John McGinn

[hippo]

I was just glad to see a player playing with a bit of energy rather than this aimless ambling sideways passing at walking pace which seems in vogue at the euros 

[bobzy]

Don’t really understand why people dislike McGinn.

Some weird stat quoting earlier r.e: McGinn losing the ball against Czech Republic (he was dispossessed twice apparently - once after a beautiful pirouette with the ball that he won initially... and then won back again afterwards) and also having 0 shots on target out of 4 (2 of these happened in quick succession and were both blocked, the first one by the arm of a defender and looked to be on target). Just, bizarrely, desperate to make him out to be a bad player.

Truth of the matter is that he was the only Scottish player (well, along with Robertson) interested in driving forward or playing even remotely risky passes. The rest of the team were happy plodding with short passes in the middle and back to the defence.

McGinn is a decent player and comfortably has a place in our starting eleven. Hopefully we get to the point that our bench is of sufficient quality that, should McGinn be having a bad game, he can be replaced and our performance improves. Last season this just wasn’t the case. 

[Zhan_Zhuang]

16 hours ago, Stoobs said:

I am obviously massive SJM fan but I thought he was poor today. Just seemed a bit deep and was often caught in possession. Wasn't our worst player by any stretch of the imagination but used to seeing him offer more for Scotland. 

Got to give credit to the posters on here. There seems a genuine desire for Scotland to do well which puts us to shame. Obviously having a Villa player in team makes a difference but it is great to see some English lads giving us a bit of support. I think, after today, Jack, Harry and co will be putting final nail in our coffin. Dared to dream. 

A nice post and of course you are very welcome here.

I used to support all the Home Nations as a keen footballer myself but...

I moved from Birmingham to Aberdeen after school when I was sixteen years old for College and University and then just stayed, I like it here.

But if I wore an England shirt around Aberdeen just now I'd get attacked. The Anti-Englishness up here is awful and as a result I've gone the other way now, I just cannot cheer for Scotland at anything. I've had comments made about being English and yes it's a bit of banter but you know it runs deeper!

If I was Indian or from Jamaica and someone made those comments or attacked me for wearing their shirt it would be racism. But the thing I still can't get my head around is the Scots tell me it isn't racism at all when in fact it is the same.

Now I am not saying all Scots are like this as that is untrue (and I did marry one) it's always a small minority one hopes. Or is it, are they just being careful some of them as it could be defined as racism.

In some respects football and politics can bring the worst out of some people. English fans can be 'words removed' too. 

What has this to do with McGinn? Yeah he's okay, some good things and some bad things but definitely their better player with Robertson.

Fully expect them to raise their game and have a go at England but we will soon see.

 

[DaveAV1]

9 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Well that's one thing we're in full agreement on

I’ve changed my mind. 

[AvfcRigo82]

9 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Well that's one thing we're in full agreement on

[lexicon]

2 hours ago, bobzy said:

Don’t really understand why people dislike McGinn.

Some weird stat quoting earlier r.e: McGinn losing the ball against Czech Republic (he was dispossessed twice apparently - once after a beautiful pirouette with the ball that he won initially... and then won back again afterwards) and also having 0 shots on target out of 4 (2 of these happened in quick succession and were both blocked, the first one by the arm of a defender and looked to be on target). Just, bizarrely, desperate to make him out to be a bad player.

Truth of the matter is that he was the only Scottish player (well, along with Robertson) interested in driving forward or playing even remotely risky passes. The rest of the team were happy plodding with short passes in the middle and back to the defence.

McGinn is a decent player and comfortably has a place in our starting eleven. Hopefully we get to the point that our bench is of sufficient quality that, should McGinn be having a bad game, he can be replaced and our performance improves. Last season this just wasn’t the case. 

