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Oliver McBurnie


weekevie04

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Does anyone rate him? I've seen what about 10 times for Scotland and I fail to see what he offers.

All the fancy flick ons' to the opposition defender or empty space ; winning the odd header again to no man's  land ; or a failed attempt at dribbling before being tackled or losing it himself.

I know up front is a tough ask for Scotland especially away, and especially against a decent team yet the 20 touches or so Shankland had against Russia, were so much more impressive, intelligent and for want of a better word, better than most of McBurnie's games he's played for Scotland.

It's not about goals either, I'm not expecting a striker for Scotland to score every second game, (Aye, it would be great though) but just everything. He doesn't even look a good option to throw on when you are holing on to a 2-1 win and someone to chase tired defenders e.g like Kenny Miller would be/was perfect for - not relying on a goal from him ; but just running about daft and winning/fighting for lost balls etc.

Anyhoos, not a dig even if starting a thread about him but I'd love to hear and genuinely open minded to see what folk rate him, see in him. Does anyone? I've not seen him enough in the EPL maybe he's quality there playing with better/other players?

I really hope Clarke starts Shankland against Kazakhstan. Another goal would be fantastic too.

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57 minutes ago, weekevie04 said:

Does anyone rate him? I've seen what about 10 times for Scotland and I fail to see what he offers.

All the fancy flick ons' to the opposition defender or empty space ; winning the odd header again to no man's  land ; or a failed attempt at dribbling before being tackled or losing it himself.

I know up front is a tough ask for Scotland especially away, and especially against a decent team yet the 20 touches or so Shankland had against Russia, were so much more impressive, intelligent and for want of a better word, better than most of McBurnie's games he's played for Scotland.

It's not about goals either, I'm not expecting a striker for Scotland to score every second game, (Aye, it would be great though) but just everything. He doesn't even look a good option to throw on when you are holing on to a 2-1 win and someone to chase tired defenders e.g like Kenny Miller would be/was perfect for - not relying on a goal from him ; but just running about daft and winning/fighting for lost balls etc.

Anyhoos, not a dig even if starting a thread about him but I'd love to hear and genuinely open minded to see what folk rate him, see in him. Does anyone? I've not seen him enough in the EPL maybe he's quality there playing with better/other players?

I really hope Clarke starts Shankland against Kazakhstan. Another goal would be fantastic too.

I think Mcburnie can play in a couple of styles of play.

He can play in a team who play purely down the flanks, largely ignore their striker for link up and put lots of crosses into the box. In this situation his poor link up play and lack of strength are not as much of an issue and he can use his decent aerial ability to score goals. 

He can also play in a team who play lots of short passes in the final third and any link up he needs to do is done to feet and is short and sharp. 

Unfortunately for him and us against decent sides and away from home we require mobility, decent game intelligence and a degree of strength from our striker and he is horrifically bad at all 3 of those. 

To my mind he has a use for Scotland but it will be when we are chasing a game and throwing the ball foward2

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1 hour ago, weekevie04 said:

Does anyone rate him? I've seen what about 10 times for Scotland and I fail to see what he offers.

All the fancy flick ons' to the opposition defender or empty space ; winning the odd header again to no man's  land ; or a failed attempt at dribbling before being tackled or losing it himself.

I know up front is a tough ask for Scotland especially away, and especially against a decent team yet the 20 touches or so Shankland had against Russia, were so much more impressive, intelligent and for want of a better word, better than most of McBurnie's games he's played for Scotland.

It's not about goals either, I'm not expecting a striker for Scotland to score every second game, (Aye, it would be great though) but just everything. He doesn't even look a good option to throw on when you are holing on to a 2-1 win and someone to chase tired defenders e.g like Kenny Miller would be/was perfect for - not relying on a goal from him ; but just running about daft and winning/fighting for lost balls etc.

Anyhoos, not a dig even if starting a thread about him but I'd love to hear and genuinely open minded to see what folk rate him, see in him. Does anyone? I've not seen him enough in the EPL maybe he's quality there playing with better/other players?

I really hope Clarke starts Shankland against Kazakhstan. Another goal would be fantastic too.

I rate him. He contributes in defence and can tackle in the opposition half. We need a lot more from our attackers than the ability to score simple goals. I depends what we want though, to maintain our third place ranking or create a team that can compete with higher ranked teams. Shankland and Naismith can't be the way forward. I would sooner see McBurnie or Burke given a fair chance rather than this continued chopping and changing up front.

On the other hand if Shankland moves in January and proves himself elsewhere he might be the man.

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4 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

I rate him. He contributes in defence and can tackle in the opposition half. We need a lot more from our attackers than the ability to score simple goals. I depends what we want though, to maintain our third place ranking or create a team that can compete with higher ranked teams. Shankland and Naismith can't be the way forward. I would sooner see McBurnie or Burke given a fair chance rather than this continued chopping and changing up front.

On the other hand if Shankland moves in January and proves himself elsewhere he might be the man.

