lady-isobel-barnett Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 I need to disagree about Mair. Our defensive record was just as bad after he arrived as before it. However, it is possible that without him it would have been even worse. Gut feeling is without Mair we'd have been in the play offs. Two reasons. Firstly Instead of our inexperienced centrebacks improving as the season went on they were going backwards as our opponents benefited more from familiarity. And, more positively Conrad improved considerably from playing beside Mair to the extent Mair ended up the shakier of the two. Also good fiscal management from Archie by signing Mair on such a short term deal. We could've lost some of this season coming budget settling a longer contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peagreenboy Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 He says he has had interest from 3 Scottish Premiership clubs I don't think Paul Hartley leaving him three messages counts, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink panther Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Gabby has all the attributes to be a top class centre back. Just needs to work on his concentration and positioning. He has everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediocre Pundit Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Gabby also needs to stop trying to play 70 yard passes that always end up as an aimless punt up the pitch. Keep it short. He's good defensively but his distribution is so frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partick75 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Gabby has not got it, the big guy is a liability at the back, we need better than him, he makes far too many basic football errors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggybunnet Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 (edited) Gabby has not got it, the big guy is a liability at the back, we need better than him, he makes far too many basic football errors. unlike the rest of the team who of course don't do any mistakes Edited July 5, 2014 by jaggybunnet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 On the evidence of last season gabby, muirhead and Conrad as a central three will not improve what was the weakest part of the team....it's the key area to strengthen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angry gaz Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 What any central defender that we sign must have is the ability to organize and be a leader at the back. It's absolutely vital for the team that we get someone with these qualities or we will leak goals again all season. I'm not sure there is a natural leader or captain in the side apart from Gallagher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p12tfc Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 What any central defender that we sign must have is the ability to organize and be a leader at the back. It's absolutely vital for the team that we get someone with these qualities or we will leak goals again all season. I'm not sure there is a natural leader or captain in the side apart from Gallagher. Pretty sure Stevenson is a leader especially after his last season at hearts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Stevenson Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Agree with angry gaz. We did improve a bit in defence with Lee Mair in there, but we were still leaking bad goals due to poor organization in our last two fixtures. I reckon that would have been an important consideration for Archie when deciding to offer Mair a new contract or not. We all know what we need in terms of positions. It's up to Archie to find the personnel, and he is obviously frustrated that he hasn't been able to sign more than one new player at this stage. Have to hope there are better candidates out there than we could attract last season as most of the trialists were certainly not worth a contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaminglasgow Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Balatoni is good enough now for the level were at, if we had another good player beside him we could have the makings of a solid enough centre defensive partnership. Gabby could be a good player but he really needs more game time to get there, and I don't think he's good enough at this stage to justify us giving him it. A loan move to the likes of Dumbarton or Alloa whilst also continuing to train with us might be ideal for him and his development. Muirhead I'm unsure of. I really like him as a player, and think that he actually could make the transition from defender to midfielder like paul Paton did so successfully. He'd do for now as a 3rd choice centre back while also trying to teach him how to play that holding role to full effect. Don't forget also that our style of play with the full backs bombing on also leaves our centre defence exposed quite a lot, and that neither bannigan or Fraser, whom I'd expect to be our starting 2 centre mids are that brilliant defensively. While our defence is obviously weak this is not entirely down to the centre backs being "not good enough" or whatever but also stems from our tactics. Can't be too critical as it's a joy to watch, but obviously if we want to go out and play flowing attacking football, we're going to have to accept that we will be a bit shaky at the back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 On the evidence of last season gabby, muirhead and Conrad as a central three will not improve what was the weakest part of the team....it's the key area to strengthen. Conrads good enough as the 2nd half showed, Gaabby has the ability but needs experience and he could be a quality player, Muirhead i'm not convinced yet BUT he is still young and that was his 1st season in the top tier, he has stepped up 3 divisions in 2 seasons so will take a bit to adjust, he was great in the 1st and hopefully he can show that form this year, I'm more concerned with ATS gone and who will fill that roll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Gabby could be a good player but he really needs more game time to get there, and I don't think he's good enough at this stage to justify us giving him it. A