Goggles & Flippers

To be fair, Cadden and Leitch to step up, they fit the model we now we aspire to follow, namely young, Scottish and home grown. By all means bring in alternatives but only if they are better or can make us money, otherwise we have to give them a chance to blood themselves.

We had a one season strip last year because Cash Convertors were initially on a 3 year deal, therefore I was very surprised to see them adorning the 'sash'. Reading between the lines, they didn't really want to continue but took a lesser offer with less exposure.

First 15-20 we were looking really good, in fact in the whole first half there was what one save for our keeper (was the acrobatic effort a save or missed high?). From 25-40 Marvin looked .... well .... Ainsworth-esque if that makes sense, lacking concentration and drive. Still when he goes forward he excites the East Stand the same way Humphrey did, except he has a final ball and can shoot on target (not much evidence today though). Losing Fletcher up front certainly contributed to our decline, he was big and strong and when he drops the shoulder he has a burst of pace that took him past his marker 4 times or so. Jack Leitch could do with a few more games to get up to speed so not going to be too critical. Can't help but feel it would be an entirely different game if Pearo was on from the start. Bit surprised of the tactical ineffectiveness of the subs, once they came on it was pretty much even and we lost our superiority, was expecting a bit more from Baraclough. I understand Moult has been brought in as the primary striker but Fletcher is the one on form at present. Chalmers impressed, As did the keeper, Law didn't, as did Skippy but I'm sure he doesn't appreciate being played where he is when he must know how effective he is further up the park. Next week we've got Lionel back and let's be honest, only Pearo short of a full squad. Could be doing with a few players hitting form and taking our chances. We could have had 4 last week and got 1. Never a 2-0 loss.

I thought he was wearing black and white? Shortly afterwards there was steward movement in their area.

Is Cornelius Tabernacle the Latin name for what Geedub has just found on the end of his fishing rod?

that old chestnut eh?

I'm sorry, but eh? So the club has to just regard the guys who sit in section E of the East Stand as revenue neutral? Maybe put their season ticket money straight into a separate "fines" bank account for when it's next needed? I don't suspect I'm the only one who thinks: no pitch invasion = no drama = no fines It's from the same school of thought as: no smoke bombs = no drama = no fines I think we will get something, it will be a token gesture as the club can easily demonstrate they had taken more than adequate precautions. Still galls me after a 6-1 mauling over those who don't walk away, the "afters" have consumed more column inches and pitted Well fan against Well fan on here.

Please tell me I'm not the only one a tad excited about the potential we have in this current squad?

Could you have seen Lee McCulloch as a centre half 15 years ago?

Reading between the lines I reckon Pearson's injury will have had this reaction. Up until 3pm on Saturday, if we got the right central midfielder for the right deal then ideal. Otherwise our current young lads would have maybe been enough cover to get us through to the next window where you assume we'd be able to pillage St. Pat's. A loanee? perhaps .... but again only if the right guy with the potential of owning him or he comes from a high flying team looking to blood him. At 4:45, the search is galvanised, while what we already have could see us through, our midfield have been lacking and the only major difference from what we had available at the start of last season is the loss of Carswell (and sorry to say that isn't a bad thing). Therefore I reckon the search has switched from being passive/opportunistic to being full on. A loanee being a distinct possibility in the short term as Pearson's arrival was key to our turnaround.

You can understand them doing that, it's like us in the past (I say that as I hope it is) being approached in January for a player who's out of contract in the summer. Do we take 50k or 100k or do we think his presence in the team will benefit us more than that lump sum? Needless to say as Weeyin (?) pointed out, Chris Forrester is also out of contract at Christmas and his stats are pretty impressive. However as Hibs and we've shown in the past, quite often multiple Irish imports have gone down as well as Iceland Lasagna in the UK.

Oh geez peace, if your boss came and took a big dump on your desk you'd probably be a tad upset.

One thing Baraclough seems to have about him is man management, it would be quite a slight if Connor gets a start ahead of Dan with seeing him in training .... what once? All that would do is give Dan quite the hump with the club, management and no doubt affect his motivation. Not an ideal situation to have when he may be called upon to step on occasion over the course of the season in if he does find himself as number 2 and in January if the loan is not extended.

