MelvinBragg

Couple of things about this signing. He can play across the front three so maybe not necessarily planned to be the central striker. His record of 2 goals in 17 for Blackpool looks poor until you consider only he only started 8 of those games. Louis Moult was signed from non league. Ojaama had a checkered career before coming here. Scott McDonald was one unsuccessful trial away from flying back to Australia. Sometimes players just need the right environment. In short, give the guy a fucking chance...

I reckon if compensation wasn't due then Cadden would have more offers. Given the length of time he's been with us and number of games played, it would be a decent amount. Cadden on a free would, I imagine, attract the interest of the likes of Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and a few league one clubs down South....

His last few games have been as a winger...

In terms of simply numbers, we're still pretty short. Even if you consider that our squad was perhaps slightly bloated, we've lost quite a few players. GK Sorted. If we move a goalkeeper on, it's a different story. Don't know if Ferguson is rated by the coaching staff. DF Four first choice centre backs, but that includes an untested Maguire and a Hartley that has been so far out of the picture since January, many expected him to move on this summer. We have two untested left backs and as far as right backs go, we're probably ok. MID Losing McHugh and Rodriguez-Gorrin means we've lost both our recognised defensive midfielders. Is Sloth a direct replacement for one of them? Obviously Donnelly played there last game of the season, is this something we might look at for next season? Does Polworth fit in here or on the wings? To me, we look short of numbers here. FW Two strikers, one relatively untested and the other not entirely suited to the way we've been playing the last six months. One winger confirmed, possibly two if Polworth plays there. Cadden might be here, might not be. I reckon, even allowing for the possibility that Semple or others might have a breakthrough season, we need at least another four signings, possibly more...

Funnily enough, I was saying to someone this morning that Bournemouth would be the best fit for him in the EPL...

Probably Celtic would offer £400k up front with the remainder related to number of appearances...

£1.2m? Swap the 1 and the 2 around and come back to us....

Formation isn't in itself the problem. Best Motherwell team I've ever seen was a 352 team. It's a case of finding the formation that best suits the players at your disposal...

Watched the Ibrox game in Jack Daniels. Felt like I was an expectant father, the amount of pacing I did. I remember at the full time whistle turning to my mate and saying that I'd give my left kidney for the first goal on the Sunday. In terms of memorable games, the 4-1 win over Hibs under McCall with McFadden's first goal in his second spell and Higginbotham's ridiculous effort is a game I remember particularly fondly. We were right behind McFadden when he cut inside Lewis Stevenson and you could feel everyone suddenly anticipate what was going to happen. Not the most important goal, not the best but it was a special celebration. It was like 'He's back!!!'....

Someone want to enlighten me as to what this means..?

Certainly a thin squad at the minute in terms of midfield and attacking options. Could name two back fours but would struggle to even name a front three. A lot of work to be done...

Club confirmed the departures of a few out of contract players. Only Cadden and Tanner offered deals. As always a few reserves moving on, only two that had made a first team appearance were Liam Brown and Shea Gordon. Only slight surprise was Mbulu leaving but with Gallagher coming in and Maguire returning, he'd be down the pecking order. Only three contracted players who I reckon we might try and move on are Hartley, Johnson and Carson. I can't see us retaining two first team goalkeepers for two seasons in a row...

Anecdotal evidence maybe, but one of my colleagues informed me on Monday night that her daughter, having got a free ticket on Saturday, was now saying she wanted a season ticket. Only one person and the notion may wear off in the close season but suggests it's possible to have an impact. You have to wonder if doing it for the last day of the season is the wrong time to do it. Obviously I don't know if it's even possible but doing this for the league cup games in the summer or an early league game might have a more positive impact as there's another game right around the corner and therefore less of a cooling off period...

Like you, no idea if he would be good enough. Don't imagine he'd have been on a kings ransom though and at a point where our contracted midfielders next season are Campbell, Grimshaw, Turnbull and Polworth, could maybe have given him a year's contract and if in pre season and the league cup games, he didn't look up to it then loaning him out for next season til his contract ran out would have been an option. Certainly should be a lot of scope in the wage budget the way things are going...

Yes and no. Another season with us also gets him closer to the end of his contract...

Were there not a couple of games where we've had to bring a defender off the bench and Robinson has gone with McHugh? I don't remember the specific game but I remember thinking it said a lot about where the club captain was in the pecking order. With the signing of Gallagher and Robinson stating he expects Maguire to be competing for a first team place next season, you have to figure that Hartley is likely to be fourth choice at best next season. Obviously if McHugh, Donnelly and Mbulu move on then we don't have a lot of cover there but you'd have to think that Hartley is earning a fair amount for a fourth choice centre half. Probably in the club's best interests to try and move him on...

Obviously I'm being cynical here and haven't bothered to check if the statistics back this up, but much like the general population, most players probably support Rangers and Celtic. Likely to slant the voting for Old Firm players for the Players Award..?

I wondered if Robinson might put Campbell in the Gorrin role, play Cadden in midfield and Semple on the wing. Certainly an option for later in the game..

You have to hope it's similar to what happened with Chris Porter or more recently Charles Dunne where we were told the player wasn't up to much by fans of their previous team. Sometimes it just doesn't work for a player at a certain team for whatever reason. John Sutton at Hearts? Stevie May at Aberdeen? Let's just hope it's third time lucky in terms of left backs for Robinson...

Don't see Tanner featuring but Polworth might fit in somewhere there. Have seen worse starting elevens for us. Balance of the midfield isn't right but if Cadden, McHugh and Turnbull all leave you have to figure that we'd make at least one signing in that area. With a few players probably leaving, I reckon there will be some room in the budget for signing at least one winger, maybe two...

We've signed a new centre back on a pre contract and the manager seems to think Maguire will be a real option next season. So it is an area that he knows needs work. He's brought in two (three if you count Plummer) left backs in two seasons. Maybe this summer we'll find one that fits the bill. Pretty sure defence is an area we're working on...

Indeed. Particularly given Robinson's interview when he made it clear his system will always be dictated by the players he's able to bring in. Wouldn't be astounded to see a return to 352 next season....

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest...

Can I say midfield...?

What I find interesting with the two players we've signed on pre-contracts is that they're both from Scottish clubs. Is this a conscious decision to move away from signing players from the English lower leagues and non league? Was trying to think of other players we've signed from other Scottish clubs and other than Fisher, I was thinking you'd have to go back to the summer we signed Vigurs and Lawson...