The Melamed Conundrum...


Melbourne Saint
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Righto.... No doubt most folk would love a "proper" goalscoring, skilful striker, which we've not had really since Wright & O'Snort. Melamed could sign a pre-contract with others (basically anyone from Hibs/Hearts/Aberdeen, Midden etc that can do is over in wages), and now is well and truly on other team's radars. He's no longer "an unknown quantity", he may still be homesick & Covid crap...  but conundrum for CD. If he leaves, we need another striker. Could we realistically get better??? Doubt it. Could we afford him? He'll demand first team action- don't blame him. Which means CD either has to tinker with his system, Kane doing his thing just behind Melamed, or, even moving Kane to the bench if CD goes defensive. The former would require a different system to fit Melamed in, say 3-2-3-1-1. Which makes wingers (unless they can play wingback) pretty silly. We've got to get rid of some wingers anyway, need a midfielder for Bryson and Craig isn't getting younger, Muzz neither. Then there's the May problem. Who would buy him??? No-one, unless Tommy comes to the rescue. We wouldn't pay him out, to sign Melamed on a 2-3 yr contract. It'd be bloody expensive & Broom wouldn't sanction it. 

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Like most I also struggle to see why Melamed does not play more. He has proven himself as a goal scorer on a number of occasions. Why he brought May on in the cup final instead of Melamed is mind boggling. Was it a sentimental reason so that May would go into the history books as having played in 2 cup finals. May's contribution in the final and last night was zero.

Could it be that Guy has told CD he will not be signing a new contract and hence why he is not getting the game time he deserves, A run out in the cup final could have been a carrot to entice him to sign as to play in a cup finals is a goal of most players, We all saw Craig's reaction at the end. His sense of achievement and fulfilment.

As for having to change the formation to suit Melamed CD does not have to change much if anything 

His formations have been pretty regimented. 3.4.2.1 and 3.4.1.2  At this moment in time he can play Melamed and Kane with 2 up and choose either for 1 up.

Will he stay or will he go? I would love him to stay.

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31 minutes ago, Johnny B said:

Like most I also struggle to see why Melamed does not play more. He has proven himself as a goal scorer on a number of occasions. Why he brought May on in the cup final instead of Melamed is mind boggling. Was it a sentimental reason so that May would go into the history books as having played in 2 cup finals. May's contribution in the final and last night was zero.

May came on as a left winger in the Final, and on 3 occasions stopped a counter attack by winning the ball back deep in his own half.

Melaned doesn't offer you that, neither does MOH. So its an easy choice when you're 1-0 up in a Final and under the cosh defending your lead late on.

Edited by RandomGuy
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I think it's pretty clear why Melamed doesn't start every game: CD doesn't think he can play as the single striker in a 3-4-3, which remains his preferred formation. Why would Melamed sign a new contract with us when he basically knows now that whatever he does, however many goals he scores, when it comes to our very biggest games he's not going to get on the pitch?

Right now he could easily move to one of our rivals for nothing and become an absolute star for them.

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1 minute ago, RandomGuy said:

defending your lead late on.

So you are under the cosh and defending so we bring on May on the left wing to defend that does not make sense. As for MOH not giving you that. He played wingback once this season and got man of the match. (I ate my hat that day). 

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24 minutes ago, saintee in exile said:

I thought that when he scored last night,the response from the other players wasn't great.No one rushing up to congratulate him,just polite hand taps.Theres defo something going on and it would be a big loss if we don't keep him.Perhaps he is just homesick.Who knows but he is a great finisher!

They were encouraging him back to try and get a winner, another player went straight to the ball and put it on the halfway line.

I've zero idea why people are obsessed with making some teen drama out everything involving Melamed. Davidson, understandably, didn't trust a new signing who was struggling for fitness and the demands of the league to turn a struggling season around when Kane was in good form. Melamed has now worked his way into regular starts as form has improved. He doesn't start every week but neither do McCann and Wotherspoon. He's our best finisher, but doesn't have the defensive work rate of Kane or May, so in certain situations isn't the best option. Surely that's obvious and simple to understand?

He gets on fine with his team mates

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Just now, Johnny B said:

So you are under the cosh and defending so we bring on May on the left wing to defend that does not make sense. As for MOH not giving you that. He played wingback once this season and got man of the match. (I ate my hat that day). 

MOH didn't have to defend that game, he got MOM for beating his man twice and setting up goals.

Livi have overloaded our left flank. Wotherspoon and Kane are ****ed, Conway is about to come off. Who do you bring on to press their RB and match his runs?

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1 minute ago, saintee in exile said:

I thought that when he scored last night,the response from the other players wasn't great.No one rushing up to congratulate him,just polite hand taps.Theres defo something going on and it would be a big loss if we don't keep him.Perhaps he is just homesick.Who knows but he is a great finisher!

Was it not just a case of the players trying to rush back to go for a second? 

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4 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

I think it's pretty clear why Melamed doesn't start every game: CD doesn't think he can play as the single striker in a 3-4-3, which remains his preferred formation. Why would Melamed sign a new contract with us when he basically knows now that whatever he does, however many goals he scores, when it comes to our very biggest games he's not going to get on the pitch?

Right now he could easily move to one of our rivals for nothing and become an absolute star for them.

Or he could work hard and take the opportunity in the UK he was desperate to get, and force his way into being the lone striker in that set up, instead of throwing a strop, refusing to listen to coaches, and forcing through a loan move to Aberdeen...

