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3 minutes ago, ThelegendthatisBeto said:

Does NM know it or not? Thoughts 

I doubt it very much. The amount of comings and goings and the short pre-season prior to the League Cup starting means that any manager in the same situation would find knowing his best 11 a serious challenge at this stage.

The worry for me was that McCann still didn't seem to know his best 11, or preferred formation when last season ended. To my mind, the constant chopping and changing, especially in defence completely undid us last season. 

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3 minutes ago, ThelegendthatisBeto said:

Does NM know it or not? Thoughts 

No I don't think he will know just now. His plans for the up and coming season will change once we are into the new season.

Our biggest issue over the last few years has been in my eyes the mass exodus and importing of new players. We never seem to have a settled side which many other teams seem to have.  I wonder how many players this club have come in and out over the last 5 seasons, I bet we have the highest percentage of transfers of any other club in the premier league?

How can you get a settled side when you don't know who is going to be there or not? So far just this season alone, we have brought in 5 new players and as many let go. I understand that we have to better the players on the park, but to what cost? Sometimes having a team who know each another and having a settled line up is more beneficial in the long run?

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It doesn't bode well to be conceding 7 goals in 2 friendlies in Portugal, even allowing for new players, heat, experimental tactics, etc, etc.

We desperately need a settled defence that can keep clean sheets, at the moment this seems as far away as ever.

Who is our leader on the park, apart from Gowser, we don't have one.

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We appear to be miles away from a settled XI.

First choice keeper? They don't seem to know, never mind us

Right back? Kerr surely but then again maybe Curran

Left back? Nathan surely but then again maybe Nganioni

Centre back? Caulker (if he stays) plus O'Dea or Meekings or the General or Jefferies

Defensive midfield? Kamara of course (but Madianga if the Finn leaves)

Central midfield? McGowan. At least we have one certainty (if he stays out the clink)

Attacking midfield? Elton, Wighton or Lambert

Out wide? Deacon, Wolters or Wighton (if we decide to play with width)

Up front? Moussa as target man alongside Mendy or Henvey or El Bak

Lots of uncertainty BUT if the lads play to a high standard maybe it doesn't matter too much who starts.

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I'm not getting too bogged down by the manager knowing or not knowing his preferred XI.

The point of having a squad is that you can tweak and tinker with things all season long, I would imagine that any player coming in is deemed good enough by the management team to fit in when required.

Our season will not hinge on what XI starts on Saturday.

What I do like to see, is a spine of regulars - GK, CB's , CM's and ST's. Hamilton will be No.1.

We will still be using the LC as a build up to St Mirren away, so I will still expect these games to have changes happening but reducing as we get closer to August.

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11 minutes ago, SM1893 said:

I'm not getting too bogged down by the manager knowing or not knowing his preferred XI.

The point of having a squad is that you can tweak and tinker with things all season long, I would imagine that any player coming in is deemed good enough by the management team to fit in when required.

Our season will not hinge on what XI starts on Saturday.

What I do like to see, is a spine of regulars - GK, CB's , CM's and ST's. Hamilton will be No.1.

We will still be using the LC as a build up to St Mirren away, so I will still expect these games to have changes happening but reducing as we get closer to August.

So, judging by that bit mate, you would like to see around 6 or 7 players being part of a settled 11? 😉 

Only pulling your leg, I get where you're coming from, even if I don't necessarily agree.

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41 minutes ago, barkblue said:

So, judging by that bit mate, you would like to see around 6 or 7 players being part of a settled 11? 😉 

Only pulling your leg, I get where you're coming from, even if I don't necessarily agree.

Haha yeah mate, maybe I didn't go into that enough. It's the way I would build a team with those positions 1st. I will still be expecting this to change between Saturday and the league opener.

I think I was trying to get at those positions being settled once NM has his preferred system and guys to play that system.

Love it when a one liner gets isolated 😂

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At the moment I don't think he knows his starting eleven, however I think he does have Hamilton, Kerr, Nathan, Madianga, Kamara, Moussa and Mindy in mind as first choice picks to start the season. I'd also add Caulker if he stays. More worrying is not that he doesn't know which three or four others are added to those names to  make up the starting eleven, it's I don't think he knows yet which formation he wants to play, will it be 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. Until he decides that he will continue to experiment and that could be to our detriment at the beginning of the season.

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9 hours ago, bjs said:

At the moment I don't think he knows his starting eleven, however I think he does have Hamilton, Kerr, Nathan, Madianga, Kamara, Moussa and Mindy in mind as first choice picks to start the season. I'd also add Caulker if he stays. More worrying is not that he doesn't know which three or four others are added to those names to  make up the starting eleven, it's I don't think he knows yet which formation he wants to play, will it be 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. Until he decides that he will continue to experiment and that could be to our detriment at the beginning of the season.

This a reboot of the old series, with Sofien replacing Robin Williams' Mork? 😜

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I think it’s important that we’re flexible and able to play a few different systems. We won’t see a settled 11 during pre season and I’m glad we won’t. Obviously it’s important that players get used to playing with each other, particularly in defence, but we’ll need to change things slightly week to week depending on who we’re playing. 

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