bobbybingo

I'm only looking for an opinion on who you would sign, given the actual signings don't impress you. They don't have to fit into Kettlewell's system, just be part of your dream team.

Personally, I don't have a clue who we should be recruiting, so I don't have a go at those doing the job. You think they're clueless, so please enlighten us with some names they should be after.

Impressive. I read somewhere Livi are managed by Ancelotti.

Glad he's staying, be interesting to see what a good pre-season will do for him.

You'd think anybody interested in football would know that, but I suppose it's irrelevant if you're only interested in having a dig.

Why is it a new low - is Obika a shite coach?

Yeah, he sees far more than we ever will, day in, day out. If the club had extended his contract as a player I'd have expected men in white coats to get their giant butterfly nets looked out, but if we needed a coach for the forwards and the management believe Obika can do the job, it's worth a punt.

To be honest, I hadn't read Kettlewell's comments until a few minutes ago. Obviously the club had the option to extend his deal as a player and were not going to do so. None of us have any clue whether Jon Obika will be a decent coach or not, but I can't believe Kettlewell would be paying him to just hang around contributing hee haw, so he must've seen something. Yeah, this is his first go at coaching, which probably means he'll be getting paid accordingly.

You'd have to explain why a player would sign a deal with the option of an extension if the club could simply tell them to bugger off, because that sounds like a completely worthless contract to me.

The option was definitely ours, not his?

If he had the option, would he have chucked it and just walked away? Maybe his retirement came as a result of being offered the coaching position and there was never going to be a wage freed up.

It's only immaterial if he was planning to retire as a player.

By being a better coach than a player, probably, which would hardly be a first.

Bobby Russell was on the radio last week, punting his new book. Said he had the choice of MacDonald & Jardine at Hearts or McLean & Forsyth with us when Rangers wanted rid of him, and he was heading to Tynecastle before the deal fell through. Apparently, both clubs offered him the same money.

Yeah, I liked his style too. Wonder how he'd cope with VAR, right enough.

Talking of Moult and Lewis, I see Ryan Bowman was released by Shrewsbury Town. And no, I'm not.

"The Stephen Craigan derby"

I can think of one thing that's surer....

I was surprised Oxborough was offered a new deal and signed it, but on reflection, it's probably not that weird. It may seem like he's made a quick decision on his future but he has no doubt seen Kelly's departure coming for some time, given most of us did. He must have known how difficult it would be to shift the club captain and regular member of the Scotland squad from the starting line-up, and in general, the patience levels of goalkeepers are probably much higher than those of outfield players. We have no idea what Kettlewell's told him re his plans for next season, though I doubt he's said you have no chance of becoming number 1. As for moving closer to home, who knows, maybe he actually likes it here.

Why should we be after him?

He thinks he's capable of playing in the Premier League, so he isn't flattered by any interest from there. He might stay at Raith, he might not. No mention of Motherwell, or anyone else, from Easton, just mentioned as a rumour in the article.

Joe Lewis makes as much sense as the Stefan Scougall rumour did. Why would we be after a 36 year old who - unless I've missed something - hasn't played for a year and was never that good in the first place?

Know he wasn't everyone's favourite, but I always liked him when he was here.

My apologies. Must be time for a drink.

I'm not trying to justify anything. But if a guy like Tommy McLean chose to stick a player who could hardly move on the bench for a cup final, then actually bring him on when the game was still in the balance, anything's possible. Kettlewell obviously has a lot of time for Butcher. Maybe saying he chose not to accept our offer seemed a nicer parting of the ways. If anyone knows what that offer was, fair enough, I'd be interested to hear the details.