Rousseau

Secondary assists are included in the graphic, and Kent seems quite high. I agree, though: creating lots of chances is good, but you then need to look at the quality of the chances created (xA) and conversion rate.

Transfermrkt... It does give you the option of going into each player's injury history. For example, counting up Roofe's injuries, it suggests he's missed 56 games since September 2020.

F*ck off! I'm not Alan Turing! I can only find this, but I think it only includes their 'current' injury: Name - Age - Injury - Since - Exp. Return - Matches Missed - Days Missed - Value Nnamdi Ofoborh Central Midfield 22 Heart Condition Jul 16, 2021 ? 92 476 €400k Ianis Hagi Attacking Midfield 24 Knee Surgery Jan 24, 2022 Nov 21, 2022 58 301 €7.00m Filip Helander Centre-Back 29 Foot Injury Apr 11, 2022 Dec 22, 2022 41 255 €3.50m John Souttar Centre-Back 26 Ankle Injury Aug 1, 2022 Dec 21, 2022 28 142 €1.50m Connor Goldson Centre-Back 29 Hamstring Injury Oct 12, 2022 Jan 31, 2023 18 111 €8.00m Ryan Jack Central Midfield 30 Calf Problems Oct 13, 2022 Jan 16, 2023 16 95 €4.00m Tom Lawrence Left Winger 28 Knee Injury Aug 29, 2022 ? 15 67 €5.00m Ridvan Yilmaz Left-Back 21 Hamstring Injury Oct 29, 2022 Dec 20, 2022 7 52 €6.50m Kemar Roofe Centre-Forward 29 Unknown Injury Oct 24, 2022 Nov 14, 2022 6 21 €5.50m Ben Davies Centre-Back 27 Unknown Injury Oct 29, 2022 ? 2 6 €2.50m

We've got a group (4) of very old players. The majority of our players are in their peak, with a couple of years before they reach 30. Then we have a group of youngsters (unfortunately two well-used youngsters - Tillman and Sands - are not quite ours, yet). Let the old ones leave, get rid of Helander and Roofe, make Tillman and Sands permanent, and hopefully get Lowry and Hagi (I'd like to see more of McCann too) into the first-team picture and it looks ok. Obviously, we're still lacking certain positions. It's not a bad spread.

Made a thing (Axis labels are wrong: it should be y-axis mins played, x-axis age):

During previous prediction leagues for international tournaments I took the whole matchday at a time, which would be 16 games for this WC. It requires predictions every 4 days, which is how long it takes to get through each matchday. Doable. (Might remove the Joker... meh--it's a bit of fun.)

I was going to do a World Cup Prediction League - any interest? Rules will be: You will receive 3 points for a correct score (CS). You will receive 1 point for a correct result (CR). Jokers applied to a game will double the points. Jokers can be used once per round (Matchday 1, Matchday 2, Matchday 3, Round of 32, etc.). Your prediction for the Knockout phase will include extra time, but not penalties.

St Johnstone 0 - 1 Rangers FGS Colak

St Johnstone vs Rangers

Kamara and Morelos should have been sold a couple of years ago when they were at their peak - that's not to say they can't recover that level, which I think they can; I still rate them. I don't think Barisic should be moved on. I think he's at that weird age where you don't want to rely on him, but you don't want to get rid of the experience that can help Yilmaz. I'd keep him until Yilmaz is established, then move on. I would have liked to have seen Kent and Roofe moved on this summer.

Fair enough. I don't consume anything to do with them, so I wouldn't know.

I don't think our recruitment has been that bad, if we consider the profile of the players. It's only bad in the way that they've been used, IMO.

However, I still don't think we have the right manager. (I agree that he's probably not going anywhere anytime soon.) The style of play is boring. Creating chances and breaking down low blocks continues to be a struggle. He's supposed to be a conservative manager, but he can't even set us up to be hard-to-beat in the CL - even taking into account the gulf in quality.

I agree with all of that. (I could have done without the childish dig at Celtic, though. I'm not sure what the purpose of that was?)

What are your thoughts, folks?

I wouldn't group Jack with Helander and Roofe. I think Jack is good enough and influential enough to keep around, and he plays enough games over the course. Helander and Roofe are quality players, that we wouldn't ordinarily be able to sign. It worked for 55. However, I am now of the opinion that these two just don't play enough to warrant their presumably high wages. That money would be better spent elsewhere.

'The arrival of Johan Cruyff as FC Barcelona’s coach in 1988 caused a revolution in the way the game is understood and footballers are trained. One of his best-remembered comments was that: “All coaches talk about movement, about running a lot. I don’t think players need to run that much. Football is a game that’s played with the brain. You have to be in the right place at the right time, not too early and not too late”. His focus on possession of the ball and the use of space and superiority in numbers reduced the importance of physical performance in the game. In another quote, he noted: “My forwards should only run 15 metres”. Scientific research seems to prove him right. A recent publication analysed how ball possession influences physical performance in high-level players. The study, published in Science and Medicine in Football in 2020, was based on an analysis of the 380 games played in the Spanish LaLiga in the 2018-2019 season. The results suggest some remarkable conclusions: When the specific position is not taken into account, players in teams with very high possession of the ball cover significantly less distance than the players in teams with low possession of the ball. Having a lot of the ball reduces the distance covered by footballers.'

In all seriousness, if he loses the next 5 on the bounce, he'll be gone. So it's not all about (a lack of) money. Is that likely? No.

When a team is in possession, they move into their offensive shape then pass the ball around. When a team is without the ball, everyone needs to press and harry to win the ball back. Simplistic, but...

I think so. Employ a fitness coach worth his salt. We had superb fitness under Milsom - who, incidentally, is out of work... 👀

Surely the team without the ball should be running more, no?

Not even a wee tear?

I'll give it a go when you post the same thread next month.

Yes, you're correct. My apologies. Amended.