Kris-A-Goalda

It's got 1.5million views across X - maybe not SEO-savvy enough for YouTube but it's doing the numbers.

Good investment and decent marketing can do wonders for a club and i't s fanbase if done correctly. I moved to Larne 9 and a bit years ago and would go and see the town's football team regularly, who at the time were playing in the lower half of the NI second tier to around 100-150 fans every game, in a stadium that would be condemned by today's standard. Kenny Bruce of Purple Bricks came in and invested a substantial amount in 2017, and last season they won the NIFL Premiership. The investment has upgraded their ground to one of the best in the league in terms of pitch, facilities and social club, they've introduced an academy that's producing a great calibre of young player, have sold players to English Championship and Premiership teams and have become an attractive proposition for players from over the water. The biggest difference though is that the fan base, particularly the younger fans and families going along has increased massively and that's in huge part due to the focus that Bruce's investment has had on creating a community club. Their match the other week against Linfield was a sell out and their average home attendance for the season so far is 2100. The Belfast teams hate them. So whether it's the Wrexham model of high profile investor off the back of a viral video or someone with pockets deep enough to get the club out of a perceived mire and allow the club to bring the good times back like Larne have, money invested properly in the club will never do any harm.

To get out of the mire we're in and become a proactive, forward-thinking and ambitious club, we need to be prepared for, and accepting of, failures on the path to getting it right. If there was an affordable way of having someone come in with a magic wand and righting the ship immediately, we'd surely be en route to that already.

The response to us signing Theo Bair, on here and on socials has been embarrassing. It's one thing discussing opinions about the signings we should expect the club to be making in here and conversing about the pros and cons, but to be actively slating the lad in a thread that the club has tagged him in is absolute sociopath, incel behaviour. He might be good for us, he might be rotten for us, he might be somewhere in between. What's damn sure is that all the opinions expressed by the usual mouthpieces on here - before Bair has kicked a ball for us - will be doubled down on regardless. Absolute clowns.

If it's Moult, I'm not sure it's meant for us. For the longest time, Louis's Instagram profile pic was him in his Well top, I'm sure even as late as Saturday past. Changed to a family pic now.

Not far off it.

If true, would be a great addition to the back line. Was a standout at Ballymena before signing for Larne the season before last. Big, commanding centre half, decent on the ball and can only imagine his time at Palace has made him even better from when I watched him regularly. Also - looks nothing like his name suggests.

Going by the pre-season social media output this year, compared to the last few years, I'm expecting a claret away kit with white trim. Ally has been quite subtle over the past few years to match banners and font colours in the imagery used in pre-season to the upcoming kits.

That was the game v Aberdeen where Jim Leighton got attacked by the fan?

Is it possible that there's a pay/appearance clause in his loan deal? Going by TransferMarkt, he's featured in 19 league games, one more would take him to over half of the allotted 38 games for a standard Premiership season. As others have mentioned, he could have easily been subbed on for Spittal since Kettlewell has come in, but hasn't had a sniff - could it be more financial than fickleness?

Ryan has been great since coming in. His main strike partner Lee Bonis has really improved by having him beside him. I reckon we'll see Bonis in Scotland in the next 18 months - fast, physical and deadly in and around the box. Want has been colossal at the back as well, on track for the NIFL player of the season. The Crues game is on the iPlayer on Friday night so Ferguson and Gordon might be easily spotted with the Gibson Cup.

Rohan Ferguson and Shea Gordon on the cusp of winning the NIFL Premiership with Larne after beating Cliftonville last night. If Glentoran beat Linfield tonight, the league is the Invermen's. If not, then they need only a point away to Crusaders on Friday night to clinch it. The downside of it is that Larne's two most influential players this season are former Accies - Sean Want and Andy Ryan.

I spoke to Tommy Wright at a Ballyclare Comrades game not long after GA beat him to the job last time and he said he was gutted not to have got the job. He was convinced that he would have been able to stabilise the club in a more fan-friendly way than Alexander looked to likely do at the time, so I reckon he’ll be a shoe-in for it if he applies.

