one m in motherwell

I’m sure I saw someone mention Hayes a few days ago. Wouldn’t be averse to that but can’t see it. The other one of them being touted for a loan is Hendry, but he’s utterly rotten.

First time back at FP in a while last night so obviously good to see a win. All told, I thought we did what was required without ever really setting the heather on fire, however at this stage in the (pre) season I don't think we could expect much more. I was very impressed with big Sammon though, I had always seen him as more in the Curtis Main style battering ram, however he was surprisingly good with the ball at his feet, looked to play others in several times and took his goals well. It was a pity that we resorted to route-1 stuff in the last 20 minutes or so of the game as he looked more effective being played in. Would have been interesting to see him with someone like Bigi as I think Sammon's strengths would work well with someone with more of an eye for a threaded pass. Cadden was the standout (as others have said), looked hungry and a lot more akin to the Cadden of a couple of years back when he first broke through. Campbell was also solid, and Rose did his usual donkey work with aplomb. At the back, Cedric looked a bit shaky although it was good to see him going on a few wanders up through the midfield. McHugh was excellent I thought, the whole team looked more balanced with him in defence - it'll be interesting to see how we accommodate him and Hartley without sacrificing something from the midfield. Ultimately if Cedric leaves then moving McHugh back permanently would be a no-brainer. Elsewhere, Frear looked more dangerous in the second half when he remembered he can run, Liam Donnelly looked a bit of a bombscare and ATS showed a few nice touches when he came on. All things considered I'm quite positive for the season ahead providing that the new signings come on to a game. It's clear that the focus of Robinson's recruitment so far has been to give us more strength in depth along very similar lines to what we already have, rather than trying to drastically change the way we play. Assuming we don't lose anyone (although it wouldn't surprise me if a couple were away), our first XI is strong but the test will be when injuries and suspensions start to bite. With any luck we won't have the same drop off in form that we saw in November/December. As ever, so much will depend on how other teams around us have strengthened, although outwith what you'd probably think of as the top 4 no-one seems to have made huge strides.

If Cadden does go, would Tanner perhaps work in his role (perhaps floating between the midfield and behind the front two)? I'm loathe to shoehorn folk in where they aren't best suited, however the balance of our midfield is a bit skewed at the moment, and unless someone else leaves I can't see us bringing a proper attacking mid in.

The arrival of ATS will hopefully mean that Tait can drop back to the RWB position, allowing Cadden to be played more centrally. I've always felt he's much more effective from here, and with Campbell and either Rose/McHugh/Gorrin providing more defensive qualities I'd hope Cadden could push on again.

Alex Gorrin signs... ...me neither!

He could sell the programmes I suppose.

Going by Flow's tweet from earlier today, and the confirmation of the new sponsor, I reckon we'll be unveiling another new signing and the strips tomorrow. Whether that's Mr 99.9% or someone else remains to be seen. As good as it is that we're getting our business done early again, I hope we've left enough room for the inevitable deadline day loan capture, who'll play about three games before disappearing in January.

Frees up Tait to go back to the right. Dunne and Kipre/Hartley through the middle, Donnelly as cover?

Is he not an out-and-out defender, rather than our 99.9% signed creative mid?

Aaron Taylor-Sinclair confirmed.

Signing number two arrives...

Ciftci is the absolute boy. Bring him home Robbo!

I'd think he'd be miles outwith what we'd be looking at wages-wise. Is he not quite pish too?

No surprises at all with the released list - wonder if we will see another keeper coming in (irrespective of what happens with Carson) or if we'll run with Rohan Ferguson as backup. I noticed before that we'd offered a contract to Dheeraj Singh too - I assume nothing really came of that? EDIT - here's a bit more on the Singh transfer: https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/facing-work-permit-issues-dheeraj-singh-moirangthem-looks-to-sign-for-motherwell-in-2019 Oh and if the other Rangers player is Kenny Miller I won't be happy...

