PatReilly wrote:

Trap_6 wrote:

    
We don’t have a target man, but we do have McMullan, whose pace we barely make use of. We get him one on one with his marker and play balls into his feet.

I’m no tactical expert by any means but it doesn’t take much to watch other teams at our level and see they have more effective styles of play than ours. And with poorer players.

Agree with you regarding Robbie's use of McMullan. 

Many United fans pigeonhole him as a winger who can't cross the ball, simply because that's where Robbie usually plays him. He's not a winger (as his main position), playing his best football through the middle. 

But Robbie has not tried him there alongside or behind Shankland this season, according to what I've read and heard. I'd have him in the position the coach thinks Clark is suited too (he isn't). 

The problem is, we have a lack of wingers, and usually misuse them when we've get one in anyway over the past few seasons.

In other news, Riku Riski scored in the Champions League last night.
 

 
Totally agree Pat. Teams are terrified of McMullan’s pace and we really don’t make anything if it. He’s been miles better any time he’s played through the middle.

I would be quite happy with him drifting out to the flanks to stretch the game but there’s a big difference between that and being stuck out on the wing the entire time, doing very little.

The starting eleven isn’t my concern, it’s the manner we choose to approach the game.

Play high tempo and on the front foot, and I’ll fancy us to do the job.

Play tentative, sideways passive football, and the game becomes a toss of the coin.

This goes for every league game this season. I’d fancy us against anyone, home or away, if we take the game to them. Equally, I’d fancy anyone to take points off us, home or away, playing Neilsonball.

blackandtangerine wrote:

Near replica top of 86/87 one

Exactly mate, it’s a cracker.

They’ve obviously done a wee bit of research into past strips. Even that in itself shows more effort than we ever got from Nike.


 

There was a post on here a good while back that linked to a United fan's Youtube account that had a whole load of old United games. He might even have been a poster on here?

Anyone remember the account name, or even better have a link to them?

Cheers 

Am I right in thinking next week against Falkirk is our last scheduled game of the season on plastic? 

Other than potential play-off ties against QOS and/or Hamilton, it seems highly unlikely there will be another one thrown up, so hopefully that clears Reynolds for the run in. 

With him and Connolly in place every week, we win the league IMO.

To do something like that, Thompson would have to be a pretty devious and calculating character.

I don't think he was either, he was just utterly inept and out of his depth.
 

It's not just a simple case of 'we've signed a new player in x position. Now get the old incumbent to fuck.' That's totally misrepresentative of what actually happens.

If Neilson does sign Sow, will anyone turn around and say that Safranko should now fuck off? Of course not. Likewise, when Gomis signed, was that Fyvie or Stanton getting the treatment? Everyone I spoke to saw it for what it was, welcome competition for places.

There are plenty at the club just now who are simply not good enough. To be fair, some are honest but just not good enough, who I don't really have an issue with. Rabitsch and Edge would be two examples. The vast majority though, don't appear to give a fuck and are certainly not fighting to improve either their own situation or the club's. I'll not list them, there are far too many. But the sooner the club can get rid, the better. The idea we shouldn't be calling for them to fuck off because they might have families is frankly mental.

smedDUm wrote:

What's the obsession about 'getting rid' of players?
Yes, players come & go but we seem to thrive on departures.
Not happy unless players are getting ejected.
These players were given contracts to sign & have families to keep.

Oh Ffs, spare me eh. Let's just keep these imposters on for the pay roll for the next two years because they've got families.

I don't remember any 'obsession' with getting rid of players when we had a capable squad that at least had a modicum of fight about them.

Maybe if boys like Barton, Loemba et al were doing their job, we wouldn't be so 'obsessed' with getting them as far away to fuck from our club as possible.
 

PatReilly wrote:

A prediction: Sevco will sign Shankland, promising a fee paid out of their season ticket income when it arrives in June, thus lending the player back to Somerset Park.

Trap_6 wrote:

 
That slight increase in points gap during that period stems from the weekend of the defeat at Somerset when Ellis was in temporary charge.
 

Aye, that's fair, but I was at that game, fuming that we hadn't already got Neilson in place. A point I'm making is we've given ourselves a handicap for this season, needlessly.
 

Yeah I completely agree Pat. Essentially we started the season in October with an eight point handicap. That is an irritation and, who knows, it may yet prove to be a bit too much to overcome. From what we've seen so far though, I definitely wouldn't bet against us overhauling it come May. 

Also, we need to be thankful at least for the squad Laszlo left, despite how hopeless he was at getting them to play. It's easily the best squad in the league. There are managers not a million miles away who have inherited an utter shitstorm, where the best they can do is put out fires until January and hope the season isn't done by then. At least we don't have that.

I also reckon Shankland will be sold then loaned back in January. McCall has hinted on Sportsound a couple of times that he's convinced both the player and the board to hold off until May. But I'm sure they'd grab that sort of deal, should it come. 

The good thing about him and Dobbie grabbing all the headlines is that it's completely taken the attention off Safranko, who is actually the best striker in the league. I've still got a fear someone will come in for him in January. 
 

TheShed wrote:

Football is about winning, it’s all that matters. How the team plays is a side issue which in our current position really doesn’t matter.

This is maybe taking this thread onto another unanticipated tangent, but this is a debate I've been having with mates of mine for years now.

I'm definitely of the mind that performances do matter. I want to be entertained, not just watch a win regardless of performance. 

I've come away from a draw at Tannadice and been far happier than I've been after many dull wins. Maybe I'm getting old and United winning isn't the be all and end all that it once was. 

Under Laszlo, even after a win I'd come away pretty depressed. It was dreadful to watch and I didn't take any enjoyment whatsoever from watching us grind out a win. Now, even if we don't win under Neilson, it seems a good bet you'll watch a United team giving their all and giving us something to get excited about.

I do agree though that we do just need to get out of this league, and we'll take wins however they come. Which is just another reason why I hate the Championship.

Was asked what had gone wrong at United. He said recruitment. Said the club had taken too many risks in the last few years.

Said he thought Csaba had some good ideas but didn't understand the mentality of the Scottish game and didn't have the players match ready on a Saturday. 

https://www.transfermarkt.com/robbie-neilson/stationen/trainer/31662/plus/1

Tek wrote:

Trap_6 wrote:

I'm not a fan of this apparent 'trial by two games' approach that seems to have built up around Ellis.

If he's the man for the job, then why would that change if he doesn't win these games? Surely it's about a bit more than that.

Anyone could feasibly go into the dugout and win a couple of games. 

If he's the man for the job he has to win games.

Immediately.

The fans are at the end of their tether. That is why the patience of some (myself included) can only afford him the patience of a couple of games to show his capabilities in the Dug-Out before we move on.

This season is too important to dither and we are already into October here and are in a situation where we have no Manager and question marks over several of the Summer signings.


 

I get what you're saying bud. And largely agree. But hypothetical situation: there's a marked improvement in performances next two games but we win neither. Entirely possible. What then? Is he not the man for the job? Or if we get the same dirge as we got under Laszlo but scrape two wins?

It's a daft and myopic way to select a new manager. And as much as we can say to look at performances as well as results, it's guaranteed that there will be a groundswell for him to get the job or not, based solely on the results he gets.