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Your team's signings - ranked


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Or should that read: "Your team's signings - rank"? 😂👌👏

With the season now OFFICIALLY over, it's time to reflect on our clubs' new arrivals. This type of thread is always my favourite as it is a reminder of the absolute shite that pollute our game every season. Anyway, here's my ranking of Accies' signings this season:

  • Markus Fjortoft: 4/10 – Possibly the best passer of any of our CBs. Too bad he’s a minging defender, especially 1 v 1.
  • Brian Easton: 7.5/10 – I like Easton. He’s good at playing the ball forward (raking diagonals to McGowan and curved balls down the line aplenty) and tends to defend crosses pretty well. You occasionally see mistakes that remind you that he hadn’t played at CB before (and had played one game in way more than a year before joining us) but has definitely been a better signing than we were anticipating.
  • Ciaran McKenna: 3/10 – No one was expecting anything of McKenna either, but he’s definitely met those expectations. When he signed, I thought, “He doesn’t come with a good pedigree, but I suppose he’ll be a ‘project’.” And then he started the pre-season games, and then every Betfred game, and then the first league game of the season. It’s a shame that injuries have ruined his season, and I think he does have the physical attributes to succeed – he just needs to start defending. 
  • Blair Alston: 2/10 – Is it harsh that Blair Alston is rated lower than someone who has played around 100 minutes of Premiership football this season? No, don’t be silly. Blair Alston is technically a good footballer. He’s also decent at pressing the ball and driving counters. Blair Alston was also apparently on a big wage, was very rarely seen in games, was injured fairly regularly and scored one league goal. It’s frustrating because once every few games he did something really clever before vanishing into thin air. Rice occasionally tried him a bit deeper which didn't really work.
  • Owain Fon Williams: 5/10 – I stood up for him for a while because I didn’t think he was making too many mistakes while being good for a wonder save per game, but he was just unreliable and was below average for shots he’s expected to make (which probably shows that while he didn't make too many howlers, he was making minor errors that led to goals).
  • Will Collar: 6.5 – Will Collar’s pretty good. Calm and relatively good on the ball and knows where to position himself in the middle – both of these things are needed next to Gogic’s mayhem. I had reservations to begin with due to not really knowing what he was, but the Edinburgh City game was the first time I realised that he’s a calm and simple holding midfielder. He’s not going to fly into tackles like other midfielders and won’t pass it like, well… none of our midfielders can pass, so it’s easy to see why he’s kind of flown under the radar, but Collar + Gogic was the midfield two for me.
  • Johnny Hunt: 4/10 – There’s a player in Hunt, no doubt about it. Gogic was suspended for a game against Aberdeen in December and Hunt took his place at the base of midfield. It was a horrendous team performance, but I thought it was quite interesting that we looked a lot more comfortable going from the CBs to CMs with Hunt connecting them: he knew where to move, how to receive the ball and wasalright on it (or at least his ideas are alright, even if he doesn’t always pull them off). I can understand why Rice has tried to make him work, but for whatever reason he didn't. He’s almost as chaotic as Gogic out of possession, although very rarely comes away with the ball. He should never play at LB in our system though.
  • Korede Adedoyin: 0/10 – We get one or two of these signings a season: player comes in with next to no meaningful football experience before getting binned before the end of the season. He was actually an OK dribbler but his end product was horrendous, he was really selfish with the ball, loved a dive and apparently bragged about how much money he was earning.
  • Kyle Gourlay: He’s a backup goalkeeper/10 – Decent ‘keeper from what I’ve seen, but I’m not going to rate someone who hasn’t played a first-team game.
  • David Moyo: 6/10 – David Moyo might be rubbish; he might not be able to play football. However, he’s ridiculous in the air and scored winners at Fir Park and Ibrox.
  • Luke Southwood: 7/10 – Reliable if usually unspectacular. Really, really good handling and pretty good short and medium-distance distribution. The game at Rangers was his only real ‘heroic’ performance, which is unusual for the GK in a team that concedes 10000 shots a game, but he was a safe pair of hands.
  • Sam Stubbs: 7/10 – When Stubbs first arrived, he looked like he was going to be one of the best non-OF CBs in the league; he won absolutely everything while commanding the back four positionally. He definitely did tail off in around October time, coinciding with Easton’s injury, which lasted until the middle of December. It’s a real shame that he left just as he was getting good again.
  • Adrian Beck: 1/10 – The one’s for his nice assist away to St Johnstone. Other than that, he was a pretty useless signing.
  • Andy Dales: 1/10 – The one’s for his decent debut at home to League Two side Edinburgh City. Other than that, he was a pretty useless signing.
  • Sam Woods: 1/10 – The one’s for his goal against Livi. Other than that, he was a pretty dreadful signing.
  • David Templeton: 5.5/10 – Didn't get anywhere near the heights he did last time, but didn't have all that much time to make an impact. He receives the ball better than anyone else in the squad, is better than anyone else at taking players on and you’d usually rely on him to finish and create better than anyone else in the squad. He had one or two stinkers though, which is obviously accentuated when you’ve not even played 10 matches.
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GK - Elliot Parish - 1/10: How do you judge a signing who didnt play a single league game? Played twice in the Betfred Cup Group stage, a defeat to Montrose and another to Forfar, and didnt look particularly smart in either game. Provided back up to Clark yet didnt get a minute when Clark was chucking goals in. 

