[2021/2022 Rebuild]

13 hours ago, livivoice said:

Jamie Hamilton has been getting a lot of plaudits this season.

Not sure if he would cost anything but perhaps worth a look.

He was on trial with Brighton, not sure if anything came of it but he will have bigger clubs than us after him.

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

26 minutes ago, Ped_MFC said:

Now that the Accies are gone are there any of their players who could do a job? Odoffin has been impressive whenever I've seen him but I'd imagine there will be a few clubs in for him. Callachan too looks to have had his moments though he didn't really impress when he went to Hearts a couple of years back.

Odoffin signed an extension in January.

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

18 hours ago, Spit_It_Out said:

22 years old and played 134 games for us!I think we all knew he was going to go and not going to lie pretty gutted about this one but wish him all the best he has always put in a shift for us week in week out.

 

totally off topic, but on appearnces, Mason greenwood made his 100th man utd appearance at the weekend, only broke into the first team in 2019. Good job Campbell looks after himself, the amount of games down south is levels above what we have up here.

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

19 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

I don't know about that. Gallagher and his lawyer would have been very well aware of this clause before he put pen to paper. I suspect it was a fairly run of the mill condition used in many football deals. 

The club will not be pleased at how things turned out but probably feel they've made the best of a bad situation.

The club were also sending him flowers to congratulate him on the birth of his child so they can't have been that unhappy.

[Season 2020’21: Game 36: Kilmarnock (H)]

2 hours ago, weeyin said:

If we're playing Championship level teams, Shankland would be a good call, but the jury's still out for me on his credentials at the top level. Tony Watt's looked more effective (and I wouldn't be picking him for Scotland at this point either).

Agreed, still not sold he is as good as we are made to believe.

[Season 2020’21: Game 36: Kilmarnock (H)]

On 5/1/2021 at 11:31 PM, Goggles & Flippers said:

Tavernier was injured which allowed Patterson to break through, granted an average performance in blue or green gets the press hacks excited, not as if that defence has been troubled much this season. However Tavernier has returned, is club captain and Patterson has to serve a 3 match bad for attending a house party earlier in the year.

Personally I'd drop McBurnie, I don't think he warrants a place. Nisbet could easily be replaced by someone like Forrest albeit returning from a long injury. Turnbull has earned a spot from coming into and being among the best of a bad bunch at Parkhead. I'd suggest Griffiths too but I don't know where he is at at all in terms of his game or beyond it now, he is a talisman however. Ryan Jack would be my third if one of the above doesn't get the nod. I wouldn't be surprised if its 3 with call ups already but not in the most recent squad.

Only a few games to rattle the managers cage. With the extension of 23 to 26 in the squad it is more likely to be someone he's used over the past year and dropped. Wikipedia list these as:

GK	Robby McCrorie	18 March 1998 (age 23)	0	0	Livingston	14 October 2020, v.  Czech Republic
DF	Liam Cooper	30 August 1991 (age 29)	5	0	Leeds United	18 November 2020, v.  Israel
DF	Paul Hanlon	20 January 1990 (age 31)	1	0	Hibernian	14 October 2020, v.  Czech Republic
DF	Paul McGinn	22 October 1990 (age 30)	0	0	Hibernian	14 October 2020, v.  Czech Republic
DF	Ryan Porteous	25 March 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Hibernian	14 October 2020, v.  Czech Republic
MF	Ryan Jack	27 February 1992 (age 29)	10	0	Rangers	25 March 2021, v.  Austria
MF	Ross McCrorie	18 March 1998 (age 23)	0	0	Aberdeen	14 October 2020, v.  Czech Republic
FW	Leigh Griffiths	20 August 1990 (age 30)	22	4	Celtic	18 November 2020, v.  Israel
FW	Callum Paterson	13 October 1994 (age 26)	17	0	Sheffield Wednesday	18 November 2020, v.  Israel
FW	Oliver Burke	7 April 1997 (age 24)	13	1	Sheffield United	18 November 2020, v.  Israel
FW	Lawrence Shankland	10 August 1995 (age 25)	4	1	Dundee United	18 November 2020, v.  Israel
FW	James Forrest	7 July 1991 (age 29)	35	5	Celtic	7 September 2020, v.  Czech Republic

Mcburnie is touch and go as to whether or not he will be fit for the euros, chances are he won't be going for that reason alone.

Ryan Jack is definitely missing the euros through Injury which is a shame because he was excellent against Serbia, he would be a nailed on starter.

I agree with you on Griffiths, he is the one player who you'd fancy to have one effort and score it however he is another who seems well out of the picture. Forrest needs to prove his fitness first however I think Ryan Fraser is injured at the moment so that would seem a natural swap.

I think your looking at one of Shankland, Nisbet and Patterson going.

Turnbull deserves a spot, still not convinced he will go though.

[2021 Scottish Cup Campaign]

winners of the cup Guaranteed 3m from  European football, no bad.

