I don't understand the Sinclair signing

[worcesterhibby]

With Farid injured it was absolutely essential that we signed a like for like replacement before the window shut. The only forward we managed to get on the books was Jake Sinclair on loan. I've been doing a bit of research on Jake and he looks like he is a decent prospect. However it seems he is pretty short. He is described by the Southampton official site as "diminutive" although neither that site or how wiki page or his soccer base profile actually state his height. It's almost as if no one wants to admit how small he is.

So far this season pretty much all farad's goals have come from headers (apart from the consolation against hearts) and it seemed that the key tactic that we have been working on has been to create width and get crosses in to the box on top of that farid has had a lot of success with flick on and winning the ball and holding it up…Heffernan doesn't score any goals..let alone headers and he does't seem capable of holding the ball up. Cummings has got no height either..so who the hell is going to get on the end of all these crosses ? who is going to win the flick ons ? who is going to hold the ball up ?

I'm delighted we have signed Sinclair. Seemingly he is fast and direct. If he was in addition to Farid then it would be great news, but as a replacement for him it just doesn't make sense. we'll have to completely change the way we play..or spend a lot of time watching crosses into the box headed away by opposition defenders.

Every team in the league knows we are a soft touch, who are under a lot of pressure and can be got at with muscle tactics. To counter this we have brought in someone small and nippy in the form of Sinclair and errr.someone small and nippy in the form of McGeouch (5'10"). The only cover we had that had any height and physical presence was OTJ and we have just let him go.

[J-C]

We couldn't move on the goal machine that is Heffernan, we needed his wages freed up to allow us to bring in another striker, or we got Leigh on loan.

Farid's injury is hard to take but all they've done is brought in cover for Cummings, when we really needed a main guy, piss poor as usual.

[Forza Fred]

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With Farid injured it was absolutely essential that we signed a like for like replacement before the window shut. The only forward we managed to get on the books was Jake Sinclair on loan. I've been doing a bit of research on Jake and he looks like he is a decent prospect. However it seems he is pretty short. He is described by the Southampton official site as "diminutive" although neither that site or how wiki page or his soccer base profile actually state his height. It's almost as if no one wants to admit how small he is.

So far this season pretty much all farad's goals have come from headers (apart from the consolation against hearts) and it seemed that the key tactic that we have been working on has been to create width and get crosses in to the box on top of that farid has had a lot of success with flick on and winning the ball and holding it up…Heffernan doesn't score any goals..let alone headers and he does't seem capable of holding the ball up. Cummings has got no height either..so who the hell is going to get on the end of all these crosses ? who is going to win the flick ons ? who is going to hold the ball up ?

I'm delighted we have signed Sinclair. Seemingly he is fast and direct. If he was in addition to Farid then it would be great news, but as a replacement for him it just doesn't make sense. we'll have to completely change the way we play..or spend a lot of time watching crosses into the box headed away by opposition defenders.

Every team in the league knows we are a soft touch, who are under a lot of pressure and can be got at with muscle tactics. To counter this we have brought in someone small and nippy in the form of Sinclair and errr.someone small and nippy in the form of McGeouch (5'10"). The only cover we had that had any height and physical presence was OTJ and we have just let him go.

Who understands anything officialdom does now.....deck chairs on the Titanic, Crisis Management, call it what you like.

We had hoped that with the changes there might be somebody who actually gave a flock, or had a clue, but we were wrong again.

Incompetent shysters the lot of them!

[Steve20]

I have no problem with the Sinclair signing. We needed two forwards minimum brought in. A replacement for Farid and another one as we are terribly short of people who can score at the club.

[worcesterhibby]

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I have no problem with the Sinclair signing. We needed two forwards minimum brought in. A replacement for Farid and another one as we are terribly short of people who can score at the club.

Absolutely I don't have a problem with Sinclair signing if he was one of two and the other was a guy with height who could head the ball, hold it up and link play.

But if we were only going to sign one…why another small nippy guy ?

[CRAZYHIBBY]

Im utterly confused by this signing too if he doesnt start banging them in right away then we are ****ed

[overdrive]

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I have no problem with the Sinclair signing. We needed two forwards minimum brought in. A replacement for Farid and another one as we are terribly short of people who can score at the club.

Does he score a lot of goals though? Not by the sound of it.

