Scottish players in action 19/20

[wanderer]

22 hours 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.  

I think there has certainly been a clear turn around since new year for him.

Earlier in the season he looked well off the pace and think everyone was hoping that he would go out on loan just to get some time, but since Lennon gave him a run of games since the new year, he seems to have gone from strength to strength, but as you said nowhere near his previous form yet.

Certainly showing form worth of a squad place, but at the minute I think Naismith has the shirt given his performances in the last two games, but if McGinn does not make it, I would be tempted to drop Naismith back  into playing off the striker, and put Griffiths up front.

[ceudmilefailte]

16 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?

I'm not too sure how what the nations league is going to do to friendlies, but I don't think there are many dates available now for them. They have always been a total waste of time anyway. The only positive from the South America tour was the discovery of Stephen O'Donnell

As you say correctly he has done nothing in a Scotland shirt and it's very hard to put forward an argument for him starting, however there will be loads of occasions were we need to change formation during a game so he will get his chance. The chances to experiment are once our  qualification chance is over ( or we have already qualified 😉) but Clarke was hardly inspiring during the last campaign.when qualification was over.

[ceudmilefailte]

21 hours ago, Tartan blood said:

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.

 

22 hours 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.  

 

16 minutes ago, wanderer said:

I think there has certainly been a clear turn around since new year for him.

Earlier in the season he looked well off the pace and think everyone was hoping that he would go out on loan just to get some time, but since Lennon gave him a run of games since the new year, he seems to have gone from strength to strength, but as you said nowhere near his previous form yet.

Certainly showing form worth of a squad place, but at the minute I think Naismith has the shirt given his performances in the last two games, but if McGinn does not make it, I would be tempted to drop Naismith back  into playing off the striker, and put Griffiths up front.

I think if he plays tonight and if so how he plays will go a long way to convincing me if he is the answer or not.

[ceudmilefailte]

22 hours 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.  

I know this is beginning to sound like some sort of vendetta but he didn't score for us in the 15/16 season.

It's beginning to look more and more like it's time to bin the one up front formations as it would appear he and McBurnie both need a partner

[PASTA Mick]

1 hour ago, ceudmilefailte said:

 

 

I think if he plays tonight and if so how he plays will go a long way to convincing me if he is the answer or not.

I think he's been ruled out of the match tonight. 

[PASTA Mick]

58 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

I know this is beginning to sound like some sort of vendetta but he didn't score for us in the 15/16 season.

It's beginning to look more and more like it's time to bin the one up front formations as it would appear he and McBurnie both need a partner

He only played 3 times for us during the 15/16 season.

1. 32 mins v Qatar
2. 60 mins v Denmark
3. 15 mins in Georgia

It was the season after that he started to get regular games for us.  

[ceudmilefailte]

15 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said:

He only played 3 times for us during the 15/16 season.

1. 32 mins v Qatar
2. 60 mins v Denmark
3. 15 mins in Georgia

It was the season after that he started to get regular games for us.  

Fair point, I just looked at the games ending 15 and 16 with no regards to minutes played and the fact some of them were in the 16/17 season

20 minutes ago, PASTA Mick said:

I think he's been ruled out of the match tonight. 

I was being a bit sneaky there and was hoping that Celtic would revert to the one up front which to the main part has got them this far in Europe.

Personally the new formation is a big worry to me as it seems to rule out Christie from his most effective role.

I know your not a big fan of stats performance sites but who scored had him in the team of the group stages and 8th overall out of the 756 players who took part.

Side tracked but Fraser Forster is the highest rated keeper in the Europa League so long may that continue

[ceudmilefailte]

18 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.

Thanks for that.

Would it be fair to say that despite having let in the second least goals in the EPL you don't have any stand out central defenders.

Your wing back Baldock and Stevens though do far more defensively than your average wing back which kind of screws us.

In fact looking at it the only players we have that would fit into the Sheffield United set up are Fleck and McBurnie.

Mctominay ahead of Lundstram maybe?

[PASTA Mick]

1 hour ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Fair point, I just looked at the games ending 15 and 16 with no regards to minutes played and the fact some of them were in the 16/17 season

I was being a bit sneaky there and was hoping that Celtic would revert to the one up front which to the main part has got them this far in Europe.

Personally the new formation is a big worry to me as it seems to rule out Christie from his most effective role.

I know your not a big fan of stats performance sites but who scored had him in the team of the group stages and 8th overall out of the 756 players who took part.

Side tracked but Fraser Forster is the highest rated keeper in the Europa League so long may that continue

From a Scotland POV, I'd rather Griffiths was playing than Christie.  I really rate Christie but we have plenty of other midfield options.  Our forward options are not so great. 

[Paulus]

1 hour ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Thanks for that.

Would it be fair to say that despite having let in the second least goals in the EPL you don't have any stand out central defenders.

Your wing back Baldock and Stevens though do far more defensively than your average wing back which kind of screws us.

In fact looking at it the only players we have that would fit into the Sheffield United set up are Fleck and McBurnie.

Mctominay ahead of Lundstram maybe?

