DC92

Not sure where he usually plays, but he's been wide left when I've seen him. He'll be an alternative to McKay (currently injured) rather than competing with the CMs I think.

I'm probably missing someone obvious, but have we had a player on loan from the OF before?

Watched the extra time there. Rosenborg looked tidy on the ball and dangerous going forward but gave up chances at the other end and seemed to struggle with Crusaders' physicality. We don't exactly have a team of brutes at the moment, though.

Before his inevitable ACL rupture on Saturday, I'd like to confidently predict that this guy will be class.

Devlin is probably at his ceiling but he's a good player at this level, in spite of his dip in form post-WC. To say Rowles and Atkinson have struggled with the step up in physicality would be an understatement. Aside from it obviously being a poorer level, that would be my biggest concern with signing Aussie-based defenders.

McKay and Cochrane are definitely better than Forrest and Kingsley imo, but one hasn't featured in pre-season due to injury and the other is suspended. No idea about Kent, but hopefully he proves he and Sibbick are not interchangeable.

Clark Atkinson Kent Rowles Kingsley Oda Haring Devlin Forrest Shankland Boyce No Cochrane and probably no McKay. Nieuwenhof and Tagawa (if available) likely short of match fitness. I'd also be cautious and utilise Baningime from the bench if we can. Ideally we'd do the same with Boyce, but we aren't awash with other options and if St Johnstone are going to be defending deep it might be a good time to use him and Shankland together. Hopefully Forrest is nowhere near these by the end of August.

Not familiar with those quotes, but it's probably reasonable to suggest Paterson was a Neilson target rather than being identified through the scouting system. Likewise Devlin. After Neilson left, getting Paterson in would still have been a no-brainer if possible, but the same logic doesn't really apply to Devlin. Original point was, rightly or wrongly, it's not really been our style recently to target Scottish-based players who are under contract. As a veteran of this website, I can assure you both have been P&Bisms for ages. Seethe and a miss.

Are you trying to say you aren't guessing? We were linked to Devlin when Neilson was here and then it went quiet. Seems a pretty solid guess.

Don't remember any reports that we'd bid for Levitt. Devlin was Neilson's target and was a free agent. Swing and a miss.

Always funny when people suggest player swaps (which almost never happen now) and think you can just offer your worst player who has a transfer value of 0. Also, I can't remember the last time we put a bid in for a Premiership player.

I'm cautiously optimistic about our transfer business so far this summer, but it doesn't really feel like we're ready to hit the ground running. Pre-season results don't look great, we've got a few important players missing, and the new signings are barely in the door. St Johnstone have just suffered abject humiliation, but the reaction to that can go either way.

The Costa Ricans know their stuff.

Tagawa is the most interesting one so far for me. 21/22 at Santa Clara: 5 goals (0.93 per 90 mins) 22/23 at Santa Clara: 2 goals (0.15 per 90 mins) Overall: 0.38 goals per 90 mins. First season could be a fluke, but it's also possible his team becoming much worse in the second season (dropping from 7th to 18th of 18) hampered him. Regardless, he definitely seems to fit the bill as a Ginnelly replacement. Most of his goals came from playing off the shoulder and running in behind. I particularly like the way he bends his run for this one:

Cheers. I think a budget Furuhashi is pretty much exactly what we're after. Do you know how this compares to the season before? Seems like he was doing better when his team were top half.

And another! He's been on loan in the Portuguese top flight for the last 18 months. 7 goals in 39 games isn't amazing, but it works out to a goal every 239 minutes of football, which isn't too bad. Interestingly, although he only scored 2 goals last season when his team finished bottom, he got 5 in 12 the season before when they were finished 7th. You'd hope it's a Shankland type situation where he'll excel in a team higher up the league.

Can confirm.

Primera División, actually.

Sorry to interrupt. Looks like we're close to another signing. Same journo had him linked to Club Brugge in May.

Not just Leyton Orient, by the looks of it.

Impressions FC.

Mostly agree with this. I'd be fairly sure the hit rate for Hearts/Hibs/Aberdeen signing from League One is poor, aside from players who previously played in Scotland like Boyce. "That's all we can afford". Shop somewhere else then. I don't rate the A League highly either but at we're generally targeting cheap, young players with potential from there. Having said that, I think even a basic centre-half would have helped us massively last season. This guy might fit that bill and he seems to be able to play out from the back a bit as well, which I think was one of the main issues with Stewart at Aberdeen.

If it's Kio you're talking about, I don't really see McGrath as being similar. Can he play CM in a two? I think that's an area we need to add another player. If it's Grant, my biggest issue with him is that he doesn't fit into the team. I don't see the point in replacing him with a similar player who probably isn't much better (if at all) especially given he's got two years left. If he is leaving, it'd make more sense to me to reinvest his wage in more needy areas of the squad or in types of player who fit the style of play better. The rumour was probably a load of shite anyway.

A lot of people have gone off McKay after last season, but I'm still a fan. Yeah, it's annoying that he looks a bit sullen and always does f**k all against the Old Firm, but I just wouldn't bother playing him in those games. He's still extremely useful as a flat track bully and that seems to be taken for granted now. Our home record against non-OF teams over the last two seasons is very good and he's one of the main reasons for that.