loan move to the likes of Dumbarton or Alloa whilst also continuing to train with us might be ideal for him and his development. I'd argue that, for someone who had such a large amount of game time last season, putting him out on loan to a Championship team would have a really bad effect on his morale. Especially as his only real failing is his want for the cross field pass up top. Something that can be cut out in training. Muirheads the one who needs game time as it's strikers movement and reading of the game, that caught him out last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Pretty sure Stevenson is a leader especially after his last season at hearts Point taken. Ideally I'd like the captain/leader figure to be a central defender or defensive/box to box midfielder. Doolan is the most professional of footballers and the epitome of a role model but is isolated in position, as is Gallacher. In the absence of Welsh I sense the most natural leader is McMillan who handled any pressure in the latter games of last season rather well. He's also very vocal and like Stevenson been a leader at his previous club. The major problem re Jordan is that he might not be guaranteed a game, which is I suppose in itself a good problem to have. A wee glance in my crystal ball informs me Big Muirhead will go on to be a natural team leader. Unfortunately it doesn't tell me at what level and for whom tho' I see no reason it won't be at our present level and with us. He just requires the game time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simoncordiner Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 I agree with others, Gabby has the attributes, he just needs to be taught positioning and when to challenge. He improved a lot over the course of the season, I don't see any reason he won't continue to develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erty13 Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Gabby does have the potential to be a very good defender. As others have said he has all the attributes but he is still learning. We loaned out Doolan and he came back a better player, unfortunately we did not have enough depth in the squad last year to loan out Gabby. He learned on the job last season, and had a few bad games but also a few where he showed great potential. He will be much improved this season. Erty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cup Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Cregg is on trial with us. Although I don't see why we need him. Signing players is doomsday stuff that we might not stay up with what we have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Cregg is on trial with us. Signing Cregg would perhaps indicate that Archie may just go with what we have in central defence. Bring a sort of Rowson/Shug Murray stability just in front of the centrebacks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink panther Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Cregg does all the dirty stuff in midfield very well. He offers great protection for a back 4. Would allow Bannigan and Fraser to push forward and would fill the gaps when the full-backs attack. My St Johnstone supporting mate was not overly enthusiastic when they signed him but was sad to see him go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediocre Pundit Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Signing Cregg would perhaps indicate that Archie may just go with what we have in central defence. Bring a sort of Rowson/Shug Murray stability just in front of the centrebacks. I think we'd still be looking for at least one commanding CB - i.e. Mangay or Barr - if Cregg signed. Cregg would be a good signing though, however that would be the Osbourne position filled. Not that I thought we would have a chance of getting Osbourne back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneteaminglasgow Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 (edited) I'd argue that, for someone who had such a large amount of game time last season, putting him out on loan to a Championship team would have a really bad effect on his morale. Especially as his only real failing is his want for the cross field pass up top. Something that can be cut out in training. Muirheads the one who needs game time as it's strikers movement and reading of the game, that caught him out last season. I take your point about his morale, but i really think it could do him good. In my opinion , he really needs to learn when to make a tackle and when to just sit off as too often he dives in when he has no chance of winning the ball and is left out of position. Game time and more experience would be the easiest way for him to learn this and maybe the first half of the season away before returning to challenge for a place in January could do him the world of good. Re. Muirhead, as stated above I think he has all the attributes to make a good holding midfielder but he needs to learn the position as he was guilty of dropping too deep when playing there last season. He's still young, as is gabby, so plenty of time for both to grow into being very useful players at this level. ETA. Cregg would be a good signing. Would think he has the ability to strenghten our squad so trial maybe to check fitness? Edited July 5, 2014 by oneteaminglasgow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeding Gums Murphy Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Apparantly had a training game vs Falkirk up at Garscube at lunchtime. Jags won 2-1 with Stevenson & Higgy scoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrshire jag Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Falkirk played Berwick today and won 3-2. Are you sure it wasn't Cowdenbeath we played Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeding Gums Murphy Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Falkirk played Berwick today and won 3-2. Are you sure it wasn't Cowdenbeath we played Yeah, you're right. Cowdenbeath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Does cregg also sometimes play in a defensive role for st Johnstone as well?maybe in getting him mixed up with another player Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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