[Make over of Fir Park continues]

I am sure this wasn't in the thinking of anyone at all, but darker seats don't stand out as much if they are empty, and the Amber section is normally pretty full, so at least there is that. 

[2021 Scottish Cup Campaign]

Hibs tomorrow then? All very quiet

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

1 hour ago, middleeastdave said:

Look maybe a bit early to start criticising GA but I am not too sure he is the man to rebuild our squad on the evidence of the January window, I can’t quite remember who he personally brought in as I am sure Kelly and Lawless were a done deal before he arrived but the remains signings apart from Robert’s (even that signing I don’t think would be GA’s doing) the rest I am sorry we’re just making up numbers!

As far as Campbell, I think he is a great pro and has been brilliant for us, not sure if he is English championship standard, I would think it would be lower leagues that would suit his style, mind you Hibs have been kind of chasing him according to my Hibs friends!

Why aren't you sure the Jordan Roberts signing was down to him, but the rest are? You can't take a positive signing away from him, based on (as far as i'm aware) no evidence at all, just because it suits your argument.

on the other signings, none of them have really kicked on, however Foley, Smith and Nolan are all injury related, which is completely out with anyone's control. That's not to say they would or wouldn't have been successes though, I actually thought the Foley and Nolan signings would have been good business albeit not very flashy, at the time the only two players over 30 in the squad were Carson and Chapman and the squad, never mind the team was crying out for some experience. 

We also need to remember how difficult the window is to sign real quality, never mind in the middle of a pandemic, convincing guys to sign for 6 months and move to another country where they can't leave the house can't have been easy.

His signings this summer will be when he is judged.

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

On 4/17/2021 at 6:40 PM, David said:

I'm personally not sold on Carson ever coming back the same keeper he was before, and so if Kelly was open to a return I'd jump all over that. 

Cole has had something like ten clubs in seven years. Surely he's got to be thinking about settling somewhere for a few years, and if he's doing well here and seems to be a good fit then why not sign for another year at least?

Have to believe that if he moves on he'll likely just continue bouncing around like Fleetwood and Doncaster Rovers.

Never actually considered the point about being settled so why not hang around for a bit. I was thinking there that I can see the attraction at having a pop at these clubs, one good season in league 1 and you could end up on a very tidy contract in the championship. Could you say the same about the SPFL? maybe need a few years of continued success up here to get a a similar move.

I can see why players do it, but I think as Tony Watt has eluded too in the past, there is a lot to be said for being settled and enjoying your football.

[Morton Scottish Cup Tie]

Barry Maguire hasn't been in the game at all. Really surprised we haven't made a change yet. 

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

40 minutes ago, C&A not the shop said:

I think we will be looking to finish around the top 6 spot somewhere between 5 and 9th will be a realistic target and I think that squad is going to be around that level assuming we can fill the gaps well, aren't too unlucky with injuries and Alexander gets its mostly right tactically.

 

Are you saying the squad isn't good enough to do that or that we should be aiming higher than that?

between 5th and 9th sounds about right, saying that the league next season will be as competitive as it's been in a long time, Rangers, Celtic, Hibs, Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee utd all back in the top flight for the first time in a long time, you'd imagine St johnstone will be strong again, St Mirren could spend a few quid again, Livi will be Livi. 

on Harry Cochrane, it appears as though he was offered a new deal and chose not to sign it, so Development would be due, very highly rated, would it be worth a gamble? would imagine Dundee utd or maybe even Aberdeen would also be sniffing about,.

[Big Dec]

51 minutes ago, bobbybingo said:

Aye, mibbe I'll try it in English...

Take a reasonable question - was there a trigger clause in his contract? Then attach the 'feigning injury' bit to it, as if there couldn't be a clause without that add on. Then it's no longer a reasonable question, it's a conspiracy theory. Which you can wheel out every time the issue comes up and make the whole thing sound ridiculous.

Still doesn't answer the original question, one way or another. Neither does the fact both player and manager speak about "something" in the contract. Yet some folk use that as proof positive they were right, there was never anything in the contract.

I've yet to see proof of anything, other than people are determined to believe what they believe, and nothing anyone else says will sway their opinion. That's no surprise, so it shouldn't really bug me. But it does.

 

If this is aimed at me, I wasn't using it as proof positive I was right. My stance the whole time is that the whole thing has been blown out of proportion and that although the timing of the injury was suspicious, it is nothing more than that. From what the player and manager said, there was something in the contract however none of us are privy to that info, and any suggestions of what that something was are pure guess work.

like you said, you haven't seen proof, none of us have, he has now played this magical 26th game, the club are sending him flowers on the birth of his child and there doesn't appear to be any bad blood from anyone inside the club.

that is enough for me to suggest it was blown way out of proportion  by the fans, whatever it was.

[Big Dec]

Well well well...

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

Kelly, has apparently, said he would be interested in a return, he is enjoying his football (god knows how), and even used the words it feels like home i'm sure. I don't think it is completely out the question, no idea how the finances would work or anything but I don't think it is completely out the question. 

