Levein on Vanecek...........again.....!!

[Harry Potter]

1 minute ago, RS86 said:

 

Was it Levein who subbed on Boyack and then took him back off again one time? I might have made that up, memory isn't what it was lol

I was subbed for corrie thistle then subbed again, manager was clueless 

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

5 hours ago, jamboj said:

I think you might be right there, given our lack of options on the bench. Others have said it - even from being out of shape, it doesn't take four months to get back to a standard worth a sub's jersey. Strongly suspect he is not up to the standard and what we're hearing is a distraction from that. 

It's Stockton all over again as far as I can see. A player who shows up well on a few clips against weak opposition. We need to stop going for big lumps unless they can do something like Uche or MDV.

[Ron Burgundy]

12 minutes ago, RS86 said:

 

Was it Levein who subbed on Boyack and then took him back off again one time? I might have made that up, memory isn't what it was lol

Was that not Stephen Simmonds?

[Harry Potter]

1 minute ago, All roads lead to Gorgie said:

It's Stockton all over again as far as I can see. A player who shows up well on a few clips against weak opposition. We need to stop going for big lumps unless they can do something like Uche or MDV.

Where do they actually watch them, seems a bit suss to me.

Agents taking the piss, money money money 

[Bull's-eye]

So to summarise, nobody really has a Scooby what has happened to Vanacek or what is the real story behind his absence. 

 

Ah well, I expected so much more.

 

 

 

 

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

5 minutes ago, Harry Potter said:

Where do they actually watch them, seems a bit suss to me.

Agents taking the piss, money money money 

I wish Craig himself would go and watch the players in action in a few games. It should be home and away to see how they perform not just a few good touches but how hard they work for team mates. 

[AGoodLaugh]

I honestly can't believe that he's not fit enough after four months. He played consistently in a European top flight until December and supposedly a month's holiday has essentially ended his season? I haven't played 90 minutes in about five years and I eat takeaway three times a week, but if tomorrow somebody started paying me two grand a week just to get fit enough to last a full match I imagine I would be ready by September. 

[AGoodLaugh]

23 minutes ago, All roads lead to Gorgie said:

It's Stockton all over again as far as I can see. A player who shows up well on a few clips against weak opposition. We need to stop going for big lumps unless they can do something like Uche or MDV.

Stockton, by the way, has played for three teams since leaving us just over a year ago and has scored 1 goal for each of them. At least he's consistent I guess? ?

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

1 minute ago, AGoodLaugh said:

Stockton, by the way, has played for three teams since leaving us just over a year ago and has scored 1 goal for each of them. At least he's consistent I guess? ?

Prolific by our standards.

Expect to see him back next season then.

[Cruyff Turn]

1 hour ago, WheatfieldWarrior said:

 

I'm not entirely sure that I understand the point being made, but Edwards was really a squad player, in the area that we have the fewest injuries, him not being selected ahead of others isn't a surprise. 

Well the point is, he could have just dropped him to the reserves, pounded him in training, gave him a bollocking in private and said in public he needs to adapt.

 

Edwards just went missing with no explanation whatsoever, which was the point you were arguing why Levein had to apparently ruin the boy in public.

 

 

[RS86]

45 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Was that not Stephen Simmonds?

 

It might well have been

[Harry Potter]

33 minutes ago, AGoodLaugh said:

Stockton, by the way, has played for three teams since leaving us just over a year ago and has scored 1 goal for each of them. At least he's consistent I guess? ?

Forgot about him, ha ha, sums it up farce

[Harry Potter]

48 minutes ago, Artful Dodger said:

So to summarise, nobody really has a Scooby what has happened to Vanacek or what is the real story behind his absence. 

 

Ah well, I expected so much more.

 

Maybe goat a job as a dancer, good pass to clare though, set us up for the final

 

 

 

 

[tian447]

1 hour ago, All roads lead to Gorgie said:

Prolific by our standards.

Expect to see him back next season then.

 

28 goals in 188 career appearances.  

 

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

2 minutes ago, tian447 said:

 

28 goals in 188 career appearances.  

 

His career must have started at age six 

[WheatfieldWarrior]

1 hour ago, Cruyff Turn said:

Well the point is, he could have just dropped him to the reserves, pounded him in training, gave him a bollocking in private and said in public he needs to adapt.

 

Edwards just went missing with no explanation whatsoever, which was the point you were arguing why Levein had to apparently ruin the boy in public.

 

 

 

He absolutely could have been nicer re Vanacek, but I feel we needed a big and immediate reaction from the player (and we also to manage fans expectations). I think this was really unprofessional from Vanacek to not keep himself fit. This all said, that was then, this is now and I'll be hoping he gets in the goals in the last few games.

