Kris-A-Goalda

I spoke to Tommy Wright at a Ballyclare Comrades game not long after GA beat him to the job last time and he said he was gutted not to have got the job. He was convinced that he would have been able to stabilise the club in a more fan-friendly way than Alexander looked to likely do at the time, so I reckon he’ll be a shoe-in for it if he applies.

I think he could be tempted, but maybe only after the end of the season if we employ someone else until June. He's done all he can at Linfield, so if he doesn't win the league this year he has nothing to prove and if he does win it, he can leave as even more of a legend before the teams around them get even stronger. Wouldn't be averse to Healy, but wouldn't straight out shut him down. Unless he plans on bringing Lafferty with him.

Healy is at the business end of a tricky season at the Blues. Knocked out of the Irish Cup last weekend, but has a League Cup final on the horizon. They are also sitting 3rd in one of tightest top 5s in Europe right now. His opposite number in the LC final though - Oran Kearney - could be a good shout if his time at St Mirren hasn't burnt him. Astute, tactically aware and doesn't suffer fools. in a similar way to Hammy, his time in Paisley was gubbed by the team his predecessor left.

I wouldn't say it's players we didn't rate. Carson - much loved by the fans but illness and Gillespie's form stopped him regaining No.1 spot Dunne - again, popular player amongst fans but injuries made him a liability for a long term contract Gallagher - great first season but head turned when Aberdeen came calling, ability never questioned but mentality was Main - filled the Moult-shaped gap after January but went too long without scoring in first full season O'Hara - concussion meant his performances were fleeting, but was never a poor player for us

I'd say that there'd be a different demand on the players of a team that finished second in the FAI second tier and a team that played in Europe the same season, but again it's all down to the player's prep. Also, just as there are pedants on here about calling the SPFL the SPL and suchlike, "Irish League" would be in reference to the NIFL Northern Irish Football League - Blaney and Taylor came to Scotland from "League of Ireland" teams.

I'd imagine it's a fitness thing - League of Ireland is a summer league, so he's likely still going through a post or pre-season type recovery.

Any signing we bring in in January is going to be someone struggling for game time, unless they're coming from a summer league. Henrik Ojamaa is probably the most impactful January signing we've had in an attacking sense - hit the ground running on his debut and kept riding that momentum all the way til the end of the season. Another like him would be ideal.

Hearing through Irish League chat that we are looking at Lee Bonis of Larne and Ronan Hale of Cliftonville to bolster attacking options. Bonis also wanted by Rotherham. Both have hit double figures in the last few seasons. Hale has a reputation for the spectacular goal while Bonis is more of a poacher. Conor McMenamin of Glentoran was also being looked at as an option but a fractured leg a few weeks back has cooled down the speculation.

Hearing the mid-contract interviewee is David Healy.

He obviously did, or she'd not be pregnant.

With the exceptions of Turnbull and Watt (so far anyway), who was the last player to leave us for a rival SPFL team that has made a lasting impact for their club or bettered themselves? You look at St Mirren with Tait and Dunne, plus Main and Erwin via other clubs, and you'd be hard pushed to say any of them are making the Buddies better. Main's time at Aberdeen was far less impactful than his time with us. Going by Wikipedia, he scored more for The Well than Dons and St Mirren combined so far. Would you need to go as far back as McDonald going to Celtic?

Ben Hall debuting for Linfield on the iPlayer just now against Larne in the Irish Cup. Christy Manzinga booked after 4 minutes and lucky not to be off for kick at a Larne defender. Jake Hastie on the bench for the Blues as well.

Bigirimana is part of a Glentoran team that are finding their groove again in the Irish League, but hasn't featured for them since the turn of the year. They are saturated with options in the middle of the park, so his time there may be limited after January. On the blue side of Belfast, Christy Manzinga has 17 or 18 goals for the season so far, second top scorer behind Glentoran's mercurial striker and convicted sex-offender Jay Donnelly. Rohan Ferguson is having an up and down season in goals for Larne. He's been at fault - or certainly could have done better - for a few goals that have contributed to them sliding out of title contention. For anyone interested in seeing how good/bad the Irish League is, there's at least one live game a week on the BBC iPlayer, either on a Friday night or a Saturday 530 kick off. Tends to mainly be games involving the Belfast sides, plus Larne and Coleraine, and it's very rare for there to be a game without goals, drama, controversy or abysmal refereeing.

