Lobey_Dosser

Agreed. Someone that is a left back by trade too. Had enough of these players (Chalmers, Jules and Dunne) that can reportedly cover centre half and left back.

Its been a while since I had such optimism around a signing, Skippy was probably the last. There is talk of Ciftci being a disruptive influence but hopefully he is just the type that needs an arm around the shoulder from Keith. Regarding incomings and outgoings it is shaping up to be the high turnover I anticipated with talk of a 3rd striker. I would be surprised to see Newell make way via loan, he will likely be on peanuts and appears to have impressed the management team. Fisher, Bowman and Dimi though - who knows? Presumably, we are also in the market for a left back. Given the short term nature of our others signings, it would be good if we could identify and invest in a young left back that fits the Marvin/Moult/Kipre mould. If Heneghan returns, Hartley stays on and Cadden/Frear return from injury, we should have more than enough to avoid a stressful end to the season.

You must have missed the midweek trip to Forfar. As good as Hammell was, Ive been struggling to identify games and moments as key highlights specific to him. Maybe thats a reflection of his consistency over the years. The one regret will always be starting the 2011 cup final in midfield, I wonder if him and McCall ever had words about it.

Would you not expect us to try and move 2 on?

I went and watched Dundee United a dozen or so times the year they kept pumping us and lost the Scottish Cup final to St Johnstone. I thought he was a class act so delighted he is signing (albeit on loan). If motivated, hopefully he can rediscover his united form and prove that his previous success was not solely down to the quality of Robertson, Armstrong and Gauld that surrounded him. I still think we will be looking for a 3rd striker to do the job Dimi was brought in for.

At last, an incoming striker with a bit of quality. Ciftci does not strike me as Robinson type signing but fingers crossed he is keen to get his career back on track. If he can get anywhere near his United form we have something to get excited about.

Each to their own but Ill only ever have good things to say about Murphy and as much as I dislike Rangers, I look forward to seeing him play.

There has been suggestions of players not settling due to family and/or player demands increasing since cup final. Maybe Hartley falls into one of these categories? Hopefully not and we are just waiting for him to sort things out with Blackpool.

Really sad to see him retire but its no great surprise. One of the most technically gifted players we have produced and an utterly fantastic servant to the club. Such a shame his last few years were dogged by injury after being one of the first names on the team sheet week in week out for over a decade. Wish him all the best in his new role, delighted he is staying with the club. Hopefully he can have better luck than his predecessors in identifying a Stevie Hammell replacement.

Struggle to see Heneghan returning unless Hartley or Kipre are moving on.

Not sure I agree. We have all seen enough of MacLean in a first team environment to acknowledge he deserves more opportunities than the current management team provide.

Surely we would all chose the McCall (or McGhee 2007/08) approach? I would far rather one Michael Higdon to Bowman/Fisher/Dimi and one Nicky Law to Grimshaw/Rose/Bigi. In the last month we have regularly went without 4/5 key players but havent came close to giving an academy prospect their debut, for me that suggests our squad is bloated and results imply the competition for places mantra for a club our size is flawed.

When Burrows says several, Id suggest another 4 or 5 to provide competition for places. Good luck to Main. Has played at a good level in years gone by so hopefully we can get best out of him.

Surely we arent interested in the Lithuanian boy? He cant get a sniff for a Hibs team that is crying out for a penalty box striker.

Presumably we havent sold our star striker in mid-December for relative buttons (when you deduct Les/Boyle/Wrexham slices) without having a good replacement lined up?

I was just working off the previously posted rumour that we are trying to sign a striker from a championship team currently in the playoff spots. If you are looking to identify targets off stats, the only strikers playing with United, Livi and Dunfermline with more league goals than Bowman are Skippy and Declan McManus.

Theres no argument a major overhaul was required to s squad that included Clay, Lucas, Chalmers and Jules but imo the recruitment was excessive. Sure every transfer is a gamble but did we really need to spread the budget across so many players, a number of whom have offered very little. Robinson and Baraclough believe in competition for places while much of our success has came with small squads that had a fair amount of quality.

I though Keatings made sense in that he is a player Robinson rates who isnt starting regularly. If others have heard different, fair enough. Regarding quality, hes not particularly brilliant but superior to Bowman and an unsettled Fisher.

Two names Ive mentioned on here, sheer speculation on my part. Doyle has since been struck down by an illness, rumoured blood clot, so unlikely to be moving. Keatings would make sense...

Im not particularly fond of Robinsons style of football and I see shades of Baraclough in him when it comes to transfers (we need quality not quantity). However, I do like his mentality which has seen us approach big occasions with confidence and generate some memorable moments that had largely disappeared under McGhee. As mentioned above, he exceeded expectations up until November and therefore has money in the bank. Some fans and pundits went overboard with praise and now its time to sit it out. While we were winning games early doors it wasnt due to good football and there was always the concern that our high intensity approach to games and training would see us burn out, and it undoubtedly has. If he wins 6/7 more games this season he will have achieved his objectives for 2017/18 and a 9/10th place finish and cup final will be viewed as moderate success. However, with 6 games in 18 days after the break, a couple of the wins need to come in that spell or this thread will understandably explode.

If Rangers sell Windass and get Murphy, that would be a decent upgrade. The league is severely lacking good attacking players so Id welcome Murphy back, even if it is for Rangers.

Interesting, there has been more noise than usual about signings from Scotland. Assuming you are referring to the promotion playoff spots, Craig Halkett would be the name that springs to mind. And we were strongly linked with Keatings in the summer...

By and large. I enjoy listening to Robinson pre and post match but I fear one or two cracks are starting to appear. In recent weeks he has singled players out, reiterated the point that what happens between both boxes doesnt matter and suggested ball players dont work. This doesnt bode well for the future but hopefully the break has came at a good time for all.

Bigirimana wouldnt be short of offers down south but I hope hes one we hold onto. Many people rubished talk of 8-10 signings in the summer and we ended up with 17. There are ways and means to get players out the door and from various snippets and rumours, there are a few players looking to exit. For what its worth I wouldnt be surprised to see Fisher, Griffiths, Kipre, Rose and Dimi depart. Few others could be in the mix too.

I suspect we will be looking at 5/6 ins and outs in January. Someone above Robinson needs to pull the reigns in a little though as he seems to get carried away with turnover, just like Baraclough. The last month has showed that the mindset of quantity over quality and character over quality doesnt get you very far.