wellsince75

It's questionable signing a striker who hasn't scored goals at the age of 23. He's not a boy who's just starting out. He's played in the same league, irrespective of how poor a team is etc generally strikers know how to score goals. It's rare for us to bring in someone with such a poor tally - Ojamma is the only other I can think of in recent memory. As a few people have mentioned it raises an eyebrow. Of course we want him to do well and prove to be a success. To me seems a very odd signing. Appreciate no one should be bashing players on twitter etc but surprised at the amount of backlash raising an eyebrow has had on this forum.

Got to give all our players a good few months to see how they settle, generally you can see signs/glimpse of whether they can add value longer term. I see it more of a dig at the manager than the player. SK turned the ship around, reduced the squad and pretty much walked on water. The questions raised are whether he can spot a player - that will be key to hist longevity, bring youth through our system +complement with some shrewd business in the windows. All managers bring in some that don't make the grade, we need a couple of gems in this transfer window, perhaps we already have, time will tell.

Agree we need to depend on more than one golden goose to get goals. We need our strikers to achieve double figures , with midfield chipping in here and there. Wilkinson has before and reasonable to expect him to achieve 10+. Who ever his partner he needs to do similar.

thanks Spiderpig . Just looking for previous signings who arrived with similar stats - Nick Cusack is prob the most similar.

I agree , it's one hell of a punt. As you say KVV, Higdon, Moult, Sutton etc had all scored more than 8 goals in their life . Had he been an 19 year old never played before in the league then fair enough. Not writing him off but I don't believe it makes me a troll or whatever the the phrase is to share some doubt over signings.

I'll run the risk of being bashed for not being overly excited about our forward signings, Im sure people will remind me that Hidgdon & Sutton came good. For clarity our new signing has scored 8 goals in his career. Higdon had scored +40 goals by the time he arrived. Sutton had scored 50 goals by the time he arrived. Appreciate some clubs work out better for some players but why we've signed another big tall target guy who hasn't scored goals is questionable. I really like what SK did last season, I like his formation, I like the brining in youngsters. I really hope he has an eye for strikers. Obika, Wilkinson and Bair - be interesting to see if any of them can chip in with +10 goals.

The issue the other week was playing Mugabi and Lamie together. Lamie is very decent for 90% of the game but switches off for periods of each game. Mugabi big strong lad but lacks positional awareness, he's regularly caught wrong side of players. The number of penalties , red cards and poor goals are generally due to lack of awareness , which is difficult to coach. Where it can work is having either of them in the 3-5-1-2 or 5-3-1-2 . Personal view is he's not the answer for a first team starter. Ok to have him around to plug gaps. Either he or Lamie should be off loaded as no value in keeping both.

Time will tell if moult will remain fit one thing is obvious though - a fit moult would get a game and be more than good enough for us . i really hope he does stay fit and knock in a few goals . Very decent guy who deserves a bit of luck on his side

All things being equal were probably the 6th or 7th biggest club in Scotland. Suspect our wage bill is broadly in line with that . Where I see our issue os we haven’t really progressed this century . In the 80s and 90s there was a steady improvement in league and also quality we brought in . then we had the crazy Boyle period , recovered and over the last 10 years it feels like we’re hand to mouth brining in lots of journeyman and hoping we don’t cock up and end up on relegation although SH tenure didn’t work I did buy into the vision of brining in youth . we now have SK making it clear that he wants a smaller squad , invest in youth and work within his budget .this feels a much better way forward , the key will be brining in a small sprinkling of quality .

That’s positive news . Slattery is a decent player and I often thought he looked a touch overweight /not fully fit by modern standards hoping he can continue what’s been a great start to his pre season

Pretty sure young Dougie wasn’t quite honest about his age - he said he was 19 when he was 21 . anyways - I’d be over the moon if we could find a youngster from the lower leagues .

The arsenal boy is exactly the type of signing I’d like us to land . Youngsters from Premiership clubs who need an opportunity . we need someone who is either up and coming and needs a chance to excel or a more seasoned striker who had a record of goals and needs a bit of a break and new start . from the Links shared one of the loanees is perfect

I'll re-frame what I meant about Tierney, His strength was he'd be able to chip in with his goals. Other aspects of his game aren't good enough.

Yes , he knows where the goals are . our new formation doesn’t work for him , maybe cover for Spittal but too lightweight for covering . Good luck to the lad

just watched the highlights. Whoever came up with this idea was a genius. Take 90 mins of drab, poor football and consolidate into 5 mins that are entertaining. For all the fans getting on the backs of S'OD , Spittal please watch the highlights , lots of good moves flow from them.

the point you made is we haven'y signed a defensive midfielder in 3 years but we have. Irrespective of how good he is we have signed him. We also signed Butcher and Paton last season for similar roles.

Lamie, Mugabi shouldn't be played at the same time. Both have qualities to offer but both have cost points and will continue to do so. I'd let them move on and like you said start bringing in the likes of Campbell and others coming through the ranks. I'm far more tolerant of youngsters making mistakes than senior pro's who're simply unable to learn/stop the same thing happening.

the encouraging signs continue as we bring in players in what looks like obvious gaps in the squad.

That’s a good point. 2 midfielders would be ideal , a reall ball winner and someone who can make a pass or 2 . bring back wee Al and Turnbull

Suspect we'll hear that Shields & Efford move on before the end of the week. Is there any news on players coming in ? was hoping there may be 1-2 more coming our way. A creative midfielder would be front and centre of my current shopping list.

Sounds good to me as well Grizzly. Good experience with some quality teams. Wonder if this means others will move on - lots of jersey fillers in our squad.

god I hope not. I thought it would be the other way round. We only have 6 midfielders on our books and that includes Tierney who's more of a forward. Maguire, Miller, Spittal, Slattery, Tierney & Paton.

I'm impressed with our approach to pre-season. Quietly going about our business, giving lots of youngsters game time and working to a plan. Letting players going whilst adding a bit of more quality as we go. Fair play to the mgt team, nice to see them having. a clear plan and knowing what action is required to make said plan work.

good spot - not heard anything but wouldn't be surprised nor saddened if he moved on.

Butcher i suspect is more likely to stay in centre half but it does call out the obvious weaknesses we have in midfield last season it was a problem area for us and current status has only worsened . Suspect some of the key signings will come in midfield We could do with a Campbell and a Turnbull type . One to win the ball and another how can make things happen