A Lack of Signings This Window Could Kill Our Season

derbybear said:
"Deadwood"???

Given that we will be top if we win the game in hand it is hardly panic stations.

Tonight was shite but as a player what happens a lot is that you sometimes go down to their level. Hence our pedestrian pace. Free kicks sideways or backwards etc. Virtually the same team tanned the mentally challengeds and everyone loved it.
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Deadwood is common terminology in football, nice reach though mate.

Just admit you wanted to stick the boot in because I wanted Patterson to play.

Edit: Did you actually read this post? In every comment you've made on here, you're talking as if I've asked for wholesale changes to the starting 11, I clearly havent
 
Always be looking to improve the squad, although in fairness the January window is usually pretty difficult.
 
Geerfc19 said:
We will be fine.

You cany expect 38 games of perfection.

We won the game and I dont think we will play worse this season.
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But a lot of teams we come up against will employ the same tactics and have done already and we have to find a way of penetrating these blocks one twos,triangles around the box. I don't think we have two players of top quality for every position,if Jones gets his finger out then we have a player,maybe it's a Borna scenario with him,but he should know what the league is like. Just goes to show the contribution Tav brings,when he's not there it's so noticable big time. The same goes for any of our key players,if they're out,there isn't the same quality to replace them.
 
jackstar said:
But a lot of teams we come up against will employ the same tactics and have done already and we have to find a way of penetrating these blocks one twos,triangles around the box. I don't think we have two players of top quality for every position,if Jones gets his finger out then we have a player,maybe it's a Borna scenario with him,but he should know what the league is like. Just goes to show the contribution Tav brings,when he's not there it's so noticable big time. The same goes for any of our key players,if they're out,there isn't the same quality to replace them.
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Importantly we won the game though.

Our midfield seemed off. Jack and Davis didnt perform but we won.

Like I mentioned I think we will see some positive adjustments if the same scenario arises again with Alfie n tav out.

The Tim's have won plenty of games like that in title winning seasons often in the last minute.

We are lucky that we have a management team who will recognise that it wasnt good enough.
 
Necro said:
I keep seeing our management say that the squad needs to be trimmed and we will add 1 player maximum, I find this to be extremely alarming.

We do have deadwood that needs to be shifted but at the same time, we are very light in key areas and could really do with strengthening now rather than in the summer if we are serious about challenging for the title.

Midfield:

Our current first choice midfield 3 is Davis, Jack and Kamara, given how we always play one of Aribo or Arifled in the advanced role on the right, we more often than not only have 1 midfield option on the bench. We are one injury or suspension away from having absolutely no adequate cover.

Winger/Wide#10:

With all due respect to Jones, Barker and Ojo, they are either not suited to our system or flat out not good enough in at least one case.

We are a Kent injury away from a crisis on the left and have no viable options to go with two conventional wingers should we ever feel the need.

Striker:

Morelos is the best player in the league by a distance in my opinion however is prone to suspension, it doesn't matter if you take the view that he's refereed to a different standard or it's all his fault(I dont know why you'd think this) but it's fact.

Defoe is a top finisher but at his age, a simple hamstring injury could end his season, potentially even his career if it became a recurring problem.

I've seen lots of people say that you can't sign someone to come here and happily sit in the stand as 3rd choice, that is absolute nonsense as you sign players to compete for places, not concede them.

Left Back:

Barisic is the difference between our league position this year compared to last, the gulf in quality between him and Halliday/Flanagan is too big, we need someone who plays in a similar style.
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If you wanted the most efficient way to manage this within a limited budget, you go for a player who works best as a right sided forward but can play through the middle too. He would free up both Arfield and Aribo for midfield contention to ease pressure there and could deputise for both Alfie or Kent if required.

That seems to be exactly who we have been chasing in the Stoke kid.

The Croatian midfield bloke who had the mega-thread would also fit that mould, reputedly being primarily a midfielder but comfortable playing further forward.

It would appear that the club are aware of the factors you outline but have had issues recruiting who they want, particularly with the injury to the Stoke kid.

Agree that we badly need a wingback who can actually attack as a back up. I was amazed that we played Flanagan today. Haven’t seen the game so don’t know if he hampered us but, even if we really feel Patterson isn’t ready, I’d put Polster in ahead of him in a game where we expect to be attacking.
 
We have cover in all areas but unfortunately, in a lot of cases, the cover significantly weakens the team. Even if we could get one or two quality loans that would help
 
With potentially over £30m up for grabs from winning the league and having a go at UCL qualification plus getting past another few rounds in Europa this season we’re playing a dangerous game by not strengthening the side.

A few injuries at a key point in the season and we’d be asking players like Barker and Ojo to be our main creative attacking threat.
 
g87 said:
Although his short sharp movements are good, his all around pace and movement around the pitch doesnt lend itself to our game.
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I think age is slowly catching up to Defoe. He’d probably improve with a run in the first team but might increasingly struggle a bit with cameo appearances. He’ll always be an absolute predator in the box and his natural skill places him above most of scottish football but I think you can see that he’s just a tiny bit less fast and sharp than he is at his best.
 
Necro said:
Moving the goalposts I see, read your own comment again.

Don't know what your problem is with me but it's clearly preventing your brains ability to function properly
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If I could move the goal posts we would have won 4 - 0
 
If he wants to come to the club as reported we should be looking to get a deal for Majer done before the window shuts it's someone like him we need with defence splitting passes good set piece delivery and can fire one in from distance
 
My, what a turnaround from the 29th dec 2019.

We had a fantastic run before the break and in any season no team keeps up that pace. There will be more scrappy games like this, that comes with the territory of a league campaign.

As for no Alfie, didnt we recently get a cracking result at Easter rd without him. Take a win and be thankful.
 
