Handsome_Devil

He has to be because much like Groningen's negotiating position has collapsed, our strength lies in the fact we have options. If it's Jan 31 and we clearly desperately need a forward and he's it, suddenly they know we're forced to dig a bit deeper - to a level I imagine we'd be very nervous about, given the risk. We should go about our business like he's not an option and if they call us late on we can happily talk. The pitch will then be we're doing them a favour - they'll no doubt be glad to save a couple of k on wages each week till May but the big money (reduction of loss at least) for them is getting him to f**k in summer and that's much more likely with some goals for us first.

Getting Obika out the door will require a miracle. There's always someone willing to take a chance on crap players, far fewer on guys who are basically ornaments in the treatment room. Assuming we still want to play two up from the start occasionally, we need four forwards. If Shaw does leave, I reckon we'll bring in two - you could argue that JO being such a write off means he doesn't really count and we need another on top but I just don't see that as realistic. Or even desirable given we've seen the market that'd be.

I imagine SK will be hoping for both!

He was linked there for sure... maybe he thought he'd do better than where he ended up but even so, I doubt life is exactly bad...

It's definitely not what I'd do but as we often say, self-belief and confidence are one of the many reasons he's a professional footballer. The fact Goss - with his CV - felt he could turn down guaranteed security to see what came up before landing in Greece sums it up really. Elliot might be great but even if not, he will be - at the very least - confident that he's got the probable safety net of an A-League team making an offer should he return there with his tail between his legs.

Perhaps he's just taking his time and preferring no move to the wrong move...at 24 he's still got a good window to get a big-money switch but if his first swing at UK football is a disastrous two years, then two years somewhere lower atoning for it, suddenly it's getting tight to land a life-altering check.

Does anyone actually track these things to see how it compares to other pairs? I have a vague feeling Celtic-St Mirren comes up more than average. Also, if they hadn't scrapped replays from the corona time we'd have another two cup replays at Cappielow for the list. I assume we'll be narrow favourites but tbqhwy it's not far off 50-50.

Definitely still the potential for a Baraclough or Hammell moment... But the first two boxes (not the OF, then someone outside the top-flight) are ticked so need to be happy enough.

I don't think it's a bold prediction to say Paton is heading towards the bench rather than the XI regardless of whether we revert to 3-5-2 or continue with 5-4-1/3-6-1 shenanigans.

I'd have been tempted to gamble on him when he left Thistle given his record but must admit was delighted to be proved wrong. Was Kerr not one of the infinite PCA's we were getting from Dundee?

Pleasing to hear As for nouble, there's no doubt he's a massive upgrade based on that good spell but he's 28 and has essentially impressed for one year. It's not unfair to ask how likely it is you'll get that or the usual if you go for him. And I agree totally he's been poorly managed but I think he also needs to take some responsibility - both for his poor form in terms of what he's shown he can do and failure to develop into something that someone was actually willing to buy.

Alloa highlights are an amusing watch with some fun comments (paraphrased). "I'll give credit to the camera position, if nothing else about their media" - miaow! "Theo Bair, the danger man" - quite. "Where did this Connor sammon come from?" - Indeed. It was an excellent goal from their pov btw.

There was - what seemed an admittedly brief - spell when he showed a fair bit of potential but that's a while ago. And while I'd pin some of his regression on Livingston/Martindale, he needs to take his share of the blame too. If we got him on a PCA, it could be argued he's in the gamble worth taking category but I certainly wouldn't be spending money on him. I'd also say that if Livingston are even contemplating the sort money we can offer, they've either written him off completely or have the baliffs arriving Monday.

Tbf the defensive midfielder, water carrier type is going to struggle to excel in today's type of game - he tidied up and gave it to those supposed to create, I don't know what more you'd expect from him really.

I am not quite all aboard the Bair train but if we had him playing as a presence, inside forward a la James Scott on one flank with a real winger giving width on the other and a real striker through the middle, I'd consider buying a ticket. The trouble with that is that means 5-2-3 - which gives me the fear still - or SK will need a total change of heart with defence and midfield.

Returned to sender.

If the rumours on Shaw are true, we're now down to Blair and Obika (injured). We need a fair bit of inspiration here...also interesting the rumours are mainly around midfield, wing, right back. Not that they're not needed but the attack is a defining issue now.

For some reason there were no replays on the stream but on the live view it looked miles over the line.

And we'll no doubt strengthen, whether it's exactly that or not remains to be seen. I'm actually feeling more confident about our survival chances. Which is not to say I'm confident we'll survive, just less certain we're doomed... We've lost two in nine, if you take the County game as the absolute low point, we've lost one in six (to Rangers) since. Despite being shite for months we're not in the bottom two and are in the last 16 of the cup with a nearly 50-50 chance of a lower league side (before we get sent to Paisley). Our two biggest rivals just lost to lower league sides, one of them tanked and their manager basically said they're shite and he regrets taking the job. It's a Saturday night after a victory, have a beer and forget the many concerns until tomorrow.

Thought Alloa looked very reasonable in the first half but in the end we ran out comfortable winners...had the penalty gone in I suspect we'd have got another one or two on top. We made heavy weather of it for sure but so did everyone other than Killie so no real complaints.

Gent had a good game...will he cut there in the league? Montgomery did well, Davor tidy. As attritional as it was for a long spell, there definitely positives as well. Bair was indeed isolated, had limited service and did have the odd good moment so I won't be too hard on him but it was a tough shift. Our defence mind...jebus. it's hard to know where to start. On the subject of simple requests, let's stop side footing penalties at half height nowhere near the corner, eh. Edit to add: managers often talk about a wee bit of quality making a big difference and we've obviously seen it too - but I reckon with Biereth we win that more comfortably and with a bit of zip to boot. We're clearly looking for that now he's gone and while I'm not painting everything as rosy, we're also equally not a million miles away from being competitive in lower mid-table.

It's one thing throwing around the penalties if you're 4-0 up, if Spittal was the designated taker no one else should even have thought about asking for it at 2-1.

Some of our basics - short passing, first touch etc - were appalling but ultimately we ran out comfortable winners without looking great, which is the definition of meeting expectations. In contrast to our relegation rivals anyway... Thought we were a lot better when Miller came on - because he's a good player, the change of shape, or a bit of both?

Ha ha, just conceded that. We're still shite mind

Arguing over a penalty is criminal, it'd be embarrassing for an amateur side. Incidentally: Of the six top-flight teams currently playing against lower-league opposition, only one is winning. Given Aberdeen and Hearts also made heavy weather of it, coming back is clearly tricky...not just us struggling.