Surely we want more from our striker than the ability to defend and tackle in the opponents half?

Regardless of the level shankland plays at, he looks a far more refined striker in all aspects than Mcburnie. 

I think Mcburnie has uses and like Burke I'd find a place for them in the squad, I just think they have glaring deficiencies that mean they shouldn't be starters 

Edited by gonzohiggy
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Sheffield United play with a front two, I think that's how you'd get the best out of him. I don't think he has the skill-set to play as a lone striker. And let's face it, playing the lone-striker role for Scotland is a lonely role...

Naismith literally had to plead and motion for Christie, Forrest and McGregor to help him to press the Cyprus defence. He shouldn't have to do that. Those three should know when to press, they shouldn't need Naismith to tell them.

If you watch the game again (i haven't), you'll notice that we were constantly defending with a bank of four and a bank of five. It's Cyprus and yet we pretty much have a defensive block of nine!

But yes, McBurnie would be fine playing upfront with a strike partner.

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5 minutes ago, The_Dark_Knight said:

Sheffield United play with a front two, I think that's how you'd get the best out of him. I don't think he has the skill-set to play as a lone striker. And let's face it, playing the lone-striker role for Scotland is a lonely role...

Naismith literally had to plead and motion for Christie, Forrest and McGregor to help him to press the Cyprus defence. He shouldn't have to do that. Those three should know when to press, they shouldn't need Naismith to tell them.

If you watch the game again (i haven't), you'll notice that we were constantly defending with a bank of four and a bank of five. It's Cyprus and yet we pretty much have a defensive block of nine!

But yes, McBurnie would be fine playing upfront with a strike partner.

Don't disagree with him being better suited to a front 2. Even in that situation though his lack of touch and strength will undermine him although less obviously than when alone. Probably why he's usually a sub for Sheff utd. 

Re the press comment, as a midfielder there is a time you press and a time not to press which will vary heavily depending on tactics. There were a couple of occasions naisy went chasing when it was pointless and the midfield were right not to join him. Don't think you can accuse mcginn and Christie of not being effective pressers

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3 minutes ago, gonzohiggy said:

Don't disagree with him being better suited to a front 2. Even in that situation though his lack of touch and strength will undermine him although less obviously than when alone. Probably why he's usually a sub for Sheff utd. 

Re the press comment, as a midfielder there is a time you press and a time not to press which will vary heavily depending on tactics. There were a couple of occasions naisy went chasing when it was pointless and the midfield were right not to join him. Don't think you can accuse mcginn and Christie of not being effective pressers

There's no doubt he has to improve his overall game. Just shows how crazy English football has become, saying that a £20m player has to improve his general game.

Did I say McGregor? I meant McGinn.

I get why we're playing a 4-2-3-1, because the defense needs protection, but against the better teams it'll turn into a 6-3-1. As it did against Russia and Belgium... And it still didn't stop us shipping goals.

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Shankland won't move in Jan I reckon, he will either be a SPL striker through promotion or a transfer next year or a Championship player through transfer. Mcburnie, like Jordan Rhodes in years gone by I reckon just doesn't suit our style of play which begs the question, do we change our approach? 

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1 minute ago, romanticscot said:

Shankland won't move in Jan I reckon, he will either be a SPL striker through promotion or a transfer next year or a Championship player through transfer. Mcburnie, like Jordan Rhodes in years gone by I reckon just doesn't suit our style of play which begs the question, do we change our approach? 

We have a style of play ? Seriously, thats news to me 🤷‍♂️

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6 minutes ago, kumnio said:

Leaving aside his 'issues', as a player, he is useless, he shouldnt even be in the squad let alone play. He might have cost £20 million in the idiot league, but I hope he never wins another cap.

He does have uses, he's useful in the air. 

Actually think the Kazakhstan game would be the right sort of game for him. We should dominate and if we play 2 wingers will put plenty of balls in the box and he wouldn't look so out of place in that setup. 

Think shankland will start tho and as said before he looks a far more refined player 

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Well, we have a formation or two we are playing - 4231 or 433.style of play in attacking threat without a decent lay offman is poor crosses with pedestrian build up. Kenny Miller or Steven Fletcher would be great with our pacy wingers like how we did in our final nations league games.

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10 minutes ago, gonzohiggy said:

He does have uses, he's useful in the air. 

Actually think the Kazakhstan game would be the right sort of game for him. We should dominate and if we play 2 wingers will put plenty of balls in the box and he wouldn't look so out of place in that setup. 

Think shankland will start tho and as said before he looks a far more refined player 

Bollocks. He’s as much use being left in his hoose playing Playstatiom than he is for us playing on the deck or in the air.

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Just now, gonzohiggy said:

Take the emotion out it. He's quite sh*t generally but if you're objective about it he's good in the air

Emotion has fuck all to do with it. He is as shite in the air as he is with the ball at his feet. A truly awful player. 

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