GK - Max Johnstone - 0/10: Presumably signed as a reserve keeper to allow us to loan out Ross Sinclair. Didnt see the first team at all, and was apparently pretty poor for the youth sides. Contract expired this Summer and allowed to leave.

RB - Anthony Ralston - 5/10: Was absolutely awful to begin with, rash into tackles and looked a red card in every game. After the defence settled he seemed to aswell, by the end you would barely notice him which is both good and bad. Offers almost nothing in attack.

CB - Wallace Duffy - 2/10: He avoids a zero score due to a decent game at home to Hearts against Ikpeuza, and because ive sympathy as he was thrown in before he was ready. One of the main reasons we didnt win a game until October, a total bombscare who caused complete panic in the whole side. In his 11 league games we conceded 29 goals.

CB - Madis Vihmann - 1/10: Another who gets  a sympathy point. Clearly had no idea of the pace of the game here and seemed completely caught out by it. His home debut saw him collect a pass under no pressure and instantly blooter it out the park as he seemed to think he was under pressure. Left in January and instantly retired, aged 24.

CB - Jamie McCart - 9/10: An unreal signing. Transformed the defence and his ability to pick a pass has also improved the entire side. No idea how he seemed so easy to get. One point removed as he still seems to think he has to get every ball, leads to giving away some needless free kicks.

LB - Callum Booth - 7/10: Came in, done his job. It's simple but he was exactly what our defence needed. Scored a banger in the cup too. Just a really solid professional player you can trust. Very Goran Stanic-y in that he looks slow and a weak spot, yet seems to real the game well enough to avoid being exploited.

CM - Matt Butcher - 7/10: A really classy midfielder, who's also built like a truck. Only player I've seen who makes Ross Draper look small. Was clearly unfit when he first joined due to some serious injuries, but once he got going he was starting to stroll games, ran the midfield for a spell against Rangers who just couldnt get the ball off him. Really hope he can return on loan as we wont get anyone nearly as good.

CM - Jason Holt - 5/10: Think he suffered the most from the emergence of Ali McCann. The other midfielders offered something a bit different and Holt seemed to struggle to find his role. Can see he has quality and given time would likely be a success, but just didnt fit in to the starting line up this season.

FW - Izzy Jones - 3/10: Great song, great pace, great skill, and seems like a great person. A punt on loan and started things off by tweeting about how great an honour it was to play for a top flight Scottish side. Came on against Ayr on loan and looked electric. Feels like he was intended as a project player so interested to see if he returns, but suspect the situation might prevent money being spent on players like that sadly. Hope he has a great career.

ST - Stevie May - 6/10: Second half of the season saved him, 4 goals in his last 7 games. Isnt a lone striker but got played there for 6 months, and was awful. After the winter break he came alive, looked to have gained a yard of pace and started causing huge issues. The performance against Hearts a real flashback. A better player than the one who left us, and if he could strike up a partnership with Hendry we could have something very promising situation.

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For St Johnstone:

Elliot Parish (2/10) - Marked down for the fact that Zander Clark went through a really bad spell but the manager still didn't feel Parish was worth a shot. Would have been no score otherwise. Couple of appearances in Betfred Cup. 