I'm not sure McHugh has done *that* badly to warrant getting punted the first chance we get. His captaincy probably does let him away with a bit more than others perhaps would, but he's been a consistent if not eye-catching presence during his time with the club. I suppose his future depends a lot on how Robinson will want us to play next season - more of the same or do we try and introduce a bit more football to the equation?

Griffiths, Grimshaw, Plummer and Petravicius were never intended to be out-and-out first team players. Plummer aside (has he even played for the first team), all the players have done exactly what's been expected of them as backups...if they came in and set the heather on fire then fine, you reconsider how they might fit in, but none of them have done anything more than what's been asked of them. More importantly, the new depth in the squad now means that we don't typically have to resort to playing players out of position (as we had with the defence at the end of last season). You could certainly argue that the difference in quality of the folk mentioned above compared to our preferred XI, combined with the fact we had to throw so many back up players in to plug holes in the run up to Christmas, was probably the biggest single issue in creating our poor run of form. And none of them are Zak Jules, so I'm happy enough with that.

Petra's future depends entirely on whether he can do anything of note in the next few months. By all accounts he looked sharp when he joined us in the U20s games, but hasn't kicked on since. Is he being played out of position? I'd always seen him and Tanner as being a fairly straight swap.

Newell on loan may be a shout, and given he was originally signed for the U20s this wouldn't be too surprising. Out of the remaining strikers I can see Bowman going in this window, Petra isn't an out-and-out striker as far as I can gather so it wouldn't surprise me to see him and Tanner share that no. 10 role. Ciftci is more of a direct replacement for Moult, Main seems to be a bit more like Bowman so would make sense as a replacement if her were to leave - not sure where this places Fisher although to be honest I don't think he's going anywhere. Any rumours of trialists who have gone with the team to Tenerife?

Could O'Halloran still be an option? No idea of his status at the moment. Tbh I'm not sure if he'd fit in very well with Robinson's idea of a 'unified' squad...

God, don't! The first time he finds a man with a pass, the Messi comparisons will be pishing out certain factions of our support. Assuming he gets on the park, that is. If he doesn't, it'll be the 'secret weapon', 'impact sub' patter that'll be wheeled out.

I can't believe we're still talking about him.

It's not the concept of trialists that's an issue at all. It's just that, with Robinson apparently recognising that defence is one of our key target areas, we've not had folk identified to bring in early doors, as we have elsewhere in the squad. I appreciate that there are various factors which may work against this (and by all accounts the Dunne signing was sorted a while ago), but it's just something that jumped out. All things considered, if folk are signed and do a job then it's irrelevant what process they've gone through to get a contract.

I think that's spot on - whilst I don't know enough about Fisher to decide whether he's a ready made replacement for McDonald or not, on paper at least striker is one position we're relatively comfortable in (providing Moult stays too, of course). As a few others have said I reckon Bowman will be a bit more involved this year, and I reckon there'll probably be a bit of experimenting between him and Fisher to accompany Louis. I suppose whether we bring anyone in or not depends entirely on who we can shift out. Blyth must surely be on the list, and I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Luke Watt and Clay are being actively touted to others. I reckon however that there is money still in the kitty for another defender...it's been identified as a weak point in the team since the previous season finished, although it is weird that we seem to be looking to trial market so early. By all accounts Dembele acquitted himself well on Saturday so I'm keen to see how he shapes up tomorrow. Him, McManus and Heneghan all competing for two spots in the centre would be fine by me.

I wonder how long it'll be after Saturday before we get the usual list of who's being let go - by the sounds of it things have started moving a bit quicker than normal, so I'd imagine we'll get some news early next week. I suppose if nothing else it shows an awareness from Robinson et al that fairly drastic change is needed this summer, and we can't sit around and wait this time. Hopefully we've had targets lined up for a good while and can move quickly.

What was the script with Thomas anyway? Simply shite in a Theo Robinson 'shite for us but turns it on as soon as he leaves' way, or something more salacious?