Scottish players in action 19/20

[ceudmilefailte]

14 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

Will discuss in private message, rather than posting in a football thread.

That's something all the posters you are accused of being suggest.

Nobody else does.

[dohadeer]

1 minute ago, ceudmilefailte said:

That's something all the posters you are accused of being suggest.

Nobody else does.

Here we go again......

[mrniaboc]

12 hours ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Handful of people on here thought he was going to be the next big thing for us in the striker position, now he cant get a game for a team in the bottom half of the Juniper League outfit.

Maybe he's been on the gin? 😂

[PASTA Mick]

18 hours ago, ceudmilefailte said:

One for Past Mick, ElChris and any other Celtic fans on the forum, is Griffiths any were near the player he was?

He's not reached the standard of the 15/16 season where he scored around 40 goals but he's looked good since the winter break.

We are certainly scoring more goals with him in the team, even if he's not getting them.  

[Tartan blood]

49 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said:

He's not reached the standard of the 15/16 season where he scored around 40 goals but he's looked good since the winter break.

We are certainly scoring more goals with him in the team, even if he's not getting them.  

He's getting there. I think he is actually benefitting from being partnered up front. Not necessarily because it suits him more than going solo, but because it takes the pressure off him to score every game and it eases him back into the team.

Griffiths is one of those rare players that has such natural ability that he can be having a bad game and be unfit, but still be able to come up with a great goal or a delivery out of nowhere. E.g he put in a beautiful cross from a corner to set up a goal at the weekend.

He is by far the most clinical player we have. With our multitude of creative midfielders, I think he'll score goals.

[Paulus]

I hesitate to stir up a pot that that seems to contain at least one somewhat unstable ingredient but I thought I would anyway.  As a Sheffield United season ticket holder There's a chance I've seen McBurnie more than most and the same probably applies to Fleck, certainly in terms of his recent career.  Re McBurnie I would make a few comments.  

Firstly, If he is played as a lone striker I very much doubt anyone is going to see a dynamic, match winning performance from him.  He's predominantly a flick on, or turn and run type of striker rather than a back to the goal, hold up and feed player.  If the midfielders aren't close and able to run beyond him then a couple of defenders will largely nullify him.  If he's isolated there's every chance he'll look clueless; not big enough to dominate an International class centre half and not quick enough to outrun them.  Having said this though, I suspect he wouldn't be the only striker to suffer in these circumstances.  As part of a pair though he is a far better player.  He does a lot of his best work from a more deep lying position, he works incredibly hard, his touch is deceptively good and with the ball at his feet he is a constant thorn for opposing defenders.

Secondly, he is a far better player now than he was when he first signed for us and I suspect there is a lot more to come from him. Part of this may well be due to predictable issues like, general settling in time, a need to build confidence, moving up a level etc.  But a lot of it is also due to growing strength and stamina and the customary brilliant coaching that he is getting from Wilder and Knill.  I'm biased but I don't think there is a coaching team in England that has consistently improved players in the way that Wilder's team has done at the Blades.  I would caution those upthread who are happy to write him off on the basis of past performances to remember that he is still relatively young and learning his trade.

So, in my opinion whether he is a player to start with largely depends on the confidence and belief of the coach;  If the mindset is predominately defensive/damage limitation with 1 up top then I can't see him doing much damage (nor indeed could I see many of the other options thriving either).  In a 2, or indeed a very clear 1,1 up top I would undoubtedly start him, if it were me I would go with a 3-5-2 and have some belief that the strongest part of the team, the midfield, is good enough to both press, defend and create and therefore limit the number of times or the amount of sustained pressure that the somewhat flakey defence is exposed to by trying to play further up the pitch.  If the midfield isn't good enough to impose itself on the games then the team is pretty much bolloxed anyway regardless of set up.  I suspect to set up to try and soak up pressure and hit on the break pretty much bound to fail.

[0Neils40yarder]

13 minutes ago, Paulus said:

I hesitate to stir up a pot that that seems to contain at least one somewhat unstable ingredient but I thought I would anyway.  As a Sheffield United season ticket holder There's a chance I've seen McBurnie more than most and the same probably applies to Fleck, certainly in terms of his recent career.  Re McBurnie I would make a few comments.  

