The January Transfer Window Super Thread

[Jambo 4 Ever]

1 hour ago, DH1986 said:

Craig Gordon played in 34 matches last season.....

 

Which is probably more than any of ours will play this season.

 

Yet he’s finished........

Anyone with half a brain would see he would be a good signing for us

[Bring Back Paulo Sergio]

Just now, DH1986 said:

The second part of your message is just a guess......

 

 

Based on the way we play and what Stendel wants. If you understand his system and what he requires from a goalkeeper you would agree. Slightly more than just guessing but ultimately a guess. 👍

[The Treasurer]

48 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Now you’re simplifying things too much. Define better. Better overall keeper, or better for Stendel’s style of play? Is Berra a better defender than Dikamona? Comparing the two players as individuals Berra is obviously better. But Dikamona is clearly more suited to Stendel’s style as proven by Berra being with the reserves and Dikamona playing instead of him.

 

I like Craig Gordon, I’m not saying he’s crap. I’m just saying signing him would make no sense as we’d be spending money on wages (not cheap) for a player that does not suit our style and has very little time left in his career at this level when we can use Pereira until the end of season and Stendel can get a young keeper more suited to his style in the summer that has years left in him. So in that sense Pereira is better suited than Gordon to Stendel’s Hearts at the moment. That doesn’t mean he’s a better keeper when compared one on one with Gordon. 
 

Should also add that playing in goals for Celtic is not exactly the most demanding of tasks and abilities are not tested as they would be at a club in our predicament.

Most sensible post on this thread

[Hot since 86]

7 hours ago, jamborich said:

Eh what makes you think he can't  play the bosses way, you miss the fundamental part of goalkeeping which is shot stopping Craig Gordon is miles better than what we have at the moment 

Some good posts and replies to you already but since you asked I wanted to respond directly.

 

The way that Stendel plays by pressing and having a high back line I would argue that shot stopping is actually less important than in our system than a keeper being able to get off his line quickly and distribute the ball. It’s obviously still a major part of the game but not as Important as how we used to play.

 

If you look at the Rangers game they didn’t actually have that many shots, that’s because the keeper comes out and clears as a sweeper stopping the opposition getting close enough to shoot. The downside obviously is when the opposition time it right and play properly they are clean through, like Rangers were a couple times, they just didn’t score due to some great recoveries by defenders and Pereira getting out and making the angle difficult for the striker.

 

Its a totally different way for teams in Scotland to play and will take a while for fans to get used to it, the fact commentators in our country don’t seem to understand it is a little more embarrassing but hardly surprising.

 

Pereiera is a sweeper keeper, maybe not the best but probably close to the top end of what we can realistically expect to get. His confidence in the new scheme will show how good he can be over the run in I reckon.

 

Sorry for the lengthy reply and if it come across preachy or know it all, that wasn’t my intention at all. There are actually a few good articles I will link later on geggenpressing when I get a chance, give them a read if you’re interested.

[Bring Back Paulo Sergio]

2 minutes ago, Natural Orders said:

Anyone with half a brain would see he would be a good signing for us

I don't know about half a brain but you definitely have something extra lodged up there. 

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

6 hours ago, johnthomas said:

No mention in the post you were replying to ? Hang on I'll just check back

Glad you checked back,  you should never assume what someone is thinking unless they have put it in writing. 

 

[NLTFTh]

8 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

This... 

PMSL

 

 

Move on... 

[Dallas Green]

13 minutes ago, Natural Orders said:

Anyone with half a brain would see he would be a good signing for us

 

Anyone with half a brain would see he doesn't fit DS style.

[Dayman]

9 hours ago, CJGJ said:

Looks better here, and look at the date. 

 

2 hours ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Sutton United isn’t anywhere near Championship level and certainly wasn’t when that incident took place.

He was also Mostly their goalie coach And wasn’t ever expected to play I don’t think. 

[Alex Kintner]

8 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

For real?!?

Yeah. He was on 70k a week in Russia before that apparently.

[Tasavallan]

Sentiment and nostalgia.  Good as he is, Gordon does not fit the mould of what Stendel wants from his keeper.

 

The high press failed for the Rangers goal as Clare slipped in midfield leaving them free to attack at speed down an open right side, drawing defenders to the right to cover.  By the time Clare recovered the damage was done.  On such small things games are turned.

[Dazo]

10 hours ago, Bongo 1874 said:

There has been talks 👍, we originally wanted him on a pre contract, but then enquired about taking him on loan with Jordan Green. 

 

I mentioned a while ago that we had the loan offer for Green accepted, only for Barnsley to accept Newports as well and then later reject our offer. 

