Saints January '22 Transfer Activity

[Linky 209]

20 minutes ago, HOODLUM65 said:

That attack frightens me.

It's not great, but that's what I think Davidson is most likely to go with if we're not signing anyone further. I'd prefer to have Kane alongside Ciftci, and Middleton just behind them.

[Shibbydoo 484]

Get MOH Tae ****

[HOODLUM65 2,982]

Aidan Smith in The Herald reporting Aberdeen and Dundee United interested in signing Zander.

Surely Z should be aiming higher that that.!!

[The Real Saints 981]

45 minutes ago, Linky said:

It's not great, but that's what I think Davidson is most likely to go with if we're not signing anyone further. I'd prefer to have Kane alongside Ciftci, and Middleton just behind them.

Our business is pretty far from being done, I suspect.

[HOODLUM65 2,982]

Septic's Liam Shaw looks to be heading to Motherwell instead of Perth.

[pezza70 53]

1 hour ago, Linky said:

So, I'd expect our new line-up to look like this:

                                            Clark

Rooney    Cleary      Gordon    McCart    Gallacher

                     Butterfield      Bryson

MOH                                                    Crawford

                               Ciftci

SUBS

Parish, Brown, Booth, Davidson, Craig, Middleton, Kane

How do May, MacPherson, Gilmour, Ambrose, Muller & Eetu fit into this? And are there any more signings on the way?

I'd suggest either Ambrose or Muller need to go. Eetu on loan?

What about our 5 man blue wall in defence

That will be as tight as a ducks bum when going for a swim

[Havana Saint 882]

14 minutes ago, pezza70 said:

What about our 5 man blue wall in defence

That will be as tight as a ducks bum when going for a swim

May is quite clearly not good enough.

[saintgscot 185]

8 minutes ago, Havana Saint said:

May is quite clearly not good enough.

Come on puts a lot of hard work in pressuring defences. Maybe don’t score as much but still puts work in.

[Rob 234]

Ciftci will be another option in attack. Will he be our main man upfront. Not for 90 mins anyway.  I would think Kane will be kept in there. The service to our strikers has also been poor and because of that they are never in the right position. Spend most of the game running about trying to win the ball or holding up the ball for no one. Not just a goal scorer we need, the right formation is needed. Midfield still looks weak.

Edited January 5 by Rob

[Rob 234]

2 hours ago, Linky said:

So, I'd expect our new line-up to look like this:

                                            Clark

Rooney    Cleary      Gordon    McCart    Gallacher

                     Butterfield      Bryson

MOH                                                    Crawford

                               Ciftci

SUBS

Parish, Brown, Booth, Davidson, Craig, Middleton, Kane

How do May, MacPherson, Gilmour, Ambrose, Muller & Eetu fit into this? And are there any more signings on the way?

I'd suggest either Ambrose or Muller need to go. Eetu on loan?

With Covid, cant rely on a small squad. Think Ambrose will be away. No idea about Eetu.

[tucker 207]

Not sure we've bought the quality we need to get out this mess,striker not match fit.crawford who's been awful at best last two months and two untried defenders at this level

See what happens

[jhq 1,430]

13 hours ago, RandomGuy said:

Yeah but I guess Ciftci hasn't had both knees blow apart so he's maybe likely to be closer to the player he used to be

Neither has Stevie May.

[Melbourne Saint 276]

On 1/4/2022 at 11:30 PM, Saintdunc said:

Are you Randoom in disguise?

Are you amaebic in reality!

[Saintdunc 810]

55 minutes ago, Melbourne Saint said:

Are you amaebic in reality!

Ha! The difference between us is that it doesn’t come out of my mouth. 

[blueheaven 3,274]

12 hours ago, south inch said:

I must say I admire the optimism surrounding this signing shown by some on here., can't understand it but must admire it.  This is a guy who arrived at Celtic carrying a 6 game suspension and proceeded to make little or no impact despite the service and resources on offer. H e was loaned to anyone who would take him until his 4 year contract was up and now here he is 6 years later having been shown the door by his latest club. He has played little football in the past 6 months so he cannot be match fit.

That may well all be true but this is the situation we find ourselves in when we decide to delay on building a team until (a) it's midway through the season so the majority of players are tied up, and (b) we're bottom of the league so have lost our pulling power. Basically, we're having to take gambles, and this guy is a massive gamble. It's a disgrace that we're in this position, but that's where we are.

Personally I don't have a great feeling about this but really we have to give these new guys a chance and get behind them.

 

[Saintdunc 810]

8 hours ago, tucker said:

Not sure we've bought the quality we need to get out this mess,striker not match fit.crawford who's been awful at best last two months and two untried defenders at this level

See what happens

Patience tucker. A rabbit or 2 will come out of the hat before the window closes.

