pretzel

Willie Collum the ref for this game.

Apparently that was the reasoning for staying in Scotland with Celtic originally. I don't think it would do any harm to ask the question but I think we would be more likely to get someone that rarely features such as Welsh or Montgomery (obv away to St Johnstone). It's going to be an interesting few weeks.

I always felt that Spittal was one of those players who seemed to stand out when he played against us but in a 'Well jersey you do tend to forget he is playing at times. He must be apart of what is the slowest midfield I've ever seen at Fir Park. A bit like Ricki Lamie, he enjoyed some great form from January to May 2022 which no doubt fooled Alexander to pounce for his signature.

According to the Daily Ranger, Penney's loan spell expired after the County game. Obviously Hammell has mentioned he wanted to extend it but going by what the Ipswich gaffer is saying I wouldn't be surprised if they want some dosh from someone for his services.

I throughly enjoyed his first half performance on Saturday despite those conditions, he was unfortunate that his early shot hit the outside of the post and the County keeper made a decent save but thankfully he wasn't to be denied. He is certainly a massive creative spark going forward but defensively is something that he can improve upon. I think Saturday was only his tenth senior start, as David put it he is still a young, raw player with plenty learning and development to do.

I know players fitness vary from one to the other, but St Mirren signed a young defender from the second tier of the Irish league and he went straight into the side and has played two games already for them. I wouldn't be surprised if it's simply a case of Hammell viewing Lamie and Sol as our strongest centre back partnership and just hoping they will eventually click, but after the Hibs debacle both were deserving of a spell on the sidelines. I wouldn't be surprised however to see Blaney against Arbroath.

Getting nightmare flash backs of Jordan Jones, Alan Forrest and David Templeton breezing past him on the wing, circa early 2020/21.

Regarding Penney, was it not mentioned that his future would be addressed post County game? He's a player I actually really liked but judging on his last two outings if he feels the need to move on I won't shed a tear.

In regards to Lamie I think we can all admit we fell for it hook, line and sinker. He was honking for like 18 months but found himself back in favour due to injuries and then enjoyed a bit of form around the time he agreed a pre contract with Dundee. It's a shame to see him revert to normal. The worrying thing is no matter the combination in centre defence since the first game this season we have been throwing the ball literally in our own net, since that weak headed back pass by Mugabi against Sligo it has been been comic cut defending at times and the whole defence has been culpable. I thought it was a tough watch today due to the conditions. I enjoyed the marauding runs of young Johnson, it would have been nice to see him bury that effort in the first half. I thought Crankshaw done alright, certainly and upgrade on Shields. The ref was quite poor, every time a county player screamed and hit the deck was enough to warrant a free kick. Obviously it was powderpuff but it looked like Callachan punched Goss in the back when he reacted to getting his shirt pulled. Anyway I think the biggest frustration over the last few games has been we had the chance to bring Hibs right into the mix and today we could have been 6 points clear of County with a game in hand. Hopefully next week proves to be a positive distraction. We're better on our travels tbf.

After signing a few players in the last few days and with others en route I highly doubt that will be the case unless he packed it in himself. If we do fall to defeat I can see you arriving at the main entrance on the back of a horse with a bunch of villagers carrying torches.

Juhani Ojala has found himself a new club in Cyprus Doxa Katokopias, I see Christian Ilić also plays for them.

I remember phoning club call back in the 90s and they announced the new signing Michel Doesburg, felt great being in the know when friends seen it confirmed in the tabloids the next day. Can't imagine how it used to be in nineteen canteen. I know I'm going off topic here a tad, Willie Falconer rescued us when he signed, but the day he signed he lined up against Killie and missed a pen as we got beat. One thing that truly annoyed me was that I'm sure he was denied playing in a Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen as he had to be registered two weeks before the match or such, SKY choose our game for TV and the tie was moved to a Monday which meant he should have been available for selection but the pedantic SFA said they are sticking by the original date the game was going to be played. Anyway it's good to see a rumour on the transfer front filter through.

