capt_oats

I'm not sure it's that weird tbh. Most of the teams around us have a few trialists in at the moment, if Dundee fans are to be believed they've got up to half a dozen in at the moment. I understand the point in that for a key area that's been known to need addressed by everyone including the manager you'd have thought we'd have targets in mind that we'd have gone out and signed straight away in the same way that we've done business early for other areas of the park but when you strip it back it is there that much difference between us ending up with a player having had him in for a fortnight to have a look at him then deciding he's a good fit over just signing him straight away? It's possible that they're players we've identified but wanted to have a look at before committing to. Speaking hypothetically, had we just straight out signed Dembele and he had slotted in as he did on Saturday there's a fair chance people would feel a lot more comfortable about us having made positive steps to "address" the defensive area of the park however because he and others are trialists there's, rightly or wrongly, an implication that they're inferior players vs someone we've signed straight away. Similarly, again hypothetically, I'd imagine people would be a bit more comfortable had we gone out and signed someone like Meekings because he's known name in this league, yet he hasn't kicked a ball due to injury since December and has a patchy injury record in general. In honesty I'm a lot happier if we've got trialists in early in order for us to take a look at them and make a decision early. If the process is us taking a look at them and making a genuine appraisal on whether they fit in/are good enough then fine. It becomes more of a problem if we just end up taking them regardless simply to fill a jersey. In truth I think there's more chance of the latter happening at the end of the window than at this stage. In other news I see that's Everton chucking stacks of cash at Burnley for Michael Keane, if Burnley want to follow up their reported interest in Ben Heneghan then now's the time for them to do it.

He's been "transfer-listed" by Peterborough (how quaint) but he still has 2 years on his deal. As I say, he didn't fancy us the first time round and given Fir Park hasn't moved any closer to London in the past 6 months I'd imagine he'll end up at whichever League 1 or 2 side in England will stump up some cash for him. Either that or Uncle Roy will chuck some of his millions at him. Edit to add: if the report at the time he signed for Mansfield is correct the two clubs had actually agreed a fee for them to buy at the end of his loan. Stating the obvious a bit but it'd seem they've decided against taking him permanently. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38678519

Josh Law signs for York City https://twitter.com/YorkCityFC/status/881897119610744832

Are we though? Tuton's on trial granted but there's no guarantee we'll take him. In fact going by Robinson's comments post-match he sounded completely non-committal on him pointing out that defenders were our priority while the sole mention of Coulthirst has been a line tagged on to the end of a BBC report and a few posts on here. Darragh MacAnthony indicated Peterborough were discussing a deal re: Coulthirst with a "SPL (sic) side" on June 28th. People seem to have decided that's us because there was a vague mention of interest on our part in January which fell through because he didn't want to move North. He's been linked with both Ross County and Dundee both of whom seem far more in need of a striker than we do tbh.

I've been a fan of a lot that Robinson has said to the media and his general approach however there are a couple of times where he's tripped up and not been particularly helpful and this, for me, is one of those occasions. There's really no need for him to put a number on that statement, just say that we're working within our budget and we'll offer both players as competitive a deal as we can and we're hopeful they'll sign. All saying "we can't afford to offer X amount" does is just lead to posts and a general overall perception like Luke's above (no offence) when the message coming from the club doesn't really have to. We have a budget which as far as I'm aware is based on a 10th placed finish, no player sales and no cup run. That's fine. When we were running with an unsustainable budget and chucking wages at players we were consistently posting losses, that's not fine.

Jack Leitch on trial with ICT. Played in their friendly against Forres at the weekend.

Given he's here on trial I was quite surprised to read that Tuton's still under contract at Barnsley. Signed a 2+1/2 year deal with them last January window with an option for an extra year. https://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/news/2016/february/reds-land-striker-shaun-tuton-from-halifax-town/

It at least affirms the idea that McHugh is to be viewed exclusively as a midfielder I'd say. For him to say that ideally he'd like to add two centre backs suggests that he'd prefer to recruit left and right sided players but realistically we'll probably just have to go for whoever is the best player regardless of what their preferred side is.

I'd say Robinson's probably mindful of the lack of an older head at centre half if McManus isn't available (for whatever reason). They weren't particularly tested and I'd acknowledge we were playing against a League 2 side in what was pretty much a bounce game but Heneghan and Dembele looked relatively comfortable together as a pair. The article that ran in The Herald this morning (I just assumed it was the ET as I saw Scott Mullen wrote it) is quite informative. Not least as Robinson indicates that he's actively working on a couple moving out. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/15384862.Motherwell_ponder_Dembele_move_as_Stephen_Robinson__39_s_men_get_off_to_a_winning_start/?ref=twtrec

I stand corrected on this btw. I just had a look at transfermarkt and Dembele's listed as left sided (and has played left back). No idea why I'd made the assumption that he was right sided.

I'd be a bit worried if we were looking at Coulthirst tbh. I'm on board with the majority of signings thus far but Coulthirst just smacks of one of the supermarket sweep moments of the Baraclough window. Overlooking the fact we're reported to have been in for him before but he didn't want to move away from his family in London you're talking about a player who didn't really do much at Mansfield (5 goals in 20 games) and Peterborough (7 goals in 43 games) are looking to offload. It's quite possible we'd need to pay a fee for him given he's got a contract running up to 2019. Having a look at Mansfield's supporters take on Coulthirst and "meh" would be the best way to sum it up. It's all a bit Theo Robinson tbqh.

