2026/27 Ins & Outs Discussion

[mio]

As much as I liked Ward, £800k for a keeper who isn’t that great a keeper in his final year of contract….. when we got him for nothing…… is a decent bit of business.

[grizzlyg]

1 minute ago, mio said:

As much as I liked Ward, £800k for a keeper who isn’t that great a keeper in his final year of contract….. when we got him for nothing…… is a decent bit of business.

I agree, £800 k great business.  I fully get the distribution part but I am old fashioned and also like my keepers coming for crosses and saving shots.

Certainly done us a turn and very grateful but I feel we can get a replacement in just as good or even better

[Richie]

Obviously unlikely to re-invest all the cash in the team, let alone just on a GK, but we should have a bit more for wages in the GK position as a result of it.

We'll obviously have our targets and just need to trust the process.

On the face of it almost £1m for GK is decent, particularly when the stats can mask things a bit.

A solid GK, but certainly had a clanger or two in him.

[Orinoco]

Seldom easy to replace any player when they leave. Look at our attempts to sign a goalkeeper prior to Ward. 

Rather we had our strongest team  on the pitch to watch, especially against our next very important game.

Some incomming signings would be nice.

[mfc]

800k is good business and we should be in a decent position to find a suitable replacement and if we can get ox off the wage bill as well then even better.

[MJC]

As things stand we are going to be very, very short of options going into the new season, virtually having to rebuild the entire team under a new manager. Hopefully by the time the league season starts we will have got a few more on board but it’s a big ask for the new boss.

And I think we can safely write off the ‘Euro adventure’ as the usual anti-climax and exit at the first hurdle. That said I’m not too bothered about that, the real stuff starts on 2nd August at Easter Road.

[Kmcalpin]

46 minutes ago, mio said:

As much as I liked Ward, £800k for a keeper who isn’t that great a keeper in his final year of contract….. when we got him for nothing…… is a decent bit of business.

He has one year to go and we have  year's option in addition.

[Mccus28]

Not gona lie, im a glass moderately full kinda guy but this is turning into a full rebuild in almost every position given who has gone and going, a couple of weeks before europe starts with a new manager..........................

Less than ideal imo

[Kmcalpin]

5 minutes ago, MJC said:

As things stand we are going to be very, very short of options going into the new season, virtually having to rebuild the entire team under a new manager. Hopefully by the time the league season starts we will have got a few more on board but it’s a big ask for the new boss.

And I think we can safely write off the ‘Euro adventure’ as the usual anti-climax and exit at the first hurdle. That said I’m not too bothered about that, the real stuff starts on 2nd August at Easter Road.

Taking nothing for granted but we are good enough to beat Havnar, and in the unlikely event we can't, serious questions would need to be asked of the directors and to a lesser extent  Nick Daws. The next round is a slightly different matter. 

[Big Stall]

1 minute ago, Mccus28 said:

Not gona lie, im a glass moderately full kinda guy but this is turning into a full rebuild in almost every position given who has gone and going, a couple of weeks before europe starts with a new manager..........................

Less than ideal imo

Agree it feels like that however both jens & the chairman have said previously we wont be selling everyone at once. Could we end up keeping hold of the ones we thought were heading out the door......

[MJC]

Just now, Kmcalpin said:

Taking nothing for granted but we are good enough to beat Havnar, and in the unlikely event we can't, serious questions would need to be asked of the directors and to a lesser extent  Nick Daws. The next round is a slightly different matter. 

I’ve seen this movie too many times before to know not to expect anything other than disappointment. We have a great season, qualify for Europe, lose several players and by the time the games come around we just aren’t ready on or off the park. Either that or we just humiliate ourselves.

I am getting increasingly bad vibes about the upcoming season with us more or less having to build an entire team under a manger just in the door. It was always highly unlikely that we would get anywhere near last seasons levels but unless we get the recruitment spot on over the next month or so then we could be detached at the bottom of the league come the end of August.

[Mccus28]

3 minutes ago, Big Stall said:

Agree it feels like that however both jens & the chairman have said previously we wont be selling everyone at once. Could we end up keeping hold of the ones we thought were heading out the door......

Lets hope so and if Jens was still here id be more comfortable with the statement.

Just, Watt and Maswanhise will command the most money and the question remains............can we turn the sums down

[Mccus28]

3 minutes ago, MJC said:

I’ve seen this movie too many times before to know not to expect anything other than disappointment. We have a great season, qualify for Europe, lose several players and by the time the games come around we just aren’t ready on or off the park. Either that or we just humiliate ourselves.

