weeyin

I'm fine if Fisher waits until the Rangers game before he hits his first three goals.

We got dead lucky avoiding injuries and suspensions when we had success with a small squad, and that philosophy cost us dear in subsequent campaigns. First there was the injury crisis that ended with bringing in basically emergency signings under Baraclough. Then last season where Cadden and McHugh had to play in defence and we struggled to fill the bench. Robinson has done a decent job making the team younger though. Tanner 22, Kipre 20, Bigi 23, Griffiths 21, Dunne 24, and Heneghan's still only 23. Of course, time will tell if any of our U20s make the grade this year, but Hastie, MacLean, McMillan (and maybe Newall) could reduce the average age even further. No doubt we'll get a better idea of the relative strengths and weaknesses of our team and Killie's when we start playing for real.

I think McCulloch's signing philosophy is "Can you play on plastic? Aye? Yir in!" That's one advantage Thomas and Erwin have from their U20 days.

Robinson keeps talking about adding another "pacey" striker, so fingers crossed he pulls that off. Would be a disaster if that didn't happen and then we lost Moult at the last minute.

I doubt any manager signs a player thinking "well he's not any better than what we have". It's far too early to tell if any of our new faces are going to contribute, but it's inevitable some of them won't. Every manager has their own style, and their own preferences, and sign players they think will make the team successful. However, we only have a finite amount of budget and sometimes "good enough" will have to do; especially if it's just for cover.

Then after the game, await the predictable media chat about Ranger's renewed interest in Moult in the run up to league kick-off.

Are you suggesting they apply for Community Trust funding?

That also makes sense. Robinson obviously has a vision on how he wants to play with Moult and/or without Moult and knows who he wants to bring in.

The abuse that guys like Heneghan took last season (and this) suggests our fan base loves to talk-the-talk when it comes to youngsters, but are a bit less willing to accommodate their learning and mistakes. I know he didn't come through the ranks, but he is in the same boat as far as being inexperienced and learning his trade. I'd love to see more youngsters come through too, but the structure of our league (and game in general) doesn't reward that risk. Can you imagine the outcry if a mistake like Jules' against Ross County had cost us our league status? Again, I know he wasn't a U20 product, but that's exactly the kind of mistake youngsters make. Hopefully, we can bring on a few more, but I understand how delicate that balance is between developing players and losing games.

Or Erwin didn't fancy coming back to Fir Park.

The thing about our U20s is that the guys we release never go on to prove us wrong. That's pretty standard for any club, of course, not just ours. And then we've seen guys like Moore, McHugh, Thomas etc. who get a shot, but never quite manage it. I can understand why some youngsters get impatient, but it's a brutal career where you are harshly judged and the vast majority are going to fail. If they can't handle that, then better they find out now.

I know. It's horrible how our opponents have players that want to play. Neither Thomas or Erwin wanted to play for us. They both had their chance, and they both left. Good luck to them, but I'm not worried about them. When a team beats us, I really don't care if it's ex-players that are involved any more than I care if it's our opponents ex-players that score for us when we win. Like I said in an earlier post, my bigger concern is for the Scottish game where Erwin joins a long list of players with potential who couldn't cut it with a lower league English Team.

If he does end up back in Scotland, we can add him to the ever-growing list of players that couldn't cut it in the English Lower Leagues. A lot of water under the bridge since teams like Ayr Utd and Partick Thistle were providing players for successful Liverpool teams.

I doubt he's foreign enough to interest Rangers. Aberdeen might fancy a punt. Robinson will certainly know all about him and if he's remotely interested in bringing him back. I wouldn't be against it, but I'll need to be convinced his success at the end of his last season wasn't mostly down to Skippy's mentoring. His most successful period was when he was loaned to Arborath.

Transfer window closes August 31st I believe. Then it's Free Agent time.

To quote Bob Paisley (I think) - He's not fast. But he's nippy.

Unless it's one of the youngsters, of course.

It never even crossed my mind until a couple of years ago when someone on here mentioned it seemed like an offensive nickname.

When we were dossing around in the old First Division, the Berwick Rangers games at Fir Park were typically the worst of the season. Dave (baldy) Smith was the player-manager and brought am entire new level of park-the-bus and time wasting to the game. Brutal. Hopefully, this one will be a bit more entertaining.

I always assumed "Big Mick" nickname was as a nod to this guy rather than his religious affiliation.

Agree with most of the Skippy comments. Never seemed to give less than 100% when he was playing, and made a significant contribution. Like Pearson (and McFadden), his time came to a natural end. I think he has his ideal gig now for this stage in his career - decent Championship team + media work.

In his interview earlier in the week he mentioned he was still looking to bring in more pace up front.

The rage that badge kissing seems to inflame will always remain a mystery to me.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's a bit early to write-off Big Mick. He was out injured for months, and not close to being match fit. He also hates playing on plastic.

Ah, right. I missed them as they have only played twice so far. Maybe Cowdenbeath will do them tomorrow.