I seem to recall Robinson saying he planned to keep a bit of budget back in case anything came up later in the window so it may well be the case that a loan or such might be in his thinking. That's him saying in the Evening Times there that he's working on getting a few out at the moment since as things currently stand they need to move some out before they can think about offering the trialists anything. As far as Dunne goes I didn't think he was as bad as quite a few on here have been making out but the 2nd half showed that Hammell was/is still far better on the ball and has a much better touch. That cursed amulet may already have been slipped into Dunne's kitbag.

Dembele was at Barnet, Tuton was contracted to Barnsley but on loan at both Grimsby and Barrow. In truth, goal aside, Tuton didn't really do much but then the service he was getting was pretty woeful.

Is it really that much of a surprise that an XI of whom 10 have played for our first team before might be a bit more fluid and together than a team comprising 2 trialists, 3 new signings, 2 players who haven't played in 6 months and 2 players who started last season with the u20s? I'd have said it'd have been more of a concern if the team that played the 2nd half hadn't been much better tbh.

Right but played on the left side of the pair with Heneghan.

We've signed a centre half from Oldham for the u20s, Dylan King. We've also brought in Liam Brown who was playing in Queens Park's first team last season, though he's a (highly rated by all accounts) midfielder. The stand out players (IMO) for the u20s at the moment are Jake Hastie and David Turnbull.

I don't think anyone's denying that on our budget we need versatility, it's a necessary thing. It may seem like semantics but in this case, given Hammell's advancing years and patchy injury record, I'd have been a bit more up for us bringing in a player who sees his primary position as left back who can cover at centre back rather than the other way around (in the same way as McHugh clearly sees himself as a midfielder but spent most of his early career playing centre half). Maybe we tried to, I don't know but as Lobey_Dosser points out by Dunne's own admission he sees himself as a centre back and that's his preferred position. It just so happens that for the majority of his career it seems he's been asked to play full back. That, to me, is naturally going to affect how he plays the position. Dunne seems to have attributes that we've lacked he looks quick, he's got height and athleticism. All plus points for me and from Robinson's interview it's clear that he sees unfulfilled potential there. I'm totally on board with that. Unlike Zak Jules he's also played a decent number of first team games at a decent level given he's only 24, so that's good. Ultimately, when it comes down to it the loss of McManus last season was a stark reminder that we need left sided cover so in that respect if Robinson can tap into that potential then adding Dunne has meant he's addressed certain deficiencies. Whether he's any good or not in a technical sense we'll wait and see. I'd just have been a bit more into us bringing in someone who when asked "what do you think is your best position?" would have come back with a reply of "left back but I've played a number of games at centre half as well but I prefer playing full back". Even more so given Robinson indicated in his interview that we're still looking to bring in another 2 centre backs anyway.

I'm pretty much of a similar view tbh. It'd be nice to bring in an actual left back. I've no problem with having a centre half who can cover there, I'm very much on board with that but an actual dedicated full back to take over from Hammell in due course would be lovely. Dunne, nothing against him, seems very much a "get someone who can do both" option. One thing I would say re: criticism of Dunne from fans of his former clubs is that according to Doncaster supporters Aaron Taylor-Sinclair is the worst player ever to have played the game, yet because he's known up here due to his time at Thistle he'd probably have fallen into a sympathetic "could do a job" category if we had been looking at him. In related "could do a job" news that's Stephen Hendrie signed for Southend, where he'd previously spent some time on loan. Apparently "several top flight teams in Scotland" had shown interest.

The key part for me was him pointing out that Cadden could see out his contract and still be worth considerably more than Hearts offer in development compensation which is the position that I'd hoped we'd have been taken especially as dev fees are much less abstract and the value is clear to work out. Totally agree that his dismissal of the offer hit the right notes.

Given we have 2 centre halves on trial who are guaranteed game time along with Heneghan and McManus I'd imagine McHugh will be playing in midfield (if he plays).

Here's the obligatory YouTube video for Dunne. He's described as a left back/CB/wing back so take your pick.

Listening to Robinson's interview a while back he was clear that he saw an issue with our defence. In fact he was quite explicit in saying that there was a reason we were sitting second bottom for a fair amount of the season. Going by that I'd say he's probably aware of the need to change things up with the back 4. Watching the clip of Dunne on YouTube he seems to play both centre half and left back so I'm not 100% certain he's exclusively cover or a replacement for Hammell. The "left sided defender" description seems quite apt. It's quite crude but we released, or lost to retirement in Lasley's case, a fair number of players so it's interesting to see roughly who we've brought in in their place. Of those who were at the club (so not including Moore etc); Samson - Carson Ferguson - Jules - Dunne Chalmers - Lucas - Lasley - Bigirimana Ainsworth - Tanner Pearson - Rose McDonald - Fisher We also saw Kennedy released in between windows as well. I'm not sure if I've missed anyone there or not?

Chris Humphrey signs for Bury. https://twitter.com/buryfcofficial/status/880816262196191233

Can't really argue with either of the posts above. Tait's been good overall IMO, he's got excellent delivery with either foot and can get up and down the park but has been given a few roastings when he's had to play against some of the better wingers in the league. In general though I'm a fan. Clay, as others have said is pretty divisive. In honesty I don't think when we signed him we'd have envisaged him playing anywhere near as much as he ended up having to. Carl McHugh missed the first half of the season with a delayed concussion and we'd already lost Stephen Pearson just before Clay arrived. To me he always seemed someone who'd been brought in, as Jay says, to "do a job" around the squad and fill in now and again rather than someone to play week in, week out which is what he ended up having to do. He's a tidy enough player but I think it's been quite a step up for him.

Ha! He definitely had a very rich vein of form for a while. No doubt about that, it was pretty much that form that got him his move to Ibrox IIRC.