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2 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

Who do you bring on to press their RB and match his runs?

If we are going to defend the right flank late on under the cosh take your pick Booth and Tanser or Booth and Bryson or Booth and Gilmour all better defenders than May

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38 minutes ago, Johnny B said:

May's contribution in the final and last night was zero.

I think that's incredibly unfair and also inaccurate. May puts in a power of work every time he's on the pitch, and I thought he had some really nice touches last night and also showed some signs of linking up well with Melamed.

Personally I felt bringing May on in the final was the right decision (although I'd also have liked to see Melamed brought on for Kane later in the game).

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Just now, Johnny B said:

If we are going to defend the right flank late on under the cosh take your pick Booth and Tanser or Booth and Bryson or Booth and Gilmour all better defenders than May

So you wouldn't have brought Melamed on either, so why the **** were you complaining about Davidson bringing on May instead of him?

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5 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

Or he could work hard and take the opportunity in the UK he was desperate to get, and force his way into being the lone striker in that set up, instead of throwing a strop, refusing to listen to coaches, and forcing through a loan move to Aberdeen...

Don't you think he has been working hard and taking his opportunity? I haven't seen any signs of that not being the case. I don't think it's about workrate, I think it's about the style of player he is. A successful squad needs different types of striker and as far as I can tell Melamed simply isn't the type of striker that CD thinks will work in his preferred formation.

I don't think throwing strops comes into it. It just makes sense that if he's not going to get picked in our big games, and another club comes in that is going to offer him more money and a chance to play more regularly, it would probably be the right decision for him to make that move.

Anyway, however we choose to view it, a player like Melamed is probably going to attract interest from all over Scotland, England and beyond, and if Saints can't get him tied down quickly it's going to be difficult to hold onto him.

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11 minutes ago, Johnny B said:

If we are going to defend the right flank late on under the cosh take your pick Booth and Tanser or Booth and Bryson or Booth and Gilmour all better defenders than May

Gilmour? Based on what?

May's a tried, trusted and experienced player and when he came on in the final he did exactly what was asked of him and didn't put a foot wrong. And we won! I'm not sure what's brought you to the conclusion that it was the wrong decision.

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10 hours ago, Melbourne Saint said:

Righto.... No doubt most folk would love a "proper" goalscoring, skilful striker, which we've not had really since Wright & O'Snort. Melamed could sign a pre-contract with others (basically anyone from Hibs/Hearts/Aberdeen, Midden etc that can do is over in wages), and now is well and truly on other team's radars. He's no longer "an unknown quantity", he may still be homesick & Covid crap...  but conundrum for CD. If he leaves, we need another striker. Could we realistically get better??? Doubt it. Could we afford him? He'll demand first team action- don't blame him. Which means CD either has to tinker with his system, Kane doing his thing just behind Melamed, or, even moving Kane to the bench if CD goes defensive. The former would require a different system to fit Melamed in, say 3-2-3-1-1. Which makes wingers (unless they can play wingback) pretty silly. We've got to get rid of some wingers anyway, need a midfielder for Bryson and Craig isn't getting younger, Muzz neither. Then there's the May problem. Who would buy him??? No-one, unless Tommy comes to the rescue. We wouldn't pay him out, to sign Melamed on a 2-3 yr contract. It'd be bloody expensive & Broom wouldn't sanction it. 

Every time I see one of these posts from you, I can’t help but wonder... 

 

Does everyone in Australia smash into stimulants for breakfast? 

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7 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

Don't you think he has been working hard and taking his opportunity? I haven't seen any signs of that not being the case. I don't think it's about workrate, I think it's about the style of player he is. A successful squad needs different types of striker and as far as I can tell Melamed simply isn't the type of striker that CD thinks will work in his preferred formation.

I don't think throwing strops comes into it. It just makes sense that if he's not going to get picked in our big games, and another club comes in that is going to offer him more money and a chance to play more regularly, it would probably be the right decision for him to make that move.

Anyway, however we choose to view it, a player like Melamed is probably going to attract interest from all over Scotland, England and beyond, and if Saints can't get him tied down quickly it's going to be difficult to hold onto him.

It was a dig at Hendry tbh.

Melamed is far too good for us, and he and his agents will know it. That's part of the reason they likely only signed for 1 season.

If he doesn't want to extend his deal and he wants to get a bigger wage elsewhere, which is likely to be on the table, then there's nothing we can do to make him sign. I've said for a while I don't expect him here next season, but that won't be the fault of the club.

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29 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

So you wouldn't have brought Melamed on either, so why the **** were you complaining about Davidson bringing on May instead of him?

I would have brought Melamed on? My reply was to your question how do you defend on our left. Please try and keep up with the thread instead of going off on the "****" route.

It is obvious we are not going to agree on this any many other statements. Football is all about opinions you have yours and I have mine and others may differ. mI will leave it there

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18 minutes ago, Johnny B said:

I would have brought Melamed on? My reply was to your question how do you defend on our left. Please try and keep up with the thread instead of going off on the "****" route.

You moaned May was brought on instead of Melamed.

May was brought on to defend our left, a role you've just admitted you wouldn't have brought Melamed on to play.

You've now gone off on a tangent where you're seemingly about to claim that a 1-0 up in a Cup Final, when our opponents have just put 4 strikers on the park and overloaded one side, we remove a winger and put on another striker.

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