January transfers

[Pacman1903]

We don’t use Lurch correctly on the pitch either. We expect him to get on the end of every punt up the park, bring the ball down and wait a bit until the other players get into the final third of the pitch. If we are forced to use him then surely we would be trying to push players in the box near him to feed off his height when we fire crosses in from both sides during a match.
I am not convinced at all by our regular three main striking options but I have a degree of sympathy for them due to the style of football we adopt. 1 man up top suits none of these 3.

that hoof ball isn't just at the strikers though

GMS was fed 80ft high passes all day long at Rugby Park a few weeks ago. That's f@cking bonkers

[RED_JOHN]

that hoof ball isn't just at the strikers though

GMS was fed 80ft high passes all day long at Rugby Park a few weeks ago. That's f@cking bonkers

Our coaching of players and our tactics are a bit of a joke at times. If we lose the first goal against any opposition in our league we are generally dropping points. Someone needs a word in Del’s ear to tell him that scoring goals damages the opposite team more than anything.

[irnbru1903]

Our transfer record is pretty poor these days when you look at value for money. 1/There are those we sign that play and look decent but then have to go back to their parent club midway through the season. 2/There are those that we sign and pay wages to that look decent but seem to be on the treatment table for an unreasonable amount of time. 3/There are those we sign that play and despite trying don't look to be what our club really needs. 4/There are those we sign that play and are just rubbish. 5/Then there are those we sign that never play and still pick up a wage for sweet fa. 6/And to add those that we sign that actually look good and will stay more than a few months.

1/Lowe
2/Devlin, Hoban
3/May
4/Cosgrove, Wilson
5/Forrester, Gleason, Tansey
6/Ferguson


Not exactly a good advert for our recruitment. We so need to get shot of the hangers on in the 4 and 5. At least Cosgrove and Wilson actually make it on to the pitch. The only positives going forward are Ferguson and possibly Devlin who undoubtedly is a player but seems really easily, badly injured. Can't comment too much on Hoban who played one game and got injured …… says it all really.

[Don_Corleone]

I can't see many coming in unless a few leave... but I'm not sure who will leave other than those who go for fees like McKenna and possibly even Ferguson. Cutting our losses on Forrester and Gleeson would be bold given they've only been here 6 months, but they seem like a waste of a wage at the moment. We'll not get rid of Cosgrove or May because nobody will want them. Loaning fringe players out doesn't help much as our squad is quite small as it is.

I'd definitely try and get someone like Scott Allan from Celtic as he's the kind of player we need in midfield. I think Oliver Burke is pie in the sky considering he's had two transfer fees in excess of £10m has he not?! If he goes out on loan it'll be to an English club surely.

As someone else noted, although Wright was poor against St Johnstone, I think we should persevere with him in the no10 role (not on the wing where he can go into hiding) throughout December - give him a chance. Bringing him in for 1 game, then dropping him then bringing him back in and dropping him again is no use.

If we don't pick up some points in December the season is pretty much a write off anyway, so we'd be as well developing the youngsters and saving cash for the summer market rather than desperation signings. Unless the Jan signings are sensational we're not going to be top 3 this season - we'll be fighting for a top 6 spot.

[Don_Corleone]

Our transfer record is pretty poor these days when you look at value for money. 1/There are those we sign that play and look decent but then have to go back to their parent club midway through the season. 2/There are those that we sign and pay wages to that look decent but seem to be on the treatment table for an unreasonable amount of time. 3/There are those we sign that play and despite trying don't look to be what our club really needs. 4/There are those we sign that play and are just rubbish. 5/Then there are those we sign that never play and still pick up a wage for sweet fa. 6/And to add those that we sign that actually look good and will stay more than a few months.

1/Lowe
2/Devlin, Hoban
3/May
4/Cosgrove, Wilson
5/Forrester, Gleason, Tansey
6/Ferguson


Not exactly a good advert for our recruitment. We so need to get shot of the hangers on in the 4 and 5. At least Cosgrove and Wilson actually make it on to the pitch. The only positives going forward are Ferguson and possibly Devlin who undoubtedly is a player but seems really easily, badly injured. Can't comment too much on Hoban who played one game and got injured …… says it all really.

I agree with your assessment fully. I wonder what would be a reasonable expectation given the budget and market we're operating within though as it's always going to be a bit hit and miss. Every club in Scotland is the same. Every year they make lots of signings and most of them turn out to be trash. Does McInnes have a worse record than any of the others? (Genuine question... I don't really know how he compares). I think he has gambled several times on players who had played at a high level and showed promise who then suffered injury, in the hope they'd get back to their previous level - that strategy really hasn't worked and it's time to move on from it.

