2021/2022 Rebuild

[Onthefringes]

50 minutes ago, wellsince75 said:

I'm a big fan of O'Hara - personal view is he's our best midfielder (excluding Campbell) and much better than others are coming forward/passing etc. 

 A modifield with Donnelly, Campbell, Ohara, Polworth) always meant that 2 stayed back and 2 moved forward.  

Personal view this is the balance that got us to 3rd in the league v's the off balance we've had this season. 

Good for you. If he’s the best midfielder after Campbell it gives rise to why we’ve been as poor as we were.

Robinson doing a chunk of the budget on his recruitment set the tone.

[Kmcalpin]

16 minutes ago, Onthefringes said:

Spectacular failing for me is not protecting the back 4. 

Agreed. That,for me, is the weakest part of his game.  

[C&A not the shop]

19 minutes ago, Onthefringes said:

It can be argued he offers little of what you say. Certainly doesn’t drive the game forward well - that’s a myth.

Spectacular failing for me is not protecting the back 4. The physicality and covering the park well you speak of has contributed plenty of value for the opposition especially in the early part of the season.

He’s that good, Robbie Crawford is an upgrade. Let that sink in.

Youre one of the posters on here i think is usually pretty reliable so maybe I'm wrong about him and I just like the sort of player I think he is rather than he's actually doing.

Next few times he's playing and I can actually watch the game in person ill try and keep more of an eye on him with that in mind.

[Al B]

2 hours ago, C&A not the shop said:

Do we think Harry Cochrane is worth a punt?

My favourite Harry Cochrane moment was when Curtis Main threw him away.

[wellsince75]

3 hours ago, Onthefringes said:

Good for you. If he’s the best midfielder after Campbell it gives rise to why we’ve been as poor as we were.

We've been poor for many reasons.  Playing a 3 man midfield that includes an attacking/non defence minded player has been the issue.  This has impacted all midfield players (including Campbell).

A 4 man midfield where 2 stay back and 2 push forward worked well for us last year - no idea why we dropped it this season . 

[Onthefringes]

4 hours ago, wellsince75 said:

We've been poor for many reasons.  Playing a 3 man midfield that includes an attacking/non defence minded player has been the issue.  This has impacted all midfield players (including Campbell).

A 4 man midfield where 2 stay back and 2 push forward worked well for us last year - no idea why we dropped it this season . 

Sanctimonious pish. Attack minded or not, still should be disciplined to protect your back line unless football has changed.

[underboyleheating]

I wonder how much Kyle Lafferty is earning at Killie? He’s proven in his short time in Ayrshire that he can still bang the goals in for a team that’s currently having a worse season than us.  He’s the type of striker we are missing and in his short spell has banged in more goals in two months than most of our strikers have all season.  A missed opportunity? 

[Spiderpig]

5 hours ago, underboyleheating said:

I wonder how much Kyle Lafferty is earning at Killie? He’s proven in his short time in Ayrshire that he can still bang the goals in for a team that’s currently having a worse season than us.  He’s the type of striker we are missing and in his short spell has banged in more goals in two months than most of our strikers have all season.  A missed opportunity? 

As a short time signing , for me yes, not so sure long term, I said in January he was what we were looking for, big target man who knows where the goals are, given his reputation as difficult to manage, maybe Tommy Wright knows how to handle him.

[David]

I'm personally not sold on Carson ever coming back the same keeper he was before, and so if Kelly was open to a return I'd jump all over that. 

On 4/15/2021 at 8:19 AM, Yorkyred said:

I have a feeling if he stayed here Kelly would end up the number one but I don’t see it happening anyway. As you say I think the only way he’d stay up north would be if he signed for one of the bigger clubs, other than that he’s back down south. I think that also applies to Cole who’s record over the last few months should see him set.

Cole has had something like ten clubs in seven years. Surely he's got to be thinking about settling somewhere for a few years, and if he's doing well here and seems to be a good fit then why not sign for another year at least?

