Scougall

[Sheff de party]

Very disappointing on Saturday I thought. Vanished for most of the game, emerged from a crowded midfield clean through but couldn't even get a shot away.

If we're going to play with 5 midfielders, they really have to justify being there at the expense of a striker and he really didn't. He gets knocked around (literally bounces off people sometimes) and looks a shadow of his former self.

Not sure what the answer is really. I'm certainly not saying he's lazy, but he's not having the impact on games a player with his talent should have.

 

[Lane Ender]

Cannot see how he gets a starting place at the moment, did not contribute much at all Saturday bench warming tops for me at the moment.

 

[MobileBlade]

Gosh we beat 3rd in the league quite convincingly (if not in the scoreline) with 10 men. How good will we be with 11?

 

[Sheff de party]

Gosh we beat 3rd in the league quite convincingly (if not in the scoreline) with 10 men. How good will we be with 11?

Indeed. I'm certainly not complaining. I thought they played really well given the conditions and a team of opponents who essentially fouled us every time we got it. I just don't think he warrants his place in the side at the moment. He was a passenger really and if we do chop someone in favour of another striker (or Reed), it's got to be Scougall ahead of Baxter right now.

 

[Lane Ender]

Indeed. I'm certainly not complaining. I thought they played really well given the conditions and a team of opponents who essentially fouled us every time we got it. I just don't think he warrants his place in the side at the moment. He was a passenger really and if we do chop someone in favour of another striker (or Reed), it's got to be Scougall ahead of Baxter right now.

Thought Baxter did well Saturday

 

[alcoblade]

Scougall is really good off the ball, when he chases all sorts. At the moment he's the inverse of what youd expect from someone of his build and abilities.

He needs to do much more on the ball.

UTB

 

[Lane Ender]

Scougall is really good off the ball, when he chases all sorts. At the moment he's the inverse of what youd expect from someone of his build and abilities.

He needs to do much more on the ball.

UTB

I agree he not afraid of graft but does that warrant a place in the starting line up?

Not for me

 

[UnitedBlade]

Thought exactly the same, didn't influence the game enough for me on Saturday.

I know there is a school of thought of "taking care" of Reed but I would play him until he gets tired then rest him. He's a better player than Scougall.

I did think Baxter was much, much better playing deep. Tried the good things we know he is capable of but for me importantly didn't give the ball away carelessly.

 

[Lane Ender]

Thought exactly the same, didn't influence the game enough for me on Saturday.

I know there is a school of thought of "taking care" of Reed but I would play him until he gets tired then rest him. He's a better player than Scougall.

I did think Baxter was much, much better playing deep. Tried the good things we know he is capable of but for me importantly didn't give the ball away carelessly.

Spot on especially your last point Baxters better receiving the ball in space and moving forward before distributing.

 

[dronny_blade]

Very disappointing on Saturday I thought. Vanished for most of the game, emerged from a crowded midfield clean through but couldn't even get a shot away.

If we're going to play with 5 midfielders, they really have to justify being there at the expense of a striker and he really didn't. He gets knocked around (literally bounces off people sometimes) and looks a shadow of his former self.

Not sure what the answer is really. I'm certainly not saying he's lazy, but he's not having the impact on games a player with his talent should have.

100% agree - can't fault his work rate but struggling to find what he contributes throughout the 90 mins at the moment that warrants a starting spot, that said, Reed, J Wallace, Baxter and Scougall competing for 2 places I would suggest that area of the pitch is looking quite strong at the moment

 

[Canterbury Blade]

Baxter has more vision and an ability to see where the pass should go. By playing slightly behind the midfielders he can use this to play others in.

Scougall has the tenacity and legs to, as Lane Ender says, move onto the ball and make things happen in the last third of the pitch. By moving into those areas he becomes a danger of freekicks and penalties if knocked about or of finding the onion bag if not. If he plays too deep he gets knocked off when it doesnt matter and in a crowded part of the park.

The role for Reed is to potentially link these two in the middle of the park, hold and take the ball with him and provide an additional outlet in the final third, a bit like Coady did last year but without the strength.

