Lobey_Dosser

After a sticky first half, today turned out to be a decent performance and good result on a very poor surface. Too early to make judgement on our new recruits although Seedorf and Hylton brought the game alive and showed signs of some raw quality. Interesting that Sloth didn’t make the bench as we were light in midfield with Polworth suspended. Presumably his fitness standards aren’t at the required level yet. Hopefully we can find ourselves an experienced striker with a bit of pedigree that can help link the play, or else the potential of the new wingers is unlikely to be fulfilled. Scott showed some flashes of good play but he clearly needs a run of games at the appropriate level. Johnson failing to make the bench would suggest he’s not in our immediate plans.

Campbell, a class above anyone else on the pitch although I was pleased to see Semple grow into the game. Seedorf and Hylton brought the game to life but you can’t get too carried away given the quality and fitness of the opposition.

Another left back would be most welcome and his reported versatility would be right up Robinson’s street. Also leaves the door open for the return of Gboly.

Interesting, I’d welcome that. Cadden’s injury came at an unfortunate time and it appears to have hindered his options. While his progression has admittedly stagnated, partly due to the rwb role, he has been an excellent servant to Motherwell. An opportunity to sign a 1 or 2 year contract may benefit all parties if he can play in a more advanced role and start notching a few more goals/assists to draw interest.

Seedorf looks like a signing that we can get a wee bit excited about. Fair play to Robinson, he seems to be going down the flair route with talk of another winger (Gboly please) arriving this week. I just hope that in the absence of Turnbull, we have someone to pull the strings in the middle of the park. Casper maybe?

Useful to see Darlington’s footage. Don’t suppose they interviewed Robinson as well? I’m not enjoying our apparent shift in content this summer.

Gerrard looking to offload him and it the move to Blackpool being reported as likely. He’s a striker I really like the look of although it has been suggested he doesn’t apply himself as well as he should.

Looks like Shankland is indeed signing for Dundee Utd. This may partly be down to the takeover delay at Sunderland but I’m surprised at him staying in the championship. Strange one.

With the appropriate due diligence, I’d be all for it. While I’ve came round to the idea of supporting fan ownership and fully endorse living within our means, the gap between ourselves and big city clubs is likely to grow.

Shirt sales with ‘Magnificent 7’ on the back will hopefully generate a few quid.

If he’s out for the thick end of the rumoured 3-6 months, we’ll likely struggle for £3mil + offers as he enters the last year of his contract. Motherwell and Turnbull have conducted themselves impeccably throughout the process and it’s very unfortunate how events have unfolded. The end result is not great news for either party.

Poor Turnbull, his head must be spinning. Fingers crossed the surgery is minor, he is back playing in no time and this saga does nothing to depreciate his transfer value. Difficult time for the club too, I imagine we were ready to execute plans as soon as the money arrived in the bank. Do we now put one or two proposed summer signings on the back burner?

Gutted for Turnbull if this has fallen through due to a medical reason, particularly in such high profile circumstances. Regarding negotiations between both clubs, that should be a short conversation. If Celtic are unwilling to pay the agreed fee for medical reasons, then the deal is off. Tough for the boy, but he won’t be the first to fail a medical and then get a multi million pound move elsewhere.

Brian Kerr.

I mind seeing Shankland for Aberdeen reserves and wasn’t particularly impressed, despite scoring against us. He did look an out and out poacher that day. Interestingly though, Ian McCall said recently that’s he unsure whether 9 or 10 will be his best position, which suggests he’s may be developing into a more versatile forward. Anyway, there’s no chance of us getting him at this stage in his career with Sunderland, Hearts and Rangers previously signalling interest.

The likelihood is we’ll be signing players we haven’t heard of. However, I was wondering if we might be in for local boy Lewis MacLeod. He’s been dogged by injury since leaving Rangers but is a talented midfielder. Luke Leahy is another player I’ve been keen on for years but we seem to be covered at left back now. And while it splits opinion, I hope we have a chance of getting Mikey Johnston on loan.

While I think we’ve done well to get £3mil+, reports of Aberdeen rejecting Celtic’s £5mil offer for the overrated McKenna isn’t the best timing...

I’m too young to fully appreciate how good O’Donnell was in his prime but I’d rate Turnbull higher than Faddy, he certainly has a higher ceiling. Nobody loved Faddy more than me, particularly for his exploits with Scotland, but Turnbull has potential to be a top player for a top European club like McAllister. Being an integral player for Everton proved to be beyond Faddy. The unfortunate thing with Turnbull is that he didn’t get the opportunity cement his hero status by ripping Rangers and Celtic apart the way Faddy did.

Character will still be high on his agenda - I said in Jan that McCormack didn’t strike me as a typical Robinson signing. On Lafferty, he obviously blows hot and cold but he’ll probably screw the nut this season with Euro 2020 in mind. I’m sure I’ve heard Robinson praising Lafferty before, did we not try and sign him before he went to Hearts?

Until we signed Ross McCormack... I’d love Lafferty at Fir Park, as would Robinson, his all round game is miles ahead of what we are used to. However, it’s not going to happen unfortunately.

I think we are still looking at 5 or 6 signings, particularly if Hartley and Johnson are offloaded. Given the risk attached to the loss of Turnbull, Hastie and Aldred, hopefully we are able to invest in one or two players that have a bit of pedigree.

The stepping stone may be of benefit to Turnbull. To date he hasn’t played under any real pressure so that will be a learning curve in itself. He me also be attracted to having the likes of Brown, Tierney and McGregor who will welcome him in, recognising that David is central to their future success. My only reservation is Lennon, who is primarily interested in winning as opposed to nurturing talent like his predecessor. As an aside, he’ll walk straight into this current Celtic midfield which was on the wane last season. If he hits the ground running, he’ll have minimum 15 goals by Christmas, probably more.

Lennon on SSN confirming Turnbull will have his medical this morning and sign this afternoon. Good luck to the kid, huge decision for a 19 year old and the last few weeks won’t have been easy. He’ll inevitably end up in England (or abroad) but maybe he saw the jump to Norwich too big at the moment. Rather than potentially being on the fringes of an EPL team that are likely to be battling relegation he can play a central role in Celtic winning 10 IAR. Then with plenty of goals and a few medals under his belt, he may be ready for an established EPL team at the age of 21.

Oh dear.

Burrows recently indicated that we’re trying hard for Ariyibi but should anything materialise, it’s likely to be nearer the end of the window.