The Right Calibre Of Player

[Harold Finch]

In the last year as well as signing O Dea, Gomis, El Bak, Vincent, Williams and have been linked with Stevie Mallan, Tom Hateley, Nicky Law, Tony Andreu. These are all players that had options other than Dundee, it's good to see we are in a position to compete with other clubs for players, sure we'll miss out on some, but we've come along way from the Stephen Hughes/SBJ days.

Signing and being linked with proven premier league players, lower league players with potential, experienced foreign players that have played at a higher standard than the SPL, and taking the occasional chance with young foreign players, our siging policy doesn't look too bad

 

 

[chomp my root]

3 hours ago, Harold Finch said:

In the last year as well as signing O Dea, Gomis, El Bak, Vincent, Williams and have been linked with Stevie Mallan, Tom Hateley, Nicky Law, Tony Andreu. These are all players that had options other than Dundee, it's good to see we are in a position to compete with other clubs for players, sure we'll miss out on some, but we've come along way from the Stephen Hughes/SBJ days.

Signing and being linked with proven premier league players, lower league players with potential, experienced foreign players that have played at a higher standard than the SPL, and taking the occasional chance with young foreign players, our siging policy doesn't look too bad

 

 

Yup, pretty much how I see it too but its not a universal view it seems. I guess that's what keeps forums going. 

[EuanG]

Strange i dont see it that way at all. We have signed players who were either at clubs in lower leagues, or smaller clubs than us or players who have not played much over the years. Dont know who was after the players you mention apart from El bak, who sadly did not make the grade in trial at Blackburn, the others who were mentioned as possible signings were just mentioned. I am not sure we have a great signing policy yet, but i hope to be proved wrong. I guess some  people are glass half full types and others half empty types, I just know i was dissapointed that we did mot add to the squad during the window even though our manager or more than one occasion said he was after new players but nobody we were after signed!

[harry94]

It's worth noting that United had something like ten players arrive after the start of the season. All good signing players and that and depth is important but you've got to have a bit of conviction (or in other words STUBBORNNESS) that the players that you have already invested in can do a reasonable job of some sort. No point signing someone unless we know that they are actually adding a bit of quality and as bad as our summer was, we've picked up 5 points from 4 games and moving along. It could be better but we aren't that desperate yet.

It is a results game but in any other workplace, you wouldn't put months into a recruitment process and hire someone only to go through that all over again at the first sign of problems.

1 minute ago, EuanG said:

Strange i dont see it that way at all. We have signed players who were either at clubs in lower leagues, or smaller clubs than us or players who have not played much over the years. Dont know who was after the players you mention apart from El bak, who sadly did not make the grade in trial at Blackburn, the others who were mentioned as possible signings were just mentioned. I am not sure we have a great signing policy yet, but i hope to be proved wrong. I guess some  people are glass half full types and others half empty types, I just know i was dissapointed that we did mot add to the squad during the window even though our manager or more than one occasion said he was after new players but nobody we were after signed!

 

I think we were close to signing Stuart Findlay (big defender who had left Celtic) but then Newcastle unexpectedly got on the phone and we were obviously taken out of the picture.

This sort of thing happens all the time with players changing their mind or interest elsewhere and it happens to every club. I think it's just been more noticeable this summer with the departures exposing things and also maybe being  a bit less lucky than before. I imagine that you'd pretty much get a complete different 11 if you went to every manager in the league and asked them to name a squad of players that they tried to sign first time. I'm not sure it's really fair to put that on signing policy, the manager can only go in and try to sell the club the best he can and offer what wages the board allow - it's then up to many different factors that we have no influence on. Hemmings, McGinn, Loy, Low, Holt, McGowan and Gomis (just off the top of my head) all had reported interest from clubs who, you would guess, would have maybe been offering a bit more money so I don't think the manager has done too bad in influencing his targets.