What seems to be lacking is an enforcer, protector and 'breaker up' of the opposition (you wont see that phrase in a coaching manual !) to win the ball back and cause a bit of muscled mayhem in the middle in order to then play in our others, including our wing and full backs. Possibly, Wallace? But not seen enough to judge.

I think its in this moving forward area that we also miss Maguire bringing the ball out to add another attacking from the back dimension. Bashenbauer can potentially do this now he's settled a bit, but I do think we need a General in there to boss the park a bit. Again, a role for Wallace Senior once fit.

The more I see this line up and approach, I realise the sense of some of Nigel's signings and reckon we are about to settle into a run...

Just the question of buying that striker that Higdon has failed to become now...

 

[Bladepicker]

Baxter works in a midfield five with workhorses alongside as it allows him to use his obvious footballing skills while being a lazy bastard.

 

[Sheff de party]

Thought Baxter did well Saturday

Yeah, that might have been confusing sorry. I mean we have to chop Scougall ahead of chopping Baxter.

 

[boo radley]

Baxter works in a midfield five with workhorses alongside as it allows him to use his obvious footballing skills while being a lazy bastard.

I do not find Baxter lazy at all. He is slow but if he can make a tackle it is usually a very good one. He was especially not lazy on Saturday and produced the tackle that lead to a goal.

 

[hansblade1889]

If we didnt have scougall closing them down and winning the ball back then we wouldnt have won saturday because who else is going to do it

 

[SwissBlade]

Very disappointing on Saturday I thought. Vanished for most of the game, emerged from a crowded midfield clean through but couldn't even get a shot away.

If we're going to play with 5 midfielders, they really have to justify being there at the expense of a striker and he really didn't. He gets knocked around (literally bounces off people sometimes) and looks a shadow of his former self.

Not sure what the answer is really. I'm certainly not saying he's lazy, but he's not having the impact on games a player with his talent should have.

I think he needs to be used as an impact player, not really good enough at the moment. Once Wallace is fit i imagine he'll slot in perhaps with Baxter in a more advanced role. In the meantime i'd play Reed every week instead of Scoogs.

 

[Slug]

Baxter has more vision and an ability to see where the pass should go. By playing slightly behind the midfielders he can use this to play others in.

Scougall has the tenacity and legs to, as Lane Ender says, move onto the ball and make things happen in the last third of the pitch. By moving into those areas he becomes a danger of freekicks and penalties if knocked about or of finding the onion bag if not. If he plays too deep he gets knocked off when it doesnt matter and in a crowded part of the park.

The role for Reed is to potentially link these two in the middle of the park, hold and take the ball with him and provide an additional outlet in the final third, a bit like Coady did last year but without the strength.

What seems to be lacking is an enforcer, protector and 'breaker up' of the opposition (you wont see that phrase in a coaching manual !) to win the ball back and cause a bit of muscled mayhem in the middle in order to then play in our others, including our wing and full backs. Possibly, Wallace? But not seen enough to judge.

I think its in this moving forward area that we also miss Maguire bringing the ball out to add another attacking from the back dimension. Bashenbauer can potentially do this now he's settled a bit, but I do think we need a General in there to boss the park a bit. Again, a role for Wallace Senior once fit.

The more I see this line up and approach, I realise the sense of some of Nigel's signings and reckon we are about to settle into a run...

Just the question of buying that striker that Higdon has failed to become now...

Jay Mac does very well at reading the game and bringing the ball out from the back.

 

[Ben_1982]

He's done nothing all season.

 

[Northyorksblade]

Baxter works in a midfield five with workhorses alongside as it allows him to use his obvious footballing skills while being a lazy bastard.

He wasn't lazy Saturday!

 

[Bladepicker]

I do not find Baxter lazy at all. He is slow but if he can make a tackle it is usually a very good one. He was especially not lazy on Saturday and produced the tackle that lead to a goal.

He wasn't lazy Saturday!

Was not able to go on Saturday so can't comment. However if you compare his work rate up front on his own with say McNulty against Yeovil or Southampton then in my opinion he doesn't have the legs or the physical hold up presence to play that role.

