starchief

World Cup 4-2-3-1? How about SFL1 formation? Esson Proctor Tokely Munro Golly Duncan Cox Hayes Sanchez Foran Rooney We're ahead of the game.

I noticed it's still all kick and rush stuff. Same with Celtic. Both teams picked to defend and counter-attack. Neither played the system. Every time, it's Miller (or whoever) knocks it long and wide to Riordan (or whoever), so that it's a physical battle as the winger and full-back race to the ball. Then launch it into the box hoping someone's there as there is no time to pick out a colleague. No skill required. How about Miller to de Graff to Miller to Riordan to Weatherspoon to Miller to Riordan back to Weatherpsoon etc etc etc until they have carved a good opening for Stokes to pounce. For years, Scotland has been getting pumped by players that wouldn't get in our teams (Baldur Bett was a key player when an Icelandic team beat Dunfermline, MyPa, player for player, were substandard to Motherwell etc etc etc). It's just embarrassing. It's much the same with England and English teams, hence the demise of the successful British manager, with very few exceptions. Still, gotta laugh :_blah:

I suspect he'd be even too expensive for Aberdeen or Dundee Untd but what a signing Caldwell would be.

So 'banjoing' is a correct legal term now :_beatme:

Proctor is a centre-back as cover. But his best position is defensive mid. I'm more than happy with three (Duncan/Cox/Proctor) competing for two slots plus back ups in Morrison and McBain. Spend any money elsewhere. And it's the injury-prone bit of Mackay-Steven that makes me (and others) want to go for a short-term contract. His record suggests talent. If he can prove himself fitness-wise, looks a sound investment. If not, no real harm on such a small outlay

It does mean we get the coefficient our teams deserve though. Can we really ask to be anything more than a minor league? I didn't see Celtic doing much away to the Portuguese runners-up. I thought the line-up was fine but not the way they played. Instead of counter-attacking (as a 4-5-1 suggests), Celtic tried to dominate. Little chance of that with Samaras on his own and Maloney and Ledley not supporting. I see Mulgrew's getting a bit of criticism. I think he did ok considering no-one helped him at all down the left. I'd blame either Ledley or Maloney for not covering, meaning that when he got forward, he had to go further with no-one ahead, meaning he was out of position at the back. I suspect, financially, there's little difference between the OF. The crucial one is that Murray won't or can't put more money into the team. 5 years ago, a debt of ?30M wasn't unmanageable (they paid off ?90M before without much trouble). So, whether Celtic hurt depends on Dermot Desmond entirely. I'm still going for Rangers for the league. Their defence is better, their midfield more settled, plus, I can't see Fortune, Samaras or Murphy scoring much, which leaves it all down to the untried Hooper. Rangers don't have Boyd of course but (even though I've been big critics of them) Miller and especially Lafferty came on to a game late last season. All to play for but I'd take the experience of Smith over the youth of Lennon any day.

And IMO one more centre back. I think we're ok for centre-backs (Innes, Munro & Tokely with Proctor or Golly if desperate) and centre-mids (Proctor, Cox, Duncan, Morrison, McBain all competing for 2 places). LB is an absolute priority. Forward I'm not so sure is that much needed. I'd be happy to give Sutherland, Gil and Odi their chance to back-up Rooney. After that, it's more about getting a quality player that can depose a current first-teamer, rather than any squad players. We've a good first team and lots of good young players. I'd like to see Mackay-Steven on a short-termer as it's possible he could really add to the team.

I've noticed that happens a lot. John Hughes/Tony Mowbray lacked the big booted defender. Souness didn't like anyone that spoke out. Dalglish didn't rate Peter Beardsley. The list is endless and quite surprising. I presume it's something about wanting other players to play, whilst not realising their own style and contribution.

Such a shock that the goal machines of Samaras and Murphy couldn't score :_beatme: Mulgrew was asked to do way too much on the left but did it quite well. Still, when you have to do the work of two men, he's always going to go missing somewhere. Bar Brown, the midfield was completely absent. I expected more from the new internationals signed. Terrible sportsmanship from Murphy at the end. FAIL! FAIL!

