weeyin

I have always thought that while it was an excellent save, I have seen as good or better over the years. It became iconic for the England fans of course.

Good analogy. Will read again.

I should have held on to some of the "Well to Win the Texaco Cup" stickers I was dishing out to my pals at school. Collectors' items now.

Well Lee Erwin's move's to Leeds immediately springs to mind. Paul Slane, although he moved to Celtic rather than down south, no doubt took a large salary increase.

Right. But it's not as simple as that. What if option A was to move now to a deal that tripled your wages for the next 3 years, but the following 12 years would be spent at QoS and Falkirk at half your current wage. And option B is stay on your current wage for the next 3 years, but then move to a new club and continue to get a better wage for the next 12 years. That's what young players have to weigh up - and part of it is still guess work as whether it's better to take the money in short term, or do your time now in the anticipation of a bigger return on the long term.

Robinson had said McCormack would be playing in the Reserves this week to help boost his fitness. I didn't see him listed today, so hoping that's not a bad sign.

Who's Frear backing up? Or is the expectation Gboly will be returning?

If I have to get up at some unearthly hour to watch this, the least I expect is a comprehensive win.

Andy Robertson was signed as a first team starter for Hull and that 's the big difference. Joining a club for more cash but a permanent slot in the reserves is not always a good career move. Guys that have left Scotland and done well tend to be the guys who have been signed with the intention of being first team starters. John McGinn is another recent example of that, as is Kipre. I could be wrong, but I doubt Ben Hall is getting better experience by playing for the worst team in England than he would have received playing first team football for us. It's all a trade off, though, for longer term gain vs short term cash. And when you are a youngster, the draw of doubling your salary or better must be tempting. I'd never disparage any player who wants to grab the cash - just suggest they listen to advice from experienced players and managers they trust before they decide.

You may well be right. I tend to skip over them!

I'm not sure pointing out he wasn't fit was unfair - it was obvious, and a perfectly valid point to make when fans are clamouring for U20s to make the step up. It's not as simple as playing well against the other youngsters; you need to be fitter and stronger. I'm also not sure he's been pilloried anywhere. All I read is people hoping he gets more first team exposure and, as you say, I'm sure we'll see him as the season wears on.

I think what worked against Livingstone was when he came on as an early sub against Celtic and had to be subbed himself because he was knackered. At the time Robinson mentioned he needed to get his fitness up to the levels required for the first team, and it was a good lesson for what he, and the other youngsters, need to do to get those opportunities. I imagine we'll see more of him this season.

Do you know what is on offer, or just making a wild guess? Even offering him a first team wage doesn't mean it isn't miles away from what he wants. And we don't want to follow the Dundee Utd model of tying down every youngster on 5 or 6 year contracts on high salaries. (Plus there's still the chance he could be the next Paul Mills or Paul Tracey).

We didn't get "caught out" though. In fact, quite the opposite - we stuck by Erwin when he had long term injuries and renewed his deals even when he was unable to play. He had his head turned by "better" offers when we had a good one on the table, and the rest his history.

First we had Yodo posting - now we have Yoda

Based on purely nothing more than the odd comment from Robinson, it sounded like the gaffer thought he needed to increase his fitness levels.

I didn't take it as a criticism. I have no issues with guys like McAllister (or Cooper or Russell or Turnbull or Law etc.) not getting stuck in when they lose the ball. McAllister had Mauchlen beside him to do the tackling while he did the passing - a combination so good, Leicester signed them both together. It's all about the balance.

They certainly used to. I don't know if that's still the case these days, but I'm sure if it's an affordable option most clubs will protect themselves that way.

When we were playing a back 3 we didn't need a left back (and it was a back three that lead to 20 clean sheets in one season).

When did we last get "caught out"? This is 2019. The agents of all the youngsters are on the phone every day touting their clients and discussing with other clubs - often just to bump up their value. All we can do is make the best offers we can with the money we have for the wage structure we operate. We even sold Bigi to free up some cash to make our offers. (Of course, we also have the advantage of giving the youngsters game time). Cadden, Campbell and Turnbull were all signed up at different times, so we did OK there. I'm sure we have made Hastie a similar offer to Turnbull and we have the added advantage that these guys are all good mates and grew up playing football together; so might just want to play in the same first team for a season or two. We can't force guys to sign - all we can do is show them the benefits of staying with us for a bit longer. Add to that the examples we can point to of guys that left too soon, and we have a good chance of keeping most of our prospects. The timing of these deals it tricky. For every Hastie and Turnbull there are a dozen Bob McHughs, Craig Moores and Dom Thomases who never make it in the first team. We can't afford to splash out on all of them and hope one or two make it.

He was 36 when he won the UEFA Cup right enough, so maybe that economy of effort helped him stay in the game.

I was reading last night that when the beat us in December they closed the gap between us to 6 points. Now it's 21. Just shows how quickly a good run or a bad run for a month can shape the entire season.

Maguire and Mbulu's backup?

McAllister is easily the most successful player to have come through the ranks in my time watching the team. He always looked the part and obviously had the application to make the most of his talent. I'm sure winning his first league title with us set him on his winning ways He played a bit higher up the park for us than Turnbull does, but I can see the many of the same attributes in both players - especially their ability to find a pass, and make them look easy.

About the same as Crhis Humphrey then (8 goals in 4 years), but not as prolific as Cooper with his 4 goals a season. Regardless, my point above still stands. He's been instrumental in at least 3 of our last 5 wins.