By all accounts he was great on Saturday. I would guess that is because it is where his game is utilised best.

 

[MobileBlade]

Blades wouldn't be Blades without a scapegoat

 

[Bergen Blade]

Copied from another thread:


I know Scougall's shirt number is 10, but his role in the team includes far more than just creating. His defensive work is underestimated. While Doyle got (rightly) credit yesterday for a lot of good, strong tackles, Scougall also put in a tremendous amount of work, although he does it a little differently. As he is so light weight he can't outmuscle opponents, but he does prevent them from going forward, makes them go sideways and backwards as they can't get rid of him. As a first defender he's brilliant and I'm certain that the likes of Doyle and the centre halves love him.

One example, Baxter played a bad cross field pass, which was intercepted by a Preston player. Now this is how a lot of teams score from breaks. A team is going forward, have few players back and gets hit on the break:

But thanks to Scougall's quick backtracking, he catches up with the man on the ball and the counter attack has been stopped:

Seconds later after the above Scougall got on the ball (helped by Doyle) won a free kick, and moments later Murphy had played Doyle through for his big chance. Well done to them for stopping a dangerous situation, and turning it into a dangerous attack for us.

Regarding Scougall's offensive input it's frustrating that he's not been able to convert more chances, but I think it'll come. He missed one chance from a corner. Regarding his "poor" one on one effort, bear in mind that he ran the length of the pitch, and moments before he'd been chasing around like he does constantly. A classic number 10, who reserves his energy for certain special moments of magic, may have scored that one, but Scougall's role instruction extends far beyond that and you can't expect it all from one player.

There was an occasion in the first half where Scougall tried playing a 1-2 with McNulty, but didn't get the ball back. McNulty chose to go for goal himself, but if he'd played Scougall in I'd expect him to score:

Late in the first half McNulty was played through by Scougall, but shot weakly with his left foot. Decent pass, and if McNulty had returned the pass, it may have been another occasion where Scougall would have only the goalkeeper to beat:




I think Scougall has played well of late and think he'll be an important part of the team that will climb the table and do well in the cups in the second half of the season.

 

[Lane Ender]

He wasn't lazy Saturday!

Certainly wasn't
That was more like the real Baxter on Saturday

 

[SwissBlade]

Blades wouldn't be Blades without a scapegoat

I don't think anyone is making Scoogs a scapegoat, just saying we might have better options.

As for Baxter being lazy, this is probably the biggest myth going at United, in fairness he's struggled for fitness at times, but looks sharp now. People really need to watch him if they think he's a lazy player.

 

[Sheff de party]

Blades wouldn't be Blades without a scapegoat

haha. He's no Monty!

Seriously though I'm not making a scapegoat, I just thought he was our worse player in a very effective team performance on Satdi, so I wondered what others thought of him. He's easily good enough for this level, just not really doing it at the moment.

 

[JohnDenver]

I don't think anyone is making Scoogs a scapegoat, just saying we might have better options.

As for Baxter being lazy, this is probably the biggest myth going at United, in fairness he's struggled for fitness at times, but looks sharp now. People really need to watch him if they think he's a lazy player.

Would love to see the Pro-Zone stats. Yes, he played well on Saturday, but mostly he's one great idle chuff.

 

[SwissBlade]

Would love to see the Pro-Zone stats. Yes, he played well on Saturday, but mostly he's one great idle chuff.

Yeah I think you'd be surprised

 

[JohnDenver]

Yeah I think you'd be surprised

I'd go for shocked.

 

[Woodwardfan]

The match report thread has developed into a discussion on Scougall but the following stats might help this thread:

Scougs: Played 24 this season. 1 goal 0 assists. Not good for an advanced midfield player in a 4-5-1 formation.

 

[Lane Ender]

Neither am I making him a scapegoat .
He's well capable of doing a job at this level and I don't mean chasing around like a headless chicken we all know he puts a shift in and his energy levels are high.
What I want is the Scougall back who dispossesses players, makes runs ,goes past players,