Josip Juranovic

I just think at CL level where some of our players look a little nervy, given he is the first choice right back for Croatia it doesn’t phase him the same, he is predominantly tidy on the ball. His biggest issue for me is concentration at times, it almost suits him to have a better player to mark to keep him on his toes.

 

Second time iv seen Juranovic getting exposed like this.
We can point to Mcgregor but in isolation, Jura steps up and doesnt block Mudryks route to goal with his body. It is naive defending whatever way you look at it. Mudryk is already quick, but he had an advantage also because Jura also caught wrong footed and has to make up the ground.
The same happened vs Ryan Kent, where Bassey played him in last season for their goal.
Its these small things that make a big difference at this level.

 

His first touch out of his feet is far too heavy. Not just last night, I’ve lost count how many times he’s done it and gets dispossessed in promising moments.

I think he’s a brilliant player for us though - that’s my only gripe with him.

 

Don’t think he’s to blame for the goal. There was no need for McGregor to go diving in and Carter Vickers was far too high as well. A combination of McGregor misreading the situation and CCV out of position cost us.

 

Thought he was absolutely rotten and the play broke down every time the ball went to him.

Ralston needs a run.

 

I can’t agree more. Very overrated.

 

He’s on an average run and will be fine. Lunacy thinking otherwise.

 

He's no Greg Taylor. But then who is

 

The weirdest thing for me, I’ve been really frustrated with him because he doesn’t have Ralston’s end product or drive, in the last couple of weeks I think he’s majorly ramped it up.

And I was pretty much a lone voice being frustrated before then, and the last couple weeks when I’ve been majorly impressed it’s the most criticised I’ve seen him get.

And I’ve been delighted with him because since Ralston came in for a game and set up two, he’s made a proper effect on the pitch rather than being tidy and passive. The goal, he made sure it was going out wide for us, whilst making sure he was going in hard but he looked where he wanted it to go before then, it was 100% meant. Then his pass for Maeda’s sitter late on was exceptional.

He was excellent. He mostly stifled Mudryk, and the goal was nowhere near his fault. He was in the right position to defend, when Calmac dived in. He’s rapid, and that guy majorly outpaced him. There’s * all you can do there.

Ralston on Sunday saying that though. Not just for a wee rest, because he’ll be dangerous and give a reminder to keep his standards very high or he won’t have a place in the team.

 

Honestly, look at him just before he does that, he looks over at him and makes sure it goes over there. It was intentional.

 

Don't want to get in the middle of the 2 of you arguing but agree Juranovic has been better going forwards, particularly Wednesday, if he meant that pass for the initial goal. He also made one overlapping run which was criminal when the ball wasn't passed to him, can't quite remember who didn't look up but it went to a packed left when he had made tons of space on the right.

I do think he's been more than a wee bit sloppy with his passing and caught out in passages of play in the areas he is directly responsible for more than usual recently, which others are seeing and commenting on too. Granted in most of these it's not cut and dry it's entirely his fault but he's definitely in the mix. Some of this may be due to attempting to get more involved further up the park but I don't see why people can't express an opinion on that, certainly don't see any harsh criticism of him.

I still feel like he plays on the right like he played on the left too much for me, bit passive and the odd brain fart, but not saying he's not a good player.

 

You can't say he's not got end product while simultaneously slagging Maeda for missing sitters that Juranovic put in with great balls in.

He was far from * against shaktar, just look at the ball that led to the goal. If that had been Trent Alexander Armstrong it would be on every paper as the pass of the season. It would be in with an absolute shout for goal of the group stages if it haddnt been given as an own goal

 

Sorry mate that was not a pass, he went to win the ball and was fortunate, to find a Celtic player. Delighted he went to win the loose ball with such aggression.

 

I'm not so sure about that tbh. It looked like a clearance to me, we got a bit of luck the way it landed perfectly for Hacksaw... but you need those breaks sometimes.

Juranovic has been decent enough for us. But no harm in giving him a rest and giving Ralston a chance to impress.

So many of our fans were wrong to write Ralston off (and I said it at the time), just like they were wrong to write off Taylor too. If someone comes in for Juranovic in the next transfer window (which they very well might), then we could really do with Ralston getting game time to stay sharp. Juranovic is 27 and Ralston is still only 23 - I think Ralston has more room for improvement given his age, so it would be smart on Ange's part to keep him involved.

 

I disagree.

He’s not first player to be written off way too early by our fans. Unfortunately we have a bit of track record in that regard.

It’s very common for young players to make big improvements when given a chance and getting a proper run of games.

We don’t show near enough patience particularly with young players. That’s why so few make it into the first team.

Marian Shved is another good recent example. Barely got a chance at our club, written off by our fans. The boy clearly had potential, but we punted him out the door. We stunted that kids career by not giving him enough opportunities… now he appears to be rebuilding it and looks a decent little player.

This lack of patience ultimately holds us back as club, because we waste money in the transfer market and we waste potentially good players coming out of our academy. And we really don’t have enough resources to be this wasteful.

 

I don’t think Shved is a good example to be honest. The way I remember it the fans were excited by him and quite baffled he wasn’t getting a look in. Then he seemed to be punted out on loan and rumours started that he was homesick from day one.

It’s not like people saw him play and demanded he be sold.

If I had to guess I would say Shved is a good player just a bit of a home bird. A bit unfortunate but that’s the way it goes.

 

Well I think that game just answered the question of who should be out starting RB. JJ is undroppable for league games imo.

 

Ralston has never been good enough defensively. Some folk think because he can cross a ball, he should automatically start. Like night and day between them both.