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Striker Woes


Caledonian Craig

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It is clear our strikers are falling short of what is needed and expected of them at international level. They all have their strengths and weaknesses (Dykes, Adams and Nisbet) and its just a shame we couldn't fuse each of their strengths into one striker as we may then be in business.

Dykes is good at the holding up with the ball and flicking high balls down or on. His positional sense and awareness of players around him in better positions is a weak point and he is not the kind of striker I'd bet on to score if through one on one with the keeper. He is more of a poacher.

Adams is good at using his pace and getting shots away quickly but is not the best at playing in team-mates in better positions. He also has an annoying habit of getting caught offside which is daft as he has pace to get him onto through balls. He is not the best in the air either.

Nisbet is good at link-up play in the box as we saw last night and is more clinical I'd say in a one-on-one than Dykes. Drifts out of games for me though and does he have the all-round quality we are striving for?

That is the issue we have facing us and feel there are no better options out there so it is a case of getting the best out of what we have got. To me we fair better playing one of those with a nippy supporting midfielder in support.

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I started a thread about Ross Stewart a while back, he’s moved to Sunderland and now scoring regularly. On the Sunderland forums, the fans are very pleased with what he brings to the team and his goals and performances.

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Also give Nisbet and Dykes a chance, they have both been stepping up levels recently and adjusting. Dykes seems to have now settled and scoring regularly for a good QPR side. Nisbet has now been scoring regularly for Hibs and is just coming into the international team. Also yesterday was his 1st game back since self-isolation and he didn’t look as sharp as he normally is.

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Beyond that we've got to hope that this Belgian side make a player out of Shankland or that Griffiths undergoes a remarkable transformation, the former being a lot more likely than the latter.  Looks like McBurnie has been jettisoned and I'd be surprised if we ever saw him back.

Who's up front for the U21's?  What happened to the youngest-ever player who came on for Celtic and scored with his first touch a few years back?  Is there anybody out there who can give us all just a wee bit of hope?

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Good post.

All three are very good at different things, but poor at the other things the other two are good at it. If that makes sense? I don't think any of the three are good enough to improve in these areas they are not good at. I hope I am wrong, but again, we'll need to keep looking for a prolific striker I think. 

These 3 are valuable squad players, but I don't think we can rely on Nisbet/Adams or Dykes scoring 6-7 in qualifying. I hope I'm wrong, and it could be the difference between qualifying or not. 

 

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There’s no doubt Dykes is improving season on season. He’s went from Queen of the South to Livingston to QPR and his scoring rate is improving. He’s learnt a lot from Charlie Austin in the last 8 months and under Mark Warburton. He’s getting better in the box, he’s spending more time in an around the box, between the posts. He’s not drifting out wide or dropping deep as often. He’s becoming more of a goal scorer for QPR, less of a “Target man”. Now that Scotland have Gilmour and also Patterson in the team we are going to be playing the ball more on the deck, and attacking down both flanks, this will suit Dykes.

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2 hours ago, Scot1 said:

I started a thread about Ross Stewart a while back, he’s moved to Sunderland and now scoring regularly. On the Sunderland forums, the fans are very pleased with what he brings to the team and his goals and performances.

I’ve never seen him play but Wikipedia says he is known as the “Loch Ness Drogba” 😂

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27 minutes ago, DAVIDB46 said:

I think if we are looking at the likes of Sunderland for players is shows how much forwards are a problem position 

Sunderland fans have had some decent centre forwards over the years, pretty sure they  know a decent striker when they see one.

Sunderland will probably win automatic promotion this year to the Championship, as winners or runners up. 
In my opinion every top flight Scottish Club team, outside the Old Firm would struggle to avoid relegation from the Championship. And even the Old Firm are by no way certainties to win or gain promotion out of the Championship. There a lot of good teams in that league, and a few of them have more £ than Rangers or Celtic.

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3 hours ago, Scot1 said:

Also give Nisbet and Dykes a chance, they have both been stepping up levels recently and adjusting. Dykes seems to have now settled and scoring regularly for a good QPR side. Nisbet has now been scoring regularly for Hibs and is just coming into the international team. Also yesterday was his 1st game back since self-isolation and he didn’t look as sharp as he normally is.

Yeah, we need to be careful not to do the usual "it's not working, who's next?". We also have to keep in mind these are the new guys. None of them were on the scene when Clarke took over. Even Dykes is relatively new to the fold.

There really doesn't seem to be anyone better out there. (Yet) Shankland, McBurnie and Stewart are definitely not better than the 3 we have, and I can't think of any promising youths that are making waves either. Usually there is at least 1 or 2 making an attempt at breaking through at the old firm.

So, at least for now, we need to persevere. However, the solution should not be to double up and play 2 strikers, when 1 is almost too many.

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I was going to say that I wasn't sure if refuses is the right term, as geography would prove difficult right now however he has had chances and we t with other options. 

 

McGinn,Christie,Turnbull,Fraser,Gauld - someone has to miss out. 