Firstly, If he is played as a lone striker I very much doubt anyone is going to see a dynamic, match winning performance from him.  He's predominantly a flick on, or turn and run type of striker rather than a back to the goal, hold up and feed player.  If the midfielders aren't close and able to run beyond him then a couple of defenders will largely nullify him.  If he's isolated there's every chance he'll look clueless; not big enough to dominate an International class centre half and not quick enough to outrun them.  Having said this though, I suspect he wouldn't be the only striker to suffer in these circumstances.  As part of a pair though he is a far better player.  He does a lot of his best work from a more deep lying position, he works incredibly hard, his touch is deceptively good and with the ball at his feet he is a constant thorn for opposing defenders.

Secondly, he is a far better player now than he was when he first signed for us and I suspect there is a lot more to come from him. Part of this may well be due to predictable issues like, general settling in time, a need to build confidence, moving up a level etc.  But a lot of it is also due to growing strength and stamina and the customary brilliant coaching that he is getting from Wilder and Knill.  I'm biased but I don't think there is a coaching team in England that has consistently improved players in the way that Wilder's team has done at the Blades.  I would caution those upthread who are happy to write him off on the basis of past performances to remember that he is still relatively young and learning his trade.

So, in my opinion whether he is a player to start with largely depends on the confidence and belief of the coach;  If the mindset is predominately defensive/damage limitation with 1 up top then I can't see him doing much damage (nor indeed could I see many of the other options thriving either).  In a 2, or indeed a very clear 1,1 up top I would undoubtedly start him, if it were me I would go with a 3-5-2 and have some belief that the strongest part of the team, the midfield, is good enough to both press, defend and create and therefore limit the number of times or the amount of sustained pressure that the somewhat flakey defence is exposed to by trying to play further up the pitch.  If the midfield isn't good enough to impose itself on the games then the team is pretty much bolloxed anyway regardless of set up.  I suspect to set up to try and soak up pressure and hit on the break pretty much bound to fail.

Naw, naw, that's far too balanced... The Tartan Army have decided he's shite and that he should be told to gtf so we can start Lawrence Shankland 

[mccaughey85]

11 minutes ago, Paulus said:

I hesitate to stir up a pot that that seems to contain at least one somewhat unstable ingredient but I thought I would anyway.  As a Sheffield United season ticket holder There's a chance I've seen McBurnie more than most and the same probably applies to Fleck, certainly in terms of his recent career.  Re McBurnie I would make a few comments.  

Firstly, If he is played as a lone striker I very much doubt anyone is going to see a dynamic, match winning performance from him.  He's predominantly a flick on, or turn and run type of striker rather than a back to the goal, hold up and feed player.  If the midfielders aren't close and able to run beyond him then a couple of defenders will largely nullify him.  If he's isolated there's every chance he'll look clueless; not big enough to dominate an International class centre half and not quick enough to outrun them.  Having said this though, I suspect he wouldn't be the only striker to suffer in these circumstances.  As part of a pair though he is a far better player.  He does a lot of his best work from a more deep lying position, he works incredibly hard, his touch is deceptively good and with the ball at his feet he is a constant thorn for opposing defenders.

Secondly, he is a far better player now than he was when he first signed for us and I suspect there is a lot more to come from him. Part of this may well be due to predictable issues like, general settling in time, a need to build confidence, moving up a level etc.  But a lot of it is also due to growing strength and stamina and the customary brilliant coaching that he is getting from Wilder and Knill.  I'm biased but I don't think there is a coaching team in England that has consistently improved players in the way that Wilder's team has done at the Blades.  I would caution those upthread who are happy to write him off on the basis of past performances to remember that he is still relatively young and learning his trade.