[J-C]

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Absolutely I don't have a problem with Sinclair signing if he was one of two and the other was a guy with height who could head the ball, hold it up and link play.

But if we were only going to sign one…why another small nippy guy ?

Unless he's thinking of playing a 4-3-3, remember these type of guys can play out wide too and cut in but you still need an out and out scores too though.

[DC_Hibs]

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I have no problem with the Sinclair signing. We needed two forwards minimum brought in. A replacement for Farid and another one as we are terribly short of people who can score at the club.

Exactly. A lot of people failing to grasp that the window isn't the be all and end all for signings (""yeah, but its only the dross that's left blah blah" - better than F all though eh). We are already too late in having a squad ready for the season so what does another week or so matter especially when there is no game this coming weekend.

[worcesterhibby]

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Does he score a lot of goals though? Not by the sound of it.

the fact is nobody knows what he is capable of at this level. Cummings scored for fun at u21 level but has struggled on the whole at first team level. He may get a barrow load..he may look like a kid amongst men…you, me and Alan Stubbs have no idea until he actually plays. What we can be sure of is that he does't have the height and build to replace our most important player, like for like.

[brog]

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With Farid injured it was absolutely essential that we signed a like for like replacement before the window shut. The only forward we managed to get on the books was Jake Sinclair on loan. I've been doing a bit of research on Jake and he looks like he is a decent prospect. However it seems he is pretty short. He is described by the Southampton official site as "diminutive" although neither that site or how wiki page or his soccer base profile actually state his height. It's almost as if no one wants to admit how small he is.

So far this season pretty much all farad's goals have come from headers (apart from the consolation against hearts) and it seemed that the key tactic that we have been working on has been to create width and get crosses in to the box on top of that farid has had a lot of success with flick on and winning the ball and holding it up…Heffernan doesn't score any goals..let alone headers and he does't seem capable of holding the ball up. Cummings has got no height either..so who the hell is going to get on the end of all these crosses ? who is going to win the flick ons ? who is going to hold the ball up ?

I'm delighted we have signed Sinclair. Seemingly he is fast and direct. If he was in addition to Farid then it would be great news, but as a replacement for him it just doesn't make sense. we'll have to completely change the way we play..or spend a lot of time watching crosses into the box headed away by opposition defenders.

Every team in the league knows we are a soft touch, who are under a lot of pressure and can be got at with muscle tactics. To counter this we have brought in someone small and nippy in the form of Sinclair and errr.someone small and nippy in the form of McGeouch (5'10"). The only cover we had that had any height and physical presence was OTJ and we have just let him go.

I agree 100% with this but who should we have brought in? We had about 48 hours from the Farid injury to the window closing & I'm sure AS was thinking exact same thing as you. The player you describe is pretty much on the wanted list for every club in the country. I expect we'll still bring someone in but as it will be an out of contract player I can't imagine too many happy campers on this board! Mind you most weren't happy when we signed Farid!

PS, change of subject, did I miss that much in demand star, James McF signing for Arsenal or the like or is he still out there playing hard to get?

[The Leith Dutch]

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Im utterly confused by this signing too if he doesnt start banging them in right away then we are ****ed

This kind of highlights how bad our policy is and how unfair it is to the guy's we're bringing in.

Sinclair should be arriving with a point to prove, desperate for experience and with a senior player ahead of him in the pecking order who he needs to get past.
Instead he's arrived as the guy we're expecting to be thrown in as the main striker and we need him to score 20 - 30 goals.

No pressure like.

[Ronniekirk]

Is this just not the equivalent of Butchers Watmore signing .A young player with promise ,but no experience coming into a team lacking in confidence ,not keeping clean sheets ,and not scoring ,therefore not winning games .
Or has the new scouting system and vetting player procedure unearthed someone who will hit the ground running at this level and he will score on his debut and go on to our top scorer in next few months .

[KDY Hibs]

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This kind of highlights how bad our policy is and how unfair it is to the guy's we're bringing in.

Sinclair should be arriving with a point to prove, desperate for experience and with a senior player ahead of him in the pecking order who he needs to get past.
Instead he's arrived as the guy we're expecting to be thrown in as the main striker and we need him to score 20 - 30 goals

No pressure like.

Agree...

