Swello

It is good that 'Flow can debunk stories right away so that they don't become accepted - but the 300k thing didn't get in the paper by accident. Assuming 'Flow is telling the truth (which I'm sure he is), in whose interest is it to have that out there? Cadden's agent trying to drum up some interest? Hearts trying to show that they are looking at replacements for Walker? Something else?

After we lost that goal, I was convinced we were going down. The only saving grace for Jules was that he was up at the empty corner - if he was in front of the East when he made that mistake....

100k is the kind of offer you'd expect from Sevco - quite amusing actually.

Somebody needs to sign up with the user name WishaeShrew or whatever and drop the above GIFs into that thread and enjoy the reaction

Jesus. I found the 2nd one the more annoying of the two - a toe to the baws if ever there was one.

Bittersweet.

Having Hibs back in the league makes the Fixture list look a bit tougher certainly (even if the reality turns out to be different). We really need to do a lot better at Home this season to avoid being in the play-off grubber again... Overall, I'm quite happy with those fixtures (at least before TV gets their hands on them) - no nightmare midweek away's, decent enough festive season and getting Rangers on the first day at FP is as good a time as any...

A popular move (amongst supporters at least) - nice one.

Yep - he was outstanding going forward that day. To think we all walked out that day expecting a great season with Joe Chalmers and Wes Fletcher being mainstays. I also remember being underwhelmed by Louis Moult....

Ferguson looked to me every bit the U20 player who wasn't ready for the first team - although he clearly must have impressed in the '20s to be getting a shot. His half an hour against Killie recently was one of the most painful things I've seen - I wanted to give him a cuddle as the sub board put him out his misery. If memory served, he also sold the jerseys against St Johnstone at Fir Park and let the ball through to the back post where the Saints forward was on his own. I don't think Inverness would be taking a lost cause though - if they can continue his development and get him bulked up a bit - there is a player there. Joe though. He's the embodiment of the neglect in our squad as the McCall era wound down and since. A utility man, that's equally effective in any role he's played in. He did though have a storming game on the 1st day of 2015/16 when we pumped ICT 1-0 in Inverness - maybe that was remembered

He'd be a great Captain - hadn't really thought about that as I've always assumed he'll be offski this summer. Make him the highest paid player and captain and it would be very rude for him to leave

There are very few managers that we've brought in since Tommy McLean (who was the manager when I started going) that I've had much confidence in from the beginning. Ironically, Gannon was the one where I thought we had signed someone who fitted the bill perfectly and he turned out to be a psycho (with a good contacts book). The route that we haven't really gone down is to "promote" someone from the lower divisions in Scotland who have done well for a few years and have the advantage of knowing Scottish football well but I guess we have tried to stay clear of paying compensation at any point.. When looking at the legendary "fifty CV's" that apparently arrive when ever our job is vacant, there are limited options for a club like us, that all have their benefits and drawbacks: 1. Promote from within (assistant manager or long serving player): Jobs for the boys, coaches don't always make good managers (hello Maurice) but they will "know the club and league" 2.Take someone "experienced" that's out of work: You may know their track record but they are typically out of work for a reason (eg, being shite elsewhere or (at best) being caught pumping the Chairman's daughter). I think all our "successful" managers of the last couple of decades have come by this route... 3. Take someone from the (lower) English and Irish leagues that's been successful but somehow no bigger club wants: Incredibly difficult to do IMO. At least they should know the transfer market... 4. Give a respected player (either for his record in the game or because he's been spotted reading a book or broadsheet newspaper (called a "deep thinker")) his first shot in management: A total punt - could be brilliant or could be Alex McLeish. 5. Go for a shot in the dark foreigner - either a former internationalist that's reduced to applying for jobs in a provincial club in Scotland or invoke the Kampmann Principle and sign someone because they once managed a team that beat us in an early-rounds european game: This way lies the seaside leagues.

