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Strikers coming through


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No real insights here but Steve Clarke discussing the lack of strikers coming through, hopefully of interest to someone.

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They tell me the young boy Wilson is doing very well at Aston Villa. He has grown a little bit and is in good shape. I watched him for the Scotland Under-17’s in the Euros tournament recently where he got another goal. He’s only a youngster and is probably a couple of years away, but if he continues to develop, without putting too much pressure on his shoulders, he’s one who is maybe going to come through. The more the merrier. 

Doak is similar. He’s an attacker and probably a really difficult player to play against because he just runs. He’s so quick and he can go either way, you could probably play him as a striker - just ask him to run in behind teams and stretch them. Again, at 17 he’s just a youngster, but he’s been in and around the Liverpool first team, without making the breakthrough. That’s not a criticism because it’s difficult to do at a club like that. Hopefully going forward those two boys can be a big part of our future. Let’s not put too much pressure on them, but if someone is playing regularly somewhere and scoring goals, they can be in Scotland’s first-team squad, I don’t think Ben is quite at that level yet but he’s working towards it. If he shows he’s good enough to be involved, he can be, for sure.

I’m not sure, that’s probably above my pay grade that one (lack of Scottish strikers). It would be nice to get one or two more. We just have to keep looking to find these guys who can eventually come through but both Nisbet and Shankland can score goals. Kevin had a tough spell with an injury and he’s taken a little bit of time to get back up to speed. But he looks closer now to the Kevin Nisbet pre-injury. He certainly has an eye for a goal and Lawrence has shown he will score goals in the Scottish Premiership. 

Hopefully they will come away with us and, if required, contribute up front to take a load off Lyndon. There’s no reason for them to be fazed by it because they have both been involved with Scotland before. Kevin scored against Holland. It was friendly but he scored against the Dutch, which is not a bad thing to do. Lawrence nearly scored off the bench against Spain recently and if I’m being critical, I thought he should have! He gets into goal scoring positions and so does Kevin. They have shown they can handle it. Hopefully if we need to use them we can create chances for them.

It’s disappointing to lose Che, who has been a vital part of the team. But don’t forget the contribution Lyndon made in the last game. Dykesy played up front against Spain and was excellent. He did a marvellous job for the team, so we have good options up front. We’ve got Ryan Christie who does a really good job for the team, while Stuart Armstrong normally delivers the goods for his country. McGinn can score from midfield and in the last camp I discovered I’ve got another guy who can do it in McTominay. So that’s a good place to be. 

In any team, it’s important not just to look at the striker. There’s a train of thought that if you’ve got a 30-goals a season striker but nobody else scores, you don’t win anything. I agree with that. We need goals from all over the pitch. You want them from everywhere because if you’re relying on just one person, you can become a little bit predictable.
 

Steve Clarke

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/steve-clarke-discusses-strikers-rory-wilson-ben-doak-it-would-be-nice-to-get-one-or-two-more-for-scotland-4168429

Edited by 2426255
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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Connor Flynn-Gillespie is knocking them in for fun at Lynx FC in the Gibraltar Football League. He is eligible for both Scotland and Spain so we'll have to act quickly or Spain might get wind of him and try to turn his head their way.

If he keeps up his excellent goal scoring form then his confidence will be absolutely sky high just in time for the opening game against Germany.  

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26 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

Connor Flynn-Gillespie is knocking them in for fun at Lynx FC in the Gibraltar Football League. He is eligible for both Scotland and Spain so we'll have to act quickly or Spain might get wind of him and try to turn his head their way.

If he keeps up his excellent goal scoring form then his confidence will be absolutely sky high just in time for the opening game against Germany.  

Can’t say I’ve heard of the lad? 
 

But I’m thinking the Gibraltar League would be the equivalent of the Lowland League or Highland League 

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Great debut for Mellon today for Dundee. A goal and two assists in 30 minutes. Should be in and around the 21s, but might not get a game as he’s competing with Conway.

Wilson also scored for Villa in PL2, he seems to be getting a few starts at that level now after mostly playing at U19 level. For me, despite his promise, he will probably play U19 for Scotland this year given the quality of Conway.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alfie Bavidge looks like he could be quite a player. Hat-trick for Kelty the other week to make it 7 goals in 14  league games for them. Now a first half hat-trick for the u19s in a 4-0 win v Latvia. Miovski will probably leave in the summer so it'll be interesting to see if he is involved much at Pittodrie next season or loaned out again. Still 17.

