Is the ‘Rebuilding’ that big?

Media seem obsessed with the total rebuilding on the squad.

I just don’t get it.

Yes we lose Dylan. IF we lost SJM we get a huge fee and I think most would say we are in a strong place to get Allan and Kamberi. Very strong rumors around Crawford and Mallan coming in. Slivka looks more and more mature, quick, great on the ball, strong. Barker might not be back if his club doesn’t want to send him back but it’s clear the player wants to. Maclaren has indicated he wants to settle in Edinburgh so not impossible.

Lennon now committed to club publicly. Changes ahead yes but I think we are in a strong position to build from.

Look at Hearts and Dons. Hearts have huge job and are shopping in the lower league market and Dons will lose Kenny MacLean, Christie and Stewart as a minimum.

A good starting XI next season would be along the following lines:

Marciano

Ambrose/other McGregor/Porteous Hanlon Stevenson

Boyle Mallan Slivka/Bartley/Crawford Allan

Maclaren/other Kamberi

Personally yes I think we have a massive job.

Mcgeouch
Barker
Allan
Kamberi
Maclaren
McGinn (more than likely)

All away in the summer, there’s a chance of getting one or two back but even then that is all of our best players in that list.

To bring in players to replace them or similar standard will be a massive task.

Porteous/Shaw/Murray should be looking at pushing for a first team place next season, all seem pretty capable of doing so

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Originally Posted by guthrie01

Porteous/Shaw/Murray should be looking at pushing for a first team place next season, all seem pretty capable of doing so

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Shaw and Murray will improve next season. Porteous may well break into the starting XI if McGregor loses ability.

Left back is a must in the summer

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Originally Posted by Swedish prince

Left back is a must in the summer

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Strikers, centre mids, left winger and maybe even right back more of a priority

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Originally Posted by Swedish prince

Left back is a must in the summer

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There are at least 3 positions that need to be taken care of before we worry about those that are already quite well looked after

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Originally Posted by Unseen work

Personally yes I think we have a massive job.

Mcgeouch
Barker
Allan
Kamberi
Maclaren
McGinn (more than likely)

All away in the summer, there’s a chance of getting one or two back but even then that is all of our best players in that list.

To bring in players to replace them or similar standard will be a massive task.

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I would be very disappointed if we don’t secure 3 of that 6. It’s not impossible to say we might keep 4 or even 5 if we can get McGinn to sign extension. We only got Allan, Kamberi and Maclaren in January so real reflection of impact they have made in a few months.

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Originally Posted by Col2

Media seem obsessed with the total rebuilding on the squad.

I just don’t get it.

Yes we lose Dylan. IF we lost SJM we get a huge fee and I think most would say we are in a strong place to get Allan and Kamberi. Very strong rumors around Crawford and Mallan coming in. Slivka looks more and more mature, quick, great on the ball, strong. Barker might not be back if his club doesn’t want to send him back but it’s clear the player wants to. Maclaren has indicated he wants to settle in Edinburgh so not impossible.

Lennon now committed to club publicly. Changes ahead yes but I think we are in a strong position to build from.

Look at Hearts and Dons. Hearts have huge job and are shopping in the lower league market and Dons will lose Kenny MacLean, Christie and Stewart as a minimum.

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Mallan and Crawford are nothing like replacements for mcgeough or sjm

Before I begin, I realise that this is likely to change as the summer goes on and there's some players who are mentioned below who are likely to be gone by August and there will be many players who will be coming in as well. However as things stand, this will be our starting XI plus subs for the first game of the season;

Marciano

Stevenson
Hanlon
McGregor
Gray

Bartley
McGinn
Slivka
Boyle

Shaw
S Murray

SUBS

Laidlaw
Porteous
Ambrose
Whittaker
Swanson
F Murray

Plus a youngster that I don't know yet.

I think we have a decent squad left but it will need significantly strengthened if we want another 4th place finish next year, never mind if we have ambitions to improve on that.

We have a big job, but so do Huns, Dons and Yams, who will be our only rivals for the Europa slots.

It all depends on what shape NL wants us to play, or indeed what shapes he wants us to play, as I think we probably need different set-ups for top four games than we do for playing the rest..

It means if Dylan and/or SJM do leave then we aren't necessarily trying to sign like-for-like replacements.

I think George Craig's adage still stands true - two for each position plus a youngster from the dev squad in case of emergencies. That doesn't mean we need literally two individuals for each position as players can cover more than one position and if we are looking at two or more shapes then we really need that to be the case, otherwise we would have a bloated squad. What I liked this season was that in the second half, we had a pretty clear midfield trio but also cover for each position that was good quality.

The problem is that pretty much all our attacking players are on loan.

After today I feel a lot better about losing McGeough and McGinn (presuming that happens).

But after watching the McLaren and Kamberi it would feel a real blow if we couldn't keep them.

My guess is we'll get Allan and Kamberi back but McLaren and Barker will be gone.

I don't are Simon Murray being the answer and as much as I want Danny to succeed, it doesn't look like it'll come off for him.

"We don't know where we are with the loan players but I would imagine a couple of them will be here. I would say they will look back on this time in their careers very, very fondly. What the club have done for them and they've done of the club has dovetailed very well for their careers.

