MelvinBragg

While you could make an argument for Reynolds being more technically gifted than Quinn, Quinn has something that Reynolds does not. The willingness to kick his granny to get a result. This is a quality all top players have and Reynolds just strikes me as not ruthless enough on the field...

Away

Difference being that McFadden and Pearson actually feature for their clubs (have heard Pearson mentioned before when he was out of favour elsewhere, never McFadden), Porter has had problems establishing himself at Derby mainly due to injury. For what it's worth, I agree, probably a load of rubbish, but I can see the logic in the rumour. Brown has contacts at Derby, Porter knows Motherwell, needs a run of games, Motherwell need a striker. Of course, this is a case of 2+2+2=3167, but it's not the most ridiculous suggestion I've heard this summer. The Alan McCormack one is always a belter...

Hadn't really given this much thought til today. Don't get me wrong, the ticket is bought and the day off secured long ago. But I haven't had a sense of anticipation for it until about an hour ago. I reckon we'll have a hard game of it and fear we could see a re-run of Mypa 47. Only thing to say against this is the fact that Breidablik may not be as good as Mypa were. That and the fact that we have wily old Craig Brown rather than a young naive ginger manager in charge (whatever happened to that guy?). So many unknowns about tomorrow's game, the opponents, our line-up, how solid our keeper is, how conditions will affect things, I'm not even going to attempt to predict a scoreline. For what it's worth (never having seen Hollis or Randolph in action, I'll leave that one blank), I would go with.. _______ Saunders Craigan Hutchison Hammell Lasley Hateley Jennings Forbes Sutton Murphy Not Forbes' biggest fan but he can pass a football and perhaps a free role behind a front two, without the same defensive responsibilities as in a midfield three or requirement for pace if playing wide left. Could be a bit narrow as formations go, but when we have the ball Hateley can drop in making a back three allowing Saunders and particularly Hammell scope to bomb on. Not the team I expect to see, but it's how I'd go...

I agree with you 100% on that one. Thing you have to remember is that John Sutton seems to spend a lot of time playing left midfield since Craig Brown arrived. Don't ask me why, because I figure that Murphy has more of the "tools" to play there. I think we should be looking for someone who can play centre forward with John Sutton and compliment his style, maybe look for Jamie Murphy to fill the wide area/creative slot. So I don't reckon that a striker in the mould of Porter is what we should be looking at. Someone in the mould of a Clarkson who can run all day and can feed off the headers that Sutton wins...

There is also the fact that it seems pointless to me bringing him in til a winger or creative player is found. Sutton, Porter, doesn't matter who your strikers are unless you have someone that will get the ball to them...

No thanks. As great as he was when he was here, it seems that we saw the best of his career injurywise when he was here. Oldham fans said he was great but never 100%, and he's struggled with injury since going to Derby. I'd rather remember his performances from when he was.with us before. The cup game against Hearts is just one of a few great memories. Thanks, big man but no...

I think when they say coverage on the BBC website they're referring to live text commentary. I could be wrong though...

What was Mother Teresa....? EDIT I recall last season, it was the case that you had til 24 hours before kick-off, so technically we still have a couple of hours to wait to find out the answer is still nun...

Wish you had tried to resist, honestly...

Given our record in front of bumper crowds, I'm thinking that if it's true then it's bad news...

I would imagine, though I could be wrong, that Randolph's wages are being paid for by getting Fraser off the wage bill. I reckon we signed Randolph on the understanding that Fraser would soon be off the wage bill and just decided to take the hit of paying both players wages for a few weeks while Fraser finds himself a club in order that we had a goalkeeper in place. I reckon that Coke's wages are still available though...

I smell a wager in the air. If you want a better comparison, a left footed cental defender who has captained Scotland and has Champions League experience has just changed hands for £1.5 million. I will wager you a pint of lager that any fee reported when we sell Reynolds will be closer to £150k than it will be to the £500k. And if it's undisclosed you're getting hee haw, I'm not wearing the "Ah heard it was £425k" nonsense...

I notice that Artur Boruc has beeen sold today with one year left on his contract for about £1.7million. This should put paid to any sort of talk of £500k for Reynolds. The best we can hope for is £150k if we manage to sell him at all. I know Reynolds is younger, but I think the Boruc price and various others have shown where the market is at the moment in terms of prices...

Only issue there is we're at a point where clubs are shaping their squads for next season and might not know who they're willing to let go out on loan yet. Bear in mind also that we're starting our season early and therefore our pre-season training is ahead of everyone else's. The issue of match sharpness comes into play...

I would say a striker would be a definite requirement for before Friday if Murphy is unavailable for next week. Going with a strikeforce of Sutton and McHugh with only Gary Smith for back-up would leave us looking a bit sparse up front. The real problem is that you have to balance this with making the right signing and not signing someone just because we need them for the Breidablik games and they turn out to be a waste of a wage...

I could live with that...

Apparently we have winger Chris Shuker in on trial according to one of the papers...

I'd argue we're a bit stronger as a unit. At this time last year, we didn't have Randolph, Humphrey, Hateley or Jennings. Who have we lost that we had in the squad for that first Llanelli game? Jim O'Brien, Michael Fraser and Paul Slane? You could argue that you could add Reynolds to that list as it seems we're doing our best to sell him (rightly in my view). However you could argue that Hutchison, Saunders, Murphy, Forbes and Saunders should all be better players than they were last season purely by virtue of having played competitive SPL football. There is also the fact that this close season we don't have a new manager coming in trying to put across a new philosophy and new ideas to a group of players that he doesn't know. There is a degree of continuity in terms of coaching staff this season that we didn't have last year. The players will have a fair idea of what Brown and Knox will ask of them and how they will want them to play. This may count against us when the SPL season starts as other teams will also be pretty aware of how we will set our stall out. But the same is true of most SPL teams. St Mirren are the only team with a manager who hasn't managed in the SPL before and therefore who will be harder to read. We're not in bad shape at all. Would I like another striker and winger on board? Absolutely. Am I losing sleep over it? Not really. Who is to say that the likes of Gary Smith or Jamie Pollock won't make the kind of impact that the likes of Hutchison and Forbes did at the start of last season...? Chin up, people...

Sounded out a couple of people down South who've seen Randolph play "Solid enough keeper but he makes some cracking howlers" "Big lad but Dracula like at crosses" Sounds like we're signing Stevie Woods. Which is fine by me. If Hutchison stays fit, our keeper's ability at crosses is less of a concern...

I like Craig Brown's comments about the Cypriot So he'll knock you on your arse, then give you a hand back up. I like the sound of him already...

Mate down South reminded me when Brown took charge that when he took over at Preston he stated he would not guarantee they would be the best team in the league but that there would be none fitter than them...

He'll not be as good as John Ruddy then...

While that might well be the case, it might be that he finds that other clubs are not willing to pay a fee for him however are willing to offer him a signing on fee and salary. It might be outwith his control...

For what it's worth, I've seen Heaton play. Very decent keeper, not the best at crosses but a good talker for one so young. Problem is he's very highly rated and the rumours are that Notts Forest are after him. If we were to get him, it'd soon be "John who???", but for that reason I reckon we would have no chance...