capt_oats

Oh….

Is the capitalisation of "Shocked" more #ITKbusta hints? #ITK

The wording of that is *really* fucking weird. It doesn't actually say we're interested it just says it rules out a potential move.

He was used as a #9 now and again at development level and we gave him a run there instead of Main at the end of the 18/19 season when it was clear Main was away and we were safe and he looked like what he was ie: an 18 year old laddie going up against experienced centre backs. The form that got him his move came from him playing off the right as a wide forward in a 433. He got a serious injury during his first training session at Hull and tbh it looks like his career has never really recovered. There were questions over his attitude at Hibs as well IIRC - Jack Ross basically called him out for not being fit enough: https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/james-scott-hibs-forward-opens-up-on-public-shaming-and-criticism-as-he-prepares-for-hull-return-3694039 If you take a look at Exeter's forum they're not exactly disappointed about the prospect of losing him. I get that he's the sort of signing that Robinson probably couldn't help himself with "he's a talented boy who's moved for big, big money..." etc but genuine question; do St Mirren actually need someone who's nominally a right winger?

So long Toby...

Tbf, I'm not anywhere near certain on that but I was sure there was a cap on the number of loans you could have from teams in the same division.

@Handsome_Devil suggested that may be in play the other week. Also, assuming that's Shaw away it leaves us literally with one fit striker. We've really cleared the decks in that area of the park and in keeping with the Cutthroat Ketts line given the loan window for Championship sides up here runs a bit longer would anyone definitively rule out us trying to offload Obika at some point if we're not able to rely on his fitness (which we're not)? Logically, even if Obika was to stick around with Wilko, Biereth and Shaw away (and us not having had to pay any of them off) that presumably frees up budget. Begs the question of how many we actually need to add though. 3 out 2 in? Seeing as Shaw being here probably wasn't planned until Wilkinson and Mika picked up their injuries?

Your radar is missing a 'Tam Aldred and Scott McDonald told us he was good' metric.

Obviously Shaw being injured with both Spencer and Biereth being recalled are out of our hands but once Little Oli Shaw heading back to Barnsley is announced that makes it 5 of our 8 summer signings that are out the building in January. Souaré (contract expired), Spencer (recalled), Wilkinson (sold), Biereth (recalled), Shaw (injured) Thelonius, Gent and wee Dave are the last men standing.

He can aye. As @rowsdower says didn't get on the park for Thistle. You can register for 3 clubs but can only play for 2. Tbh, and I don't say this with any snark, given how little football he's played since whatever that injury/issue was I wouldn't be surprised if he looked at other options. Was he not doing accountancy with the OU or something?

I was away to ask about whether there was anything to read into Toby not being on the bench at the weekend. Shaw being away pretty much gives us a clean slate up front like.

He mentioned 'building a squad' in his post-match on Saturday. Tbf, as @Swello says there's a disconnect between the quote used in the announce and the optics of a 6 month deal. Ngl I laughed when I read it as well. Having said that, I just took it to simply mean that we are utterly threadbare and he needs bodies in to give him some sort of a squad to choose from rather than it being any sort of nod to long term planning.

There's Callan...

I'd been having a nose about the Exeter forum off the back of the weird Theo Bair bit that was doing the rounds and shall we say, they're not very complimentary about oor Jimmy. They're definitely taking this news in their stride: https://www.exeweb.com/forums/threads/garys-january-transfer-window.64079/post-2279830 Tbh, I had wondered if he'd fit our profile - (ex-)player we know has/had a high ceiling, on the fringes at his current club, contract due to expire etc. If we were looking at a wide forward like Nouble then I guess he sort of fits that based on the way Robinson used him here. As an aside, along with him Exeter currently have the bold Zak Jules and Jack Aitchison on their books. It was Exeter who chucked us some change for Bad News Bowman and had Jake Taylor and Nicky Law playing in the same side. Just generally they have a wild number of players at the club who've played up here. Plus, Gary Caldwell's their manager. I'm generally sceptical about HITC 'news' but they're quoting us, St Mirren (of course), Dundee and Ross County as being interested. Hmmmmm.

Bring him home...

Just following this point up and it probably tracks. It seems like Elliot actually moved from 'The Nix' for a club in Greece - and he played precisely zero games. Signed a 3 year deal in 2020 but was back in Wellington in the next summer. The Greek club have since folded 'On September 19, 2022, Xanthi FC announced its withdrawal from the Super League 2 championship, putting an end to its presence in the professional categories, as it failed to address the financial and administrative problems it was facing.' Doesn't exactly sound like a great experience. Anyway, I see there's a bit of chat about him on a Wellington Phoenix forum: https://yellowfever.co.nz/categories/kiwi-players-overseas/topics/callan-elliot-xanthi-fc-greece/page/3?highlight=post_1430401

Yeah, that's definitely possible. I guess it just feels like having had the security of a long term deal on the table at the start of May last year but knocking it back is quite a while to go without kicking a baw.

Aye, I think that's why the suggestion from @MurrayWell that a couple of the players we're in for are RWBs kind of made sense. Mitigating risk and all that - it's not like we're running with a bloated squad either for that to be an issue. Ngl I quite liked the sound of big Paacho anaw. Reading between the lines it sounds like Elliot had maybe been overpromised by an agent about finding a club here so KB'd the contract offer he had on the table from Wellington - in saying that scrolling through the socials there seemed to be general surprise that he hadn't found a club yet.

A wee bit of digging on Callan Elliot and apparently he was Wellington Phoenix's u23 POTY (I'm guessing the equivalent of YPOTY). I'm not sure how much stock you'd put in this write up from 'Front Page Football'. It reads like a bit of a puff piece as going by this it makes him sound like the second coming of Roberto Carlos but it's maybe quite useful as a broad overview:

I think I clocked the same tweet but equally if Shaw is still injured then we could legitimately cancel the loan (as we did with Aarons and Moult last season) citing the injury as the reason rather than just wanting shot of him because he's mince. Which seems to be the rumour doing the rounds of what's happening. Obika being out with a hamstring issue...?

Someone had to post them I suppose.

Aye. I'd be surprised if we'd go for that. Our 'nominal' fees have generally in the 5 figure area. Trevor Carson is probably the best £10k we've ever spent. Although, having said that we did manage to cumulatively spend £500k on an assortment of players during Alexander's season in charge. However the approach from the board was very different at that point. Reading the article Burns posted it really just said that we were interested (not that we'd bid) and tbh that sounds about right. I can imagine we've had a conversation but having had a swatch at Exeter's forum (off the back of the weird chat about them being interested in Thelonius Bair) they seem to be in a position to chuck a bit of money and do a deal like that. As I say, I'd be surprised if, given the choice, Livi would be up for selling to us - a league rival - vs an EFL club