sign players for all eleven. Trying to sign a whole top flight level squad was always going to be the issue when Davidson started signing dad's army en masse. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Costanza Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 The point about Phillips being better if he was part of a better, more coherent team is fair enough. He’s still relatively young and everything shouldn’t fall on his shoulders. However part of developing as a footballer is adapting to the circumstances you find yourself in. At best we are a basic football team that are hard to break down. We don’t offer much more than that. He could contribute to that by just keeping things simple and maintaining possession, even if that’s a five yard pass inside. Too often he over complicates things and try’s to do too much. Sometimes he’s a bit like the guy that nutmegs you at fives, shouts ole and then blasts the ball over the fence. There needs to be some kind of end product, we’ve established that won’t be goals or assists. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJFCtheTeamForMe Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 (edited) Phillips is gonna miss out on the new owner excitement next season though He'll miss the new owners Americanisms and their high ambitions of winning the Soccer world series championship Cup. Edited March 20 by SJFCtheTeamForMe 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theyellowbox Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 3 hours ago, RandomGuy. said: It's easier to get quality when you're able to focus on three or four positions, rather than trying to scout/sign players for all eleven. Trying to sign a whole top flight level squad was always going to be the issue when Davidson started signing dad's army en masse. 100% this. Don't want hark back to the Wright days, as in some ways player v player comparisons are clouded by rose tinted specs a bit, but, what Wright was able to do was only focus on either direct replacements or upgrades in a few areas, not the mammoth overturn we have had of late. That allowed him to focus better on what was needed. He knew he had a core of players he could build a team around and what would work well with the players he already had. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sconesaint Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 For this wondering… the latest 40 min Levein podcast ‘Sacked in the morning’ has no Saints content. Just a mention of VAR injustice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree house tam Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Wright was a settled manager with a relatively settled squad, these last few years we've had neither. Another thing about having an unsettled management team is that it really effects young players coming through. With Tommy he could tell Stevenson which areas of the side he would be looking to change and they'd release or introduce to the first team squad accordingly. As he did with Clark, Kerr, McCann etc. Callum fucked that in his time. I'd say Levein would be more like Tommy but I just can't see him hanging around long enough. I'm also not sure how I feel about that anyway. What we don't want is releasing everyone at the end of the season and having to play all the youngsters again like what happened to Macca this season. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Saintee Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 4 hours ago, Muirton Saint said: Considine stopped training yesterday after feeling something with his groin. Old b*****d's Viagra kicking in? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloPerth Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 7 hours ago, tree house tam said: What we don't want is releasing everyone at the end of the season and having to play all the youngsters again like what happened to Macca this season. This is the reality. It’s easy to think we should be releasing and upgrading everyone, but we’ve got to make a realistic pragmatic decision on who we can improve upon, and if not then might have to keep. We will likely need to keep some players who maybe the consensus about is they’re as guilty of our poor performances as everyone else. The one thing in our favour is we will be freeing up a few decent wages of players who haven’t contributed a great deal; Crawford and MacPherson, and you could probably say May and Kane for this season as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Saintee Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I'll be ecstatic to punt Crawford, MacPherson and Considine. And Gallacher. And Carey. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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