Guess the player who has not played in the 9 games we have lost this season?

I honestly think we would be strong with that or 4/4/2 with the midfield of Mcrorie, Kamara , Arfield and Candeas/Kent with Morelos and Defoe up front .

It seems though Gerrard will never play two through the middle no matter what .


I think he may now.
Probably in the kind of formation you've suggested, but definitely not 3-5-2, as others have.
 
We have to stop building up young players just to knock them down again. Ross is a great prospect but needs time on the training ground to work on his weaknesses. Considering him against Jack he is lacking in use o the ball and retention of the ball. While it easy to remember his great games he has also had some very average ones as well, just as you would expect from a young player.

To heap expectation on him is simply setting him up to fail.
 
Mccrorie "is an animal" says gerrard, he puts out fires ....well its been an inferno thats engulfed our game since the break, he would be one of the first on my team sheet, the protection he gives the defence cannot be underestimated .
 
Stats can be twisted but McCrorie is the kind of player who would have revelled in those conditions the other night.It wasn't a night for pretty football.It was always going to be a battle,their 8 bookings prove it and he has the combative streak we were sadly lacking.
He is far from the finished article but in a tough game he gives us an edge.
 
The best we played last season was when we had him as sweeper in front of the 2 central defenders.
 
Ross McCrorie shows great potential and could/should have a long and successful career ahead of him. Trying to build him up, right now, as the saviour of our season or a catalyst for a sea-change in our fortunes is both wrong and highly unfair on a young lad who is, very much, still learning the game. We’ve seen him have great games and we’ve seen a few disastrous performances as well. Let’s not forget that, it’s what happens with developing players.

I’m not against seeing more of young Ross but a bit of perspective as to where he is in terms of his development is required.
 
Ross McCrorie shows great potential and could/should have a long and successful career ahead of him. Trying to build him up, right now, as the saviour of our season or a catalyst for a sea-change in our fortunes is both wrong and highly unfair on a young lad who is, very much, still learning the game. We’ve seen him have great games and we’ve seen a few disastrous performances as well. Let’s not forget that, it’s what happens with developing players.

I’m not against seeing more of young Ross but a bit of perspective as to where he is in terms of his development is required.


Agreed that we should not be pinning all our hopes on young Ross, however...

i think it is pretty obvious to most people that we miss him in the "big" games. The ones where we are going to have to win the battle before we can make any progress in the game. He isn't needed in games at home against St Midden or Hamilton as we have enough to beat them. I would argue that even away from home against these teams he isn't a necessity.

its the games against Aberdeen, Hibs, the tims etc that he needs to be in that midfield.
 
Worries me SG doesn’t seem to rate Mccrorie as much as it looked like he did earlier in the season, thought the whole plan was to help him get his confidence back. Captain for 2019/20 is essential.
 
His record is great and he "suits certain games". But his use of the ball is still nowhere near good enough to be a midfielder for us every week, that's an issue as he is good enough to be playing in the team every week. The fact he has barely featured since the home draw at St Johnstone is for that reason. Jack and Kamara have been building a decent partnership, albeit Jack was uncharacteristically bad at Pittordrie and Kamara the same at Ibrox mid-week.

His attributes better suit being a top class defender. I know most probably disagree, but I think it needs more thought. He has excellent defensive instincts, is strong in the air, strong in the tackle and he has pace. He is also great with the ball at feet when the game is all in front of him, just not so good when it is all around him.

Goldson and Worrall have been poor recently, especially in terms of their lack of pace defensively and their slow, unimaginative use of the ball at the back. Let's give Ross a game there again. He can carry it out of the defence and have a midfielder cover, something we are incapable of doing at the moment, watch Aberdeen just let our centre halves have the ball in all of our games against them this season.

He made mistakes against the best strikers in the league last season, he was a young lad playing next to Russell Martin and in a team getting humped! Let's not be blind to see he could improve us enormously in a weak area of our team.
 
How many of the games we have drawn has he played?

We have have lost 4 games in the league but the amount of horrible draws we have is killing us on that front.
 
Absolutely no way you can say we would have won if he played in those games,If he had played and we lost this thread wouldn't exist.

My four in the middle would be Ross,Arfield,Kamara,Halliday/Jack

But he didn't and he has that quite impressive stat. We certainly wouldn't have lost them all that's for sure.

Nobody brings the same level as tenacity to our play as McCrorie does.
 
I’m not saying big Ross is the answer
But
After the Celtic game he was suppose to be in charge of the jersey
After his outstanding performance

He’s also had some solid games in there
Never gets bullied

Gerrard didn’t stick to his word as Cowdenbeath game got cancelled
The team that beat Celtic should have started v killie

I think he’s earned the jersey an got it took for no reason
Similar to katic early in season
 
I think he’d be best used as a centre back. Good in the air, no slouch, bites into tackles and passes quickly and simply. A captain in waiting. I think in midfield we need more creativity than maybe he can provide. Kamara is the only one who is a first pick for central midfield. McCrorie playing next to an experienced centre back would bring him on leaps and bounds. The other berths are up for grabs. Mind you, in an out and out battle, for certain games I would be happy to include McCrorie in our midfield.
 
