St Mirren -v- Dundee Preview

I hate to call this game a big game, or a must-win, especially so early, but the more and more you look at it, we need to get a W on the board, and preferably score some goals – here’s the preview.

Predicted Formation and XI

Letheren, McGinn, McPake, Konrad, Irvine, McBride, Ferry, Boyle, McGowan, Harkins and Tankulic.

Dyer and Thomson out injured means we have a slightly altered defensive side to the team, and the attacking side is still open to options.  Tomorrow I could see Hartley pitting McGowan next to Jim Goodwin of St Mirren.  Goodwin is coming back from his opening day Red Card, and is a well known hot-head, and Paul McGowan is “an angry little man” – Kevin Thomson.  McGowan wings folk up brilliantly on the pitch, and is the sort you hate against you but love for you.  So to me, it’s clear we must have them face off as much as possible.

I also bench Wighton.  This is a move that a lot of fans will dislike, but Goodwin is a dirty player and I would HATE to see him injured at his hands.  He can be a fantastic impact sub later on as he can find the space and play central once Goodwin is off, or tired and can’t get to him.  I play Boyle for the same reason as McGowan, he would run Goodwin and co crazy with his pace.  Add in we’ve lacked width so far this season, and it could answer our goal problems.

I also go with Tank from the start, but it’s in the 4-2-3-1 which he looked so comfortable in during pre-season.  I still insist this is his best formation, as it allows him to drop deep and make room for the 3 behind him to get in and about too.  The 4-2-3-1 is really needing tested in the league, and with St Mirren being a low scoring side, we can run the risk to test it.

Predicted 4-2-3-1 line-up.

St Mirren Strength

Their main strength is that at home, they are a strong side. They won 7 of their 22 home ties last season, a decent 36%.  Their goal record at home last season was actually a positive record at +3, having scored 23 goals, and only conceded 20 in the league.  The only team in last season Bottom 6 to do so as well.  Definitely down to being organised and hard to break down.

This is showed in their solid defensive record, with the second best defence in the bottom 6, conceding 58 goals in their 38 league games, giving an average of 1.5 goals per game against.

Key Players

Steven Thompson

It’s an easy one to pick.  Their top scorer who put in 16 goals in his 41 games last season.  The DAB is certainly their key to the net with 32% of their goals, thankfully for us, he is injured and expected to only play from the bench tomorrow, as he could’ve been a handful, but I’d have had faith in Konrad and McPake anyway.

Jim Goodwin

Goodwin as pointed out is a liability, which is why many St Mirren fans are shouting for him to be kept out the side, but it can’t be denied, he is a great player at breaking down attacks. His problem is his 7 career red cards, and with him aging and slowing down now at the age of 32, I can only see that number going up this season.  Will he start, I’d say he probably will as management see him as a leader.

St Mirrens Weakness

The one thing that holds St Mirren back is their lack of goals around the team.  They were the second lowest goal scorers in the league last season behind Hibs, who were a mile behind with only 31 goals to St Mirrens 39.  Add on that tomorrow they are likely to be missing their top scorer, and if we can keep a clean sheet tomorrow, I reckon we have the game won, despite our relatively poor start infront of goal.

 

How to break them down

 

Looking purely at their match against fellow promoted side Hamilton last week, the one thing that stands out is their standing off of driving players.  It lead to their first goal  and at least 2 other key chances.

 

First is the goal.  As you see, Crawford gets the ball to him from out wide, and is then given all the room he wants from Jason Naismith and Marc McAusland, who even left his man…to do no closing down, just poor jockeying.

 

 

Here is a complicated one.  In this case you have multiple errors, which definitely should’ve been pounced upon.  Firstly, they allow a Hamilton man to just walk through them when their are 3 oplayers around him, if their is anywhere on the pitch to put in a challengem it’s there, to kill the counter attack.  Marc McAusland  at the RB position is then leaving his man once Hamilton get halfway, but once again putting no pressure on the drive, which just gives him options.  From this, it also creates a natural angle run for Dougie Imrie to make, which is played through well, with a good recovery tackle by Jeroen Tesselaar

 

 

Here you see some “schoolboy” defending from StMirren.  Jason Naismith is caught ballwatch, waiting on a pass, not anticipating the pass and failing to put in a tackle when he could.  Once he corrected himself from being at the wrong side of Redmond (Hamilton), he needs to be putting in a tackle to stop the ball being put in.  Curier squanders the chance, but make no mistake, tomorrow we MUST press high and hard to force mistakes from a young defence.  Jim Goodwin is the only player in it above the age of 26.

 

 

St Mirren Lineup

 

In all honesty, their team is very hard to pick tomorrow, with 2 new players coming in, Isaac Osbourne (formerly of Partick Thistle) and Adam Drury (on loan from Man City).  Add on Goodwins return from suspension (?), Thompson being unlikely to start, and a possible change in ideas after the humbling last week.  Most of their fans are running with the idea of them also playing 4-2-3-1 of Kello, Naismith, McAusland, Plummer, Tesselaar, Osbourne, McGinn, Drury, McLean, Wylde and Ball.

 

St Mirren Predict XI

 

Sidenotes / Questions;

 

Will we finally play with width?  It’s something many fans are begging for, and it’s a feature that Dundee fans love.  Added on to it being effective against played who hold off from tackles, and you have a recipe for success.

 

Do we finally go to the 4-2-3-1 which so many predicted we would run with all season?  Does Tank get off the mark in the league if he gets to play the role which suits him best?

 

Will we see Wighton Vs Goodwin?  I don’t think so, Hartley is very protective of Craig, and rightly so, and bearing in mind Goodwins force in tackles, it may be best to hold him off.

 

Do we go with 2 flat DMCs?  Is McBride fit enough for tomorrow?  And does he fit with Ferry in this role?

 

McGinn Vs McGinn.  Brothers could face each other tomorrow as Paul McGinn could see his younger brother John playing the DMC role for St Mirren instead of Goodwin or Osbourne.

Notes

McGinn not a wingback, he’s a full back.

No midfield, 1 short in the middle.

Playing ourselves in to trouble at points at the back. Avoid passing back to Kyle.

Tanks touch is woeful, passing without confidence.

No link up with Peaso working

Worldie of a strike for their first.

No shots at all, they’re compact in the middle.

Playing down the channels, but we have no wingers. Horrible formation.

Dundee -v- Partick Thistle Preview

Dundee -v- Partick Thistle Preview

 

Another day, another dawning.  Another chance for our first 3 points of the season.  Let’s see if I can calm my nerves this week.

 

Predicted Formation and XI.