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9 minutes ago, git-intae-thum said:

Mctominay? Man utd fans forums suggest he should be played further forward.

Scoring for fun just now. Big, strong and mobile enough to play up front on his own.

Would free up a space in midfield as well.  

I was actually thinking Lewis Ferguson might be good to consider in that respect. We know McTominay's role is working and until it stops I would maybe not f**k about with it.

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14 minutes ago, git-intae-thum said:

Mctominay? Man utd fans forums suggest he should be played further forward.

Scoring for fun just now. Big, strong and mobile enough to play up front on his own.

Would free up a space in midfield as well.  

I’ve been thinking that for a while, but was reluctant to say it, might be worth a try in one of the friendlies? Although he’s the type of player we want running on to the knock backs from Adams / Dykes, but Ferguson could potentially be the person to take up that role along with McGinn?  He’s got a great engine & the physical presence to hassle defenders. 

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19 hours ago, Brother Blades said:

I’ve been thinking that for a while, but was reluctant to say it, might be worth a try in one of the friendlies? Although he’s the type of player we want running on to the knock backs from Adams / Dykes, but Ferguson could potentially be the person to take up that role along with McGinn?  He’s got a great engine & the physical presence to hassle defenders. 

There has to be a good argument for completely resting John McGinn for the March friendlies

We know how good he is,

We know he’s a nailed on starter in June

Hes already played more minutes this season than all of last

Would be the ideal time to give Lewis Ferguson back to back starts

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On 17/02/2024 at 13:27, Brother Blades said:

I’ve been thinking that for a while, but was reluctant to say it, might be worth a try in one of the friendlies? Although he’s the type of player we want running on to the knock backs from Adams / Dykes, but Ferguson could potentially be the person to take up that role along with McGinn?  He’s got a great engine & the physical presence to hassle defenders. 

Worth noting that McTominay was actually playing as a striker up until he broke in to the first team at United so the position isn’t completely alien to him. I do think he’s much better suited to being the guy making runs in to the box from deeper positions but wouldn’t be entirely against the idea of seeing how he played as a striker in one of the friendlies. 

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39 minutes ago, Aidan said:

Worth noting that McTominay was actually playing as a striker up until he broke in to the first team at United so the position isn’t completely alien to him. I do think he’s much better suited to being the guy making runs in to the box from deeper positions but wouldn’t be entirely against the idea of seeing how he played as a striker in one of the friendlies. 

I think this is a myth. There is a quote somewhere from McTominay saying he played maybe 1 game there for the youth team. There is a video/quote which i can dig out later if proof is required.

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7 hours ago, MarkoP said:

There has to be a good argument for completely resting John McGinn for the March friendlies

We know how good he is,

We know he’s a nailed on starter in June

Hes already played more minutes this season than all of last

Would be the ideal time to give Lewis Ferguson back to back starts

Completely agree with this.  As good as McGinn has been for us it would not serve any purpose to over-play him.  I keep thinking back to the Ukraine play-off game in June 22........he was completely off the pace and looked a shadow of himself - even missed an unbelievable sitter. I would like to see Ferguson start as he has been really impressive for Bologna.  I have watched a few of their games more intrigued to see how he is playing and must say he is perhaps their most influencial player and drives the team forward.

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19 minutes ago, Caledonian1 said:

Completely agree with this.  As good as McGinn has been for us it would not serve any purpose to over-play him.  I keep thinking back to the Ukraine play-off game in June 22........he was completely off the pace and looked a shadow of himself - even missed an unbelievable sitter. I would like to see Ferguson start as he has been really impressive for Bologna.  I have watched a few of their games more intrigued to see how he is playing and must say he is perhaps their most influencial player and drives the team forward.

Agree re starting Ferguson.

However re McGinn in that Ukraine playoff, end of season tiredness might have played a part, but I think it was our shape that made us (McGinn included) look so dreadful. The gap between him and McGregor and Gilmour further back was humongous, and left us chasing shadows in our largely fruitless efforts to even get in the ball.

 

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