Most liked posts in thread: 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.

 

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'd still be pushing for a start at RB in this squad even if his legs have gone .

 

Stuart’s legs were gone back in 2001 according to Jim Jefferies but even now he wouldn’t look out of place in our current midfield.

 

I agree @Bantamshell. I have been thinking for awhile he reminds me of Robbie Blake, same temperament as well! It was funny because I also think our new no.9 reminds me of Lee Mills now wouldn’t that be something if we could reproduce that duo in this league.

 

I get what your saying but from his 1st half display he could very easily have been subbed at half time he was that poor.

 

In this league, he's scored 22 in his last 74 matches, for teams that were not big on chance creation (Lincoln had a relatively low total number of goals given where they ended up, Accrington average and you know about us up to now)

That is patently good enough. Managers, need to do their job and get the best out of him and it's good to see that McCall has already sussed this

Yes, he's a bit of an awkward player to fit in and like everyone else that was the classic problem with the early Robbie Blake (my favourite player of all time) but that's the managers job to find a solution - like Jewell did with Blake, which if you remember took about 18 months

 

I agree.

I didn't come into this thread to berate him, I only commented on his performance 1st half. He's an ok League 2 player that has had opportunities and in the main failed to take them (with us). I hope he continues to get the goals but I'd also like him to be more involved for more minutes in the game.

 

I was merely rebutting part of your statement. He wasn't loaned back (i.e. loaned out) by Lincoln or seen as a failure, i.e their manager found him perfectly adequate for their dominant L2 title winning season of last year

The fact he was on the bench a lot, isn't that relevant when we're talking about an improving player (he was 24, for all his time at Lincoln). Surely, if he was good enough for them, then he's good enough for us.

Everyone seems to have caveat of doubt with every player we sign. We're L2, every player we have will be bound to need work and be imperfect. I merely pointed out that a player than scores 1 in every 3.5, as deep lying forward (i.e. CAM) is surely worth pursuing and maybe we've managed him poorly

It could be as simple as that. Doyle's a good example of what happens when you don't treat these confidence players correctly. Blake was another one. But for some reason any of our current players are generally useless and here's the evidence. I simply get the impression that fans have no patience with any players signed during the 2017-19 seasons - I can understand why, but we might be missing a trick

Incidentally, I'd had been fine with him leaving in January. But a player that galvanised Accrington three seasons ago at the same time, could easily do the same for us.

 

Sorry, he wasn't on the bench the majority of the time at all.

Towards the end of the season he was rotated but he spent the first half of the season in the XI and started more games than making sub apps.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/shay-mccartan/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/201438/verein/1198

 

Have a word with yourself pal. Comparing those 2 to Mills / Blake (ultimately the clubs best ever strike partnership) is a bit cringeworthy.

 

Just think what a player he could have been if he'd applied himself, that dressing room video where Jewell is giving him pelters summed Robbie up at times, he played when he wanted to loads of talent but sadly wasted at times.
The night game at Bramall Lane where he almost single handedly got us a point.

 

Think those type of players are like that. They always are told if they did this and that they would be the best etc. But it’s just their nature. He almost played it like it was playground football. The skill and how he used to beat his man.

 

A top form McCartan wouldnt even be close to the levels of a ‘cant be arsed’ Robbie Blake.

 

He doesn't have to be close to Robbie Blakes level. We just need him to be effective in league 2. I'm pretty sure he got us a point at Swindon and I'm pretty sure he was the most influential player on our side who secured us 3 points the other night. I guess that means he is of some use to us, whether it's starting or coming on from the bench.

 

Not on this message board he doesn't.

 

So are you saying @marshy77 is a soft tosser? Crikey, that escalated fast.

 

I think it's a bit late now to be worrying about the 250k - I think we can consider that money wasted even if he fires us to promotion, since he's barely featured for two years. He wasn't signed for a League Two promotion battle, he was signed for a League One promotion battle and that is a long, long way off becoming a reality, much less with Shay in the team.

But equally, I don't see why the price tag is relevant to Shay anymore, it's so long ago that probably no one can conceive us spending that kind of money anymore. The challenge for Shay is becoming a first team player rather than a fringe player. He looks to be getting there?

 

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.