Kmcalpin

We may already have one in the shape of Jake Girdwood-Reich.

No change from last season then.

No, you're not alone G & F. I agree 100% that the club should give interested fans the first bite to undertake work for the club irrespective whether its for payment or volunteering. Looking after your local community is a 2 way process. Well done to the club on that score. The club should however, have involved the supporters at a far earlier stage, as you rightly point out. The club submitted plans to the Council on 13 March and it was almost a month later that one of our own spotted, by accident I may add, the application on the planning website. Not a good look for a fan owned club. Now I'm not advocating that fans should have been consulted on the design, number of rooms, or the colour of the roof or anything so mundane. However given the substantial cost, scale of strategic investment, and the fact that the club does not even own the land on which the facility is to be erected I would have thought that the membership would have been informed, at the very least. A bit more transparency and accountability would have been sensible and justified. Thats before the issue of a POD replacement/stadium relocation is taken into account. I quite get that the need for a new training facility is pressing and won't wait 10 or 15 years or whatever. However, it would have made sense to consider this development as part of the wider issue. Maybe it has but we just haven't been told? The Society has generally improved consultation with members over minor issues, but this should also extend to major ones too.

I've no inside info whatsoever, but linking the various snippets together, I'd say its very likely. The question then is do we ship Wilson out and bring in an understudy or competition for Williams?

No. The land it will be built on is owned by the Dalziel High School War Memorial Trust and will remain in their hands. That has been a concern of mine.

The club has submitted an appeal against the £5,000 fine and quite rightly so.

Yes, I think questions would be justified if that scenario comes to pass.

An undisclosed fee.

I forgot to add that we are also receiving a contributory grant from the SFA for the development.

The training facility plans were approved yesterday by North Lanarkshire Council, with a small number of routine conditions and notes attached e.g. unrecorded mine workings; tree preservation etc. The application, for which permission lasts for 3 years, did not require to go before the Planning Committee, due to its straightforward nature and small number of representations, which were all addressed satisfactorily.

I take it then we are away next week?

Great result on the night and we progress to the next round. We done to AJ and the players. More gametime in legs and players returning but we need to tighten up at the back. So far so good.

Get in!

Yyaass!

The BBC is a publicly funded body, which has a duty to be impartial but of course it panders to the God of viewing figures and we all know what that means. STV is privately owned and is therefore held to less rigorous standards. Its primary responsibility is to its shareholders and therefore turn in a profit.

STV is a total joke as well. However, its slightly more acceptable, as its privately owned, than the BBC which is a publicly owned organisation but doesn't act like it. Scottish sports coverage is poor but we all know why.

Maybe its time we stopped visiting the BBC website?

Absolutely. His blatant feigning of injury at Fir Park 2 or 3 years ago almost caused a riot in the Cooper. I lost all respect for him that day.

To be known as the Craig Gordon rule.

I'm with you on that. Loans do have their place, providing they're not overdone. We've now acquired 2 loan signings, maybe to cover short term injuries but I don't get the Paulsen one. We knew a wee bit in advance that Ward was likely to move on and so would likely have time to prepare. One more to cover a striker perhaps given the number of injuries/permacrocks in that department. Less so in defence and certainly not in midfield.

Maybe brought on as a second half sub to keep HB on their toes?

He's a Canadian centre back.

I have grave doubts if we'll see much more of Paul McGinn unfortunately. By the time he recovers we'll have an established pair of younger first pick centre backs. A shame.

Scott Burns reporting on X that a defender is incoming.

The cost of buying the school out would be prohibitive. The Council would be looking at our club coming good for the cost of building a replacement school, IF a suitable nearby site could be found. That wouldn't come cheap. I'm with G &F in that the case for a training centre should be examined again. His costings make sense. We'd be forking out at least £1.5-2.2m initially for this development and it would be physically distant from either Fir Park or a new stadium. Its implied also that there would be further phases all coming at a cost. My concern too is that this would be located on another organisation's land and outwith our control. Yes, it might be a charitable Trust but personalities and policies change over time, especially over 99 years. Still, it is an improvement over current arrangements. At the very least the options for stadium improvement and relocation should be assessed with the need for the training base. Now is the time to do it.