weeyin

Not just his agent. I remember shortly after his transfer, Craigan making some pretty scathing comments in one of his TV spots about how Johnson downed tools to try and force a move that the club wasn't even preventing.

I'm more interested to see if the supposed vote to ban them in the Premiership actually happens. That would be a huge step forward. I don't worry as much about what the wee teams like Annan and Killie do. We'll be back at Hampden soon though, I hope.

Looking forward to the comments about how dreadful we look in these games after 2 weeks of preseason training

The apathy that got us to 3rd not so long ago? Professional sportsmen of any sport want to win. They won't stay pro very long otherwise, but they live, eat and breathe winning. Even off the pitch and after they retire. It's a difficult balance for a budget constrained club like ours. One year is too short. Two years is often the longest players will commit to. Three years is great if the player is good - if they are a dud then we have tied up a wage for two years too long. And with a squad of 24, that is quite a big percentage of wage. Can you imagine the complaining on here if the guys we released this summer were all coming back for another 2 seasons?

A quick look at the regs says that Training Compensation is due "each time a player is transferred until the end of the calendar year of his 23rd birthday" So if that is accurate, the compo requirement ended in December 2020. I heard GA say recruitment was well under way, so good to see us get some early business completed.

For me, even the most stringent crowd restrictions would be better than watching a stream from an empty stadium.

We were pretty big earners in the 2019/20 season thanks to finishing 3rd. That's the counterargument the club will have to any questions about needing to spend more on players.

Queens Park, Edinburgh City and Morton no doubt.

10 clubs in 8 year suggests there is something fundamentally absent from his game. Whether it's something he brings (or doesn't bring) to the dressing room, whether it's lack of ability to sustain form or whether it's something else entirely, I think it's unlikely all those clubs got it wrong. If he lasts longer than 1 season at his next club I'd be very surprised.

Still naw. 14 different clubs in 16 years suggests he's not exactly making a positive impression with his employers. Unless, of course, the teams are so overawed by his talent they don't feel worthy and move him on to avoid embarrassing themselves.

He'll be someone for Moult to talk to in the treatment room.

Would be a result if we get rid of 2 plastic pitches in one season.

Tackling and kicking the ball away. The two main things I look for in a defender.

I like Dunne, as long as he's not trying any Hollywood passes. He's a defence first type of full back that I prefer. I also enjoy watching him give opponents a 10 yard start and then strolling up beside them with a "not this time, mate".

Because GA liked what he saw when Dunne was able to train fully again?

I thought that when we beat them in the next game. They looked exactly like a team about to be relegated.

More likely Carson isn't coming back.

The official statement reads "We not only remain in positive discussions with some of our players but also with a number of clubs in relation to one or two players we had on loan, with a view to doing something." which implies that some of those out of contract might be in discussions to renew.

For a new gaffer, it's probably quite useful to have all these contracts and loans expire and have plenty of scope to start building the type of team he wants. Kelly and Roberts would certainly be welcome back - as, of course would Cole.

There's a table floating around the internet that has Ross County as number 12 for this season. Can't remember the full list, but I think we were 9th or 10th. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter, of course. Also, I imagine it depends how you define budget. Some tables I have seen are average salary, some are total cash available some include money spent on transfer fees etc.

He was a classic example of a player that could score for fun in the lower leagues, but couldn't reproduce at the higher league level.

I think the biggest "luck" factor, if you want to call it luck, was just how weird this season has been with all the Covid restrictions. With the exception of Rangers, every team's form has been all over the place. Same in England where Man City cantered to the title losing 6 and drawing 5 games - which is nowhere winning form for prior seasons. The fact that the Scottish Cup ties were compressed into a few weeks also helped, as it meant you only needed to maintain good cup form over a much shorter time frame. That's not to take anything away from St Johnstone. The conditions were the same for every team and they took full advantage of it. An incredible achievement for any of the "wee" teams in the modern era and something the fans will be talking about forever. A small part of me is happy we didn't get to the finals this season purely because it would have been awful having to watch us compete for a trophy in an empty stadium - but I'm sure I'd have been delighted if we'd won.

While I agree his recent form has been good, as I mentioned elsewhere, his goal overall goal scoring record is similar to someone like Ryan Bowman. An average of about 5 per season in the prior 8 years. We have experience with Watt and I'd be delighted if we could bring back Cole, backed up with a younger prospect to develop.

The best part for me that day was the stream I was watching had the Celtic TV commentators. They went from arrogant celebration to worried and then, when Skippy finished them off, they cut off their audio.

As we've seen with our own players, the gap between Championship and Premiership is one many players struggle to cross. Guys like Bob McHugh, Craig Moore, Dom Thomas and many more have carved out good careers in lower leagues after struggling to cut it in our first team. And the problem with recruiting the younger players is we can't afford the development fee.