Same formation as we're still playing a Division One team. I'm assuming Rooney isn't 100%, so a place on the bench. Esson Tokely - Innes - Munro - Golabek Cox - Duncan Ross - Gil - Shinnie Sutherland Subs: Tuffey; McCann; Odi; McBain; Rooney Unfortunately Tokely's at RB due to lacklustre reports about McCann and good ones for Innes. Really this is a chance to shine for Ross, Sutherland and Shinnie. If they're out of their depth against Queens, then what hope in the SPL. It's either Odi or Sanchez for the bench, with Odi doing better in pre-season, so gets the nod.

Not for me , if they sign Hendrie and Hartley I'd expect them to finish top 6 . The rules would get changed to keep them up anyway . The papers are reporting signing Hartley means missing out on Hendrie. A midfield with Hendrie and Hartley could have saved McGhee's season. Hartley alone? A struggle against relegation. 9th or 10th this season.

How about bolding the whole quote for a start? "a rookie manager in the SPL (and not that experienced elsewhere), plus lower SFL signings" Different situations as none of them took over a club that was already struggling. Robbo got a club going places, promoted. Brew and Christie had to sustain a club confident of survival. Saints without Dorman are always going to struggle to survive. Billy Reid had to change his whole philosophy at Accies but had some terrific players. Can Lennon do that whilst signing Cowden players? I doubt it. And it's always a risk taking on a rookie manager. You might get the next Alex Ferguson but you might get another Maurice Malpas (sorry, but it's true). We were lucky Brew was still playing first time around, otherwise I think 1 out of those might not be on your list.

If Hearts can land Bryson, plus a striker, I think they can challenge the OF. Rangers will be more hard to beat than all-out winners, so might drop points when last year, they would have got a 1-0. Celtic are the great unknowns. Will Hooper and Murphy be up to it? So, it's possible. For Killie, I thought they had a better squad than is showing up here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmarnock_F.C.#Current_squad I wasn't aware they had lost so many players. Prior to this season, I've been surprised they've been down in the relegation mire with players like Wright, Pascali, Hammill, Kyle, Fernandez, Taouil and, best keeper in the SPL last season, Bell. I guess some of them are gone, plus no Maguire or Severin on loan and some other decent, if not great, players like Skelton and Ford moving on. If they don't add to that threadbare squad, it might well be the death knell for them.

That would be my thoughts, unless either McCann or Innes can play left-back.

No pangs of conscience about predicting your old team will go down?... I'd much rather they stayed up. Most of my family still support them and I'm not averse to a game when in town but a rookie manager in the SPL (and not that experienced elsewhere), plus lower SFL signings? Doesn't look good. D. Lennon needs to learn some anti-football (unfortunately) to get the best out of a Dorman-less Saints. It's going to be very tough. I can only see the Accies being as bad but Billy Reid knows how to scrap and, presumably, has money in the bank. Never really understood that kind of attitude. I think it's all fascinating (bit of league restructuring and it could be even better, mind). Although I reserve my right to say "I don't really follow the minor leagues" when Dundee and County supporters come on :_wink:

Yeah, I'd like to have seen a 6-month deal with add-ons depending on him staying fit.

Celtic have a lot of new players, most of whom I've never seen and could be Fortune/Kamara-like duds (maybe not, who knows?), so I'm giving this to Walter Smith in his final season, as, without injuries, they have a proven defence and midfield already 1. Rangers 2. Celtic I've always liked Jim Jefferies as a manager. Some decent additions, with more potentially, so 3. Hearts For their attack Hughes makes it over a less sustainable challenge from Houston. I wouldn't be surprised to see Motherwell 4th mind you. 4. Hibs 5. Dundee United 6. Motherwell I think these three will be close but we really could do it 7. ICT It'll be a bigger struggle with any surprise factor lost but with squad intact, McInnes at 8. St Johnstone Hendrie and Hartley may well save McGhee from the sack. Still deeply lacking in defence and attack though. 9. Aberdeen Killie still have a few very good players but not enough to do much except avoid relegation 10. Kilmarnock Some very important players gone and not yet replaced. Reid will find it tough without a few good signings. 11. Hamilton Too many untried Cowden players, so 12. St Mirren

Welcome back to the SFL Bairns! I'm sure getting back will be a breeze!