I think he could be tempted, but maybe only after the end of the season if we employ someone else until June. He's done all he can at Linfield, so if he doesn't win the league this year he has nothing to prove and if he does win it, he can leave as even more of a legend before the teams around them get even stronger. Wouldn't be averse to Healy, but wouldn't straight out shut him down. Unless he plans on bringing Lafferty with him.

Healy is at the business end of a tricky season at the Blues. Knocked out of the Irish Cup last weekend, but has a League Cup final on the horizon. They are also sitting 3rd in one of tightest top 5s in Europe right now. His opposite number in the LC final though - Oran Kearney - could be a good shout if his time at St Mirren hasn't burnt him. Astute, tactically aware and doesn't suffer fools. in a similar way to Hammy, his time in Paisley was gubbed by the team his predecessor left.

I wouldn't say it's players we didn't rate. Carson - much loved by the fans but illness and Gillespie's form stopped him regaining No.1 spot Dunne - again, popular player amongst fans but injuries made him a liability for a long term contract Gallagher - great first season but head turned when Aberdeen came calling, ability never questioned but mentality was Main - filled the Moult-shaped gap after January but went too long without scoring in first full season O'Hara - concussion meant his performances were fleeting, but was never a poor player for us

I'd say that there'd be a different demand on the players of a team that finished second in the FAI second tier and a team that played in Europe the same season, but again it's all down to the player's prep. Also, just as there are pedants on here about calling the SPFL the SPL and suchlike, "Irish League" would be in reference to the NIFL Northern Irish Football League - Blaney and Taylor came to Scotland from "League of Ireland" teams.

I'd imagine it's a fitness thing - League of Ireland is a summer league, so he's likely still going through a post or pre-season type recovery.

Any signing we bring in in January is going to be someone struggling for game time, unless they're coming from a summer league. Henrik Ojamaa is probably the most impactful January signing we've had in an attacking sense - hit the ground running on his debut and kept riding that momentum all the way til the end of the season. Another like him would be ideal.

Hearing through Irish League chat that we are looking at Lee Bonis of Larne and Ronan Hale of Cliftonville to bolster attacking options. Bonis also wanted by Rotherham. Both have hit double figures in the last few seasons. Hale has a reputation for the spectacular goal while Bonis is more of a poacher. Conor McMenamin of Glentoran was also being looked at as an option but a fractured leg a few weeks back has cooled down the speculation.

Hearing the mid-contract interviewee is David Healy.

He obviously did, or she'd not be pregnant.

With the exceptions of Turnbull and Watt (so far anyway), who was the last player to leave us for a rival SPFL team that has made a lasting impact for their club or bettered themselves? You look at St Mirren with Tait and Dunne, plus Main and Erwin via other clubs, and you'd be hard pushed to say any of them are making the Buddies better. Main's time at Aberdeen was far less impactful than his time with us. Going by Wikipedia, he scored more for The Well than Dons and St Mirren combined so far. Would you need to go as far back as McDonald going to Celtic?

Ben Hall debuting for Linfield on the iPlayer just now against Larne in the Irish Cup. Christy Manzinga booked after 4 minutes and lucky not to be off for kick at a Larne defender. Jake Hastie on the bench for the Blues as well.

Bigirimana is part of a Glentoran team that are finding their groove again in the Irish League, but hasn't featured for them since the turn of the year. They are saturated with options in the middle of the park, so his time there may be limited after January. On the blue side of Belfast, Christy Manzinga has 17 or 18 goals for the season so far, second top scorer behind Glentoran's mercurial striker and convicted sex-offender Jay Donnelly. Rohan Ferguson is having an up and down season in goals for Larne. He's been at fault - or certainly could have done better - for a few goals that have contributed to them sliding out of title contention. For anyone interested in seeing how good/bad the Irish League is, there's at least one live game a week on the BBC iPlayer, either on a Friday night or a Saturday 530 kick off. Tends to mainly be games involving the Belfast sides, plus Larne and Coleraine, and it's very rare for there to be a game without goals, drama, controversy or abysmal refereeing.