 

There will be changes about today.  Captain Kevin Thomson is out today, which gives Paul Hartley plenty of options to him for change today.  The most likely switch is that Jim McAllister comes in for him, and links Simon Ferry to Harkins and McGowan. Alternatively, we can add Kevin McBride and keep the 4-2-2-2.  We can also look at switching strikers and formations completely.  Stewart hasn’t made much of an impact yet in his partnership with Tankullic (who himself hasn’t covered himself in glory).  4-2-3-1 with McBride and Ferry holding, and Harkins, McGowan and either Boyle of McAllister in the 3 is a real possibility.  Personally, I would go with 4-2-3-1, and I’ll expand on that in the next section.  But here’s my XI and formation.

 

Forecasted XI and formation.

 

Partick Thistles Strengths

 

Thistle are a team on the up.  Just look at their cracking result during the week.  The one thing that stands out to me from watching a few of their highlights is their strength in pressing high, and being able to play the ball from the centre circle to their wide players to use, which is one of their strengths.

 

 

An example of the high pressure system which creates chances and pounces upon the smallest of mistakes.  We do play a similar way in the holding positions.

 

 

 

Clearly the second example is key.  The cross ball catches County on the back foot, and sucker-punches them to put them on behind.  This is a key reason why we can’t play with wingbacks today.  Full-backs are a must.

 

Thistles Key Players

 

To me Thistle have 2 key players.  The first of Ryan Stevenson.  He’s  a great attacking midfielder who creates a lot and was easily Heart guiding light last season as they fought hard to avoid relegation.  He scored 8 goals in his 28 games for them last season, a solid return for a player who was under so much pressure for them.  Theirs an interesting connection to this game for him – he goes up against the man who he has abit of a running storyline with in James McPake.  Stevenson was cited for a lunging challenge on him in 2013, and got a 2 match ban for it.

 

Osman Abdul

 

Having captained Crewe, he was released at the end of his contract.  He has a great ability to play deep in the centre of midfield and he does to an extent have a slight roaming role.  He most certainly isn’t a goal scorer, but he can make them with the touches that can open room for his own players – largely their Kevin Thomson os the best description.

 

Thistles Weakness

 

Thistle conceded the joint second most goals last season, 1 less than Killie, at 65 goals for the league season.  This puts their average at 1.7 goals per game against.  Scott Fox joined them from us and has since played 120 games, if he has a good game, he’s capable at this level, but if we can pressure their defence and get some shots on target to challenge them.  He has a slight tendency to punch the ball, which could be capitalised by closing down after strikes.  He loves coming out to through balls, and has pace, to through balls should be played with the knowledge a chip is required.

 

Keys To Winning

 

Keeping the defence under control, no wingbacks, no messing around with the ball too much, or playing passes in to trouble.

 

Getting shots on target from less than 18 yards.  I do prefer our 3 attacking midfielders having an option to play it through, but Tank goes against that.  We could just as easily see the same XI (with McAllister switched for Thomson) as Wednesday though as PH seems to tink it’s working mostly.

 

High pressure midfield.  This is going to be another midfield battle the way I see it.  We’ve got to pressure harder and higher than we did during the week which was the only real thing we could’ve done much better. Thomson missing out will make it harder, but this could make the difference in making enough chances for the striker(s).

Dundee 0-0 ICT Review

It’s a right bugger writing 4,000 words a week on Dundees Tactics , so this is another condensed piece for a game with not much to write about in all honesty.  So another bullet-point piece with no GIFs and videos and Partick preview upin an hour.

 

Clean Sheets 

 

As mentioned, Caley are clean sheet masters, but I forecast us to be tight at the back this season also.  If we can avoid getting 5 put past us by anyone this season, we could keep the against column very low.  It’s more getting the ball in the net which is starting to hinder us.

 

Neutralising Billy McKay

 

We done a brilliant job doing this – and it’s largely down to our deep line, which didn’t give McKay the chance to get a real run on our defence, bar 1 or 2 situations where Caley used a strong counter attack.  Full credit goes to PH for this, and McPake, Konrad and co controlled and largely neutralised this.

 

Managerial Chess

 

Didn’t really happen as we had to make an early switch as Thomson had to go off to be replaced by Jim, but with that said, it was another match where PH made attacking substitutes.  Thomson could’ve easily been replaced like for like by Davidson.  Surprisingly, McBride wasn’t even on the bench, even with Thomson known to be carrying an injury, which implies PH new the risk, and was going to play attacking if it happened, which is refreshing to see.

The two striker based subs were very interesting.  Neither of our strikers have scored now in the opening 2 matches.  Nothing much to worry about, but what I do worry about is how Stewart and Tankulic play together.  Tank is the ideal 1 upfront; he drops deep, goes wide, and makes room for people, but the issue is that Stewart is playing the deeper striker role (almost a 1-1 up front instead of steady 2).  So when we’re in attacking positions, you’re seeing a line of 4 or 5, not 2 different banks, which means we can’t really play it through, you’re limited to balls wide (without any wingers on the pitch), or dribbling through the defence, which is a tough skill.  If we’re going to persist with 4-4-2 (or 4-2-2-2), then up top we have to have Peaso.  Peaso plays the man up top perfectly.  I’d be inclined to give Peaso and Tank the starts if we’re getting 2, or Tank on his own if it’s to be one.  I’ve still to figure out Stewart, against Peterhead he was playing much more as a man to peel off shoulders, but that wasn’t the case in the 2 league matches, which has me thinking.

The introduction of Boyle gave us a real pace, and width on the right.  Within 5 minutes of coming on he had gotten past his man twice, and played a nice attacking run on the counter. Everyone can already tell I’m a big proponent of Boyle.  I’ve thought we would start with him in every game, but it hasn’t been.  He made a good case for a start today, and with Particks style of play, could make a good link up with a full-back McGinn.   The other switch was Peaso for Tank, and the one thing which stood out about Peaso to me was his role at set-pieces.

This season we seem to be focusing hard on set-pieces, and it’s already clear we have a few different moves.  The one which brought most joy on Wednesday (including 2 great chances for McDonald), was the Harkins deep ball, to Peaso, who peels from the shoulder of his man at the front post, and runs around the back.  Our other key one is the man on the front post stepping out 3 yards for the first man knock-on corner.  Similar to Man Uniteds equaliser from the ’99 Champions League Final.  I’d say Peaso is worth a start with Boyle for this one reason.  Boyles width will get corners, and Peaso looks dangerous at them.

Keys To Winning – Did we Use Them?