 

It looks like Edwards was signed early in case we didn't get anyone else and we got Clare and also pushed Haring into midfield as well as broadly keeping the CMs fit.  He has been a complete professional with a great attitude - Levein has kept a respectful silence while there weren't any immediate opportunities for him to play , he did looked hungry in the last game.  

 

I would say that the difference in the way the 2 situations are handled have been a response to professionalism and attitude as much as anything.

Edited May 7, 2019 by WheatfieldWarrior

[Robbo-Jambo]

8 hours ago, MTS1874 said:

 

Neither do I, he’s been with us since January working under head of fitness Tom Taylor and the best training facilities in Scottish football. How can he not be fit?

He must be fit now.

 

The impression I get from all of this is he is a sh*te footballer and Levein doesn't want to admit his mistake.

 

He has been here for 4 fecking months so how can he not be fit enough to make the bench. Strange affair the whole thing since he arrived. There is more to it than meets the eye IMO

[ducatiboy]

3 hours ago, King Joffrey said:

Levein has 2 criticisms. 1. He wasn't and isn't fit. 2. He isn't physical enough for our league. 

 

On fitness levels we spent months talking about him being Lafferty's replacement and tried to get him early. Why weren't we monitoring his fitness BEFORE he got here given we were looking for him to start as a first team player on arrival? We must have had some access to him and been in regular contact? 

 

I'm more critical of the second point as it sums up our recruitment failings. Levein wanted a battering ram. He signed someone who isn't that player then blames the player. He was quoted as saying vanecek needs to realise in Scotland the ball is in the air. Yes. Cos we're kicking it there. 

Spot on!

[Cwapsy]

2 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

He must be fit now.

 

The impression I get from all of this is he is a sh*te footballer and Levein doesn't want to admit his mistake.

 

He has been here for 4 fecking months so how can he not be fit enough to make the bench. Strange affair the whole thing since he arrived. There is more to it than meets the eye IMO

 

The article explains this. He is fit (physically) to play but now his head isn't right confidence wise. Direct quotes from Levein in evening news. 

 

4 months to get fit but his confidence has been affected by it all

[Robbo-Jambo]

6 minutes ago, Cwapsy said:

 

The article explains this. He is fit (physically) to play but now his head isn't right confidence wise. Direct quotes from Levein in evening news. 

 

4 months to get fit but his confidence has been affected by it all

How does that get fixed then.

 

. When he sees the 18 man squad and he is not in it every week that will not help his confidence.

 

Surely if he is fit he could give him a 20 min run out to slowly get his confidence back from the bench

Edited May 7, 2019 by Robbo-Jambo

[Cwapsy]

1 minute ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

How does that get fixed then.

 

. When he sees the 18 man squad and he is not in it every wek that will not help his confidence.

 

Surely if he is fit he could give him a 20 min run out to slowly get his confidence back

 

I'd actually give play him against Aberdeen and Celtic. I'd say go out and enjoy it.

 

I'm not a football manager though, I'm just a nice guy. That's how I'd manage it though. 

 

The tough love hasn't worked so maybe the arm around the shoulder (man management) style would.

[Robbo-Jambo]

1 minute ago, Cwapsy said:

 

I'd actually give play him against Aberdeen and Celtic. I'd say go out and enjoy it.

 

I'm not a football manager though, I'm just a nice guy. That's how I'd manage it though. 

 

The tough love hasn't worked so maybe the arm around the shoulder (man management) style would.

Agree. Kind of what I am saying his confidence will not improve if he is kept hidden.

 

He needs some sort of game time with the first team to build it back up slowly.

[Stephen Muddie]

Another bizarre episode in the Craig Levein era. Bizarre quotes from CL too. 

 

We've wasted a lot of time and money on poor signings (time will tell if DV is one or not).

 

CL seems to look for basic physical qualities in players then tries to "mould" them into his tactical arrangement. I'd be looking for a manager who plays tactics which compliment the playing squad's strengths.

 

Does not take a genius to realise that signing continental-style players used to football on the deck and then firing missiles at them isn't going to achieve much.

 

Terrible man management... Glad to see many on this thread are noticing how he was fit enough to play on immediate arrival. This is what CL does to players unfortunately... It's his way or gtf. That's ok if you're winning games likes...

Edited May 7, 2019 by Stephen Muddie

[Prof]

Yet another bad management howler from CL. Apparently Vanacecks confidence is gone - I wonder why. Clearly it’s not related to the public humiliation dished out on him by CL. 

[amadjambo]

I was at Hamilton when Vanacek last played, and he wasn’t even close to being our worst player. Yet he got hooked at HT. From what I can recall Vanacek has had about one scoring chance since he signed, and he rattled the bar with it at Hamilton. The whole thing is really baffling.

[tian447]

1 hour ago, All roads lead to Gorgie said:

His career must have started at age six 

 

A 6 year old would have been more effective up front for us!

