José Mourinho

Hawl you! Don't be casting doubt on Barry's reinvention of the side.

Typical pre-season fare; wouldn't read much into it. Still reckon we're a forward and a midfielder away from a serious title challenge. Judgement reserved on Oliver as a sweeper every week.

Oh, please. Who's writing off the season? I qualified my comment quite a bit ("with a team like that"; "unless the [new] forward [...] is a class apart"). If anyone read into my post that I took a view based on the result then they were mistaken. I looked to the available squad and the team fielded. The result is meaningless, I think we're all agreed. But I'd better try and find a half-way-house here, seeing as I'm already a negative and hilarious roaster-weapon. Put it this way. Who fancies we'll win the league with Gormley and Higgins up front and without something like a direct replacement for McGovern? If anyone does fancy it, well, I like a wager!

Fat chance of winning the league with a team like that. Unless the new forward alluded to above is a class apart, we'll be looking at a mid-table finish.

Thought this had been circulated already. As a loyal Evening Times reader (ha!), I got wind of McLaughlin's departure on Monday. I share in the sentiment expressed above to the extent that I agree we've lost a servant. Looking at it soberly though, he was on the decline. He has picked his time well.

Not names that everyone will be familiar with, including me. The former is a lanky lad, most recently with Glasgow Perthshire Juniors. The latter is with Finnieston Park, an amateur outfit. Google yields a description of him as "strong and fast". All very agreeable.

There are some smashing players on those lists. Many of whom are out of our league, of course. Zaine Francis Angol! He won't be short of offers. Few centre backs on there we could ask to training and see how they do: Zubaidi, Moyes, Jack Cook. The name Jake Hutchings rings a bell. Wasn't he going to be the next big thing with Hearts? Ryan Donnelly's on there too. He was a braw player in his Airdrie days. I'd give him a deal before Peaso. Another forward, Lewis Small, is supposed to have a bit of pace. Played a game for Stenny this season. Wonder what their fans made of him. Craig Comrie, who was with Stirling last season, was a busy midfielder, albeit a bit wee. And there's a boy Craig McCall looks like he could do us a turn in the centre of the park.

I think MacDonald would be a bold gamble. He has spent a lot of time off the tools lately and has had no less than nine knee operations, the latest of which was in the winter just past. A doctor recommended his retirement when he was twenty-nine and, since then, an idiopathic foot condition has also kept him from playing. None of that bodes well. Consider also that with Clyde he'd be playing on astroturf more often than not. Astroturf, of course, being infamously bad for players with injury backgrounds like his. If, against the odds, he stayed fit and mobile, his signature would obviously be a coup. For Clyde or East Kilbride, whose interest pre-dates ours, according to the same paper.

Our boardroom - or "talent pool" as a recent European Commission memorandum described it - has been the haunt of some utterly risible characters, hasn't it?

It's difficult to get exited about the prospect of Michael Oliver's return, particularly given the quality of the other players we've signed. That said, if his debilitating injury has subsided, perhaps we'll see a better player. But short and slightly built centre backs aren't out there in number for good reason. Colin Marshall is a name I haven't heard in a while. Stuck him in Google, there. He's been plying his trade in Vanuatu! And apparently he has a YouTube channel devoted to himself. Funny. You might think he was a world-beater to see some of the footage from his time in Japan. Reminds me very much of Billy Gibson at St Pat's. Came back over here and couldn't get near the ball as a midfielder.

Goodwin would've been a strange one. Dropping two leagues to play as a centre back. Might've been just the man for our midfield. Probably still a bit good for us.

I hope Edinburgh City establish themselves in senior football. For selfish reasons: I fancy a couple of days out in Edina. And for less selfish reasons: I watched a couple of Edinburgh's matches this year and was quite impressed; like Annan before them, I reckon they'll make things more competitive before long. Welcome to the basement, Tam and company.

It's very disappointing to lose the big man. Reading the rumours on here, I was hoping for Gemmell, Goodwin and another new centre-half through the middle. I would've thought us title favourites then. I suppose it's no sin to buy the trimmings before the Turkey. Get the centre-half. Get the bustling centre-mid. Make a decision on what Gormley's job will be, then bring in a goal-scorer or a forward to hold it up properly. We'd go into the season well prepared at that.

[insert stock introduction here]. [something about the Manchester United job]. [Pastiche Mourinho remarks]. I use the forum on clydefc.co.uk which is reserved for owners, as the club knows them. I've signed up here because that one has always been a bit stale. I'm a long-time reader.