So, in my opinion whether he is a player to start with largely depends on the confidence and belief of the coach;  If the mindset is predominately defensive/damage limitation with 1 up top then I can't see him doing much damage (nor indeed could I see many of the other options thriving either).  In a 2, or indeed a very clear 1,1 up top I would undoubtedly start him, if it were me I would go with a 3-5-2 and have some belief that the strongest part of the team, the midfield, is good enough to both press, defend and create and therefore limit the number of times or the amount of sustained pressure that the somewhat flakey defence is exposed to by trying to play further up the pitch.  If the midfield isn't good enough to impose itself on the games then the team is pretty much bolloxed anyway regardless of set up.  I suspect to set up to try and soak up pressure and hit on the break pretty much bound to fail.

Cheers for the insight. He deserves more chances with us in the future but due to his poor performances for Scotland then I wouldnt start him in the upcoming games. Maybe in future friendlies we can try a two up top experiment that might get the best out of him. Have you ever watched mcburnie for Scotland?

[dohadeer]

33 minutes ago, Paulus said:

I hesitate to stir up a pot that that seems to contain at least one somewhat unstable ingredient but I thought I would anyway.  As a Sheffield United season ticket holder There's a chance I've seen McBurnie more than most and the same probably applies to Fleck, certainly in terms of his recent career.  Re McBurnie I would make a few comments.  

Firstly, If he is played as a lone striker I very much doubt anyone is going to see a dynamic, match winning performance from him.  He's predominantly a flick on, or turn and run type of striker rather than a back to the goal, hold up and feed player.  If the midfielders aren't close and able to run beyond him then a couple of defenders will largely nullify him.  If he's isolated there's every chance he'll look clueless; not big enough to dominate an International class centre half and not quick enough to outrun them.  Having said this though, I suspect he wouldn't be the only striker to suffer in these circumstances.  As part of a pair though he is a far better player.  He does a lot of his best work from a more deep lying position, he works incredibly hard, his touch is deceptively good and with the ball at his feet he is a constant thorn for opposing defenders.

Secondly, he is a far better player now than he was when he first signed for us and I suspect there is a lot more to come from him. Part of this may well be due to predictable issues like, general settling in time, a need to build confidence, moving up a level etc.  But a lot of it is also due to growing strength and stamina and the customary brilliant coaching that he is getting from Wilder and Knill.  I'm biased but I don't think there is a coaching team in England that has consistently improved players in the way that Wilder's team has done at the Blades.  I would caution those upthread who are happy to write him off on the basis of past performances to remember that he is still relatively young and learning his trade.

So, in my opinion whether he is a player to start with largely depends on the confidence and belief of the coach;  If the mindset is predominately defensive/damage limitation with 1 up top then I can't see him doing much damage (nor indeed could I see many of the other options thriving either).  In a 2, or indeed a very clear 1,1 up top I would undoubtedly start him, if it were me I would go with a 3-5-2 and have some belief that the strongest part of the team, the midfield, is good enough to both press, defend and create and therefore limit the number of times or the amount of sustained pressure that the somewhat flakey defence is exposed to by trying to play further up the pitch.  If the midfield isn't good enough to impose itself on the games then the team is pretty much bolloxed anyway regardless of set up.  I suspect to set up to try and soak up pressure and hit on the break pretty much bound to fail.

Thank you. A Sheffield United season ticket holding, knight in shining armour, providing a sensible insight.

I totally agree, all Scotland’s strikers are going to struggle up front on their own. Unfortunately playing with two strikers against decent teams is a luxury we can’t afford, as we need 9 players elsewhere rather than 8.

[mccaughey85]

4 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

Thank you. A Sheffield United season ticket holding, knight in shining armour, providing a sensible insight.

I totally agree, all Scotland’s strikers are going to struggle up front on their own. Unfortunately playing with two strikers against decent teams is a luxury we can’t afford, as we need 9 players elsewhere rather than 8.

We have all given sensible insight on mcburnie, if a player plays poorly then we are not going to say otherwise just to please you and get called a knight in shining armour.

Griffiths did a good job upfront by himself and Naismith looked good in our last two games. 

 

[daviebee]

2 hours ago, Paulus said:

I hesitate to stir up a pot that that seems to contain at least one somewhat unstable ingredient but I thought I would anyway.  As a Sheffield United season ticket holder There's a chance I've seen McBurnie more than most and the same probably applies to Fleck, certainly in terms of his recent career.  Re McBurnie I would make a few comments.  

