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I do think the home grown quota thing makes a difference to these discussions. Id have no issues including Booth or Whyte in Euro squads. Neither disgraced themselves last Thursday. But we need 8 homegrown in a 25 man squad, with 4 having to come from our own Academy. I guess Wilson and Ross are going nowhere right now, regardless of what anyone thinks about their abilities.

I thought JKL done really well on Saturday but I would definitely start JGR. Maybe JGR could start left back and we push Longelo further forward?

I heard Williams is definitely out but may be back for the cup game…. Where to be honest, I wouldn’t play him anyway on that plastic park. Give him another week to get fit.

My view is we should upgrade all areas when the chance presents itself, first choice or bench. If that means the likes of Wilson lose out then so be it. But only if we can do better. Maybe Wilson will prove to be a late developer but given the chances he has had here and elsewhere I have my doubts. How long do we wait before trying someone new? Preferably from within as you say but if no-one presents themselves then look elsewhere. Someone who is less of a quality drop from the regular first choice. Someone who will push the player ahead of him to maintain his performance level. Someone who convinces us he can eventually perform at a high level. Ross is at the stage Wilson was around a year or two ago. Failing to convince that he will prove good enough to ever command a first team place. Possibly has earned a wee bit longer but needs to prove he can contribute more when given the chance. We have stuck with players in similar situations in the past (possibly for financial reasons) and inevitably it does not work out. It's a tough and ruthless approach but we cannot retain players just because they are good guys who came through the Academy and give their all....... if their ability does not support our progression. As a comparison, Whyte has shown much more in his loan spell at Stenny and his limited first team minutes with us than either of the two under discussion. It seems likely he will grab his opportunity when it comes. Miller, Turnbull and Johnston from within as earlier examples. Priestman more recently from without. So no Whyte upgrade and it meets the preference for giving youth a chance. I suppose it boils down to the quality of player I believe we should commit to long term and how long we should give a player to prove he has that quality. As for Maswanhise and McGinn I take your point regarding their early careers.. But from a Motherwell point of view they delivered and contributed almost immediately. So it's not a like for like comparison. I should add 'when given the chance', because Maswanhise was hardly flavour off the month under Kettlewell. And It's not an age thing. If a player is not good enough we should move on....21 or 31 it makes no difference.

I agree with that. Ball is more likely to stick with Said and we know it doesn’t stick with JT so I’d go but might change my mind in two minutes 😀 Paulsen sparrow JGR Moorman Longelo faddy Oscar Lowry JT Said Cook What if Williams is fit? Does he replace Cook? Does it change our shape? we also need more movement from our front players. Make runs for ball in behind. Make lateral runs to drag defenders about. Interchange positions amd in general give the defenders problems to deal with.

Aye, looks like the Hunter is more or less sold out with the Cooper & POD well on the way. I see we have a big chunk for sale in the upper McLean as well.

I just like JT in the wide position where he can see right across the back line and wait for the ball over the top. Gives him so much more space to run into without having to wrestle with giants. Said is more suited to that.

Ideally at present that’s how I’d go if they are all fit. Keep Vogts away from the first 11. good to see the tickets selling well today, look likes there’s chunks of the ground sold out now. Will be a great atmosphere

I think the first 7 almost pick themselves. Maybe JGR in for JKL but either is good. Johnny at RB if Sparrow injured. It’s the remaining 4 that stump me, especially since we don’t have a real centre forward. Id maybe switch cookie and Said or perhaps Said for Lowry, Vogt right, Cookie left amd JT middle. Or Is it JT up top with 3 behind him for a 4-2-3-1 ? The 3 Being Said plus 2 from Vogt, Lowry amd Cookie.

I don't think you'll be a million miles away with that.

I guess Williams is still a doubt, so Id go..... Paulsen Sparrow JKL Moorman Longelo Oscar Fadinger Lowry JT Cookie Said

We have a separate match thread for Thursday here *spoiler alert* MJC has predicted a defeat.

Admin could just rename it maybe?

That’s the big question, what will our best starting 11 be? Not sure who we will have available but also not sure what that best 11 (or formation) would be.

£1.2million says its not!

Look, I'm not saying Wilson is anything special. But he's 21 years old, he's closing in on 50 games for us altogether, and he's played over 100 career games in Scottish football. By my count, we have a decent number of defenders on the books, and throughout the season we'll see varying levels of availability depending on injury and suspension, so someone like Wilson could be useful to plug those gaps while also seemingly willing to not play for longer spells when availability is higher. If we decide tomorrow that he's not progressed enough and we want to move on, who fills that gap? Do we pay money for a player to come in and fill that role? Or, more likely, do we find some random from down south with very similar attributes to Wilson to fill the gap on loan? My guess is that the likes of JGR, JKL, Moormann and Williams aren't on buttons salary-wise, so having someone like Wilson as a somewhat versatile squad player, most likely on budget-friendly wages, isn't the worst thing in the world. My choice on when we'd upgrade from him is when another youngster comes through in that position, and we can then plug them in and see if their potential ceiling is higher. Is there someone in the youth setup who fits that criteria that could replace Wilson? If so, get them up and let's see how they do. Until then, I'd rather we kept Wilson than potentially find ourselves short if the injuries pile up, or go down the route of a loan who comes in and does absolutely nothing. On Luca Ross, I see from socials that he's just turned 20 years old. Are we deciding players are no good before they hit 20 years old now? As a comparison, Maswanhise had not played a single game as a senior pro by that age. Paul McGinn was heading into his first full season for Queens Park in the third division. Again, not saying either will become superstars, but we're getting awfully quick to want to pull the trigger on these kids these days.

Good lad 🤣🤣

0-2 defeat and an anti-climax. The big game is on Sunday against Stenhousemuir.

A number of folk I know have already booked flights to Basel for the Freiburg game. I’m not ballsy enough for that. I’m hanging off until Thursday night. I think It’d have to be a flight to Zurich as well as the Basel ones seem to be sold out already

I wasn't in Helsinki unfortunately and so can't pass an informed opinion on HJK. However I'd rate our chances at 50/50. Will we tire late on? Will we be toothless up front? However, HJK know that we're level and they have to go for a win and so might not to try to close us down as much as Falkirk did. In short, all to play for.

Its hard to say, but more folk will now have returned from holiday; so that could be a factor.

Really hoping this isnt one of those times when football jumps up and bites you on the arse and gives you a reality check. (Hoping that was Sunday). They looked decent over there but nothing more. Once we had the measure of them second half and grew into the game we looked the better team. Their away record in Europe is much less impressive than their home record and we will have home advantage on a nice grass pitch. Hopefully no new injuries and we can go in with whatever our best 11 is right now. Feels like we should have too much for them, but that just brings me back to the point I made right at the start!

Possibly less kids as the schools will be back . I know my two granddaughters and their mum wont be there so that's 3 less from HB match.

Ticket sales look slower than the HB game, I’m sure at this point before HB they were starting to offer the south stand. hopefully it’ll pick up today.

Auld Broonie loved some fisticuffs.