I don't think anyone really 'dislikes' him - they might question his ability but I think they're well within their rights to do so. He's been very inconsistent over the last couple of seasons, possibly for a variety of reasons, and we're getting to the stage where we can't afford players to have as many off games as he's had. Right now, he wouldn't make my starting XI. That's not to say that I'd sell him or want rid of him - like most fans I have a soft spot for him - but you have to be objective here and his performances over the course of his premier league career so far aren't good enough to warrant a place in a team that wants to be top 6. 

[Zhan_Zhuang]

2 minutes ago, lexicon said:

I don't think anyone really 'dislikes' him - they might question his ability but I think they're well within their rights to do so. He's been very inconsistent over the last couple of seasons, possibly for a variety of reasons, and we're getting to the stage where we can't afford players to have as many off games as he's had. Right now, he wouldn't make my starting XI. That's not to say that I'd sell him or want rid of him - like most fans I have a soft spot for him - but you have to be objective here and his performances over the course of his premier league career so far aren't good enough to warrant a place in a team that wants to be top 6. 

This is where I'm at too.

I don't hate him at all, he'd be a great squad player for us if he wants that role.

As a first-choice, not for me. Too many mistakes in his game.

[DaveAV1]

50 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

A nice post and of course you are very welcome here.

I used to support all the Home Nations as a keen footballer myself but...

I moved from Birmingham to Aberdeen after school when I was sixteen years old for College and University and then just stayed, I like it here.

But if I wore an England shirt around Aberdeen just now I'd get attacked. The Anti-Englishness up here is awful and as a result I've gone the other way now, I just cannot cheer for Scotland at anything. I've had comments made about being English and yes it's a bit of banter but you know it runs deeper!

If I was Indian or from Jamaica and someone made those comments or attacked me for wearing their shirt it would be racism. But the thing I still can't get my head around is the Scots tell me it isn't racism at all when in fact it is the same.

Now I am not saying all Scots are like this as that is untrue (and I did marry one) it's always a small minority one hopes. Or is it, are they just being careful some of them as it could be defined as racism.

In some respects football and politics can bring the worst out of some people. English fans can be 'words removed' too. 

What has this to do with McGinn? Yeah he's okay, some good things and some bad things but definitely their better player with Robertson.

Fully expect them to raise their game and have a go at England but we will soon see.

 

As a now Brummie Highlander I understand exactly what you mean. We’re out in the countryside about 20 minutes west of Inverness. I’ve never experienced any form of hostility myself. All my neighbours and inherited friends and family are all great. My wife is from Inverness which was the catalyst for our move. 
 

I feel though that there is an undercurrent of anti Englishness that comes from politics, obviously I’m referring to the SNP. I’d be happy to see Scotland do well, runners up to England would be fine by me. However almost any success seems to be hijacked by the SNP as a vindication for independence and a victory against the English, whether we’re playing or not. 
 

There’s someone with a small business that I pass on the way into Inverness. I’m not sure what they do, something crafty I think. All through the World Cup in 2018 they had the flag of whoever England were playing flying, they’re doing the same now. It’s not a small flag and he must have gone to some time, trouble and expense. I find it pathetic and sad but I wonder how deep must his dislike of my country run. 
 

Friends and family have told me of an English lady who has lived up here for over 20 years who were attacked in the street, verbally only thankfully, in the run up to the Indy ref. It’s just wrong and the SNP are playing a dangerous game. 
 

 We’re going to watch the game on Friday at a friend’s house. Chris is Scottish (Rangers fan) and his wife English. There’ll be banter and I’ll never hear the end of it if we don’t win but that’s more than fair enough, I’ll give as much as I get. 
 

As I say I’ve never had anything but banter and the people of The Highlands are wonderful.However there are idiots either side of Hadrian’s wall and it’s not a thing that does anyone any good. 

[lexicon]

I find it surprising that the English sometimes don't understand why other nations might not like them

[AvonVillain]

18 hours ago, Stoobs said:

Got to give credit to the posters on here. There seems a genuine desire for Scotland to do well which puts us to shame. Obviously having a Villa player in team makes a difference but it is great to see some English lads giving us a bit of support.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is how it is in general, plus there's interesting parallels with Villa here. I don't know anybody who doesn't want Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic to do well. Conversely, I can't imagine this being true for any of those fans regarding England. It comes as quite a surprise to find ANY Midlands football supporter who doesn't loathe the Villa.

