theabsentee
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Posts posted by theabsentee
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1 hour ago, N4Footsoldier said:
As if the Ryan Gauld fan club within the TA would need any more reason to chug over his performances
I'm pretty open-minded about Gauld as I can't recall ever watching him play live. He might have been rubbish at Hibs, but he was good at Dundee United, otherwise he wouldn't have got the big money move & he has had a pretty good career in recent years, so unless he is called up, even if he only trains with the squad, how can Clarke be sure if his qualities are good enough or not? I do quite like Lewis Morgan, from what I recall, he is a technically good & skillful player, but maybe a lack of pace & physicality has stopped him playing in the top league. He is another I don't like to see dismissed as we aren't good enough to dismiss anyone.
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14 hours ago, syecosse said:
Found a site called statsway that averages the ratings of players in the top 7 leagues, it has been doing the euro squads, the best scots are as follows according to this site for this season.
1 Ferguson
2 Mcginn
3 Robertson
4 Christie
5 Holsgrove
6 Gilmour
7 Cairney
8 Tierney
9 Anderson
10 McBurnie
11 Mctominay
12 Doig
Your one of the best posters on here especially as you inform us about our young or eligible players but this average performance rating site only really has any substance if players are playing at the same level . If your going to post this maybe the stats provider should include the US League
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2 hours ago, todd said:
Oh well, that's probably him fucked then
🥴 It's actually ideal as they consider him fit enough for first team action but don't play him for too long👌
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1 hour ago, er yir macaroon said:
Doig is a strong, athletic player, no worries there.
Hope your right. Should make the squad in front of Taylor but he won't so he will have to bide his time possibly.
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Ross Stewart played well in his 30 minutes sub appearance, saints fans saying he should start in the 2nd leg if Adams isn't fit enough. Stewart runs the channels, shows for the ball & is a excellent finisher.
Our squad could be littered with players who haven't played much if at all lately so I don't see any reason why Stewart a player who could actually make a difference from the bench shouldn't be included also
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16 minutes ago, bigfingers said:
Fletcher Boyd with a goal for Aberdeen. Only 16. One to keep an eye on.
Very nice, I noticed his name while checking out the teams earlier. That's maybe the one negative the SPL split, it makes the last few fixtures often miss meaningful which means hardly any youngsters get a late season first team chance. This lad looks to have taken his💪
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2 hours ago, vanderark14 said:
Significant scottish involvement in today's English playoffs.
Cooper, Hanley, Gunn and McLean in the first semi, Adams, Stewart and Fraser on the other. Armstrong is injured
Yeh but half of them might not even get on the pitch. I think Clarke will find it hard to justify including Hanley & Cooper considering there lack of game time/ match fitness. I think it's easier for a younger player like Hickey to reach match fitness than a veteran like Hanley. Cooper hasn't been injured so should be fit enough but it's whether he is still good enough that worries me.
Maybe a positive of Adams having a knock might be a few minutes of the bench for Stewart in these play offs
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11 hours ago, GilmourFan said:
I was asked how they compare defensively this season.
I'd say that Livramento is as much as Bambi on ice as Patterson.
Just because Newcastle bought him for £32m doesn't mean anything.
I don't see England capping him. Not when they have James and Lewis (when Walker and Trippier retires).
Anyway, enough about him. As you said, he isn't Scottish. So I apologise to all for bringing him up.
Scott McTominay trained on Friday. He's a doubt for Sunday but at least we know his injury wasn't serious.
👏😉
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4 hours ago, GilmourFan said:
Good point:
Patterson has 2 clean sheets. More tackles. More dribbles. Less errors leading to shots.
Sofascore rating: 6.66
Livramento has more interceptions. Won more possessions. More balls recovered.
Sofascore rating: 6.81
For anyone to say that Livramento is "way ahead" of Patterson is ridiculous. Maybe it's the condition of valuing what you don't have higher than what you do have.
It's also easier for Livramento as he's playing for a better team.
Wtf, why on earth have you bothered posting this when Livramento isn't even a Scotland player?
If you really need to do this then compare him to Hickey as they are more similar style players, both are technically great & can play numerous positions . I don't watch as much football these days but I read & value fans opinions especially when there's lots of them praising a player & even though Livramento didn't play great today he has been excellent in most games he has played this season. We can't say the same about Nathan , I really like him but unfortunately he isn't that great technically & can only really play on the right & has had a pretty poor season.
I dont follow stats are they can be very misleading.
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2 hours ago, GilmourFan said:
Gilmour did OK. He isn't injured.
2 matches to go.
