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The Great Rebuild 2017'18


fizoxy
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So according to the bold 'arry Redknapp we enquirered about Greg Stewart along with Aberdeen and Dundee. We're not getting him but hopefully that answers the "is Robinson looking at another creative player" question and "are we looking for an attacking midfielder."

 

Greg Stewart tho. 'triffic lad.

Pretty much as expected then.

 

Nice idea but one that was never really going to get off the ground, we simply couldn't afford him. To be fair I'd class Stewart as a forward, albeit more of a wide one, rather than an attacking midfielder but we certainly could do with something to try and replace the quality/creativity of McDonald in the final third.

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If I remember the chat correctly, when Heneghan came to us he had offers in the Championship, I seem to remember Blackburn's name being mentioned, so it is possible teams have been tracking him and are coming back in for him now. My question to that though, is why? Obviously the scouts of Burnley and Norwich know a lot more than me, but I think he had a really poor season. He doesn't have a stand out attribute and over the course of the season, I've seen him been outfought by target men and done by nippy strikers. It's not like he has a stand out attribute either, like Reynolds was quick or Hutchy was strong.

 

Granted, he was the only first choice defender who managed to stay fit and the assortment of personnel can't have helped but I think if £300k was the fee quoted, we should take the money and run. Most of his poor games did come in a back three and whilst he didn't look natural there, a top level centre back should be adaptable to different formations. We ended up getting £100k or thereabouts for Reynolds, who in my opinion was a far better player for us than Heneghan, when he had six months left and come January we could be in the same situation.

 

For me, £300k for a guy with a year on his contract, who is far from indispensible, represents a great deal.

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Depends on which games scouts came to watch. Towards the end of the season he had some games where he played well and was winning every high ball that came into the box. Of course that was against the likes of accies and they maybe made it easy for him.

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I thought Henegan was doing well until injuries kicked in, particularly Tait being out. He then ended up getting dragged all over the place trying to fill in across the back line. Got caught out a few times whentrying to cover at right back. Settled down when Cadden moved back which coincided with a reduction in goals conceded and our eventual safety.

Might not be a popular view on here but I would offer him an extended contract as I feel he will continue to improve and his value will rise. If the Clubs mentioned are seriously interested then they must have identified something they like. My view, too early to cash in.

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I thought Henegan was doing well until injuries kicked in, particularly Tait being out. He then ended up getting dragged all over the place trying to fill in across the back line. Got caught out a few times whentrying to cover at right back. Settled down when Cadden moved back which coincided with a reduction in goals conceded and our eventual safety.

Might not be a popular view on here but I would offer him an extended contract as I feel he will continue to improve and his value will rise. If the Clubs mentioned are seriously interested then they must have identified something they like. My view, too early to cash in.

There is definitely merit in what you write, but if the player has a chance to go to the likes of Burnley NOW with the financial benefits he will no doubt get, I think it unlikely he would want to sign an extension to stay with us.

 

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A good point and I accept it. As you say we cannot compete with the likes of Burnley in terms of wages and facilities. Just think we could maximise our return if we can persuade him to sign up for a bit longer in the absence of any concrete bid at this time.I think he is a better player than some folk are giving him credit for.

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If he did i assume it would be as a squad player, can't see him getting near their first team unless they lose 3/4 cb's.There is something to work with, he's a decent defender but his use of the ball is terrible more often than not.That's an area he could still improve on though and he could become a decent championship defender at least although at the moment no, i don't see him playing in the prem.

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While Stevie Hammell has his flaws and has missed games in the last few seasons, I think the number of times we've tried to replace him or sign cover for him and they haven't been able to match up to him tells me that he's not as bad as some on here make out. Either that or our scouts have a real problem identifying left backs.

 

I mention this simply to point out that finding a suitable replacement for him might not be as easy as people think. Could argue it's the toughest position we have to fill this summer. Replacing a guy who's held that position for 13 of the last 15 years won't be easy. Whoever we get will be under real scrutiny...