You must be younger than I thought. Hungerford? Guns? Mid-1980s? Infamous.

Depends if that Hooper guy is any good. Otherwise, I'd feel pretty confident facing an attack of Fortune, Murphy and Bullard (if he signs). None of them prolific. Spectacular, yes, but defendable.

I'm ok with our centre-backs, as long as we resist the temptation to put Tokely back to the right. Maybe a young guy looking to learn from the experienced trio to challenge in a year or two's time. If we play the 4-2-3-1, then the attacking midfield depends a lot on Gil being up to it, as I doubt either Odi or Sanchez will be able to produce week in, week out. That said, I still fancy us being able to take enough against St Cowdenbeath, Killie, St J and the Accies enough to avoid relegation (that's my target). Plus Aberdeen if they can't get any more quality players in (we wait and see). I think top six is just out of our reach (Rangers and Celtic obviously will be there, I like the Hibs attack, Hearts have got some decent signings, Dundee United will still be there, as will 'Well) but very little between the bottom sides. Once settled, I think our squad is of an age to develop, with only a few additions over the next couple of years. I think that's what clubs our size should do. Then maybe, a bit of luck, a find or two, maybe we can get a decent cup run, a big transfer fee or a top six. I'm pretty confident about the future as long as we don't panic, as I think we might struggle in the first few games as we adjust to the SPL.

I would have thought Odi would get the nod too in midfield. He's proved his sharpness, Butcher likes him and I doubt either Gil or Sanchez are automatic picks yet. Gil probably best to come off the bench unless he starts showing some real fitness to last 90 minutes. If he's got his fitness sorted then Gary Mackay Steven will hopefully be in there. That might hold C. Ross back but what can you do? It might mean a centre-forward though isn't as required. If Rooney or Sutherland don't hit in the goals, then it might mean Foran or Odi getting the chance up front with our abundance of attacking mids/wingers. Big step up for Bertie Eigg, left back for the Clansman in the Banff & MacDuff Turriff Packet Sunday League, surely? But, yeah a left-back could be a weakness. Golly's main negative is not supporting the left wing, so at least the biggest problem isn't losing goals down the left but not creating the chances going forward. I can see us struggle early on in trying to adapt to the SPL again, where that lone striker will probably be marked out of the game by many of the teams. I expect us to shift our formation to something like 4-4-2. Maybe: Esson McCann - Tokely - Munro - Golly Hayes - Duncan - Proctor - Foran Gil - Rooney Possibly swapping Gil and Foran, or maybe bringing in Mack Steven if he signs.

Sure is. I like the look of Hibs but they have a chronic failure at the back. No leader. No hatchet man. No big ugly defender that would rather break a leg or two than let a dandy dance by with some silky skills ...which is pretty amazing when you consider John Hughes is the manager! What next? Tony Mowbray wanting to play like Barcelona?

Is that the formere Falkirk player. Did he not go to Burnley or is it a different Kevin McDonald? No its Kevin McDonald the 21 year old that Burnley spent ?500k on when buying him from Dundee . The lure of first team football against the likes of Peterhead , Stenhousemuir , Brechin etc proved to be too tempting and who can blame the lad when you consider he would only be playing against the likes of Leeds , Portsmouth , Cardiff City , Middlesbrough etc . DC is of course having you on. KM is a free from Airdrie.

Don't know where you get that line up from. That's dropping McGregor, Bougherra, Miller and Davis from the line-up entirely, not to mention Smith looking to buy wide players as a priority. So you'll actually have a backline of Whittaker, Weir/Bougherra/Webster, Papac, with Broadfoot filling in as and when. I have little preference as to which of the OF wins (I'd far rather Hibs, Dundee United etc etc) but that seems a pretty formidable defence to me.