35 replies to this topic

[northernscum]

Now that Fletcher is out of the picture under Levein, what does the immediate future of our striking options consist of, for the upcoming campaign at least?

Miller - Getting near the end of the road at international level unfortunately

Mackie - Shows glimpses of form but jury still out

Rhodes - Could be a lot of pressure on this young mans shoulders, hopefully not too much

Goodwillie - A spell in the championship could do him good, needs to start getting regular football

McCormack- Levein seems to have issues, hopefully he can be given a chance seems pretty consistent ina tough league

CMS - Meh

Hopefully we will start to adopt a more positive approach as Miller is the only one who seems capable of playing the lone man role, especially away from home.
Reckon we need to adjust the tactics to suit the players available a bit more or it could be a long, watching through the fingers campaign.

Any positives for us?

[wanderer]

Think Miller has plenty left in the tank to take us over the next 2 year's.

CMS will never be more than a bit part player who will get friendlies and 10-15 minutes here and there, but at the moment is Leveins number 2 striker.

Goodwillie I expect to see him phased in over the next two years.

Rhodes, same as Goody, with a view to them two taking over from Miller and CMS as main two strikers after the world cup.

Mackie, never seen has as an out and out striker, but more of playing off the front striker or on the wing.

Happy enough with our options just now and do not think Fletcher will be as big a miss as folks think.

Goody and Rhodes will have a season in the championship next season which in Goodys case, think will be a good thing for him.

[PASTA Mick]

Happy enough with our options just now and do not think Fletcher will be as big a miss as folks think.

Really? It's by far our weakest position and the fact we are even talking about League 1 players tells you everything you need to know. Fletcher is a huge loss and you are nuts if you think otherwise.

If we'd had a forward like Robbie Keane or Craig Bellamy over the last 10 years, I'm certain we wouldn't have failed in every campaign like we have done.

Happy with Miller and CMS?! Jesus Christ.

[wanderer]

Would you rather go back to the days of Scott Dobie and Matt Elliott?

[McManus4]

Might need to take a chance on Rhodes but there is absolutely no point if he is going to play a defensive formation. If Rhodes is isolated he will be useless.

[PASTA Mick]

Would you rather go back to the days of Scott Dobie and Matt Elliott?

No, but doesn't mean I have to be happy with Miller (with taking away what he has done for us) and CMS. Fletcher is a huge loss. He's the best forward from Scotland since D Ferguson.

Hopefully Goodwillie and Rhodes stepup and do well but I doubt they'll ever be as good as Fletcher.

[northernscum]

Would you rather go back to the days of Scott Dobie and Matt Elliott?

Don't remember him as a striker!

[wanderer]

Don't remember him as a striker!

Latvia in Riga and 2nd half in San Marino in 2000

[GhostZapper]

Mackies scored 7 or 8 in the EPL this season, despite missing the first 3 months of the season, in an equally as bad team as Fletcher, so if Fletcher is a superstar (as some seem to be proclaiming on the other thread) as he;s scored 11 or 12, Mackie canny be far behind

[wanderer]

If we'd had a forward like Robbie Keane or Craig Bellamy over the last 10 years, I'm certain we wouldn't have failed in every campaign like we have done.

To put a spanner in your theory, bellamy has a similar number of caps as Miller and only 2 or 3 more goals to show for it

[Hertsscot]

Seems that Levein is reluctant to go with two out and out goalscoring forwards (hence McCormack's exclusion) so the onus is not just on the lone striker but on supporting attacking midfield players to chip in (Naismith, Forrest etc)

[wanderer]

No, but doesn't mean I have to be happy with Miller (with taking away what he has done for us) and CMS. Fletcher is a huge loss. He's the best forward from Scotland since D Ferguson.

Hopefully Goodwillie and Rhodes stepup and do well but I doubt they'll ever be as good as Fletcher.

Drunken Duncan was never as great a striker for Scotland as folk think.... His Scotland career consisted of a bicycle kick via Germany and a dribble into the box v Estonia.

That said, Roxburgh and Brown never played him right, as he was far to lazy to play as a Target man.... I have always found it a shame Vogts never got a chance to work with him as I think he knew how to have used him.

Edited by wanderer, 14 May 2012 - 05:17 PM.

[PASTA Mick]

Mackies scored 7 or 8 in the EPL this season, despite missing the first 3 months of the season, in an equally as bad team as Fletcher, so if Fletcher is a superstar (as some seem to be proclaiming on the other thread) as he;s scored 11 or 12, Mackie canny be far behind

Mackie is very under-rated by a lot of people on here. Do you think he could play on his own up-front?

To put a spanner in your theory, bellamy has a similar number of caps as Miller and only 2 or 3 more goals to show for it

In a much weaker team. Keane is the better example but Bellamy would have been great for us.

Seems that Levein is reluctant to go with two out and out goalscoring forwards (hence McCormack's exclusion) so the onus is not just on the lone striker but on supporting attacking midfield players to chip in (Naismith, Forrest etc)

I agree. Naismith could be a very important player for us.

[JECK]

I really wish we had a totally class striker as someone mentioned Keane etc, think its the difference from qualifying and not qualifying. Although some would say defence is our weakest position i think its good enough to get by had we top drawer forward to, A put the baw in the net when all seems lost and B create chances for others.

[northernscum]

Latvia in Riga and 2nd half in San Marino in 2000

Aye but was he officially striker or was it a case of a "Jimmy Calderwood blow the bugle formation" where everyone piled forward?