NorthBank

John McGinn would be a great signing.

If he is as successful as Higdon that will do me.

None. The 1 is for the spelling. The content gets a zero.

1/10 for spelling.

Magennis is a cracking player and as a Buddie we know something about good midfielders. However he has just extended his contract until 2021 as Jack Ross was supposedly sniffing about so we would be looking for a fair wedge for him.

Great stuff - you have just been awarded the contract and we can spend the rest on players. Head South John, you know it makes sense.

That's the spirit! But play him as a winger if you want some value for your money.

He seems a nice lad and keen to improve but he needs a far more aggressive attitude as well as some building up. Done well on loan at Alloa but couldn't get a game with us in the Championship never mind the Premiership. He is fast and ok at reading a game but needs space to play in as he simply doesn't do the physical stuff. Maybe a wide role would suit him better but as he is so tall he is taken as a natural centre forward. But we need the money so he is yours.

Much prefer Gary Mac than Heaton if there is a drop in form from anyone else. Maybe Heaton will come good but we cannot use premiership games to give him the practice.

I thought he was very poor. Lost every physical challenge, didn't hold the ball up and cannot direct a header. Also hopeless at closing defences down as he stands off defenders far too much instead on getting on top of them (Flynn being a good example on Saturday). He had some nice touches but overall his contribution was not enough. Mullen at half the size gave the Dundee defence far more problems.

Heaton isn't going to improve by playing Reserve football and he ain't good enough for first team football so a loan makes sense.

Both Cooke and Heaton have never been full-time and have not played at a professional level. And their cameo appearances indicate that. For their sake they need to play regularly and neither appear anywhere near Premiership standard at the moment. Loans would suit the players and the club.

Paul McGinn had a great game against Dumbarton including supplying the crosses for two of our goals. I like Smith as an attacking full back however his crossing can invariably be overhit and defensively he is suspect. Both players would be great to have in the squad but I am happy with Paul if we only have one recognised right back.

Excellent debut. Only on for 60 mins but big lad with very direct running at defences and hard to get off the ball. Shooting was a bit wild but great to see him confident in getting a shot away when the opportunity arose.

No revisionism from me but bend it to whatever makes you happy.

Of course we are talking about 'first team' as that is what matters. You stated that Ross got rid of a 'load of players' virtually all of whom had no impact on winning the Championship except Stelios. Most were young lads and guys on the periphery like Irvine and Todd whose contribution was pretty much non existent. Ross did not dismantle last season's winning squad. And Stubbs told Reilly to go so that is 2 out the door with 3 more to go.

Reilly alleges he was about to sign when the contract was withdrawn by Stubbs. Ross had offered the contract and wanted Reilly to stay (and I believe he would have signed if Ross was there at the time). Nothing disingenuous in that. I have better things to do than argue about the merits of individuals I was just pointing out that Ross only told 1 player who was in the first team squad to leave. He did get rid of lots of young players and maybe a couple of fringe players and at least 3 players retired but out of those that made a decent contribution to winning the Championship he only told Stelios to go. That is the only point I am making.

BM quoted that Ross got rid of a lot of the Championship winning squad. The only point I am making is that Ross got rid of 1 player and Stubbs has got rid of (one way or another) 5 members of that squad. No need to widen the point out into other discussions. Stubbs has dismantled more than Ross. That's all.

4-5-1 . Not what we are used to (4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1). The wide men are not wingers and the lone striker is isolated. Sitting too deep and getting picked off in the last two games although looked not bad against Killie.

The only player in the first team squad that Ross got rid of was Stelios (1). Davis wanted to go back down South, Smith returned to Hearts, Morgan's loan ended and he offered Reilly a new contract. Stubbs has got rid of Hypo, told Reilly he wasn't wanted and told 3 other first team regulars to find new clubs (5). Stubbs has undoubtedly got rid of more of that winning squad than Ross did.

I think its a 180degree about face. Its the sensible fans that are worried and those not worried have not seen us play.

The problem for me last night was not an overall poor display but a lack of a skill set with some players. Some guys can have an off day but you can still see they can read a game, trap and pass and work hard even if it isn't always coming off. However last night some looked totally devoid of the quality required at this level. Maybe they were nervous or rusty but improvements better be meteoric however for a couple of them I doubt that it will be.

Some fans seem to forget that we got money from McAllister, Mallan, Morgan and Ross that is still sitting in the bank and that our owner has said player income would primarily be invested to create more income streams. The chances of us spending all the McGinn money on players is pretty well zero IMHO.

Lee Hodson is primarily a right-back but has played regularly several times as a left back. Reckon he is the full back cover that Stubbs is after.

I believe Kpekawa is here as a Centre Half. After the game he said he was lucky if he was 70% fit and very rusty as he hadn't played for months and we should expect to see a big improvement. EDIT TO ADD PART OF AN INTERVIEW AFTER THE GAME: "I think right now I'm only probably, I would say, 70% fit, maybe even less. When I'm fully fit I can be way more athletic than I showed today. "I'm a ball playing centre half, I want to play, I want to keep clean sheets as well. I just want to do well really and help the team as much as I can and push on in this league."