Is the Mallard the one where the boy got glassed while the Dembele Old Firm game was on, before we drew 1-1 there?

Come On, Eileen works perfectly for Kevin van Veen.

Direct quote from the interview below - whether you believe it to be racist or not is your opinion and that's grand, but from Ross' own explanation and from a neutral standpoint, it's racially insensitive at it's weakest and a bloody stupid thing to say in general , given his position. "The exact words I said were: 'He looks like he's moving like a 40-year-old. What age is he actually? Does he have a doctored African passport?'

You clearly didn't read it properly then.

Great performance and result today. At 3pm, the team maybe didn't look as expected but by full time, they'd done as good a job as seen all season. Nullified Lafferty to half-chances and but for a better touch and ball in the final third, we could have had four or five. Foley played his part really well, didn't put a foot wrong and looked like he'd been a part of the midfield all season. Cole's finish for the first and set-up for the second were sublime. As galling as it is to have had such a poor season, it now looks likely that we could finish the season with more points than the teams in 6th and 5th. - level with St Johnstone and Livingston with an "easier" run in. Job done, on to the next one.

I don't think it's outwith the realms of possibility that it could have. The squad is poor, but barring the Dundee United victory, the other QFs showed how good/jobby the other teams left are. Looking at it conversely, how could you imagine that a squad that had far higher-quality players like Hammell, Lasley, Pearson, Ainsworth, McManus, McDonald and Johnson could almost get us relegated? It took a one-off tie as such for that squad to keep us in the division. Who's to say that the current bunch of dross couldn't have shithoused it's way to the cup?

Fudser, as he's affectionately known over here, is pulling the strings against Gael Bigirimana at The Oval tonight... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/56794280

Lavery is a good, tenacious player. Dynamite in and around the box and with a fair bit of pace to boot. Similar to an Arnott, McDonald, Ojamaa. He's been hlped massively this year by Joel Cooper, back on loan at Linfield from Oxford, who I've watched for a good few years now over here. Both maybe need to bulk up a bit for the Scottish game, but I'd be happy with either. Another to keep an eye on in the NIFL Premiership is Fuad Sule of Larne - an absolute unit of a midfield spoiler. Strong and with a low centre of gravity, he rarely loses possession and if he does, he snaps right back to get it. Would be a great replacement for Campbell's doggedness, but maybe more defensively minded.

They could very well follow the norm and hire an ex-Well manager in McLeish though. An Aberdeen legend that "knows the size of the club" and would likely take the job in a heartbeat.

30 goals in 81 appearances (if you believe Wikipedia), plus another couple of years experience under his belt, means he'd definitely be worth a start for us at the mo. But again, it all comes down to supply. Outside of Tony Watt, we have zero to little creativity, making our front three very easy to play against. The only team that have made us look like a proper, dangerous attacking side this season were County at Fir Park. Since then, teams have nullified Watt for the most part and with no wingers or proper outballs, whoever has played through the middle has struggled. Cole's confidence and hold-up play has improved since Alexander has come in and he's scored from areas you'd expect a striker to score from. Long has looked a bit livelier as well, but for the most part - set pieces aside - they are having to carve out opportunities for themselves instead of getting on the end of passes, crosses or neat interplay. If we could make better/more chances, Bowman or a Bowman-type would get among the goals for us.

Interesting that Sportscene didn't show the Dev Cole kick-out in the highlights or bring it up in the analysis. I'd expect SuperScoreboard to be ablaze with that this week.

It's the Bel-Clasico tonight on BBC iPlayer if you fancy watching a game where Christy Manzinga and Gael Bigirimana are starting on opposing benches.