Coventry Saint

Depends if we effectively replace the players that look like they're away...

The downside is that we're out of synch with the League of Ireland, and we tend to need to wit till Jan to sign players from there. Plus, as we found with McGrath, there's no way of knowing if they'll need a bit of time to settle in. I'm not saying that's the only possible market for players, and we certainly won't be the only team looking there, especially now. But in terms of finding replacements for these guys, that'd be where I would expect we're starting to look. Can't help but I feel I cursed this with my big talk about us running with two full/competitive XIs this season

I think it's all about the sell-on clauses for us now. We can make far more that way, if we're clever about it. It is, of course, a gamble, but there's probably not much else we can do. Jim has also suggested he's made personal promises to these lads about allowing them to go when the time's right.

I'm actually more shocked/offended by 100k for McCarthy than I am the 300 for McGrath.

Yeah, that's very fair.

I think people have reacted very angrily, very quickly. However, I also think people are damn near at the end of their tethers with basically fucking everything. I think we'd all imagined the Hearts game would be a glorious 90-minute hate-athon with a capacity crowd, but it looks like that's not happening. I guess it makes it worse that the authorities on this (English) side of the border have just decided to try the 'f**k it' approach. However, I find it hard to believe that the club isn't doing everything it can to get fans back in. I see little point in getting actually furious at SMFC over this.

Not gonna lie: I actually miss it a bit. Feels weird following a well-run club with a clear, consistent transfer strategy.

Yep, it's an absolute belter. Top six shirt if ever I saw one.

Morton doing well not to have been absolutely baffled by this monstrosity, apparently the last thing the players see before coming out.

I've not really been paying massive attention: have Thistle got anything about them at all? Any chance of an upset against us? As has been said, we are a different prospect to how we've been in previous pre-seasons, but Dumbarton's travails have given the group an odd look.

I guess having an extra option at LWB wouldn't go amiss, but people have pointed out Dunne's pace and maybe he could fill in at LB if Tanser was out. Based on line-ups so far it seems Henderson could be in with a shout at starting at RWB, which will be interesting - especially if it means one or both of Fraser and Tait are potentially missing out. You're right, though - hard to see where you could squeeze pace into that squad in any meaningful way (ie in a player that's actually worth having). I know the point was made - and debated - about the strength of our squad vs previous strong years, but I honestly can't remember us having this much solid depth right through all the replacements. Team 1 (3-5-2) : ------------------------- Alnwick --------------------------- ------------- Fraser - Shaughnessy - Dunne ----------- --Henderson ------ Power - Erhahon ------------ Tanser ------ -------------------------- McGrath -------------------------- ----------------------- Main - Brophy ------------------- Team 2 (4-3-1-2) : ----------------- Lyness -------------------- Flynn - McCarthy - Finlayson - Tait ----- Kiltie - MacPherson - Reid ------- ----------------- McAllister ------------------- ------------Dennis - Erwin-------------- If Team 2 was our first choice all season long, we'd be in trouble, but it's very far from disastrous and shows the depth we've got now.

Jim's comments about McAllister are interesting; they show (as I've been saying for a few weeks now...) how unlikely we are to be going in for any more wingers.

Yeah, I kinda got that impression. Can't blame him for wanting clarity and for wanting time to replace him.

I don't there's any doubt about that at all, tbh.

Kristian Dennis could yet be that man. I can picture him feeding off scraps in the box, either from knockdowns or poor clearances, etc. What worries me is that he appears, for now, to be third choice. You certainly don't pay Brophy 17k a week to sit on the bench. I'm near certain Jim will have seen the way you guys played last season and will be looking to replicate, but I agree, a lot of that was built on the strength of your wingbacks going forwards. There's nobody else quite like Rooney, for sure. As for people's concerns about teams 'figuring us out', I personally wouldn't worry too much about that - I scraped that post further up this page together without seeing us play this season. When you include the fact we've recruited 'known factors' at this level, the element of surprise has basically all gone anyway. I think we're going to set our stall out and see if opposing teams can contend with it. I think I'm ok with this, as long as there's a plan B.

Turns out that may well be the plan after all: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/in-your-area/renfrewshire/jim-goodwin-delighted-new-st-24564312

The shape of the RSE logo makes it really apparent that the distance between it and the Joma/club badges is different. Not much could be done about it (I reckon most strips are like this: as I said, it's the shape of the logo that highlights it), but it does look a bit jarring and I know designers who would have a heart attack at that. I actually quite like that home strip, FWIW. The stripes are pretty classy.

Missing out on income isn't the same as losing money.

The crowds

It's his running, poor lad. He simply doesn't look comfortable if he has to break above a jog. His movement in close spaces is fine - beating guys at close quarters when he doesn't need to sprint - but it'll hold him back. I do think he'd be a better 10 than he would out wide - for pretty much this exact reason - but I can't see many managers trusting him there.

Fair enough. If the McAllister who helped tear into Celtic at Parkhead showed up with any regularity we'd be onto a winner. He ran miles that day and laid on Durmus' goal quite wonderfully. It's hard not to feel a bit twitchy when a rival comes in for a peripheral player; there's always the danger they'll do what we did with Fraser and Tait, to name two. Of course, there's always the hope that it'll all just go a bit Lee Erwin.

Surely not. I mean, I like the lad. I've probably got more patience for him than most. But he's not good enough for Aberdeen and he'd be a fairly strange target for St Johnstone.

Such a tease

Fair play to him, if he's enjoyed his time there and will probably make a killing from it then go for it son. We were never going to get anywhere near his wages, tbf.

Pretty much what @ZingaliMan said. I think there'll be an improvement vs last season, but not a huge one. We'll be hard to beat and fairly direct. Lots of whipped balls in from wide. I think Main and Brophy have points to prove and we can but hope they form a decent partnership. At least Dennis is a decent option as backup, with the potential to start regularly if the others aren't firing.