Ryan Hardie

[Ave IT]

I am concerned other teams will learn from Millwall and sit deep at HP even if it is not their natural game.

Agreed - but in a way that is a sign of respect. Teams may be starting to realise we have good, quick attacking players that will hurt you if you give them space. We were excellent against Norwich but it has been a bit forgotten that for the first 15 mins or so they looked the better side and had come for the three points before going behind. After that they still dominated possession but were repeatedly torn apart on transitions.

Sure, we may find it harder now to break teams down at HP especially against the lower teams rather than sides pushing for promotion & play-offs. But that's part of the learning process, and not all teams will 'get lucky' or be as well organised and some will just be plain unlucky to concede the opening goal .... and after that the whole dynamic shifts. I'm quite sure we'll pick up enough points at HP to be comfortable and away from home the likes of Hardie and Whitaker should find much more room - so far we've been very unlucky away bar the City game.

 

[Cobi Budge]

Hardie was brilliant against Norwich and a part of that was because Azaz and Whittaker were closer to him, whereas when we play 433 he’s somewhat more isolated. The 343 brings the best out of this squad.

 

[PilgrimZ1R]

Top player who works his sock off for the team can’t see how anyone can not be happy with him however from my vantage point in block 3 he did take the wrong option on a couple of occasions last night. I think is was Miller who was free to his left and in a much better position but he did play the pass.

 

[Jannerz]

That's what I saw too. That's what Schuey's talking about in making the right decisions. The shot wasn't really on, Miller was the money ball. This seems to be the critical percentage needed to go from potential to the real deal at this level. I'm sure the coaching team are banging on and on about it. All of our front players need to be more composed with the final ball. Easier said than done, but that's the bottom line if we want to be challenging at the top, for me. We have everything else.

 

[JannerinCardiff]

I see Hot Dog wasn't included in the latest Scotland squad to face Spain.

The forwards that were picked are;-
Che Adams (Southampton), Jacob Brown (Luton), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Lyndon Dykes (QPR), Kevin Nisbet (Millwall).

 

[Frank the Phone]

Objectively, he should be in the squad ahead of Kevin Nisbet.

 

[Green Flash]

Objectively, he should be in the squad ahead of Kevin Nisbet.

There will always be bias in favour of incumbent players the manager and team know. Hardie will have to be significantly better than an incumbent consistently over a sustained period to dislodge them.

 

[JannerinCardiff]

Objectively, he should be in the squad ahead of Kevin Nisbet.

Exactly my thoughts. No idea whatsoever why Nisbet is in ahead of Hardie??

Nisbet has only really scored goals in Scotland in his career which is no benchmark imo - Nisbet and Hardie are playing in the same division now so ideal to compare each other.

Hardie has 5 goals (3rd top) and 3 assists (2nd top) - 8 goal contributions in 10 games - which is the tied top with the most combined goal/assist contributions of anyone in the championship (162 mins per goal, 24% goal conversion and 52% shot accuracy).

As a comparison in 10 appearances Nisbet has 2 goals and zero assists (358 mins per goal scored), 15% goal conversion and 46% shot accuracy - absolute no conclusive evidence to prove why Nisbet should be in ahead of Hardie.

 

[Cobi Budge]

There will always be bias in favour of incumbent players the manager and team know. Hardie will have to be significantly better than an incumbent consistently over a sustained period to dislodge them.

This. International managers are loyal to particular players regardless of form, look at Southgate with Maguire and Henderson. Hardie has started the season really well but will have to keep that up for longer to get a call up.

 

[JannerinCardiff]

Exactly my thoughts. No idea whatsoever why Nisbet is in ahead of Hardie.

This. International managers are loyal to particular players regardless of form, look at Southgate with Maguire and Henderson. Hardie has started the season really well but will have to keep that up for longer to get a call up.

Or current players to go through a loss of form or get injured.

 

[Cobi Budge]

Or current players to go through a loss of form or get injured.

Injuries yes, but form no, as I said above international managers tend to put together a squad and then tend to stick to that squad, they worry new additions will rock the boat a bit, Maguire has been out of form for ages, he’s still one of Southgate’s automatic picks.

 

[Argy1e]

Clarke already said in the last international break about the importance of continuity in his squads and pointed to that as to why they had started so well in their group. I said in the last international break that I didn't think he had any chance of a call up this time given that and the fact they're playing Spain and France. If results go well for them, and if he keeps scoring goals for us, then he'll have an outside chance of making the squad next time when they play Georgia and Norway. But he'll actually be further down the list because Ross Stewart should be back from injury by then too.