Kristijan Lovric

Christie has been class at LW, not just done a job. It's a headache where to play him. In the midfield, we need more balance IMO, so a defensive specialist should go in, especially on Sunday.

Johnston is good enough. I agree that his injury record is bad, but I want us to rely on our youth a lot. Praying he enters a more stable phase like Forrest had.

Considering our poor defense, I'd spend money on a CB. Retrain Dembele to play LW if cover cannot be gotten otherwise.

 

Yes, Christie has done well at LW, but we’d be a far better team with him in the middle and a proper left winger than we are with him out left.

If we’re playing a more defensive midfielder as part of the three then it will likely be as part of a two block. That being the case, Christie’s energy in the middle becomes arguably even more important to get us up the park. In that formation, neither Rogic or Turnbull have the legs to cover the ground to support and get beyond a striker.

We can’t just wait and “pray” that Johnston is the answers, that’s just ludicrously bad planning. Dembele is also out injured for a prolonged period. We need a left winger.

Yes, we need a centre back, but that’s doesn’t impact us needing a left winger. Again, you’re just avoiding the main point - we need squad depth and quality, not just 11-15 players who are good enough.

 

McGregor is definitely more mobile that his current role makes him look. The purpose of a defensive player would be also to unshackle Callum a bit.

If we absolutely must buy a LW, then it should be a natural left-footed player. I feel a player cutting inside too much will cost us points against packed central areas.

Our board need replacing first, because I can't see them coughing up money for Lovrić and a CB with good decision-making.

 

McGregor is more mobile than his current role shows, yes, and he’s more than capable of playing further forward. However, he’s always going to be Ange’s choice (from the currently available squad) to drop deep and advance the ball and he doesn’t have the pace and drive that Christie provides. Again though, that doesn’t take away from my point that we need a left winger and need depth.

As I said previously, Lovric is capable of going down the outside and hitting the byline. The threat of him cutting inside will only serve to free up that route for him.

The board need to do better, that’s not even negotiable. That said, everyone thought we’d have banked a good fee for Edouard this summer and there’s no doubt that not happening has hampered our transfer business.

 

Seen the bump, couple of pages extra..boaby went straight to stauner mode......
We need guys like this in for the group we just got. Give us what we want

 

Absolutely no chance we are signing him now given we have already agreed the deal for the Portuguese boy. This is dead.

 

We need two left wingers.

If Forrest and Abada are competing for a place on the right then Joata and Lovric should do the same on the left.

It's not enough to have one player for each position, particularly when under this system the focus is very much on attacking.

If today has taught us anything is that squad depth is important.

 

Yes, but we have Christie and Kyogo who can all play there. Regardless of whether or not they are good there, we have options. That’s without Dembele and Johnstone taken into consideration. Montgomery seems to be playing there at times too.

I agree we should sign both but we aren’t signing 2 left wingers this window. The board simply won’t sanction that while we have so many options on the wings

 

Neither can really play there.

You need to have players playing in their natural positions at all times.

If by chance the two designated wingers are injured, fine, throw someone else in. But only as last resort.

But a major club that has aspirations for Europe and the title should be able to have two quality players in those very important positions.

 

You will have no disagreement from me. It’s not a question for me on whether or not we need both. I think we do for two reasons. For depth, first and foremost, like you suggested but also, Jota could end up absolutely mince and not up to the standards we require. So, we bring in Lovric, who we know has played in a similar league to ours. He’s going to come in and do well, we all know he would. So, if Jota did end up pish, we already have Lovric in the team. We just need someone in to share the role with him.

Unfortunately, we know the board don’t work like this. Even though Kyogo/Christie shouldn’t even be considered, we know they will be when it comes to strengthening. I can see us signing another 3 players before the window shuts, possibly 4 if we get rid of Eddy and Griffiths. But it will be one LW, a striker or two and a centre back.

 

Kyogo played virtually his entire time at Vissel Kobe on the left wing. That was where he scored the vast majority of his many goals for them.

 

I think the problem is that the tactic he was used in differs vastly from the one we employed today. He must've had an overlapping fullback. Also, maybe crosses weren't as important for them.

 

I keep going back to this thread and just hoping it will be bumped with some good news.

 

We need this guy more than we know IMO

 

Looks increasingly unlikely

 

This is a weird one. Early in the window he's liking our club Instagram and lots of articles linking him to us then nothing for weeks.

He looked the part but I'm worried the window will slam shut with very little happening.

 

Out of curiosity (sorry, I don’t have Instagram), has he still been liking our posts more recently? If not, when did it stop?

 

He's still following Celtic and a fan page. It was widely reported and he was linked by a few journalist but then nothing.

 

Could just be a fan.