David

Just as important as the Hibs result for us is how Accies do at home against Aberdeen, how St Mirren do away to Celtic, and how Dundee do away to Hearts. If all three lose their games then this result won't really matter for us in the grand scheme of things.

Not really. The upside for me is maintaining a reasonably steady ship to try and secure SPFL status. Sacking a manager can have a detrimental effect on a squad, which could lead us to go into a bit of a tailspin while the new guy finds his feet. There's also the potential upside of the new manager surge, and if we were in a realistic position of challenging for top six or even for 8th then I'd consider that to be a factor. But we aren't, so I don't. The downside of bringing a new manager in now is potentially falling into the relegation battle from the relatively safe position we're in at the moment. The upside is closing the gap on Hibs and still finishing 9th, but closer to them. I doubt the board would be mental enough to look at that and think the potential upside outweighs the potential downside.

Is it really a choice though? Are many players with genuine ability within our price range? I've found that most of the players we sign who are regarded as "proper" footballers are extremely erratic and usually come in for a world of abuse from fans who bemoan their ability to track back and "get stuck in."

The one hole in that viewpoint for me is that the new management team may not actually be available right now. There's usually pretty slim pickings available at this time of year, which is another reason to wait until the summer. If I was the man making the decisions I'd already be quietly looking for Robinson's replacement. I wouldn't disrespect him or Lasley by actually sounding anyone out, but I'd be drawing up a shortlist of who I think would be available in the summer and who'd fit the bill. Come seasons end we thank Robinson for his efforts and move quickly for a new manager, who will have a good budget to play with as there's quite a few players due to move on I think.

It's easy for the fans to just say "bin him, get him tae fuck," but the club actually have to weigh up the very serious pros and cons of sacking a manager at this stage of the season. Look at the facts. We're 9th. We're 7 clear of Accies, we're 9 clear of St Mirren, and we're 11 clear of Dundee. For St Mirren to catch us we'd need to drop 3 games while they win 3 games. They've won 3 games all season. For Dundee to catch us we'd need to drop 3 games, draw 2 and they'd need to double the amount of points they've won all season. Dundee have won twice this season. We're 8 points behind Hibs in 8th. We're not catching them. At worst we're looking at a 10th finish, if somehow Accies manage to suddenly go on a run while we lose. Granted, we're poor, but we're still better than the clubs below us, which is all that matters for now. Robinson knows the players, and can get the minimum that he needs from them. We're out of both cups. If any club happens to be sniffing around Robinson, there's a better chance he moves in the summer. We waive the compensation we'd be due, we part ways. We could then bring a new manager in with a clean slate. We have a fair amount of players out of contract this summer, so there's going to be the chance to make big changes. There's also a wider range of choice in the summer as far as managers go. Or, we could roll the dice and bump the manager just now. We'd likely need to pay him off. He's got a contract until May 2020, so unless he's secretly loaded I don't see him walking away from a contract without another job to go to. We either appoint someone on an interim basis, or we grab someone from the slim pickings that's available at this time of year. The new manager comes in and has to hit the ground running. These aren't his players, and chances are we can't shift many until the summer. We run the risk of total collapse, which we've seen happen elsewhere. I know this isn't the answer folk want to hear, but the smart choice is riding this wave of mediocrity until the summer. At that point we can reassess, we've got a lot of players with contracts up so if a new manager is coming in he gets a clean slate to work with. The only way I see Robbo going before the summer is if we get another club wanting him this season, or if we collapse and end up in danger of the drop. Bearing in mind that this would also involve one or both clubs at the bottom seriously getting their act together as well.

I was under the impression his deal was until May 2020, but I could be wrong.

No, "we" don't. The authorities do. Big difference. "We" get to sit on our hands and murmur quietly when the team isn't playing well.

Someone get these two scamps a knife and fork, eh?

Problem is, it doesn't quite work like that. We don't get to ask a small group of lads to provide the atmosphere for the entire stadium, but to only do so on terms that we find acceptable. We're talking about a group of individuals here, not a division of the boy scouts. Like loose groups of lads up and down the country (and all over the world) who go to football games you're going to see some undesirable actions, usually committed by a minority. That's how it goes.

Something being wrong with his knee that would keep him out for a large chunk of time is the only thing that could scupper it I think. Obviously if he can't play that changes everything. But as far as another team coming in and beating us to him or whatever, that won't happen. The deal is done on that front, he's coming to us.

For fuck sake, would you rather that if someone hears some transfer news they just don't mention it? Choose to believe or not, it's your choice, but there's paperwork that still needs sorted and suchlike, just minor stuff really, but there's no other club in the running from what I've heard.

Deal is done lads, chill out. Announcement once the window is officially open.

Aye, no point in fucking about. If I hear something that sounds credible I'll post it, not got much time for cryptic nonsense or the classic "heard it from my brothers wife's mate who plays 5 a-sides with the guy who drives the team bus" stuff. Should hopefully be the forward we've been crying out for.

The MLS season doesn't start until March, so there's a possibility maybe? It's not as if they'd need him right away. Apparently so.

Nah, I hear lots of rumours from those types of folk and don't bother with them. This is from someone who should know.

I'd say so, yeah. I'm obviously not 100% certain, but the person who told me seems to believe it's pretty much a done deal and will be announced shortly, and they have no reason to lie. I didn't believe them at first either. I'm not entirely sure I do still!

Ross McCormack deal apparently just about done. will be a cracking signing if it happens.

Think it'll be someone better who's brought in as a replacement for Bowman.

I have to admit, the Sammon loan deal was a bit of a weird one when it was announced. I was fairly certain he'd go on to do nothing of note, and wondered why we didn't just give young Scott the opportunity to play backup to Main, Bowman and Johnson? Does anyone know if we can cut his loan deal short in January? Or are we stuck with him until the end of the season?

Well, the fans wanted changes and something different after the St Mirren game I guess...

It could also be said that Robinson showing faith in him and putting him in the team is what has led to the rumoured interest from the likes of Southampton in the first place, couldn't it? Make no mistake about it, if Turnbull decides to move on to bigger things it'll be due to a combination of factors, none of which include him being "forced out the door" or being unhappy playing under Robinson. If anything he will owe Robinson and the rest of the management team at the club a debt of gratitude.

I reckon we'll snatch a point, but would be thrilled if we took all three points. Kilmarnock are a quality outfit at the moment, but if we play as we know we can, there's no reason we can't win today.

Top post Fizoxy, although you'll no doubt be accused by some as just being "Burrow's pal" or some other nonsense. Personally, I quite like the fact that we can rest easy knowing that those in charge aren't going to do anything stupid, such as sack the manager in January when we're still clear of the bottom two. If we ever find ourselves going on the kind of run (which would also require one of the bottom two to go on a successful run) which sees us drop down that far then questions can and should be asked at that point, but not before. Again, we can look at things in the summer and there may very well be a change of management at that point, but doing so beforehand in the current circumstances would be madness.

Not really. The truth is, if someone moans like fuck about every manager we have they're going to be able to say "ah, I told you so!" eventually, as every manager eventually goes in the end, and rarely of their own volition. These are usually the same people who dismiss our cup runs because we didn't win the cups in question, and who are usually posted missing when we win a game. You've been around long enough to know the script.