capt_oats

According to the rules as at January 2016. Trialists 72. Trialists are not eligible to Play for a Club in League Matches in the Premiership and in the Championship, League Cup Matches, Matches in the Challenge Cup, other than Matches in round one of that Competition, League Matches in any Season on or after 1 April in that Season and in Play-Off Matches and otherwise and subject to compliance with the Rules and Regulations Trialists are eligible to Play in Official Matches. http://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthescottishprofessionalfootballleagueasat19january2016_1461332495.pdf http://spfl.co.uk/spfl/ Edit: that's an incredibly shoddy piece of drafting eh?

^^^^ This. Again, it depends how much weight you place on any statement that follows "McGhee said..." but he went as far as to say they had a specific target in mind. It's worth pointing out that Alan Burrows also stated that they were after a central midfielder but qualified it by saying that they'd need to "wheel and deal" so though McGhee's made that explicit in the press conference that ran via the club channel today, the reality is that it's not something that we hadn't been made aware of. What I would say is that it offers a legitimate opportunity at this point for players like Campbell to make a genuine case that they're able to step up and follow in a player like Cadden's footsteps into consideration for the first team.

Essentially it means he's still under contract but the club want him off the wage bill so are saying that they'll waive their right to compensation/fee to reduce obstacles in finding a new club. If he finds a suitable alternative he's free to leave and the club will release him from his contract.

You can even add Thomas to that list.

I'd be surprised if Slater envisaged ending up in League 2 with Colchester himself when he told Killie to do one. Unfortunately for him I'd guess that his options became increasingly limited given the development fee that would have been due (STV reported a figure c.£154k). It'd seem that Colchester were prepared to pay that while others that he had been linked with, Aberdeen for example, decided against paying a fee for him. He'd have been better just staying at Killie tbh.

I think so did he given he kb'd Dundee and a Polish side.

Chat seems to be he's heading to ICT.

If you believe "The Twitter" QPR have agreed an initial fee of £1.25m for Jordan Cousins from League 1 Charlton Athletic. Edit: That one has been confirmed, another undisclosed fee but consensus seems to be £1.5m up to £2m depending on add ons.

Again for a bit of context, Junior Hoilett's reported salary is considerably more than the actual fee people are suggesting is being quoted for Johnson. I know QPR were an absolute financial black hole but it seems that they're in the process of re-shaping their squad they've sold Phillips to WBA, have moved Fer (who they paid £8m for) on to Swansea and are trying to move the aforementioned Hoilett on as well. As I say, it remains to be seen whether or not there's any truth in the link and even more so what sort of fee he'd go for however if Hasselbaink genuinely wants Johnson then it's a bit naive to think that a team in QPR's market wouldn't countenance a figure of £1.6m if it was a player they actually wanted. As I said before I'm very much of an "I'll believe it when I see it" view and considering we only paid £30k for Johnson even £500k would represent a substantial profit but similarly given the fees that are commonplace at the end of the Championship that QPR aspire to be I wouldn't be surprised at a £1m+ fee with add ons. Edit: just looking at QPR's signings so far they're all officially listed as 'undisclosed fee' however here are a couple of articles that have some fees quoted (speculation I grant you but still): Joel Lynch: Huddersfield > QPR c.£1.2m http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/sport/football/qpr_transfer_news_joel_lynch_set_for_1_2m_move_to_loftus_road_1_4593376 Jake Bidwell: Brentford > QPR c.£1.3m http://www.westlondonsport.com/qpr/qpr-jake-bidwell-deal Ariel Borysiuk: Legia Warsaw > QPR c.£800k http://footballleagueworld.co.uk/deal-close-qpr-agree-fee-with-league-champions-for-midfielder/

A shot from distance (Booth I think), seemed to dip a bit but he completely missed it. Wasn't on a par with the Celtic one but had we not been 3-0 up at the time he'd have taken a kicking for it. https://youtu.be/l_FrlHqP4wo?t=6m52s

Seems there's a sell on clause in Moult's deal though. "We do a great deal of work when we sell players and if Motherwell sell Louis Moult, there will be kick-backs with that as well." http://m.leaderlive.co.uk/mobile/msport/157131/don-bircham-insists-there-are-no-issues-over-wrexham-afc-transfer-budget.aspx

Looking at the prices in the English market from the top half of the Championship upwards then I really wouldn't be surprised at a figure of £1.6m for Johnson especially if Hasselbaink has identified and wants the player. I read a suggestion that he had looked at the player while he was managing Burton. To say that nobody would pay that for him hardly acknowledges the sort of fees that are increasingly commonplace at that level, the reported £7m for Grabban being a good example, £3m for Nick Blackman to Derby is another. Having said that I'm very much in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp. You can argue whether or not he's as effective as Hayes or Stewart all you want but that's largely irrelevant if Johnson is the player that a team actually wants, has the finance to make it worth our while selling and are willing to pay it. What that figure actually is, who knows?

put in a bit of context QPR got £5.5m for the player they're looking to replace. Different leagues, inflated prices I know but is there that much difference between Johnson and Matt Phillips? Or closer to home did Celtic not pay £1.5m for Stuart Armstrong?

