January 2022 transfer window

[super_al]

14 minutes ago, Donscanada said:

I think that is more a reflection of some horrible defending.  However can remember at least one or two goals that younger joe would have saved.  Never meant to be the corner piece from a build from the back we deploy today.  You could really see the difference when backup filled in for a spell

Well based on purely perception, we seemed to have faced some very good shot stoppers (Kelly at Motherwell, Clark at Saint Johnstone, Gordon at Hearts for example) this season whilst Lewis has not made too many saves as we don't typically give up many chances. However when we do they go in. 

[Betty Swallicks]

3 hours ago, 1983 said:

I don’t think JL is the type of character who gets motivated like that. Quite the opposite.

Joe has been a great player at this club for the majority of his time, and his form suffered when his confidence took a hit. He needs an arm round him, not a bollocking.

Well he got dropped and has came back better. Could be a fluke but I doubt it.

Competition is good regardless of a players character imo.

I'm not convinced Clark is better than Joe but if it keeps performances high it would be a decent (but not essential) signing.

 

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, afc1903mad said:

He got an assist though

That will do for me.

[Subbuteo]

Personally I would go for Scott Bain at Celtic. He's 3rd choice there plus he's out of contract in Summer and is also 30 years old  out of all the keepers mentioned he's the best with the ball at his feet.

[Zeus]

No.

Scott Bain is shite 

[thurso]

16 minutes ago, Subbuteo said:

Personally I would go for Scott Bain at Celtic. He's 3rd choice there plus he's out of contract in Summer and is also 30 years old  out of all the keepers mentioned he's the best with the ball at his feet.

I’d personally prefer he was good with hands than feet. 
When it comes to distribution I think joe Lewis biggest fault is the time he takes to decide where he’s going to put it so we can’t break away quick and teams get back in to be set to defend against us 

[Simosmashed my knee]

6 minutes ago, Zeus said:

No.

Scott Bain is shite 

Bain is awful, not a chance we should go for him 

[WesthillWanderersFC]

25 minutes ago, Subbuteo said:

Personally I would go for Scott Bain at Celtic. He's 3rd choice there plus he's out of contract in Summer and is also 30 years old  out of all the keepers mentioned he's the best with the ball at his feet.

Scott Bain is garbage. 
 

[Studebaker-90]

28 minutes ago, Subbuteo said:

Personally I would go for Scott Bain at Celtic. He's 3rd choice there plus he's out of contract in Summer and is also 30 years old  out of all the keepers mentioned he's the best with the ball at his feet.

He’s absolutely fucking shite being the reason. Think. 

[brownie]

43 minutes ago, Subbuteo said:

Personally I would go for Scott Bain at Celtic. He's 3rd choice there plus he's out of contract in Summer and is also 30 years old  out of all the keepers mentioned he's the best with the ball at his feet.

I'd rather have David Murray in goals.

[aberdeen1970]

19 minutes ago, brownie said:

I'd rather have David Murray in goals.

He's probably better with his hands than his feet as well. 

[don corleone]

1 hour ago, Subbuteo said:

Personally I would go for Scott Bain at Celtic. He's 3rd choice there plus he's out of contract in Summer and is also 30 years old  out of all the keepers mentioned he's the best with the ball at his feet.

Scott Bain is shite. 

[ThomohawkKid]

3 hours ago, super_al said:

Well based on purely perception, we seemed to have faced some very good shot stoppers (Kelly at Motherwell, Clark at Saint Johnstone, Gordon at Hearts for example) this season whilst Lewis has not made too many saves as we don't typically give up many chances. However when we do they go in. 

Cos when we give a chance away it’s usually a gimme ??

[ThomohawkKid]

55 minutes ago, thurso said:

I’d personally prefer he was good with hands than feet. 
When it comes to distribution I think joe Lewis biggest fault is the time he takes to decide where he’s going to put it so we can’t break away quick and teams get back in to be set to defend against us 

Absolutely murder when your waiting for him to distribute, ? spot on here

[RED_JOHN]

7 minutes ago, don corleone said:

Scott Bain is shite. 

