Barker & King added to European Squad

[CaptainCourageous]

I'll be surprised if King and Barker are more up to speed than Helander.

I don't know what pre season Barker had but he missed the end of last season with a hamstring injury.

King completed pre season with Leicester and played in two matches.

Helander looked more ready yesterday out of the three of them, although King and Barker came on as subs. Would certainly have King in there over Docherty. Just a better, more experienced player.

 

[BlueSevenTwo]

If we had got him to the championship it would have improved his value though.

More or likely happen in January now

Problem there is if left until January his stock down south will have gone down on last season.

 

[The Pontiac Bandit]

What happens if 2 of Katic, Goldson and Edmundson get injured between now and the 2nd leg, can we add Helander to the squad?

 

[Plissken]

I keep reading people thought he looked great. I have to be honest looking at him defensively on the day I thought he looked a bit weak at times in the tackle and looked a bit eager to win balls that couldn’t be won. Also felt he had a few moments that looked rather fortuitous that he wasn’t caught on the ball.

I wouldn’t judge anyone based on that pitch though so not really too worried. Also I appreciate others thought he looked immense and I have been wrong before (Messi was shite when I saw him as a 16/17 year old) .

And yes I know he had an assist and a goal and looked good on the ball. Just talking about his defensive performance.

I seen absolutely none of that, the guy strolled it, composed throughout.

 

[dh1963]

What happens if 2 of Katic, Goldson and Edmundson get injured between now and the 2nd leg, can we add Helander to the squad?

I don't think so.

 

[Union Jack 1872]

Problem there is if left until January his stock down south will have gone down on last season.

I don’t think League 1 will do him much good and the Championship is closed for signings till January.

 

[Chris the Bandito]

I want Docherty to be a success, as he is a fan living the dream, but he hasn’t been able to force his way in to our midfield and with Andy King coming in he is now probably 6th choice for one of the 3 positions.

He played almost 100 games for Accies before signing for us and then went away and played 40 games on loan last year, but as things stand we have better players in his position. If he stays he will be leaning from Stevie G and Gary Mac, two fantastic midfielders, but his game time will be limited.

If he goes out on loan he will get game time, but I don’t know if that would be helpful as he has already played 150+ senior games, so it’s not the same as a younger player like McPake or Middleton that needs to get some games under their belt to help their development.

It’s a bit of a tough one.

I think Gerrard views Docherty as an alternative to Kamara/ Davis/ Jack. 2 of them will start, and you don't need 2 more on the bench.

King I think is viewed as Aribo cover and might be needed at least on the bench if Aribo gets a yellow in the first leg

 

[temperance]

What happens if 2 of Katic, Goldson and Edmundson get injured between now and the 2nd leg, can we add Helander to the squad?

No, but we would have to be really unlucky for that to happen.

 

[stonewall Jackson]

Helander is fourth choice as it stands.

No need to find a space for him just because he cost big money. He’ll need to earn it.

When Helander is fully match fit and up to speed he will be first pick CB along with Goldson. It's only a matter of time.

 

[ICA_86]

This thread just shows how lacking in depths our recent squads have been.

People getting their fanny flaps in a twist because they’re not used to having such depth in every position outwith left back, it’s all a big positive for me. We’re leaving out players that would have been first picks over the last three years, fantastic work from Gerrard and Allen.

 

[5*RFC]

Looking forward to seeing what King and Barker are about. Give it everything you've got lads.

 

[TavsRightFoot]

Does anyone have a list then of updated squad numbers?

 

[gordon_blue]

Read that in a hurry and thought we were being sponsored by Burger King.

 

[blue genes]

Would love it if Docherty made it, but in the, albeit short, game time he’s had unfortunately he hasn’t convinced.

Maybe he’ll want to stay & give it a go until January, but if he’s not made any impact by then I reckon it’s time up.

 

[Sweet55]

Weird move for me, neither king nor Barker can be any more match fit than Helander, and it's far more important for us to have CB cover than Barker as an additional winger. Feels like manager sending a message, hopefully a positive one to Barker rather than a negative one to Helander. Be interesting to see if the latter features v St Mirren

 

[Starting Anew]

Would make sense if we weren't putting Barker and King into the squad who have barely kicked a ball all preseason.

They’ve both had a full preseason though, at high level clubs where we’d trust their fitness prep. King played in most of Leicester’s preseason games. Not sure about Barker but would presume he’s been playing in some preseason events at some level. Both come in ready to play football. Their stumbling block is learning how Gerrard wants them to play and how to integrate with their team mates on the pitch. For Barker, it would seem very much a one for one swap with either Jones or Ojo with all 3 having very similar play styles. The brief cameo of King in East Fife spoke of his experience with him looking very comfortable and actually leading and organising the other players within minutes of being on the pitch. I’d have no doubts that he could do a job if needed (though i’d be happiest with him having more time in training to bed in).

Helander came with virtually no preseason and no games. Because his league starts later. He’s still getting up to speed and hasn’t had a chance to play much football because he missed most of our preseason games. Just bad timing. I suspect he’ll play against St Mirren with it being seen as a lower risk game and, from then, it’s every man for himself as to which 2 players take the centre back roles. Personally I struggle to see past the Goldson/Katic combination but Helander did look better in the air than Goldson and more confident on the ball than either. I will not be unhappy with any 2 of our current centre backs.

 

[Ter]

Does anyone have a list then of updated squad numbers?

King is 29 and Barker 21 if that's what you are looking for

 

[Forth Bear]

No especially as Kamara was rank bad on Sunday and is in the squad, if I was Docherty I would be asking the question.

Kamara had a bad game on Sunday, but he's several levels above Docherty.

Docherty came on last Thursday and our midfield went to shit, so he can have no complaints.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

I keep reading people thought he looked great. I have to be honest looking at him defensively on the day I thought he looked a bit weak at times in the tackle and looked a bit eager to win balls that couldn’t be won. Also felt he had a few moments that looked rather fortuitous that he wasn’t caught on the ball.

I wouldn’t judge anyone based on that pitch though so not really too worried. Also I appreciate others thought he looked immense and I have been wrong before (Messi was shite when I saw him as a 16/17 year old) .

And yes I know he had an assist and a goal and looked good on the ball. Just talking about his defensive performance.

I agree and said the same on the match thread but got shot down for daring to say the 3m pound man didnt look like a world beater.
He looked competent as expected but had a few moments that looked like he wasnt match sharp.

 

[The Huguenot]

There are 9 months of football still to go which will be full of twists and turns. I love it.