I was hoping Josh Morris would move on to free up a wage, I assumed thats why he had been missing from the squad recently but I think he was either ill or injured. Plenty others I would happy drive to other clubs but sadly we'll be stuck with them until the Summer at the very least. It's the hope that kills you, both Burrow's and Hammell mentioned last week that they had hoped to get new faces in by the end of last week, apparently we came close but nowt else was really mentioned. Hopefully though the patience pays dividends and we can unearth some gems. A new signing would certainly lift the morale a bit, it's frustrating seeing Aberdeen and Hearts have no trouble bringing in many new faces the last few days but they obviously have far more dosh than us.

Quite a few 'Well connections in that side, Jake Hastie, Euan Murray and the Mikael Ndjoli.

Peter Hartley joins Hartlepool United.

Roberto Martinez named the new Portugal head coach.

We're just a handful of games past the half way point and this fixture already feels like it's a must win. A defeat here will bring them level on points but a win for us will give us a six point cushion with a game in hand. It's actually torture looking at your nearest rivals at this stage to see how they're fairing as I'm sure there will be many twists and turns. Killie face Rangers next Wednesday as they have a League Cup Semi this weekend and Dundee United face Hibernian. It's frustrating as the results over the weekend were quite favourable to us and we weren't able to take advantage. It'll be interesting to see if we finally add an addition or two to the squad. Personally I'm still supportive of Hammell and I hope it gets it right but you can't help but fear the atmosphere if things go badly this weekend. We blew them away in Dingwall earlier in the season with a magnificent second half performance, I'm confident we will score against them but not so confident we will keep a clean sheet. It would be nice to get the three points on board then be able to enjoy the Scottish Cup fixture.

Did he not already knock us back a few years ago?

Same ref as last week vs Livi. He booked Slattery for diving in the box last week but wasn't consistent today when the Hibs guy done it. Newell kicked the ball away numerous times, actual launches down the park. Also the very last chance of the game, Porteous swipes at Solholm at edge of the box tripping him right under refs nose, just as Van Veen is about to swipe at Johnstons cross Porteous cuts the cross out, no foul of yellow. It's a shame how poor the officials are in our country. But yeah I agree we have bigger issue at home needing addressing.

I know you don't like Sol as you hit the Megaphone Sol quip every week even when the guy performs fine but on today's showing I think the defence were equally culpable as each other, we had three players trying to stop 36 year old chocolate knees Aiden McNeddy for the first goal and failed. Lamie came on to a game last year but I feel he is reverting back to his first season habits, how many long balls did he launch out of play. I'm sure Blaney is a left footed defender so in terms of balance its likely its his position he'll take. Mugabi isn't due to return to March and it seems it's the forward areas we're looking to strengthen so it's going to comic cuts continuing until the end of the campaign.

It's a shame how it worked out. Apparently he was suffering lots of pain in his ankle and returned to Burton for evaluation during the World Cup, he might need some surgery done. Hopefully he can get fit again but he has had some run of injuries since leaving us the first time.

Nicky Law has departed the American team he was playing for. I know he and Hammell had a song put together by the Wellbois back in the day. 35 in March prob not worth a punt.

Thats the frustrating thing, we seem to be conceding goals in the most frustrating manner i.e. free headers or conceding after peppering our opponents goal with chances we should be scoring ourselves, funnily enough with goals conceded in the league, its only Rangers, Celtic and surprisingly St Mirren by one goal thats conceded fewer so far. I know it's not a simple task but if we can get the right bodies in this window I think we will have a decent enough side to push on. My main worry is that in the 2014/15 season we left it late in the window to make a barrowload of signings as did Ross County, they beat us immediately after the window closed and then seemed to match us stride for stride, obviously both clubs alongside St Mirren had found themselves cut off far adrift by that point, a little concerned that might happen again due to how the leagues currently looking and if we don't get positive results in the next few games. I'm convinced Lee Johnson is trying to work his ticket at Hibs due to his recent interviews, it would be quite refreshing to actually not do any opposition any favours.

I seen a page on Twitter with a decent rep mention that Kilmarnock are weighing up an offer to sign Sherwin Seedorf. I don't think he has played for anyone since departing us a year and a half ago.

I count five in a year for Hull, might not have the goal haul required but he has been mainly deployed as a sub in the English Championship with Hull. Apparently a few other clubs are interested such as Barnsley and Bolton. When looking at the guys name on Twitter he was rumoured as far back as late September in regards to joining us.