Kmcalpin

Good post. I'm not entirely sure if we have regressed but at best we've stood still. Like you say plans should have been put in place several years ago to replace Dads Army. Keith Lasley is now slowing up and struggles to last 90 minutes and he'll be 36 at the start of the new season. Stevie Hammell is 34 and has had a jekyll and hyde season - good on the attack although slowing a bit but poor defensively and has cost us a few goals. No serious attempt has been made to replace him. Francis Angol was meant to be a long term replacement but never quite made it. Straker was a short term emergency signing nothing more; and Joe Chalmers was presumably seen as a longer term replacement but hasn't quite made it. It doesn't surprise me that Stephen McManus might be offered a new deal as both Ian Baraclough and Mark McGhee seem to rate him and he is "only" 33. Faddy? A year older and slower. Scott MacDonald is a no brainer and deserves another deal or take up of his option. At worst the team will finish in a credible 6th position and now is the time to bring in fresh blood, although it ought to have been done a few years ago. Pearo too isn't getting any younger and our engine room will require an overhaul sooner rather than later. Time will tell though which players will be offered new deals and which won't. Ideally, even a successful squad needs about 3/4 new faces a year to keep the team developing and the time to do it is when you're doing well not when you're struggling. We may well require a new goalie unless Craig Samson steps up and the striking department will require additions if Fletcher, Clarkson and possibly Moore move on. Still no word on Ben Hall?

No problems I'll check for this one.

Ok, I'll check

I'll do my best Dezz & Tamwell.

I'll do my best Ian.

Hi folks, I've been ordered to clean out our loft and have quite a few old programmes for sale or maybe give away in some cases. If there's any particular ones anyone wants pm me and I'll check in the next week or two.

My first game was a reserve game at Fir Park in the late fifties, aged 2 or 3. Can't remember a thing about it.

I don't know for sure but doubt if we'd be budgetting for top six after having to endure the playoffs last season. Our ambitions would have been somewhat more modest. Average crowds are certainly up this season and of course we have Lee Erwin's transfer fee, or at least some of it to take into account. Prize money will be at least £850,000 more than last season. Given all these factors, there will be considerable negotiation behind the scenes about how Les' loans are paid off and so on.

Thats my understanding. Not expecting any meeting until after the takeover. With us achieving a top six place and transfer sales in prospect that will mean a good more extra cash coming in and that could affect repayment schedules and the likes. No doubt a lot of negotiation is going on.

Maybe a wee bit of extra cash for the club's youth programme?

I thought the target was 2,000 members?

Quite. If we were to wait for the season to finish before working on departures and arrivals then we'd be at the back of the queue. Other clubs would not feel duty bound to wait and would look on us as being mugs. Quite a few rival clubs have already some Pre Contract Agreements in place. Ian Baraclough was quite clear that having to wait until the playoffs last season put us at a severe disadvanatge in terms of reshaping the squad. Quite understandable then that fans pick up on rumours and snippets of signing gossip - the meat and drink of messageboards.

We are now entering the final stages of this season, having fulfilled almost 90% of our fixtures. We're not going to win any cups this season and we'll finish in the top six in 4th,5th or 6th position with the season ending in a month. Not unnaturally a few of us are speculating on likely signings and departures. So I don't find it at all odd Tweed that folks are now beginning to look ahead to the next campaign. Ian Baraclough said last year, at an AGM, that the club had begun to identify possible signing targets in January for the summer window (despite being in the relegation zone). He said that identifying, negotiating with and signing new players could often take several months. So, I'd guess with Mark McGhee having his own ideas, and the club being in a much more stable position in a playing & financial sense that our departure and signing plans will be at fairly advanced stage. The new season will kick off in about 3 months. Rumours about possible departures and arrivals are already circulating in the stands and I suppose this discussion is simply reflecting that. Incidentally may I ask why you singled out Dundee and Partick?

100% agree. I started this "mini" discussion by defining 2 totally opposite approaches to generate discussion but of course there is a whole range of scenarios in between and the ideal approach would seem to be somewhere around the middle. We could play the likes of Cadden and Hall (unless there are other factors in the latter's case) for 90 minutes without weakening the team in any way. Dom Thomas could easily be given 20/30/40 minutes. Of the others, MacLean and Watt could be given 5/10/20 minutes depending on how the game is progressing. Maybe the likes of Campbell could be given 2/3/4/5 minutes at the end of a game. All of these selections could be made without really weakening our push for 4th place. Much will also depend on how individual games are going and the management team will well know their charges' potential and maturity.

Certainly this threesome have a wealth of experience and they'll know what they're about. I must say I've been impressed with Keith Lasley in his short time with the Under 20s. Both Ferguson & Mackin now need to demonstrate that they're ready for a step up.

I agree about Thomas. He has got the talent to make it but has to improve his final ball. Jack Leitch? His contract expires in 2/3 months. You then have to decide whether or not to give him another deal, possibly knowing that he hasn't been fully assessed.

Maybe lessens the possibility of a pitch invasion?

He'll be 21 this year Fraz and I'd say its now make or break time for him. The next crop of young midfielders like Chris Cadden are now starting to overtake him. Gomis will we with us until the end of his loan contract whenever that is. I agree Leitch should be given a bit more game time now but up until now he hasn't impressed me - just don't see what he'd bring to the team.

The problem is that despite packing our penalty box and playing narrowly we still don't keep things tight in the middle.

Yes, it would. Time after time Celtic attackers managed to find space deep in our box despite us packing it with defenders. The great disadvantage of allowing opponents to get the ball into our penalty area and then marking them is that if you make a mistake or there is some freak occurrence there is no last line of defence. If they can't get into our box their chance of scoring is very much reduced.

What about the likes of Mackin, Campbell and MacLean? Maybe a 5/10 minute slot in the latter stages of a game?

Yes, they did.

Twice in the second half I saw McManus shooing Hammell out wide to cover emerging danger down that flank.

There may have been some tinkering recently but we didn't lose out the season we finished second. A substantial redistribution was proposed but Aberdeen fought tooth and nail to veto it which they successfully did (we agreed to the change). Things then went badly wrong and Aberdeen finished in 3rd place after we stole their runners up spot at the death. The draft fixtures will now have been sent to the TV companies and Police for them to write in red all over them. It could take them a day or two to come back to the SPFL.

Agreed. However do we go hell for leather to maximise our league position as its a fair bit of cash involved or do we say to hell with it blood as many good kids as possible? I don't know.