Fraser and Christie are versatile. McGinn a top performer. If only Gauld didn't go to North America then it would be between him and Turnbull IMO. 

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As if to emphasise our problem, Wales have just won in Belarus thanks to a hat-trick from Bale, the winner coming in the injury time, similar to Ronaldo v RoI last week. An average team with many players not getting regular games plus one ageing world-class player.

That's the difference from us. We have no problem getting a team of good professionals performing at the highest level - except for one position.

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3 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

As if to emphasise our problem, Wales have just won in Belarus thanks to a hat-trick from Bale, the winner coming in the injury time, similar to Ronaldo v RoI last week. An average team with many players not getting regular games plus one ageing world-class player.

That's the difference from us. We have no problem getting a team of good professionals performing at the highest level - except for one position.

You are kidding yourself if you think that. They struggled to win away in Belarus with a mountain load of call-offs but still got the win. Wales are way above us as Euro 2020 showed. Plus their recent qualifying record compared to us states how better they are than us. Two of their keepers play in the EPL. They have four defenders playing in the EPL and one playing in Serie A. In midfield they may be their weakest area but still have a Serie A player to call on and up top you have Bale leading the line.

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1 hour ago, DAVIDB46 said:

I think if we are looking at the likes of Sunderland for players is shows how much forwards are a problem position 

Exactly 😂

I'm always pleased to see a Scottish player doing well "abroad" but this one is doing well in the English third tier - would he really be much more effective than Adams or Dykes, who both play club football at a higher level?

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6 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

You are kidding yourself if you think that. They struggled to win away in Belarus with a mountain load of call-offs but still got the win. Wales are way above us as Euro 2020 showed. Plus their recent qualifying record compared to us states how better they are than us. Two of their keepers play in the EPL. They have four defenders playing in the EPL and one playing in Serie A. In midfield they may be their weakest area but still have a Serie A player to call on and up top you have Bale leading the line.

Take Bale and Ramsey out and they most certainly do not have a stronger squad than us. We can field 9 players from the EPL, which like it or not is probably Europe's top league. England select 11 from the exact same league. The difference is the world-class striker. You can't play 2 keepers at the same time; regarding the four defenders in the EPL, pretty sure they are not all starting every week like Tierney and Robertson.

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6 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

Take Bale and Ramsey out and they most certainly do not have a stronger squad than us. We can field 9 players from the EPL, which like it or not is probably Europe's top league. England select 11 from the exact same league. The difference is the world-class striker. You can't play 2 keepers at the same time; regarding the four defenders in the EPL, pretty sure they are not all starting every week like Tierney and Robertson.

Sorry but they are patently a better team than us. Look at today if you want. They won 3-2 away in Belarus with a makeshift team and had more shots on goal, more on target, more possession than we could manage last night against a far worse Moldova side.

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1 minute ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Sorry but they are patently a better team than us. Look at today if you want. They won 3-2 away in Belarus with a makeshift team and had more shots on goal, more on target, more possession than we could manage last night against a far worse Moldova side.

Ok if you could choose which of their defenders would you have in our first eleven? And aside from Ramsey and Bale, who would definitely make our starting eleven? Daniel James I give you, but I don't see a McGinn or a Gilmour or a Tierney in their group.

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2 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

Ok if you could choose which of their defenders would you have in our first eleven? And aside from Ramsey and Bale, who would definitely make our starting eleven? Daniel James I give you, but I don't see a McGinn or a Gilmour or a Tierney in their group.

Ben Davies or Joe Roddon (Tottenham), Neco Williams (Liverpool) and Connor Roberts (Burnley). All players that proved themselves at Euro 2020 where they got far further than us.

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1 minute ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Ben Davies or Joe Roddon (Tottenham), Neco Williams (Liverpool) and Connor Roberts (Burnley). All players that proved themselves at Euro 2020 where they got far further than us.

We will have to disagree on this one. Davies is quality but not better than Rob. or Tierney; Rodon doesn't start much; Nico has great potential but not yet a regular and is he better than Patterson?

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Just now, Third Lanark said:

We will have to disagree on this one. Davies is quality but not better than Rob. or Tierney; Rodon doesn't start much; Nico has great potential but not yet a regular and is he better than Patterson?

Yes we will disagree. Remind me how we done at the Euros compared to Wales? How did Wales do in Euro 2016? In March of this year Wales beat the Czechs at home in a World Cup Qualifier - a team that comfortably despatched us at the Euros. The clues are glaring.

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It’s the one thing we’ve been missing for what seems forever - a world class striker. Loads of similar level countries (none of the big hitters I mean) have been blessed with them, but no us. What a difference it would make if we had someone like this from this list……

Rep. Ireland - Keane

Poland - Lewandowski 

Macedonia - Pandev

Israel - Zahavi 

Wales - Bale

Finland - Litmanen

Iceland - Gudjonsen

Edited by McTeeko
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