weeyin

You bring on whatever new strikers we sign in the summer. The ones that are younger, fitter, faster and like Moult and Main will bring in a transfer fee. Why would invest our hard cash in a 38 year old (39 in December) when we could bring in another Curtis Main for half the price? As for goals, Bowman 8 in 37 and Miller 5 in 23 both have a strike rate of one goal every 4.6 games this season. We definitely need new strikers - so let's get some new ones.

Given our current signing philosophy (young, pacey, with a point to prove and sell-on value), and given Robinson's removal of McFadden, McManus, Lasley and Hammell from the wage bill, I just don't see where Miller would fit in with that.

The fact that Robinson said this morning in his press conference that we needed to secure our status before he could make offers to other players and start talking to targets suggests that he knows more about it than us.

While I agree, the fact is that until it's mathematically guaranteed the money is staying in Flow's Steelmen coin purse.

You should - as we can 100% guarantee our league safety with this one. As Robinson said this morning, once that's confirmed, we can move forward with other contract negotiations and talks with new signing targets, because we know our budget for next season.

Listening to Robinson's presser this morning. With Bowman a doubt for this game (with a virus he doesn't want to give to the rest of the team), it's James Scott that's getting the nod from the U20s as cover. So maybe that's the plan - or part of the plan - for cover for the final.

I'd rather have piles than Miller.

Watching the Hartley video on MFC TV made me think - if Hartley gets himself match fit over the next few weeks, does Aldred get the heave for the final? As much as I like Hartley and what he brings to the team, I think I'd be sticking with Aldred.

Ah, now I can access the statement on the Official Site, that seems to be the case. (Exactly the kind of statement my company makes when we sell and configure our platform for clients). I'm more encouraged by that.

We must be paying them something, somehow. They won't be doing it for free.

They won't be doing it for free, though. If the club is absorbing the overhead - or redirecting their budget - then that is better news.

That would be my fear. Coincidentally I was looking on ticketmaster for a ticket to a comedy gig at the weekend. $48 for the ticket and $16 booking fee. If we have some sort of control over fees then it's a smart move. If there are going to be 33% add-ons, not so much.

I imagine it's a bit of Robinson rewarding players and a bit of protecting our assets to get more money when we inevitably sell. I still think Kipré will be with us at the start of next season, though. He's played more minutes of first team football than anyone else in the SPFL - not bad for someone who was signed for the development squad. He seems happy here and smart enough to know that more first team football will set him up for a promising career. If he does move on in the summer, though, it has been a cracking piece of business by the club and our scouting network and another example to point to when trying to recruit new faces - a guy that wasn't even playing last year becomes a first team regular, gets his first international call up and 2 Cup finals. As for Vancouver Whitecaps - I don't see that as being a forward career move.

This - plus the paying fan is paying to see the best team we have.

Would be grear if that happened - it would pay off the last of Boyle and Hutchison loans and put money in the bank. Then again, Darren Randolph was up there in clean sheets and interanational appearances and nobody ended up bidding.

We played good football to win the Cup in '91 (and in 1952 I'm told), so I'm still not sure your point stands. We've won nothing with this style, and didn't make the top 6. When we were finishing 2nd and 3rd in the league we played better football than this too. So I'll be delighted as anyone if we do Celtic over next month, but that just means we are 1 out of 3 in winning Cups "ugly". It definitely has it's place, and served us well for parts of this season, but it rarely sustains any level of success.

Phillibin didn't sky his penalty. It came back off the inside of Hampden's old square woodwork.

A quick look at Wikipedia says he's playing in Belgium, a couple of leagues lower than Esteban Casagolda (seriously).

So we'd want a free agent that wasn't cup tied that was physically fit, match fit, good enough to start but not good enough to be currently employed that could fit into our system within a couple of weeks? I'd rather play a Frear/Rose front pairing than risk that.

I agree Semple's probably too young - the other options might be too young as well, but worth giving them a shot over the next few weeks to see what they've got. Utlimately, I think we'd end up going with a first team regular as a replacement, but not a bad idea to have a recognised (if young) striker as a back up.

You're welcome.

Phil O'Donnell played in the Cup Final when he was 19. I'd have no qualms about bringing in one of the 18 year olds as cover. Semple seems to be the hottest prospect, but Agyeman or Falconer might be better options. I seem to recall Frear has also played as a striker in the past, and while we'd need to change our shape a bit, we could go 3-5-1-1 with Frear sitting in behind. Or maybe Newell can play with a protective mask. Or one of our midfielders could move up top. In the old days, your centre half used to be able to put a shift in a centre forward too, but I'm not sure that applies these days! The worst thing we could do is bring in a free agent. That is a terrible message to give to the players that have got us to the final, and the players pushing for a first team spot. Regardless of what we think, I imagine our management team is already working on the option for the worst case.

1.75 million is our current record. I'd be surprised (but delighted) if he breaks that.

The 36-38 online at the Well shop is a Macron medium (and in stock, it says)

Robinson said he'd been brilliant in training all week. I think, however, he's more productive when Tanner is on the pitch as he depends on creativity rather than chasing down the channels.