Kmcalpin

McHugh has already served his suspension against Accies on 30 December. Will Carson be fit for Saturday?

Now we only need a back up left back, but thats not quite so urgent as we have Stevie Hammell until late January. Plummer doesn't appear to be in the manager's thinking; and it would be unfair to put young Adam Livingstone under too much pressure, although a few subs appearances would do him good. So, we've brought 3 players in and are losing 2 players. Maybe one or two may go out either permanently or on loan, but that may happen late on in the window.

Peter Hartley deserves his punishment and I've no grouse with that. However after he shoved Imrie to the ground, he himself was pushed, he was kicked from behind, and he was punched. Had the BBC filmed that, and highlighted the situation as they often do, then other players would have been cited and received bans. It seems that only TV evidence is deemed acceptable by the Compliance Officer. In short if TV pundits and commentators highlight an issue then its investigated, if they choose not to then it isn't.

Well, I think sufficient time has now elapsed to allow us to conclude that the SFA deems the matter to be closed. Hartley's red card issued at the end of the game and his subsequent 2 game ban represents the sum total of their response. I'd love to see the referee's report and how he covered the brawl at the end. Despite all that went on only Hartley was punished. That indicates downright poor refereeing. Because of the way in which this has been handled it'll ensure niggles continue into Saturday's game. Whoever is appointed to referee the game this weekend he'll need to be strong and preferrably experienced - some hope eh? Still this sorry episode has clarified one issue for us. The Compliance Officer system is entirely inconsistent and open to abuse. It appears that BBC and TV staff in general have a huge influence over who gets punished and who doesn't. No other external evidence is acceptable. That doesn't inspire any sense of fairness. The system is a joke and has little credibility.

I don't think McHugh is banned. He was given a 1 match ban taking effect from 30 December, which he served, albeit he was injured. A mistake on the SFA site?

Absolutely. I think we'll see a new team in more ways than one after the break. I'm not going to make wild predictions but we should fare far better. Like most Well fans I was well brassed off after the Accies game, but hey onwards and upwards.

It was never intended to play Kipre as much this season given his age and inexperience. However he performed above expectations. Robbo will be looking for another right sided central defender and a left back/wing back.

The Society has tweeted that there's been payment problems this month and its looking into them. . Anyone experiencing trouble should contact the Society.

I don't doubt that if Shifty is selected to start Accies players will be under strict orders to needle him. It'll be a real test of character for him. edit: Joewarkthelegend has just suggested to me that Celtic may have put a clause in his loan contract to rule out playing any cup games.

Also forgot to mention Ben Ellis who notched up about 280 games at left back for us. He could head a ball further than many could kick it. Long before our time.

Wots a shine box?

I'd rate Joe Wark as our best left back since I began going to Fir Park. Joes' only weakness that I could see was his lack of pace. Why didn't he move clubs? I don't know the answer to that except perhaps that he played in a different era with more club loyalty and no Bosman moves. He never got capped purely because of Old Firm bias, which is why I stopped going to Scotland games. Don't forget too we had Baldy Shaw in the 40s and 50s. Now with Stevie Hammell we've had more than our fair share of loyal left backs.

Neither Tanner nor Petra are out and out strikers.

I'm sure he took one in a penalty shoot out at Forfar ........and missed.

I'm of the same view. I really did think we'd have a number of targets lined up. Neither Main nor Cifti seem to fit our model ie guys with potential who have scored goals, albeit at a lower level but who haven't realised their potential. In the club's defence though its a difficult window in which to get decent players brought in. As others have said of course other clubs may have upped their demands when they found out just how much we received for Louis Moult. It may be of course that we have a target lined up for the summer and just want a short term fix to tide us over.

Cifti represents a big risk and doesn't seem to fit well with Robinson's public stereotype player. On one hand he's a big physical guy who can put himself about and stand up to all but the the biggest of defenders. He's also got loads of skill and an eye for goal. On the other hand he did have an attitude and behavioural problem and was only ever really a success at Dundee United. You pays your money and you takes your choice. He'd be a gamble which might pay off or backfire.

Don't hold back then Andy!

Once he left us I ceased to have much interest in him apart from any add on money which we earned. I wish him no harm at all of course but I'd rather concentrate on our current players. What he posts is up to him and so long as he doesn't denigrate us I'll take no notice. He does seem a decent sort though.

I'm not normally one to rush things in the transfer window usually preferring to prioritise quality over speed of signing but we need to get new signings in and up and running before the Accies and Ross County games. Still time yet but the clock is ticking.