Max Johnstone (1/10) - Based on the one game I saw him play, in the Challenge Cup against Cove Rangers. Dreadful. 

Wallace Duffy (3/10) - Thrown in at the deep end and would probably have been kinder if he'd just drowned. He should be much better for the experience of this season I hope. 

Madis Vihmann (1/10) - This is going well so far. His time in Perth was so tormenting, he retired from football. Just couldn't handle the pace of the game. 

Anthony Ralston (4/10) - In the not too distant future, he'll be telling folk he played against Neymar and no one will believe him. He improved a bit towards the end of his time in Perth but the bar had been set pretty low. 

Callum Booth (7/10) - A generous mark for an unremarkable player but you can't overlook the steadying influence he had when he finally got his chance in December. Decent player to have in your squad. 

Stevie May (7/10) - Salvaged his season after the winter break when the confidence crept back. It had been a worrying few months before that. Hopefully on the road back to the player of old. 

Jason Holt (6/10) - Maybe didn't have the influence you were hoping for but the emergence of McCann played a part in that. Still did a fine job and would be a decent signing moving forward. 

Jamie McCart (8/10) - It's hard to argue with the continued improvement in our form after his arrival. Still some raw elements to his game but should have a good career at Saints. 

Matt Butcher (5/10) - Got up to speed pretty quickly considering he arrived at McDiarmid off the back of a bad run of injuries. He improved the team and it would have kept his place until the end of the season I feel. Would be welcome back. 

Isaiah Jones (1/10) - Might have forced his way in over the final weeks of the season but had made no impact at all after signing on loan. Got the feeling the manager never took to him as a person in the same way he did Butcher.

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1 minute ago, Radford said:

The low point of this pandemic is undoubtedly my answers being so close to that of @RandomGuy. I have to admit. 

I'm expecting you to remove the evidence by deleting my post, tbh.

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Guest Bob Mahelp

Last summer seems like light years away. 

I've honestly no idea who we signed.

Bryson ? - 0/10. 

There may be others. 

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7 minutes ago, Scotty Tunbridge said:

How can you be so shite for st Johnstone you just retire emoji23.png

Hes not even the first, technically.

Joe Gormley retired after about 2 months with Saints a couple of years ago. Hes since started playing again in NI.

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Declan Gallagher (10/10) - Easily our POTY add in Scotland call-ups and actual caps and it's hard to argue that his season could have been any better.

Liam Polworth (9/10) - Absolute baller. It says a lot for him that we finished 3rd* with him stepping into David Turnbull's boots for pretty much the entire season. Could do with adding some more goals but I'm not going to be too picky about that.

Jake Carroll (8/10) - Solid enough and so far seems immune to Stevie Hammell's cursed amulet. Should probably be a 7 as he's prone to rashness and has had a few red cards but gets an extra point from me simply because he's nowhere near the disaster Thistle and Cambridge fans were predicting. Hits a decent free kick too.

Casper Sloth (-/10) - Danish international, signed for Leeds. Played 44 minutes against Annan for Motherwell and that was his lot. Binned our of his 2 year deal after 6 months in the January window. Likes a haircut.

Jermaine Hylton (7/10) - There's a fair chance Hylton will come good. Ripped the Betfred groups to bits - then started to get found out once the real stuff started. Puts in a shift and has roasted full backs on the regular. Like most wingers at our level could do with a bit more consistency.

Chris Long (8/10) - Finished with double figures for the season - turned into a very good player for us, petulance aside. Would happily have him stick around. Gets an extra point as he ended up scoring some big goals for us despite Motherwell da's taking the huff when he signed after looking up his goal-scoring record on Wiki and being raging he wasn't Louis Moult.

Sherwin Seedorf (5/10) - Cartoon fast, scored arguably our goal of the season at Tynecastle. Pretty much disappeared once we hit December.

Christian Ilic (3/10) - FIFA 19 says he's a left back, FM 19 says he's a left back, he played left back in trial games for the Romanian club we picked him up from. For some reason Robinson decided he's a right winger. Picked up an injury, barely played.

Christy Manzinga (3/10) - Played in the PSG youths with Cedric Kipré who recommended him to us. Scored an overhead kick in a friendly against Gretna that got our socials #numbers. Scored against St Johnstone and looked like he might be fun. Sent off 10 mins after being subbed on at 1-1 against St Johnstone for a hilarious dive...and after that his tea was oot.

