Handsome_Devil

A five minute search suggests I'd be very surprised if we can afford him...we will see.

He's not what you'd call prolific for a striker but certainly has a pedigree miles above the 3 goals in 29 national league appearances we usually go for. He sounds like a throwback to SSJ etc...presumably he won't be cheap by our standards, we commit to a three-year deal and we hope to sell him halfway through. Can't fail.

I'd blame our recruitment team for a lot but not that...the manager - Kettlewell, Hammell or whoever - will have had their injury records as well and would make the decision on gambling or not.

Now being reported by the Sun too fwiw.

We absolutely have...I remember McGhee looking at things in summer 2007, making adjustments and our non-impact injuries vanished almost overnight. You wonder if it's one of these eternal circles, you have injuries so invest in pre-hab conditioning, you don't have injuries so cut back to bring in another couple of players, get injuries so invest...

So of the 12, you'd ignore Souare and Obika are perma crocks, Biereth and McGinn were impact - can happen. Casey too or did he just twist at County? I'd given up by then. Slattery and Miller can probably be taken out the blame side in their circumstances...but that's still way too many muscle injuries, especially in training, to be a coincidence or bad luck to me. Clearly guessing from the outside blah blah...but on the face of it, an overhaul needed.

I don't think that really comes into it...they're all pros who will be doing the same thing to clubs from their own perspective.

I've come to the conclusion that Hammell was being willfully naive or deliberately talking out his arse ok that one. I also wouldn't take anything SK says re a striker as absolute gospel...yes we want one in quickly but it's better to be without for another game than sign the wrong one or overpay for dross we then just have to move on. The January window is all about holding your nerve, something it is fair to say we fans on the outside struggle to do.

Yeah, that's a fair point...as is SK's about not throwing them in when not ready but you do wonder if he's being a little cautious here. You wouldn't throw in a kid centre half to defend a lead to be fair but Ross got his goal and i don't think has been seen since.

Long-term you're definitely better being threadbare for a few games, even if it costs you over one 90 minutes. St Johnstone, according to the above, are currently paying several folk who are persona non grata so they're hardly likely to impact the game. And yes, there's a chance their senior option 25 might contribute but the likelihood of that in comparison to a kid from us doing likewise (Ross v Dundee etc) certainly doesn't justify the expense to me. It's been mentioned before that there's a reason why surviving a terrible season often just delays the inevitable and that's you need to repay how you bought yourself out of trouble to begin with. Of course, if it's that or go down it's a risk you need to try, like we did in previous Januarys, but it should be avoided if at all possible. I would argue that in our particular circumstances, spending wildly to secure 10th is wrong. With 12th probably gone, we should spend to have a chance of 10th while being confident in the playoff, which is more likely to see us avoid this scenario next season.

We're just over 48 hours and one more injury or illness away from playing 3-7-0 in a relegation six-pointer

I think a 23-strong senior squad is absolutely fine, assuming there's a couple of youths who can handle a few minutes. The teams with high 20s or even 30s have so not because of good planning but they fucked it and need to hit the credit card/next season's budget to have a chance of survival. If we're spending the money we have and not being naughty, senior guys who are considered the 23rd man in our squad plus are generally going to be Obika/Shaw levels of nobody else wanting them. If there's a mental injury crisis, freebies can still be picked up, if not, I'd save the cash rather than padding excessively.

I think most people just look to the potential positives because why not if relegation is going to happen anyway. Personally I've made my peace with us being relegated - a combination of being older, the club's future being secure and looking over the precipice in 2015 - and I'm a lot less stressed about it. Should it happen I'll hope we actually get to enjoy some of those positives because that seems a more enjoyable life than being utterly miserable just because your team is playing a bunch of different teams. However, that is far from the same as wanting it to happen and we should be doing everything we can to avoid it - as others have shown, if you're very lucky/good it takes a couple of years to recover from, if you're not it can be a couple of decades. Relegation for a club our size is undoubtedly a very bad thing.

For once, a television move actually helps me but it's a right bugger for the jolly boys...those not able to take a holiday at least.

I wonder what the terms on return were...shite no, injured yes? I imagine had he not done his hamstring we'd have encouraged Casey or someone to put in a couple of robust ones during the five-a-sides. "Dear Barnsley, please find returned Oli Shaw, who unfortunately cut his own head off while shaving."

Quite frankly paying up McGinley and Shaw, in a worst case scenario, and saving money on their lunch is a gain. I've no doubt we'll bring in two forwards. Whether they're good enough... different question.

If we didn't fancy Spittal in the three (and I reckon he could play at the top point ahead of two of the others fine), we could have a solid central three, tell Gent or Nicholson to stand on the left flank for width and have Spittal going rogue from the right. Which is not to say we absolutely should do it but we're suddenly looking at the sort of options most clubs will feel should always be available. As it happens, I would really like us to try something different on Saturday with a back four but chance will be a fine thing there I suspect.

We're not going to restrict ourselves to only being able to play one formation, that's utter madness and Kettlewell would never let it oh, wait. Yeah, it's a fair point. I think we'll bring in two forwards, one considered 'good' and one who's basically Shaw but hopefully a fraction better. We'll then have them, Spittal off the front in emergency and if Obika is available great, if not meh. We need work in summer though...four viable strikers, even if one is only a promising youth, is needed for proper cover over a whole season.

Expectations need to be realistic...I can see the boat being pushed for what is hopefully one nailed on starting striker given Biereth and Wilkinson have gone. But if Bair is now deemed second in line and Obika still drawing a wage, the other guy(s) will come with the intention of being down the pecking order with the corresponding ability to wage ratio.

He was mentioned being on trial so not that big a shock but I don't really see how he'll fit in...wingers!

When Dundee signed ahead of us in January 22, I'd have been happy if we'd got him. I'd not seen enough of him to be sure but his record suggested he was a worthwhile gamble. Thankfully he proved me wrong at Dundee rather than with us. I guess if - thinking in mega hypotheticals - we're losing Shaw and Obika, either because we're somehow punting him or don't expect him ever to be fit, the usual caveats apply to our fourth pick attacking signing. Whoever that is will be shite and Rudden at least seems to run around. Would still very much rather avoid though.

If I was Dundee I'd be thrilled to send Rudden to a rival in the same league.

It obviously is but the question is whether spending that 100k elsewhere wouldn't ward off relegation and also bring some medium-term rerun. Tbh I go both ways on it...I tend to think we're better off moving on, then I remember Kettlewell's summer efforts for the attack the devil we know doesn't seem quite as bad.

The point when we had Carroll and McGinley on the books at lb having extended them both was an utterly wtf moment.

I'll eat my metaphorical hat if we sign a CB given our numbers there...the plan will be to take pressure off them further up the park, stumble into something which kind of works and try to fix it in summer.