DMAA

I’m calling bull on Kent to Villa for £10m. There’s no way he’s ready for the EPL or worth that kind of cash. Time will tell. 

1 hour ago, der Berliner said:

During the first half of the season, the line-up of Killie has been documented as well ...

Transfermarkt is unreliable for formations.it has us playing 4-3-3 to the end of the season.  Stewart played either CAM or or right sided attacking midfield for Kilmarnock. 

10 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

Since we refering to a time at Killie, where he was great, he did not play "10" but CF in 14 out of 16 games. Perhaps he excelled as scorer and assist giver in that role

He wasn't a centre forward. Kilmarnock played a 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 as far as I am aware with a front three of Jordan Jones, Eomann Brophy and Greg Stewart. 

1 hour ago, buster. said:

Perhaps we haven't quite reached the stage of having development players at a level to go into the first team but until this pathway starts to be trodden on a reasonably regular basis, the relative success of celebrated youth trophies rings hollow.

Absolutely. Our fans like to say ah it's easy for Hearts to play youth players, they don't have the pressure but we have to win everything. I think this is totally wrong. How much would Levein love to have the luxury of blooding youth players when he's coasting 3-0 up. Hearts are never in that position, almost every game could go either way for them and dropped points normally means dropping a position. We won 13 domestic games by at least 3 goals this season but the most appearances made by our youth players (bar Middleton) was 1 and my guess is that they were late substitutions. I think that is a very poor show indeed. 

Edit: And even Middleton himself should have seen far more game time in those circumstances

23 hours ago, buster. said:

just to curry favour/comply with loan contracts from parent clubs

Good post that sums up how most fans feel I think. This is the bit that worries me though, it seems that clauses of some sort are non-negotiable now. Many have forgotten now that Ejaria was undroppable while he was here. Personally I wasn't happy that Kent was undroppable during the busy spell of the season too. A full 90 minutes 7 times in a month was unnecessary with a Middleton who had started the season very strongly on the bench and who had racked up goals and assists very quickly. There was no squad rotation. I suspect Gerrard will restrict himself to one loan this season and it will be a player who he has a lot of faith in (Ojo it seems).

Ojo is happening by all accounts. From the YouTube compilation I think he looks a better player than Kent. 

Great listens throughout the season guys, well done and thanks. 

8 hours ago, Stevie - 4lads Blog said:

Mind on my 4lads pod I said we would make a marquee signing 

 

??

Are you allowed to say, or is it a Gray area?

in all seriousness, I don’t understand how that one could possibly happen. Buzzing to see what happens but I expect a couple of quiet weeks before we start to see players signing. 

I'm very skeptical of rumours at this stage, it's very early for anything to get to the final stage.

From what I can glean though Ojo would be a great addition. If there's any truth in us moving for him I'd suggest Liverpool have named a price and we've walked away from Kent. Kent's stock is high and now is the perfect time to cash in on him.

Worrall couldn't win with our fans due his mistake at Killie and the fact he was keeping Katic on the bench. I think he was underrated due to those two things. He had one or two games in Europe where he definitely performed better than Goldson. Having said that, he certainly wasn't the improvement over Katic we all hoped. In hindsight he wasn't really worth the investment because he held Katic back and wasn't noticeably better than him.

20 hours ago, JohnMc said:

Nah, you're all wrong so far. POTY is Connor Goldson, the most under-rated player in our side. 

This is very interesting @JohnMc. I've been a little underwhelmed after the hype, there's no question he had some ropey games. However I'm starting to wonder if I've underrated him because the goals conceded record is so much better than it was. 

And hey, he's scored only 2 goals less than superstar £12m forward Ryan Kent after all. Let's see you explain that one @Gaffer ?

41 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

Imagine the number of goals he'd have got if he took the penalties.

I actually wondered if we missed a trick at times by not having him as the penalty taker. We'd have had a 40-45 goal striker on our hands.

I’ve given it to Morelos. I’ve actually felt he’s been overrated by our fans at times with talk of a £20m price tag. For me he’s still a bit raw technically. However there is no arguing with 30 goals in 48 games. It’s a huge achievement and wins it for him automatically in my book. Having said that Tavernier is a very close second and I think he would actually be harder to replace than Morelos so happy for him to get it. 

I doubt Liverpool will be in any hurrry to agree to loan him out. Their preference would surely be to sell unless they get a hefty loan fee off us. 

Think the intel was bad there Craig?