Gomis has apparently joined a Malaysian side, Kelantan. In case anyone was wary of his return.

Would make sense seeing as they've just sold Matt Phillips to WBA.

Of the Scottish teams that have played in Europe so far one scraped through having lost their away tie in Luxembourg and the other was booed off the park in their home leg having scraped by a team from Estonia. Though in fairness booing their own team just seems to be what Hearts fans do these days. As Lobey_Dosser says, if the team is fully up to speed for a game in mid-July it'd have a knock on effect they'd be burned out by February and you'd probably start to see injuries pile up as the players would have had less recovery time from a season that ends in May.

Admittedly I'm only going by the clips of pre-season I've seen on YouTube and I acknowledge that it may well be a case of needs must with Pearson having left but from the looks of things Thomas is being asked to modify his game a bit with a view to him playing a bit more centrally as an attacking midfielder rather than having him playing as a winger. I'd noticed he seemed to be playing a bit deeper with the 20s towards the tail end of last season as well and IIRC he came on and played in the centre of the park in the televised game vs United. For what it's worth I think that's potentially "a good thing" in so much as he's got pace, can carry the ball and beat players. If he's got a couple of players alongside him to 'enforce' for him (Lasley, McHugh) then it could well give him another pathway into the team rather than hoping for a spot on the wing to open up.

I'm not so sure that Lucas is the player that is dependent on the 'wheeling and dealing'. I know you take McGhee's chat to the press with a pinch of salt but he seemed to indicate that there were offers on the table but they were dependent on the positions with their clubs (I suppose McHugh might have been that guy given he had an offer on the table from Plymouth). Given his injury record I'd guess that Lucas might be an affordable extra midfield option we might look to take a punt on. At the moment we've got Lasley, McHugh, Cadden for the 3 central midfield spaces with them supplemented by Campbell so we're definitely still light in there and there's probably room for a couple of bodies if they fit the budget.

Hard to disagree with what grizzlyg, Andy_P, superward and Lobey_Dosser have said. Robinson - seems a very highly regarded coach, Baraclough bringing him in was one of the handful of positives to be drawn from his time at the club (alongside Moult and Johnson). Difficult to know how he'll do given he's taking a step up from assistant to manager. I'd be absolutely bricking it if I were you and it was Baraclough in with Robinson as his assistant however since it's not you can probably rest a bit easier. Ripley - best goalkeeper we've had since Ruddy/Randolph, though that possibly says as much about the goalkeepers we've had as anything. First thing to say is that he 'looks' like a goalkeeper, tall and has a bit of presence. Found his feet with us the more he played but still prone to a lapse in concentration (see goals he conceded vs Thistle and Celtic at Fir Park). You'd think the more games he gets the better he'll do. Absolutely no denying he put in some outstanding performances (notably the 2-1 win vs Aberdeen at Fir Park). Law - for me he was the definition of a 'squad player', sort of guy you'd happily have step in and cover positions, will give you endeavour and has a good delivery but not the sort of guy you'd want to be your first pick right back IMO. It's difficult to shake the notion that he's been converted to that role. He knows roughly how to play the position but doesn't defend like a natural right back should (see comments about him getting caught ball watching). Erwin - The positive here is that Baraclough and Robinson actually managed to get the best out him in the short stint of games that he showed form. Definitely benefited from being played through the middle alongside McDonald. Rangey and physical if Robinson can get a tune out of him again then you should have a decent centre forward, he's categorically not a winger though (I saw Steve Evans trying make an argument for him playing out wide for Dirty Leeds before he got his jotters).

Will we get fined for a fire alarm going off? I wouldn't imagine so. (or am I being whooshed?)

I think it's fairly clear the club & player had agreed his release from his contract. Robinson is a different story, he's said himself in his interview for Oldham's channel that he didn't apply for the job and that Oldham approached the club and he had only recently signed a new deal, so unless there was some sort of waiver in the deal that allowed him to leave if a managerial position came up then I'd imagine that compensation would be due.

superward mentioned that it was Lee Lucas (ex-Swansea) earlier in the thread I think. No idea about the u20s trialists though.

Going by the team lines on Twitter 3. 1 1st team trialist and 2 for the 20s.

And there's yer Josh Law away to Oldham as well. http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/?p=52487

That's yer Steve Robinson finally confirmed as Oldham manager. http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/?p=52466