The St. Mirren FC 2023/24 thread

[Arch Stanton]

21 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

Left back and centre forward a must. 

Also maybe another centre half as cover. 

I'd agree.

I'd like to see Erhahon on loan at Championship level. He's just turned 19, a full season at that level at centre-mid would do him the world of good.

[Stu]

Happy with Shaughnessy (although not as happy as some folk on Twitter who are going a bit OTT). Should be a good, solid, reliable defender for us.

Nothing personal (and I'd never heard of him before today so no idea what he's like) but can't see where the Icelandic boy is going to fit in, unless he's an upgrade on who we already have. Even allowing for the injuries to Flynn and Magennis, before today you were looking at starting the season with a midfield of Foley, Durmus, McAllister and one of Sheron and MacPherson. The most likely to drop out is one of the last two, which makes signing a guy on loan to replace another guy you've signed on loan a bit strange. McAllister is inevitably going to get injured, but again signing a loan player to initially start as cover seems strange - would rather one of our own young boys was used as cover.

Maybe Norwich are paying most/all of his wages and want to get him out on loan somewhere. Interested to know where the link with them has suddenly come from. That's two loan players in 2020 from them with talk of a third. Maybe someone at Skyview is friends with Delia!

A leftback and a striker are the main priority now - the latter arguably the more important of the two given we only have two first team strikers and one of them barely scored last season. Maybe the youth department will give us a decent striker for the first time this millennium - weird we haven't had at least one when they have produced plenty of good players in pretty much every other position.

Edited July 20, 2020 by Stu

[NorthBank]

Happy with Shaughnessy (although not as happy as some folk on Twitter who are going a bit OTT). Should be a good, solid, reliable defender for us.
Nothing personal (and I'd never heard of him before today so no idea what he's like) but can't see where the Icelandic boy is going to fit in, unless he's an upgrade on who we already have. Even allowing for the injuries to Flynn and Magennis, before today you were looking at starting the season with a midfield of Foley, Durmus, McAllister and one of Sheron and MacPherson. The most likely to drop out is one of the last two, which makes signing a guy on loan to replace another guy you've signed on loan a bit strange. McAllister is inevitably going to get injured, but again signing a loan player to initially start as cover seems strange - would rather one of our own young boys was used as cover.
Maybe Norwich are paying most/all of his wages and want to get him out on loan somewhere. Interested to know where the link with them has suddenly come from. That's two loan players in 2020 from them with talk of a third. Maybe someone at Skyview is friends with Delia!
A leftback and a striker are the main priority now - the latter arguably the more important of the two given we only have two first team strikers and one of them barely scored last season. Maybe the youth department will give us a decent striker for the first time this millennium - weird we haven't had at least one when they have produced plenty of good players in pretty much every other position.

At the moment we only have one fit wide right in McAllister who spends more time on the treatment table than on the pitch. Isak can fill in/takeover until Flynn or Magennis are fit. I hope McAllister is finally over his fitness problems but we have been saying that for 4 years now and I haven't heard of any recent treatment that suggests otherwise.

[djchapsticks]

Yeah I can understand that we're overloaded in midfield but we currently aren't at right mid. We have 2 players who can fit in there but both carrying cruciate ligament injuries presently and a third who is notoriously injury prone. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a 19 year old lad with 2 first team appearances to his name is not exactly going to be a budget crippling signing. Nor is he going to be the first name on the team sheet so it will make very little, if any dent on what we have to spend on upgradong the squad. 

I'd guess that the link with Norwich is to do with them being impressed at the level Famewo was playing against and the amount of football we gave him. I'd imagine the players will also turn to the likes of Pukki and particularly Kenny McLean and ask about the merits of a potential loan move. 

[Doctor Sanchez]

Looks like Fitzy called it right.  

[djchapsticks]

Douglas McNeil reporting on twitter that there are still a few more to come in at Saints. 