41 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

I'd argue that he's too similar to Arfield in that respect. We would have 2 that don't have great pace. Having Kent and Arfield gives a good contrast.

 

I guess there may be games where it may work, if the opposition is playing a 10 man defence, but a bit of pace is always helpful.

I know what you mean but it's hard to know. The passing game the team have played cuts teams open without the conventional beating men down the channels. In 6 games we scored 14, Arfield was involved (goals+assists) in 5, Defoe in 6 and Kent in none. I prefer the idea of Murphy there and Dorrans maybe behind but I think Dorrans has the skillset to be very effective there too. He only needed a few minutes at Villareal to show us the creative quality we've missed without him.

23 hours ago, Bluedell said:

Where do you see Dorrans fitting in? On the L or R of the 3?  Is he mobile enough for that?

Good question. He's certainly not the most mobile but he has the guile, creativity and goalscoring ability to play in the 2 beside Arfield. Mobility is the obvious concern but if he got fully fit he can more than make up for that with his quality.

32 minutes ago, Bluedell said:

Kent's pace is very useful in the 4-3-2-1 as well, when he drives at defences, and that's the one area we'd miss when using Murphy.

You'd miss the pace yes, and Kent is unpredictable. But for me he has looked a bit lost in that position since we've adopted it. I've noticed far more goes through Arfield because he is so natural there. The prospect of Dorrans and Murphy coming in to the 4-3-2-1 is a pretty juicy one, that is assuming they can get fully fit over the summer.

2 hours ago, buster. said:

If Jamie Murphy returns in decent shape could he take the place from Kent ?

In a 4-3-2-1, a fit Jamie Murphy starts beside Arfield every day of the week. Murphy has real quality in the final third, evidenced by his very impressive stats in a poor Graeme Murty side. His quality makes it far easier for him to move inside. 

In a different set up Kent's pace is an asset, although again for me you'd get more use out of that pace if he is on the right. Get him to the byline cutting it back and his assists stats would shoot up. I actually love a player like Kent playing that kind of role, just not the cutting in from the left role because it doesn't produce.

It sounds like it’s a loan move we are going for from the reports. I think he’d be twice as effective on the right wing, but if we stick to the 4-3-2-1 I think there will be players more suited to playing centrally out there. 

24 minutes ago, buster. said:

I think you make very valid points that are somewhat tied into what was continually playing a system that had an obvious flaw but one that our squad was ill equiped to deal with

Well the 4-3-3 was the only formation Middleton played in, bar a few minutes at Tyncastle. He'd have done well in the 4-3-2-1 imo.

24 minutes ago, buster. said:

You don't seem to put a value on Kent's game/ tactical awareness and willingness to work hard to comply with his requested role. The latter is what let's Middleton down at this stage in his career.

I value his work rate, it wins us the ball back often. Similar to Candeias. Whilst important it pales in comparison to being good at shooting or playing clever through balls in his position though. It's like a ball playing centre back who's not great in the air. Those are the attributes we've badly lacked in the tough games this season againt deep lying defences, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock especially. You need a player who excels at passing (playing clever through balls) and/or someone who can score from nowhere and finish chances consistently. The latter is a strength of Middletons, he can play poorly but if given a chance is clinical, and can score from nowhere. Barrie McKay comes to mind for the former, a very technically gifted player who was a very good passer and had great vision.

On ‎17‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 20:06, Gaffer said:

 It's a lot of money but if he continues to perform even at the level he did this year, it's an investment rather than a sunk cost.

It's been fascinating to see how differently Kent has been viewed by fans this season. I'd say a good two thirds love him. But then there's guys like me on the other end of scale. 

His style is entertaining and I think his blistering pace, bravery on the ball and work rate endears him to the fans (or blinds the fans to be a bit cynical). But right from the beginning I haven't been able to see past how few chances he creates. It's by far the most important thing about the position, putting chances on a plate for the striker. He's finished the season was only one goal and one assist more than Middleton from almost exactly three times the game time. It's pretty shocking really. For £5m I expect Jelavic quality and he certainly isn't that.

There’s no way the £12m fee is true. £5m is far more believable and I think we can get more quality with that kind of money. Going by the press conference today though it sounds like we are very keen. 

If it was true the writing would be on the wall for Halliday, but if that's an ITK comment from Stevie then it isn't true which doesn't surprise me.

Clear as day from the replays it wasn't his elbow it was his lower arm, and although we don't have a front view it looks very much like it wasn't his face it was his neck area.

Blatant inconsistency if he gets a 2 match ban for that.