If he was to come back, I would fully expect him to be the number one? 

Is Morrison ready to make the step up? probably as the number two, seems to have been well thought where ever he has went on loan.

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

45 minutes ago, Onthefringes said:

I’d expect development will change as recruitment method changes.

The bulk of our development group aren’t contracted so interested to see the wastage, natural and enforced.

Shipped out those who felt needed the experience & decided others development was best served around the first team but, haven’t offered game time - that’s a false economy. Before the usual suspects downcry that ideal - I’m well aware of the position we’re in and the variables involved. It’s a fine balance, taking Fortmartine as an example we decided at 4 and 5 nil up to introduce a loan player, an ageing short term deal who’d offered us 7 minutes previously then Lamie was given appearance money. For a club who advocates a clear pathway, they certainly aren’t practising what’s preached.

This really grinded my gears as well, replacing Campbell with Lamie, whilst Cornelius sits on the bench, Cmon.

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

6 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Hopefully a change in direction for bloated squad of journeymen, to a sleeker more streamlined squad with a sprinkling of quality, supported by our academy graduates!

strikes me as a real make or break time for some of the academy boys, nowhere near enough game time for most of them, some could maybe have done with being shipped out but we weren't able to due to injuries. Max Johnstone is young enough and will maybe head out on loan next season. Where does that leave Semple, Devine, Hussain, Robinson etc?

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

17 minutes ago, Onthefringes said:

I think some need to temper understanding  of rebuild and what that entails.

Not going to discount rumours. Recruitment will differ though, nothing cryptic, there’s change afoot...

yes, maybe I didn't word that too well, I'm certainly not expecting a new face to come in for every one that departs. Maybe an interesting summer is more apt? 

Do love a rumour though, think most fans do haha.

[2021/2022 Rebuild]

Since the contract announcements are starting to roll in, Anyone heard any rumours etc, massive rebuild on the cards, however one which is very much required, a lot of deadwood in the squad. 

I'd like to see Cole resign, however he might have earned a move down south, even more so if he gets another couple before the season is out. Wouldn't be against Long either, if he was up for it.

Donnelly is like a new signing, however I feel as though we say that every season, even though his injury this time round was ridiculously bad luck.

only Rumour I have heard is Scott Robinson, someone also mentioned John Guthrie at Livi as he is out of contract.

this years out of contract players, might not be 100% as a few of ours have resigned and they still appear;

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/scottish-premiership/endendevertraege/wettbewerb/SC1

[Graham Alexander]

There was a story doing the rounds that we were after Reo Griffiths from Lyon on loan in January, Didn't materialise obviously, maybe an idea of the sort of player we may be looking at in summer.

[Retain or Release - Midfielders (I)]

11 minutes ago, wellsince75 said:

great point about some players don't work out a certain clubs.

Personal view , I don't rate Crawford, he's no better than the likes of Grimmy. I'd rather we let those making up the numbers go and look to build a better starting 11.

yeah, I reckon i'd be here all day trying to drum enough reasons as to why he was better than the likes of Grimmy, Maguire etc, with regards to a better starting 11, it would be good to know how Alexander views him going into next season, that would give us a good idea of what to expect. 

on midfielders, I actually quite like O'hara, I know a few here really don't, mainly @Onthefringes, but he has just been MIA since January.

Top of Alexanders list has to be a creative midfielder cause we have missed one terribly this season.

[Retain or Release - Midfielders (I)]

25 minutes ago, steelman1991 said:

Really? Didn’t know that
@Neilwell86 - apologies looks like he did have a spell at Thistle.

haha, that's alright mate. I seem to remember Partick fans having a few things to say when we signed him, having it looked at it, he only played ten games, so easily forgotten.

[2021 Scottish Cup Campaign]

17 minutes ago, GazzyB said:

I don't think it's that Hampden is unavailable, it's that the authorities deem it too soon to have fans at events.

Quite right IMO.

apparently Hampden will be in the hands of the euro commitee by the time the final comes round and the ground will be getting prepared for that. If the authorities deem 12k fans in the stadium safe two weeks later you would think 5/6k at the final wouldn't be the worst idea?

[Retain or Release - Midfielders (I)]

On 4/2/2021 at 6:44 PM, wellsince75 said:

Crawford has signed an extension.   

A hard working player with limited talent. Not good enough for Livingston has been quoted as an integral part of our team. 

This has been one of the worst and least enjoyable seasons I can recall. My enthusiasm for next season isn't getting any stronger.  

Meh 

 Crawford has done a fairly decent job with us, like you say, he might not be the most talented but he is hard working, that goes a long way at our level, Allan Campbell is probably a prime example of someone who doesn't have the most talent in the world but works hard and is good at it at being that battler, albeit Campbell has added some more attacking aspects to his game now. 

The not good enough for livingston thing doesn't really matter to me either tbh, Jake Carroll wasn't good enough for Partick, Tom Aldred for bury, the list is endless.

could we do better? yes, could we do worse? yes, much worse.