Durnford

Its a personal choice but by all accounts he has a pretty impressive property portfolio - unlike a lot of his peers he didn't invest it into pubs and nightclubs.

Actually Halkett isn't 23 until 29th May so you may be right at the moment

Pretty much nailed it to be honest. I don't think its a case of probably but certainly the lowest paid full time side in the league. A lot were really worried at the end of last season when we lost a number of key players including our leading goalscorer Buchannan who left to join Raith but fortunately, rather than break the payment structure, Hopkins when for players who, for whatever reason, weren't getting a chance to break through in their former/current club but still had the potential to deliver. If we can keep hold of most for next season (irrespective of what division that is) I'll be happy else I'm confident that Hopkins will find suitable replacements (provided he's still at the club that is). My concern at the moment is the lack of talent coming through our youth system; we have some good prospects up front and attacking midfield but nothing defence wise. I notice a number of other clubs have been reigning back their youth system which is a shame but just recently we've been more successful getting players from lower or non-league clubs who already have some form or history.

Why on earth would you ask that question particularly at this time of the season with the play-off's coming up?

Boyd was immature but nowhere near the level of shiteness of some that have come in on short term deals prior to Hopkins taking charge. Most only appeared in a few friendlies accompanied by a couple of appearances off the bench but one who got a reasonable run despite being consistently shite in my book was Michael McKenna. His ability to run up the wing and give the ball away at the end or pass it to the opposition so that they could counter attack really put Boyd into the shade. Least-ways Boyd showed some skill even if his footballing brain wasn't there yet (although at 20 years old you would have hoped it should have been).

Nice coverage - thanks

Wow - I was sure he came from Airdire; that makes it even worse.

Are you forgetting Sinclair and Watt ? Okay they haven't done anything (apart from putting on weight in Watt's case) bur Sinclair's become the best thing in an otherwise poor Brechin side.

As a matter of interest Penrice was excellent for us even though it is championship level, and chipped in with a goal and made a few yet he rarely seems to get any time with your guys. Must admit I'm surprised as he's a guy who really plays his heart out which I assume is what you need at the moment.

Judging by what Sevco did with Charlie Telfer I wouldn't count on it. Even though he wasn't being paid the suggestion is that they got wind of the fact that Dundee United were interested so offered him a contract which ensured that they would get a fee - set by a tribunal at £200k I believe.

That would be a cracking bit of business... and then I woke up

A nice lad; always had a lot of time for the fans. Generally plays as a forward although he can fill in as a makeshift central defender. Reasonably good at holding the ball up for other faster players; most of his goals for us have come from point blank and headers. Not particularly prolific but good for coming on as a substitute in my opinion. Seems to have struggled in the championship but was pretty good in the first division.

You'll get a lot of differing opinion here but for me he is a young lad with bags of potential. If he cuts out the show-boating and concentrates on taking on and beating defenders then he can be really good. His development has been hampered a bit by all the hype over him (much apparently generated by a family member) and he's had trials with Cardiff and Sunderland recently plus Sevco and Manchester United were reportedly looking at him at one stage. Generally I've thought he's looked at his best on the left side of an attacking midfield.

Myles Hippolite?

Looking at Callum Carson's feed it seems the real news is that Knox is still on trial with Sunderland and no offer has yet been made

As far as I know the most Sevco ever offered was around £50k. Hype or no hype if we'd been offered six figures I'd expect the board to have bitten hands off. Sell-on clauses are often only worth anything in the current length of contract hence if he only gets a one year offer and doesn't move during that time we wont get anything. Not sure where we would stand with regard to development fee though; that would probably go as well but its worth hoping.

So just to be clear you're saying Josh Mullin told you personally that he was leaving to accept an offer from another club which was going through imminently?

Tend to agree; with the arrival of Buchanan our defence is looking a lot better particularly able to handle some injuries and suspensions without necessarily requiring Todorov to fit in. Players may move on if the right offer comes in but there's little point in discussing the potential of every third rate has-been that comes on to the market. Brett and Barr being prime examples here. His failure to impress for the last ten minutes of the QoS game was more due to them defending in depth and cutting off any potential for any of his quick rushes up the wing rather than for any other reason; also in the past he's had excellent communication with Gallagher, who is usually able to pick him out and put the ball ahead of him. As such I'd suggest Gallagher's suspension also had an impact.

I wouldn't bet against it.

At the moment St Mirren appear to be looking at building a team to consolidate again into the SPL. On that basis I could absolutely believe them making a move for Halkett but not Mullin (and I do agree that on his day Mullin can be a excellent player).

Can't see any club willing to pay a fee for Josh to be honest; also sell on only works for the current length of the contract so if he signs on for another side for one year then its unlikely to be worth the ink its written on. Incidentally he played last week didnt he?

I thought both Jacobs and Gallagher should have swapped positions but evidently Hopkins wanted to use Gallagher's height in the centre to counter any route one high ball stuff. Also I got the feeling Jacobs was on the right to support Buchanan as it was his first game for us.

Unfortunately Barr has had a number of shots at the championship and failed to really impress on any of them in my opinion. With all due respect to Bobby; League 1 is his level now. If we were stuck in the position of going for an explayer I'd rather go for someone like Danny Denholm; least-ways you know what you're going to get. On Carrick I think it had become increasingly obvious over the last twelve months that he wasn't really an out-and-out striker. Cant really complain about his work rate or the fact that he played half a game with a hand broken in several places rather than be substituted but it is pretty obvioiud that he is an attacking midfield at best.

I do feel a central defender needs to be a priority; I'm not convinced we'll be able to keep them all past the winter window and anyway Halkett and Lithgow cant be too far from a ban anyway.

Hughes was their manager wasn't he - that says enough.