[PeterboroHibee]

I think the Sinclair signing is actually quite a good move by the club, but it should have been in addition to a more experienced 'first choice' striker to replace El Alagui. The fact we are relying on a bunch of kids and a misfiring Heffernan, none of whom have any evidence as goalscorers at any sort of level, is worrying.

Someone mentioned that Dempster has suggested the transfer window shutting wont stop us moving for a replacement for El Alagui. I certainly hope thats the case!

[Baader]

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Someone mentioned that Dempster has suggested the transfer window shutting wont stop us moving for a replacement for El Alagui. I certainly hope thats the case!

Most guys out of contract are in that situation for a reason...

After the absolute debacle of previous windows it's depressing to see the club has not learned a thing.

[calumhibee1]

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Most guys out of contract are in that situation for a reason...

After the absolute debacle of previous windows it's depressing to see the club has not learned a thing.

Yup. If anyone can point out a striker of the standard we need without fitness issues that's sitting without a club right now then I'd love to know who.

[Lucius Apuleius]

I would suggest with the football we are playing we need someone who will take a shot at goal!

[PeterboroHibee]

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Most guys out of contract are in that situation for a reason...

After the absolute debacle of previous windows it's depressing to see the club has not learned a thing.

I completely agree, but we are where we are unfortunately and still need a striker.

[worcesterhibby]

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I agree 100% with this but who should we have brought in? We had about 48 hours from the Farid injury to the window closing & I'm sure AS was thinking exact same thing as you. The player you describe is pretty much on the wanted list for every club in the country. I expect we'll still bring someone in but as it will be an out of contract player I can't imagine too many happy campers on this board! Mind you most weren't happy when we signed Farid!

PS, change of subject, did I miss that much in demand star, James McF signing for Arsenal or the like or is he still out there playing hard to get?

The fact is we should have made signing a back up for Farid an absolute must right from the start of the window. It's not exactly unheard of to get injuries and the lack of depth in KEY areas is apparent. It should never have been a last minute desperate search.

We are still in that situation with Goalkeepers and centre backs too.one injury and we have no cover except untried kids.

[Baader]

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I completely agree, but we are where we are unfortunately and still need a striker.

Yeah we do. I'm in agreement just can't believe it's come to this yet again. 'The winds of change' right enough... Pathetic

[Gettin' Auld]

According to this (if it's accurate) he's 1.69 mtrs. Which is just under 5' 7"

[worcesterhibby]

Interesting site, thanks for the link..it also shows his goalscoring record for Southampton U21s which is pretty reasonable.

14 goals and 7 assists from 46 appearances total of 3594 minutes played..so a goal every 256 minutes..so about one goal every three games, by time on the pitch.

[tamig]

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We couldn't move on the goal machine that is Heffernan, we needed his wages freed up to allow us to bring in another striker, or we got Leigh on loan.

Farid's injury is hard to take but all they've done is brought in cover for Cummings, when we really needed a main guy, piss poor as usual.

So are you implying it's Heff's fault that we never got LG? What nonsense.

[Gettin' Auld]

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Interesting site, thanks for the link..it also shows his goalscoring record for Southampton U21s which is pretty reasonable.

14 goals and 7 assists from 46 appearances total of 3594 minutes played..so a goal every 256 minutes..so about one goal every three games, by time on the pitch.

Aye those stats are pretty decent, especially as he was played in 'right midfield' fairly often too.

[J-C]

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So are you implying it's Heff's fault that we never got LG? What nonsense.

No but having him taking up a wage would hamper trying to get another experienced striker in on short notice. Farid's injury was unexpected so bringing in an inexperienced youngster with a fit Farid would be fine. We as supporters wanted a statement of intent and if we couldn't get Griffithe initially due to costs, then having Heff's wages freed up would definitely help, by allowing Heff to speak to St Johnstone showed he was not in any of our plans but he's chosen to stay here unfortunately taking a wage which would be better utilised on someone better.

[greenpaper55]

I see that Courier got a few goals at the weekend along with Jason Scotland, these are big strong forwards who hold the ball up as we found out in the Hamilton game, are people telling me that we could not afford to BUY a player like one of these two ?, if that is the case we are truly Friar Tucked !.

[southern hibby]

Not got a clue about this signing however I'm hoping he's a poaching type of player, we have not had one of those type players for ever and a day.

However even if he is will he manage to get the goals we need? probably not. Yet again another transfer window where we as supporters of this great club are mugged of for another season. GGTTH