RicoS321

I wonder if we'll see Karlsson on much quicker than our subs have been being made of late? I'm surprised (and pleased) he's not starting, but wouldn't be surprised to see him on at halftime, despite other players not being afforded that in recent games.

Shelter from the Storm is a tune.

I guess it's how this system might evolve then. How does it move from cagey, luck-riding, low chance creating, 1-0 wins, to something exciting? Or more exciting, at least. McInnes played a 3-4-3 for a bit, with Watkins, Hedges and some other cunt leading the line, and it was the most entertaining he had been for a few years. It's often a setup that trades excitement for pragmatism though, which isn't the club's strategy, so one way or another Thelin will have to change. Personally, I'm happy enough with short term pragmatism until the personnel are in place, however I'm not sure that we'll ever really get the personnel to perform a 3-4-3 consistently well in our league. I think you could get that with a 3-5-2, or derivative of that setup.

I guess what I'm saying is that he doesn't have the pace. We play inverted wingers because that's what we've signed unfortunately. I think Keskinen would be the only one that could hit the line, as he has the burst of pace required (although he's not that quick). Milanovic doesn't have that first five yard burst that gets you away from the fullback, which is why he's always inverted. Neither does Karlsson. They've got to rely on the shoulder drop or other skills to make the space. That usually means it takes a touch longer to get to the line and the defence is shaped for the cross. I'm guessing that's what Thelin sees too, and what the recruitment team were asked to look for. Like you, I don't particularly like the inverted wingers. What I really don't like is the fact that we didn't get a replacement for Morris when it was very, very clear that having the option to "uninvert" was crucial to our success last season. Edit: to add, I think both Karlsson and Milanovic would benefit from getting the ball deeper and when they're driving at pace. That would involve counter attacking quickly, generally, which is why we rarely get the opportunity to do it.

Nah. Milanovic is nowhere near the pace of Morris. Certainly not over the first ten yards. He'd be capable of producing driving runs and powering through, but I think he'll always be an inverted winger.

I honestly think that there's not enough hate on this forum at times. I was expecting a bit more from some of the new posters.

I wouldn't. Neither are good enough, but it's clear Vinny has reached peak Vinny. He was never going to be good enough, other than the occasional cameo. Milanovic will probably not be good enough. However, he has got some good physical attributes. He is playing the game in his head at the moment, rushing everything and making awful decisions. Ryan Hedges was similar in his first season. Once he got to grips with the league and did a huge amount of work on his fitness, Hedges was excellent, and there's no reason why Milanovic couldn't get there. I don't think he will, but I wouldn't completely write him off yet. A loan in this country would do him good I think, to get him lots of game time. He really needs another preseason. He should ask Nisbet what he did to work on his fitness mid-season for us last year, because that worked.

This is the worst sentence ever to be written.

New Zealand didn't exist in 1993?

"Aberdeen and Kusini Yengi are expected to mutually part ways in January, Vicente Besuijen could follow and fellow forward Peter Ambrose could go on loan, while midfielders Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Leighton Clarkson, plus on-loan centre-half Alfie Dorrington, face uncertain futures." From the BBC. Bit late for Ambrose to go on loan, should have happened a year ago. I'd add Palaversa to the list, with Molloy to follow in the summer or now if we get a left sided defender/fullback in. Give Milanovic until summer if we don't get a winger in (although I think with a good preseason he could still make it)

Loans are fine if we've got nobody coming through, or we're unsure whether a youngster is quite ready and we need to delay. Clarkson was a weird one in that he took the role of Barron, but I can only assume that Robson knew a rat when he saw one. Dorrington taking the role of Milne last season wasn't a particularly good decision I don't think, even though Milne was injured when he signed. Aouchiche coming in to take the role of Clarkson is weird (even though we have the option to buy). Nisbet was a good loan as we didn't have a striker, and it was clear that Ambrose was worse than horse shite (it didn't look likely we'd get him permanently). I'd say that most of the young loanees we get from down south aren't ready for first team action, so unless there's a chance of getting them permanently, it's not a great move. We end up giving them minutes that we wouldn't offer our own young players even though we know there are limitations. I have my doubts about how good it is for these young lads too. I think Dorrington could be playing every week elsewhere, for example, but I guess he's still getting well paid, which he might as well enjoy while he can.

Between his first and second seasons with us, he clearly worked his arse off to get to the level he got to, gaining an additional yard of sustained pace (see the way he scored against Hibs at Hampden for example, where he just kept going at full tilt and still had plenty energy to produce a composed finish). I assumed that he'd be able to step up again, as he had the right attitude. His positioning and game intelligence were exceptional. The only doubt I had on whether he would make it or not was whether he was at his peak athleticism, or if he had a bit more to squeeze out of him when moving into the bigger leagues. Instead, he appears to have lost a yard of pace and reverted back to the player that began with us. I didn't think it would be the case, but he might go the way of someone like Kevin Van Veen, where those 18 months of peak physical fitness produced a one-off patch. Although it wouldn't surprise me if he got a good summer preseason and return to the level he was at with us. Hopefully the former. Cunt (for the avoidance of doubt).

Watched on the telly internet, but just catching up with the thread. A good defensive display. I felt we struggled with the pitch a lot, despite it looking absolutely fine. There were a number of times when players ran beyond balls and struggled to turn quickly, and a few touches that struck me as unusual, even for some of our lads currently. Couldn't tell if it was too sticky, or just that they were tired. Tiredness is certainly a big issue for us this season, we really aren't coping with the two fixtures per week well at all. Every game following Europe we've looked sluggish. The same could be said for every team in that situation of course, it's quite common. In that regard, to come away with three points is not to be sniffed at. If we can limp over the line until January, picking up wins like today then that's fine. I think it's the way it has to be. It is ironic that since Livi have started playing football, their now more likely to go down. Martindale is going to have to bring back the shitefest soon. Hopefully we can let him borrow ours.

It's an understandable error, the young lad has a fair engine on him. He'd be getting up an down that flank all day.

Interesting. We played a 4-3-3 for part of the game on Thursday, so wouldn't be surprised to see it again. However, in my opinion it needs to be 4-2-3-1. Of course, it's probably going to be a back three, with Shinnie at wing back.