weeyin

The challenge all clubs our size have these days (and the larger ones too) is the players and their agents are playing the waiting game more and more. It's easy to say we should just put a deadline in place, but we'll always wait for the better players if there's a chance. And if we're looking for loans from England, they don't transpire until very late in the game.

There will plenty of rumours and based on prior seasons, about 90% of the new players we bring in will not have been mentioned in any of them. Also, the window doesn't close for another 3 months.

Russell had an uncanny knack of knowing where the ball was going to end up. He'd watch two players challenge each other in a tackle or header and 9 times out of 10 the ball would break to exactly where he was standing. Not bad at finding a pass either.

Not quite as interesting, but I remember the chat at the time was Cooper was Tynecastle bound. I had picked up an Evening Times to read on the train coming back from Glasgow and there was a headline about a new signing for us and I thought "I wonder if the wee man manged to sign his old Rangers mate" Probably didn't hurt that Bobby Russell was already playing for us too.

Shields, I imagine.

Always enjoyed my days (end evenings) out Shawfield - fair to say it was unique. The ball boys had a tough gig if it ended up on the track, and behind the goals was a lot of ground to cover.

If Canada go on a tear in the Copa America, Big Theo could still be on international duty when this kicks off.

Would have been fun if Clyde still played at Shawfield, but New Douglas Park isn't too exciting. Decent mix of teams that we'll no doubt play well/struggle against at different periods of our pre-season regime, and then qualify for the next round regardless.

I doubt we'll be involved in the League One play-off.

Exactly the kind of glamour tie the fans were hoping for.

Not quite - but it's that extra 10% (or whatever) that can make the difference in performances. Premiership teams have different training schedules and requirements from lower league teams, especially the part time ones. They also tend to have a higher turnover of players, so when the Cup kicks off they might have players with little or no pre-season behind them. And there's players who have been on international duty that take their break late and are two or three weeks behind the rest of the team. And the fact we start with a dozen new players that the manager needs to test out in different formations and partnerships means it can take a few extra weeks to settle in. If it was just us, then you could argue we are doing it wrong, but you see the same issue across all the Premiership teams at this point in the competition.

My only prediction is that more than half of the starting line-up in game 1 of the group stage will not be in the starting line-up for game 1 of the league.

That's a classic commentator remark along the lines of "missing those chances won't bother him - he'll back himself to score the next one"

The "giving them the cup game" seems to be popular in England in recent years, at least in the early rounds. I haven't seen so much of it in Scotland, although tbf, I haven't paid much attention to the other squads in those games. The fact the Kelly was the captain probably made him even more immune to being dropped, even in cup matches. I don't remember much about the QoS tie, but I certainly wouldn't put any weight on form in July League Cup games whether it was that draw or the East Fife win where he kept a clean sheet. Gillepsie was destined to remain a 2nd choice keeper for his Motherwell career until Carson was forced out with his deep vein thrombosis, and he turned out OK. I suspect, however, that Oxborough will remain second choice and we'll bring in a first choice later in the summer. Although if that's Joe Lewis it won't be long before he's back in the first team.

It's always been the case in football that managers will rarely drop their first choice keeper for dips in form. It doesn't say much, good or bad, about their backup other than being a backup keeper requires a mentality that outfield players don't possess. The plus side of second and third choice keepers struggling to win a starting place is that there are a number of good ones available looking for first team options.

No tractor, no truth (or something).

My wife's gone on holiday to Jamaica. Was that her choice? Yes.

Noticed the West Indies were wearing a claret and amber Macron kit in their game today. Maybe we could ditch the hoop and go with this:

I remember that time he nearly hit one past the first man.

That's not the club's aim, though. You just need to listen to SK talk for 20 minutes to know that. It's all about improvement for him and building a competitive team that is finishing top 6. There are 4 or 5 teams every season that are very closely matched and it's small margins that make the difference between 5th and 9th. As I mentioned earlier since the SPL was formed we have finished 8th more often than any other position. The seasons where we finished 2nd and 3rd were very much the (hugely enjoyable) exceptions. It wasn't that long ago that we finished 3rd though, albeit in a Covid season. Dumbarton, Dunfermline, Falkirk, Raith Rovers, Accies, Caley Thistle, Partick Thistle and Morton all used to be top flight regulars and relegation hasn't been kind to them. Even worse for Clydebank, Gretna and the original Airdrie who also spent time in the SPL. Our rivals over the years like St Mirren, Hibs, Hearts, Killie, Dundee, Dundee Utd etc. have all been relegated and in some case spent a number of seasons in the lower leagues. So it's not a bad goal to ensure safety as quickly as possible - that is very different, however, from avoiding relegation as being our only goal and the benchmark of success.

Even if you ignore the fact that Gent returned to his club and Butcher is gone, even you must have noticed Kelly is moving on - the only man to have started in defence 100% of those games. I also wouldn't be suprised to see Blaney or Casey move on over summer. Under contract today doesn't mean they won't be punted tomorrow.

Grieve Dunne Strain sounds like one of Charles' regular injuries.

As insightful as it is accurate.

While obviously on a completely different scale, there's an interesting article in The Guardian today that discusses and rates the successes and failures of American investors in English, Italian and Fench clubs. Full article here.

I think that's a wee bit unfair. While I'm not sure Celtic was the best choice for career development, he was doing OK there until he got injured again. He struggled to get back as a first team starter, partly because the team was winning (and no manager changes that) and partly because he's not necessarily an Angeball player - same reason a lot of Spurs players are being punted this summer. He did make 100 appearances for them with 25 goals, so not exactly a bust Cardiff was a terrible move, as they were an average, struggling Championship team when he moved there. The exact opposite of what he needed. Although I appreciate the need he felt for a change of scenery. He's a confidence player, so I imagine if he finds somewhere he enjoys, his form will pick up again. It just goes to show though that we are pretty good at getting the best out of players.