I agree 

[RED_JOHN]

Just now, ThomohawkKid said:

Absolutely murder when your waiting for him to distribute, ? spot on here

Jamie Langfield used to get moaned at for punting it up the park quickly.

[moray1903]

3 hours ago, super_al said:

With the new system and style of football we want to play, having a goalkeeper with excellent distribution is vital. Joe Lewis does not have this and I am surprised it has taken this long to be addressed (excluding the large wage and contract length that Joe is currently on).

As a side note I have often thought this season that Lewis based on recent performances is one of the weaker goalkeepers in the league. The stats (data) show that most on the time we have a shot in target against us, we concede.

Spot on, totally agree. 

[YipYip1903]

6 hours ago, Ten Caat said:

Actually a few months older than Clarke, turns 30 at the end of this month. I agree he'd be an upgrade on Lewis. Apparently changed his agent a couple of months back....just wonder if he already knows where he is headed in the summer

You need not question about Clark's ability with the ball at his feet being better than Lewis'. He is light years ahead of Joe in that department.

Mind you, there are plenty 10 year old loons cutting about who are also light years ahead of Lewis with a ball at their feet. 

Is he though? St Johnstone are hardly renowned for playing the ball out from the back. I'd think they'd replace the goalkeeping coach first if this was a serious issue for the Management as surely they'd have someone who can teach this play first before thinking of moving on someone who is without doubt one of our highest earners, so would cost to move.  Makes no sense to me at all and wrong way around.

[RED_JOHN]

Dave Cormack did say we will need to sell players before we bring anymore in. Maybe that’s why it’s all went quiet on the transfer front. Nobody wants to buy our players. Hopefully St.Mirren hurry up and pick who is joining them from us so we can announce McGrath.

[Ten Caat]

2 minutes ago, YipYip1903 said:

Is he though? St Johnstone are hardly renowned for playing the ball out from the back. I'd think they'd replace the goalkeeping coach first if this was a serious issue for the Management as surely they'd have someone who can teach this play first before thinking of moving on someone who is without doubt one of our highest earners, so would cost to move.  Makes no sense to me at all and wrong way around.

Do you seriously think that our coaches haven't been trying to improve Lewis' play with the ball at his feet over the past few seasons? 

Sometimes you just have to concede that he just isn't good enough and doesn't have it in him to improve that facet of his game to the necessary level. You are certainly correct that it won't be easy for us to move Lewis on though.

As for Clark.....I'm certain that Mowbray in conjunction with our coaches and Glass will have pored over hours of video evidence to ensure he competently fits all the criteria we are looking for in a goalkeeper.

[YipYip1903]

8 minutes ago, Ten Caat said:

Do you seriously think that our coaches haven't been trying to improve Lewis' play with the ball at his feet over the past few seasons? 

Sometimes you just have to concede that he just isn't good enough and doesn't have it in him to improve that facet of his game to the necessary level. You are certainly correct that it won't be easy for us to move Lewis on though.

As for Clark.....I'm certain that Mowbray in conjunction with our coaches and Glass will have pored over hours of video evidence to ensure he competently fits all the criteria we are looking for in a goalkeeper.

Agree with what you are saying but it's Gordon Marshall that's coaching it. He's hardly a specialist in the department himself. I really just see this as a non story to be honest. The goalkeeping coach position is the only one that hasn't changed. Once it has then talk of Joe being moved on might be a little more believable to me. I might be wrong but I doubt it.

 

Forgot about your first line, no I don't think they have for a few seasons at all. The last 10 months for sure but the last few seasons there is no way at all. Kicking is way different from playing it out from the back

[aberdeen1970]

8 minutes ago, Ten Caat said:

 

As for Clark.....I'm certain that Mowbray in conjunction with our coaches and Glass will have pored over hours of video evidence to ensure he competently fits all the criteria we are looking for in a goalkeeper.