I'm finding It so difficult to be sure about anything associated with our team at the moment, I've stopped trying to second guess what Wilder seems able to achieve and what I think is possible and like a lot of my fellow fans we just walk around with a big smile and enjoy the ride.  The first choice back 8 are basically the lads who were with us in the Championship and 3 of them were in L1.  We were odds on favourites to finish bottom and were viewed as a joke by some pundits at the start of the season.  I don't know if this link will work but this is a good example 

  Re centre backs, I've seen a lot of Maguire and I love him to bits but basically Egan and O'Connell are both, in my opinion, more effective all round defenders. They aren't as big and imposing as Maguire, but just about on anything else I think they are better.  How can this be?  It comes down to fitness levels, brilliant coaching, motivation and teamwork and that's basically the case throughout the team.  The craziest example of this is Basham, he's a legend with us but not one of us would have believed for a second what he is achieving now when Clough signed him on a free, I am really struggling to think of any other player that has had a career like him, going from the very definition of journeyman footballer up to 26 or so then to improve so much; the closest I can think of maybe Don Masson.  

From what I've seen McTominay would fit in fine but we've just pushed the boat out to sign Sander Berge, so we'll see how that goes, Lundstram came on last game for Berge and turned the game around so I don't think he's going down without a fight either.  I bet 99% of people would reckon that Robertson and Tierney are/would make better wingbacks than either Stevens and Baldock, in our case it's all about the management team.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Paulus

[wanderer]

2 hours ago, PASTA Mick said:

He only played 3 times for us during the 15/16 season.

1. 32 mins v Qatar
2. 60 mins v Denmark
3. 15 mins in Georgia

It was the season after that he started to get regular games for us.  

IIRC did Strachan not try Shoe-horn Oli Burke into the team for the start of the WC qf'ers, when it was clear he was (1) not ready, and (2) not a out and out striker? Think Griffiths got his chance after Strachan and Burke had a bit of a squabble, with him starting at Wembley and then was effectively first choice striker for 2017, but seemed to go off the boil in 2018 (think he only played in two games under Eck?) and I suspect this is where his personal issues probably started to get in the way.

[mccaughey85]

16 hours ago, Paulus said:

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.

 

Reason I asked was because mcburnie has looked brutally bad for us whenever he's played, hes been unable to even control a ball or make a simple pass which regardless of tactics is something you need your players to do. Granted alot of Scotland players have looked like this for the national team while playing reasonably good for their clubs. From what I have read mcburnie has done ok this season for Sheffield United. I would hope in the future that we can eventually get the best out of him but for the moment I would rather Naismith or griffiths even though Naismith is a lowly hearts player. 

As for Snodgrass I think it's a shame he retired as hes doing quite well at west ham and we don't have an abundance of players doing well in the epl to let one slip away when he could be still playing for us. 

Flecks an excellent player and he should start against Israel. Central midfield is a real strong area for us and it will be difficult for Clarke to choose who to start if all players are fit.

[Guest ElChris04]

Drew 1-1 with Copenhagen. Where brilliant first half but terrible second. 
 

forrest - had a great first half and a decent second half. Beat a lot of his Men but a little greedy at times. So a decent shift 

 

McGregor - got the assist for our goal and was decent first half, second half complete passenger and was greedy with a really good chance. 
 

Christe - Dreadful first & Second half. Probably the most disappointing performance from him I can remember.

 

overall some positives and negatives, but Forrest didn’t look bad at all at left side. Hopefully Christie picks his form up come the playoffs.

[Bino's]

Do you think with the conservatives new rules we can stop getting so many gash foreigners playing for our football clubs

To give some young Scots a chance

[ceudmilefailte]

6 hours ago, Bino's said:

Do you think with the conservatives new rules we can stop getting so many gash foreigners playing for our football clubs

To give some young Scots a chance

Nice thought but there will be some loophole somewhere.

[ParisInAKilt]

Not much incentive for Scottish clubs to produce your own players when any teenager who shows promise is targeted by clubs in England or abroad before they’ve played a full season in Scotland 

[ceudmilefailte]

7 hours ago, Bino's said:

Do you think with the conservatives new rules we can stop getting so many gash foreigners playing for our football clubs

To give some young Scots a chance

Actually most of the dross imports are UK residents

[ProudScot]

Shankland in action tonight on BBC.

Louis Appere looks a player, just scored. 

[bigfingers]

Might be a lower league but some goal by shankland there. 

[McTeeko]

4 minutes ago, bigfingers said:

Might be a lower league but some goal by shankland there. 

Cracking finish! Was being pulled back too. 

[ProudScot]

7 minutes ago, bigfingers said:

Might be a lower league but some goal by shankland there. 

Yep. He will command a decent fee in the summer, it’s quite surprising he wasn’t sold in January. 

[McTeeko]

2 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

Yep. He will command a decent fee in the summer, it’s quite surprising he wasn’t sold in January. 

He was quoted saying he didn’t want to move due to his form, goals, and more importantly keep his place in the Scotland squad. Any possible move down south could’ve jeopardised that if he didn’t hit the ground running at his new club. 
 

Scotland before money 👍🏼

[Caledonian Craig]

Ryan Gauld has scored for Farense tonight.

[Guest ElChris04]

I’ve watched Shankland a lot this season after buying into the hype and every time he doesn’t disappoint. A real player who’s far ahead of the league he’s in. An absolute must to call up come the playoffs. 

[ProudScot]

Agree on Shankland. His goal tonight was brilliant too