Kmcalpin

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.

Probably Thursday or Friday when the SFA publishes its updated list of suspensions.

Agree Jim. Assuming that none of our injured players are fit and we don't make any new signings or they aren't eligible, all of which I think is highly unlikely it has to be said, then yes they'd probably beat us again.

On this occasion I think you're missing the point. No-one is defending Hartley, at least I don't think they are. What he did was wrong just downright wrong and he deserves to be punished for it, which is he being. He's let down his team mates, the fans, his team captain, managers and the club. Some, though not me, would also argue he's let down Dougie Imrie and Hamilton Accies. As I say he's being punished for his indiscretions and I think he will accept that. However he's human; football is a an emotional game and once he's served his punishment we move on. All that said, he, we the paying fans, and our club should expect no less than fair and consistent treatment of the other culprits. He shouldn't expect the incident to be treated in an ad hoc and random way and through spur of the moment justice. As far as I can tell there were 3 other "fouls" committed by Accies players namely shoving, kicking and punching Hartley. In my book they should also be investigated thoroughly and treated in a fair and consistent way, and if found guilty given appropriate punishments. You refer to ensuing "handbags". How would you describe Hartley's shove? McMann shoved Hartley; and he was punched and kicked by 2 others. I'd hardly describe punching and kicking as handbags. If that had happened on Fir Park Street then the 2 culprits would have been lifted and charged with breach of the peace. The issue here is not whether Hartley should be defended but that the entire incident should be investigated in a fair and consistent manner.

Yes he is. From start to finish he failed to manage the game and a streetwise and cynical Accies team knew it and took full advantage. I've no doubt that the scuffle at the conclusion of the game arose, in part at least, because of unresolved niggles that built up since kick off. I don't know how referees are appointed but surely the SFA powers that be would have flagged up the fixture as a high risk one in that they know how Accies play; they had recent previous; and it was a local derby. Given that they ought to have appointed a more senior referee although that in itself would not have guaranteed a decent official. His first mistake on Saturday was not yellow carding (maybe even a red card?) Donati or Tomas for cynically taking Campbell out as he headed towards the penalty box. By not doing so he sent out entirely the wrong message, and things just deteriorated after that.