Ross MacIver (6/10) - Signed for the reserves, scored a worldie of an equaliser shortly after being subbed on at 1-0 down making his debut against his former club up in Dingwall. Used in games when we were short up front with Long injured, Cole back at Wigan and us counting the cool £1m for James Scott.

Bevis Mugabi (5/10) - Drafted in after Charlie Dunne picked up another long term injury. Started off well and put in some decent performances but was part of the absolute shitshow of a defence in the 4-4 cup game against St Mirren. Subbed off at H/T. Might actually be OK if he can get his confidence back. An absolute unit and has a great name.

Tony Watt (7/10) - Arrived having not kicked a ball in over a month and a half. Was starting to find his form when the shutdown happened. Scored 2 goals in 3 starts. He's absolutely welcome back.

Harry Robinson (-/10) - Signed on a short term deal 'til the end of the season for the Reserves. Son of Stephen.

Devante Cole (7/10) - Didn't score many but between him and Scott they made our front 3 work. 100% noticed his importance to the team when his loan ended and he went back to Wigan. Would have given him an 8 overall but for that sensational open goal miss against St. Johnstone.

Mark O'Hara (7/10) - By December you'd genuinely have forgotten we'd signed him. After the winter break he appeared and started monstering midfields. Watching him go full maniac cop, chucking bodies around the midfield is an absolute treat.

Mikael Ndjoli (3/10) - Barely played. Arrived, picked up an injury and then fitba' stopped.

Rolando Aarons (6/10) - Last minute signing after Scott left for Hull. Really only started to find his fitness and form when the shutdown happened - which is annoying.

Edited by capt_oats
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Utterly fucking shite - Tom James, Josh Vela, Glenn Middleton, Chris Maxwell 

Mediocre - Joe Newell, Adam Jackson, Melker Hallberg, Jason Naismith, Paul McGinn, Stephane Omeonga, Marc McNulty, Greg Docherty (maybe a couple of harsh ones in there but we were never a consistently good team this season and these boys are part of the reason why).

Top bois - Christian “goal virgin” Doidge and Scooter Allan 

Edited by Zing.
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On 29/12/2019 at 22:23, Andy_K_97 said:

Transfers: Oh dear. Right, positives out the way first - Mo El Makrini is good and looks to be an upgrade on Aaron Tshibola from last year, but not as good as Youssouf Mulumbu. At times he looks like the game is passing him by but at other times when he's on his game he slots in very well - 7/10. Lary Branescu looked decent at first but he's absolutely chucking the goals in now, how he's a Juventus player is beyond me - 3/10. Dario Del Fabro looks good and looks like he actually cares about trying hard and playing well but he needs to improve his communication. He's better when partnered in central defence with Stuart Findlay rather than Alex Bruce - 7/10. Liam Millar coming back from Liverpool on loan looked like it would be a good bit of business but without Steve Clarke's coaching he's been less effective as a whole - 5/10. Connor Johnson looks like he's not up to playing at Premiership level yet but did reasonably well in his last game against Motherwell - 3/10. Osman Sow looks like he can do the basics well but has been ineffective as a striker - not half the player he was at Hearts, 2/10. Finally Simeon Jackson hasn't really played enough to get a proper rating but didn't look like doing too much, 1/10. Average rating:  4/10.

 

This came from the thread about a January report card dealing with signings etc. I'd stick with what I said here except maybe take El Makrini down to a 6/10. Kirk Broadfoot basically started where he left off and did fine with what he did so I'd give him a 6.5/10, and Nicke Kabamba immediately added something to the team so I'd give him an 8/10. I can't remember if we signed anyone else, football is just about the last thing on my mind right now and I'm just glad that season's by with because it was so thoroughly meh.

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Just the summer ones, as I don't think I've seen enough from the January signings to offer a fair assessment. 

Ash Taylor - 7/10: Can I just shock you? I like Ash Taylor. When it was announced that we were considering signing him again after a mediocre couple of seasons in the English lower leagues, I was strongly opposed - but he's been... pretty good. His distribution is still poor, but more or less everything else has been fine: excellent in the air, strong in the tackle, and not overly slow for a player of his size. I can't really think of an obvious error on his part that has been responsible for an opposition goal. McKenna has also looked more assured beside him since he established himself as a first choice. You are always going to fear that a howler is just around the corner, the sort that littered his first spell with us, but so far, so good. 