Have to believe that if he moves on he'll likely just continue bouncing around like Fleetwood and Doncaster Rovers.

[Yorkyred]

28 minutes ago, David said:

I'm personally not sold on Carson ever coming back the same keeper he was before, and so if Kelly was open to a return I'd jump all over that. 

Cole has had something like ten clubs in seven years. Surely he's got to be thinking about settling somewhere for a few years, and if he's doing well here and seems to be a good fit then why not sign for another year at least?

Have to believe that if he moves on he'll likely just continue bouncing around like Fleetwood and Doncaster Rovers.

Thinking about it that way you may be right, I would certainly see that as a positive for the club.

[sinjy]

Looking at our team just now I get a real fear about next season. Who are the best players in our squad?  I would suggest Kelly, Gallagher,  Campbell,  and Cole. All four will be away come the summer. Huge boots to fill. 

[Yorkyred]

1 minute ago, sinjy said:

Looking at our team just now I get a real fear about next season. Who are the best players in our squad?  I would suggest Kelly, Gallagher,  Campbell,  and Cole. All four will be away come the summer. Huge boots to fill. 

I think it all depends on who Alexander brings in, half a dozen decent players will make a real difference. Looking at the season as a whole Campbell has been pretty poor by his standards and I miss Aldred and Kipre way more than I will ever miss Gallagher. Maybe Cole will sign on again and if Carson is fit he’s not the worst number one. Donnally will hopefully be back, he’s been missed for sure and we have two decent full backs already signed on.  All is not lost.

[ropy]

2 hours ago, David said:

I'm personally not sold on Carson ever coming back the same keeper he was before, and so if Kelly was open to a return I'd jump all over that. 

Cole has had something like ten clubs in seven years. Surely he's got to be thinking about settling somewhere for a few years, and if he's doing well here and seems to be a good fit then why not sign for another year at least?

Have to believe that if he moves on he'll likely just continue bouncing around like Fleetwood and Doncaster Rovers.

Cole showed little last night to suggest there would be teams after him.  He was well shackled by the Morton defence, and when he was given crumbs he did little creatively with them.

[David]

12 hours ago, ropy said:

Cole showed little last night to suggest there would be teams after him.  He was well shackled by the Morton defence, and when he was given crumbs he did little creatively with them.

Don't get me wrong, if there's teams after him he'll have a decision to make, and I doubt any team will base their entire approach on how he did against Morton in the cup.

[Stuwell2]

20 hours ago, sinjy said:

Looking at our team just now I get a real fear about next season. Who are the best players in our squad?  I would suggest Kelly, Gallagher,  Campbell,  and Cole. All four will be away come the summer. Huge boots to fill. 

Calm down, Watt for one has been as good or better and will be here next season but maybe that fact doesn’t fit with your post. 

[santheman]

21 hours ago, sinjy said:

Looking at our team just now I get a real fear about next season. Who are the best players in our squad?  I would suggest Kelly, Gallagher,  Campbell,  and Cole. All four will be away come the summer. Huge boots to fill. 

Alternatively we might go out and sign 4 who will make us forget all about them.

We've rebuilt teams in the past and will no doubt do it in the future.

[sinjy]

3 hours ago, Stuwell2 said:

Calm down, Watt for one has been as good or better and will be here next season but maybe that fact doesn’t fit with your post. 

Of course Watt s a quality player. O'Donnell is an international. Where are the others in our retained group. Carson if he gets fit. Donnelly if he recovers full fitness. The rest are journeymen SPL players. Recruitment will be vital if we are to challenge for top six next year.

[Neilwell86]

On 4/17/2021 at 6:40 PM, David said:

I'm personally not sold on Carson ever coming back the same keeper he was before, and so if Kelly was open to a return I'd jump all over that. 

Cole has had something like ten clubs in seven years. Surely he's got to be thinking about settling somewhere for a few years, and if he's doing well here and seems to be a good fit then why not sign for another year at least?

