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How good is our squad?


Martin_T

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Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

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Agree @Martin_T though I think you give our keepers to much credit they are both Zibiesque. On paper a stong squad by Scottish standards, not so on grass so far.

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SpruceBringsteen

At worst - AT WORST - this squad of players should be finishing fourth. That I would not at all be surprised if it finished 10th/11th is all that needs to be said.

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19 minutes ago, Martin_T said:

Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

Think you have answered your own question TBF

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29 minutes ago, Martin_T said:

Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

 

We need those players you have mentioned to be fit and healthy to get where we want to be.

 

Berra had a long spell out injured last season and doesn't look back to full fitness yet.

Souttar is out just now and also missed a chunk of last season.

White hadn't kicked a ball for 2 1/2 years before yesterday.

Damour only played 2 games last season so is not match fit.

Walker has just returned from an injury and didn't play much football last year.

Haring is in the middle of a lengthy injury recovery period.

Clare has just returned from a lengthy injury.

Naismith as we all know is made of glass and has had a couple of lengthy injuries in the past year.

Ikpeazu is just back from injury and not fully fit yet.

 

There's our problem.

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Fell into the trap, when discussing our squad with a mate last week of believing we had a squad capable of challenging right up the top of the league.....

 

......sadly what we see with our eyes is the complete opposite!

 

On hindsight yesterday's team didn't have the right balance. Imo we need one or two of the young players in the team to provide some naive enthusiasm.

 

Strange that Cochrane and Smith aren't involved when they played games near the end of last season. 

Edited by Deans Jambo
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28 minutes ago, SpruceBringsteen said:

At worst - AT WORST - this squad of players should be finishing fourth. That I would not at all be surprised if it finished 10th/11th is all that needs to be said.

 

Agreed.

 

A keeper and a winger away from challenging for 3rd if we had a manager who could actually get the best out of them.

Edited by Le Chat
typo
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Just now, Gambo said:

This squad is a manager and a driving forward midfielder away from 3rd.

 

I’d say a Manager, a goalkeeper and a finisher personally...

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49 minutes ago, Martin_T said:

Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

Martin with the greatest respect this is another manager thread mate....no offence. 

He managed the best players in Scotland remember..........?

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Mulraney and Clare would not walk into other squads. Mulraney can sometimes looks decent but nothing special and Clare, well i find it hard to believe top flight English teams wanted him. Washington don't want to be hard on the lad as he's just here but we've signed a striker that didn't score last season for his club.

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rudi must stay

Top 6 quality squad. A few signings (a winger, another midfielder) and we're looking good. Didn't sit through Ross County but it's a new team coming together

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Jambo dans les Pyrenees

Agree with the op except the goalkeeper part (both have been dropped in the last year due to poor form).

 

Also worries about Christophe but let’s hope he comes good.

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Decent squad yes 

 

None of them playing to their potential 

 

They look like a sqaud that doesn't enjoy playing the way they are told too

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Just short on a little bit of confidence in my opinion.

 

Couple of wins under the belt will see a big change in attitude/performance.

 

 

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NaturalOrder74

Is there any evidence we are doing anything about the goalkeeper crisis ? If we do get a good one in and ideally a striker that scores goals we’d be okay 

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1 hour ago, Le Chat said:

 

Agreed.

 

A keeper and a winger away from challenging for 3rd if we had a manager who could actually get the best out of them.

How right you are.

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1 hour ago, kimosavi said:

Decent squad yes 

 

None of them playing to their potential 

 

They look like a squad that doesn't enjoy playing the way they are told too

 

50 minutes ago, Vlad Magic said:

Just short on a little bit of confidence in my opinion.

 

Couple of wins under the belt will see a big change in attitude/performance.

 

 

 

Those two factors could very probably be linked.

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The squad is short of: 

A decent goalie and backup

A creative central midfielder

A 20+ goal a season striker

it has been short of these for a couple of years at least and

our current manager appears blind to these shortcomings and is therefore unfit for purpose.

