Rjc-1988

Skyline - i would contend that playing Jacobs (a right sided player) as a left centre back in a back 3 was in itself experimental. When you add in Conroy as a left wing back - a creativeplayer who doesnt really want to track back , Pickard a novice at this level in central midfield and the introduction of both Hutton and Heffernan at the same time we were going into unchartered territory. It is always easy to be wise after the event but i have to say that Livvy wanted that more bypressing high up the pitch and giving our defenders little time to build up play from the back. On the otherhand the isolated Heffernan gave the Livvy back four one of their easier games. IMHO it doesnt take much to disturb the balance of a team - for me Jacobs and Conroy were out of position and you add in two players lacking in match fitness - Hutton and Heff . Much as Russell and Dowie were very badly missed i dont think we needed to make such radical changes to accommodate their absence.

19 QOS 19 - while the Board are working miracles on the financial side there is absolutely no way that we can turn our noses up at the prospect of picking up 50% of a big Rangers match either at Palmerston or preferably Ibrox. The novelty of playing Rangers 4 times a year may have worn off for you but when they and Hibs have moved back to the Premier League clubs like us in our League will look back on these times and conclude that we have never had it so good. For me going to Ibrox in the play off match in front of a huge crowd on live TV ( and giving a good account of ourselves) is almost as good as it gets. This was as close to a Cup Final experience as we are ever going to get in all probability. It was noticeable that Livvy were much more competitive than Saturday - the importance of this tournament was not lost on them.

Fair point but the reality is that if you keep winning you will eventually meet Rangers and you dont need to do that much to getbinto latter stages of this competition.

In normal circumstances i wouldnt be too disappointed at a Challenge Cup exit but with Rangers in our region this was a much more important cup competition than the League Cup. If we had won another game or two we would have been in line for a money spinning tie with Rangers. The League Cup on the otherhand is a seeded Comp that favours the Premier League teams. Think it was an error of judgement to use an experimental line up last night - would have been better to do that against Morton in my view for the reasons stated above. Without Rangers i would have had no problem with the line up but Livvy showed a better attitude and wanted it more. We got what we deserved. Having seen both Hutton and Heffernan in action they will both need to play much better than that if they are to feature although I thought Brownlee did ok and could be a useful addition. Young Pickard can be excused given his inexperience but he looks pretty slow for a young boy so not sure what position he is going to compete for. Dowie a massive miss. The initial balance of he team was awful and it was only when Marshall came on that we showed anything. 4-2-3-1 formation was dire especially with Heffernan the focal point. Given all the changes the one player I felt sorry for was Jim Atkinson - surely he could have been given a start ? Hope he gets the nod v Morton as he is not doing his development any good sitting on the bench week after week. I think we will rue that result with The Ibrox legions jumping back on the success chasing bandwagon.

Thought the pitch was like concrete and when you add in a strong wind football was virtually impossible - massive leveller. That said i agree that Annan striker bullied our back 4 and seldom seen Higgy look so ragged. Despite an off dayplayers deserve great credit for going right to the final minute and overall thought we edged it. For me Millar did well along with Hilson and Lyle - Aiden Smith made a big difference when he came on as did Hooper. Not a day to judge new players too harshly but we do need a couple ofadditional quality signings.

Dickson not remotely in same class as Dobbie

If the reported sum for Holt is correct then it is very poor recompense to the selling club. As others have said I am a bit surprised that we didnt go all the way with this one and hold up the Telfer case as a precedent. No doubt the Board will have considered this and decided that such a course was unlikely to succeed. They may well be right in that assertion. it goes to prove that the only way that our youth policy can pay dividends is to offer longer term deals and hope that an English club steps in while the player is still contracted to us. Development fees are small beer and while it is better than nothing they are no game changers. Hamilton and Falkirk on the otherhand have offered longer term deals in the hope that an English club will come in and that strategy has paid rich dividends. That said our players have not been deemed good enough to play in England so my argument is dependent on us unearthing talent that is top notch.

Like others have said not disappointed to miss out on McHugh - hope we get Carrick and Oliver. Assuming that they prove to be young progressive players this will give us several options up front - we will have Lyle, Russell, Smith,Oliver, Carrick and Higgins as players who should be capable of playing in the final third. Next problem will be keeping them all happy as 6 is quite a lot and I would assume that the two Hearts lads in particular will be looking for regular action. That said it is always good to have alternatives in the forward areas - last year we were very reliant on Lyle and Reilly after Baird departed so if these players join us we should be well covered assuming that they are all good enough at this level.I suppose that remains to be seen.

I am not sure what the story is with McKenna - clearly if he is looking for a job outside football then not much to be done. Have to say that I would be disappointed to see him go to Dunfermline or any other full time team for that matter. For me he is exactly the type of player that we should be retaining - surprised if he chooses DAFC over us but perhaps he simply wasnt wanted.

This would be a quality signing if it materialises -,think we need another 3/4 of similar pedigree to have a realistic chance of top 4 finish

The above set up may not be far away from reality although I have to say that unfortunately for me lacks quality and depth in the forward/ creativity areas. Hopefully a few quality signings will make the difference. I am not concerned with the defence as if Higgy and Dowie play on a par with last season we should be solid once again.

Sincerely hope we have more than two new players coming in otherwise it could be a bumpy road ahead - if it is as suggested above 5 further players gives some re-assurance. Disappointed that the official site has made no comment on McKenna/Paton situation. In McKenna's case he has played a massive part in our recent successes over several years and has been a magnificent servant - if he is retiring as rumoured it would be better to acknowledge his contribution tangibly. I appreciate however that not being privy to the facts may mean that he club is still speaking to either or both players. If not then a statement would be appreciated.