Greg Leigh - 5/10: Leigh is quite a divisive player. Some of our fans seem to love him, but some are more sceptical - I'm in the latter group. The positives: he is a powerful runner, gets up and down the pitch well, and he is strong in the air. But I'm quite old-fashioned, so I like my full-backs to defend competently - and I've not seen enough of that from Leigh. Would I trust him at left-back against better teams, when he is going to be pinned back and forced to defend for long periods? On the current evidence, no. I wouldn't be surprised if we signed him permanently, and I wouldn't be completely opposed, but there is some work to be done. 

Zak Vyner - 3/10: A bit of a nothing player, in all honesty. I suppose you could say he was versatile but, in Vyner's case, that is basically code for being mediocre in different positions. Notably struggled against better opposition. He wasn't missed after his loan was ended. Scored a really nice goal against Motherwell at Fir Park, though. 

Funso Ojo - 6/10: I like Ojo, I think. I'm still not quite sure. He missed a large chunk of the first half of the season through injury, but he had been fairly up and down before then. He was better post-break; he started to impose himself more, some nice passing, begun to give us a foothold in games. Still more to come, I hope, and it will be interesting to see if he and McGeouch can fit in the same team long-term, but probably more good than bad so far.  

Craig Bryson - 2/10: The signing we were all most excited about, but we have hardly seen him. When he has played, and been something approaching full fitness, which really isn't often, he has shown small signs of the player we thought we were getting from Derby, but that's about as positive I can be. Currently, and perhaps through little fault of his own, a massive disappointment and a waste of a big wage. 

Jon Gallagher - 2/10: If you had told me that Gallagher would make about thirty appearances for us when he signed, I would have presumed he had been a big success. But I thought he was absolutely rubbish - technically so far off the standard required. He was very quick, but had a poor touch, no composure, no guile, no end product. I still can't understand why McInnes kept giving him a decent amount of minutes in the first half of the season, unless it was for contractual reasons. I'd be surprised to see him resurfacing at any serious level of the game in the future. 

James Wilson - 2/10: Flashes of technical ability, but unfortunately has to go down as a flop - moved on six months into a two-year deal. Despite everything, I did continue to hold out hope for Wilson, especially compared to less gifted players who got significantly more minutes, but, for whatever reason(s), it just didn't work out.

Ryan Hedges - 6/10: Strange one. I'd imagine his stats are probably quite impressive, but he has fallen out of favour post-January. I was impressed with him in most of the Europa League qualifiers and early domestic games. From what I've seen, he is quite a direct winger, a decent crosser, chips in with a few goals. But since his opportunities have been reduced, he hasn't made the most of the limited chances he has been given. It will be interesting to see what happens with him when the football starts back up again, whether he continues to drift out of the first team picture or if he can re-establish himself as a regular. 

Curtis Main - 5/10: Probably of one our least popular signings under McInnes. He's been better than I expected, I suppose. He was keeping Cosgrove out of the team in the period leading up to the stoppage - he doesn't offer the same goal threat, but he contributes with a few, works very hard and he 'leads the line' pretty well. Would I want him to be our first-choice striker in the medium to long term? No. Have I seen enough to suggest that he might be a useful squad option going forward? Just about, yes. 

Edited by DrewDon
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Nicky Devlin 7/10 - Been fairly consistant defensively but outstanding going forward...unfortunate to pick up a serious injury that rules him out for a while but was starting to return to his full flow before the season finished. Great communicator too and can see him being captain he hangs about long enough.

Jon Guthrie 9/10 - Has filled the void left by Craig Halkett in terms of solid defending and chipping in with goals. Has shown his leadership qualities by stepping in as captain due to injuries. Walsall fans were glad to get rid of him and I'm sure EVERY Livi fan is glad he's come to us.

Marvin Bartley 10/10 - Signing of the season for me...absolutely strolls games and we are a much weaker side without him. Another leader on the park and isn't afraid to go do the dirty work. I genuinely can't understand how he didnt get a game for Hibs before signing for us....absolute steal.

