David

Is anyone here currently subscribed to this? I'll probably need it for commentary tomorrow, but I just had a quick look and there's been nothing new added in ages. None of the pre-season Portugal stuff that was on Youtube, no Fulham stuff, nothing. Is it still actually in service?

Ah, fair enough.

I don't suppose anyone's been using this lately? Looking for a way to get the programme for tomorrows game.

That's pretty much how I see it.

I hope McCall is just waiting on the 2nd round of world cup games to finish before finalising the deal to sign someone to fill our number 10 jersey.

Yeah, I was kinda joking. I'm fairly certain they'll bring someone in from another club who has experience of the environment.

I may apply. Does anyone know if you actually have to live in Scotland to do the job?

I don't grudge Hutch his move, but if Ainsworth is smart he'll sign here for a year at least and get some stability into his game. He's had something like 13 different clubs in 8 years? The lad needs to settle down and get some game time I reckon. Another move for a bit more cash may seem more attractive, but what are the chances he'll find somewhere and settle in like he did with us?

I don't think I ever remember us being in such good shape this early in the summer. Excellent.

In English footballing terms that's a pittance though, which is what he's worth in the English game I guess. He'd be a fool not to see that contract out unless someone is stupid enough to offer him something similar.

Has there been any word on Hutch yet? His contract expires shortly, doesn't it? Or has it expired already?

If he's going to fuck about though then I'd just forget him and move on. We've done very well up to now tying players up on deals and moving forward, and I don't see why that should change. If he's dithering then fuck him.

I hear Malaga are open to the odd friendly. A trip to the Costa Del Sol would be nice, no?

Even so, still not too shabby, eh?

Regardless, if Barnsley couldn't offer him enough to hang around then I doubt we can either. Good news on Hammy re-signing. A bit more stability early on, which is a good sign.

Which is preferable to facing administration though, right? There's a real possibility that we end up simply having to accept the level that we should be operating at. If we're really drawing less fans through the gates than we did when Malpas was in charge then something has to give. If that means turning to youth and looking to offload some of our better players in a hurry then so be it I guess. We just need to hope we can bounce back down the line.

As was said, due to money and the fact he signed a one year deal originally with Barnsley. They didn't let him go because he was shite, they let him go because his contract was up and he was looking for more money I think. Which probably puts him out of our scope anyway, so it's not really worth discussing much further. I just said that it would be nice having someone who gets the fans out their seats playing for us. As said though, he's a luxury we can't afford.

As I said, it would really depend on what he was looking for as far as I'm concerned. If he was interested in coming, rebuilding his career, perhaps trying to improve his fitness and then push on from there then I'd be happy to see him brought in. Obviously he'd have to take a serious pay cut, but we've seen players reject more money elsewhere and go to a team for reasons other than financial gain. Chances are that he'll have a few decent offers though.

Because he can do things with the ball at his feet that no one else in our team can, that's why. I understand that the modern game is all about fitness and suchlike, but I have always preferred a Davie Cooper type over someone who can simply run non-stop. We were more than happy to take a player who couldn't stay off the treatment table, weren't we? If Faddy were coming off the bench and producing game-changing moments I doubt we'd have been complaining about him being kept on, would we? I've honestly lost count of the amount of games I've watched where i've felt we needed a spark of something to turn the tide in our favour. McCourt is that kind of player. I have no idea what he'd be asking right enough, but I'd certainly be making inquiries. Chances are he'll end up elsewhere on better money.

Of course you'll not be in the minority in thinking that. We're talking about a former Celtic player being compared with a Motherwell legend. If you gave me the choice of taking McCourt this summer at a decent wage, or the McFadden we had this season on a decent chunk of change I'd pick McCourt every day of the week. You'll get a good 30 minutes or so from both of them, but at this stage McCourt is the more capable player I reckon.

He's not a footballing genius by any stretch, but if you look at those videos I posted you can't deny he's a talented player. I certainly don't see anyone in our current squad who can do that (even McFadden wasn't able to do what mcCourt is capable of).

I dunno, maybe I just like the idea of having a player in the side who can come on and take the ball past four or five guys before setting up a game-winning goal. I know he isn't going to be winning any races or tracking back to help out the defence, but he's a real talent when you give him the ball. We don't have that type of player at the club, someone like a Davie Cooper who can change a game in a matter of seconds. Besides, if he could do this, and he had the fitness to do it for 90 minutes there's not a hope in hell we'd even be having this conversation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99v579vmlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-B10Id5J-s I'll happily take 25-30 minutes of that kind of player every few games, especially if the wages are right.

I was just thinking that the guy has no club, even though he did prove he could still do the business for Barnsley when he was there. From what I gather their fans weren't too happy to see him go. We were looking at Faddy as a luxury player who cost a lot considering what he offered us. I think McCourt would likely cost a lot less, and would perform on a more consistent basis than McFadden did. Who knows, maybe a stint at a club like Motherwell would be what he needed to get his shit together? We've done that with players like him in the past. If that was possible he'd be a cracking signing.

My other half is related to him. He was raised a Thistle fan by his parents to try and avoid the Old Firm shite. Maybe he'd veered off that path by the time he got to high school, but he was a regular at Thistle games in his younger years. On topic, what about Paddy McCourt? Maybe worth a punt? I saw some footage of him at Barnsley and he looked decent enough at times? Another one of those players who can turn a game on its head on his day.

He was brought up a Thistle fan.