 

Stop McKay by man-marking – we didn’t man mark him, but we did counteract his movement by playing the deep line.  YES.

 

Getting Tank to shoot from further out – Nope, he didn’t get enough chances to run with the ball on goal, and didn’t shoot enough, something he still needs work on. -NO.

 

Getting past their defence in to 1 on 1s – Nope.  Too much deep play from both of our strikers.  We need the one to stay up top, which Peaso can be.  Or to play a single one up top which can can be.  NO.

 

A clean sheet – the defence and Kyle shored up considerably.  They mixed the goal-kick polarisation up, they didn’t take too many touches, and the weren’t scared to clear their lines if under pressure.  A big positive, and if we can keep a good balance between the clearances, we’re sorted on that front.  Kyle again showed excellent shot stopping, and kept us in the game at points.  Definitely something which gave me confidence.  YES!

 

2/4 ain’t bad.  But we need to really work on getting goals from our strikers, and not even goals, just chances.  Our defence is a great base, our midfield looks brilliant, but our strikers are faltering, and it’s all about the movement.  Fix this and we’re going upwards.

Mini Inverness Preview

Some quick key stats and observations for tonights game.  I’m in a slight rush as my bus leaves at 15:30, and frankly, I’m gagging for a pint.

 

Clean Sheet Kings – Inverness kept 22 (!) clean sheets last term from their 46 games, a fantastic record.  They conceded just 44 goals in the league last term, putting them 4th in the league.  Their main problem came from only scoring 44 in the league also.  That said – they had a disastrous week conceding 10 goals in 2 games against Celtic then United the next.

 

Dean Brill is IMO a one of the top keepers in the league now that Forster is gone.  At 28, he’s reaching his peak, and if he can keep the #1 spot from Esson, who is another great keeper, their defence could see them pushing for Europe again if Hughes keeps them playing the right type of football.

 

King Billy – It’s no secret Billy McKay is Inverness’s goal machine.  18 of their 44 goals last year, all of which I have analysed.  An astounding 8 of his 18 goals come from him peeling off the defenders shoulder (often the right back) to make room for himself, and he has some fantastic finishing to match.  Add on that he has the poachers instinct of being at the right place at the right time – and you get why he’s always at the top end of the goalscorers in the Prem.

He’s not their only goalscorer, Richie Foran if he gets enough games can score, he had a poor return last season of just 4 in his 26 league games, but he helps McKay in making room and passes alot.

 

**Noted stat**  44.4% of McKays goals come from the peeling off the shoulder.  This is not variation, it’s his key move to making room.  ICT are fantastic at quick counter goals, so when the defence is on the back foot, watch for McKay to make his room with this move.  For this very reason I’d suggest going 5-4-1 or 4-5-1 with a man-marker on him and the defence being made aware of what his tendency is to do.

 

ICT Formation

 

General consensus if ICT will maintain the same XI as their win on Saturday over fellow new boys Hamilton.  Their 4-2-3-1 / 4-5-1 is effective with the pacey counters they can demonstrate, and it fits their belief of clean sheets winning games.

 

ICT Forecasted Lineup

 

Hartleys XI

 

No need to draw a graph for this – I think we all predict 4-2-3-1 with JIm in for Stewart.  Midfield 3 of Harkins, Jim and McGowan all given free roles, with Jims job being to connect the midfield and defence.  Against a 4-2-3-1, I always like width, when the wingbacks push forward you can exploit this in counter attacks with width – but with Roberts suspended for tonight and 2 more matches, Riley having played 45 for our U20s on Monday and Boyle not in Hartleys plans, Dundee fans better adapt not a lack of width or be prepared to see more of GGH, McGowan and Jim powering in the middle of the pitch.

 

Managerial Chess

 

I reckon with Hughes and PH, we could see substitutes make the difference tonight.  Hartley showed he isn’t scared to go for it on Saturday, and Hughes is a brave man who has sometimes been seen as foolish – the subs could make the difference – and most of ours are attacking!

 

Keys To Winning

 

Stop McKay by man-marking

 

Getting Tank to shoot from further out.

 

Getting past their defence and in to 1 on 1s.

 

A clean sheet is a must, most importantly.

Dundee 1-1 Killie Review

Dundee played their first game back in the SPFL Premiership on Saturday, infront of a solid 7588 at Dens.  The game ended in a 1-1 draw, which if anything was harsh on Dundee who dominated the second half, after a fairly even first.

Lineup

Slim 4-4-2 from Dundee.

Dundee kept the same formation as the League Cup win over Peterhead, with the only change being James McPake replacing Kyle Benedictus at centre back.  The key difference of note was that the slim 4-4-2 at times resembled, or possibly morphed in to a diamond 4-4-2 with Thomson holding, Ferry right, Harkins left and McGowan centre.  Although Harkins and McGowan rotate a lot between roles.

The morphed formation Dundee at times looked to be playing.

Using our starting formation, Dundee appear to play a very zonal marking system, which works when you’re in a midfield battle and trying to stop the ball getting past you, as it often turns the opposition in to a long ball team, as coverage is high.  Using the second is much more conducive to a team playing through balls and passes through you due to the increase in pockets you leave open, as we saw during our lull in the first half on Saturday.

Goalkeeping Frailty Pt. 2

It’s fair to say, while Letheren made a few very nice (and vital) saves, from point blank, his abilities as a sweeping goalkeeper are very worrisome.  Several times Dundee players could be seen talking to him after incidents about this.  McPake and Thomson in particular had heated exchanges with him.  Add in his inability to start plays from the back, and you can see why Paul Hartley brought in his own keeper, and I don’t expect to see Letheren in between the sticks come October.

While Letheren makes a fantastic point blank save, he wrong footed himself in this case.

While not visible – in this mistake Letheren stalls after starting (committing?) to his run, causing a GSO for Killie.

Defensive Errors

This will read like I’m slating these player, but I’m not, they all played well, it’s just the errors which give away clean chances we need to cut down on to survive this season.  In this case, Paul McGinn, who worked tirelessly is caught napping between the goals.  While drifting in, he’s clearly ball watching, and not paying any attention to one of his men Tope Obadeyi, who drifts inwards infront of him, and is slipped in by Barbour, in a chance that hit our bar and got the Derry anxious.

McGinn not noticing Obadeyis run until it is too late and he is through.

In this case – it’s the freekick which lead to the goal.  James McPake dives in needlessly to a challenge where he could’ve easily just held his ground and let Obadeyi run into the pack of players around him.  It does seem in fairness that Obadeyi turns in to McPake, and he slightly wrong foots him, but a poor foul to concede from a player who lead from the back and partnered well with Thomas Konrad who strolled it again.

