Dykes debut

[er yir macaroon]

I thought Dykes was excellent in an otherwise insipid display. He dealt very well with fairly awkward passes laying it off neatly and putting himself about. He can do the physical stuff and still show finesse at the same time. We didn’t get to see him open up with his pace which is a considerable asset. I don’t know much about his conversion of chances ratio, but if he’s even average at that, then I think we’ve got a player. 

He’s apparently only been a committed footballer for 4 years. I have a feeling this lad is going to get better and better. For me, he’s now our first pick striker. I can’t think of any other that has all these attributes. Hornby is probably closest but without the pace. 

[Texas Pete]

9 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

I thought Dykes was excellent in an otherwise insipid display. He dealt very well with fairly awkward passes laying it off neatly and putting himself about. He can do the physical stuff and still show finesse at the same time. We didn’t get to see him open up with his pace which is a considerable asset. I don’t know much about his conversion of chances ratio, but if he’s even average at that, then I think we’ve got a player. 

He’s apparently only been a committed footballer for 4 years. I have a feeling this lad is going to get better and better. For me, he’s now our first pick striker. I can’t think of any other that has all these attributes. Hornby is probably closest but without the pace. 

He had next to no service so it’s difficult to rate him based on last night’s game for me.  Looked decent enough though. 

[Taylor1996]

I thought he was excellent.

His hold up play was good, his link up play was good and he looks like ones of those players that will run through a brick wall, for the cause.

He played Aussie Rules Football in his youth, so I think it's fair to say that we won't see him rolling around with the slightest of touches. 

[Eassy]

100% mate, produced some good touches and his hold up play is as good as you’re likely to get from any Scottish striker, thought his performance last night was better than what McBurnie has managed so far.

As a Livi fan I’ve watched a lot of him and there’s not a lot to dislike, pacey enough, works hard, good in the air and can finish, I think he’d be most effective with a strike partner but plays the lone role well.

[ErsatzThistle]

The usual idiots are at it on twitter basically saying because he didn't score then he should never be picked again. I don't know what to do with these people.

Dykes did well. Let's give him a few more caps and see what he can achieve. 

[Clyde1998]

He did very well given the circumstances, but clearly needs more support up top. Someone playing along side him, having McGinn further forward or more offensive wide players may be the way to get the best out of him. He certainly needs more time to get used to international football and the other players in the squad.

[prideothenorth]

Hopefully Armstrong can make  a difference assuming he plays, would be surprised if he is benched again. Would be good if he and McGinn can support him more. Surely Forrest must be dropped and Mcgregors place should be in doubt. 

[ErsatzThistle]

I'd reluctantly keep Forrest in the XI for the moment until we can find someone who genuinely can play effectively on the wing. 

McGregor on the other hand is playing poorly and should be dropped. Armstrong has to start.

Really hope it's not long until Gilmour is brought in.

[Texas Pete]

1 hour ago, ErsatzThistle said:

The usual idiots are at it on twitter basically saying because he didn't score then he should never be picked again. I don't know what to do with these people.

Dykes did well. Let's give him a few more caps and see what he can achieve. 

Ignore them would be my suggestion. 

[mccaughey85]

Dykes played OK and deserves more chances, certainly worth his place in the squad. 

[scotlad]

I thought he did okay. One of the positives from last night. It's good to have a target man available to us again.

[runningtings]

Yeh he did well, am sure he will keep his place for Monday

[ceudmilefailte]

Think a reality check is needed here.

What exactly did he do. Zero attempts on goal. Zero chances created despite his hold up play, Is that not what some one who holds the ball well is supposed to do? No service, impossible to get service  if you never put yourself in the position to get it. 

You could say Israel are  top class team and kept us in our own half for most of the game but good luck with that

Excuse me if Wikipedia is wrong but he has scored 28 goals in a 129 games in Scotland and most of them were in the Championship. Is that a goal every 5 games?

OK he might be the best option we have but to suggest he can help make us a decent team is crazy.

[slasher]

47 minutes ago, ErsatzThistle said:

I'd reluctantly keep Forrest in the XI for the moment until we can find someone who genuinely can play effectively on the wing. 

McGregor on the other hand is playing poorly and should be dropped. Armstrong has to start.

Really hope it's not long until Gilmour is brought in.

If Ryan Fraser ever discovers an interest in playing for his country Forrest might not be an issue.... at least he turns up. 

McGregor is a fine player but he plays way too much football imo. Someone needs to protect the boy before he suffers burnout. His recent form in dark blue does not justify selection. 

Armstrong and Christie are basically the same player, you can't have both, it's one or the other. 

Totally agree on Gilmour, he would freshen things up 👍

[mccaughey85]

7 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Think a reality check is needed here.

What exactly did he do. Zero attempts on goal. Zero chances created despite his hold up play, Is that not what some one who holds the ball well is supposed to do? No service, impossible to get service  if you never put yourself in the position to get it. 