What has worked for him? I'd say the loan deals for young up-coming players in the English leagues - Ward, Hector, Maddison, Lowe etc. I'd also say picking up good quality young Scottish players who can be developed - Shinnie, Devlin (slightly too early to tell if injury proneness will end up making him a bad signing too), McLean, Ferguson.

[RedStarTorphins]

I can't see many coming in unless a few leave... but I'm not sure who will leave other than those who go for fees like McKenna and possibly even Ferguson. Cutting our losses on Forrester and Gleeson would be bold given they've only been here 6 months, but they seem like a waste of a wage at the moment. We'll not get rid of Cosgrove or May because nobody will want them. Loaning fringe players out doesn't help much as our squad is quite small as it is.

I'd definitely try and get someone like Scott Allan from Celtic as he's the kind of player we need in midfield. I think Oliver Burke is pie in the sky considering he's had two transfer fees in excess of £10m has he not?! If he goes out on loan it'll be to an English club surely.

As someone else noted, although Wright was poor against St Johnstone, I think we should persevere with him in the no10 role (not on the wing where he can go into hiding) throughout December - give him a chance. Bringing him in for 1 game, then dropping him then bringing him back in and dropping him again is no use.

If we don't pick up some points in December the season is pretty much a write off anyway, so we'd be as well developing the youngsters and saving cash for the summer market rather than desperation signings. Unless the Jan signings are sensational we're not going to be top 3 this season - we'll be fighting for a top 6 spot.

Agree with a lot of that.
Not sure I get the apparent love-in a few have with Scott Allan though?
He seems to have had far too many clubs for one so relatively young? Bad attitude?
He's the type of player we need though, a "no 10" - we haven't replaced either Christie or McLean
As good as young Lewis Ferguson has been, he's not a "10" in my opinion - in old fashioned shirt number speak, he's maybe a "box-to-box 8"

Agree that Oliver Burke is probably pie in the sky
However, there is a need for a right winger IMO as Niall McGinn has looked a shadow of the player we had 18 months ago.

And the perennial problem of goal scoring needs addressed.
As difficult as it may be to offload players that are under contract or on loan may be, I think we need to freshen up the striking options.

So, in my ideal world, we'd have a right winger, a "10" and a first pick centre forward brought in (& keep hold of Max Lowe, putting Andy Considine on the bench)
The trouble is, it tends to be short-term loans in January, so again in the summer, it will be mass recruitment.

[Hewitt_Scores]

I reckon McGinn could play ‘10’ then we only need to find a striker and right winger.

[DJR1979]

It was just on the basis that when he can't make their first team he could switch over to the shinty team instead

They're as sh1te as the football team these days!

[Don_Corleone]

Agree with a lot of that.
Not sure I get the apparent love-in a few have with Scott Allan though?
He seems to have had far too many clubs for one so relatively young? Bad attitude?
He's the type of player we need though, a "no 10" - we haven't replaced either Christie or McLean
As good as young Lewis Ferguson has been, he's not a "10" in my opinion - in old fashioned shirt number speak, he's maybe a "box-to-box 8"

Agree that Oliver Burke is probably pie in the sky
However, there is a need for a right winger IMO as Niall McGinn has looked a shadow of the player we had 18 months ago.

And the perennial problem of goal scoring needs addressed.
As difficult as it may be to offload players that are under contract or on loan may be, I think we need to freshen up the striking options.

So, in my ideal world, we'd have a right winger, a "10" and a first pick centre forward brought in (& keep hold of Max Lowe, putting Andy Considine on the bench)
The trouble is, it tends to be short-term loans in January, so again in the summer, it will be mass recruitment.

As usual, I agree with pretty much everything you've said! Like you say, Scott Allan maybe isn't the exact player we need, but he is certainly the type of player we need and he's probably mentioned by a lot of folk simply because he seems to tick a few of the boxes.

I think we will hold on to Lowe for the rest of the season, but we'll send Wilson back. Hopefully we'll replace him with a much more successful loan striker.

Agreed that what we're needing is a Striker, no10, and winger. I'd like to think McInnes probably realised that a month or so ago (which is probably still quite a bit after most people on this forum realised it!) and has already been working behind the scenes on a few things for January.

[Red Zone]

They're as sh1te as the football team these days!

Cosgrove should fit in well then