fizoxy

L'ailier droit

Maybe we would have signed higgy if we hadnt already signed the guy who kept him out of the team last season. I didn't see much of him other than that one goal, so I don't know what the fuss is about. Partick will finish in the bottom half.

Hatelely was a good player for us and anyone who thinks otherwise has a problem. We offered him terms to stay and he chose to try his luck elsewhere, that's his prerogative. His dad has fuck all to do with anything. If he ends up at killie then that's his problem, not ours. Some folk take it way too personally when a player leaves. You have supported the club all your life, they work for the club during the term of their contract. That's how it works and it isn't going to change.

Usually when we beat the more financially priviliged teams its through a higher work rate and pressing them when they're on the ball, but if anything Kuban did that to us. This resulted in most of our possession being harmless as we didn't have the spark to break them down. Saying that, we had some decent shooting chances on the edge of the box, and two headers for Sutton, but we didn't get the bit of luck that we probably needed.

Fair enough if Hammel's mistake was as bad as written, I didn't catch how the ball broke to them for the counter.

Yep, there was no edge to our game with just Sutton up there. Faddy was his usual self, trying too much and giving the ball away regularly, but he's our best chance at a spark of genius so you have to take the rough with the smooth. I thought they looked a lot quicker than us, and that told when they hit us on the counter. My one compliant is that McCall went on in the presser about how he'd learned his lesson about committing to much to attack and being hit on the counter, then the 2nd goal happened to us. 0-1 wouldn't have been a horrible result to take there.

They weren't great, but they had the quality and composure when it mattered. Number 99 looked good. Not sure why Hollis was getting so much stick (other than that he was singled out before the game), he was hung out to dry on both goals. We had some chances, or maybe half chances, and a wee bit of luck and it could have been a different story. I don't think we can single out a scapegoat for this one, as a team we just weren't sharp enough. 3 goals needed now but stranger things have happened. One thing I'll take from this is that it is going to be fun watching Vigurs and Faddy this year.

I doubt we can afford experienced backups. The young players would fill in if there are any injuries. For clubs like ours the key to a good season is avoiding injuries. If you look at our best seasons, it has been when no one has been out for a long period, whereas some of the worst were when we were missing experienced guys (TCs long injury was a bitch). My guess is that we'll sign one more wide player, giving us ZFA, Faddy and winger3, then we will supplement with our other midfielders and forwards.

Well 4 Europe's summary is pretty good. Erwin, Moore and Murray are in the 1st team squad, so are part of the depth for their respective positions. I think there's a tendency to forget these guys because they aren't new signings. Three of our most experienced players came through the same system, then there is Hutchy, Cummins and McHugh. If we are going to make money from selling players we need to see a good few new youngsters get first team exposure each year.

Did Lawson\Vigurs not create quite a few for County? My guess is that Faddy will have a fair few assists as well, so I don't think the drop in creativity from losing law, Ojaama and Humphrey will be massive (big drop in pace though). A lot will depend on what ZFA or mystery winger produces.

I agree that the squad is thin, but this is always the case with our resources. Our backups will all be young players, and our success will depend on the fitness of the top eleven. I think the only position where we have no clear options is wide midfield. I don't know if faddy will fill his position or if he will play as a forward, but either way we still need a replacement for Humphrey, ie someone with decent pace who can play on the right. if we sign McFadden and the imaginary winger, I think we have a decent squad. If I was being greedy, another forward would be nice too.

Most signings are announced after the negotiations are complete. This only appears to be dragging on because we've been anticipating it since last season. I think the dicking around is being exaggerated. on another note, I mind when there were folk on here that actually had some decent 'sources' and didn't just post what they heard on twitter, which in turn has probably been taken from here.

He played the first half.

This is one of those standard "I'm out of contract this year, in case you didn't know" stories.

With him having his contract renewed in 2010 I'm sure it would have cost a fair bit to renew it this time. Regardless of the injury I doubt that Saunders would have taken a drop in wages, and has decided to move on. The management clearly think that we either have the internal options to cover this, or that they can replace him cheaply, freeing up funds for areas of greater need. I always thought he was a good player, and it will be interesting to see where he ends up.

Kyle spends too much time being injured or shite, so don't think he's an option. We have Sutton anyway. I'm guessing Quinn is out of our price range. We're also tempting fate with all these returning players, we're due a McClair soon.

Are Erwin and Moore legitimate 1st team prospects, and are they both forwards? What's the consensus on McHugh? Is he going to be a bench player until he leaves?

Sutton is a decent signing. Scored at an excellent rate for us (without taking penalties I'm sure) and is still under 30, so hardly past it. He's not going to score as many as Higdon did in his last season, but neither will Higdon. so what if he left for money? most players leave clubs for money. They can't all move on to being pundits or managers after the age of 35 so I'll forgive them for trying to save a few quid. I'm curious to see who we bring in who fits the pace requirement. Humphrey thrived under McCall, so it will be interesting to see what he can bring out of a similarly raw player. not holding my breath for McFadden.

It would take a leap of faith for a manager to guarantee hateley a midfield job, especially when there are plenty of out of contract midfielders who have actually played the position more than a handful of times in the last few years. Multiple managers have seen him as a right back, and we've signed other midfielders rather than play him there, so maybe right back is where he belongs. My guess is the same as those above, he probably hasn't had the offers he expected. Hibs or Aberdeen is my guess if he doesn't end up at newco. His dad is also a wank. if Gordon is fit there is no way he will be a back up, and if he's not fit there is no way anyone is signing him.

I would think the freed up wages will be significant, since Hately and Humphrey were on their second deals, which probably had annual increases, and law must have been on a decent amount. Don't know much about Daley. I'm sure keeping Higdon and faddy would eat into most of those savings, but I don't see either hanging around. Either way, I don't think we'll see a large number of new faces, maybe 3 or 4, and the rest will be promoted youngsters. If we're going to be a selling club the youth players are the key.

My guess is that the lure of some games in Europe isn't as strong as the lure of actual money.

Do we have a big enough tractor for the photo op with the kampman-esque number of new players we'll need? Happy that henrik got his move, good luck to him. Is he the first of the 'sign to sell' players that we've actually sold?

Luis Amor Rodriguez

Probably a rumour on fpc started by a rumour on here. These names have been getting thrown around for a couple of weeks.

Given will sign with an English club for a whole lot more than we could offer. We sign unknowns for a reason, cos they are in our price range.