Lobey_Dosser

The timing of the group stages is far from ideal, both Warburton and McGhee have suggested so. If we were to be fully up to speed for the Rangers game, it would likely have a detrimental effect on our overall season.

Hibs are geared up for a big game on Thursday so it's unsurprising they are fitter and sharper. McGhee has indicated all along he's working towards the Kilmarnock game on 6th August and rightly so imo.

Thank fuck for Andy Murray or I could have been there today. Hopefully the league cup games will get us up to speed for the start of the season. We've signed a number of players who will take some time to adjust to the speed and quality of Scottish football. Hopefully an established midfielder is just around the corner.

Interestingly, it was Robinson who got him talking to Motherwell...

This is non-Motherwell related but seemingly Neil Lennon is not going to be at Easter Road today, presumably due to media commitments in Paris. This morning he's tweeted about the great day of sport in prospect (granted). Not what you'd expect from a new manager 4 days before a European tie.

If Erwin has his head screwed on, you'll have your best striker since Chris Porter. Ripley is a solid keeper with plenty of scope for development. Law will try his best. Robinson could prove to be a very shrewd appointment if he can manage the transition from assistant to manager. Undoubtedly a good coach.

I think if there was any money coming from Leitch we'd know about it by now. Hopefully however we've took in a modest lump sum for Pearson, topped up by the departure of Robinson. I'm hoping the wheeling and dealing required to recruit a quality midfielder doesn't involve the departure of Ainsworth. As for this Lee Lucas boy, if his ongoing trial warrants interest, I'm assuming he'd be a low cost 3rd midfield signing given his unfortunate injury record.

From just watching the highlights there looked to be a few positives to pick up from yesterday. First and foremost, the lineup underlined that we have great depth in our attacking options. It's good to see that Moore appears to be regaining his sharpness again. And he may get a chance in the league cup games as it sounds like Louis Moult hasn't trained as much as the rest. It's also good to see Ross McLean heavily involved. Fingers crossed he can steer clear of injury and maybe get a run of 10/15 games under his belt at a lower level. Another observation is in the lineups. It will become clearer in the weeks to come but is Jack McMillian moving ahead of Luke Watt in the pecking order?

Sad to see Robinson go, pleased to see Law go.

Don't usually get caught up on the badge debate but that's a shocker.

Going off on a tangent slightly, the assumption seems to be that the lack of sponsor on the replica kit is due to modest investment from Motorpoint. If that's true, then it's not great news. Do we still have some marketing guru working for us?

Removal of the sponsor makes such an improvement to the home shirt. As an overall kit though, I don't really like the team playing in amber shorts. Hopefully the petrol blue effort is special. Macron have some decent templates kicking about.

Not particularly keen on these kits after last years crackers. The shorts ruin the home one while the away one with the 91 squad is naff. Interesting to hear the strips will be sold without motor point on them. What's the reasoning there?

I've not seen the Ripley story but assume Boro want to loan him out to a higher level. I think McGhee would have held off with Samson/Brill if there was a chance of getting Ripley back.

Any news on whether Laing is carrying an injury? Or is he possibly getting the Josh Law treatment?

Good to see we have a midfielder on board, albeit a converted one. With a bit of luck he can fill the Jennings role. Interesting to read that we'll have to wheel and deal to get our other midfielder. Presume that means Law, Chalmers or Ainsworth. Get the feeling this will be slightly higher profile signings, hopefully the Henderson hunch comes to fruition.

New signing(s) this week according to Burrows on Twitter.

No Law or Laing over the weekend, presumably carrying knocks.

Think both clubs are preparing in the right manner. Focus has to be on having your players right for the beginning of the season proper. Rangers game is little more than a glorified friendly.

I mentioned Henderson earlier in the thread, he would be a very good replacement for Pearson. McGhee's comments yesterday implied that we are looking at players under contract but possibly surplus to requirements. I therefore wouldn't be surprised if we have been in touch with clubs such as Celtic to explore their midfield options. Stefan Scougall is another one I think will be on the radar of a few Scottish clubs.

I can't believe Dempster allows him on Twitter. Recipe for disaster.

So according to McGhee, it's likely to be a week or two before we get a response from our midfield targets. By the sounds of it, our targets are contracted players waiting to see if they can get into the first team plans of their current club.

I can only seeing us bringing in another forward if we lose one, such as Ainsworth. Even then, it wouldn't be essential if Dom Thomas is up to speed. 2 midfielders that compliment each other is now the absolute priority. Other than that, we seem pretty well set. Although a wee bonus would be to offload both Law and Chalmers and bring in an eventual successor to Hammell.

Nice one Skippy. Hope he enjoyed his extra weeks holiday.

Young Scottish players leaving our league to play for English development teams. Some of these players will get to age 20/21 without playing any competitive football. While there may be a short term financial gain, it doesn't bode well for the future of Scottish football at club or international level.