weeyin

This is one of the difficulties of the new Reserve set up. Some teams with larger squads are using it to keep their more experienced players ticking over. Others are using it more like a replacement for the U20s teams. While it's good for our youngsters to compete against the older players, it does lead to some mismatches.

Are they spending their spare cash on buying out Moreles' contract? (Or maybe just paying his fines) .

I think we might nick this one by a goal.

Based on Saturday's performances I'd be just as happy with Frear and Cadden starting next season as Ariyibi and Hastie. Of course, it's equally possible they leave too.

Losing in finals is good practice for playing in the first team. Shame we couldn't finish the job, but a great run from the youngsters.

It's almost like the players' agents talk to other clubs for months and keep it a secret from you so you have no idea of the timing of any of the offers our youngsters receive.

Didn't hear any boos on the MFC TV stream today, but don't doubt there are a few idiots out there. I said in the other thread the his big challenge now is how he deals with teams that try to shut him down, and he struggled with the two markers today.

Completely agree. It was a big loss when we sold Cedric then lost Dunne to injury. He used his pace to great effect today and his distribution has improved. Mostly simple passes, but just the fact that he is finding a man makes a huge difference.

I know he's copied Turnbull's haircut, but even I can tell them apart.

Nice way to finish. Strange old game. Thought we were the better team in the first half, but not great - and had to rely on the penalty save to go in level. St. Johnstone started the 2nd half the better team and should have scored, but after Robinson made his substitutions, we improved and ran out comfortable winners.

Passes into the back of the net. Easy. Subs have been the difference this afternoon.

Dunne - the playmaking maestro. Great build up play. Nice goal.

It's almost like the players that want to stay accept our offers.

It depends on the exact contract details, but many pre-contracts aren't worth much - as some players and clubs have discovered in recent times when one or other party has reneged. They are more like conditional offers of intent. Some details on what is and isn't enforceable are discussed here.

If we get 9 points from our next 3 games, Robinson should get manager of the year.

I hear that's called the Lewis Morgan model.

What does "Acceptable" mean? We made him an offer - and even sold Bigi to free up cash in the budget. He declined. How do we make it "acceptable"? Offer him more money than a senior player? Match Sevco's offer? We made Moult an offer too, but he still moved on. So that wasn't acceptable either. Sometimes, it's just not possible, and there's not a club on the planet that has been able to hold on to every player they want to keep.

I think it's a speculative punt for any club at this stage. Hastie's attributes seem to be power and speed - two excellent qualities in a player. Like all new players, he was an unknown quantity to the opposition and certainly made a big impact. Teams already started adjusting, though. Hearts after seeing him 45 minutes, and Killie after the abandoned game, both changed the coverage and he became much less effective. So, for me, he passed the initial part of his introduction into the first team i.e. making an impact with some great performances and bags of confidence. The next part will be to see how he adjusts now teams are working him out. And, of course, the final part will be to see if he improves. For example, his decision making on when to pass, when to shoot and when to hit the line for a cross is still very much that of a raw teenager. Of course I would have loved to have seen him stick around or another season and see how (and if) he developed. I think it would have been an accelerated process for him because he would have been playing alongside guys that he's played with since he was 8 or 9 and know his game inside out. If I had to choose between keeping Hastie or keeping Turnbull for another year, though, it would be Turnbull every time - he looks like the real deal. It's all a gamble at this point, though. The leagues are littered with stories of promising youngsters who made a big impact for a few games or even a season, and then just faded away - and conversely, with stories of players who were average youngster who came good later in their career.

How do we make them sign? People keep saying we "should have sorted it", but I have seen zero suggestions on how we could have made him put pen to paper. We secured Turnbull, Scott and Maguire, and already held on to Campbell and Cadden in prior years. If there is a way to secure 100% of academy players on longer term deals, I'm sure every club would love to know the secret. Hope they gave him a season ticket with a decent view so he pick up some tips from Jamie Murphy

I prefer not to do it for anyone at any game - but that's just me.

Robinson said that Bigi was sold to specifically to free up some cash to offer Turnbull, Hastie and Scott new deals.

There's a famous American artist called Robert Motherwell - full name Robert Burns Motherwell III, I believe. (Presumably with some Scottish heritage).

If Cadden gets himself fit over the next few weeks, should he get a starting spot? If so, who makes room for him? (I'm guessing Hastie - especially if he has signed a pre-contract elsewhere by then).

People also claimed Twardzik was responsible for our improvement in form when he came in on loan (so much so, they insisted we sign him full time). It's rarely as simple as that. I still maintain that, as good as he is, he would not have been as influential if we had slotted him into the team and formation we were playing in August.

I think, basically, McLeish is a better coach than he is manager. He showed with us that, given the right players, he was able to get the best from them. When he needed to be a manager and sign new players and build a new system, he failed on a grand scale. If he was coaching the Scotland squad from the 70s or 80s he'd probably do just fine. However, the last manager to get the best out of a limited Scotland squad was probably Craig Brown.