You've got more faith than I do TC 

[AyrshireSheep]

40 minutes ago, RED_JOHN said:

Dave Cormack did say we will need to sell players before we bring anymore in. Maybe that’s why it’s all went quiet on the transfer front. Nobody wants to buy our players. Hopefully St.Mirren hurry up and pick who is joining them from us so we can announce McGrath.

Where did he say that exactly? Haven't seen that quoted anywhere. All the way along it's been "we don't need to sell players but if an offer comes in that's acceptable it'll be looked at". If he genuinely thinks we can go as we are or even sell some of our best players before signing anyone else he's even more deluded than you. 

[BonnieDon]

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/rangers/zander-clark-benjamin-siegrist-aberdeen-rangers-and-the-intriguing-premiership-goalkeeper-3517617

Clark interest

Of course, St Johnstone are keen to extend his deal but there is a realism he is in the final months of his time at McDiarmid Park, which has lasted 11 years and nearly 200 games. 

The Scottish Sun have reported interest from Dundee United and Aberdeen in the player, while there are teams in England who are also keen. In the past, Rangers have also been mentioned.

Firstly, Clark will deserve his move whenever and wherever he decides. He has had his moments of struggles during his time as Saints No.1 or when he was battling Alan Mannus for the position. However, over the past 12 months or so he has really stepped it up, bringing a level of consistency and even greater reliability to his performances.

Egregious errors have all but been eradicated from his game. He has improved with the ball at his feet, he's getting his body behind shots much better, while he’s less likely to push shots back into dangerous areas.

The stats back it up. Wyscout have a metric for prevented goals based on the saves made and goals conceded. He is second, behind Craig Gordon, in the league having prevented 5.83. Last season, he was 30th with -6.78.

Goalkeeper merry-go-round

 

Clark’s position and the teams interested in him add some extra intrigue and point to a bigger picture. 

There could be plenty of movement on the goalkeeper front in the Scottish Premiership.

It's obvious why Dundee United are interested. Benjamin Siegrist, one of the best goalkeepers in the league, is out of contract. 

The Swiss star will see the possibility of landing a big contract at 29. He has been linked to both Celtic and Rangers and a change of agent raised eyebrows last month. Like with Clark, there is an expectation that he will move on.

They are not the only Premiership goalkeepers who are in the final months of their deal. Jak Alnwick at St Mirren is in the same position, as are Rangers duo Allan McGregor and Jon McLaughlin.

There has been plenty of transfer speculation surrounding the centre-back position at Ibrox with John Souttar and Vitesse Arnhem captain Danhilo strongly linked as Connor Goldson’s contract situation remains up in the air.

 

Come the summer they may be in a position where they need to replace two goalkeepers. It therefore makes complete sense as to why Rangers would be looking at Clark or Siegrist for that matter.

They are both experienced, reliable and proven at Premiership level. The last couple of seasons at Celtic and Rangers have shown the need to have two goalkeepers who are more than capable of being No.1.

Of the teams mentioned so far Aberdeen are the outlier. Gary Woods is contracted until 2023 and Joe Lewis until 2024.

The ever-reliable Lewis has been less so, certainly this campaign and even lost his spot, albeit it ever so briefly.

 

The prevented goals metric was mentioned earlier, Lewis sits 19 out of 21 goalkeepers in the Premiership this season with -2.17. he was 27th last season having been fourth the previous year.

It's a position which can make or break a season. You only need to look at Hearts and the significant difference Craig Gordon has made.

Being an out of contract keeper with a body of work behind you is a strong position to be in. With that, the coming months will be fascinating from a goalkeeper’s perspective and could see Scottish football's very own goalkeeper merry-go-round.

 

 

[RED_JOHN]

14 minutes ago, AyrshireSheep said:

Where did he say that exactly? Haven't seen that quoted anywhere. All the way along it's been "we don't need to sell players but if an offer comes in that's acceptable it'll be looked at". If he genuinely thinks we can go as we are or even sell some of our best players before signing anyone else he's even more deluded than you. 

It was definitely said. That’s why everything is quiet at the moment. We need to do player swaps or sell players to get others in. 