[GAD]

From the video posted on here, the new boy does look like he's more of a wide player and he's quick, which is something we absolutely do need, we've not got a lot of pace in the team just now. It also shows he seems to be quite good at running into people and falling over, but we should ignore that bit for now.

[aldo_j]

57 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

Douglas McNeil reporting on twitter that there are still a few more to come in at Saints. 

Imagine one will be the left back (lad from Norwich?) and a striker too. Goody doesn’t seem too positive on the striker front though, given what’s been said in interviews.

if we get those two then I reckon that’ll be us to start the season. With the window closing in October (I fink...) then we’ve not got the same time pressures, so might just be case of holding a spot or two until we’re through some games and have a better understanding of crowds coming back.

[djchapsticks]

14 minutes ago, aldo_j said:

Imagine one will be the left back (lad from Norwich?) and a striker too. Goody doesn’t seem too positive on the striker front though, given what’s been said in interviews.

if we get those two then I reckon that’ll be us to start the season. With the window closing in October (I fink...) then we’ve not got the same time pressures, so might just be case of holding a spot or two until we’re through some games and have a better understanding of crowds coming back.

Yeah. Again though, he might be throwing folk off any potential scent by saying he's struggling on the striker front. He keeps his cards close to his chest.

[Coventry Saint]

8 minutes ago, aldo_j said:

Imagine one will be the left back (lad from Norwich?) and a striker too. Goody doesn’t seem too positive on the striker front though, given what’s been said in interviews.

if we get those two then I reckon that’ll be us to start the season. With the window closing in October (I fink...) then we’ve not got the same time pressures, so might just be case of holding a spot or two until we’re through some games and have a better understanding of crowds coming back.

I think all of that is spot-on. With a left-back in place, we have a decent-looking first XI with a fair amount of experience at this level. It's the defensive depth that is most concerning, especially while Flynn is still out.

I wonder if we'll end up going down the loan route for a striker. I think we'll see a lot of clubs - all countries, all levels - sticking rather than twisting with their squads this summer, and picking up surplus players on loan might end up being the best route. As you said, everyone will want to be assessing what they've got first.

Then again, Jim was talking up Morias the other day... maybe he'll click this season. Stranger things have happened.

[ZingaliMan]

Got a text from a mate who is a Dons fan--- Got yourself a good defender there , there was a lot that wanted him back at Aberdeen, always liked big Joe!

[flyingscot]

1 hour ago, Coventry Saint said:

Then again, Jim was talking up Morias the other day... maybe he'll click this season. Stranger things have happened.

Felt a bit sorry for Morias last year, as he was played all wrong. Was it Hamilton or Livi where we started him up top on his own? He seemed to often get shunted to right mid too.

[ZingaliMan]

2 hours ago, Coventry Saint said:

I think all of that is spot-on. With a left-back in place, we have a decent-looking first XI with a fair amount of experience at this level. It's the defensive depth that is most concerning, especially while Flynn is still out.

I wonder if we'll end up going down the loan route for a striker. I think we'll see a lot of clubs - all countries, all levels - sticking rather than twisting with their squads this summer, and picking up surplus players on loan might end up being the best route. As you said, everyone will want to be assessing what they've got first.

Then again, Jim was talking up Morias the other day... maybe he'll click this season. Stranger things have happened.

The lack of scoring goals was a problem last season I dont see that changing as things stand today. The strikers who score on a regular basis are very hard to get on our budget we all understand that so a loan might be the best bet. At least Jim is drumming into the squad the importance of goals from all areas. Squad is looking decent though bring it on. 

[Munoz]

21 minutes ago, ZingaliMan said:

The lack of scoring goals was a problem last season I dont see that changing as things stand today. The strikers who score on a regular basis are very hard to get on our budget we all understand that so a loan might be the best bet. At least Jim is drumming into the squad the importance of goals from all areas. Squad is looking decent though bring it on. 

