Sao Paulo

For a wet grass park, for a midweek scrap, to play Annan at their own game... Player and a half. Straight out of Mordor. Long past his best though. Would struggle in a midfield duo; needs a couple of dogs bodies around him, and he might even wind up stifling their creativity by fact of being unable to resist the urge to take the game by scruff. Or, in English: do it all himself. Decent versatility. Can get away with it as a centre-half. Probably best redeployed there to prolong his time in the senior game. Not as taxing a role.

I never know whether you're having a go or just writing words.

I don't think he's a donkey; he's actually a decent defender. Composed, reads play fairly well, and has decent experience. However, he's vulnerable to bigger forwards, ain't all that quick and wouldn't be a worthwhile upgrade on what we had.

Happy with the extension. However, I'll echo the above comments re needing to up the calibre at left-back and in the centre.

Mind he used to say something about Thistle? What was it again...

Wouldn't fancy either player, notwithstanding their apparent calibre.

Erh!? That'd be a downgrade on any one of ours.

Probably capable, aye. Will be a challenge for him though. Still a young player without all that many games behind him in a fixed position. Very athletic, reads play well, quite quick across the ground. Would be vulnerable to a taller centre-forward. He's really a sweeper. Think he's a big potential player and, if you stick him beside a stable, experienced 'always wins his headers' type, you'll have a great combo.

Whispers out of Kilsyth this evening that the stone has been found rolled away...

He was like a butterfly going down the wing, so he was.

Announce Imrie.

He was their right back and we have two. Hooper wouldn't have been a considerable upgrade - not on Cuddihy as an attacking force and only arguably so on Duffie as a defensive force by reason of being a bit more mobile. He's actually a bit of a Cuddihy-Duffie fusion, and quite versaitle player. Saying all that, he's quite a sturdy defender and Peterhead have definitely signed a good player. On the flipside, we've seen Syvertsen, Banks and Goodwillie leave him for dead in the recent past, so who's worried?

Aye, sounds like we've got a solid player. Versatility will be extremely handy, too. I expect he'd be a decent league 1 player in all those positions, and a good one in some.

Played under Moore at Morton, as I remember. Don't think he'll be the last Moore/Lennon ringer that comes in.

Buzzing about Grant. More I think about Lyon being retained ahead of Boyle, the more stupid I think that was though.

Wallace is a wide player so I wouldn't make that presumption.

That's an extremely harsh analysis, that. Worth remembering about the games he's started in how good a team we put out - who was missing, who was played out of position etc. Also, where was he played versus what his best position is. He's never really been a lone or virtually lone forward before coming to Clyde, to my knowledge. Nor will he have played with only a single forward ahead of him that much. His decisions in possession are excellent and I'd make nothing at all about his "head-down style"; to see you write that, you'd think he was as feckless in possession as Phil Johnston. Look at the pass he sprayed out to Banks in the play-off final with his eyes on the floor. Nobody, Goodie, Rankin and Grant included, does the right thing more often with the ball when the chips are down and we're looking to score a goal. He's exactly what Lennon's looking for: someone with huge experience at the relevant level, with an excellent record of assisting and scoring goals. Worth remembering, for comparison, his brother Robert who played with Stenny; a player I really liked. I actually think Ally's more versatile because he's stronger and a little bigger. But both had a knack for finding space, being in the right place and picking a smart - sometimes blind - pass. 10 goals and 2 assists from 18 starts - and 14 sub' apps - is a perfectly good record, all things weighed. To have someone like him around as a sub' or otherwise is more than fine by me.

Nicoll's release was predictable. Would've been a rainy midweek on a grass pitch player; maybe a stand-in centre-half at times. Goes with the best. Been a servant. Love's new deal is pleasing. Consistently does the business at this level. Experienced, talismanic player. As for Ross Lyon. No clue there. File him under the Kipre heading, subtitled: signings by Danny that we tolerate, all things considered.

Didn't play a lot of football in his early career, starting to peak now IMO. Had a good season with Annan. Tall, strong player. Good for knock-downs from goal-kicks and the likes. Should add a physical dimension to our midfield - and it'll need that to compete effectively in League 1.

Makes sense.

Aye: all true. Didn't get PoTY (Cuddihy did), but that was a very close run thing this year, could've been one of about ten players. He's lived in Cumbernauld for a wee while now and, like everyone says, he is a locally visible fitness buff. Because of his ability, he'll hang on for another few years I reckon; if he wants, anyway. He could be redeployed as a decent full-back or wide-midfielder if it gets too much for him in the middle. Destined for a coaching role, IMO. Perhaps management later on too. Has a one-year extension with us, like Jack said.

This. It might be one of the most tragic posts I've ever read. More so because I can't think of any time I've came on and slagged Clyde. I wanted Annan to win because there was a distinct possibility we were going down. I think any sane person would rather play a team 15 minutes away than an hour and a half away. That's true, you're not a known Clyde baiter. While I've got you...! Just to taper-off a conversation we had pre-season... John Rankin worked out superbly for us. We redeployed him about, say, a third of the way into the season as a midfielder purposed to spearhead and join-up attacks. In that capacity he was our joint-top assist-maker (15) and bagged eight goals, too. He had been something of a passenger before that, when deployed essentially as a sitting player; probably reminiscent of his last season at QoS. We had a better player for that 'behind the play' role (Grant), who ultimately made it his own with Rankin out the way.

No real recollection of him. Decent experience. Quite a lot of shut-outs for Stranraer in one particular season. See what he's like I suppose.

Happy enough. Duffie and Fitzpatrick isn't exactly riveting news but the former is a decent enough player and the latter is, ahem, versatile.

Theresa May's resigned as well. What a day... What a night...