I think he’d be best used as a centre back. Good in the air, no slouch, bites into tackles and passes quickly and simply. A captain in waiting. I think in midfield we need more creativity than maybe he can provide. Kamara is the only one who is a first pick for central midfield. Playing next to an experienced centre back would bring him on leaps and bounds. The other berths are up for grabs. Mind you, in an out and out battle, for certain games I would be happy to include McCrorie in our midfield.

Exactly.

If he suits the midfield for certain games, put him in there and bring someone else in to the back. He can't be some sort of battle specialist his entire career, especially if he is to be a captain and leader.

Get him in in the first 11 every week. At the back when we don't need him in midfield, and in the middle when we expect a war.
 
12 wins and two draws ( both Vs hibs ) where we dominated and deserved to win with mccrorie and as stated no defeats, not bad for a guy who is so bad on the ball

It makes you wonder about the football knowledge of some of our fans.
 
M
Gerrard’s use of McCrorie has been very poor.

The lad played the game of his life against Celtic and was rewarded by being dropped in the next game.

Can’t fathom how he isn’t first name on the team sheet.
Couldnt agree more mate.

Then dropped McCrorie for Kamara, id have McCrorie before Jack espcially on form recently.

McCrorie would be my captain
 
He wins every second ball in the middle of the park which gets us back on the attack quicker.

Shinnie dominated Jack again which is becoming a worrying trend in this fixture.

Bang on. Some dont seem to get the importance of getting possession back quickly and turning the opposition. McCrorie is what Coulibaly was meant to be.
 
If we're sticking with three in the middle then it should be McCrorie for his ball-winning, Kamara similar plus more mobile/creative and Davis for the busy-ness and passing ability. I'm hoping that SD hasn't lost his legs and he's struggling through lack of games.
We need someone in there to quicken our trundling ball rotation and the old Steve Davis is the only one I see who has/had that. But he needs to play for us to find out.
 
We have to stop building up young players just to knock them down again. Ross is a great prospect but needs time on the training ground to work on his weaknesses. Considering him against Jack he is lacking in use o the ball and retention of the ball. While it easy to remember his great games he has also had some very average ones as well, just as you would expect from a young player.

To heap expectation on him is simply setting him up to fail.

Dont agree. If he's good enough he's old enough. He's our best midfielder.
 
Bang on. Some dont seem to get the importance of getting possession back quickly and turning the opposition. McCrorie is what Coulibaly was meant to be.
Yep...Shinnie didnt do it to McCrorie at the game we won 4-2 up there, first half he was so effective at winning 2nd balls. The fact Gerrard didnt play him in the 2 games worries me
 
I guess the answer to the OP's question is Ross McCrorie, but Andy Halliday has also been left out for quite a number of the games we've lost this season. I wasn't always a huge fan of AH, but this season he's been a high performer in any game he's played. Should be one of the first names on SG's teamsheet every week.
 
Yep...Shinnie didnt do it to McCrorie at the game we won 4-2 up there, first half he was so effective at winning 2nd balls. The fact Gerrard didnt play him in the 2 games worries me

I now see Gerrard's biggest failing has been that he's too loyal to certain players and regularly bigs them up although I also accept that he has to put a 'team' on the park, not just the eleven individual best footballers. If you ignore the relationships, the chemistry between players you'll eventually lose the dressing room so he's persisted with certain favourites and also I believe that's why he made Tav, who is very popular, the captain. I understand his approach.
But, the hard truth is, it's not working. It must change.
 
I guess the answer to the OP's question is Ross McCrorie, but Andy Halliday has also been left out for quite a number of the games we've lost this season. I wasn't always a huge fan of AH, but this season he's been a high performer in any game he's played. Should be one of the first names on SG's teamsheet every week.
We don't win on the 29th December without halliday and mccrorie IMO
 
McCrorie would be my first pick in midfield. Tackling, physical presence, height and a good reader of the game. The passing he can work on.
 
If we're sticking with three in the middle then it should be McCrorie for his ball-winning, Kamara similar plus more mobile/creative and Davis for the busy-ness and passing ability. I'm hoping that SD hasn't lost his legs and he's struggling through lack of games.
We need someone in there to quicken our trundling ball rotation and the old Steve Davis is the only one I see who has/had that. But he needs to play for us to find out.

Sad to say, I don't think we will come close to seeing the old Davis this time around. I've not even seen glimpses of it in his cameos so far. He's used to playing much deeper these days and I don't think he's what we need in that department. I doubt very much we will sign him in the Summer.
 
What use would a McCrorie be against teams like Aberdeen that sit in? He's not the creative type that we need to get through their entrenched defence.

He wins second balls which allow us to build momentum and pressure.

Wins battles, which we lost a lot of.

Is actually willing to carry the ball forward and move it into positive areas quickly.

At 20 years old he’s more of a leader than 90% of them.
 
We’ve had plenty of shite performances this season when mccrorie has been in the team.

The thought that we are one player away from never losing again is mental.
 
We’ve had plenty of shite performances this season when mccrorie has been in the team.

The thought that we are one player away from never losing again is mental.
What games would they be mate ? And regardless of performance we don't lose when mccrorie plays.
 
Most dynamic midfielder on the books for me.

As well as his own contribution I think his dynamism rubs of on the rest of the team and helps get the overall tempo up.
 
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