Robbie Crawford 7/10 - Unlucky with injuries and the fact that we have such a strong midfield but has shown some real quality when given the chance. He's a straight replacement for Shaun Byrne IMO and may even be an improvement

Ibrahima Savane 1/10 - Who? Think he only played ocne for us and looked like he could be decent but was never fit and I think had issues with training from what I've heard....not a good fit and quickly moved on. A rare miss in terms of our recruitment

Matija Sarkic 8/10 - One of the best keepers I've seen at Livi. His kicking was superb as shown by his assist against Celtic. I was down at the stadium and caught him practicing his kicking and his accuracy was pinpoint. Initially his handling looked suspect in the early cup rounds but he settled quickly into the team and became a fan's favourite. Was gutted when Villa recalled him in January but hope he goes on to have some success in the game.

Robby McCrorie 6/10 - Brought in as a replacement when Sarkic left and looked fantastic on his debut. A few mistakes like the Celtic goals in the 2-2 game and some rushes of blood to the head moments where he charged out and didn't quite get there. Overall a good keeper who looks to have a decent future in the game.

Ryan Schofield 6/10 - Another january loan keeper to compete with McCrorie. Didn't have a lot of gametime with early indications being that he wasn't as good as Robbie....his showing at Ibrox gave Holt a headache for the next few games but we didn't see enough of Ryan to really judge him.

Ciaron Brown 8/10 - Had been on loan the previous season and played mostly at left back due to injurues. Came back in January and partnered Jon Guthrie becoming a solid CB pairing. A monster of a long throw which bought us a few goals as well as a fantastic crossing ability. Decent bit of pace on him which helped him recover from most mistakes he made. Hope we can bring him in permanantly next season as he's out of contract.

Aymen Souda 6/10 - An absolute enigma. Can be the best player on the park one week then be completely anonymous but for a tantrum when being subbed the next. His playing opportunities became limited when Holt started to find his strongest side. A cult hero amongst some of the fans but a bit of a luxury player who needed to work on the defensive side of his game...in fairness there was a marked improvement so hopefully he can kick on.

Jack Stobbs 2/10 - Barely played for us but did score our goal of the season away to Ross County. Other than that he didn't do a lot other than show a bit of pace...sent back to his parent club and was never missed....we'll always have THAT goal though which is where he picked up the 2/10

Aaron Taylor-Sinclair 7/10 - We haven't really had a proper left back for a long time and Savane was meant to be that player...when he was punted we brought in ATS who has been solid if unremarkable. Was given a deal for a couple of months and it was extended to the end of the season. Would like to see him kept on next season as he didn't really let us down

Cece Pepe 1/10 - Would tackle a bus if it had a football under it....unfortunately doesn't seem to have any positional sense or timing. Young guy so would hope that can be worked on as he came with a decent reputation. Has been injured for majority of the season so it would be harsh to judge him solely on the handful of appearances he made at the start of the season

Efe Ambrose 8/10 - The complete opposite of Pepe...a rolls royce defender but I'm not sure my blood pressure can take his dribbling in his own box. Slotted straight into the team after signing and didn't look out of place considering he hadn't played for over a year.

Lyndon Dykes 10/10 - Technically signed last season but went straight back to QoS on loan so I'm including him. WHAT A PLAYER. Drags the team forward, wins almost everything in the air, has pace to frighten defences and has added finishing to his repertoir....just don't let him take a penalty. We've probably seen the last of him already with numerous clubs supposedly interested but he'll net us a decent wedge when he does go. Hope he makes the right move as he can do much better than Rangers.

 

All in all our recruitment has been outstanding to replace Halkett, Gallagher, Kelly, Byrne and Hardie. We've cut our losses when we needed to and done some shrewd business to bring in some quality players on free transfers. Potentially replacing Dykes and Lawless next season will be another big ask but the management team have already made a move to bring in Alan Forrest on a PCA which looks like it could be another fantastic bit of business. The singings we have made and the way the team has performed on our budget is remarkable.

Edited by Cptn Hooch
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12 hours ago, DrewDon said:

Just the summer ones, as I don't think I've seen enough from the January signings to offer a fair assessment. 

