19QOS19 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 9 minutes ago, Fae_the_'briggs said: I'm hoping it's a striker, I don't think I could stand much more of watching McKechnie in that role. I don't mean to be hard on the lad but I'm also hoping it's just shortage of available alternatives that he's getting game time at all and that when injured players become available or others are brought in that will see him dropped to the bench. Said similar yesterday. Fully expect him to be warming the bench when we're full strength. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighlandQueen Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said: New signing next week then. Hoping for a striker but won't be disappointed with a CB given we're almost certainly going to lose one of them at some point during the season. Brydon and Douglas rightly getting a lot of praise early on but I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised with Hewitt as well. A defender that actually just gets on with defending is a fantastic addition. If it’s not a striker then I would be puzzled given that we have failed to score in 5 out of 9 games, including friendlies, this season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighlandQueen Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 30 minutes ago, Fae_the_'briggs said: I'm hoping it's a striker, I don't think I could stand much more of watching McKechnie in that role. I don't mean to be hard on the lad but I'm also hoping it's just shortage of available alternatives that he's getting game time at all and that when injured players become available or others are brought in that will see him dropped to the bench. Agree with that. Struggles at this level and clearly not a central striking option 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qos1990 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said: New signing next week then. Hoping for a striker but won't be disappointed with a CB given we're almost certainly going to lose one of them at some point during the season. Brydon and Douglas rightly getting a lot of praise early on but I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised with Hewitt as well. A defender that actually just gets on with defending is a fantastic addition. Could see the left hand side is unfavoured but I think he will be an unsung hero throughout the season 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Blue Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 2 hours ago, 19QOS19 said: ... but I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised with Hewitt as well. A defender that actually just gets on with defending is a fantastic addition. Agreed - have only seen Hewitt at EK but he looked competent and solid, did his job well, nothing fancy - what's not to like? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Blue Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Think we maybe need to cut McKechnie a wee bit of slack. He's clearly been doing a striker role for the benefit of the team (due to injuries to others) that he's not ideally suited for. He can be trouble for opposing defenders but when I watch him the problem is his end product - the cross or the killer pass and he often goes for goal when the shot's not really on (eg yesterday) instead of picking out others in better positions. He's still young and hopefully can be coached to improve his end product. I thought that Bartley might have done that last season but of course as we found out he just coached fear and encouraged negativity. I'm hoping that Murphy will do better with him. Time will tell. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QoS99 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Another centre half will also allow Dickenson to move further up the park. Another striker is obviously needed and if being greedy I’d want another winger in the squad. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipmat Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 1 hour ago, Fae_the_'briggs said: I'm hoping it's a striker, I don't think I could stand much more of watching McKechnie in that role. I don't mean to be hard on the lad but I'm also hoping it's just shortage of available alternatives that he's getting game time at all and that when injured players become available or others are brought in that will see him dropped to the bench. 1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said: Said similar yesterday. Fully expect him to be warming the bench when we're full strength. Worryingly for me, Murphy says McKechnie was "outstanding" yesterday. Since I'm not able to travel to the majority of away games (Annan aside) so wasn't there yesterday, can those who were there confirm this? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipmat Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Otis Blue said: Think we maybe need to cut McKechnie a wee bit of slack. He's clearly been doing a striker role for the benefit of the team (due to injuries to others) that he's not ideally suited for. He can be trouble for opposing defenders but when I watch him the problem is his end product - the cross or the killer pass and he often goes for goal when the shot's not really on (eg yesterday) instead of picking out others in better positions. He's still young and hopefully can be coached to improve his end product. I thought that Bartley might have done that last season but of course as we found out he just coached fear and encouraged negativity. I'm hoping that Murphy will do better with him. Time will tell. Agree with most of this. His shooting can be wild, or often is directly towards (and blocked by) the first defender, and he often chooses to shoot from outside the box or try a run when a pass to a well-placed opponent is a better option. His energy and commitment can't be faulted, but for me he regressed last season under Bartley despite getting more gametime than most - often keeping the more talented Gibson out of the team. Edited August 4 by Slipmat 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19QOS19 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 5 minutes ago, Slipmat said: Worryingly for me, Murphy says McKechnie was "outstanding" yesterday. Since I'm not able to travel to the majority of away games (Annan aside) so wasn't there yesterday, can those who were there confirm this? He was his usual self. Ran around a lot without being any good. I'm happy for Murphy to praise players in public rather than slate them like the last idiot. I'm sure his actions will speak louder than words once we have a full squad. