Hodson signs.

[Bearman 9]

I don't think anyone is expecting us to spend the sort of money Man City & Arsenal spend.

As for C@@@@c they did reach the EL group stages which is about as far as we can expect over the next few years whether we like it or not

 

You have a very good memory Rab...when was that?

 

Edit: so they did mate and finished bottom the record shows

Edited June 29, 2016 by Bearman

[JFK-1 1,677]

“All over the park now we now have competition, so one or two more to come in and then our business is almost done.”

 

Presumably the one or two includes a frontman. I'm happy with the business so far and I don't see much in the SPL that could live with what we already have. As for the reigning champions we already played them off the park with a less potent side which itself was vastly weakened by injuries and cup tied status at the time. O'Halloran ran them ragged in his last match against them before joining us.

 

The visitors from Perth did not allow their sprightliness to be subdued by the circumstances and Michael O'Halloran's pace could not be contained.

 

He may yet complete a move to Rangers but he was focused in Glasgow and skipped past Kieran Tierney to cross for MacLean to finish from close range.

[Darthter 542]

Couple of things to remember:

 

- Spending millions doesn't always guarantee a successful player. Spend wisely.

- There may be no suitable Academy candidate at the moment, but the Academy has seen a lot of changes recently and it will take time to see the benefits. Also you can't expect to produce players for ALL positions, all the time from the Academy.

 

I am happy with the way transfers have been dealt with. Now to see how the results pan out....

[calscot 0]

If he can't get into a poor NI team,

 

Considering what they've achieved in the Euros, I find the description of "poor" more than a bit unfair. Won't dispute he didn't play, which I think is a pity. Players often improve for the experience.

Edited June 30, 2016 by calscot

[Tannochsidebear 2,322]

Considering what they've achieved in the Euros, I find the description of "poor" more than a bit unfair. Won't dispute he didn't play, which I think is a pity. Players often improve for the experience.

 

I thought they played terrible defensive football. The fact they failed to score in 3 out of their 4 games, and were awful to watch, is where I get my "poor" NI team from. I was very hopeful they would do well, and I suppose beating an absolutely abysmal Ukraine to get through to the last 16 can be seen as an achievement of sorts, but IMO they were poor. If our lad is worse than the guys in the NI team, it doesnt look too good for his ability. Hopefully the guy uses the move to a big club as an inspiration to get better to try to force his way into the team.

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

Signing Lee Hodson seems to me that MW thinks we've no one coming thro from the U20 squad who is good enough to stand in for Tav or LW in the FB positions. That needs to change.

Nothing against Lee Hodson but he's little more than a journeyman type player who'll be nothing more than a squad player lucky to get on the bench every week

 

It is a bit harsh to call him a "journeyman" - the lad is only 24.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

Splashing how much? Man City have been doing that for years now, Arsenal for much much longer without success in Europe.

 

Should we spend as much as we can afford, or exceed our means to chase the dream?

 

Splashing the cash has no guarantees to success in Europe.

 

Look at Celtic...can't get anywhere in Europe now.

We shouldn't spend anything we can't afford. Regardless, we won't get very far in either European competition with a team of freebies and cheap signings mainly from the lower English leagues.

 

It seems to me that the investment isn't going to come from anyone so we need to start developing our own players and turning profits. It obviously doesn't help that Warburton inherited a worthless squad and basically had to start from scratch.

 

I would suggest though that we're going to have to start opening our eyes to other leagues. Why focus on a nation whose national side can't even beat Iceland?

Edited June 30, 2016 by Ser Barristan Selmy

[craig 5,199]

I thought they played terrible defensive football. The fact they failed to score in 3 out of their 4 games, and were awful to watch, is where I get my "poor" NI team from. I was very hopeful they would do well, and I suppose beating an absolutely abysmal Ukraine to get through to the last 16 can be seen as an achievement of sorts, but IMO they were poor. If our lad is worse than the guys in the NI team, it doesnt look too good for his ability. Hopefully the guy uses the move to a big club as an inspiration to get better to try to force his way into the team.

 

I personally suspect he is a squad filler on fairly low wages. Someone MW has worked with before and someone he knows he can trust. As he can cover both FB positions he makes financial sense. I doubt he will be called upon too often.

[calscot 0]

I thought they played terrible defensive football. The fact they failed to score in 3 out of their 4 games, and were awful to watch, is where I get my "poor" NI team from. I was very hopeful they would do well, and I suppose beating an absolutely abysmal Ukraine to get through to the last 16 can be seen as an achievement of sorts, but IMO they were poor. If our lad is worse than the guys in the NI team, it doesnt look too good for his ability. Hopefully the guy uses the move to a big club as an inspiration to get better to try to force his way into the team.

 

Fair enough. I go for more results based analysis, and for a small country I can see the need for defensive football, which I think is a valid way of playing - which to do well in a cup competition, means you still need to play at a certain level. Just like when we got to the UEFA cup final.

 

They didn't really do much at the finals with one win getting them through... but 6 wins 3 draws and a loss to top the group in the qualifiers is pretty decent, even if it wasn't the most difficult of opposition.

 

So I wouldn't call them a great team or anything, but I don't think they are poor compared to their normal level, which will reflect the size of the population.

 

I also have no illusions that on the evidence, we've signed anyone all that special, but I'm hoping he's of the required standard.

[craig 5,199]

We shouldn't spend anything we can't afford. Regardless, we won't get very far in either European competition with a team of freebies and cheap signings mainly from the lower English leagues.

 

It seems to me that the investment isn't going to come from anyone so we need to start developing our own players and turning profits. It obviously doesn't help that Warburton inherited a worthless squad and basically had to start from scratch.

 

I would suggest though that we're going to have to start opening our eyes to other leagues. Why focus on a nation whose national side can't even beat Iceland?

 

I know we all have European ambitions but they also need to be tempered. Scottish football is a backwater and "getting far" in European competition is highly unlikely for any Scottish teams these days. Personally I will take becoming Scottish champions before we get to a point of spending much money on being a force in Europe.

 

What NEEDS to happen is to get the Academy performing to produce the assets - to that extent there have been a number of positive changes at the Academy since Mulholland took over. From the type of player we recruit (no longer the big, physical guys and now the technically gifted instead) to having individual video analysis, website stats and playing the same way throughout the whole Club - all of which are very positive changes. However, all of which are also going to take time to see the fruits of the labour.

 

To progress in Europe without the need to spend vast sums of money that we cant afford we have to be patient with the changes at the Academy - I would say at least 5 years to see the real fruits of the changes.

 

Regarding looking at other leagues... the Club HAS been looking at other leagues - I know that they have had a few Scandinavian players in on trial so I know that they have their eyes on other leagues. However, we also need to remember that the whole scouting network was cannibalized by the previous encumbents - that needs to be rebuilt. And Frank McParland needs time to get that in place too.

 

It is amazing to me the distance we have travelled in just a year. However, with that comes lofty expectations of the fans and, in some cases, those expectations are impatient and unfair.

 

Things are coming together nicely - but we have to remember that a tremendous amount of damage was done to the club, and still continues with the merchandising deal. It will take a fair amount of time before we can properly compete at the European level consistently.