(As for Livramento. He's OK. Hickey's far better than him. I wouldn't say that he's better than Patterson)
He is way ahead of Patterson currently though it's pretty irrelevant as he is almost certainly not our player.
You are quite knew here so maybe you aren't aware that Livramento & others eligibility has been discussed & argued about enough times . Think most posters are pretty tired of it so would appreciate if you don't post about him & Anderson unless there's some rumours they may switch to us from a legitimate source.
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7 hours ago, BryanBlessed said:
I'm not totally convinced that his club don't want him there. Playing in a major tournament can increase a player's profile and value.
If it's the case that he's fine but Brentford see no benefit in bringing him back at this stage, then we should take him. That is, however, a big 'if'. Ralston hasn't really let us down before and Clarke tends to go with what he knows.
Playing in a major tournament increases a player's profile & value when they play in a league nobody watches , it makes next to no difference when they play in by far the most popular league in the world.
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42 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:
Ralston is second choice behind a 40 times capped international.
Don’t know who started the Ross McCrorie love in,,the Championship is a decent league but theres plenty players in it that are pish poor.Another point , I doubt there's any player who starts regularly in the English championship wouldn't start for any club in the SPL outwith the old firm.
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30 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:
Ralston is second choice behind a 40 times capped international.
Don’t know who started the Ross McCrorie love in,,the Championship is a decent league but theres plenty players in it that are pish poor.Ralston is 25 now & no club at championship level has even taken him on loan let alone pay a decent transfer fee for him.
I think he would have to get on the pitch , play well enough to keep Johnston out of the team for a decent period before any club would consider him worth anywhere near the £2 million McCrorie was sold for.
I'm not saying McCrorie is the answer but at least he's a good athlete with a decent pace , clubs pay money for players with those attributes as they feel with coaching a player can improve. Can we say Ralston has those attributes?
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6 hours ago, thesaint said:
Aye, but the 45 mins could be a car crash. 9 months out is a long time not to play football. Look how not playing regular (never mind not at all) has affected Patersons game and even Billy Gilmour when he wasn't getting picked for Brighton dropped a level. Just think to throw Hickey straight into the euros is such a risk and Clarke isn't exactly known for taking a gamble. Hickey is obviously a really good player but a Hickey who hasn't played in 9 months could be a different story altogether.
It's a gamble whatever way you look at it
If he isn't match he gets match fit by playing which is a gamble.
If you play a vastly inferior player who you could argue isn't match fit either as he rarely gets on the pitch with his club Celtic it's a gamble.
You play McCrorie another inferior player who is untill now uncapped , a gamble.
Johnston a unproven at the top level kid a huge gamble.
Someone has just posted if we play Hickey we are threatening his long term career , sorry that's just a nothing comment without any real facts behind it. Clarke , the player & our medical team will make the decision based on medical facts & how he looks in training, if mentally & physically they think he is ready he will be in Germany .
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3 hours ago, bdgsct said:
The squads are so big, there is a case for taking Hickey for the experience given he will be a mainstay in years to come. Even if he made 3 subs appearances, it could make the difference.
4 hours ago, BryanBlessed said:Even if he's fit there is a risk of the injury recurring if he comes back too soon so I can understand Brentford not playing him. If I were Clarke I probably wouldn't take him as he hasn't played a competitive match since October. He'll be way off it if he somehow miraculously plays.
The only real question is Ralston or McCrorie. It will be Ralston if he plays before the end of the season for Celtic.
Obviously his club won't want him there as they don't care about the players international career. We should trust the player along with our medical experts decision .
Crikey Ralston has been fit most if not all season & he still rarely gets minutes at SPL level so surely we should be more concerned with him potentially starting 3 huge games than playing a class player for say 60 minutes a game .
If Hickey gets minutes in the friendlies or looks fit & confident in training he must start.
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18 minutes ago, vanderark14 said:
I'd rather take that gamble than use Ralston
Is Max Johnston an option? He's playing at a decent level, untested with Scotland but so was Gilmour when Clark threw him in. He also played Patterson out of necessity at RB despite him only featuring a handful of times for Rangers
Me too. A 75% match fit Hickey should be better than Ralston. McCrorie for his athleticism is a better alternative I reckon but Clarke due to having Ralston in many recent squads will probably give him the chance.
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1 hour ago, AlfieMoon said:
There’s still another month to go and two potential friendly matches. I wouldn’t count him out based on his club manager’s comments.
Exactly! Who the hell asked Thomas Frank the the question? Usual bullshit journalists looking for stories.
Frank doesn't want him risked but if the player & the Scottish medical team think it's not too risky he will be in Germany .