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Blue Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 2 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said: He was his usual self. Ran around a lot without being any good. I'm happy for Murphy to praise players in public rather than slate them like the last idiot. I'm sure his actions will speak louder than words once we have a full squad. With a full and fit squad I can see McKechnie being used mainly for impact from the bench. The thing is though, regarding Murphy's praise for him yesterday, we don't know what Murphy's pre-match instructions to McKechnie were. Murphy will know that he's not suited to the striker role and was only played there out of necessity, so it could be that he was told just to work the defenders as hard as he could and make a nuisance of himself. If that was indeed the case then maybe Murphy was pleased that the lad did what he had been told to do - hence his comment in Sandra's interview. In other words if we evaluate him as an out and out striker then yes his performance was lacking - but that wasn't what Murphy maybe expected of him/instructed him to do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Blue Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 1 hour ago, HighlandQueen said: If it’s not a striker then I would be puzzled given that we have failed to score in 5 out of 9 games, including friendlies, this season. Surely to god it has to be a striker if we have any aspirations of working the top end of the table this season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fae_the_'briggs Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 10 minutes ago, Slipmat said: Worryingly for me, Murphy says McKechnie was "outstanding" yesterday. Since I'm not able to travel to the majority of away games (Annan aside) so wasn't there yesterday, can those who were there confirm this? "Outstanding" is a fair stretch on his contribution yesterday, he put in a shift in a role he's probably not suited to, but simply too lightweight and small and was fairly easily dealt with by the Alloa defence, and he gave away a couple of cheap fouls, through frustration probably, Ref had a word with him too about it. Having said that, even last season in what would be considered a more favoured position for him he was just as frustrating. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fae_the_'briggs Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 5 minutes ago, Otis Blue said: .... so it could be that he was told just to work the defenders as hard as he could and make a nuisance of himself. Nope didn't see much of that either yesterday, defenders mostly had the better of him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19QOS19 Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 3 minutes ago, Otis Blue said: With a full and fit squad I can see McKechnie being used mainly for impact from the bench. The thing is though, regarding Murphy's praise for him yesterday, we don't know what Murphy's pre-match instructions to McKechnie were. Murphy will know that he's not suited to the striker role and was only played there out of necessity, so it could be that he was told just to work the defenders as hard as he could and make a nuisance of himself. If that was indeed the case then maybe Murphy was pleased that the lad did what he had been told to do - hence his comment in Sandra's interview. In other words if we evaluate him as an out and out striker then yes his performance was lacking - but that wasn't what Murphy maybe expected of him/instructed him to do. Tbf, I highly doubt my assessment of him would have been any different had he played wide. He was poor against Dumbarton in the first half yet looked miles better when he was put up front so I'm not buying the 'out of position' talk tbh. Hopefully Murphy can get something from him but I'm not expecting much. Happy for him to be am impact player like you suggest but I'll be concerned/surprised if he's a regular. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Blue Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said: Tbf, I highly doubt my assessment of him would have been any different had he played wide. He was poor against Dumbarton in the first half yet looked miles better when he was put up front so I'm not buying the 'out of position' talk tbh. Hopefully Murphy can get something from him but I'm not expecting much. Happy for him to be am impact player like you suggest but I'll be concerned/surprised if he's a regular. Yeah, there's no doubt that he'll need to improve to grab a regular starting place. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qos1990 Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 Great initiative from goalie coach Jon Connolly to get businesses/individuals to buy junior blue season tickets. Seems to be getting well backed. 830ish sold at moment would be great to hit 1000 however we do it. The buzz and good feeling about the club since McLinden/Murphy have come into the club has been excellent. Thoroughly looking forward to Saturday. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERSOUTH Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 Murphy said on Saturday he had a new player agreed, signed and coming in this week what's the hold up? Hopefully a striker. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Nesovic's Barmy Army Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 32 minutes ago, SUPERSOUTH said: Murphy said on Saturday he had a new player agreed, signed and coming in this week what's the hold up? Hopefully a striker. A tall, experienced and fast striker, hopefully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swarley Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 38 minutes ago, SUPERSOUTH said: Murphy said on Saturday he had a new player agreed, signed and coming in this week what's the hold up? Hopefully a striker. International clearance? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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