KGR98 said:
If he wants to come to the club as reported we should be looking to get a deal for Majer done before the window shuts it's someone like him we need with defence splitting passes good set piece delivery and can fire one in from distance
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If the rumour is true that he's available for €3-4m, we would be absolutely mental not to go for it.
 
g87 said:
Although his short sharp movements are good, his all around pace and movement around the pitch doesnt lend itself to our game.
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Don’t think even having Alfie on would’ve made much difference tonight, too many poor performances.
 
We need a real presence in the box when that ball comes in. Defoe for all his goalscoring instincts isnt that sort of player and Alfie plays his best football in and around the box. The big Egyptian guy Mohammed we were looking at recently might be that person.
 
I think a couple of attacking options would be the way to go, we still struggle to get through teams who sit with 11 behind the ball. There's no need for 3 defensive midfielders in these games. Rotate 2 of the 3 with more attacking options
 
Necro said:
I keep seeing our management say that the squad needs to be trimmed and we will add 1 player maximum, I find this to be extremely alarming.

We do have deadwood that needs to be shifted but at the same time, we are very light in key areas and could really do with strengthening now rather than in the summer if we are serious about challenging for the title.

Midfield:

Our current first choice midfield 3 is Davis, Jack and Kamara, given how we always play one of Aribo or Arifled in the advanced role on the right, we more often than not only have 1 midfield option on the bench. We are one injury or suspension away from having absolutely no adequate cover.

Winger/Wide#10:

With all due respect to Jones, Barker and Ojo, they are either not suited to our system or flat out not good enough in at least one case.

We are a Kent injury away from a crisis on the left and have no viable options to go with two conventional wingers should we ever feel the need.

Striker:

Morelos is the best player in the league by a distance in my opinion however is prone to suspension, it doesn't matter if you take the view that he's refereed to a different standard or it's all his fault(I dont know why you'd think this) but it's fact.

Defoe is a top finisher but at his age, a simple hamstring injury could end his season, potentially even his career if it became a recurring problem.

I've seen lots of people say that you can't sign someone to come here and happily sit in the stand as 3rd choice, that is absolute nonsense as you sign players to compete for places, not concede them.

Left Back:

Barisic is the difference between our league position this year compared to last, the gulf in quality between him and Halliday/Flanagan is too big, we need someone who plays in a similar style.
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Although I agree we could always strengthen, we have got to this stage losing one game in the league , we have a very good team capable of winning the league as our form shows.
 
EduardoHerrera said:
We are crying out for a striker and attacking midfielder and I genuinely think we will slip up in home games like tonight if we dont
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I think were needing a big strong striker who can keep big central defenders on there toes, and push them around if need be.
And if our tactics need to be changed by putting crosses into the oppositions box , it therfore gives us other options, that we don't have at the moment.
Omo.?
 
I think OP is right. Don't think you win the league with just two strikers. We need a third. Hearts away will be massive.Play like tonight and a 0-0 or 1-1 won't be far away.We don't need other Andy King either. I think we need to go out and spent 2 or 3 million on aa attacking mid/3rd striker/back right up or other creative outlet to pull us through games when Alfie is out.
 
I still think we need a player who can play out wide and up front, someone who can rotate with any of the front 3. I just don’t expect us to sign anyone
 
In a strange way, you could argue that signing players in January last year hampered us (while helping us long term)
We shoehorned Defoe and Davis in at Killie and we were generally poor that day, yes worrall made a mistake as did McGregor but we weren’t at it.
I feel we 100% need a player, be it a striker or someone as comfortable in behind as they are up front. The thought of going to Tynecastle without a striker had anything happened to Defoe gave me the fear
 
Necro said:
You either don't know what diatribe means or you're incredibly defensive about the state of our squad.

I didn't mention Patterson because I'd be perfectly happy with him as Tav cover until the end of the season
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Based on what?
 
Ideally this is the time for a Kamara type signing. A free agent in the summer who we can bring in on the cheap and get them adjusted with the hope they force their way into the team.

Doesn’t seem we have anyone lined up in this category this season though.
 
I've just said the same in another thread.

If we're going to hope Morelos and Defoe is enough, we're dicing with the possibility of another "Umar Sadiq" type game. It could cost us vital points. Even just without Morelos, I feel a draw is never far away, which is a concern for Sunday. We'll need something like we did at Hibs, strike early to kill them off.

I'll be honest, at this stage I think the league is going to be so tight that I don't really care about the Europa League, or even the Scottish cup.

Right now we have the initiative in the league. By the tiniest of fractions. If we fall short in this league campaign, we can't guarantee we'll be in as strong as position next January. Indeed, we'll surely not have Alfredo next January. Its impossible that he'll be replaced with someone of equal quality....so we are going to be weaker next year In that sense.

This season, we need to "strike whilst the iron is hot". This title is very much on for us if we want to seize it. But if we stand still now, we go backwards.
 
Our midfield has been great this season, but tonight we really could have done with a more attacking midfielder.
 
Necro said:
I agree with this.

I love Defoe but he's not suited to playing as a lone striker in our system
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Whenever he plays we seem to lack a certain physicality and focal point to our attack. He's a great finisher and exactly the guy you want on the end of stuff, but outwith that he doesn't do much. We also really need to stop floating crosses in to him, he's 5'7 %^*& sake.
 
My thoughts are we have a couple of players but we won’t let it out until end of month let the manky mob get shit players then announce what we have let’s hope so
 
Coplandbear said:
Still could do with two players imo.

Another quality forward and a midfielder for me.
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I agree, we are still a bit short and if we get any more injuries or suspensions we could be in trouble. Another two decent quality squad additions could see us over the line at the end of the season.
 
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