David

@Onthefringes & @Kmac put down the handbags and give it a rest, eh? Christ almighty. We've signed two players! Two! Surely that's a good thing!

And thus it became reality, despite anything to the contrary.

If O'Donnell does go, it may not be down south. All well & good talking about things from a football point of view, but that recent video the club posted of him at home suggests that his home life is very settled, with family nearby and so forth. Would he disrupt that for a few years at Stoke? Possibly. But again, possibly not.

RIP Graeme, I never knew the guy but the tributes on here are more than enough to hint at the type of person he was. Condolences to his family and friends.

I don't understand that argument to be honest. If he was playing for us in an opening game of the Euros against England at a packed Hampden or Wembley, then fair enough. He was playing against the Czech Republic in a half-full Hampden. A team he played against in the Nations League also in a half-full Hampden when we beat them 1-0. It's not as if the Czech team was suddenly better because it's the Euros. Or are we thinking that O'Donnell suddenly lost it mentally because despite the surroundings all being the same as previous times he's played for Scotland, it was the Euros? I actually feel for the guy to be honest. He must know every single foot out of place will be highlighted by the Glasgow media and Rangers fans on social media as to why a kid who's played a handful of senior games should be in the team ahead of him. A kid who, if he played for any other side except Rangers or Celtic, would never be near the squad in all probability. Looking at it subjectively, he was no worse than most of the players out there yesterday. We were bang average all over the park. The Czech's took their chances. We didn't.

Extremely sad news, and I can only echo the sentiments of others who have posted already. Condolences to his family and friends, he'll be sadly missed.

Clarke has never been one to pander really, so I don't see him caving now. Having the kid along for the experience and as back up is fine, but he's never starting unless O'Donnell is injured or whatever.

None of that matters though! Alleged injury! Contract clause! Etc!

Absolutely. But that's not where he's at just now. As things stand he's within everyone's price range because he's a free agent, which means he's earning nothing. His circumstances today aren't comparable to where he was a few years back. What he earned at Preston doesn't come into the equation, because that's a contract he signed coming off some great performances with us. He may very well find that there's no clubs of substance down south willing to take a punt on him, and at that point, regardless of where he wants to live, Motherwell could be an attractive proposition. I'd be disappointed if we don't at least sound him out.

Just chuck them all up top and go all-out. A season of 5-4 wins/losses will do me after this lockdown shite.

It's a nice little way to raise some funds for the youth academy, and a chance for those fans who are interested to listen to some of the old stories for an hour or so.

Yeah, I think it's justified for the period since he's come in, as we were basically looking to secure safety. There's no attraction in excitingly playing our way to Championship football. Once the summer comes, and a lot of the current players are out the door it will give him a chance to bring in his own team, and from that point on I think most of us will begin to judge him on a lot more levels.

We could very well be surprised. A player with what some would term limited ability can go far based on work ethic alone, and it's no secret that Campbell has work ethic in spades. I'd never have imagined John McGinn would end up where he is now, for example. I wouldn't put a limit on what Campbell can do until we see him playing regularly down south.

And if he can prove himself capable at that level it opens up the possibility of a move further up the ladder.

I didn't say a manager would be told who was or wasn't being signed, I said that I figured a Head of Recruitment at a club like ours was supposed to identify potential players who fit within a certain remit that had been decided by the club? A remit that any manager we have in place will have been told about and agreed to before being given the job. From those identified players the manager would analyse and choose the one he wanted. Of course, if a manager had a particular player in mind, and that player also worked within the parameters of the long-term plan for the club, then they'd obviously not tell him he's not getting him. But I think that the days of managers having a Fergie-like say over who comes in and who doesn't are long gone. Most clubs don't operate like that now, and if they do, then what's the point in a head of recruitment? Just revert back to the old way of doing things where we have a few scouts who go where the manager tells them and the process consists of the manager telling the chairman who he wants to sign.

As I said, I don't think there's any chance of Alexander not being given a chance to rebuild. I don't see us sacking a manager after half a season unless he got us relegated. Could he decide to walk or not see through the rebuild of his own accord? Always a possibility.

The long haul? Possibly not. I tend not to look beyond the next season, so I'm looking to gauge his success in this summers window and next season. After that? Who knows.

I don't think there's any chance of Alexander not being given a chance to rebuild. We would never just sack a manager after half a season unless he got us relegated or decided to walk of his own accord.

I was under the impression that a Head of Recruitment at a club like ours was supposed to identify potential players who fit within a certain remit that had been decided by the club? Isn't it supposed to ensure that regardless of who the manager is we have a long-term strategy in place that provides a level of continuity? If we're just letting whoever is manager at the time dictate the recruitment then we can end up in a position where, for example, Graham Alexander brings in almost an entire squad during this summer based on his own requirements, fails badly, gets sacked, then we replace him with a new manager who says "nope, absolutely none of these players fit the system I want to play or meet my requirements. Clear out and begin again." I thought we'd followed the lead of a lot of football clubs in the modern era where we hired a manager who would be a good fit for the long-term strategy laid out by the board and Head of recruitment, rather than just ripping everything up and starting from scratch whenever we replace the manager?

Then there's no real need for a head of recruitment.

Unfortunately, it looks like that revenue stream that we've built up will be somewhat demolished by the fact that the deal offered to fans who bought season tickets this season will see many get their season tickets next season for absolutely nothing. We can hope that a fair chunk of fans will waive the opportunity for that, but we don't know for certain. The contract thing is an interesting discussion point, because there's always those who point at players who sign on a one-year deal, do very well, then move on for free. What no one really brings up though, is the number of players we sign on short-term deals, aren't good, and we're happy to let them move on at the end of the season. As much as it would be grand to have our best players tied down to long-term deals, we cannot risk having a squad full of players who didn't make the cut but who aren't going anywhere else due to lack of interest. Regarding the players we've re-signed for next season? We have to place some faith in the manager. I personally think that Mugabe has shown an improvement since the change in manager, and Stephen O'Donnell on a two-year deal is a tremendous piece of business. In all honesty I don't even "expect" survival. I go into every season with survival as the number one priority. Once we get into a position where it looks like we won't be fighting it out at the bottom of the table, my aims turn to top six, then top four, and so on. But I don't "expect" anything. In a league where the likes of Hearts, Hibs and Dundee United can go down, we're certainly not in a position to assume we're better than that.

So, as we approach the end of another season it may be worth expanding on the signings made since the OP listed the above: Devante Cole Aaron Chapman Jordan Archer Steven Lawless Sam Foley Robbie Crawford Liam Kelly Harry Smith Jordan Roberts Eddie Nolan Tyler Magloire With that said, is there anyone who thinks the time may have come for some fresh blood in the recruitment department? Or has Foyle done enough to keep his job?

Don't get me wrong, if there's teams after him he'll have a decision to make, and I doubt any team will base their entire approach on how he did against Morton in the cup.

I'm personally not sold on Carson ever coming back the same keeper he was before, and so if Kelly was open to a return I'd jump all over that. Cole has had something like ten clubs in seven years. Surely he's got to be thinking about settling somewhere for a few years, and if he's doing well here and seems to be a good fit then why not sign for another year at least? Have to believe that if he moves on he'll likely just continue bouncing around like Fleetwood and Doncaster Rovers.

To be fair, his injury had him out from when? Late January? Do we expect him to firing on all cylinders at the moment? I don't.