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Might not be a popular view on here but I would offer him an extended contract as I feel he will continue to improve and his value will rise. If the Clubs mentioned are seriously interested then they must have identified something they like. My view, too early to cash in.

I agree 100% Denny.

 

The lad is 23 years of age; still young and inexperienced in football terms. Looking back over the past season he was being mentored by an experienced pro in McManus, who was eventually sidelined for months. Carl McHugh, hardly a veteran at 24, then stepped in to the breach. So his mentoring was hardly a success. Add to that, that he had to cover at times for a defensively weak Tait (when he's been fit) and a different picture begins to emerge. If that wasn't enough he, along with his central defensive colleagues, have received little or no defensive cover from a weak central midfield. And, if even that wasn't enough he's had to adapt his game to protect a much more experienced but unreliable keeper who wouldn't venture off his line. Yes he's made mistakes but we need to cut him some slack. Would Burnley be interested in a central defender who had limited ability? I doubt it.

 

I'm also puzzled at comments about Stevie Hammell's replacement. No manager has seriously tried to replace him. ZFA a young erratic potential long term replacement didn't work out. Tony Straker, a bombscare, was brought in to solve a crisis, which he didn't. Joe Chalmers was brought in as a cheap medium term replacement, who just didn't work out. In short, Stevie has never been challenged by a serious competitor - no manager has really tried to challenge his position.

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Am I the only one who is a bit concerned about our central defence? Ben Heneghan may move on and we don't know yet. Stephen McManus is 35 in September and has long term injury problems. Thats our central defence apart from Carl McHugh who was signed as a midfielder. No rumours yet about bringing in new central defenders.

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Am I the only one who is a bit concerned about our central defence? Ben Heneghan may move on and we don't know yet. Stephen McManus is 35 in September and has long term injury problems. Thats our central defence apart from Carl McHugh who was signed as a midfielder. No rumours yet about bringing in new central defenders.

And you think we won't sign any.........c'mon, gees peace.

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Am I the only one who is a bit concerned about our central defence? Ben Heneghan may move on and we don't know yet. Stephen McManus is 35 in September and has long term injury problems. Thats our central defence apart from Carl McHugh who was signed as a midfielder. No rumours yet about bringing in new central defenders.

i can see why your a bit concerned,defensively we were awful last season and we have been for a long time,aye we will be bringing in some new defenders that hopefully can make a difference but no matter who we bring in its the one area of the park that we seriously need to improve upon,if we dont then we will only continue to struggle.

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i can see why your a bit concerned,defensively we were awful last season and we have been for a long time,aye we will be bringing in some new defenders that hopefully can make a difference but no matter who we bring in its the one area of the park that we seriously need to improve upon,if we dont then we will only continue to struggle.

I'm sure Robbo will bring at least one in, maybe more. However as you say its an area of the team that we do need to strengthen. We could end up with a new central defensive pairing and that could take time to gel. McManus, who will be 35, may not fully recover from whatever injury he has and may remain very injury prone. Heneghan may leave very late in the window.

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On the subject of Scougall, part of me hopes we don't sign him. Some seem to be building him up to be the solution to all of our attacking problems and I fear he'll not live up to expectations. We all know how tolerant the East Stand can be...

 

On the defence, pretty sure Robinson knows it needs work. But he has addressed it to an extent by acquiring a goalkeeper who he thinks will strengthen it as a unit. And some who are concerned about it (I'm looking at you, Dave) have been saying for seasons it's been exposed by a weak midfield. Given we've signed Bigirmana (who Robinson thinks will help us control the game better) and Rose who brings athleticism and physique, perhaps it won't be quite as exposed as before. I know we need defenders but we should be looking at how the team defends as a unit...

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He's a decent defender who is terrible on the ball. Craigan never got better on the ball until later in his career so Ben has plenty of time to improve. I remember a season or two where every Craigan pass seemed to go out for a throw in.

 

Although an offer of around 300k and we should sell.

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