weeyin

I hear that's called the Lewis Morgan model.

What does "Acceptable" mean? We made him an offer - and even sold Bigi to free up cash in the budget. He declined. How do we make it "acceptable"? Offer him more money than a senior player? Match Sevco's offer? We made Moult an offer too, but he still moved on. So that wasn't acceptable either. Sometimes, it's just not possible, and there's not a club on the planet that has been able to hold on to every player they want to keep.

I think it's a speculative punt for any club at this stage. Hastie's attributes seem to be power and speed - two excellent qualities in a player. Like all new players, he was an unknown quantity to the opposition and certainly made a big impact. Teams already started adjusting, though. Hearts after seeing him 45 minutes, and Killie after the abandoned game, both changed the coverage and he became much less effective. So, for me, he passed the initial part of his introduction into the first team i.e. making an impact with some great performances and bags of confidence. The next part will be to see how he adjusts now teams are working him out. And, of course, the final part will be to see if he improves. For example, his decision making on when to pass, when to shoot and when to hit the line for a cross is still very much that of a raw teenager. Of course I would have loved to have seen him stick around or another season and see how (and if) he developed. I think it would have been an accelerated process for him because he would have been playing alongside guys that he's played with since he was 8 or 9 and know his game inside out. If I had to choose between keeping Hastie or keeping Turnbull for another year, though, it would be Turnbull every time - he looks like the real deal. It's all a gamble at this point, though. The leagues are littered with stories of promising youngsters who made a big impact for a few games or even a season, and then just faded away - and conversely, with stories of players who were average youngster who came good later in their career.

How do we make them sign? People keep saying we "should have sorted it", but I have seen zero suggestions on how we could have made him put pen to paper. We secured Turnbull, Scott and Maguire, and already held on to Campbell and Cadden in prior years. If there is a way to secure 100% of academy players on longer term deals, I'm sure every club would love to know the secret. Hope they gave him a season ticket with a decent view so he pick up some tips from Jamie Murphy

I prefer not to do it for anyone at any game - but that's just me.

Robinson said that Bigi was sold to specifically to free up some cash to offer Turnbull, Hastie and Scott new deals.

There's a famous American artist called Robert Motherwell - full name Robert Burns Motherwell III, I believe. (Presumably with some Scottish heritage).

If Cadden gets himself fit over the next few weeks, should he get a starting spot? If so, who makes room for him? (I'm guessing Hastie - especially if he has signed a pre-contract elsewhere by then).

People also claimed Twardzik was responsible for our improvement in form when he came in on loan (so much so, they insisted we sign him full time). It's rarely as simple as that. I still maintain that, as good as he is, he would not have been as influential if we had slotted him into the team and formation we were playing in August.

I think, basically, McLeish is a better coach than he is manager. He showed with us that, given the right players, he was able to get the best from them. When he needed to be a manager and sign new players and build a new system, he failed on a grand scale. If he was coaching the Scotland squad from the 70s or 80s he'd probably do just fine. However, the last manager to get the best out of a limited Scotland squad was probably Craig Brown.

Glad they didn't add the hoop to the yellow one, but looks great on the amber version.

Haha! Very true. Although that other one was a bit more like England winning the Ashes or Cambridge winning the boat race.

I wouldn't for one second attempt a diagnosis, but it was obvious from his media appearances prior to the Scotland job that he had some kind of illness. Primarily from the mild slurring in his speech. Of course, that doesn't mean dementia - for all I know it could be a dental issue. Or even a mild stroke from which he's made an otherwise full recovery. Unfortunately, as a prominent centre-half in his day that spent many years heading heavy footballs, it is more likely to be some kind of head-trauma related condition. Regardless, I agree with Al B. Putting his history as Motherwell gaffer aside, he is worthy of the legend status playing in a team that broke the OF stranglehold on the SPL title, winning a European trophy and being half of a defnesive partnership with Willie Miller that was truly world class. He just shouldn't have been anywhere near the Scotland job.

He's also a better LB than Graeme Shinnie.

Spot on that he combined well with Bigi and Cadden during that period? Agreed!

We don't seem to fare well after breaks, winter or international. Having our youngsters on international duty might be an advantage (as long as they are injury-free) as it might mainitain the sharpness we'll need to win this one.

Not going to happen until after we lose the Europa Nations Runners Up Celebrity Subbuteo Play-off semi-final.

Everyone already know what one I liked - the Adidas one that was the wrong colour and didn't come with a change version.

Was thinking the same thing. Greavsie even adopted Accies as his Scottish team to add some Lanarkshire rivalry to The Saints regular mentions of Motherwell.

Turnbull first shone when Bigi was played alongside him in Oct/Nov (although Cadden's form in Oct/Nov wasn't too shabby either). Tait played well in Oct/Nov too, so not sure how that changes my original point. As good as Turnbull has been, it's ridiculous to suggest that, in a team game, he was single-handedly responsible for turning our season around.

The turn around in the season has been due to the combination of players (Turnbull, Ariyibi and Hastie), plus guys like Campbell getting back to his best. Turnbull has absolutely been one of the best performers, but it's difficult to argue against Tait and Aldred's contribution this season. I can't remember Tait having a bad game this season.

Hibs were OK, we were a bit less than OK. Every now and then we play a game where the effort is there, but no real spark. Yesterday was one of those days.

Remind us of your ideas on how to make them sign?

My original point was just that if Hibs draw with us or beat us, they will have a cushion that will be difficult for us to overcome in a small number of games.

I'll be pleasantly surprised if we finish top 6, but definitely agree we should be aiming for that. If we don't win this one, that gives Hibs the edge in the race. The extra cash is always welcome, and if we're going to give the youngsters some more game time, might as well give them a run out against the top teams. Plus, it gives us something to play for over the last few pre-split games and would quite an achievement given where we were in late December.