 

We've been in talks with 4-5 players from Barnsley over pre contracts, Stendel and the club are very much preparing for next season and the future, we have been in talks with other league 1 players over pre contracts and championship teams players too. 

 

I said to everyone that would listen the post I quoted to Notts and wrote back to him about 2 weeks ago, the standard of player we are talking to and in talks with is nothing short of incredible, even sitting bottom of the league players still find us attractive. 

 

The reason why players find us attractive is because we have Daniel Stendel, he has boosted our club reputation and better players are now interested in coming to our club. 

 

Still trying to get Herrmann from Wolfsburg, but they are reluctant to let him go, Back up options in place incase we can't get him👍🇱🇻. 

Cheers for the info Bongo but the standard of player being incredible and league 1 doesn’t really tally up for me. Good to hear he is planing for next season though as I’m confident he will keep us up. 

[jack D and coke]

7 minutes ago, Dazo said:

Cheers for the info Bongo but the standard of player being incredible and league 1 doesn’t really tally up for me. Good to hear he is planing for next season though as I’m confident he will keep us up. 

Hmm but when you compare it to Steven MacLean’s, Craig Wighton’s, Olly Bozanic’s, Zlamal’s and Doyle’s, Damour’s I think it’s clear he’s taking us up a notch or two. 
Levein has spunked a criminal amount of money on pure pish. 

[tartofmidlothian]

11 hours ago, RedKez said:

Thiam should be in the Barnsley squad this season. New bloke completely frozen him out. His replacement (schmidt) is absolutely hopeless. Thiam is not an out and out striker, he’ll play the role to the left of main striker and he cuts in and hits absolute rockets.

 

He is a really shy young kid. Moved to England and really tried to fit in. Lives in Town when most choose Leeds or Sheffield. He is an arm around the shoulder player. I think he would be an upgrade on the two lads you had left and right of Boyce. Don’t read too much into his goal scoring first season. We were a sinking ship and he spent a lot of time on the wing. If he hits a streak and add goals he’ll be a hell of a player. He has the talent. And at the very least he’s a cracking impact sub to bring on for the last half hour. 

 

Cheers Kez, he sounds good enough for us. Stendel seems like an arm around the shoulder manager too.

[Deevers]

I have a feeling that DS knows exactly who he wants as our first choice keeper but will not be able to get who he wants until the summer. If Gordon  does come back to us it would only be as the back up and possibly my as the goalkeeper coach. We would have to ditch both Bobby and Doyle for that to happen. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by Deevers

[Dazo]

41 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

Precisely this. I’m genuinely flabbergasted as to how many folk don’t get the high press system. The key to it is winning back and retaining possession. The supposed weakness of the system is a long ball over the top can catch the defence out, which is why Stendel has said he needs maybe two or three times a match the defenders to run back quickly to stop an attack or his keeper to cut it out. If we play with the high press Gordon will be left with one on ones, he’s a shot stopper not a one on one specialist. And Pereira only had to face that long ball over less than a handful of times because Rangers weren’t allowed the possession or the time in possession to pick out a pass. That was in no small part down to Pereira’s confidence in taking in the ball and his distribution. Worse distribution from a keeper means more possession for the other team and will mean more chances, meaning higher probability of conceding. I don’t get why people, especially those who attend games and witness the style, cannot see this.

The problem with your argument is Pereia generally doesn’t make anything other than run of the mill saves. All his other attributes mean nothing if teams are going to score with with every half decent shot. Rangers had 1 decent shot on target, they scored. The high press system you’re pretending to know so much about fails just as much with a poor shot stopper as it does with a keeper with poor distribution due to the high risk nature. IMO Gordon’s distribution while may not be as good as Persia’s it is far better than it was when he was with us previously. They aren’t comparable when it comes to shot stopping, hence why people want Gordon. Hope that is simplified enough you are no longer flabbergasted.  

[It should have been ten]

9 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

This 

[Dazo]

6 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

Hmm but when you compare it to Steven MacLean’s, Craig Wighton’s, Olly Bozanic’s, Zlamal’s and Doyle’s, Damour’s I think it’s clear he’s taking us up a notch or two. 
Levein has spunked a criminal amount of money on pure pish. 

not doubting that at all. Incredible is a strong word though. Let’s hope he is right. 

[Saint Jambo]

BBC reporting we are in talks with Celtic.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51292636

Edited January 29, 2020 by Saint Jambo

[Clerry Jambo]

I like my goalies in the main to be shot stoppers, Gordon is/was one of the best. I have no idea how he is physically and mentally for the challenge ahead but people seem to be dismissing him very quickly 

[It should have been ten]

1 hour ago, jambopilms said:

He wasn't begging to come to us a few years ago. If he's begging now it's because he thinks we are he best option for a decent contract, not because he is desperate to play. No more OAPs needing a pension top up

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[Vlad the impaler]

Like him or not Brian McLaughlin normally spot on with his hearts info.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51292636

[GinRummy]

2 hours ago, Newton51 said:

 

Say what you like about Neil Lennon but he’s one ugly specimen of a man. 