Raith have made some decent signings on top of a nucleus of good players. Hope our signings are worth waiting for - hope we get Weddrburn. See he was also rumoured to be going to Starks.

I think for me to be optimistic i would need to see 3/4 really good imaginative signings - hopefully notthe type of player who jumps on and off the Championship roundabout at a succession of different teams Hope I am wrong but Conroy falls into that category for me. The arrival of Skelton may give us access to the North of England pot and one assumes that there are some decent young players in that camp. Difficulty is in making QOS an attractive option for a player living in Carlisle area but training at Cumbernauld. I would like to see us get more young players from Div 1 and 2 before the Premier vultures atart to descend. If you look at a club like Queens Park they have produced several great players but Dundee United seem to have that path sown up. Mc Kenna's departure a big blow because when fit he is really solid and consistent - not easy to replace. I am sure that James Fowler will know exactly what he needs but in this League if we sign badly a relegation battle is the ultimate penalty.

Although i fully expected us to lose all the players that are departing when you take stock of where the squad is at the moment we are probably on a par with Dumbarton, Alloa, Raith and Morton. Clearly the hope is that we should be seen as an attractive option for progressive Championship players but at the end of the day we now need to be ruthless and sign players from lower status clubs in exactly the same way tha the vultures have circled Palmerston. Dont get me wrong I dont begrudge any of the players their moves - for me Danny and Gavin have done best so far. Think McShane has made a mistake in his choice and Holty deserved a move to England League 1. Squad has been ravaged and we now face a massive rebuild - we need the likes of Smith and Hooper to push on and I hear that the young centre back is very promising. jake Pickard has appeared a few times from the bench but to date hasnt offered anything that suggests a big entrance this season but hopefully he is just waiting to take his chance. Some big signings required with some good young players required to balance the age profile. Will be interested to see what compensation we receive as we need to see a return for our youth investment.

Was rooting for Falkirk but what a wasted opportunity. They had to get to extra time and with a man advantage there would only have been one winner. Naivety on Falkirk's part they did not need to be so gung ho when at 1-1. Goal was one of the softest to concede. Very lucky today Caley - Falkirk showed again just how strong the Championship league is. Gutted for Falkirk but Caley continue to outperform their status so well done to Yogi and the players.

Thankfully we retained Higgy and Dowie - if they had looked elsewhere we would have been in big trouble. Cant understand why we didnt offer them both 2 year deals when we were happy to give Conroy and Baird a longer term deal??? IMHO we should be rewarding loyalty, consistency and commitment especially for players who form the absolute backbone of our team.

We definitely need to sign a couple of left sided players - not convinced about Conroy however. Dont think he has the pace for left wing back and dont see him as a better option than Russell for left midfield. May be an option at left back. If we have offered him a two year deal i dont understand why stalwart players like Dowie and Higgy only get one year deals. Not fair in my view given the level of consistency that they have delivered. Hope the rumours surrounding Wedderburn are true as I think he has the potential to progress in the game. Dont know enough about the keeper to comment.

Not that i want to see Rangers profiting at our expense but i would much rather see players like Danny go to a big club and earn some decent money rather than go to another minnow like Ross County or Dundee. Players like Danny that given so much to our club over several years deserve to start earning some decent money from the game - just a shame that we get the "centre of a doughnut" in return. If Danny is to step up however he really needs to find a way to start delivering in the final third and particularly developing a shooting technique that gets him 6/7 goals a season. Without these attributes I fear that his fantastic technical ablity and skill may not be enough to take him where he wants to go.

If we only got £25k for McShane we would have been as well holding him to his contract for another year.

Agree. I am sure James Fowler will have his own short list and he will known for some time that Messrs Reilly, Holt,McShane,Durnan etc will not be with us next year. That said it would be fantastic if we can keep Durnan - for me he is the second best prospect behind Holty. I cant believe that he will be short of offers. On the target front I like Agnew of dumbarton, the Jacobs brothers at Livvy, Pitman of Livvy, McCord is a decent shout and Brittain of County could be an option. I would aso have liked Gallagher but things dont look good for him after being found guilty of a bad assault. If Danny goes we will need a dribbler to balance the squad but hopefully Danny stays. I am sure we can get good quality in

Cant understand the negativity surrounding Ian McShane. Last season was one of the best in the Club's history (certainly recent history). The central midfield area is vitally important and Ian McShane must have played in 95% + of all games. We simply couldnt have achieved such a lofty position if this key area had been sub standard. McShane is a very talented player with a great engine and a great atititude. His biggest weakness is similar to Danny Carmichael - he doesnt score enough goals and his final ball could be better but he is one of he main reasons thatwe were able to control the midfield in so many games. Disappointed to see him go anywhere but losing him to Ross County is a blow .................. would have much preferred to see him go to England or one of Scotland's top sides. Unlike Hamilton and Livvy we seem to lose our progressive players to clubs that are marginally stronger than ourselves.

Make a massive difference if we can keep Durnan,Reilly and Danny or even 1/3.

Have to say that I find it surprising that McShane sees Ross County as a good directional move at this point in his career. He will earn more money but when you presumably factor in accommodation costs and the geographical challenges it cannot be a financial money spinner. Bad choice IMHO but he seems to be intent on going there. From our point of view - it is rare to get a transfer fee these days so so long as we screw as much out of Ross County as possible then not much that can be done. As others have said a considerable rebuilding job required if we lose McShane, McKenna, Durnan, Reilly, Danny in addition to Holty. Feel as though we should be signing more key payers on two year deals but these may well have been offered and refused. A busy summer ahead for James Fowler and it would be sensible to appoint Assistant with good contacts to lighten the recruitment burden.