We need to bring in a few players and despite whats been said I suspect we'll be trying to offload a player or two. The back up goalkeeper position needs sorting out one way or the other as I can't see Trevor Carson playing every game from now until the end of the season. Although management know best, I suspect we'll need a back up left back as Ellis Plummer is clearly out of the reckoning and it would be unfair to heap too much pressure on the very promising but youthful Adam Livingston. We all know we're we're looking for a new central defender. An attacking central midfielder with apce would be nice but I can't see it being a priority this month. Another striker is a must. So I'd say we're looking at maybe 3 more players, more if a better player moves on for cash.

Good post. The football world has changed and we are but a small part of that. I admire Bosman for his honesty. He always said he never intended to change the system for the good of his fellow professionals but was simply doing it for personal selflish motives and I'm comfortable with that. We're in the early days of our new business model and I feel its on the right track. As thisGraeme says I want us to move onto the next level once Les and John Boyle have been paid off.

One of the most emotive posts I've read on here in years so well done. Its certainly sparked debate which is great. However I don't think all of it is strictly factual. Some good rebuttals too from the likes Of Spiderpig, Andy P and Welldaft. You've missed out Stevie Hammell's presence on Saturday so we ought to take that into account. Taking into this year's position so far, we've finished above them in 3 years out of 4. We haven't completely ignored youth development when you take into account lads like Cadden, Campbell, Erwin and Hall, so thats being slightly unkind. After the Baraclough era, Robbo was charged with keeping us up and developing youth. I'd argue he's still battling to keep us up and is only 6 months into the rebuilding programme. I would argue that our club has gained from its current recruitment policy. All managers have thier fair share of failures. Tommy Maclean is often credited as being one of most astute managers ever in the transfer market but even he signed his fair amount of failures. Yes he signed household names such as Ray Blair, Bobby Carberry, Brian Wright, Jamie Doyle, John Gardiner, Gordon Mair.. I won't go on. Under the current policy we've made maybe twice or three times the £500K you quote. I simply don't agree that currently we have the worst quality of footballer we've ever had. I don't know how old you are but we've had far worse teams in the past. What about the Alex McLeish team of the late 90s? If thats not enough what about harri kampmann's side of the late 90s? Then there's Ally MacLeod's team of the late 70s. Bobby Howitt's team of the late 60s which got relegated from a league of 18 teams was as poor as I can recall. You use the term "human commodity dealing" which conjures up visions in my mind of modern day slavery and human trafficking. This could apply to the whole footballing world. Its a short career but most senior footballers do very well out of it thanks very much. It could equally apply to Accies' much and rightly lauded youth scheme which you cite. I can assure you that that scheme, in common with most others is very cutthroat and ruthless. Hamilton may field a commendable amount of young players but they certainly don't play good football. In fact its much worse than ours. The young players they bring through are very streetwise indeed. Given our resources, we are never going to do well in the top league by playing good football alone. To do well i.e. win a top six place or reach a cup final we have to play a more mundane brand of boring football as do most of our direct competitors such as St Johnstone, who have done so very successfully. Don't forget too that a good few of wee Tommy's early teams were as boring as hell to watch; in those days were we quite content to defend in depth, attack twice and win by 1-0. We should be grateful for what we've got, although thats not to say things can't be improved upon.

We weren't well beaten by Accies. Yes, they deserved to win but it was close and refereeing decisions played a big part.

Kipre is a young guy, only about 20 I believe and it was never intended to play him week in week out. He was signed as a long term prospect and as back up. The rest is history. Time will tell.

I think you've been paying too much heed to the Scottish media. Our physical/aggeressive approach to football was never an issue until we beat Sevco in the semi final. Sevco could handle themselves perfectly well just ask Louis Moult. In the run of games since then most teams have beaten us physically and in some cases dominated us. In the game against Hibs media darling John McGinn who is built like a tank lashed out at anything that moved and proved more than capable of winning 40/60 balls. Don't confuse one random barny with an over physical approach. Dundee were very physical for example with Moussa in particular being lucky to see half time. Their defence too were big and took no prisoners. Last weekend Accies were far more physical and aggressive than us. Tanner and Newell in particular suffered a battering. Where we do lose out to some extent is that we are naive and commit rash challenges Kipre style whilst other more streetwise teams lash out behind the referee's back. On the contrary I want to see us improve our physicality and controlled aggression yet further but without resorting to dirtiness. I want to see our players be strong enough to hold off challenges from the likes of Brown, McGinn, Tomas, McKinnon, Alves, Lafferty and O'Hara.