SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

Wednesday was one of those weird games where nothing goes right in the first half, little goes right in the second half-and I still feel disappointed only to have taken one point from the game! Three shots each on target in the entire match suggests neither team really deserved the win, but as I said yesterday, I thought we did just enough to shade it while admitting that Bruges probably deserved a point. Just as well I’m not that fond of cake,innit?

I highlighted yesterday what I thought were our main failings on the night, and the biggest one was definitely a misfiring midfield. Yet even before the match had kicked off,I’d spotted a potential problem, one that bothered me that I hadn’t spotted before. When the team was announced (or leaked? Is that in the past now?) the first thing I noticed was that we had five defenders on the bench, which from nine permitted substitutes is well out of kilter. A quick count soon revealed that we actually had twelve substitutes, so I assume that the bench in the competition can include either twelve or fourteen (being the named European squad of 25 less the starting XI). Since our squad included those 23 plus the injured Holm and Francis Turley, I assume the latter. 

But even with those twelve allowed subs, we could only muster TWO fit midfielders. Given that the two missing are an untried 18yo and a near-discard,I’d say that we are light on bodies in that area. And as I said during the game, this adds some impetus to the rumoured interest in Lennon Miller, the potential star currently with Motherwell. We’ve all seen his performances against us over the last eighteen months or so, and have seen and read enough about his performances elsewhere to conclude that he really is the genuine article, that ignoring players like this for too long can often lead to us missing the boat entirely. 

But then again, do we really need another midfielder who can play anywhere across the line when what we are missing more than anything in that area is a dedicated holding mid? Bruges looked as though they had two of them the other night, in the mould of Lambert and Lennon. One who stuck rigidly to that task (like Lennon) and one who played there when they were on the defensive while able to play a more offensive role when the opportunity arose (Lambert). I bet there aren’t questions asked in Belgium about the need for them domestically, just as there weren’t any about us playing both Lambert and Lennon all those years ago. Their presence just allowed more freedom for our wingbacks to bomb forward without worrying too much about leaving the door open behind them. Just like having even one of them could do for us at the moment. Hell,it seems like every goal we’ve lost this season has been as a result of getting caught on the break! 

Which brings us back to Daniel Amartey once more,I’m afraid. Although he turns 30 next month, there should still be plenty left in the tank for the big fella, given that he has only actually had eight seasons of first team action. He missed the best part of two years while at Leicester from 2018-20, losing his place during that time to Ndidi, and no shame in that. He left on a free to Besiktas in 2023, but that didn’t work out and he is currently a free agent. For me, it’s a no-brainer. But then, I am doing that thing I personally have no time for-free speech without responsibility! Heyho…

One thing is for sure. We can’t continue to rely on Bernardo to get us out of jail. We can’t continue to hope that Engels will finally click when the current evidence is overwhelmingly negative. Nor that Hatate will have one of his good nights, that the opposition will just sit back and allow CalMac to dictate the tempo and direction. 

That we don’t pick up any more injuries,or that McCowan doesn’t get skelfs in his arse. 

We have problems with cover in other areas, most noticeably the left back and the striker, and these might just take precedence. I dunno, though I’d certainly agree that the former needs some urgent attention. But Wednesday night really shocked me when I realised how poorly off we are in midfield, an area where I’d previously thought we were more than covered. And even in the one area where we can all agree that we are if anything over-represented,which is our wingers,how many of us really have that much confidence in any being good enough should Kühn or Maeda suffer an injury? 

Look, I know that Rome wasn’t built in a day. That no club can expect to have two players for every position, each of whom absolutely deserves to be first choice. There’s always the first choice and the back up. But we have been unusually fortunate with injuries so far, and my concern is that Wednesday exposed our readiness to deal with any. The season so far has been absolutely amazing, with only one defeat and three draws from twenty games, top domestically and mid-table in Europe. A cup final in two weeks. I get it, I’m an ungrateful SOB. I’m not,it’s just that I don’t like my glass being half empty,and there’s plenty of people around who can confirm that!

Anyway, that’s me done with Cassandra crying wolf. It’s Ross County next, and it’s worth remembering the difficulties they caused us when we played them straight after the other poor European performance, in Dortmund. Good time to set the record straight, then. 

<><><><><>
Above article by BMCUWP