You could say Israel are  top class team and kept us in our own half for most of the game but good luck with that

Excuse me if Wikipedia is wrong but he has scored 28 goals in a 129 games in Scotland and most of them were in the Championship. Is that a goal every 5 games?

OK he might be the best option we have but to suggest he can help make us a decent team is crazy.

Yeh he's not exactly a world beater but he played OK in a difficult circumstances, once mcburnie, naismith and maybe Griffiths are back then chances are he will not start. Hes worth his place in the squad. 

[er yir macaroon]

1 hour ago, prideothenorth said:

Hopefully Armstrong can make  a difference assuming he plays, would be surprised if he is benched again. Would be good if he and McGinn can support him more. Surely Forrest must be dropped and Mcgregors place should be in doubt. 

I’m not sure Forrest can be dropped if the formation is the same. Who plays RWB? I think he wasn’t great offensively but he wasn’t playing as a conventional winger. 

Aid we were playing 4-5-1 I would be reasonably happy to see him on the team wide right, although Burke could be there too. If we are playing Dykes as a centre forward in a 4-5-1, no inverted winger pish (at least not on the right). Get the ball in early on the outside on the favoured foot.

[Texas Pete]

25 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Think a reality check is needed here.

What exactly did he do. Zero attempts on goal. Zero chances created despite his hold up play, Is that not what some one who holds the ball well is supposed to do? No service, impossible to get service  if you never put yourself in the position to get it. 

You could say Israel are  top class team and kept us in our own half for most of the game but good luck with that

Excuse me if Wikipedia is wrong but he has scored 28 goals in a 129 games in Scotland and most of them were in the Championship. Is that a goal every 5 games?

OK he might be the best option we have but to suggest he can help make us a decent team is crazy.

I’d go along with most of this except the service part. You can put yourself in decent positions and make good runs but if your midfielders fanny about and don’t play a decisive ball you can’t do much can you? 

[er yir macaroon]

28 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Think a reality check is needed here.

What exactly did he do. Zero attempts on goal. Zero chances created despite his hold up play, Is that not what some one who holds the ball well is supposed to do? No service, impossible to get service  if you never put yourself in the position to get it. 

You could say Israel are  top class team and kept us in our own half for most of the game but good luck with that

Excuse me if Wikipedia is wrong but he has scored 28 goals in a 129 games in Scotland and most of them were in the Championship. Is that a goal every 5 games?

OK he might be the best option we have but to suggest he can help make us a decent team is crazy.

Griffiths won’t be back. Naismith maybe, but not as the starting centre forward.

Dykes has the attributes we need. Get some crosses in and he has the physicality to get goals, or assists via knock downs. If a team plays a higher line he poses a reasonable threat in behind with his pace, provided he gets decent passes. I don’t think we have another striker with those attributes (keeping an eye on the lad from Hull though). 

[ceudmilefailte]

8 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I’d go along with most of this except the service part. You can put yourself in decent positions and make good runs but if your midfielders fanny about and don’t play a decisive ball you can’t do much can you? 

Point is he didn't make good runs or put himself in decent positions. Midfield probably spent half the match waiting for him or indeed any one else to make themselves available.

[Texas Pete]

1 minute ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Point is he didn't make good runs or put himself in decent positions. Midfield probably spent half the match waiting for him or indeed any one else to make themselves available.

Yeah there was a bit of that I suppose but most of the team didn’t play well so it’s difficult to tell. 

Let’s see what he can do against the Czech Reserves. Hopefully he’ll bag a couple of goals. 

[ceudmilefailte]

5 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

Griffiths won’t be back. Naismith maybe, but not as the starting centre forward.

Dykes has the attributes we need. Get some crosses in and he has the physicality to get goals, or assists via knock downs. If a team plays a higher line he poses a reasonable threat in behind with his pace, provided he gets decent passes. I don’t think we have another striker with those attributes (keeping an eye on the lad from Hull though). 

Who's the guy at Hull?

[Taylor1996]

18 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Who's the guy at Hull?

James Scott.

[wanderer]

Ok debut, but same issue as McBurnie, just starved of service all night (had McBurnie played and been same outcome, he would have been slaughtered.... Dykes getting a bit of a free pass).

The noticeable thing was just how off the pace of the game he was, but I will put that down to rust, and a season in the championship in England will probably see him get better.

[er yir macaroon]

2 hours ago, wanderer said:

Ok debut, but same issue as McBurnie, just starved of service all night (had McBurnie played and been same outcome, he would have been slaughtered.... Dykes getting a bit of a free pass).

The noticeable thing was just how off the pace of the game he was, but I will put that down to rust, and a season in the championship in England will probably see him get better.

I thought he looked our sharpest player, in the first half anyway. 

[wanderer]

9 minutes ago, er yir macaroon said:

I thought he looked our sharpest player, in the first half anyway. 

First half do not think that was particularly hard, but did feel like the Israeli defence hardly broke a sweat dealing with him (even Davy Proven seemed to become more critical of him as the game went on).

As said, will put it down to lack of service and match sharpness, but think he will be a good edition to the squad.