[BackOfTheNet]

6 minutes ago, Dazo said:

The problem with your argument is Pereia generally doesn’t make anything other than run of the mill saves. All his other attributes mean nothing if teams are going to score with with every half decent shot. Rangers had 1 decent shot on target, they scored. The high press system you’re pretending to know so much about fails just as much with a poor shot stopper as it does with a keeper with poor distribution due to the high risk nature. IMO Gordon’s distribution while may not be as good as Persia’s it is far better than it was when he was with us previously. They aren’t comparable when it comes to shot stopping, hence why people want Gordon. Hope that is simplified enough you are no longer flabbergasted.  

I’m not “pretending” to know about anything, but cheers for the condescension anyhow. 👍 You say the problem with my argument and then go onto miss the point of my argument entirely. The short version is the need for a shot stopper is less if possession is held and won back - and we keep possession much much better with Pereira than we ever would with Gordon, he may have improved in that regard since he left but he’s still like Bambi on ice with the ball at his feet.

Edited January 29, 2020 by BackOfTheNet

[Dazo]

1 minute ago, BackOfTheNet said:

I’m not “pretending” to know about anything, but cheers for the condescension anyhow. 👍 You say the problem with my argument and then go onto miss the point of my argument entirely. The short version is the need for a shot stopper is less if possession is held and won back - and we keep possession much much better with Pereira than we ever would with Gordon, he may have improved in that regard since he left but he’s still like Bambi on ice with the ball at his feet.

 

We had more possession of the ball that I can remember for a long time against rangers, they scored with their 1 decent shot. We need a better shot stopper equally imo. Did you see Pereia scrambling about trying to get back after one of his rushing out ? He isn’t the answer, Gordon overall would be better imo. 

[busby1985]

On 02/01/2020 at 09:31, busby1985 said:

Hearts have been speaking to Craig Gordon via Gary McKay, have been for a few weeks now. 

Told pretty much everyone this on the 2nd of January. Had heard about us sounding each other out the middle of December. I think the time in between must have been convincing Stendel that Gordon was the right fit. 

[julienbrellier]

oh Kickback

sometimes you´ve got to laugh at some of the nonsense posted here. Incredible stuff really. Gordon is still potentially Scotland´s best keeper, only frozen out at Celtic because they have potentially England´s best keeper.

 

The guy is a Hearts fan, wants to get back involved at Scotland and has a couple of seasons in him at the top level at least. If we can get him it is an absolute no brainer. Pereria´s distribution is decent and he is by far the best keeper at the club, that isn´t saying much with the two duds behind him. But let´s not pretend that Craig Gordon isn´t a huge improvement overall.

[armstrong]

I think some people are confusing his ability with the ball at his feet during his first spell with us with his ability with the ball at his feet now.

 

IMO he's better than what we've got.

[Jamboelite]

3 hours ago, kingantti1874 said:

Folk on here are crazy man, he’s average with the ball at his feet, but exceptional in every other way.. a huge upgrade on Joel, and quite capable of pulling of saves which will keep us in this league..

 

I wonder if sundays win has caused us to get ahead of ourselves.. 

 

we can worry about the long term later, will we stand a better chance of avoiding relegation with Craig Gordon in the team.. without any question yes! 

Agree

[cb1874]

9 hours ago, pettigrewsstylist said:

Interesting few days ahead then. Excited about next season but need to keep eye on ball. A midfield battler with swagger wouldnt go amiss for next 4 mths.

Hope we can shed another 2-3.

Think we have our midfield battler with swagger...Sibbick.

For a few months anyway...hopefully longer based on Sundays showing.

[Gregorski]

10 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

Say what you like about Neil Lennon but he’s one ugly specimen of a man. 

Get pelters on here no doubt but I quite like the boy.

 

Panto villain of the highest calibre.

[Gary Locke]

I’d say Craig Gordon would be a better choice than Joel short term, i.e till end of the season to keep us up which is what we need

[jack D and coke]

7 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

Told pretty much everyone this on the 2nd of January. Had heard about us sounding each other out the middle of December. I think the time in between must have been convincing Stendel that Gordon was the right fit. 

If Stendel wants I’ll grudgingly accept. 
I have no feelings for him anymore though he’s Celtic filth. 

[Clark Griswold]

This will be interesting. ITK's vs the press. ITKs say Dan not interested, press say we are in talks. 

