Kmcalpin

According to Scott Burns we are expecting incomings next week. Unsubtantiated rumour on Twitter that Just fee is £5m + add ons. No idea if thats accurate or not.

I think now would be a perfect time for the Chairman to address the fans and steady the good ship fanbase. No need for panic and no need to go into great detail but just a wee pep talk to sustain last season's momentum. We've heard plenty from departing players' agents and buying clubs about our players but nothing from our own club. Time for some leadership.

I''m not sure what "smashed" means. Until I read anything reliable otherwise, I'll assume it £5m up front + spurious add ons.

We need to spend large sums of money on infrastructure, but the team on the park badly needs reinforced and time is against us. We simply cannot afford to lose the momentum generated last season. The fans now need some good news for a change.

The POD is on life support now. Doing nothing or very little is simply not an option. The choice facing the board is to demolish and replace it or move to a new stadium. No easy decision.

I just wonder how the "upgrading" to seating in the POD fits in with our long term stadium plans. Its been quite some time now since the Directors announced that they had commissioned, and received, a consultants' report on the pros and cons of moving to a new stadium. No doubt they have now digested and considered the contents. Clearly the current replacement of seats is a sticking plaster job, unfortunately literally, as well as metaphorically. From early fan feedback it seems to have been mishandled in term of comfort and practicalities. I just wonder why this wasn't carried out a wee bit earlier? From online comments, it seems that our home capacity is being cut to around 7,500, if my understanding is correct. In saying that, I don't know if we can use the South Stand for home fans. If our crowd is limited then it could cost us some income over 1, hopefully 2 or more Euro games. Well into 5 figures in total. Presumably the project will be completed by our first home league game against Falkirk? Looking at the big picture, I do wonder if the POD will be replaced, as opposed to relocating to a new stadium. If so, the current seating "upgrade" looks like a budget, but still expensive, emergency measure to keep the POD on life support. A wee bit more transparency on this issue would have been welcome a month or two ago. Maybe when our European spot, and seating implications were confirmed? Better late than never though.

A fair assessment. I'm not yet sure where Girdwood-Reich fits in - defence or midfield; so that clouds matters slightly. I wonder how much longer McGinn can go on and sadly McGhee seems to be a permacrock. I reckon we're looking at another CB. LB? competition needed for Longelo and Wilson to go out on loan. CM? replacement for Watt. Whyte to replace Nicholson/Halliday. AM: yes 2 players required to replace Just & Slattery. Striker? yes one more required In total I'd say about 6 are required but this is also complicated by Academy youngsters potentially breaking through. Sadly, I don't think Ross is going to make it and may go out on loan. I've a suspicion, based on absolutely nothing it has to be said, that we might be looking at another goalie at some point.

According to Gavin McCafferty: Thor, Longelo, Koutroumbis and TJ all have a chance of playing next Thursday evening.

I general, no. Likewise it won't bother me if we lose Just and TJ - we all know that they will move on. We've seen our best players move on for decades and we're still here. It does mean that our recruitment strategy is doing well. My concern is with the timing. A long and growing injury list and a Conference League tie coming up in a matter of days. Its not the time to be shipping players out and certainly not without oven ready replacements.

No Zander McAllister last night? Please don't tell me he's injured as well.

Financially we are doing very well, no argument from me on that score. You can also add on a modest 5/6 figure fee for the Ox. We also have the relocation of the stadium / replacement of the POD stand to factor in. However, healthy balance sheets don't increase attendances. On the playing side, I was not surprised that JBA left at the end of the season. Despite his positive words I never thought he'd stay with us very long. I'm sure the directors would also have been well aware of his intention to move months ago. Kyrk Macmillan is doing a good job as far as I can tell, but it was a mistake to tell the fans that everything was ticking over nicely during the search for a new manager when it clearly wasn't. It was also naive of the directors to tell the fans that all our best assets wouldn't be sold at the same time. That raised unrealistic expectations.

Apologies, I wasn't commenting on Alfred Johansson just managers in general.

That might well be true, but given the current chaotic state of the squad with long/medium term injuries and new players, not unsurprisingly, being unfit/not ready we have to be realistic.

I have no opinion on him yet. Far too early to tell. Being optimistic and positive is a desirable quality in a manager but not if their interviews merely gloss over weaknesses and failures that are obvious to the fans. Managers also have to be realistic.

Agree 100%. Our chaotic pre season preparation is down to several factors not just slow recruitment. However that is a significant concern, especially given that our first European game is next Thursday. I believe that we're allowed 2 emergency signings before then. Even if we do manage to complete deals in time, how fit will the new arrivals be? Its unlikely that they'll hit the ground running. Despite public assurances from the board, JBA's very predictable departure has completely disrupted our preparations. I'll be gobsmacked if Nick Daws hadn't drawn up a hit list over 6 months ago and has been beavering away on it. It seems that JA's arrival has put a spanner in the works. I'm also sceptical of the directors' claim that our best assets won't all be sold at once. By next Thursday the squad may be even more threadbare if Elliot Watt departs, as expected. TJ also? If we win through against HB and secure a league win against Falkirk (I'll write off the first league game in Embra) then all will be well. If we don't though, serious questions will need to be asked about our failure to recruit timeously and our injury record. I can't ever recall such a long injury list before a season started in earnest. Tonight's final dress rehearsal against against Genk was anything but.

No wing backs and an untested midfielder in central defence? Chaos reigns. You couldn't make it up.

Surely they'll be installed in time?

For the sake of argument lets say the Ox was on £2K per week. If the Pars bought out his contract you'd be looking at £400K. I'm not saying we got anywhere near that sum but its likely we cut our losses to reduce our wage bill, and showed Dunfermline some generosity by giving them a bargain.

Ox's move to East End Park has been in the offing for some weeks now. It was certainly held up by Ward's departure to QPR and perhaps by AJ's arrival. Quite rightly we wanted to hang onto him until a replacement, Paulsen, was brought in. Leaks from the Dunfermline end not ours. Given Ox had 2 years left on his contract I would expect a tidy fee, but not earthshattering. Dunfermline seem awash with cash.

If it is, that will tell us how threadbare our squad is. You'd think AJ would want to field his strongest 11, or as near to it as possible, in order to prepare us for next Thursday.

I think thats it. This decision is overly harsh and totally inconsistent. We'll see if this level of punishment is applied again in future for similar situations. In short, we are an easy target. Being pedantic, Watt's comment was an opinion, based on some factual basis. Presumably the SFA thought that there were worse VAR decisions than that one. If so, what were they? Come on tell us. As for the club's fine, that is also nonsense. According to Graeme McGarry, the fine isn't for the club's comments, but because it posted a picture of a Celtic player with the referee? Really? is that the level they've stooped to? Its interesting that the club might challenge the fine, and I hope it does, but also that it has asked for the reasons in writing. Now thats interesting in its own right. They've either only been given them by word of mouth or they haven't been given them at all. The whole thing stinks. Just as with society in general, free speech is being clamped down on. You are free to express an opinion as long as it is consistent with that of the establishment.

Arguably, the most interesting aspect of tonight's bounce game, apart from the new players, are the starting and finishing line ups. They should give us an insight into our new manager's thinking and the health of our squad.

Signing on fee for the player?

Usually, but not always, at the behest of the buying club.

We should be in no rush to sell. Our finances are healthy. The directors promised us we wouldn't sell our best assets at the same time.