[Radford 72 960]

11 hours ago, Linky said:

And are there any more signings on the way?

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if there was another five or six signings. There are areas that need immediate addressing (legs in midfield arguably now being number one) but if they are serious about learning from past mistakes (and surely appointing a Head of Recruitment is a big part of that) then they need to prepare for likely departure of Rooney and McCart. 

Obviously retaining league status is the priority but you can't afford to stand still, especially when we've already done it for three windows under this manager. 

Goalkeeping issue will need addressed but there is absolutely no way they can let Clark go in January so we don't actually NEED a keeper until the summer. 

After stating the above, there will then need to be players out as well clearly. 

[blueheaven 3,274]

16 hours ago, Linky said:

You could be right, but do we know for sure that he rates him? Surely a centre midfielder is the last signing? Perhaps another winger to add into the mix. Think we'd need to start moving players on though: Ambrose and MacPherson at least. I'd add it's time for May & MOH to head out on loan too.

I wouldn't be surprised to see MacPherson announced as one of the signings. Not sure if his injury situation might affect that though - isn't he supposed to be out for a while? Think I read that Ambrose has been told he's free to speak to other clubs. I wouldn't be massively surprised to see Middleton's loan being cut short and also think Eetu may yet be sent out on loan if we sign another forward. I also thought we might bring Gilmour back but haven't heard anything about that.

Has anyone heard if we've offered VSO an extension? I think hanging on to him a bit longer would be a good move.

[Saintdunc 810]

5 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

Has anyone heard if we've offered VSO an extension? I think hanging on to him a bit longer would be a good move.

I would agree with you here bh because he is someone that could light up a game and,  if we got him on a long contract, would be our best signing of the window. He has the ammunition and we need to find a long term striker he can deliver it to.

[saintee in exile 211]

Would be great to give Viv an extension.Whipping the balls into Shifty!

[Pat McGroin 999]

10 hours ago, saintgscot said:

Come on puts a lot of hard work in pressuring defences. Maybe don’t score as much but still puts work in.

I’m sorry but “putting work in” should be a given. He’s not a striker capable of playing at this level and will be on a decent wage. 

[Stormy39 11]

Pity that Shaw seems to be headed to Motherwell instead of Saints. Could have been the legs we need in midfield. Pretty happy with how the window has gone thus far. Priority from here must be to tie Viv down until the end of the season and to bring in a McCann (Davidson and Craig) replacement. Plus secure another striker. Preferably one that has played a lot, scored goals etc, will hit the ground running. The club should negotiate hard for Rudden. Thinking Eetu should go out on loan.

[garydavidson 1,808]

11 hours ago, HOODLUM65 said:

Aidan Smith in The Herald reporting Aberdeen and Dundee United interested in signing Zander.

Surely Z should be aiming higher that that.!!

Would be disappointing if he moved to either of them but it is probably his only chance of keeping up a profile with Scotland if he is after more money and nothing in England would get him to be first choice. 

[Cagey 2,848]

Davidson's transfer activity does not inspire confidence.

Summer.

Vertainen . fee paid ,little game time.

Crawford. Loan.

McPherson. Loan

Muller. Loan.

Dendonker. Loan.

Devine . Loan.

Middleton. Loan.

MID SEASON.

Ambrose. No Club.

Viv. No Club.

Butterfield. No Club.

January. So far.

Crawford. Loan now permanent.

Gallagher. 2.5 year deal.

Ciftci. No club,deal to end of season.

Not looking good so far.

Think I got them all but may have missed a gem.

[PSJ.84 3]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

I wouldn't be surprised to see MacPherson announced as one of the signings. Not sure if his injury situation might affect that though - isn't he supposed to be out for a while? Think I read that Ambrose has been told he's free to speak to other clubs. I wouldn't be massively surprised to see Middleton's loan being cut short and also think Eetu may yet be sent out on loan if we sign another forward. I also thought we might bring Gilmour back but haven't heard anything about that.

Has anyone heard if we've offered VSO an extension? I think hanging on to him a bit longer would be a good move.

Regarding MacPherson, I get the feeling the manager was just saying what he said to give him a bit of confidence. At no point in his career, certainly in the top flight, has Cammy MacPherson ever looked like a competent central midfielder, let alone an Ali McCann replacement. 
 

Cutting Middleton’s loan short would be foolish in my book. Whilst he’s hardly set the heather alight, who has? He’s the one player we have with a bit of pace, who actually has a bit of a football brain. The tactic of shelling balls up to him for 70 minutes before taking him off clearly has had an adverse impact on his confidence. 
 

I’m sure Gilmour is/will be back before the end of the break (may well have been back on Monday). Whether or not he becomes an option in midfield remains to be seen…