"They've made a huge contribution to the season - whether we can get them back or not is another thing."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44101106

Kamberi- likely to stay imo
Maclaren- I think he’ll stay
Allan- will sign another 12 month loan imo
Mcgeough- needs replaced
Mcginn- will likely be sold and need replaced.
Darren Mcgregor- showing signs of age getting the better of him, Porteous will replace him imo
Efe Ambrose- got a feeling he’ll be moving on and will need replaced.
Brandon barker- will need replaced imo.
Simon Murray- will be moved on

On top of this I’d like some competition for Lewis signed and another striker.

I’d consider all of the above to be a pretty major rebuild.

We're not the only ones needing a rebuild in the summer.

Not sure about Aberdeen, but Hearts have already stated that they need a number of players and on today's evidence Sevco also need a major overhaul which will be conducted by an unproven manager.

The likes of Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Johnstone will be in a similar situation.

The key for us is to bring in the right players. Imagine if we'd signed Kamberi, Maclaren and Allan last summer instead of Stokes (disinterested), Murray (tried his best) and Swanson (personal circumstances).

Where does Sir David fit in to all of this?

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Originally Posted by Glory Lurker

Where does Sir David fit in to all of this?

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I was going to say the same, he's seemingly fit but Lennon has chosen to play Whittaker instead, I'm wondering if Lennon sees no future here for him, if that's the case then a new RB is a must.

The key to our rebuilding is three fold I think - how much we get for SJM, how many STs we sell and who we can retain. Even at £2M left after having paid St. Mirren, that is a decent amount to sign players or offer loan deals. I am hoping we get more of course. ST sales are 10,500 in May, which is fantastic and we may be heading for another record number of sales. I imagine we made a profit this year and are ahead of expectations. Retaining the likes of Kamberi, Maclaren, Allan and Barker would go a long way to stabilising things making building on a solid base a much easier task. The players sound like they want to stay and certainly the football would suit them, we just have to see how easy it is to deal with their parent clubs.

Good recruitment and massive luck in the Europa to make the tournament proper, should we get to the qualifiers would continue that upward spiral. I'm looking forward to next season already.

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Originally Posted by J-C

I was going to say the same, he's seemingly fit but Lennon has chosen to play Whittaker instead, I'm wondering if Lennon sees no future here for him, if that's the case then a new RB is a must.

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I think a new RB is a must anyway.


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Originally Posted by J-C

I was going to say the same, he's seemingly fit but Lennon has chosen to play Whittaker instead, I'm wondering if Lennon sees no future here for him, if that's the case then a new RB is a must.

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Not played for 4 months, and without even playing a Development game, would have been a risk to have thrown on today

Ambrose (if true) > Porteous
Mcgeouch > Crawford
Mcginn > Slivka
Barker > needs found(unless we can get him again)
Allan > Allan again
Kamberi > Kamberi again
Maclaren > Shaw

We've work to do, but it might not be rebuild.

Yes it's a big job.

We may well need a keeper if Bell decides he wants 1st team football.

If we continue with a RWB I think Boyle and Gray are our options. On the left we only have Lewis so I think competition/cover there is required particularly as LS is 31 mid next season, a bit forward planning is always good. We'll see more of Porteous next season but may bring in another if Ambrose moves on or again as forward planning for that happening and/or considering McGregors age and injury record.

McGeough needs replaced, McGinn will likely go and as of now nothing is sealed with Allan. Bartley isn't a long term option, Barker is up in the air. I think we'll see more of Murray and Slivka next year.

Up top our contracted strikers will be Murray, Shaw and Lewis Allan. I don't think it's likely that's what we'll start the season with.

So I think it's realistic to say we need to sort out about 5 players, whether that's from current loanees or elsewhere and maybe do a wee bit shuffling to freshen up the squad elsewhere. Tbh that's not unusual in Scotland, good players move on and rubbish ones disappear. We have been lucky with the continuity we have had the last 2 or 3 years.

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Originally Posted by bingo70

Kamberi- likely to stay imo
Maclaren- I think he’ll stay
Allan- will sign another 12 month loan imo
Mcgeough- needs replaced
Mcginn- will likely be sold and need replaced.
Darren Mcgregor- showing signs of age getting the better of him, Porteous will replace him imo
Efe Ambrose- got a feeling he’ll be moving on and will need replaced.
Brandon barker- will need replaced imo.
Simon Murray- will be moved on

On top of this I’d like some competition for Lewis signed and another striker.

I’d consider all of the above to be a pretty major rebuild.

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I don't see many signs of age catching up with Darren McGregor.

He's not increasingly injury prone, and he's still quicker than a lot of people give him credit for.

I was more alarmed by what the defence looked like without him.

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Originally Posted by Diclonius

A good starting XI next season would be along the following lines:

Marciano

Ambrose/other McGregor/Porteous Hanlon Stevenson

Boyle Mallan Slivka/Bartley/Crawford Allan

Maclaren/other Kamberi

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+ I hope more kids from the development team come into the squad

- I think Dylan will be very hard to replace. Striker positions currently unconfirmed and may cost us a lot of money

We are an attractive club to play for though. I think lots of good players will want to join us... budget is always the issue!

Yes it’s a huge job IMO.

We all know about the players who are out of contract, loans ending etc. But there are some other players who’s time with us is up as well IMO. The likes of David Gray (don’t like saying this) isn’t going to come back in and improve us for instance.

Kamberi and Scott Allan are absolute musts. If we could just go and get them early it would be a real statement.

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Originally Posted by Smartie

I don't see many signs of age catching up with Darren McGregor.

He's not increasingly injury prone, and he's still quicker than a lot of people give him credit for.

I was more alarmed by what the defence looked like without him.

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This