theabsentee

We need to address our lack of chances created before anyone is scoring regularly while playing alone up front for us. Shankland surely isn't mobile enough for that role but the other 3 I'm really hopeful for. I did predict previously that I think Ross Stewart could be our first choice if he comes back the same player as he was prior to his long term injury. As for Conway & especially Doak they are exciting prospects but unless either of them start the season extremely well Clarke's loyalty will mean i expect the same same come sept. Apologies again though as we are getting distracted from what is supposed to be transfer thread 😄

He does look heavy but surely it's not for those reasons. Be very poor if a professional player at the highest level wasn't living the right way in this day & age. It did make me wonder how disciplined & if we have a employed food nutritionist as our players & England's for that matter during the Euros both looked lacking in energy to say the least. Though i tend to put that down to a lack of game intelligence & british players lacking technique than diet. Sorry that's probably a point for another thread.

Ok he hasn't performed as well for Scotland over the last couple of years but when we have a better all round forward please let me know Reality is while he is performing well at his club level he is good enough to start for a national team that creates as few chances as us.

Good luck to him. They finished 8th last season even though they only scored 36 league goals so they obviously need more firepower. Che is far from prolific but reckon he has enough attributes to do well in Italy.

He is probably solid in that league. It's a league Jack Hendry got sold for a decent fee in right? Bates is technically much inferior to Hendry but as a actual defender there won't be much in it at all.

On trial🤣 Well as he has spent so much of his career in the championship the only reason he would be on trial would be to prove he is still fit enough for that level. If this is true then it beggars believe that Clarke thought we was fit or good enough to potentially play in the Euros!

Good move for him & I think Stockport are a very well run club so if either or both players are good enough for the championship or higher this season is their time to prove it.

Love it🤣🤣💪

Good to see they think Fraser is still capable at premier league level, shame Clarke doesn't. Good for Fiorini to get a guaranteed start, he needs that at this stage of his career but thought he was maybe good enough to that at championship level rather than league 1.

I fear you might be right with Hanley though I would like to think he was just trying to get him closer to match fit as a squad member rather than a starter. He also barely gave any minutes to probably our best centre back in the air McKenna. He is the one that played Champions league this season yet he looks least likely to get a start🥴 Basically it's any combo without Hanley & Cooper for me.

There are but the ones in their 30's in our squad aren't that level of player. I'm dreaming that they will prove me wrong but I think players such as Cooper & Hanley are done at this level. Cooper has apparently lost his pace but he was never a premier League level player anyway. Hanley has had too many injuries & is not physically in good enough shape. It's arguable whether either of them will ever be regulars even at championship level again.

All I'll say on the keeper thing is it's a sad probable ending for Gordon as he has been a great example of a high class man & professional . Hanley thought you are totally right! Always liked him & never slated him on here like many have over the years but he is almost certainly done at this level. He is nowhere near physically fit enough to play in these championships.

Cheers for this, looks quite similar but like you've said most of our starters are still playing at or closer to their peak.. Only a couple of squad men are probably past it in Cooper & Hanley. What would be interesting is the have these stats from the other qualifiers as 11 changes in 3/4 seasons isn't a lot. Also the average age of our squad compared with other qualifiers, I have a feeling as 4 of our 5 withdrawals are young players we might have one of the oldest squads in the tournament

Not so worried about players such as Morgan,Conway, McTominay getting minutes tonight, they have all played enough football recently so a few minutes tonight won't make much difference. There's a few in the squad that you can't say the same about so I hope in particular Hanley starts & Jack also gets 45 minutes otherwise I don't see the point in taking either of them.