[Jamboelite]

1 hour ago, Parttimer1874 said:

You his da or something? 
 

His distribution has and always will be pish. We need someone comfortable with the ball has his feet. 

I’d prefer someone kept the ball out the net and JP hasnt saved a fair few i think he should have..

Edited January 29, 2020 by Jamboelite

[Homme]

Craig Gordon will be absolutely fine but i would just rather we went for someone younger and on a lower wage than Craig will likely command.

 

I'd have kept the keeper situation as is until the end of the season. Joel is getting better by the week.

[LarrysRightFoot]

Just now, jack D and coke said:

If Stendel wants I’ll grudgingly accept. 
I have no feelings for him anymore though he’s Celtic filth. 

Yep, this has to be Stendel’s decision. Budge and/or CL better not be interfering.

[GinRummy]

5 minutes ago, Gregorski said:

Get pelters on here no doubt but I quite like the boy.

 

Panto villain of the highest calibre.

😀 I’m sure everyone will respect your opinion. I met him when he was still playing with Celtic at a charity fundraiser in Glasgow with both Rangers and Celtic players in attendance. Was easy enough to chat to and amiable enough. 
 

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by GinRummy

[graygo]

Maybe we should try a defender in goals if shot stopping is no longer an important skill for a keeper.

[Clark Griswold]

3 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

If Stendel wants I’ll grudgingly accept. 
I have no feelings for him anymore though he’s Celtic filth. 

Did you feel the same about Hartley?

[Rudy T]

Pereira is absolute pony! He might well be decent at sweeping and passing but he’s barely made a save since he arrived.

 

As we saw on Sunday teams will get chances against us and I’d rather have a keeper who can make a save than one flapping about like a wounded snake!

 

We’re in a relegation dog fight one outstanding save in a game could be the difference between 1 and 3 points and ultimately survival. I know which one of Gordon and Pereria I’d trust with that job!

[Another Robbo]

Even if we keep Joel in the first team, with Gordon on the bench and Bobby and Doyle moved on that would be a definite improvement over the current position.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Another Robbo

[GinRummy]

2 minutes ago, Clark Griswold said:

Did you feel the same about Hartley?

Will just stick a Presley snake comment in just now because that’s where this is heading. 🐍 hissssss

[communist]

People flapping around trying to find any reason to justify keeping Joel. Doesn't matter how great he is at kicking a ball, if he can't make run of the mill saves and stop basic shots, he's not good enough. 

 

Give me a goalie that kicks the ball clean out the park under pressure, but doesn't collapse like a pack of cards when faced with a shot on goal, any day of the week. 

[GinRummy]

6 minutes ago, Homme said:

Craig Gordon will be absolutely fine but i would just rather we went for someone younger and on a lower wage than Craig will likely command.

 

I'd have kept the keeper situation as is until the end of the season. Joel is getting better by the week.

If he does come it’ll hopefully not be for daft money. If he wants to play for us he’s going to have to sacrifice some cash. It’s not as if he’s note earned a few bob. 

[jack D and coke]

7 minutes ago, Clark Griswold said:

Did you feel the same about Hartley?

Hartley was here first. We all knew Celtic were his team but when he came back he acted with great dignity and respect. I love Paul Hartley. 
Gordon has acted the ***** more than once to his apparent boyhood team. I don’t expect them not to give their all but he sickened me tbh. I can’t stomach any supposed Hearts man who plays up to and takes the adulation of that terrorist loving vermin filth. 
I’ll trust Stendel and I’ll grudgingly accept it of course I will I just hope he isn’t being cajoled into accepting this. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by jack D and coke

[keifrb]

 Not adverse to Craig Gordon returning.  If this is there case I believed he will be used to mentor Harry Stone who is highly thought of, and hopefully ready to challenge for a first team place in three next 18 months or so.

[The Real Maroonblood]

7 minutes ago, Clark Griswold said:

This will be interesting. ITK's vs the press. ITKs say Dan not interested, press say we are in talks. 

I’m inclined to believe the ITK’s.
Daniel appears to associate himself with players he knows.

[bazman]

45 minutes ago, Dazo said:

Cheers for the info Bongo but the standard of player being incredible and league 1 doesn’t really tally up for me. Good to hear he is planing for next season though as I’m confident he will keep us up. 

Where did Boyce come from...league 1

[DS98]

2 hours ago, BackOfTheNet said:

He’s currently not considered better than Scott Bain, we don’t know what his current ability level actually is. Although keepers can have longer careers, like other players they still don’t get better with age.

He is considered better than Bain. Due to the fact Bain has been fit since the summer and hasn’t made the bench