Kmcalpin

If we do bring in another player I'm pretty sure it will be a central defender.

Both Hutchinson and Ainsworth have been offered deals - that much we do know. Very unlikely, though not impossible, that even one will re-sign. Lee Hollis? The club will not enter the new season with 3 signed experienced goalies. Most of us have understandably assumed that Lee Hollis will be the one to depart given that he is the one out of contract and Gunnar Neilsen is not. However, given that nothing at all has been said about this ostensibly clearcut situation by the club there may be more to this than meets the eye. Pure speculation on my part though. The club has a deserved reputation for keeping its cards close to its chest over transfers and I hope that continues. No doubt matters will become clear in time.

Given that we start pre season training in just under a fortnight I would think we'd be keen to finalise the squad by then. If Lionel Ainsworth's contract offer has not already been withdrawn I would think it sensible to do so shortly. Its never satisfactory to wait to see if players appear for pre season training to find out their intentions.

I would argue that whilst we are not a big city team we are certainly not a small town team. That status would certainly be true of somewhere like Brechin City, Carluke Rovers or perhaps Annan. The club has every right to ask the same people to give and some will give. Some of course won't or can't give - that's life. Asking the same folk to give more is not the complete answer I agree. An alternative is to cut admission prices thereby putting ourselves at a disadvantage compared with our competitors, who certainly will not cut prices. If we cut PATG prices and/or costs the quality of the product on the park will suffer and less fans will attend thereby putting us into a downward spiral. Whilst I agree with many of the complaints about pricing in general, there are no easy answers I'm afraid .

Nothing on the official website about that yet. Tell us more.

The problem is that some fans don't believe the answers they've been given by the club. There's nothing the club can do about that.

If United go with that strikeforce, they can't and won't play them all at the same time. Apart from that it'll cost them, so they'd better produce the goods in terms of trophies. Yes, our goalkeeping position is unclear and we won't go with 3 keepers. .

Yes, a good bit of business in getting jack to extend his contract. Hopefully he can build on his appearances last season.

United pump somewhere between £700k and £1m per year into their youth set up. They also predate other clubs' youngsters. None of this comes cheap.

I'm pretty sure that if Ainsworth moves on Stuart McCall will look for another right winger with pace who can take a man on. Time will tell though.

Another bit of good news. We'll now have a settled squad. Just Jack Leitch and Lionel Ainsworth remaining unsigned.

Yes a good bit of business extending Craig Moore's contract. We're showing some faith in an injured player. He says that his recovery is ahead of schedule.

Cyprus?

That's what I thought too. Surely the club would not overlook this. No doubt all will be revealed in time.

As he is 20 years of age why would we not receive a fee if he moves to another club? Has he been freed?

I think we're now waiting on Keith Lasley, Jack Leitch and Lionel Ainsworth. That's assuming Hutch is offski. I suspect that holidays are playing a part in the delays.

Yes, we must have given him a fair wedge.

More good news that Craig Reid has signed on for 2 years. Since coming in he has done a sterling job at right back and in midfield. He deserves a contract. Its good to see the Stuart McCall getting contracts fixed up so early. Now for Keith Lalsey, Jack Leitch and Lionel Ainsworth and maybe a replacement for Hutchy, if as seems likely, he moves on.

There are 2 public meetings taking place to discuss this, one on Thursday evening, and one next week I think. They are part of a formal planning application process know as a Pre Application Consultation. The information is listed on the North Lanarkshire Council website under planning applications. Reference is 14/00986/PAN. The next stage will be the submission of a formal planning application.

A team we haven't seen at Fir Park before please.

Agreed Steve. There is a knack to identifying young talent coming through the ranks and more often than not we get it right.

Not so straightforward as you might think. Possible scenario - until a month or two back he didn't look anything special - and we can't sign all of young lads on long contracts. He then breaks into the first team and we offer him a longer deal and he then stalls...... As Weeyin says we can't force them to sign. Maybe that's not the case at all but these decisions aren't easy.

We've made big mistakes in the past and got lucky when Falkirk made a mess of their new stadium plans but we learned and moved on. Although our finances aren't great (which clubs are?) we should consider ourselves fortunate we have the Board we have when you look at the likes of Sevco, Hearts and Hibs.

Interesting article Jim. In terms of individual players it singles out Stephen McManus. However my take on it is that it identifies the 4-4-2 system we play and the unbalanced mix of players as being the underlying reason for our poor defensive record.

These Boards should encourage reasoned debate and discussion whether or not you agree with individual posts or posters. We've lost more than enough active members in the past few years. The Mods cannot and should not ban posters simply because they disagree with you more often than not. Too many members have been hounded out in the past. We need all views on here from optimists to pessimists and all shades in between. We don't live in Russia or China or a dictatorship, so censorship is totally out. In my opinion, a member's view should not be a cause for banning them unless its totally unacceptable but lack of respect / personal attacks should be. So come on, cut out the petty name calling and bullying and stick to sensible debate. You're more than capable of doing it.