 

[saxondale]

8 hours ago, Vlad the impaler said:

I’d question Maclean being confident, up until the last 3 games he’s looked anything but....that’s 50% of your strikers not confident....that’s my point. We seem to have a knack of making decent strikers average. This goes back to the likes of John Sutton,Gavin Reilly etc

 

MacLean was not lacking confidence, he is just pretty limited and not the sort of player that can create a chance out of nothing - he needs more creative players around him.

 

But whether it is 50% of players that you think lack self confidence or not, that doesn't suggest anything more than what it actually is - a player turning up unfit and thinking he can stroll right into the team.

 

And Reilly and Sutton were never decent players...certainly not good enough for us.

[Roman1874]

11 hours ago, Bainy said:

Mind Naismith took about half a season before we seen his full potential at the start of this year. 

 

I genuinely think he has been taken aback by how fast the game is here and it does seem to take some foreign players time to adaprt to the pace. We had a greek international last season that looked a player but just could not handle the pace. Not defending the guy as he was all over social media giving it big licks about how good he was, only to go off on a month holiday and turn up out of shape which is a disgrace. 

 

Still hopeful after a full pre season we will see him come good but I do have my doubts on this one. 

 

Didn’t know Scottish football was known for it’s pace. Physicality yes, but the tempo compared to almost every other league in Europe it’s slow

[Robbo-Jambo]

1 hour ago, Stephen Muddie said:

Another bizarre episode in the Craig Levein era. Bizarre quotes from CL too. 

 

We've wasted a lot of time and money on poor signings (time will tell if DV is one or not).

 

CL seems to look for basic physical qualities in players then tries to "mould" them into his tactical arrangement. I'd be looking for a manager who plays tactics which compliment the playing squad's strengths.

 

Does not take a genius to realise that signing continental-style players used to football on the deck and then firing missiles at them isn't going to achieve much.

 

Terrible man management... Glad to see many on this thread are noticing how he was fit enough to play on immediate arrival. This is what CL does to players unfortunately... It's his way or gtf. That's ok if you're winning games likes...

Well said

[Roman1874]

Craig Levein as an ex-defender doesn’t have a clue about what strikers to bring in simple as that, which is why we have so many strikers who are only good at one thing which is holding up play, apart from Naismith but we can’t rely on only him since he is quite injury prone. 

[Tokyo Drifter]

11 hours ago, Kylejordan said:

Just bit worried though. Levein states he is suffering from a lack of confidence which is understandable seeing how things have gone for him. 

What isn’t gonna help his confidence is being put as a lone man upfront and have the ball pumped up to him and just watch the ball go back the other way. 

Wont help his confidence at all against Celtic. They will just soak that up. 

I really think with a full pre season under his belt and the right style of play with the ball to his feet as will see the best of him. Just don’t think we should destroy the guys confidence in these last two games. 

 

 

Agree mostly but he needs game time and we can't risk Uche. I say play him up front with Wighton for the last two games, see if one of them can at least win a place on the bench for the final.

[grumpyespana]

Thought Vanecek was of the pace while in Spain and was surprised he got a start when they returned to Edinburgh.

[Kylejordan]

8 minutes ago, Tokyo Drifter said:

 

Agree mostly but he needs game time and we can't risk Uche. I say play him up front with Wighton for the last two games, see if one of them can at least win a place on the bench for the final.

Agree to pal. Maybe it will help Wighton as well. Instead of having him play as a lone striker chasing hump balls up the pitch. 

At least we always seem to up our game against Celtic. 

[Rudy T]

I’m almost now at the point of not caring what CL says. All season we’ve heard about players who are this that and the next thing, yet here we are 6th in the league with a injury list that’s almost to bad to believe, supposedly unfit players, those with confidence issues or whatever.

 

Just get to that cup final and stick a team out there that can defy the odds and win the trophy, the league is done so the cup is all that matters.

 

After that game CL can step down up sideways whatever way he wants just get a fresh management team in place too look at this squad and work out what to do with it. We have good players, decent prospects and some dross but it’s Leveins so he can’t see past a lot of them. We need a change of direction ASAP.

[soonbe110]

50 minutes ago, amadjambo said:

I was at Hamilton when Vanacek last played, and he wasn’t even close to being our worst player. Yet he got hooked at HT. From what I can recall Vanacek has had about one scoring chance since he signed, and he rattled the bar with it at Hamilton. The whole thing is really baffling.

That was an open goal from about five yards  if I remember correctly. Displayed zero confidence, effort or skill that day. Ambled around. Others were the same but he was very poor when you would expect him to bust a gut after being given the chance to shine. 

[jambopilms]

the big problem is he wants him to be just like Uche. It never going to happen.

[DarthVodka]

4 hours ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Was that not Stephen Simmonds?