James McPake needlessly dives in when Obadeyi is going nowhere.

The next one is more of a midfield issue, and one which is based on the comments above about playing with just the 1 holding midfielder.  In this scene, you see Chris Johnston in plenty of space, having slotted between Ferry who is dragged wider to the right, and Thomson who has to press the ball more.  When you’re switching between the slim 4-4-2 and the diamond, you’ll find players making these spaces for themselves.  This leads to Johnstons shot below, which while being a poor effort, could’ve seen a more experienced midfielder drive with it and play it forward for a real chance.

Johnston moving between Ferry and Thomson. Ferry could’ve follow?

Poor effort from Chris Johnston.

Creative Dundee

 

As you’d expect from a midfield which contains the starting 4, plus Jim McAllister, when firing on all cylinders, we create a barrel load of chances, with Saturday being no different.

 

The first is a case of a well picked pass by Willie Dyer, to GGH in room, with a great drive and dribble by him, and a fine save by Samson to get down low to the driven shot.  GGH really came right in to a game in the second half with Jim beside him, which could make the ICT game interesting.  His weight-loss and trim figure has him looking much more agile when running at defences and on the ball in general.

 

 

GGH drives at the Killie defence.

 

The second effort comes from Paul McGowan, and is made in 2 parts.  First Luka drops deep, something he does frequently (to many fans dismay, but i’ll get to this later), and his fine footwork leads to Paul getting on the ball, making room for himself and getting a fine effort on target to make Samson work, once again.

 

Luka drops deep to start a possession spell.

 

McGowan makes room and get an effort on target.

 

To com eback to the point of Luka dropping deep – it’s common already to see Luka dropping deep to start something, eerily similar to what Benzema is like for Real Madrid.  The key point is though, he will be played as a lone striker for a large part of our season in the 4-2-3-1 formation, and as a lone striker, you have to stop yourself from being isolated, and dropping in is one of the best ways to do such.  Not only does it give you more creativity and ball time, but it helps create chances for the 3 behind you.  Many online and at Dens didn’t like his dropping, but it astounds me why.  He’s not a generic target man that stands up top, he’s a creator and a scorer, something that fits perfectly with Hartleys philosophy, and the formation.  Dare I even say, if Hartley and the management staff can continue to work on getting him to shoot from distances, we could see him dropping even more for the ball, and seeing him getting efforts in from 20 yards very often.

 

The last chance to go over is GGH skipping past a sliding tackle, and getting a great effort in on target.  It may seem that I’m overly focusing on GGH, but everything positive from us in the second came through GGH and Jim getting the ball and linking together.  Here, GGH gives the slip to a tackle, and gets another shot in on target, for Samson to yet again thwart.  Credit must go to Samson for keeping Killie in the game.  There was another GGH chance, and a quick follow-up shot by Tankulic which he saved earlier on in the half.  Samson had a fine game.

 

GGH dribbles past a tackle and gets an effort on goal.

 

GOALS

 

Dundees goal came from the spot.  To me this is a pretty clear penalty and doesn’t need much focus.  GGH is clearly hip-checked and the referee has the same angle as us, and has seen the exact same thing – GGH bearing down on goal and then being nudged off his feet.  Does he go down softly?  Probably, but there’s a clear budge, and contact, and dare I say Killie fans would be screaming for a pen if it happened at the other end of the pitch.

 

GGH hipchecked by Connolly.

 

He slots it home, cool as you like too.

 

Jeebsy slots it home.

 

Killies “Stunner” or Letherens Blunder?

 

I’m still undecided full on this issue.  No one can deny that this is a peach of a strike, yet LEtheren doesn’t really cover himself in glory to be honest.  He lines the wall up fine, but his positioning is very suspect.

 

Suspect Positioning?

 

As you can see, he’s lined the wall up with with his right hand post, but I have a couple of questions here.  Firstly – whats the need in a 5 man wall?  the 4 would’ve worked just as well, and given him room for vision, and not hampered the walls job of stopping the ball.  Secondly, he completely wrong-footed himself by taking a step right first (albeit a small one), which means the shot to the left catches him out.  Finally – does the Killie use of a man on the end of the wall not give away where he’s putting it?  This is Scottish football, people don’t think on any logical level above level 1.  The man on the left ism very rarely a decoy, it’s almost always a block the keeper move, implying he’s going that way.

 

The finish itself when you watch it again and again isn’t up to much.  It doesn’t really go on the inside of the netting, if Letheren hadn’t wrong footed himself, he could’ve probably gotten to it in 1 step.  That said, there is a decent amount of force behind it.

 

 

The above video starts at the free-kick.

 

Subs / Formation Alterations

 

Hartley used all 3 of his subs on Saturday, with all 3 being attacking based switches, with 1 of them being a notable strategy switch.  At 75 minutes, Jim McAllister replaced Simon Ferry who looked tired, having been all over the pitch, having been put in a position to juggle 2 roles. Jim McAllister came on and narrowed the side again, largely over-looking the need to juggle any width, and forcing plays through the middle.  Jims energy worked, although, with no options of width on the bench, it was the only choice PH could make to try and win the game.  McAllister forced the ball through the middle brilliantly, linking well with GGH and McGowan to create chances.  Peaso replaced Greg Stewart soon there after, and it seemed the ball just wouldn’t fall for him, and Craig Wighton replaced Luka Tankulic who was looking tired also.  Neither of the striker subs made much of an impact, but the McAllister replacement was inspirational as Jim led us as well as he could, and as close as you could to 3 points, just falling short.  It would be no surprise to se Jim start on Wednesday.

 

ICT Preview

 

Mini ICT preview will go up in an hour or 2 – unfortunately, with midweek games, and a job to juggle, it’s hard to put out 5k+ words in the space of 3 days.  That said, I feel I’ve uncovered a couple of cracking stats about Billy McKay and how to stop him – put stopping McKay is only a small part of the job from a team who have talent throughout.

Killie Preview

Dundee -v- Kilmarnock Preview

The big kick-off is nigh upon us, and if you’re like me, you’re probably nervous already, desperately so, and have been for the last week now.  Each week, to help calm my nerves, and assure me we are destined for glory, I’m going to break-down our opposition (if it’s possible) and question “Do Dundee have the ability to exploit these issues”.

Predicted Formation and XI

Having looked over Killie’s pre-season and discussed it with a couple of their fans, their is a general consensus that this is how they will line up, although today (Thursday 7th August), they re-signed Alexi Eremenko, which is a wildcard, as Allan Johnston may see the need for his creativity.  Most likely though he will come from the bench, and we will look at this later.