Totally valid concerns. On the points you raised: Robinson has no real track record as a manager (but has a decent enough one as a coach to be involved in a successful Norn Irn setup) and we can argue the merits of his appointment but he is in place and by keeping us up under difficult circumstances, he's earned his shot at this season IMO. You can argue that our performance levels didn't shoot up - but you can equally argue that our defensive record improved markedly and that you could also argue that Alex Ferguson couldn't have got a great performance out of the demoralised mess that was left after McGhee (long track record, had lost the plot) left. It was clear in the last recruitment that our job just isn't that attractive to established managers (low budget, negative perception of fan ownership, etc) - this is self evident from the fact that Robinson was the number 1 choice. The scale of the changes I would argue is wholly necessary based on the poor state of the squad - I don't believe that we had any choice as the damage has been done over the past few years. It's worth mentioning that this is the 2nd wholesale rebuild that has been required after McGhee left us - not looking like a coincidence. I share your concern that we are trying to integrate too many at once but at least in doing our work early and getting them off to a training camp, the club have noted this and are at least trying to address it. It seems that when we have a clear-out that we don't see the best of the new squad until later - maybe the next season, so we should have our expectation is check. On vision, I agree with you. I don't need to hear bullshit as I've got a pretty clear view of where the club sits in the grand scheme of things and hearing about vision and history makes me cringe but we need to sell something positive to the players. I suspect that behind closed doors, the vision sold to the players is "Do well, use us a stepping stone to a decent deal in England and we won't stand in your way" - which is fine by me. On connection - I sympathise with this view as I feel the same on the surface. Except then I think about the players that I idolised when I was younger. Arnott was a hero of mine but so was Coyne and only one of them had the connection to the club, the difference is that Coyne clearly made that connection and built it up. Ditto Davie Cooper - possibly the best player I've ever seen in claret and amber - he was an arch *** with no feeling for our club and look how he came to be an absolute pivotal figure in our recent history and discovered life outside the OF. Luc Nijholt, Sieb and Mio were all foreigners that would never have heard about us before they came to the country - each one of them lit up the team and are worth 20 poor players that happen to have some sort of connection to us. To bring it up to date before I get too misty eyed - Loius Moult is surely proof-positive that connection doesn't matter a toss - it's the attitude of the player and whether he "gets" us or not that matters. The club are mostly signing players on slightly longer contracts and you have to hope that some players are about long enough for the place to get under their skin - but since Bosman, the nature of clubs has changed for the worse and connection to the club is going to be a much rarer thing... TL:DR: It's right to have concerns but let's wait and see what happens

In contrast, I've still got the baseless pre-season optimism - not to the point where I'm predicting a great season but I think we will do better than last year, which is admittedly a fairly modest expectation. Our midfield has been fucking awful at least since McCall's last season - we've basically relied on Lasley to hold the whole patched-up mess together and it's been a real weakness that affects us negatively at both ends of the pitch. Robinson has made it something of a priority and it's difficult to see how Bigirimana and Rose are anything other than an upgrade on Clay, Lucas and 16/17 Pearson. Whether either is able to replace what Lasley has given us is another question entirely of course. The goalkeeping situation is surely another upgrade on a glaring weakness in last seasons' team. On the other side - the picture isn't clear on defense and attack yet and I'll reserve judgement as it's only mid-June - the key is replacing McDonald (and most probably Moult) which is a genuinely difficult task and one that would test any manager in the league outside of the OF. On Robinson specifically - I like the way the way he's conducted himself so far - especially since we secured our league place. It's clear to me that in McGhee, we had an experienced manager that was going through the motions - he had become lazy and didn't perform the surgery on the squad that was required last summer. In signings like Lucas and Clay, in the way Samson was handed the No1 jersey and in the way we toiled with no replacement for Johnson - he simply didn't do enough and reaped what he sowed as a consequence. I don't think McGhee had what it took to transform the squad this summer (or to keep us up quite honestly) - and Robinson in contrast has a lot to prove and is doing what is required so far. In keeping that utter mess of a team/squad in the league, Robinson has earned the opportunity to show what he can do - I'm happy to give him a chance and judge him later in the season after the team has a chance to settle in.

I almost went full Steelmen there and questioned the wisdom of signing a left sided defender who was an injury risk - but (a) it's an unsubstantiated rumour and (b) life's too fucking short.

I would certainly be happy if that was the case - would there be any reason why we couldn't just announce him though?

To keep the mug shots up to date. the defender one is bizarre - unless we are going to blur out the guy's face - his identity will be known as soon as pre-season starts. By mentioning it and not elaborating, it'll just make everyone look into it more - see the Streisand Effect. Are we to assume it's someone who has been out/injured long term and has something to prove fitness wise? Or is it someone whose contract is not up until the end of July? Other?

I didn't think we did 1 year deals any more - interesting...

Haha! - it did feel like a post had fallen through time from 10 years ago....almost makes me nostalgic for the times that Motherwell were the bad guys and St Mirren fans were the loudest voices around the place...

I would imagine that a lot of the work to get contracted players out the door would happen later in the window once clubs have missed out on their preferred targets and start to look elsewhere. We have been extremely quick out the traps this year, but a lot of clubs have done very little business so far. If we get our core signings in place early (and with five more on the way, it looks like we'll do that) and then make some further moves near the end of the window in august, I think we could all live with that.

To be fair - we are linked with any player with a connection to Northern Ireland because (a) Steve Robinson and (b) we emptied our squad and have lots of players to sign, so I wouldn't necessarily read too much in to 'Well being mentioned there...

Bless.

Ouch - that's a bit of a minter for a new signing - having to order his da to delete his Twitter account Wise move though - and as he is following Craig Samson, he's well placed to be liked by our support (not palming the ball out to an opposing forward in his first game will have him in our POTY nominations)....

I'm actually surprised that Samson got a pretty decent gig with St Mirren as he had a very poor end to the season (although he was good at times before that)...