IMO this could be a great pairing. Hanlon is calm and experienced, and porteous looks very promising. As much as i love ambrose and rate him in terms of ability, he plays like he's just had a joint and costs us a goal a game. Wtf was he doing for livi's first?
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20-09-2017 01:40 PM #1
Give porteous a go alongside hanlon
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20-09-2017 01:57 PM #2This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Last edited by JimBHibees; 20-09-2017 at 02:07 PM.
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20-09-2017 02:11 PM #3This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Ask Stokesy - it's not what you do on the training pitch, it's what you do on a Saturday that counts.
We don't see the players every day but we see them when it matters most - match day, and the loss of silly goals needs to be eradicated right now.
(BTW - I've been very critical of Ambrose, both his defensive play and his use of the ball from the back. I thought he looked much better in possession, as did everyone, once McGeouch went on. We still need to sort out our defending, we look like we could lose a goal at any moment these days.)
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20-09-2017 02:29 PM #4madhatterLeft by mutual consent!
Our best pairing is probably McGregor + Hanlon (or Efe). Problem with Hanlon and Efe is that they are quite similar. Defenders who like to play a little bit and are a wee bit less physical.
Having said that we are far too easy to counter against, our fullbacks push on and we are so narrow up top. Long ball into the wings and before you know it our CBs are in a place they don't want to be in.
Balance of the team still needs some work. Pretty sure Stevenson crossed and Whittaker was the guy attacking it back post. That's OK if you are playing 3 at the back and cover but most of the time we are so narrow the wings are easy targets.
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20-09-2017 02:30 PM #5This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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20-09-2017 02:37 PM #6
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I think in reality Ambrose is still going to be a fair bit ahead of Porteous.
Ambrose was outstanding last year with us, and fine, we've had some pretty bad moments at the back, but with missing two experienced centre halfs already I don't think the situation would be improved by sticking a young guy in.
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20-09-2017 02:41 PM #7This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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20-09-2017 02:42 PM #8This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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20-09-2017 03:09 PM #9
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20-09-2017 03:13 PM #10
Bartley gave away the free kick and Grays man scored, lets drop Ambrose...
Ambrose will keep his place and rightfully so.
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20-09-2017 03:23 PM #11This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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20-09-2017 03:23 PM #12This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
McG gave away a sloppy penalty for first goal, Hanlon plays a sloppy pass leading to Hamilton's second, killing that match... lets blame Ambrose.
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20-09-2017 03:23 PM #13
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One other thing I've noticed is that Hanlon and Ambrose seem to be arguing with each other quite a bit on the park these days... Maybe that's football when you've just lost a goal and you look round to see who should have been marking the scorer, but maybe it's not a central defensive pairing made in heaven?
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20-09-2017 03:33 PM #14
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I would like to see Porteous given a chance but it's a hard choice for Neil.
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20-09-2017 04:17 PM #15This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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20-09-2017 04:38 PM #16
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Give him an occasional 10 here and there. Revisit in 2 months, not before
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20-09-2017 04:40 PM #17
He's miles away from a regular start.
Hanlon and Ambrose will be our centre pairing until McGregor is back and rightly so.
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20-09-2017 04:41 PM #18
I'm always wary of the phrase "let's give <insert player here> a go"
This is professional football in Scotland's top flight we're talking about here, not mucking about having shots as the goalie on the training pitch or whatever. If Neil Lennon thinks Porteous has the ability and shows he has the goods in training then he'll replace Ambrose with Porteous until Ambrose wins his place back.
He's not just going to flippantly go "may as well give this a shot" and chuck in a young lad to see what happens.
Ambrose made a mistake in the Livi game and personally I'm not a huge fan of his laid back style, at centre back anyway. But he's a 28 year old Nigerian Internationalist with experience and a good player to boot. If he was conistently Franco Baresi-esque, he wouldn't be at Hibs.
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20-09-2017 04:55 PM #19
sorry but playing porteous just now when the whole defence hasnt been great is just mental, hopefully the back line get things sorted and then when they have confidence as a unit start giving him some playing time, just now he is a back up and when all are fit i cant see him making the bench
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20-09-2017 05:10 PM #20This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
I've not seen much of Porteous - but everything I've seen I've liked. You only need to look at him to know he's got the physical attributes that are required, he's a big , strong laddie (sometimes youngsters aren't ready for the physical aspect of the game, so they represent a risk).
He played in a friendly (yes, I know) against Sunderland, against some big money signings and players of repute, and didn't look remotely out of place. He's played for us in the league cup against senior Scottish League sides and really looked the part. Last season he played a lot of games on loan, so it's not like he's never played a senior fixture. Porteous is the captain of his age group at International level, so someone must recognise leadership qualities in there.
There is a problem in our defence and I've just been uneasy about how bad we look (not just the goals we've lost) from that RCB position - the position that has consistently been Efe's since the start of the season. It's happening week in week out, and last night we lost another 2 goals, this time at home to Championship opposition.
I loved Efe last season and I was delighted we signed him, but that defence, with him in the middle of it, gives me a heart attack every time the ball goes near it.
I question Efe's defensive abilities. Yes, he's good on the ball, but he needs to defend better of be dropped. I know less about Porteous, but I know he's a big, strong lad who has impressed me every time I've seen him. He needs a chance at some point - if it doesn't happen at a time when you have 2 players out injured, and the guys playing his position are struggling for form in the achilles heel of our team, when is he going to get a chance?
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20-09-2017 05:33 PM #21
With the amount of goals we are losing, it might be a good idea to get him in alongside Hanlon and Ambrose?
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20-09-2017 05:50 PM #22This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Hanlon sweeping, Ambrose on the right, Porteous on the left (iirc that's where he played most of the pre-season games).
Gives a bit more cover for Ambrose to try the fun stuff, we get the height of the 3 of them to defend set-pieces so we don't have the likes of Whittaker picking up the opposition number 9?
Whitty's a natural RWB.
We'd just need to stop crucifying Lewis Stevenson any time his ball into the box was less than perfect.
Also - I'm not mad on Bartley with 3 CBs.
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20-09-2017 06:00 PM #23This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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20-09-2017 06:18 PM #24This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
calm collective and a bomb scare :
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21-09-2017 09:44 AM #25
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I'd say we were pretty lucky to have him here at all given the interest in him from better leagues than this - he might have had a bit of a dip in form but there's no danger we can be at the stage where he isn't good enough for this league.
Celtic have better players now and ambitions beyond just the SPL. They didn't want Stokes either, don't play Henderson, and both are more than good enough for this league.
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21-09-2017 09:56 AM #26
Difficult one. When players under perform the should be dropped. You get a dangerous situation if they know they cant be dropped. Young Porteous will be thinking he should get a chance and rightly so. Personally I would go with this back 5 for RC based on current form and assuming Sir David is injured. Laidlaw Whittaker Porteous Hanlon Stevenson.
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21-09-2017 10:55 AM #27This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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