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Getintaethem

The squad is decent.  We need a creative midfielder, a goal scoring striker, another winger and a keeper.  We need to empty out the dross and send some of the youngsters out on loan.

 

But most of all we need a manager who wants to play the ball on the deck and is more attack minded.

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44 minutes ago, Papa said:

The squad is short of: 

A decent goalie and backup

A creative central midfielder

A 20+ goal a season striker

it has been short of these for a couple of years at least and

our current manager appears blind to these shortcomings and is therefore unfit for purpose.

 

We've not had one of them for many years.

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2 hours ago, Cruyff Turn said:

Good enough for 3rd. 

 

Which is where we will finish when when we appoint a manager who can get something out of them. 

 

FTFY.

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2 hours ago, TheStig said:

Mulraney and Clare would not walk into other squads. Mulraney can sometimes looks decent but nothing special and Clare, well i find it hard to believe top flight English teams wanted him. Washington don't want to be hard on the lad as he's just here but we've signed a striker that didn't score last season for his club.

 

Finally some sense. Both are squad players at best, and nowhere good enough to play in a Hearts Midfield. I would add Jamie Walker to the list based on what I have seen from him since his return.

 

However, with a proper Manager who knows.....

 

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2 hours ago, graygo said:

 

We need those players you have mentioned to be fit and healthy to get where we want to be.

 

Berra had a long spell out injured last season and doesn't look back to full fitness yet.

Souttar is out just now and also missed a chunk of last season.

White hadn't kicked a ball for 2 1/2 years before yesterday.

Damour only played 2 games last season so is not match fit.

Walker has just returned from an injury and didn't play much football last year.

Haring is in the middle of a lengthy injury recovery period.

Clare has just returned from a lengthy injury.

Naismith as we all know is made of glass and has had a couple of lengthy injuries in the past year.

Ikpeazu is just back from injury and not fully fit yet.

 

There's our problem.

Yet  7 of these players with all the incumbent issues were in the starting eleven yesterday???

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maroonsgotop
3 hours ago, Martin_T said:

Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

it's better than last year in my opinion

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35 minutes ago, merrymac said:

Yet  7 of these players with all the incumbent issues were in the starting eleven yesterday???

 

How else are they meant to get match fit?

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pettigrewsstylist
3 hours ago, Cut The Crap said:

Strong enough to compete for third.

 

Bottom six material currently though.

True dat!

 

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portobellojambo1
4 hours ago, Martin_T said:

Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

 

I really don't think we have a bad squad of players. Of course there are one or two that probably wouldn't be anywhere near the 1st team if we were fully utilising what we have and one or two positions that we are lacking in, to me at the moment that is in goals and someone with a bit of bite in midfield. I think the squad we have are being made to look bad because we are using them incorrectly, they are being asked to play football in a way that became outdated many years ago. I would love to see this group of players being managed properly just to see exactly how much potential we have and how far we could go. And from a business point of view, in terms of making money, it would flourish a whole lot more if the football on offer was attractive to not only fans but further investors.

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This squad has too many players with a lot to prove. Michael Smith and possibly now Halkett the only players we can rely on to play well and play consistently.

 

Naismith, Souttar and Haring are all struggling to keep fit. Berra, Walker and White also recovering from serious injuries. That’s the core of the team. Everyone else is inconsistent (excluding Washington/Damour from this as they are still unproven).

 

Aberdeen are the team we need to be better than to finish 3rd. Over the last few seasons we’ve shown we can beat them in head to head matches but we can’t match their consistency across a season. I don’t think this squad addresses that issue. 

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11 hours ago, graygo said:

 

How else are they meant to get match fit?

All at once though? High risk strategy as was proved

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IMO, I think we have, on paper anyway, one of the best outfield squads in the division. Easy. I do think our goalkeepers are a bombscare and I would suggest this has given the back four some jangly nerves. Perhaps it was just me but Ive started noticing a lot of scrappy defending to keep the ball as far away from Bobby as possible. CB's second guessing themselves and in turn ending in trouble.