You're spot on with regards to strikers. For some reason most teams in Scotland struggle to produce forwards that hit the ground running, and that consistently score. As you said , the loan market will probably be our best bet.

[Insaintee]

14 hours ago, Stu said:

Happy with Shaughnessy (although not as happy as some folk on Twitter who are going a bit OTT). Should be a good, solid, reliable defender for us.

Nothing personal (and I'd never heard of him before today so no idea what he's like) but can't see where the Icelandic boy is going to fit in, unless he's an upgrade on who we already have. Even allowing for the injuries to Flynn and Magennis, before today you were looking at starting the season with a midfield of Foley, Durmus, McAllister and one of Sheron and MacPherson. The most likely to drop out is one of the last two, which makes signing a guy on loan to replace another guy you've signed on loan a bit strange. McAllister is inevitably going to get injured, but again signing a loan player to initially start as cover seems strange - would rather one of our own young boys was used as cover.

Maybe Norwich are paying most/all of his wages and want to get him out on loan somewhere. Interested to know where the link with them has suddenly come from. That's two loan players in 2020 from them with talk of a third. Maybe someone at Skyview is friends with Delia!

A leftback and a striker are the main priority now - the latter arguably the more important of the two given we only have two first team strikers and one of them barely scored last season. Maybe the youth department will give us a decent striker for the first time this millennium - weird we haven't had at least one when they have produced plenty of good players in pretty much every other position.

I think there are a few problems that affect bringing through strikers.

1.  They are unlikely to get much game time to develop unless they go on load and even then they will struggle. (see Jon McShane)

2. A good few of them get all billy big baws and swan off if they dont get game time. 

3. I do think modern scottish coaching with the emphise on taking a touch, get the ball under control and find a man, is not really conducive to playing as a stiker. 

[Biscuits]

Every club round about us is in pretty much the same boat tho. Would kill for a 15 goal a season striker

[djchapsticks]

3 minutes ago, Biscuits said:

Every club round about us is in pretty much the same boat tho. Would kill for a 15 goal a season striker

Although it would be magic, we don't need 15 a season. Obika was on target to get comfortably into double figures despite a slow start.

We need another who can chip in with 8-12 a season as beyond Obika, we didn't have anyone who looked like they could.

[Stu]

56 minutes ago, Insaintee said:

I think there are a few problems that affect bringing through strikers.

1.  They are unlikely to get much game time to develop unless they go on load and even then they will struggle. (see Jon McShane)

2. A good few of them get all billy big baws and swan off if they dont get game time. 

3. I do think modern scottish coaching with the emphise on taking a touch, get the ball under control and find a man, is not really conducive to playing as a stiker. 

I suppose the other issue is that anyone who is a half decent striker at youth level is even more likely to get pinched by a bigger club than a half decent midfielder, defender etc. It's a pity - I think Steven McGarry would be the last youth team striker to make an impact in our first team and that was 20 years ago. Since then I think the only home grown forwards to score have been Thomas Reilly and David McKenna. And Barry Lavety but he was late 20s by then 

[Coventry Saint]

21 minutes ago, Stu said:

I suppose the other issue is that anyone who is a half decent striker at youth level is even more likely to get pinched by a bigger club than a half decent midfielder, defender etc. It's a pity - I think Steven McGarry would be the last youth team striker to make an impact in our first team and that was 20 years ago. Since then I think the only home grown forwards to score have been Thomas Reilly and David McKenna. And Barry Lavety but he was late 20s by then 

And McGarry was really a midfielder...

[Biscuits]

What would we give for another basher?

I suppose the other issue is that anyone who is a half decent striker at youth level is even more likely to get pinched by a bigger club than a half decent midfielder, defender etc. It's a pity - I think Steven McGarry would be the last youth team striker to make an impact in our first team and that was 20 years ago. Since then I think the only home grown forwards to score have been Thomas Reilly and David McKenna. And Barry Lavety but he was late 20s by then [emoji28]