Ash Taylor - 7/10: Can I just shock you? I like Ash Taylor. When it was announced that we were considering signing him again after a mediocre couple of seasons in the English lower leagues, I was strongly opposed - but he's been... pretty good. His distribution is still poor, but more or less everything else has been fine: excellent in the air, strong in the tackle, and not overly slow for a player of his size. I can't really think of an obvious error on his part that has been responsible for an opposition goal. McKenna has also looked more assured beside him since he established himself as a first choice. You are always going to fear that a howler is just around the corner, the sort that littered his first spell with us, but so far, so good. 

Greg Leigh - 5/10: Leigh is quite a divisive player. Some of our fans seem to love him, but some are more sceptical - I'm in the latter group. The positives: he is a powerful runner, gets up and down the pitch well, and he is strong in the air. But I'm quite old-fashioned, so I like my full-backs to defend competently - and I've not seen enough of that from Leigh. Would I trust him at left-back against better teams, when he is going to be pinned back and forced to defend for long periods? On the current evidence, no. I wouldn't be surprised if we signed him permanently, and I wouldn't be completely opposed, but there is some work to be done. 

Zak Vyner - 3/10: A bit of a nothing player, in all honesty. I suppose you could say he was versatile but, in Vyner's case, that is basically code for being mediocre in different positions. Notably struggled against better opposition. He wasn't missed after his loan was ended. Scored a really nice goal against Motherwell at Fir Park, though. 

Funso Ojo - 6/10: I like Ojo, I think. I'm still not quite sure. He missed a large chunk of the first half of the season through injury, but he had been fairly up and down before then. He was better post-break; he started to impose himself more, some nice passing, begun to give us a foothold in games. Still more to come, I hope, and it will be interesting to see if he and McGeouch can fit in the same team long-term, but probably more good than bad so far.  

Craig Bryson - 2/10: The signing we were all most excited about, but we have hardly seen him. When he has played, and been something approaching full fitness, which really isn't often, he has shown small signs of the player we thought we were getting from Derby, but that's about as positive I can be. Currently, and perhaps through little fault of his own, a massive disappointment and a waste of a big wage. 

Jon Gallagher - 2/10: If you had told me that Gallagher would make about thirty appearances for us when he signed, I would have presumed he had been a big success. But I thought he was absolutely rubbish - technically so far off the standard required. He was very quick, but had a poor touch, no composure, no guile, no end product. I still can't understand why McInnes kept giving him a decent amount of minutes in the first half of the season, unless it was for contractual reasons. I'd be surprised to see him resurfacing at any serious level of the game in the future. 

James Wilson - 2/10: Flashes of technical ability, but unfortunately has to go down as a flop - moved on six months into a two-year deal. Despite everything, I did continue to hold out hope for Wilson, especially compared to less gifted players who got significantly more minutes, but, for whatever reason(s), it just didn't work out.

Ryan Hedges - 6/10: Strange one. I'd imagine his stats are probably quite impressive, but he has fallen out of favour post-January. I was impressed with him in most of the Europa League qualifiers and early domestic games. From what I've seen, he is quite a direct winger, a decent crosser, chips in with a few goals. But since his opportunities have been reduced, he hasn't made the most of the limited chances he has been given. It will be interesting to see what happens with him when the football starts back up again, whether he continues to drift out of the first team picture or if he can re-establish himself as a regular. 

Curtis Main - 5/10: Probably of one our least popular signings under McInnes. He's been better than I expected, I suppose. He was keeping Cosgrove out of the team in the period leading up to the stoppage - he doesn't offer the same goal threat, but he contributes with a few, works very hard and he 'leads the line' pretty well. Would I want him to be our first-choice striker in the medium to long term? No. Have I seen enough to suggest that he might be a useful squad option going forward? Just about, yes. 

I'd agree with all of that, although I'm not sure Hedges is worth a 6.

I feel vindicated on Taylor a bit, I wasn't delighted we signed him but didn't see the harm in it, never thought he was as bad first time round as people made him out to be. Has always been a good defender when he sticks to defending.

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14 hours ago, Andy_K_97 said:

This came from the thread about a January report card dealing with signings etc. I'd stick with what I said here except maybe take El Makrini down to a 6/10. Kirk Broadfoot basically started where he left off and did fine with what he did so I'd give him a 6.5/10, and Nicke Kabamba immediately added something to the team so I'd give him an 8/10. I can't remember if we signed anyone else, football is just about the last thing on my mind right now and I'm just glad that season's by with because it was so thoroughly meh.

