Kmcalpin

I'm not sure how GA's 7-10 number will pan out but I'd be looking at bringing in 2 starting centre halves and yes one midfielder. That said, I'd like to see McGinley tried in the middle, as I thought that was his position. We seem to have a lot of experienced defenders and midfielders but how many are real starters? Hopefully we'll concentrate on quality rather than quantity this summer.

Good luck to Charles Dunne. A decent guy by all accounts, who deserves a bit of good luck. Not the best footballer in the world but very quick on his feet and decent in the air. I'm surprised that St Mirren offered him a 2 year deal given his injury record but thats up to them. He also leaves with a bit of class. I wonder if we knew of St Mirren's interest when he was offered a short term deal/pre season training facilities? From the sound of things St Mirren had him medically checked out thoroughly and these things take time. All in all a good moves for both parties. It gives our management team a bit more clarity on the squad make up as rebuilding continues.

Randolph and Ruddy are my top 2 picks and I can't separate them, although they were very different types. Ruddy's best was better than Randolph's and on his day he was unbeatable. However his worst was worse than Randolph's and he was prone to the very rare error, whereas Randolph wasn't. Randolph was the steadier of the two.

A tad harsh Weeyin. I expect a decent ball playing midfielder, at our level, to have a wee bit of pace, work hard and not hide when the going gets tough. Is that unreasonable?

Agreed we need a playmaker in midfield and maybe a holding player, depending on how well Donnelly recovers. However, although not my preference, I don't mind playing long ball football, so long as its successful.

Good luck to him. He deserves a break.

Good news about both lads. I really hope they get the chance to kick on. By all accounts Dean Cornelius has an excellent attitude.

Or Hearts could do what we've done in the past - come to some agreement with the player and let him leave for nought.

Absolutely. Another Ross Forbes? Towards the end of his purple patch, opposing managers had him sussed. A one trick pony? I recall he scored one of his trademark goals against Hearts and Craig Levein going nuclear at one of his defenders for allowing him to cut inside. Not for me.

I thought Heneghan was ok with us. Yes, a few rough edges but he played in a poor team. We could do far far worse.

Agree 100%. Taken at face value, this means that Paterson, promising though he may be, is more talented and experienced than David Turnbull was, even after the number of games he played for us before his operations. Presumably he's viewed as a once in a generation talent. Yes, they are different types of player. Paterson's financial value will consequently rise, boosted by a few Scotland appearances. Once he almost becomes a regular start for the national team, he'll start to suffer from various injuries that affects his availability. Its always been this way. The SFA needs to keep Rangers and Celtic sweet. Conspiracy theory on my part - maybe.

It's hard for us, as fans, to know players' personalities and characters. Sometimes a player's persona on the pitch is totally different to that in the dressing room. A do or die type on the pitch may be a disruptive barrackroom lawyer off it. The manager will know best.

Thats my recollection too. I'm sure he had an attitude problem before he left.

My thoughts exactly.

Does anyone know when the transfer window opens? If its July, quite a few clubs, including us, could be struggling to field decent teams for the opening League Cup fixtures.

I'm very hopeful that all our ST holders will be able to attend games from late July/August on.

Killie will be paying mid Premiership wages and will certainly top lower half salaries.

Killie are not cutting their budget next season despite relegation. Their budget will therefore still be a wee bit more than ours. Apparently, they had similar off the field problems to us i.e. lack of character and dressing room unrest. I'd therefore be wary of signing many of their players.

The team suffered badly from a lack of character this season. I just wonder if Robbo was as keen on character as you say. It seems that GA is very focused on character and attitude.

GA has done very well so far in keeping us up and finishing in 8th. So as far as that immediate aim is concerned, its job done. However he will have longer term objectives to hit such as rebuilding the squad and promoting youth. We don't know how he'll fare in these regards. It doesn't end there though. What style of play will he implement? I'd like to see open expansive football but, for me, that comes second to being successful on the pitch. I know others will disagree, some vehemently, on that.

Wot about Annan?

Agree about the 75%. Maybe scope to move on another couple? Just how many new players we actually bring in I don't know.

In terms of the short term aim of avoiding relegation I don't it know it would have mattered whether Killie appointed Wright or Alexander. Both were capable of keeping them up. Both squads were poor with dressing room issues. In our case an horrific injury list made things even worse. The critical factor was not so much which one took over but WHEN they took over. In our case GA took over early in the transfer window and had time to make a few signings, quite a few of which didn't work out admittedly (Kelly, Roberts and, to a lesser extent, Magloire did). Wright took over after the window closed although he did sign Lafferty in a desperate last throw of the dice. Had Stepehn Robinson stayed on much longer, we would have been in much greater danger of going down.

It might well be that Charles Dunne has not been offered a new deal. GA has had no opportunity to assess him in action. He has probably just been invited to take part in pre season to get him fit. As I alluded to earlier there maybe players under contract that GA doesn't fancy and will try to move on. Still a few issues to be teased out and resolved.

No doubt new boys, Dundee, will have cash to burn on new recruits.