I guess, as Mark Lamarr put it, the problem is we're "Overdogs"... where everybody loves an underdog.

[Tomaszk]

I hope some time out the side will give him a kick up the arse to get fit.

He isn't the natural athlete some are, and since his big injury the consistency hasn't been there.

He's clearly an excellent character and were he to leave you know the squad would be gutted.

He won't be leaving because Smith knows that. He also trusts him probably a bit too much on the pitch and he seems to be as permanent a fixture as Martinez, Grealish and Watkins.

He'll simply have to improve to hold off Sanson and Buendia in midfield. Really interested to see if he gets a go up as a 10, could revive him.

[VillaChris]

He battled hard. Was neither an amazing performance or a terrible one (McTominay stunk the place out compared to him).

Big issue I have is this...so often he declines so badly after the hour mark due to the effort he puts in so generally blows my mind a bit he wasn't subbed off in any game last season.

If we can get to stage where DS is o.k taking him off after 70 minutes whether we're winning or losing then that will show we've signed well this summer and improved squad and first 11.

I get he's a key man for us and great in dressing room but sometimes think him being on pitch in last 20 minutes is actually a bit of a hinderance as he simply can't press like he was doing in first half of games whereas a midfield coming on with fresh legs could so perhaps a reason we come under so much pressure when we're leading sometimes.

[GarethRDR]

4 hours ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

But if I wore an England shirt around Aberdeen just now I'd get attacked.

England shirt is inconsequential there, that's just Aberdeen for ya.

[MotoMkali]

4 hours ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

This is where I'm at too.

I don't hate him at all, he'd be a great squad player for us if he wants that role.

As a first-choice, not for me. Too many mistakes in his game.

I just don't think he can be a squad player. He just doesn't get fit without game time. And if he can't stay fit then there is no point having him as a bench player. 

[lexicon]

1 hour ago, GarethRDR said:

England shirt is inconsequential there, that's just Aberdeen for ya.

Also, he would probably die of hypothermia for just going around in a shirt up there. 

[DaveAV1]

14 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

 

 

Could be in Birmingham. Did we originally pinch that off Hibs? I always assumed so. 

Edited June 15, 2021 by DaveAV1

[Greenfly]

6 hours ago, lexicon said:

I find it surprising that the English sometimes don't understand why other nations might not like them

I understand why, historically, we have a bad reputation. I don't think it's fair that they'd judge individuals based solely on the fact they're English. I mean, I know we did bad things in the past, but I had nothing do do with any of it personally, did I?

[S-Platt]

1 hour ago, Greenfly said:

I understand why, historically, we have a bad reputation. I don't think it's fair that they'd judge individuals based solely on the fact they're English. I mean, I know we did bad things in the past, but I had nothing do do with any of it personally, did I?

I am afraid that is the way of the world these crazy days!  

[ciggiesnbeer]

Thats the problem with international football, it brings out the jingoistic morons of every country. Most fans just want to go and have a few laughs a bit of a sing song and a decent game.

Fans with a comic book version of history at football matches are an embarrassment to any country. Italy enslaved most of our ancestors but we would look saft af if we had a problem with the Italian football team.

[VillaChris]

5 hours ago, MotoMkali said:

I just don't think he can be a squad player. He just doesn't get fit without game time. And if he can't stay fit then there is no point having him as a bench player. 

Him being subbed after 70 minutes is what the cool kids want. Have a look at the difference in him pressing from the front in first and second halves in so many of the games he plays, it's really night and day.

We took Jack off after 70 minutes at Spurs obviously due to protecting him from injury, put on Doug and comfortably saw out the win so shows we can beat a top half team when subbing a key player with 20 minutes left so don't see why that criteria can't include McGinn when he starts to flag badly.