The Moonster

It's always been the problem for Lithgow - his past. Some fans won't ever let it go and Alan honestly isn't the nasty pervert some would have you believe. He did a very stupid, disgusting thing and he's paid the price for it ever since. I know we've offered him a deal but I don't know how long that will be on the table. He's held out for as long as possible each year in the hope of a full-time offer but it could work against him this year as I don't see Murray waiting about too long for him to make up his mind.

When Murray came in he improved (as did everyone) but Alan's been looking for full-time football since his Clyde days. He's a decent centre back but I think he gets caught out positionally some times. When he's on form though he's a good player at this level. If I'm honest, I think Andy Graham is a better centre half and I think Lithgow is replaceable should he leave.

Alan Lithgow to Morton rumours down our way. Heard this from a few people now.

Any strikers or centre halves you don't plan on using? If there anywhere near as good as McGinn send them our way.

McNiff will be on a lot more than Coleman or McKerracher, Adamson signed him as a first team player and it's obvious that the youth players are signed up to be used in the reserve league and give them some first team experience where possible. Of course McNiff could have improved but with the amount of players looking for clubs this summer and with our budget looking likely to be bigger than it ever has been due to reconstruction, I feel there will be better options available than McNiff.

It's not negativity though. Do you not feel we can attract better players than McNiff?

He has been fit for about a year in the sense that he doesn't have any injuries but he said himself it wouldn't have been fair on the team if he put himself in as he was nowhere near match sharp. If he gets a full pre-season under his belt he'll certainly do a job for us.

Why? McNiff would have been given a wage rise from his 2nd Divsion contract when we came up, why would he want that terminated to go and get a lower wage in the 2nd/3rd Division? I'd imagine McNiff will be looking to go out on loan if he's not needed and still get his full wage rather than taking a wage cut. It was a bit silly giving him a two year deal anyway, when he was completely untried at this level. I won't mind keeping him for back up, but I think it'd be crazy to have him first choice.

This is amazing. I want a fucking boat. Well played, sjc.

Helps out with coaching with us when he's available. Don't think he's ready to be playing again but he hasn't ruled out making a return at some point.

Agreed on McNiff, does anyone know if he was any good for Annan? Anyway, I think he'll be loaned out again. I'm not too bothered about a new goalkeeper, I know we need one at least for the bench but I'm quite happy with someone as back-up to Grindlay. I think if we can sort out what's in front of him then we'll be fine and sorting out what's in front of him doesn't just depend on getting another good centre half. As stated earlier, Gils and MacDougall will need to put in the shifts they were putting in last year but as we seen with MacDougall, it takes its toll. This is why I thought moving to a slightly more protective formation would help us (not dissimilar to Jordo's line up above). Having two sitting midfielders in Turner and another (Murray) allows Gilhaney, MacDougall and Agnew to get up in support of the striker and takes a bit of pressure off them covering the full backs.

Has he? Ah well, scratch that. Seems a bit odd though, we conceded 6 less goals than Airdrie last year and I don't think we'll get away with that this year.

I would agree with you but I think Murray is going to play a different formation this year. People thought we were playing 4-5-1 last year with Lister as the striker but in reality it was 4-4-2. I think we could see another deep lying midfielder come in to protect the back 4 along with Turner, so more of a 4-2-3-1. Of course this is just my opinion but I wouldn't be against it. Something needs to be done to stop us conceding so many goals. Lithgow seems to be doing his usual holding out for a full-time deal but I imagine Murray will have set a deadline for him to sign up before he starts looking elsewhere. In my opinion, we've already got our best centre half signed up so wouldn't be fussed if Lithgow went elsewhere.

I honestly do think he's good enough for the SPL and thought he would at least get a full-time club in this division. Don't care though, great signing for us. And who knows, he's contracted at us for a year so nothing to stop you coming back in for him in a years time if he does well.

Fantastic to have McGinn back, 2 goals and more assists in 14 games from right back shows that he can be dangerous going forward as well as being solid in the tackle. Is McKerracher a midfielder or striker? Still encouraging that these boys are comming through and Murray seems to rate Ally.

Pics or it didn't happen.

Out of all the names mentioned so far I would suggest that McGinn is the only one we'd actually be in for. It remains to be seen if Murray does have contacts, folk making up names on PnB does not constitute Murray having contacts.

I wish DFC wouldn't do this, how am I supposed to sleep tonight?

Think his parents live here.

Bannerman was a dick. Joe Coleman is signing a pro contract today. Absolutely delighted for him and I genuinely think he'll be a good player for us in a few years (if we can keep him). Only 17.

A couple of years back my brother was moving to New Zealand and my girlfriend asked "what part of Australia is that in?". Shortly after this I was talking to my brother about how his plans were going and he said "Aye pretty much sorted, just waiting for my visa to come through and I'll be ready to go", my girlfriend then exclaimed "why do you need a credit card to go to New Zealand?". She also does the movie thing - "Why's he doing that?". I don't fucking know, please shut up.

Stenny fans saying Devlin has signed for them. Hopefully he can get himself back on track with them. I hope we are trying to get McGinn. I'll be crying milky tears of joy if he signs up.

A full pre-season for Murray and he'll be good to go. Folk at the reserve game he played in said he was well short of match practice, he only played 45 minutes and didn't play again. He obviously knew he would never get himself fit for the run in and concentrated on managing the side. As for Lithgow, he's held off from signing for as long as possible every year in the hope he'll get a full-time deal. I'm sure (like every other year) Murray will have set a deadline for players to let him know their intentions so I'm sure we'll hear one way or another shortly. Wee Moore is seething in that article, absolutely gutted that the part-time diddies can offer better deals than him.

I don't see him playing causing too many problems. Murray has said that he has no problem leaving Jack Ross at the side to watch how the game progresses. In any case, Murray may be able to see things on the pitch that may not be so obvious standing at the sideline? Who knows, but it's not a big worry for me.