I am getting increasingly bad vibes about the upcoming season with us more or less having to build an entire team under a manger just in the door. It was always highly unlikely that we would get anywhere near last seasons levels but unless we get the recruitment spot on over the next month or so then we could be detached at the bottom of the league come the end of August.

MJC on the other hand is a glass bone dry kinda guy 🤣

[weeyin]

Ward's key asset was his ability to read a situation and finding the right pass to either get out of trouble or start an attacking phase.

If he was a midfielder doing that, I suspect there would be more concern about him leaving than for "just a keeper", as if there are more goalies that are good at passing than outfield players.

[stv]

Again , we are a selling club. Everyone says it and every other team knows it. It's been said a million times every player is for sale if the price is right. Our right price is a small price for English teams to take a chance with.

What do folk expect after an outstanding season. If we block any moves that has a knock on effect with new signings comming in to get a move up later on.

It's were we are at least we are making decent money out of it. Feel a bit sorry for manager tho having rug pulled from under him after he signed up.

[Spit_It_Out]

Hate to say but price is right then a player will be off!I fully expect Watt,Just,Longelo,TJ to be sold in this window sort of expecting it tbh.

 

 

 

[texanwellfan]

Maybe we tweak our style a wee bit and keep Ox as our main keeper?

 

[texanwellfan]

Is Just back with the squad or still on a break? 

[weeyin]

11 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

Is Just back with the squad or still on a break? 

He's on a beach, lighting cigars with hundos.

[mcguru]

Ok so I had a spare 10 secs there to ask some virtual person about player registrations for Conf. League

 

Qualifying Rounds: For each qualifying round (July & August 2026), the initial squad list deadline is usually several days to a week before the first leg. However, clubs are allowed an emergency late registration of up to two new eligible players until 23:59 CET on the night before a first-leg match

[MJC]

Ward gone for undisclosed fee now confirmed.

Best of luck to him, he really came on leaps and bounds as last season went on after a shaky start.

[MFCL84]

1 hour ago, MJC said:

I am getting increasingly bad vibes about the upcoming season with us more or less having to build an entire team under a manger just in the door.

You are not alone. After the euphoria of last season, I was looking forward to a bit of continuity and seeing the team take the next step in the 26/27 season. However,  the way that things seem to be panning out it looks like we'll struggle to have much early season success. 

I'm not doubting the recruitment team or manager's ability to get it done, just the timing of it all.

1 hour ago, MJC said:

we could be detached at the bottom of the league come the end of August.

I'm not here yet, but any thoughts of a European run are rapidly fading, even before a ball is kicked.

 

[Kmcalpin]

1 hour ago, stv said:

Again , we are a selling club. Everyone says it and every other team knows it. It's been said a million times every player is for sale if the price is right. Our right price is a small price for English teams to take a chance with.

What do folk expect after an outstanding season. If we block any moves that has a knock on effect with new signings comming in to get a move up later on.

It's were we are at least we are making decent money out of it. Feel a bit sorry for manager tho having rug pulled from under him after he signed up.

I quite get that and have seen more than most good players depart Fir Park. That will always be the case and I can live quite contently with that.  Blocking moves is a fine balancing act and, like it or not, contracts mean little to better players who can simply throw a hissy fit to get their move. 

After last season, there was always going to be interest in a slew of our players, so thats no surprise. However,  a balance has to be struck. It was known by the club months ago and before the split, that JBA was leaving. So none of these factors should have been a surprise. Everyone connected with the club also knew that we'd be playing our first Conference League tie at the late July. 

My only potential gripe is that our Chairman said that our best players would not all be sold at the same time, and that might still be the case; hopefully it is. However, I am getting a little nervous at the state of the squad for our first Havnar tie. Its unlikely that new players arriving are 100% match fit and gel instantly. The clock is ticking.  

[mio]

Ach we’ll be fine, not the first time we’ve lost half our players, and it won’t be the last. It is the first time however we potentially lose 4 /5 of our players for circa £10m quid.

[MJC]

A European run was never happening, even had JBA stayed imo. We would still have lost key players and have been short of options come the tie. But as I said I’m not overly concerned about Europe, the real test comes when the league season begins and we’ve got a lot of work to do to be ready for that.