Kmac

I agree with the other posts that we have signed Chalmers for this job, however we have played Chalmers as a wide midfielder in the pre-season games - suggesting we are in no great hurry to bring him into the team. Whilst I really agree that last season we were much weaker without Hammell, it would appear that it is only a matter of time before he wont be available to play the majority of games. We should be looking to transition - potentially having someone playing with the Development squad as an out and out LB and developing as such. Whilst Chalmers is young, I'm guessing that he wont be spending much time with the development squad and as such his development as a full-back may suffer. I would suggest that the way things stand at the moment, we have no real long term plan to fill that position.

I remember at NDP on New Years Day, Accies just ran straight through the middle every time and we completely ran away - it happened numerous times in the season. I would imagine that Lasley will be told to sit in front of the back 4 in a straight line, he wont be breaking up play in the middle of the park anymore - Pearson will be challenged with that. We do need cover and are addressing that. I agree with a couple of points above regarding the full backs. Hammell looks like he could be starting on an injury hit path sadly and I'm not sure we have really addressed cover/ a long term plan to compensate for that. On the other side, I'm hoping that Law will be phased out. He gets a lot of man love on here however he is, objectively, a below average football player. Watt meanwhile could fill the gap and I understand he is young, however his positional sense really needs to be worked upon and more generally, the defensive side of his game. He opens the body too much and gives a winger too many thoughts about having a run at him. Goalkeeper should probably have been addressed by now as I honestly think Dan gives half the team 'the fear' - however I hope that will not go beyond the single game at ITC. Anyway, I think we will be okay. A back line of: ---------------GK--------------- RB----McManus-----Laing----Hammell ------------------Lasley----------------- isnt't the worst. Anyway, on a side note... how many season tickets have we sold?

Ahh, Molloy, Murphy and Keegan with a midfield of Kerr, Fitzpatrick and Fagan - what a team that was. The most cringe worthy moment I ever experienced was us losing to St Mirren(?) in a game where we were 2-0 up and someone screaming a Keegan "go have a heart attack and die" - Keegan looked round at the guy in shock.

---------------------GK (Praying we get one this week)--------------------- Law------McManus-----Laing-----Hammell Johnson-----Lasley-----Pearson----Thomas ---------------------McDonald------------ ------------------Moult---------------- Subs: Twardzik Kennedy Watt Leitch Fletcher Clarkson

I worry for the future

Ah, my mistake on Hollis. Fraser Kerr does count - he was a youth player when he moved and Tim Clancy was a stick on to concede a goal every second or third game.

Sutton was a previous well player with proven top flight ability - doesn't count. And as far as the others, I raise you Omar Daley, Francis Jeffers, Lee Hollis, Tim Clancy and Fraser Kerr.

Twardzik is a bombscare. Another shitey McCall (Marshall) effort. In retrospect, his signings were completely average at best.

Do we know how many we have sold?

Nice graphic. Really crying out for a central midfielder who can also play on the right - similar to Grant for left mid last season. Goalkeeper is priority number 1! Praying it's not Samson.

McDonald would be disappointing however we need to move on if he decided not to join. I would imagine that we should have a substantial chunk of playing budget kicking around? I understand we are operating on a smaller budget this season however we released a huge amount of playing staff at the end of last season (Something like18?) and have brought in only 6 - resigning one. Hopefully, this will allow us to bring in someone of similar quality as McDonald. In terms of a goalkeeper, I would rather we brought in someone with a little experience. If nothing else, it should give slightly more confidence to the back line. We could have two centre halfs aged 21 and 22, an 18 year old at right back and a 21 year old at left back. An experienced head behind them could be beneficial.

Would be a chronic signing. I'll be surprised...

