C&A not the shop

A Sam Foley that was released by St Mirren due to his injury issues, thatbhas barely featured for us after signing in January probably isn't going to be a player that can do 40+ games next season. Good player and would have helped us massively if he had been fit. Didn't work out but I can see why we took the gamble. Would be happy if we can keep Cole for next season .

I think we were all expecting Gallacher to leave. He's done well over all in his time here and Aberdeen is probably a good move for him. As someone said if everyone we brought in did as well as Gallacher we would be in a good position. We need to be looking for a new centre back to replace him but I think it will be one player in with either Mugabi or Lamie alongside and not a new CB pair. Midfield is where we will see the most changes as losing Campbell is a blow and if Alexander wants a 4 man midfield he's going to have to bring in a few players as o don't see who we have that can do that. Hopefully Donnelly can come back and ne the player he showed signs becoming. Up top Looking at 3 players coming in assuming Cole, Long, Roberts and Hastie aren't here next year. So I think the big changes are from Midfield forward rather than at the back before next season.

If its not him ill be very surprised

It wasn't working for mr when I tried last night. Going to give it another couple of tries at points before 5pm

All of this, but with respect to the quality of the league I don't see it changing in any meaningful way anytime soon. Or even what the path is to significantly changing things for the better. There's not a lot of money in the league and there's silly money in England so every club is going to struggle to bring in or keep good players. Is the solution to increase the size of the league so there's more scope to finish mid table and be more adventurous in how teams play and more chance to bring younger players in as the same pressure isn't there on every team? But any change to the number of old firm games will reduce the TV deal so there's even less money and even less chance to bring in or keep good players. I think a big factor on people this season is not getting to the games so you don't get the social aspects but also the highs aren't as high. Goals don't elicit as much joy, refs decisions don't get you as angry, the relief of the final whistle when you're hanging on isn't one tinged with joy its just relief but the lows are still there in the same way, the nagging doubts about the future of the club long term, the frustration at the team selections or transfer policy are still there. The bad bits are just as bad but the good bits aren't as good. Will we see a bounce in attendances when we're allowed back in or will it fall off as folk out of the habit of it? None of which will change either way if Graham Alexander (who's done everything asked of him so far) is in charge or not.

Anyone had any luck with a Premier Sports promo code, I'd rather watch it decent quality than rely on a hooky stream. Also it may be decent value if we get through and they show that semi..... Big if.

My issue was that I wasn't sure if Graham Alexander had it in him to put out teams to win like this. When we were looking for a new manager what we need were results. We've got them. Alexander has steadied the ship and stopped us collapsing after a few shocking results. Also if Nolan was on a pay as you play contract its not that bad a bit of business.* *I've just made up that he's on a pay per play basis for this joke.

Makes sense as we need striking options for next year, fits out usual profile of a player that was well thought of at a big club then has fell away to a lower level. Certainly banging in the goals just now. Though we would have to pay the training/development compensation so thats not something we would usually do. Would that be lower since everton released him at 19/20 then he spent two years at Linfield so they would only be due the two years of training compensation rather than the full from 16 that we would be due for Campbell?

I had one if those Google suggested news articles come up from the Edinburgh Press talking about "former Hibs target Alan Campbell". Not a further mention of hibs, just an interview snippet from Lucetti talking about Alan Campbell having all the attributes to play in the EPL. Was basically a press release for Alan Campbell. Bit weird that were doing this sort of sales pitch for a player that's going to be out of contract and our cash will be via the solidarity payment rather than an in contract sale. Suppose it makes sense for our "we will do right by you" pitch that we make to players and costs us nothing.

My mates a County fan and rates him very highly however I'm surprised we would be looking at q right back option.

Same for County, a draw takes them to 31 and we have 41 with only 3 games left.

If they lose here they're going to be 11th at best, after our previous performances against them this season and the position we were in you can see why the gambled on trying to bully us. Hasn't worked out so far. Going man for man with them seemed the best shout since 1-11 we have the better player in each position. Let's see this out well and take a bit of momentum in to the cup on Saturday.

Indeed, we would be 11 ahead with 9 to play for. If killie lose a point is also enough to secure 10th at the worst (10 ahead with 3 games left). If Killie or County don't win then 3 points secures us 10th. So a win would be handy to confirm things for next year but realistically were not finishing lower than 10th, still nice to have it sorted.

Millwall and Luton are good clubs for Alan Campbell, fair play to him if he gets a move to one of them. Interesting to hear OTF talk about Alexander possibly not being here after the summer. I thought he had moved his family up to Scotland so it must be good money if he's willing to up root them again. Unless its a move to another Scottish club and if so I can only see Hearts as a possible destination. Don't see anyone else paying compensation. Or I may have made up the family thing, or they could be unhappy and wanting to move back down to England....

I'd rather be us than Accies. They need a win, we don't. It'll be a shit game but I can see us nicking it.

We can't lose to them 4 times in a season. We really should win but I'd take the draw now just to avoid the risk of losing.

It was like a mirror of the St Mirren game, we had more of the ball and were in dangerous areas without producing much.

Well we're through. And that's what matters. We were the better side for most of the match, hitting the post and the stone wall penalty but even with that didn't look particularly dangerous.

Anyway. Morton tonight, would love to be going to fir park tonight, nice night for the stoat up, couple of beers en route and then a scottish cup game. Alas. Any word on Watt or any of the other injured players? Do we go with the three up front or four in midfield? Same back 5 as against St Mirren but after that its going to be interesting who plays.

Youre one of the posters on here i think is usually pretty reliable so maybe I'm wrong about him and I just like the sort of player I think he is rather than he's actually doing. Next few times he's playing and I can actually watch the game in person ill try and keep more of an eye on him with that in mind.

And now going totally against everything I've said about the reduced squad and only bringing in a few players etc. Do we think Harry Cochrane is worth a punt? Not getting his contract renewed at Hearts, still young and was highly thought of, from the local area apparently and I'm assuming no fee for training compensation due if he's not been offered a contract? I'm not saying we should bring him in bit i think there's a discussion to be had.

I think we will be looking to finish around the top 6 spot somewhere between 5 and 9th will be a realistic target and I think that squad is going to be around that level assuming we can fill the gaps well, aren't too unlucky with injuries and Alexander gets its mostly right tactically. Are you saying the squad isn't good enough to do that or that we should be aiming higher than that?

I know you're not a fan but I think he adds some good physicality. Covers the park well and wins a lot in the air and drives the game forward well. Maybe too similar to Donnelly so I take your point. Then again I'm not a football manager by a long way so probably miles off.

Yes I am. He would probably start ahead of Crawford.

If Carson is fit he'll be number one and either Morrison or someone like Fox will be back up. If Carson is not available maybe we can get an extra 6 months loan out of Kelly. I Gallacher, Cole and Campbell will be away and we will need to look to replace them with similar quality. Long will be gone I think and as will some of the fringe players but I don't see them being replaced like for like. I don't see much coming in beyond that. Wouldn't be surprised to see us start next season in a 4-4-2 with GK: Carson RB: O'Donnell CB: Mugabe CB: New Centre Back LB: Carroll/McGinley MF: Donnelly MF: Crawford MF:Lawless MF: New midfielder. FW: Watt FW: New Striker The key will be those three new players and how good they are and how well they settle along with injuries. I think that also allows us to go with 3 at the back, or even 3 up front if we bring in another striker on top of the above. Would have Morrison, Grimshaw, Maguire, Lamie as senior players from the bench and filled out with the younger players that are at that stage. Who that ends up being is a different question. Maybe 5 new faces, 3 permanent and a couple of quality loans. Or I could be miles off and its a full new team.