Firstly, If he is played as a lone striker I very much doubt anyone is going to see a dynamic, match winning performance from him.  He's predominantly a flick on, or turn and run type of striker rather than a back to the goal, hold up and feed player.  If the midfielders aren't close and able to run beyond him then a couple of defenders will largely nullify him.  If he's isolated there's every chance he'll look clueless; not big enough to dominate an International class centre half and not quick enough to outrun them.  Having said this though, I suspect he wouldn't be the only striker to suffer in these circumstances.  As part of a pair though he is a far better player.  He does a lot of his best work from a more deep lying position, he works incredibly hard, his touch is deceptively good and with the ball at his feet he is a constant thorn for opposing defenders.

Secondly, he is a far better player now than he was when he first signed for us and I suspect there is a lot more to come from him. Part of this may well be due to predictable issues like, general settling in time, a need to build confidence, moving up a level etc.  But a lot of it is also due to growing strength and stamina and the customary brilliant coaching that he is getting from Wilder and Knill.  I'm biased but I don't think there is a coaching team in England that has consistently improved players in the way that Wilder's team has done at the Blades.  I would caution those upthread who are happy to write him off on the basis of past performances to remember that he is still relatively young and learning his trade.

So, in my opinion whether he is a player to start with largely depends on the confidence and belief of the coach;  If the mindset is predominately defensive/damage limitation with 1 up top then I can't see him doing much damage (nor indeed could I see many of the other options thriving either).  In a 2, or indeed a very clear 1,1 up top I would undoubtedly start him, if it were me I would go with a 3-5-2 and have some belief that the strongest part of the team, the midfield, is good enough to both press, defend and create and therefore limit the number of times or the amount of sustained pressure that the somewhat flakey defence is exposed to by trying to play further up the pitch.  If the midfield isn't good enough to impose itself on the games then the team is pretty much bolloxed anyway regardless of set up.  I suspect to set up to try and soak up pressure and hit on the break pretty much bound to fail.

That's a good post and pretty much exactly what we've been witnessing from him.

[ErsatzThistle]

(wrong thread)

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by ErsatzThistle

[bazmidd]

I wonder if the old 442 Diamond might get the best out of our squad of players.. Tbh apart from Fraser we don't have top class wingers anyway, a more compact Midfield would allow us the extra men we need in there with the full backs providing width when required. This also would hopefully allow us to get the best out of McBurnie playing beside a partner perhaps Griffiths or using Frasers pace up there away from home. 

                           Marshall

Palmer.     Hanley.    Cooper.   Robertson

                         McGregor

         McTominay.             Fleck

                           McGinn

             McBurnie.       Fraser/Griffiths

           

              

[dohadeer]

2 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

We have all given sensible insight on mcburnie, if a player plays poorly then we are not going to say otherwise just to please you and get called a knight in shining armour.

Griffiths did a good job upfront by himself and Naismith looked good in our last two games. 

 

I disagree, I don’t think that your analysis of McBurnie has been either sensible or fair. You are determined that he be judged on as small a sample size of matches as possible - the ones which suit your narrative about him being a terrible player.

Thankfully - and surprisingly - we have found the most reliable witness available, a Sheffield United season ticket holder, who can confirm what was already obvious from the stats, that McBurnie is having a very solid first season in the English Premiership.

[dohadeer]

1 minute ago, bazmidd said:

I wonder if the old 442 Diamond might get the best out of our squad of players.. Tbh apart from Fraser we don't have top class wingers anyway, a more compact Midfield would allow us the extra men we need in there with the full backs providing width when required. This also would hopefully allow us to get the best out of McBurnie playing beside a partner perhaps Griffiths or using Frasers pace up there away from home. 

                           Marshall

Palmer.     Hanley.    Cooper.   Robertson

                         McGregor

         McTominay.             Fleck

                           McGinn

             McBurnie.       Fraser/Griffiths

           

              

That could be the line-up, in terms of personnel, but away to Norway or Serbia, we wouldn’t have two up front like that, Fraser would be part of a midfield five.

