MelvinBragg

Those suggesting a back four with Kipré and Hartley at centre back and not Dunne need their heads read. His pace and the fact he's left footed means he's always likely to be one of the first names on the team sheet. Regards departures. At least one midfielder, possibly two, will leave. I suspect Frear might want away but were we to let the only natural winger in our squad go, it truly would leave us with no plan B. Could we avoid relegation after selling Carson, Kipré, Campbell and Cadden? Would be an interesting challenge...

So you think they're the two signings he'll be desperate to get in? So he'll play six defenders?

Six defenders? What formation is that?

Tomorrow according to club Twitter...

I actually expect us to sell Cadden and/or Campbell this summer...

I think the concern with the signing of Gorrin is not necessarily his quality but if he's too similar in type to the midfielders that we already have on our books. In terms of league goals from midfield, if you take Tanner out, it's slim pickings. Last season you had Allan Campbell and Andy Rose with two each leading the way. Gorrin's previous career doesn't suggest he'll solve that problem...

Could argue 6 players for one spot when Tanner comes back if we want any kind of creativity...

Thing is, you can call Yodo negative all you like but he may have a point. Clearly the guy must be tall if he's described as a player of real stature because his career doesn't suggest much. I'm not saying he won't turn out to be a player but I'd describe it as an intriguing signing rather than an exciting one...

An option that I'm pretty sure we won't use. The number of midfielders we have at the club with apparently another to come in and the fact that I'm not sure where MacLean fits into the system we use means I can't see him coming back to Motherwell. A bit unfortunate for him as he's shown promise in most of his appearances...

Or Gordon fucking-Mair...

Dunne, Grimshaw and Main are all players who have been slated by fans of their clubs down South and have come in and did a job for us so not overly worried by Doncaster fans' reviews of him. Hopefully he fills a problem position although on paper Hendrie looked like he fit the bill. Turnbull is still pretty young but rumours of MacLean and Gordon going out on loan makes it seem like a matter of time before we release them...

Will depend on what Robinson meant by a player of stature...

My first reaction on hearing Robinson's description of the midfielder we're after was 'Bye Bigi'...

Only problem with the jester outfit was the shorts...

I reckon there are four players in our first team squad that we could possibly get money for. Unfortunately the two that we might struggle to replace are, I reckon, Carson and Kipré and those two are the ones we're most likely to get bids for. Cadden and Campbell are the other two. Cadden, we can and should be looking to replace with a natural left wing back. Campbell is a fantastic player and will get better but we do have bodies in the midfield who can do similar jobs even if not to the same level. So I'd agree, Cadden would be the ideal player to sell But as I said in my earlier post, the question remains if there will be any interest...

I had heard a rumour a few weeks back that O'Halloran was coming in a swap deal for Chris Cadden. Person who told me this was pretty convinced this would happen. It makes me wonder if there is any interest in Cadden. Out of contract next summer (and I know we'd still be due compensation), surely for our current model to work (and for the benefit of his own career), we need to be looking for bids for him...

I wasn't actually having a go at you. More the culture in the clubs in Scotland which leads to guys like Ross MacLean with around 20 career appearances at the age of 21, leads to us offering Ali Crawford a contract when we have David Turnbull on the books. Clearly I'm embracing the role of resident sorearse this summer. Just feel as if we hold our young players back at times. With our U20s being reasonably successful recently, I'd like to see more of them. Robinson is right in that you can't flood the team with them but I'm pretty sure Livingstone could have done as good a job at wing back as Frear. From his brief appearances, pretty sure any of our U20s could have contributed as much as Petravicius. Rant over for now...

Turned 19 a few months back. Or to put it another way, he's only nine months younger than Allan Campbell. Or three months older than David Turnbull. I know players develop at different rates and in different positions but the 'he's only 19' argument is a conservative one that holds back player development in this country. Not suggesting it's the only factor but it plays a part...

Going by Goodwin's quotes, we've not written Hastie off but then again what we say in public may be different to what we say in private. Certainly League One to the Premier League would be a jump so games at Championship level might not be a bad idea. However as Steelboy points out, it's pretty difficult for any winger to get a game for us in our favoured 352 formation. An established professional like Frear struggles to get game time, something that doesn't bode well for Hastie. As an aside, I gather MacLean sees himself as a centre midfielder in a similar role that Tanner played but I think his time has come and gone given how little game time he got last season...

Naw, but in the absence of anything else to discuss, we've had worse debates on here...

Had only a quick glance at his stats. Closer look at Soccerbase suggests you're closer to the truth although under other comps they have him scoring 7 goals in 0 starts and 0 sub appearances. He must be good if he can score 7 without playing. Maybe I'm just an old curmudgeon but it's not a signing that would excite me...

It was very much a tongue in cheek comment from myself about strikers from the north east of England. Just struck me that if were to sign the lad Johnson, all three of our first team strikers would be from that area. If they can score goals, they can be from Mars for all I care...

Kind of hope not. Only five league goals season just finished. Obviously if Robinson thinks he can do a job then I'll wait and see what he can do. Would be nice to have a striker who wasn't from the north east of England...

Where did you read/see that?

Talking to Accies' fans, Crawford for the last couple of seasons has only turned it on when it seemed to suit him. They're not that upset to see him go. Would assume signing Crawford would see at least one midfielder leave. Can't see us switching to that particular back four given we've a natural right back in Tait. For me, the signing of Donnelly suggests more that either Kipré is away this summer or that Maguire is out of the plans following mixed performances. Really looking to see us sign a natural left wing back but it's been quiet on that position...