 

Yeah it was, and it was cos he told either Levein or one of the coaching staff to **** off when he was asked to do something from the sidelines.  Levein well within his rights there 

[Section Q]

2 hours ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Agree. Kind of what I am saying his confidence will not improve if he is kept hidden.

 

He needs some sort of game time with the first team to build it back up slowly.

Hook him up with Sammon for advice...!

 

[Section Q]

Levein won't play him until he survives the Gullane dunes....!!

[RobboM]

Other than his 1st team appearances I think I've seen Vanecek 4 times with the reserves. Despite playing in a couple of games against very young opposition he didn't take the opportunity to go to town and bang in a few to show Levein (in attendance) what he can deliver. The only time I can recall him making an impression on me was for about 10-15 minutes before half time in the reserve match against St Mirren. He started playing in a completely free role, dropping deep, popping up wide on left and right and linking play with touches and lay offs. More like a McLean than an Uche. 

[Don Dan]

I think no one can say how good he is or isn’t. Other than those working with him day in and day out. 

The whole thing is bizarre though. 

Edited May 7, 2019 by Dannie Boy

[Jean Louis Valois]

2 hours ago, Prof said:

Yet another bad management howler from CL. Apparently Vanacecks confidence is gone - I wonder why. Clearly it’s not related to the public humiliation dished out on him by CL. 

Totally this. Another managerial masterclass from our useless manager.

[amadjambo]

1 hour ago, soonbe110 said:

That was an open goal from about five yards  if I remember correctly. Displayed zero confidence, effort or skill that day. Ambled around. Others were the same but he was very poor when you would expect him to bust a gut after being given the chance to shine. 

It came to him very quickly and he struck the shot well, just unfortunately off the bar. I thought he worked hard but the whole team were honking. Certainly don’t think he deserved to be completely frozen out based on this performance. 

[Jammy T]

You see new players such as:

 

Clare and Mulraney have been played and given the chance to get up the standard required and IMO we are starting to see them get to the standard.

 

So Levein is prepared to play players to get them up to speed - presumably if they show the right attitude.

 

You can imply therefore that Vanacek doesn’t have the appropriate attitude and isn’t doing what he is told.

 

That is genuinely the only thing you can take from a comparison between the players mentioned.

[Rocky jamboa]

There must be more to this. He has played ok the times I've seen him. Seems to have more about him that wighton and McLean but they continually get picked.

 

How can it take a professional footballer 4 months to get fit?! It doesn't make sense. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

I do remember when he was simply going to replace an international striker who had scored 19 goals the previous season based on his YouTube compilation!

[Robbo-Jambo]

23 minutes ago, Jammy T said:

You see new players such as:

 

Clare and Mulraney have been played and given the chance to get up the standard required and IMO we are starting to see them get to the standard.

 

So Levein is prepared to play players to get them up to speed - presumably if they show the right attitude.

 

You can imply therefore that Vanacek doesn’t have the appropriate attitude and isn’t doing what he is told.

 

That is genuinely the only thing you can take from a comparison between the players mentioned.

Could be his attitude. Could be that he he is just crap. Clare and Mulraney had talent and were persevered with. Really not sure about this guy. He seems to be a bit of a mystery since he arrived. Something else behind the scenes possibly going on? 

[Jammy T]

21 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Could be his attitude. Could be that he he is just crap. Clare and Mulraney had talent and were persevered with. Really not sure about this guy. He seems to be a bit of a mystery since he arrived. Something else behind the scenes possibly going on? 

 

Why does he give some players a chance to adapt and improve and not others?

 

If it was just Levein being a dick then a number of players wouldn’t have played more than 30 mins on their debut.

 

I’m sorry but logically you can only take from this that it is down to Vanacek - no matter how much you want to blame Levein

 

 

[Robbo-Jambo]

26 minutes ago, Jammy T said:

 

Why does he give some players a chance to adapt and improve and not others?

 

If it was just Levein being a dick then a number of players wouldn’t have played more than 30 mins on their debut.

 

I’m sorry but logically you can only take from this that it is down to Vanacek - no matter how much you want to blame Levein

 

 

My view is that there is more to this than meets the eye. 

It all seems to be a bit strange to me since the guy arrived. Turns up a mess fitness wise and Levein starts him against livi. Now 4 months down the line his fitness obviously improved since his debut in January yet he can't even make the bench when we are short of strikers. Doesn't add up IMHO. Also if you read my last post I said it could be the players attitude that was wrong so not necessarily am I blaming Levein. 

Edited May 7, 2019 by Robbo-Jambo

[tokyowalnut]

He was hopeless against Dundee, the booking didnt help but I wasnt surprised to see him hooked. If he is struggling with the language, that's all on him, he should've been taking lessons. He should've been been more professional and kept himself fit before arriving, the social media stuff was a bit silly and he's been quite rightly pulled up for that. 

 

Maybe he's lazy and doesnt deserve a chance ahead of other players.