Have to believe that if he moves on he'll likely just continue bouncing around like Fleetwood and Doncaster Rovers.

Never actually considered the point about being settled so why not hang around for a bit. I was thinking there that I can see the attraction at having a pop at these clubs, one good season in league 1 and you could end up on a very tidy contract in the championship. Could you say the same about the SPFL? maybe need a few years of continued success up here to get a a similar move.

I can see why players do it, but I think as Tony Watt has eluded too in the past, there is a lot to be said for being settled and enjoying your football.

[middleeastdave]

Look maybe a bit early to start criticising GA but I am not too sure he is the man to rebuild our squad on the evidence of the January window, I can’t quite remember who he personally brought in as I am sure Kelly and Lawless were a done deal before he arrived but the remains signings apart from Robert’s (even that signing I don’t think would be GA’s doing) the rest I am sorry we’re just making up numbers!

As far as Campbell, I think he is a great pro and has been brilliant for us, not sure if he is English championship standard, I would think it would be lower leagues that would suit his style, mind you Hibs have been kind of chasing him according to my Hibs friends!

[Neilwell86]

1 hour ago, middleeastdave said:

Look maybe a bit early to start criticising GA but I am not too sure he is the man to rebuild our squad on the evidence of the January window, I can’t quite remember who he personally brought in as I am sure Kelly and Lawless were a done deal before he arrived but the remains signings apart from Robert’s (even that signing I don’t think would be GA’s doing) the rest I am sorry we’re just making up numbers!

As far as Campbell, I think he is a great pro and has been brilliant for us, not sure if he is English championship standard, I would think it would be lower leagues that would suit his style, mind you Hibs have been kind of chasing him according to my Hibs friends!

Why aren't you sure the Jordan Roberts signing was down to him, but the rest are? You can't take a positive signing away from him, based on (as far as i'm aware) no evidence at all, just because it suits your argument.

on the other signings, none of them have really kicked on, however Foley, Smith and Nolan are all injury related, which is completely out with anyone's control. That's not to say they would or wouldn't have been successes though, I actually thought the Foley and Nolan signings would have been good business albeit not very flashy, at the time the only two players over 30 in the squad were Carson and Chapman and the squad, never mind the team was crying out for some experience. 

We also need to remember how difficult the window is to sign real quality, never mind in the middle of a pandemic, convincing guys to sign for 6 months and move to another country where they can't leave the house can't have been easy.

His signings this summer will be when he is judged.

[David]

1 hour ago, middleeastdave said:

Look maybe a bit early to start criticising GA but I am not too sure he is the man to rebuild our squad on the evidence of the January window, I can’t quite remember who he personally brought in as I am sure Kelly and Lawless were a done deal before he arrived but the remains signings apart from Robert’s (even that signing I don’t think would be GA’s doing) the rest I am sorry we’re just making up numbers!

I don't think there's any chance of Alexander not being given a chance to rebuild. We would never just sack a manager after half a season unless he got us relegated or decided to walk of his own accord.

[Yorkyred]

1 hour ago, David said:

I don't think there's any chance of Alexander not being given a chance to rebuild. We would never just sack a manager after half a season unless he got us relegated or decided to walk of his own accord.

His win percentage is good and he’s dragged us to safety, can’t see there is even a debate to be had. As you say he needs the chance to build his own team, that’s what he will be judged on. He’s certainly done far better than the other main candidate has at Killy.

[Onthefringes]

1 hour ago, David said:

I don't think there's any chance of Alexander not being given a chance to rebuild. We would never just sack a manager after half a season unless he got us relegated or decided to walk of his own accord.

Is it too much of a stretch to think he may not be here for the long haul? 

[steelman1991]

Is it too much of a stretch to think he may not be here for the long haul? 

Certainly looks like someone who has had second thoughts


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[Onthefringes]

Always a bigger picture.

Stock will be high amongst clubs closer to home after securing safety here for a start.