 

I would also suggest that Tynie when it turns on a squad is probably going to have a massive negative effect on the players.

I know it goes hand in hand with results, but we berate every player for every mistake and that is just going to blow their nerves to sh1t.

 

I'd hope that we are one result away from clicking. I was always a supporter of Levein, but I really want this to be our season. I started to take notice when in the work place my Hearts are a laughing stock to supporters of other teams! 

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I like Mulraney, but Aberdeen have 4 better wingers. We really needed to strengthen this position, just as Levein said he would do.

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1 hour ago, merrymac said:

All at once though? High risk strategy as was proved

I agree, looks like Levein thought a game at home against Ross County was low risk. He was wrong.

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Hectormasson
17 hours ago, Martin_T said:

Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

Need a proven goalscorer and a half decent goalkeeper,,, oh and sorry  anew manager and boot room...!

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Tynie-Tempah

It is now (after months and months of the same nonsense) quite clear that the management/manager is the problem.  I think we have a great squad and a very strong one for this league however they are all being let down by the way which they are asked to play.  It is making them look terrible.  Walker and Naismith couldn't even get on the ball yesterday. Uche is being asked to win headers for 90mins which we all know isnt his game and Washington chased down lost causes all day for nothing.

 

All players youd mark around 2 or 3 at best in the paper out 10 but NONE of them were able to play to any of their strengths.  High balls up the park and playing for 2nd ball tactics would make even barca look average.  Its stone age tactics and were getting stone age performances. 

 

feel sorry for the players

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18 hours ago, Martin_T said:

Despite results, I actually think we have one of our strongest squads for some time. With confidence and the right tactics, we should be at worst a strong contender for 3rd place.

 

Goalkeeper we know is a problem, but neither player is incompetent and both have had some good spells.

Defence, Berra is off form, but is an experienced and capable defender on his day, Halkett and Souttar are as good as anything in the division, and Smith, Hickey and White look to be good options at full back.

Midfield, Damour showed some good signs yesterday, Walker, Haring, Mulraney and Clare would get into any squad in the top 6 outwith the Old Firm

Forwards, Naismith, Ikpeazu and Washington offer different options of pace strength and guile.

 

I'm trying to avoid turning this into another manager thread, but the way the team is being set out is detrimental to both the strengths of the players and is making what I feel is a good squad, look poor.

 

Posted similar on Saturday (was just merged into another thread for some reason though?) but on paper our team looks good IMO. Unfortunately we are underperforming though and I can't see why. Without wanting to jump on the 'Levein oot' bandwagon I'm becoming ever more convinced he can't get the players working for him. I'm hoping it'll click and we will start playing to our ability soon but only so much frustration we can handle...

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Jambo 4 Ever
9 minutes ago, RS86 said:

 

Posted similar on Saturday (was just merged into another thread for some reason though?) but on paper our team looks good IMO. Unfortunately we are underperforming though and I can't see why. Without wanting to jump on the 'Levein oot' bandwagon I'm becoming ever more convinced he can't get the players working for him. I'm hoping it'll click and we will start playing to our ability soon but only so much frustration we can handle...

still don't get the "on paper we look good" - we are poor

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Just now, Natural Orders said:

still don't get the "on paper we look good" - we are poor

 

We have the players to be a lot better, the squad isn't poor but the performances are (IMO of course, the squad maybe is poor and that's the issue).

 

I'm not sure if the regular changes to the squad and so many players coming and going is part of the issue, the group of players is largely the same as the group who were walking through opposition this time last year. Have other teams just figured us out?

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Jambo 4 Ever
10 minutes ago, RS86 said:

 

We have the players to be a lot better, the squad isn't poor but the performances are (IMO of course, the squad maybe is poor and that's the issue).

 

I'm not sure if the regular changes to the squad and so many players coming and going is part of the issue, the group of players is largely the same as the group who were walking through opposition this time last year. Have other teams just figured us out?

I think we are far too predictable

 

and we have players who think they are better than they actually are

 

Uche falls down too much

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