Goalkeeper

Craig Samson – Craig is well known to Dundee fans, having played for us in the 07-08 season.  From this time, he was seen as a decent enough First Division keeper, but nothing more.  He was prone to an occasional clanger, and was susceptible to crosses.  Last season for Killie he was an ever present, playing every game.  If we can work out set-pieces correctly, he might start to fumble, but he is a decent shot stopper.

Last season stats: 40 appearances, with 72 goals against.  1.8 goals against per game on average.

Craig Samson clanger -v- Celtic in 4-0 loss last season.

Defence

Ross Barbour – The 21 year old is a Killie kid, who started to break in to their side last season.  They have high hopes for him, but his inexperience against our vastly experienced XI may mean he finds himself out of position at points, or overwhelmed.

Last season stats:  7 appearances, 12 conceded. 1.71 GPG against.

Mark Connolly – Connolly is a new signing for Killie, having been one of 13 players released by Crawley Town at the end of last season, having finished 14th of the 24 teams.  He is still young at   22 years old, and transferred from Wolves to Bolton for £1M in 2009.  He had a very solid start for Crawley, but faded, despite maintaining his place last season.

Last season stats:  40 apps last season for Crawley, 46 conceded. – GPG against was 1.15

Lee Ashcroft  – Another prospect from the Killie Academy. Ashcroft made his debut in the 2012/13 season, playing 3 times, and has came in to his own, becoming a regular for them last season.  He was brought on during the Dundee -v- Killie match in May 2013.

Last season stats:  25 appearances with 46 conceded – GPG was 1.84

Mark O’Hara – You guessed it, another youth player here.  Made his debut in 2012/13, playing 20 times at the age of just 16.  He’s now 18, with some experience, having played a similar amount last season, and most pre-season games this year as a starter.  His LB position is one which Killie fans really worry about, as they feel he is to young for week in – week out football, but it could be the making of him.  He’s calm on the ball, but struggles against physicality.  Can also play RB.

Last season stats:  16 appearances, conceding 32 goals.

Last season their team average defensively was 1.8 conceded per game.  Samson was an ever present, thus his stats apply.  Using their predicted defensive starters, their conceded goals per game average become 1.625 conceded per game – mainly dragged up by Connolly with Crawley Town.  He could be a quality signing for them in helping shore up a very loose defence.  Fair to say this is certainly a position they will need to improve upon from last year.

MIDFIELD

Craig Slater – Former St Mirren youth player, Slater made his debut for them in December 2012.  His preferred role is as a holding midfielder.

Last season stats:  23 appearances and 1 goal.  GPG against is 2.

Manuel Pascali – The second holding midfielder, Pascali is the leader of the team, and can also hold down the centre defence if needed.  Personally, I see him as Killie’s most important player in this XI, even if some of their fans see him as a bit of a hot and cold player.  He does tend to only play roughly 20 games per season.

Last season stats:  32 appearances and 0 goals.  GPG against was 1.875

Chris Johnston – A 19 year old, natural right winger, but he can play in the middle as well.  Now that they’ve signed Eremenko again, he’ll likely hold down the right winger position for them.  Probably their most naturally talented player from their youth system, Killie fans expect big things from him this season.  22 appearances with 4 goals. GPG against was 2.

Tope Obadeyi – A pacy left winger, Tope has never really been able to hold down a permanent role at any club he’s been at, but he’s certainly able to whip in a dangerous cross, and scored a wonderful strike against Morecambe in their 2-2 draw, this pre-season.

Last season stats for Bury / Plymouth: 25 appearances, 1 goal, with a GPG against of 1.06

Tope Obadeyi rocket -v- Morecambe.

ATTACK

Josh Magennis – A player Aberdeen fans have been jokingly trying to palm off to every other club they could.  Magennis is a 6 foot 2 target man, who also has a decent first touch, and some pace to go with it.  His main problem is that he just can’t score however.  He’s scored just 10 goals in 122 career games.  He has scored 2 for Killlie in pre-season however, one being a fine header against Morecambe.

Last season stats:  35 appearances between Aberdeen (parent club) and St Mirren. 1 goal.  Career average of 0.07 goals per game scored.

Josh Magennis header -v- Morecambe.

Rory McKenzie – Still fairly young at the age of 20, Rory McKenzie is the final prospect from the youth system at Killie.  He has started almost every pre-season game up top, with other strikers rotating around hiim, so he looks a stick-on to start. He has create ball control, and his movement can cause havoc for defences.  Probably the striker which Konrad will have to mark, with McPake taking Magennis.

Last season stats:  35 appearances, 4 goals, giving him 0.11 goals per game.  His career average is 0.17.

Loss of Boyd

Most people are asking this question, and pinning all of Killies hopes on this not being as catastrophic as the stats suggest.  After signing Boyd for the season, he featured 37 times, scoring a remarkable 22 goals in that time, giving him a goal per game ratio of 0.59 goals per game.  Killie only scored 48 goals last season, the joint 9th worst in the league.  When you add on that they’ve not lost the player who scored 45% of their goals, it is a major worry, as much as they fans try to play it down.

Rory McKenzie could very well develop in to a striker that can score 10, maybe even 15 this year if he has a good spell, but the chances of him leading the team in the way Boyd did, getting crucial goals that he did, or indeed scoring the 22 that he did, are very slim.

Breakdown of Weaknesses

While it may seem very harsh to judge Killie based on one of their toughest, and worst result of last season, the 4-0 trouncing at Parkhead gives Dees fans a whiff of optimism in my eyes.  Celtic exposed Killie is only 2 or 3 real ways, but those ways are the manner which Paul Hartley has us exploiting.

1st goal – Joe Ledley from James Forrest ball.

Joe Ledleys goal is an example of centre midfielder making a late run through an open channel to give a through ball an option.  Now, to take you back to “Other Chances” section of my Dundee -v- Peterhead Review, the first point we talk about is a Gary Harkins overlap, to a through ball from Kevin Thomson.  It’s a perfect example of how to exploit Killie and their youthful left and right backs, who may be caught ball watching.

Joe Ledley goal from Forrest through ball.

3rd Goal – Joe Ledley lob pass.

Joe Ledley turned from scorer in to maker here, with a goal similar to our third -v- Peterhead.  To quote my summary of Peaso’s goal; “a dead weight ball, with perfect lob, right on his target[s]”.  Added to this case is Manuel Pascali completely misjudging the offside trap he set, playing Mulgrew onside, having been watching the ball, not the man.

Perfectly weighted ball to Mulgrew by Ledley.

