Shay McCartan

I must admit that I have not been a huge fan but he certainly has a decent shot/finish on him and close control but appears to lack pace and a bit of physicality.

This might seem a little over the top but not too dissimilar from when Robbie Blake first arrived from Darlington, don't get me wrong I could never see him reaching this kind of level but I do think he has something to offer.

I like the idea of playing him off a target man, to me two target men just does not work and given our now limited options up top this could work.

 

Agree with that. I was slagging him off at half time yesterday saying he wasnt a left winger but it was Stuart's fault for playing him there. However, on the Radio after the game Stuart said he had told McCartan to get involved in the centre. unless we have a CM disciplined enough to cover him when he comes inside that may create problems later down the line if we persist with a 4-4-2 against better teams? Could leave Wood exposed and teams may target us there. If someone like Akpan is left to do the covering job our fate all depends on what mood he is in on the night....i.e god help us when he blows cold.

For that reason, the 4-4-1-1 you suggest makes sense. Keep Shay in the centre where he can influence play. McCall used Clarke in a similar role, just off Hanson or Wyke, if I remember correctly?

Shay playing off Novak or Donaldson could be the best partnership for now.

 

I have always liked him, but he has not covered himself in glory, and has been a sulky. However, like you say a football brain is worth its weight in gold. He needs the right manager, Stuart will no doubt bring out the best in him. That match will have done his confidence the world of good, and hopefully he can take this forward now. A free role to rove around the box and just outside and linking up with midfield may well suit his style of play. No doubt Stuart and Kenny will sort it.

 

He's been very unlucky this season. In the cameo roles he managed to get in the dwindling embers of the Bowyer era he shone out. He's been the only player to make an impact from the bench this season. Keeps getting dropped. Disappointed not to see him on McCalls first team sheet. If his season follows the pattern so far he'll be dropped again after 2 goals and MOM last night. I for one will be fuming if he is.

 

Personally I like the idea of him playing there and drifting inside when the opportunity arises. Makes him more difficult to pick up and in Wood I think we have someone that can cope with it.

 

Let's be honest here, if he was in the current Swindon squad - he'd probably had started 20 matches and scored 10

I feel he's been unfortunate in his time with us. First spell, McCall not quite at his best - due to the Rahic battle. 2nd spell - cautious manager, never a chance he's going to gamble on a player who needs a system to work around them. Hopefully the second half of his second spell is better

We've got so many decent midfielders, but no defensive ones that having possession is vital for us, i.e. 4 in midfield with McCartan behind the front man is ideal

 

I am hoping he thrives more with McCalls more attacking formation. He took his goals really well, shame about the miss toward end of first half though.

Its up to him now to knuckle down and proves he is worth a new contract, or a move elsewhere, if we decide to release him.

 

He was really poor 1st half, looked like some of his previous performances. Picked up a little in the 2nd half, got his goals but he only got the MOTM because of his goals. I don't think he was that good but does need to keep going to try get a spot in the team. Personally I think he's had enough chances over his time to prove himself but hasn't really got there.

 

This a better way of looking at it. Lets not cream ourselves over a decent 45 minutes against the worst team in professional football by some distance. Good to see McCartan on the score sheet, lets hope McCall doesn't do to Shay what he did to him last time he was here. Time to give him a run and see what he can do. A couple of goals but some context to go with it please.

 

Don't think any of the comments are out of context. The fact is we've seen very little of him. Given the poor form of the team this season and the fact that he's done okay on occasions but still never seems to get a fair crack of the whip it's not surprising we're getting some questions asked.

 

Read back some of the comments, happens all the time. If he has a poor game next week he'll be back to being useless to some posters. Lets not kid ourselves that McCartan hasn't had chances because he has. Hopefully he takes it this time.

 

I feel he gets a little isolated when playing behind just one up top, unless the wingers are very attack minded and balance generating width with coming inside to support. Think back to Colchester, where he actually linked well with Doyle but we offered little else aside of Connolly, meaning Shay was a ineffective.

I’d prefer him playing behind two front men, however you can only do that with two very energetic and capable wing backs. I think we have one on the left in Wood, but not on the right. When we have done this we look very in-balanced as we become weak and exposed at right back. For this to work Henley needs to massively step up or we need to dramatically improve on him. We also then have a conundrum of having to probably play 3 CBs (not looked great to date) and also prevent Cooke (still our best CM IMO) from being able to play in a more advanced role.

Does anyone know how Lincoln used him? Definitely had a positive effect on their season.

 

Don't quote me on it but I think he was used as a no. 10 just off Akinde and another striker? He was rotated towards the end of his spell.

RE the lack of an energetic RB, a few fans seem to think Tony McMahon might have been at the game the other day. He used to love to get forward, though I dunno if his legs have gone nowadays.

 

If he’s still sharp from a footballing brain prospective, this might be able to over ride the pace. Sounds unlikely, but you never know. Put it this way, I’d take the Tony McMahon that left us immediately. Likely he was more there to support SM, who I seem to remember they had a good relationship.

He divided opinion did McMahon, but I always liked him and we miss his type of character in our squad at the moment.

Back to McCarten, perhaps it was a two he played behind at Lincoln in that case....

 

Hard to know whats best for McCartan. He has shown he can score, he's not a number 10 in the Billy Clarke type of mould, tends to play with his head down. More of a finisher than a creator. Not sure he fit the plans long term.

 

Agree, he’s different to Clarke. On his day, Im actually sticking my neck out to say he could be better than Clarke, aspects of his game already are. However he needs to go a long way to proving it consistently before he can be considered that way.

 

He's not as mobile as Clarke and doesn't seem as fast, though he is perhaps a better finisher. I'd like to see him on the corners too. I like Wood but his corners often come to nothing and we should try and mix a few of them up.

 

Agree. He can’t cross for sh*t from open play but from deadballs he’s dangerous. Definitely worth considering.

 

Whilst he has been here he appears to have been regarded as a No. 10 or a wide/support striker but do you think he could potentially be moulded into a number 9 (thinking Doyle type)?

As posters have said, he has a knack of being in the right place and yesterday's 1st goal demonstrated his speed of thought and finishing ability. He isn't blessed with pace but if he was in and around the 18 yard box more then he will definitely get goals.