I also think we’d probably be a bit narrow with that line-up, we’d need more cover out wide, particularly against Norway, to prevent Haaland being supplied with crosses from the wings.

[ProudScot]

Brophy is playing quite well just now. 

[ErsatzThistle]

9 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

Brophy is playing quite well just now. 

Considering the shortage of strikers and the inevitability of withdrawals, it's likely he'll feature in a couple of games this year I think.

[Texas Pete]

23 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

I disagree, I don’t think that your analysis of McBurnie has been either sensible or fair. You are determined that he be judged on as small a sample size of matches as possible - the ones which suit your narrative about him being a terrible player.

Thankfully - and surprisingly - we have found the most reliable witness available, a Sheffield United season ticket holder, who can confirm what was already obvious from the stats, that McBurnie is having a very solid first season in the English Premiership.

Convenient. 

[dohadeer]

53 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Convenient. 

Let me guess.......

It’s another of my ‘multiple accounts?’

[Texas Pete]

Just now, dohadeer said:

Let me guess.......

It’s another of my ‘multiple accounts?’

I didn’t say that. 

[dohadeer]

2 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I didn’t say that. 

What were you implying by ‘convenient’ then?

[Texas Pete]

10 minutes ago, dohadeer said:

What were you implying by ‘convenient’ then?

Never mind. Just seems a bit odd. 

[dohadeer]

7 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Never mind. Just seems a bit odd. 

I know, I didn’t expect to find a Sheffield United season ticket holder on here. I thought maybe my prayers had just been answered, but maybe there is something suspicious at play. The post seemed detailed and insightful enough to be genuine though.

[Paulus]

6 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

Cheers for the insight. He deserves more chances with us in the future but due to his poor performances for Scotland then I wouldnt start him in the upcoming games. Maybe in future friendlies we can try a two up top experiment that might get the best out of him. Have you ever watched mcburnie for Scotland?

Not a lot, I watched the Cyprus and Russia matches to see what he did but I hadn't paid much attention to him prior to last summer when he signed for us.  I was impressed with him last year though when playing for Swansea against us.

For those suspicious souls who doubt if I am genuine I assure you I am, unless some strange parallel universe is confusing me.  I've posted very occasionally on here I think virtually exclusively on Scottish players I see in England and mainly ones who've played for the Blades.  As I think I posted quite early on in the John Fleck thread I'm definitely English but I've a soft spot for the Scottish team in deference to my Scots gran, who was not a lady to be ignored and I wish you well despite the desperate times you've been going through.  By means of encouragement though Sheffield United's very recent past was bleak indeed; 6 years in the wastelands of L1 were a disgrace for the club and if anyone had said to me that in a little over 3 years we would be where we are now I would have thought they were mad. Things can change around quickly in football but I think it needs an exceptional man to drive it through.  We hit the jackpot with Wilder, I'm not sure Clarke, despite being a decided step in the right direction over the previous fool, has the dynamism to get players to buy into what he's doing, don't ask me for an alternative though, I'm fresh out of ideas.

Some brief thoughts on various anglo-Scots I've seen recently:  Be wary of Palmer's form, our dear neighbours across the City are having a desperate time and although his form hasn't been affected as much as some, the club is in turmoil and I'd be surprised if he isn't dragged down soon.  One guy I'd love to see at Bramall Lane is Snodgrass, is there any chance of bringing him back in the National team? I think he's still got an awful lot to offer despite the carnage around him at the unhappy Hammers.  Armstrong is going very well at the moment as well, lots of confidence, should definitely be in the squad. Rumours around McTominay suggest he's not far away from playing which would be a huge boost, haven't heard a great deal about McGinn though, unless they are doing a great job keeping it very quiet it still seems as though he's a bit away.  Finally, can't avoid a comment on Fleck, he just keeps getting better, if there's a better Scottish midfielder about at the moment he must be a hell of a player.

 

[Toepoke]

9 hours ago, ProudScot said:

Brophy is playing quite well just now. 

Missed a couple of absolute sitters last night.

Findlay also showed his inexperience with his last minute brain fart