Several Goals Source

Last season, Killie lost a fair few goals from teams targetting their weakness at the backs, including the Samson clanger at the top where the player stands off.  United in the 4-1 hammering they gave at Rugby Park done so extremely well, with Stuart Armstrong getting in to a great position with young Ashcroft, and making him run to his own goal, then simply turn him out of the game.  Getting Harkins, Boyle and McGowan in these positions could be very positive for our goal tally on Saturday.

Armstrong turning Ashcroft inside out.

Dundee Line-up

I see us lining up in a 4-2-3-1 this weekend for a few reasons.  First off – it’s clearly the perfect formation for a team with only 1 notable SPL level striker in Tankulic. We don’t have enough quality yet to go and play Stewart, Peaso or Wighton IMO, we need to prove we can create at this level first.

Secondly, it’s a formation which is flexible.  If we don’t seem to start well on Saturday, it’s easily switched in to a multitude of formations, from 4-4-2 with 1 switch of a midfielder turning into a striker, to 4-3-3 with one of your ACMs dropping to DCM (Defensive CM).  5-4-1 and 4-5-1 and easily done also.  It’s probably the most comfortable starting formation any manager can start with.

Finally – it has a great balance between attack and defence to use against a side which MAY be lacking goals, and MAY be vulnerable to it’s backs being exploited.

As you see, in attacking situations, we potentially can have 4 players, 2 on each side attacking their backs, with 3 central players (Ferry, McGowan and Tankulic) looking for link-ups.

Attacking 4-2-3-1 Positions.

This is the reason why I feel we need to (and probably will) start Martin Boyle.  Martin is developing well under Hartley, and as much as Hartley seems determined to turn him in at an ACM, he’s a natural winger with his pace and ability to knock the ball past a man, and Kilmarnock are the side to use that against, to me.

Dundee -v- Peterhead Review

Dundee started the competitive season off to a cracking start with a 4-0 win over Peterhead in the League Cup.  Fine performances all round with goals coming from Ferry, Stewart, MacDonald and Tankulic sealing the win.

 

Lineup

 

 

Dundee lined up in the Narrow 4-4-2 (which local press reported as a 4-2-1-1-2, with Harkins behind the strikers and infront of McGowan), likely to attack from the outset with 2 strikers, as opposed to the 4-2-3-1 which can, if alls not going well, isolate a striker.  This is one of the 3 forecasted formations we will use with some regularity this season.  It fits us playing our 3 key banks of two in the middle of the pitch (Konrad/McPake, Ferry/Thomson and McGowan/Harkins), as well as allowing our LB and RBs to turn in to wingbacks, something Paul Hartley was emphasising on during pre-season.  Finally, it gave Hartley a chance to see Tankulic linking up with Stewart upfront, which certainly worked.

 

Defensive Frailty While many Dundee fans have been arguing over our lack of depth of quality at LB, I do worry at times for our CHs when it’s not the key Konrad/McPake partnership.  However, one of Peterhead’s main chances came from a rare Thomas Konrad error.  After winning, but not getting enough on a second ball challenge in the air he decides to commit to chasing the ball, instead of following his man (McAlister), giving him plenty of room.  Benedictus was switched on, however, having recovered from a mis-judged run at a challenge when theirwas already a Dundee man there for it.

 

 

As you can see, Konrad chasing backwards after misjudgement. (1:44 in the DFCTV video.) This wasn’t the only error in this attack however.  Once the situation of a ball over the top becomes clear, goalkeeper Kyle Letheren needs to come out much earlier and then sort the defence out.  In this case he mis-judges the entire situation and stays on his line, which resulted in McAlister being allowed to get a foot on to the ball, and almost knock it past Letheren.

 

 

As you see, still in the 6 yard box, and not coming out at much pace either. (1:48 in highlights). Peterhead’s only other notable chance in the first half came from a corner where Peterhead used the firework  corner strategy to great advantage.  Starting in a huddle, Willie Dyer lost his man as they separated, which allowed Ross Smith to get a head on target, which had to be cleared off the line by Kevin Thomson, who thankfully stayed on his post.

 

 

The only other blotch on a fine performance was a Benedictus mistake which gave Peterhead their only other effort of the game of note.  Letheren to an extent played him in to danger by starting a move out when he had 2 men covering him within 15 yards, but this is definitely not helped by a poor touch by Benedictus taking himself too deep towards his own goal with little options other than to clear his lines.  However he fluffed the clearance and it fell perfectly to the Peterhead midfield who got it to Rogers who played a fine drilled ball in to McAlister who couldn’t take his chance.

 

(Benedictus botching his clearance, as seen 4:13 in to DFCTV highlights.)

 

GOALS! Four goals which Dundee can look back on and say smart thinking and movement paid off. Firstly Simon Ferry got Dundee going for the season with a goal which his first touch, volley pass to Tankulic made.  Ferry receives the ball from Benedictus at the half way line and plays the ball to the channel for McGinn to play with.  Most importantly, he continues a run to about 23 yards out, where McGinn picks him out, and a sublime first touch pass through to Tankulic gives Tank a chance, from a tight angle, which Smith in the Peterhead goal can only palm out to Ferrys feet, for him to finish with an open net.

 

(2:10 DFC TV) When you look at Ferrys passing in general, he does seem to like diagonal balls wide, giving him the option to complete the Christmas Tree play of getting it back having went forward 10/20 yards, which is a great for putting teams on the back foot and hitting them with, and clearly it worked here.  As you can see in the above photos, banks of players are easily taken out of the game when instead of playing straight through, you can go around or across them.  That’s the key to breaking the banks.

 

 

Greg Stewart off the mark. Greg Stewarts goal was a classic example of one team being switched on, and the other not.  After Paul McGowan was fouled at the edge of the centre area, Kevin Thomson looks up for options for a quick free kick.  He had 2 or 3 available – but McGowan himself is shouting and pointing for it right in front of Thomson with space.  Thomson plays a slightly overhit ball, which McGowan can tackle through to Greg Stewart, for the former Blue Brazil striker to latch on to, and power past Peterhead. The real making of this goal is McGowan being aware he has 5 yards to himself, and putting the foot in to make sure it gets through to Stewart.  The finish is nothing special, but it’s a goal which will see Stewart off the mark, and hopefully loosen his tension up for when he gets chances in the future.