Harry Bunn is the guy you can't remember and that's totally understandable. 

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Declan Gallagher 10/10 - Undoubtedly our best signing of the season and will definitely win our POTY (assuming we do it). Wins everything in the air, is more than decent on the ball for a centre half and has chipped in with a few goals from set pieces. Well deserved international recognition and one of the better centre halves in the league. 

Jake Carroll 7/10 - Came in with some less than complimentary reports from fans of former clubs but has been pretty good. Our first passable (natural) left-back since Stevie Hammell retired. Could maybe have given him an 8 but marked down for a couple of daft red cards this season. Unfortunately got a bad injury against St Mirren in the cup that will keep him out at the start of next season (on the basis we start at the usual late July).

Bevis Mugabi 5/10 - A very large man. A real mixed bag of performances. Came into the team as part of a back 3 at Ibrox and performed well but was also part of the first half shit show against St Mirren when we went in 4-1 down and he was hooked at HT. Probably has enough about him to be of some use next season and a sustained run in the team would probably do him good. 

Liam Polworth 9/10 - A fantastic signing. Assist machine who had the unenviable task of replacing Davie Turnbull in the team and whilst he didn't hit those heights he had a really productive season. Excellent on the ball and a much harder worker than some ICT and Motherwell Da's would have you believe. If we can find a way to fit him and DT into the same XI next year we could be fun to watch. 

Casper Sloth 0/10 - Seemingly hated every minute of being here as he spent most of his time at the Edinburgh Airport departure lounge waiting to head back to Denmark. Played 45 mins and enjoyed hanging out with his barber. A big let-down. 

Christian Ilic - 2/10 - No idea what position he plays. Announced his signing by saying Fir Park was his 'new living room' but then spend most of his time injured in other areas of the house. Wouldn't have been averse to keeping him for next season to get a better idea of what he was all about but the Rona is likely to see him disappear. 

Mark O'Hara 7/10 - The invisible man until the turn of the year and very quickly became indispensable thereafter. Big strapping lad who wins loads in the air and chipped in with a couple of goals. Would be delighted to see him sign up for next season as looks like it might be the case.    

Sherwin Seedorf 5/10 -  Looking handy in the Betfred games and scored a couple of big goals early in the season against the Edinburgh sides. Lost all interest once temperatures dipped to single figures and made little to no impact any time he came off the bench. Still holding out some hope for him to come good if he can work on the tactical side of the game and learn to utilise his ridiculous pace.  

Mikael Ndjoli 0/10 - Genuinely forgot we had signed him until I read @capt_oats post above. Appeared on loan in January, played (maybe) twice, got injured and we'll probably never see him again.

Jermaine Hylton 7/10 - Performances dipped slightly after he ripped apart the Betfred Group but always put in a shift. Began to pick up again as the season went on and his positional/tactical awareness improved and he got up to the pace of the Premiership. Got all the tools to be a big player for us next season and I'm pretty confident he'll come good.

Rolando Aarons - 7/10 - I liked what I saw of Aarons and felt he was just getting up to full speed when everything stopped. Quick and skillful but could maybe be accused of being 'all fart and no shite' as I don't remember too many goals or assists. If he's available I'd definitely take him back on loan next season and would be keen to see what he could do after a Robinson pre-season. Did a job after the late departure of James Scott in January. 

Devante Cole 7/10 - A good player, and different from our other forward options in the first half of the season. Chipped in with a few goals but it wasn't until he left in January that I realised how important a part of our front 3 he was. I'd take him back if he fancies it as his Doncaster contract expires in the summer. 

Chris Long 8/10 - A good player who got into double figures. Quite quick, a decent finisher and seemingly quite an angry guy. Despite his performances he's someone I just never particularly took to. Would be happy to see him back next season but equally won't be devastated if he goes.

Tony Watt 6/10 - Just getting up to speed as things stopped but looked like he could be a very useful addition if he signs up for next season which it seems he is keen to do.

Christy Manzinga 3/10 - Cedric Kipre's mate. Scored an overhead kick against Gretna and got a 1 year deal. Got sent off for diving against St Johnstone and scored once. Confirmed he's away once his contract is up. 

 

Generally a decent season for us signing-wise. i'd give it an overall 7.5/10.

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