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8 hours ago, csinclair said:
A lot of hype about Leonard's performances in that division and he's older than Dembele.
I'd certainly hope someone in Clarke's team has a chat with him at least to see where his head is at. It'd be a shame if he still didn't want to play for Scotland given he's spent virtually all his life there.Good point & I totally agree but it's highly unlikely a league one player will be asked to join this summer .
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12 hours ago, Goozay said:
It's also the same for Livramento.
He's unlikely to go to the Euros this year with England because they've got a lot of choice in the right back position, but after the Euros Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier are likely to retire from international football. Livramento is even four years younger than Trent Alexander Arnold, so time is on his side.
Exactly, boys such as Livramento , Anderson, Archie Gray etc etc have a better option , born in England & arguably good enough to play for England as well as possibly being good enough to go down in history as having not only qualified but actually having won a major tournament
I don't like admitting it but they have the possibility of being national legends, we don't offer anything close.
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On 5/6/2024 at 10:11 PM, Gala Tartan Army (Borders) said:
McTominay not in Man Utd squad tonight. Hoping Ten Hag just making sure he has recovered properly this time.
Great news & not worth posting.
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On 4/23/2024 at 11:48 PM, syecosse said:
Newcastle have apparently already told Jude Smith and Lucas De Bolle they are free to leave in the summer.
I was reading the Newcastle forum yesterday & they said De Bolle has had a terrible time with injuries & a couple of fans said they thought both him & Jude Smith had potential so where surprised they are being released.
Most interesting thing I read was how highly rated Charlie McArthur is, one guy who seems to watch the under age groups regularly rates McArthur along with a couple of other players as the clubs best prospects & the ones most likely to make the first team. He only turns 19 this month so it could be exciting for us if next season he is near training with the first team . He is a central defender also what's not to like😊
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21 hours ago, Scots_Wha_Hae said:
I saw some quotes suggesting Lazio fancy him as a left sided central defender which would be good for us if successful. We desperately need an understudy to Tierney so that any injury to him doesn't necessitate a complete rework of the team.
That would be great if it could happen. He is definitely the most similar in style potential left sided central defender we have. My concern about that switch would be his strength , from what I've seen of Doig he looks pretty skinny & not particularly strong but I've not seen much of him so not really qualified to judge .
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46 minutes ago, Scot1 said:
Apparently on the bench tomorrow against Leeds. If he can get a few games under his belt, I’d give him an opportunity in the 2 friendlies coming up. I do think he is the best option we have at the moment. If, and it is an “If”, he can take his club form into international football.
But I’d like Clarke to give him a chance similar to Shankland getting time last set of friendlies.With McBurnie out if we are too take 4 strikers I would call up Stewart & Conway for the June friendlies & include the one that does the best in the final 26.
Though Even with 26 Clarke is unlikely to take a 4th centre forward, possible there's too many players in defensive positions especially not fully or match fit so expect Clarke will want plenty back in those positions for that reason
Next season if Stewart does well at club level I expect him to replace more than likely Dykes in future squads.
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28 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:
Yeh there's always a need to bring in some fresh players but that could probably have happened after the euros. Just because a few guys are getting to 30+ doesn't mean an overhaul of the squad is needed.
Ferguson is probably the long term replacement for Armstrong. Hanley will probably be replaced by someone like bowat, king or some other young centre back.
We are a long way from going down the Craig brown route just yet.
Injuries will probably force Clarke to give out some squad places to guys that haven't really been in many before. That will bring some new blood in although if it's gauld, Morgan and Forrest then that's not exactly young players anyway and they would need replaced in 4 to 5 years or less in forrests case.
It seems to be the general consensus that the 26 player squad only benefits the bigger nations but I disagree it will make Clarke's job a bit easier I reckon. If it was 23 it's looking rather likely that we would be taking a third of the outfield squad either lacking in match fitness or borderline fit at all .
Hickey, Hanley, Cooper, Tierney , Ralston, Armstrong, McTominay . That's 7 of the top of my drunken head & there's still a few weeks of the season to go.
Of the 7 above there's arguably 3 to 4 first picks of which only McTominay you'd be confident of being capable enough to last 90 minutes nevermind 3 full games.
Like it's been said Clarke could have foreseen this scenario & integrated at least a couple of players during all these friendlies but in his defence there's arguably no one really obvious deserving of a call up .
Scottish player transfers
in TA specific
Posted
Better be gets a move sorted before Euros then his head is clear.. Seems a little strange that he is openly holding talks while Southampton are still playing in the play offs.