The Squad 2022-23

[ALDO MUSSY]

but we have to reserve judgment and give a chance to them both in Micky we trust???????????????

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I am underwhelmed with both of the new players, MP said in the Q & A said they had agreed on forward players to be more forward-thinking and score goals goals and more goals

A bit unfair, AM. To sign so many players by the 1st of June is unusually good going. The squad is shaping up nicely. There's a lot of time left and I am sure there is a lot of budget left.

You want goals. Lewis scored just one less than our two joint leading scorers last season. I also have a feeling Hockenhull has a goal or two in him. In any case, if we are to attack more, we need quick defenders like him.

 

[ALDO MUSSY]

true just having a bad day yesterday had to take it out on something

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

true just having a bad day yesterday had to take it out on something

I know the feeling.

 

[Boz]

My concern with a Lewis O’Connor midfield combo would be a lack of creativity. Perhaps you can get around that by deploying Morris more centrally, but it is easier to defend against a side where nearly all the creative impetus is coming from out wide.

 

[bigmart]

I think it gives us options in the midfield area which can only be a good thing. We can easily change the formation as well so I'm happy enough with it

 

[overthewater]

Ross Doohan released by Celtic

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Ross Doohan released by Celtic

I thought he was on a longer contract. However, I think that means he won't be with us next season. Usually, when we have signed a loan player, we have signed him immediately on his release - Morris, Macdonald, O'Connor, Hawkes. I expect Micky, James Vaughan and Joe Murphy will already be well advanced in finding our new number one for next season.

 

[Ian]

It's a shame how the season sizzled out for him. Looked really good early days but became less assured as the season went on.

 

[Boz]

Some of the ITK posters elsewhere seemed to think we’d already identified our next keeper (not Doohan) a while back, but that seems to have gone quiet.

I felt Micky persisted with Doohan too long after Murphy regained fitness and that was a factor in Rovers missing out in the play-offs. Can only think of one or two games where Ross earned us points with his keeping.

 

[keep the faith]

just guessing but wonder whether ross felt a bit intimidated playing behind experienced pros such as Clarke/davies? would have been a lot different from under 23,s back at celtic

 

[ADD]

Some of the ITK posters elsewhere seemed to think we’d already identified our next keeper (not Doohan) a while back, but that seems to have gone quiet.

I felt Micky persisted with Doohan too long after Murphy regained fitness and that was a factor in Rovers missing out in the play-offs. Can only think of one or two games where Ross earned us points with his keeping.

Think the ITK tip went elsewhere Boz.

Agree with you re Doohan has to be said - doubt and hope that we won't be bringing him back - need a more experienced keeper or else otherwise Murphy will need to be starting and from his BBC interview doesn't sound like that is the plan so hopefully Vaughan and MM have some irons in the fire.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Some of the ITK posters elsewhere seemed to think we’d already identified our next keeper (not Doohan) a while back, but that seems to have gone quiet.

I felt Micky persisted with Doohan too long after Murphy regained fitness and that was a factor in Rovers missing out in the play-offs. Can only think of one or two games where Ross earned us points with his keeping.

Extremely unfair to blame Doohan for failure to make the play offs. I can only think of one or two games where he really struggled, such as Northampton away, and the majority of his performances were solid. His clean sheet percentage will be as good as, if not better than, Murphy's.

There were far bigger and more obvious reasons behind the failure to make the top seven (ie. lack of goals in the early season, poor away performances and injuries and suspensions to key players in the run in).

Doohan's presence or absence was nothing to do with a succession of poor away displays which ultimately cost us a play off place. We were arguably worse away from home when Murphy came back into the side.

 

[Sparky]

I also thought Doohan was under contract at Celtic but perhaps having had a taste of first team football he’s decided he won’t realistically get it at Celtic park.
As KTF says I sometimes wondered how he would cope when Clarke gave out a few rollickings. There were a few issues with Ross but nothing major from memory. I just think Micky wanted an experienced head in goal for the play off run in. Ross wasn’t perfect but don’t forget Doohan was our keeper when we were keeping all those clean sheets earlier in the season.
I can’t see him coming back to us so will be interested where he ends up.

 

[Sparky]

Only stats but interesting all the same:

He leaves Tranmere having scooped up 14 clean sheets and conceding only 37 goals in 34 games

He was out of contract apparently

 

[bigmart]

Only stats but interesting all the same:

He leaves Tranmere having scooped up 14 clean sheets and conceding only 37 goals in 34 games

He was out of contract apparently

In January when there was talk about trying sign Doohan permanently Micky said he had extended his contract with Celtic before joining us, so presume they cancelled his contract.

 

[Sparky]

Yes very possibly Mart. Doohan is 24 now so likely he wants to go and get regular first team football

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Doohan will probably end up with a gig in the SPL, where he had loan spells before joining us. He’s a decent keeper whose confidence needs restoring. Micky knows him well after his loan spell at Dundee United before he played for us. In fairness to Micky, if he thinks he can get us a better keeper, then that’s best for the club.

 

[ONIGP]

From what I saw, Doohan was a pretty average keeper for this level. Not the best but far from the worst and still with time for development. It is almost unfair comparing him to Joe, though. Who would have really thought that an ageing Joe would have retained such a high performance level? For me, Murphy was a revelation!

 

[Boz]

Extremely unfair to blame Doohan for failure to make the play offs. I can only think of one or two games where he really struggled, such as Northampton away, and the majority of his performances were solid. His clean sheet percentage will be as good as, if not better than, Murphy's.

There were far bigger and more obvious reasons behind the failure to make the top seven (ie. lack of goals in the early season, poor away performances and injuries and suspensions to key players in the run in).

Doohan's presence or absence was nothing to do with a succession of poor away displays which ultimately cost us a play off place. We were arguably worse away from home when Murphy came back into the side.

It’s all about fine margins though. Another 3 points would have got us into the play-offs. Before his concussion at Rochdale, Murphy had been earning MoMs for key saves that kept us ahead or earned us a point. Doohan did that less. I’m trying to think of games where he did make a difference with crucial saves and there weren’t that many. Harder to factor in is Murphy’s distribution being better, but on detailed analysis you’d expect that to make a difference too.

While you’re right that a number of factors were responsible for our slide down the table this year, last season suggested Murphy was the better keeper. The fact that MM stuck with Doohan for such a long period despite that impression is down to Micky. Ultimately our failure to make at least the play-offs falls on the manager’s shoulders.