[Caniggia33]

I'm not feeling it at all.  We are targetting mid 20s journeymen from the lower leagues and premier league reserves.  With the exception of Gomis who is a total unknown to me it does worry me that I have to google players when we sign them to try to see if I even remember watching the for ICT, Aberdeen etc and very rarely can.  I think our transfer policy falls to pieces as a result of our completely misfiring youth system which is producing even less under Hartley than it has in the past.  Wighton for example doesn't look any closer to the first team than he did when Bomber was in charge, Kerr fell into the team by accident and stayed there as he is game for a scrap unlike most of his team mates, Colquoun has played about 3 games and thats it.  Players like Prest who were ones for the future have not developed at all and been released.  If the youth system was functioning we should be able to sign a few good characters to guide and augment the kids like Weston, Lockwood, Panelic, McInally, Smith etc or a bit of real quality like a Harkins, Stainrod, Charnley or McColl type to excite and entertain.  I was laughing at the BBC documentary the other night and Stuart Cosgrove pretending this is a golden era for wee clubs.  The wee clubs are still crap and playing crap football its just the big and medium sized clubs ourselves included have regressed to the level of ICT, Ross Co, St J etc and in a lot of cases sunk below that pitiful level.

[md20/20]

What is the point in being linked with all these quality players if we sign none of them.

Then come saturday we cant name a full team and that is including having young boys on the bench.

 

[sneddee]

exactly this. thread bare squad. shitting myself  incase there are injuries

[chomp my root]

29 minutes ago, Caniggia33 said:

I'm not feeling it at all.  We are targetting mid 20s journeymen from the lower leagues and premier league reserves.  With the exception of Gomis who is a total unknown to me it does worry me that I have to google players when we sign them to try to see if I even remember watching the for ICT, Aberdeen etc and very rarely can.  I think our transfer policy falls to pieces as a result of our completely misfiring youth system which is producing even less under Hartley than it has in the past.  Wighton for example doesn't look any closer to the first team than he did when Bomber was in charge, Kerr fell into the team by accident and stayed there as he is game for a scrap unlike most of his team mates, Colquoun has played about 3 games and thats it.  Players like Prest who were ones for the future have not developed at all and been released.  If the youth system was functioning we should be able to sign a few good characters to guide and augment the kids like Weston, Lockwood, Panelic, McInally, Smith etc or a bit of real quality like a Harkins, Stainrod, Charnley or McColl type to excite and entertain.  I was laughing at the BBC documentary the other night and Stuart Cosgrove pretending this is a golden era for wee clubs.  The wee clubs are still crap and playing crap football its just the big and medium sized clubs ourselves included have regressed to the level of ICT, Ross Co, St J etc and in a lot of cases sunk below that pitiful level.

Not quite sure that's the case about the reserves and lower leagues but stepping away from that, you can't just go with a team full of kids with potential, they need a framework of older pro's to work with, even the class of '92 had some older heads to coax them through games. As for rattling off a list of decent players we've had, I recall some of them getting slated at the time, nothing like a bit of time to cloud the memory eh ? 

[islaydarkblue]

In the past young players have supposedly failed to make the grade at Dens only to become a success elsewhere.

 

[barkblue]

15 minutes ago, islaydarkblue said:

In the past young players have supposedly failed to make the grade at Dens only to become a success elsewhere.

 

Who would you reckon falls into that category Islay?

[islaydarkblue]

25 minutes ago, barkblue said:

Who would you reckon falls into that category Islay?

I seem to remember that Henry Hall was released by Dundee before going on to become a star player with St Johnstone,

We also signed Derek McKay from Deveronvale FC  and then let him go to Aberdeen  McKay scored two of the goals in Aberdeen 3-1 win over Celtic in the 1970 Scottish Cup Final. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_McKay

[barkblue]

5 minutes ago, islaydarkblue said:

I seem to remember that Henry Hall was released by Dundee before going on to become a star player with St Johnstone,

We also signed Derek McKay from Deveronvale FC  and then let him go to Aberdeen  McKay scored two of the goals in Aberdeen 3-1 win over Celtic in the 1970 Scottish Cup Final. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_McKay

Sorry, I was thinking you meant in vaguely recent times mate! 

Two from 40 years ago hardly makes us serial offenders!