[AyrshireSheep]

20 minutes ago, RED_JOHN said:

It was definitely said. That’s why everything is quiet at the moment. We need to do player swaps or sell players to get others in. 

You'll be able to find the article where he said it then. I certainly can't. Everything links back to "we don't need to sell in January but if we do it'll be on our terms". 

[Feel]

100%. He has never said anything of the like.

[RED_JOHN]

I honestly can’t remember where I seen it, it was definitely said though. Glass maybe mentioning sometime? 

[super_al]

42 minutes ago, BonnieDon said:

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/rangers/zander-clark-benjamin-siegrist-aberdeen-rangers-and-the-intriguing-premiership-goalkeeper-3517617

Clark interest

Of course, St Johnstone are keen to extend his deal but there is a realism he is in the final months of his time at McDiarmid Park, which has lasted 11 years and nearly 200 games. 

The Scottish Sun have reported interest from Dundee United and Aberdeen in the player, while there are teams in England who are also keen. In the past, Rangers have also been mentioned.

Firstly, Clark will deserve his move whenever and wherever he decides. He has had his moments of struggles during his time as Saints No.1 or when he was battling Alan Mannus for the position. However, over the past 12 months or so he has really stepped it up, bringing a level of consistency and even greater reliability to his performances.

Egregious errors have all but been eradicated from his game. He has improved with the ball at his feet, he's getting his body behind shots much better, while he’s less likely to push shots back into dangerous areas.

The stats back it up. Wyscout have a metric for prevented goals based on the saves made and goals conceded. He is second, behind Craig Gordon, in the league having prevented 5.83. Last season, he was 30th with -6.78.

Goalkeeper merry-go-round

 

Clark’s position and the teams interested in him add some extra intrigue and point to a bigger picture. 

There could be plenty of movement on the goalkeeper front in the Scottish Premiership.

It's obvious why Dundee United are interested. Benjamin Siegrist, one of the best goalkeepers in the league, is out of contract. 

The Swiss star will see the possibility of landing a big contract at 29. He has been linked to both Celtic and Rangers and a change of agent raised eyebrows last month. Like with Clark, there is an expectation that he will move on.

They are not the only Premiership goalkeepers who are in the final months of their deal. Jak Alnwick at St Mirren is in the same position, as are Rangers duo Allan McGregor and Jon McLaughlin.

There has been plenty of transfer speculation surrounding the centre-back position at Ibrox with John Souttar and Vitesse Arnhem captain Danhilo strongly linked as Connor Goldson’s contract situation remains up in the air.

 

Come the summer they may be in a position where they need to replace two goalkeepers. It therefore makes complete sense as to why Rangers would be looking at Clark or Siegrist for that matter.

They are both experienced, reliable and proven at Premiership level. The last couple of seasons at Celtic and Rangers have shown the need to have two goalkeepers who are more than capable of being No.1.

Of the teams mentioned so far Aberdeen are the outlier. Gary Woods is contracted until 2023 and Joe Lewis until 2024.

The ever-reliable Lewis has been less so, certainly this campaign and even lost his spot, albeit it ever so briefly.

 

The prevented goals metric was mentioned earlier, Lewis sits 19 out of 21 goalkeepers in the Premiership this season with -2.17. he was 27th last season having been fourth the previous year.

It's a position which can make or break a season. You only need to look at Hearts and the significant difference Craig Gordon has made.

Being an out of contract keeper with a body of work behind you is a strong position to be in. With that, the coming months will be fascinating from a goalkeeper’s perspective and could see Scottish football's very own goalkeeper merry-go-round.

 

 

There you go, the stats show Lewis is one of the worst this season and Zander Clark is second best.

[RED_JOHN]

2 minutes ago, super_al said:

There you go, the stats show Lewis is one of the worst this season and Zander Clark is second best.

We have a terrible record of keeping shots against us (on target) out of the net. We definitely need to improve. Changing Lewis is a gamble but I don’t think many would bat an eyelid especially after some of his performances we had witnessed the last year or so.