More an argument based on common sense to be honest. I'm not talking about pre-season games, they are arbitrary - it's the squad in it's current form and quality we can assume from our signings. When I say attacking midfielder, I am talking about someone like McDonald, able to drop deeper and link play. It might not a style we use all the time (as I wrote) however we need to be versatile at times and change shape

Short answer, no. We have an okay squad however it is going to struggle in its current form. I'm suggesting that we really need 4 players to kick on further up the league (it looks like a 7th/8th place finish in the current state) There are obvious holes in our squad which need to be sorted ASAP so we an start with a bonded squad. We really need: 1 x GK 1 X Centre Half (Assuming the Kennedy deal is almost done). 1 X Central Midfield/ Left Mid Cover 1 X Attacking Midfielder. We really need 3 of those to add some quality. Good goalkeeper is worth 10/15 points per season and someone like McDonald (even if not scoring) can drag the best out of players to get another 10/15. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Central Midfield cover was a loan. We trimmed the squad hugely this summer and quite rightly so but we do need a little injection of quality. We are looking at the moment at a team of: -------------------------Gk------------------------ Law--------Laing-----------McManus--------Hammel Ainsworth -------- Lasley ------- Pearson ----- Johnson ----------- Moult ---------- Fletcher ------------- Subs: Twardzik Chalmers Reid Watt Leitch Thomas McLean Clarkson Moore It's a decent side but no better than 7th/8th. We are also a little bit one dimensional, potentially, which could cause us problems, hence having someone like McDonald in the side would allow us to change shape, set up more like a 4-2-3-1. The bench as it is at the moment is a little bit too inexperienced which is also making it a little difficult to change things during matches or when we have injuries. I'm very much in favour of getting youth in the side, however Moore as a striking option really doesn't fill me with joy and outiwth Reid (who I will be surprised to see in a Motherwell jersey again), there is not much top flight experience to cover at the back. Midfield is exactly the same.

Court case aside, Reid was a typical, lazy, McCall signing. Average player who had been found out at other clubs before he arrived at us - should never have been handed a 2 year contract.

1. Celtic 2. Aberdeen 3. Inverness 4. St Johnstone 5. Hearts 6. Dundee 7. Motherwell 8. Ross County 9. Dundee United 10. Kilmarnock 11. Partick Thistle 12. Hamilton Accies.

Re. Cadden and McLean, you could be right! The thought of Josh Law at right midfield and Watt at RB gives me the fear...

It is a lot, however maybe it's not that much of a surprise. We do seem to be on a bit of a mission to structure the club in a much more "professional" and business like manner than ever before, that ethos might not suit everyone. Regarding signings, I'm going to say this for about the 5th time. We are desperatly needing 4/5 new additions before the window closes. 1 - 1st choice Goalkeeper. 2 - Centre Half (who can also cover at RB). 3 - Attacking Midfielder (someone who can create from deeper). 4 - Wing Cover (Johnson and Ainsworth will get injured whilst Thomas can cover for 1, he can't cover for both) 5 - Central Midfield Cover - Pearson and Lasley aren't spring chickens I can see options 4 & 5 coming in the form of loans... It leaves us with a bench of: Twardzik Chalmers Watt Leitch Thomas Mclean Clarkson Moore

Who?

I would imagine that we have been somewhat strategic in our choice of frendlies this close season. I wouldnt be surprised to see 1 or 2 loanees coming from Herenveen or B MGb after we play them. We do really need a GK, Centre Half, Centre Mid, Attacking Mid/ Striker though. Cover at RB and on the wings (as I said a few posts earlier) would also be welcome (perhaps coming as the loan signings). Someone with a little flash of quality in amongst that would be very welcome (McDonald). We will still see at least 4/5 new faces.

So, counting on the fact that we are going to sign this Mott fella, then we are still needing the following: GK x 1 Centre Half x 1 Central Midfielder x 1 Attacking Midfielder / Striker x 1 If we dont, we are looking at another striker required too. Cover for 1 of the wingers and a right back would be an added bonus.

He looks like a right cheery chap

Fair enough... Any recommends?

Anyone else have the feeling that part of the reason we are holding the kit release is to have it coincide with a "big" signing. ie. McDonald. Would be a great bit of marketing to punt more merchandise.

Said from the start that we will see 10 new faces. We have 1 (17 have left). We did have a bloated squad so the reduction doesn't pose any danger. All that we need now is Goalkeeper X 1 Centre Half X 2 Right Winger (Should Ainsworth leave) X 1 Centre Midfielder X 1 Attacking Midfielder X 1 Striker (Should Sutton leave) X 3 That would leave a sub bench next season of: Twardzik Watt Leitch Thomas Moore