Two things I took from that are, white goalie top ..... Hope we have plenty of Daz in (see what I did there) and the pitch looks amazing.

I don't know why, but when I read this my head added "one vank, two vanks, Ahhh ha haaaaa" and I envisaged the Count from Seasame Street twerking you.

Almost, but I think he'll go with a slightly more conservative option for the start of the season since we're also away to the 3rd placed team last year. Possibly Joe Chalmers in at RM over Dom Thomas. I think our forward line up will be predominantly formed using McDonald and Johnson as the two shoe in's plus whoever else has been clicking at training. If it's Fletcher, Moult or Clarky and Thomas, I suspect Bara will start whoever's on form and has the best engine. Or I could be completely wrong and have us 4-2-4 to rip them a new one.

So good you posted it twice? Laing did improve after a pretty awful start however Kennedy as yet is unproven, other than having the pedigree of the Man City academy. Gunnar was also there for a while and hardly had an auspicious time with us. Ramsden was the POTS in 2013/14 for many, injury and the confidence malaise that infested the team helped with his demise. O'Brien, will never fully understand his renewal other than Les' chequebook may not have been opened when it happened. Kerr I think got a wee bit of a rough time, whenever called upon under Baraclough he did as well as any other, but then again I didn't see him in training daily. Cummings I agree, he maybe has had a few seasons more than he should have at a higher level than he is capable of.

I believe his St Johnstone sojourn last season cemented a number of people's opinions and made our decision not to pursue a insightful one. There's merit to the dog/ball analogy but also it could be argued he went to another team where there was nobody on his wavelength. However to be fair, a professional footballer of his pedigree should be able to adapt. Nicky Law anyone?

I hope I'm not alone in thinking maybe having a player like Skippy in the team, someone who thinks and sees things a few seconds ahead would be the ideal foil for a certain James McFadden? I think a lot of where he appeared to fall short was down to those around not anticipating him and being anywhere near the same wavelength a couple of seasons back. The six months before he benefitted from having Ojamma in the team. Obviously it would be a bit of a risk and could only be facilitated on a pay as you play type arrangement. It would offer a creative option in midfield many say we lack and cover (albeit aging) for our current central midfield/winger lineup. Helmet on

Aye but did you make it to Sligo? ..... fair weather fan

As much as Dan's physical stature isn't akin to what most would like between the sticks, he had as many gaff's per game as the larger Long and also wasn't helped by a constantly changing/keystone cop defence during McCall's reign. I'm happy to bash him if his reputation and ability are beyond saving however his attitude and endeavour were not mirrored by those on more money and with more experience last season. I would like to see a new keeper but I also feel we have a very capable understudy in Dan and if we are facing a month with him as the only option until deadline day then it's not the biggest of our problems. Shitey, snide remarks on here add nothing.

Conundrum is now where to play him. He was as a few pointed out effective from midfield, but will he want to play there or does he see himself as part of a striking pair? If it's the former then we kinda have the central midfield cover role filled, if it's the latter I assume Baraclough see's Moult as his preferred starter so Clarkson and Fletcher, looks like 15-20 minutes here and there. I suppose it'll be where he's most effective, thing is with Skippy he is a predator and being too deep curtails that a little. Just update the wee team list and now we're cooking: ------------------------------------- TBC (Twardzik) -------------------------------------- --- Law (Watt, Reid) -- Laing (Kennedy) -- McManus -- Hammell (Chalmers) --- Ainsworth ----- Pearson (Cadden) ----- Lasley (Leach) ----- Johnson (Thomas) --------------- McDonald (Fletcher) ------- Moult (Clarkson, Moore) ----------------

As this is a football forum, are we talking about Dundee Utd or Blackpool?

Isn't there a third brother? .........

I'll always have a place for him due to that goal and the buzz that was generated when he came on as a sub or some unknowing in the opposition halved one of his colleagues or even more stupidly .... him. However it's evident that he's not been able to find something to fill the void left by the highs he had early in his life. He should remember he was merely one cog in a machine that engineered the Cup in 91. Many others in that squad have managed to forge careers afterwards based on merit rather than entitlement or nostalgia. Sorry Colin, walking around the Centenary Suite dressed like a member of So Solid Crew, swaggering like you're carrying two buckets of water doesn't cut it I'm afraid.