 

 

Peaso Van Persie The third goal starts with Dundee doing what we can expect to see a lot of this season – starting from the back.  Initially Kyle Benedictus starts it with a small 1-2 at the back with Konrad, and then plays what looks to be a slack pass to Kevin Thomson, but naturally finds Tankulic who with his first touch takes his marker out of the game and swivels past him. A very well worked 1-2 with McGinn sets Luka free down the right, and after a quick glance, he sees MacDonald peeling from his marker, dinks a wonderful ball over the marker and straight on Peaso’s head, for him to leap and nod past the helpless goalkeeper. Luka is clearly the man who makes this goal.  His swivel at the edge of the centre circle is what you need from a man who could be facing a fair few games as the 1 up top on his own this season as it will give him chances to run in on goal.  On this occasion his touch takes him to the right,  and McGinn has the awareness to slip it down the line as he’s created a few yards.  And the cross from Tank is reminiscent of the Bonetti days, a dead weight ball, with perfect lob, right on his targets coupon.  Beautiful goal to watch in full speed.

The Tankulic Turn.  (5:08 DFCTV Highlights)

Counter Attank (Geddit?) The fourth and final goal is really as simple as you can get in football.  Petherhead still wanting something, are unlucky that good defending pays off for Dundee, and the ball falls to Letheren in the Dee goal.  He looks up to see Harkins already in motion 10 yards in to our own half, and releases the ball in a long throw to him, Harkins nudges the ball forward another 20 yards, then spots Tankulic prowling at the back, plays a diagonal killer ball, for Tankulic to very sweetly slot past the goalie, on the volley.  The perfect counter attack. Letherens vision creates it, but in the same way Tankulics ball was a killer on the 3rd goal, Harkins plays the perfect pass, but that’s short sighting the 1 thing that made this goal much easier for Luka.  Peter MacDonald drags the Peterhead defender who was caught between the two men, right away from Tankulic with a little darting run and a point to the front post – knowing full well Der Panzer was behind him. A great capping to a solid starting performance.

 

Peasos bluff point and dash (6:02 DFCTV highlights).

Other Chances I’d be remiss to not include a couple of the many other chances we created, but i’ll focus on two in particular, as they had what I think we can see more of this season. The first is a basic concept that has 2 things we Dundee fans haven’t seen much in the last couple years.  A centre midfielder who can overlap the striker.  In this case it comes from a very simple through ball, but what makes it isn’t just the great vision from Thomson to play the pass.  It’s a combination of Tankulic making a run towards the ball holder, making 10 yards for Harkins who was awake to it, to make his through run past Tankulic. As you see here, Luka has started his drop, and already, before he is 3 yards in to it, Harkins is setting off on the left going inwards.  And dare I say, had Harkins first touch been better and took it infront of him, a 1 on 1 could easily have seen a Dundee goal.

The second chance is one all about one touch football, it was flowing and a fine move.  Harkins intercepts a pass in the middle of our half, slips a ball to McGowan at halfway who first touches to Peaso.  Peaso has seen the run by McGowan continue, he backheels it to him, and McGowan slips a wicked through ball through to Tankulic who is half a yard short from getting it past the keeper.  Fine football.

Substitutes / Formation Changes We made no noticeable changes in our formation through out subs.  They were like for like, with the minor exception of Martin Boyle, who when he came on for Luka Tankulic after 82 minutes, played more of an ACM role, but did stray wide a but.  So it appeared more like a free role if anything, but nothing out of the ordinary for what Hartley sees of his future. Killie Preview There will be a full preview of our opening day of the season match against Killie up on Friday.  It’ll have a run down of their squad, expected line-up and formation, as well as weaknesses, and how we could exploit them.  Until then, thanks for reading.

2014/2015 Squad

Goalkeepers

Kyle Letheren

Kyle enters 2014/15 as Dundees fans Player of The Year, on the back of 21 clean sheets in 40 games last year for the club.  After a fairly suspicious start in an early 4-3 hammering from Queen of The South in Week 1, he came in to his own over the season, and effectively won The Dees the Championship in the last minute of the season with a fantastic reaction save of a header bound for the bottom corner.  He does however have competition this year, and his weakness at starting passing football from the back may make him susceptible to finding himself on the bench once Scott Bain is fully fit.

Preferred Position – GK

Scott Bain

Signed from Alloa at the end of last season, Scott will be looking to make the position his own.  His history with Paul Hartley can only help him, and the fact he is a goalkeeper who can start plays from the back is a solid attribute to have, especially with the manager having high standards in the pure footballing department.  He helped Alloa to 16 clean sheets last term, and has gained over 100 games of experience already in his career, at the age of 22.

Preferred Position – GK

Defenders

Paul McGinn

Paul signed from Dundee after his contract with Championship overachievers Dumbarton was over.  He’s played over 120 games in his career between Queens Park and Dumbarton. He comes highly recommended by many in the game, and is expected to hold down the Right Back position as his own ahead of Gary Irvine and Cammy Kerr.  He has 2 career goals, but is going to more judged on how he balances his crosses with his defensive duties.  Dumbarton only managed 4 clean sheets with him in the side last season.

Preferred Position – RB

Back-up Position – None

Gary Irvine

Gary is entering in to his 5th year at the club having featured some 149 times.  While being solid at getting forward down the wing in the Championship, he’s never been able to prove himself as capable at Premiership level, and facing stiff competition in 2 forms can only make it harder, especially with both other players being much younger than him.  He’ll be looking at covering the Left Back role for Willie Dyer, as to date the club doesn’t have a cover of any real form for him.  I’d expect him to play more as back up for Dyer, giving Cammy Kerr the chance to feature more in his preferred position if required.

Preferred Position – RB

Back-up Position – LB

Cammy Kerr

A Dundee supporter, from the city, he came through the Dundee youth system and looks s fantastic prospect for a club whos fan base love to get behind a local boy, especially one who supports the club, and looks so comfortable on the ball.  Many expect him to go out on loan to a Championship side, however to me he has a role to play as cover for McGinn, with a chance to get some Premiership exposure, which can only help.  Cammy was the 2013/14 recipient of the Isobel Sneddon Memorial Trophy for Youth Player’s Player of the Year.

Preferred Position – RB

Back-up Position – LB

Kyle Benedictus

Another of the players to have come through the Dundee FC system, Kyle made his debut in 2008 at the tender age of 17.  He has featured regularly since, including the the Club 12 season, where despite being expected to flop he had a fairly solid season.  He’s entering his final year of his contract, and if he’s going to get another deal, he will have to find a way in to a team with 2 much more quality and experienced Centre Half’s.  His weakness of not being a natural ball player may hinder his game time, added with the fact he is only known to play the one position.

