Kmcalpin

A fair assessment. Rangers looked to be a fortnight ahead of us fitness wise and their superior work rate when not in possession was very telling. On paper we look to be very strong in central midfield and up front but I'm not sure about our defence especially our 2 full/wing backs. Our defensive midfield, will also need to get up to speed and quickly. Worrying though that when big Deccy is out Donnelly has to revert to central defence - not his best position in my view. More gametime for the players and the result, although pretty meaningless will help our ongoing preparation. We shouldn't forget too though that many of the players haven't played together very much - it showed. Maybe some of our younger lads will be thinking they have a chance to step up this season.

Unable to login either on a PC or on an iPad. Sites just not loading. Probably just as well!

As others are saying no immediate rush to sell with the window not closing until October. We shouldn't sell unless a ridiculously high offer comes in.

Its interesting that a Celtic representative reportedly watched him play in a closed doors game. If true, that suggest that the club knows about their continuing interest.

I'm sure when he picked up his injury it was said that he'd be out for a few weeks and would miss the remainder of the season. As we're now some 5 months further on I suspect he's suffered some kind of complication or the injury was worse than originally thought.

An “interesting” start to the season. Only 2 games in and 1st August rapidly approaching, and it appears that Carroll, Semple, Devine and Gallagher are all injured to some degree and haven’t kicked a ball in anger yet.Seems unlikely that Carroll will face Ross County and big Declan must also be very doubtful.

Quite understandable and I suspect the vast majority will agree, although its not a no brainer for everyone. My added fear is that if it became the main stream then home attendances could be affected too. Its a wet freezing day in January, when I could sit in my comfy warm house 3 miles from Fir Park, and save myself some dosh and maybe have a few beers. TV football is not for me, except in unusual circumstances. For a start there's no atmosphere and you have to put up with shocking commentaries and punditry more often than not. Each to their own though.

Aye, the archetypal midfield playmaker. When he was on his game, which was more often than not, he made the team tick.

You must be of the same era as me. I first saw Pat play in 1959/60ish. He was very talented and a great passer of the ball. Very sad news.

Surprised but quite pleased with this announcement. It gives us some continuity and something different to Watt and White. Its essential to have a mix of striking types.

On the assumption that we aren't allowed crowds back into Fir Park until January, then here's a back of a fag packet calculation. We miss 2 "Old Frm" home games and perhaps lose gate income from 16,200 fans in total. Say they pay an average of £16 per game that brings in £259K gross. Deduct VAT and that gives us a net loss of about £207K plus extras like catering and hospitality. A bit of a hit yes but not catastrophic.

My thoughts too.

A wise decision. Alan Burrows also makes mention of spending more time on our medium to long term projects, which can only be good for our club.

We’re all just speculating now. The club will know the figures very well and I doubt if they’d shoot themselves in the foot needlessly. Would there be some benefit to this kind of deal to save on VAT?

Sorry, I was referring to our home game against Hibs. It would be nice to watch it on TV without having to pay Sky. Hopefully we can a pay a one off fee to some party (I'd much rather it was Ross County) for the game in Dingwall. On another tack, I assume our away game to Celtic on 29 August will be rescheduled?

Suggestion on P & B that we could come to some arrangement with Wigan over Kipre's sell onfee if thats possible. Seems a sensible suggestion.

Hopefully season ticket holders who don't or won't subscribe to Sky will get access to this game?

Absolutely. Going back to our spell in Administration, big Terry had the final say about who was transferred and who wasn't from a football perspective. However the administrators decided what fee was acceptable for any leavers. Dundee United offered "to help us out" by tabling an offer for Stuart Elliot which was about 10% of the fee we eventually received from Hull City. United were told where to go in no uncertain terms. Kipre is worth more than £1m.

This. A lot is going to depend on the formation we play. I'm no tactician, far from it, but I wouldn't class the likes of Hylton and Hastie (and Seedorf) as strikers, more wide midfielders. I believe we're still looking for another striker to complete the jigsaw. One of our attacking problems last term (yes we did finish 3rd), was that the lone striker was too isolated from the wingers and central midfielders.

Seems fairly clear now that there's more to this story than meets the eye.

You'd think that, in their position, they'd be careful about spending money.

Interesting......

I don’t know about Jake Carroll but I’m confused about the lockdown guidelines. Plenty of shops and businesses are too.

Absolutely. Many fans have expressed disquiet because we can’t compete with the wages on offer down south. Now we know one of the reasons why. I’m happy with our approach.

Its not just footballers. I'm sure most of us could produce a list, the length of your arm if not longer, of those who have broken lockdown rules.