David

Nah, I didn't really think much of him prior to the purple patch with us, and I would be very surprised if he amounts to much beyond a serviceable SPL player in the future.

There's also the possibility that Scott won't learn how to use his size better, or really improve all that much. Maybe this is as good as he's going to be? Who knows? I felt the same about Hastie. He had a purple patch for us, but before that period of time he'd been pretty unremarkable from what I'd seen. He didn't seem that prolific at Airdrie or Alloa, so I didn't really see him making much of an impression with us. He was absolutely right to take the money and run when it was offered I think. If he does go on to be pretty anonymous in League One with Rotherham, and eventually sees out his Rangers deal before dropping down a level he'll have made some decent coin. I'm not aiming any of this at you by the way, it's more the viewpoint of some fans in general. This idea that a player can knock back good money on the basis that they'll improve and see better offers in the future is a risk. The old saying of "strike when the iron is hot" applies more often than not I think, and if you find yourself the subject of transfer offers on the back of some good form, you need to seriously consider it because things can just as quickly go south in a short football career.

Now that we're into January it's probably best we just keep the main transfer discussion thread.

Aye, but Robertson and McGinn are more the exception than the rule I think. Players like Scott will be all too aware that all it takes is a slight dip in form for those lucrative offers to stop coming, and he's left behind. Players quickly move from being a "young prospect" to just being a player who's found their level. Let's be honest, unless his ability is nowhere near where is being touted, he'd undoubtedly go down south and even come back in three years or so a better player. The level of competition down there automatically means you're upping your game. If he's good enough to bounce around between Championship/League One level he'll make a very good living for himself.

I'm not sure where Turnbull sits, but surely it should matter where members of our squad sit on matchdays, no? I mean, if the rule is that any player not featuring can don their own clobber and sit wherever they choose with whoever they want then fine, but if the rule is that the players are supposed to actually act as though it's still a day at work for them, for which they're still being paid, then it would matter if one player is behaving differently. What's being insinuated here from what I can see is that Turnbull has special dispensation from management that he doesn't have to follow protocol. True or not, I have no idea.

Again, if they've both been offered deals in the summer and not signed as yet it probably means they're looking to test the waters. Can't blame them for that, and it doesn't necessarily mean they're on their way. I guess we'll just need to wait and see.

The fact that a deal has been on the table since the summer for Gillespie and remains unsigned is slightly worrying. Maybe he's waiting to see what his options are? It would be a bit of a disaster if we went from having two first-choice level keepers to none.

Has to either be a bit of a falling out, or someone else has become available who's considered worth the hassle and expenditure. If it's the latter, let's hope they wait until after we play them before appointing anyone.

For a player we've sold? I may be losing my marbles, but I don't recall ever getting more than £2 million?

Ordinarily I'd agree, but if the £3 million sum is correct then it's a no-brainer. This is "once in a lifetime" type money for the club, and could pretty much change how we stand financially for years to come.

I was also dismayed by that comment, but then I realised who had made it and the world suddenly made sense again.

Does this new podcast signal the end of the MFC Podcast then? It's the same host, isn't it? Plus, we've not had an episode of that since October.

You think the club is lying to us? For what reason would they do that? There may very well be complications with his rehab. Some people respond quicker to treatment, it doesn't really mean anything in the long run. What is unfortunate from the club's perspective is that all of this time out is eating away at his contract. I think there's a good chance we'll go from envisioning a £3 million profit, to seeing us pay his wages while he's out injured, and for him to either leave in the summer with a year left on his deal for far less than the £3 million originally touted, or even worse, walk for nothing the year following.

It just hasn't worked out, for whatever reason. It happens. He can move on and continue his career elsewhere, and good luck to him.

Does anyone actually think that Celtic are going to pay £3 million for a player who's been out for six months and hasn't kicked a ball? There's no way we're getting that for him now. Not a chance.

Thought Gallagher and Polworth were good today. Carroll put in a decent shift as well.

I've said it before, the gulf between us and Celtic financially is bigger than the gulf between Celtic and PSG or Celtic and Manchester City. That should kind of help set expectations going into these games. Granted, we should always look to get something from them, but if they're even halfway on form we're not going to see much joy. I thought we looked pretty decent for most of the game. Not much of a consolation mind you, but it is what it is. On to Hibs.

Be it him or someone else, that was always going to happen. Let's just be a little happy that the person who took that opportunity was someone who cared enough to get involved with the club.

Ordinarily I'd say there's no chance we get him, but the truth is if he's interested in rehabilitating his career he could do worse than a few years with us. There's a winning formula in place, we have a decent setup, it's perfect for someone like him really.

Let's hope the compensation we'd be due would be used, if needed, to pay compensation for his replacement. It would hopefully mean we're not limited to someone on the free market or Lasley.

Absolutely no need for Cole to do that, a proper error in judgement. Fuck.

We need to start taking advantage of the possession we get in games, we should be at least troubling the goalkeeper.

If Turnbull is smart he'll calm the jets on any move and look to re-establish himself as a player first. He's been out for a while now, and before talk of million pound moves happen he needs to show potential suitors that he's still the player he looked like becoming.

Well, they've not paid the due fees and compensation yet as far as I'm aware...

Don't see the problem with the post to be honest, it's international break and Scotland are honking so we need something to discuss. Also, just because someone is suggesting a player could be away in January doesn't mean that we actually want them to leave. It's a discussion thread on an internet forum, nothing to get to wound up about.