Preferred Position – CH

Back-up Position – None

James McPake

Having finished a horrible season with Hibs where they were relegated, and his first team chances limited to a handful (despite claiming to be fit for weeks at the end of the season), James joins Dundee looking for a fresh start, and with Niam Mohammed now a physiotherapist at the club, he’s looking forward to avoiding any flaring up of his back injury which has plagued him at times for the last 18 months.  At the age of 30, he’s coming in to the prime years for a defender.  His experience at Premiership level should bode him well, and the clubs fans look forward to seeing how he partners with Thomas Konrad.

Preferred Position – CH

Back-up Position – None

Thomas Konrad

Thomas had a successful trial with the club including playing a part in the 2-0 pre-season win over Man City, where he looked composed.  The 24 year old has 92 professional appearances behind him in the German 2nd and 3rd tiers.  Once settled, this ball player could prove to be an extremely shrewd signing by Paul Hartley.

Preferred Position – CH

Back-up Position – DCM

Willie Dyer

Willie had a very iffy start to the season under John Brown last season, however under Paul Hartley he looked a completely different player, and even had Hartley say as much in the press.  Look for Dyer and McGinn to get forward, almost as if wingbacks would when in the Narrow 4-4-2, and still, but less so in the 4-2-3-1 formation.

Preferred Position – LB

Back-up Position – None

Midfielders

Iain Davidson

Not expecting to feature much as he will be behind Konrad, McPake and Benedictus for the CH position, and behind Ferry, Thomson and McBride for the holding CM role, he could provide a key player for if we hit an injury plague at any part of the season.  This certainly adds to his value to the team.

Preferred Position – DCM

Back-up Position – CM

Kevin McBride

Kevin is expected to play back-up to Ferry and Thomson in the holding role, but after many positive and controlling performances in the Championship last season, many Dundee fans are looking to see how he manages to cope at Premiership level.  Kevin never wastes a pass, which makes him very similar to Kevin Thomson in that sense, which may make him look slightly out of place by comparison.

Preferred Position – DCM

Back-up Position – CM

Kevin Thomson

Made the club captain after joining from Hibs, Hartley will be looking for him to show his international experience in leading the team by playing flowing football.  His partnership with Simon Ferry is one of the three partnerships in the spine of the expected XI which will define the season for Dundee.

Preferred Position – DCM

Back-up Position – CM

Simon Ferry

Returning home to the city after leaving as a youth at Celtic, Simon has over 170 appearances under his belt as a pro, despite only being 26.  He is expected to play the holding midfielder role next to Thomson, but Hartley has expressed his desire to get forward, and that paid off in the League Cup match Vs Peterhead where he notched a goal.  Expect Simon to have some driving runs which could enthuse the Dens Park faithful.

Preferred Position – DCM

Back-up Position – ACM

Gary Harkins

Talking of returning home, Gary Harkins returns to the club for a third spell.  Everyone at Dens knows what to expect from Harkins.  Flare, drive and a new found determination to track back under Paul Hartley, could make him the key to Dundee’s success this season.

Preferred Position – ACM

Back-up Position – LW

Martin Boyle

With his pace, Martin can unlock backs with a knock of the ball, the question the fans have though is can he improve his final ball to Premiership level?  Hartley is a known fan of his, having tried to get him to Alloa while Boyle was still fitting in at Dens.  Since Hartleys arrival he has been tried in a more central role, which in a 4-2-3-1, could play very effectively, using Luka Tankulic as the wall for him to get the ball from.

Preferred Position – RW

Back-up Position – LW/CM

Jim McAlister

Fan favourite Jim is a player who will chase down any ball, and always leave his all on the pitch, however his role as Jack of all positions and master of none could mean he sees sporadic game time this season.

Preferred Position – CM

Back-up Position – LW/RW/DCM/ACM

Nicky Riley

Riley enters the last year of his contract with mounting pressure on him.  He has new found competition in Phil Roberts, and could find himself behind Martin Boyle should Hartley deploy him on the right.  Expect Nicky to be played more as an impact player this season, but a very useful one.

Preferred Position – RW

Back-up Position – LW/ACM

Phil Roberts

Signed after his release from Falkirk, Roberts is known for his hot head as much as his pace.  Hartley reckons he can be the one to tame the Lion in him and get the best from him.  He’s shown up fairly well in pre-season, but could find himself shut out should his temper and attitude become an issue.

Preferred Position – LW

Back-up Position – RW

Paul McGowan

This former St Mirren midfielder comes having been released as the management felt it was time for him to have a new challenge.  Former manager Danny Lennon previously suggested he and Harkins can’t play together, but Hartley already has them looking like a formidable unit, and a dangerous one which could create and score many goals, which are needed should the club achieve its ambitions.

Preferred Position – ACM

Back-up Position – LW/RW

Strikers

Luka Tankulic

Tankulic, having signed after an impressive pre-season showing against Man City is expected to lead the line this season.  His hold up play looks fairly impressive, matched with his willingness to track back for the ball, and ability to whip in a cross, he looks like he too can create and finish chances.

Preferred Position – S

Back-up Position – ACM

Greg Stewart

Stewart looks to make the step up to full time football having joined from Cowdenbeath where he alongside Kane Hemmings stood out as the top players in the side, notching 29 goals between them.  (11 Stewart and 18 Hemmings).  His sharp ball control and link up could see him become a starter in 4-4-2.

Preferred Position – S

Back-up Position – None

Peter MacDonald

Another player who will be fighting to retain his starting role “Peaso” looks to prove he can cut the grade here.  Having scored the league winning goal, it’s now his time to show Hartley he can adapt to a more fluid style of football.

Preferred Position – S

Back-up Position – None

Craig Wighton

#33 is a revered number as Dens.  Other clubs see #9 as the number to idolise, but having grown up a Dundee fan, Wighton knowns the weight on this number, following on from Claudio Canniggia.  Wighton is a product of the clubs academy, having left Dundee United as a kid.  His potential excites the fans, and he hopes to show his technical ability and ball control in his minutes, which may be limited this season.  However, Hartley is known to apply the rule of “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough”, so if the 17 year old can impress in training, expect him to excite the Derry with his touches.

Preferred Position – S

Back-up Position – ACM/False 9.

Dundee Tactics

Welcome to Dundee tactics, where I shall be posting my views, and predictions on Dundee FC and the way the team plays.  The site will contain columns on predicted formations, starting XI and a “Hitman Hartley” post, commenting on where we I believe we will target each week.

Post match will have an analysis of the game, and breakdown of all the key moments, aswell as a key man of each match, weather it be of Dark Blue persuasion or not.  I look forward to many debates in what looks to be a very exciting season ahead.