SetPieceSpecialist

Crawley man Jason Banton joins on loan for the rest of the season. Described by Crawley as a midfielder but described on Wikipedia as a winger/forward so seems versatile which is good. Only comment I've seen so far from Crawley fans was a person asking why they let him go as he's one of their better player which is positive. Hasn't got a great goal scoring record, though, but again I don't know what position he's been playing predominantly. Saw him described as unplayable when he's on form which would help in thought matches. Time will tell.

Anyone who made it to the match able to comment on Keown's debut?

Barton seems to be starting midfield. Doolan should cause problems off the bench.

Dundee at home, I believe.

At the end of the day he never seemed comfortable in the defence. Whether that's because he didn't play with the others enough or if he has just been on a huge bad patch of form, I don't know. My two standout memories of him at Thistle were him backing off his man for about ten steps allowing County to equalise late at Firhill and him criminally missing a chance at Celtic Park where he could have squared it or at least shot on target. Good luck to him, however. I don't understand how anyone could criticise his attitude. Always made the extra effort to applaud the fans after the game which I appreciated.

Talk of him being recalled and sent to Scotland. Oldham fans seem to want him gone which isn't a good sign. Apparently he just didn't seem to be arsed and that's the opposite of what we need but doubt Archie would bring him in if that was the case.

As I said in the match thread, we could see him starting vs ICT. Especially if Gordon is away. Who does everyone see as the person to step in for Osman? Barton moving forward? Edwards playing deeper? Maybe even Andrew McCarthy if Archie trusts him.

Club announce signing of Niall Keown on loan for remainder of the season.

3-3. Passing is looking much better so far in the second half.

Anyone heading up to watch the Development team in the youth cup today?

Good to see Dumbuya back on the Firhill pitch today. He doesn't seem to have lost any of his pace either, which is excellent and slightly frightening.

Who's linking us with Partington? Just curious as I couldn't find much.

Exactly. If we are going to bring in a striker it should be someone who at least puts pressure on our current forwards and as I mentioned before, a gritty, experienced centre-half could help us grind out the points. If we want to secure safety with some time to spare and avoid the late season scramble for points then we can't have any passengers.

Daily Record have quoted Archie as saying he's looking for a defender and an attacker this month which is to be expected. It also notes that we had a scout at an U21s match between Reading and Bournemouth earlier in the week. I doubt Archie's first choices would be youth players. In terms of a defender, there's no point in bringing in an 18 year old. Our defence has been calling out for an experienced head in my opinion. What do you guys reckon?

I'm fairly sure that Booth isn't suspended. I've heard that Dumbuya has a decent chance of being back by the end of the break but as mentioned above it could depend on how he does during the Spain trip and the Lokeren game. The team will probably be something close to this (barring yet to happen injuries): Cerny Gordon/Dumbuya Barton Lindsay Booth Welsh Edwards Amoo Erskine Lawless Doolan

I think it's harsh to judge him based in the small amount of minutes he's had. I think if he'd played with a partner then he could have shown his real form. Wish him well.

Does anyone know of any players linked with a move to the club in January? Haven't heard much yet.

I'm not sure how many of you have seen much of the Dev squad but for those of you who have, who do you see as good enough for the first team, now or in the future?

A few different sources say the Hendry fee was £250k so I think that's a fairly reliable number. Losing Lindsay in January would be a big blow but if the money is really good and he decides he wants to go then there's not much to be done. Based on the Barton signing, Archie knows how to smartly spend little bits of cash so hopefully we would be able to get a worthy replacement.

In the development squad the centre-halves are Syme and McMullin usually. McInally sometimes plays in centre-back but due to his size he's much better suited for his natural right-back position. McMullin has come on leaps and bounds over the past year or so but still seems panicked at times when on the ball. Syme isn't ready either. His decision making is sometimes poor but he's got some leadership qualities. He could benefit from a loan move in my opinion. I think we got around £250k for Hendry, which was ludicrous so maybe we could get more than we think for Lindsay. Depends how desperate the possible suitors are for a good young centre-half.

We should try our best to keep him until the end of the season and then I reckon we can get around £500k for him. It's good to see that the academy is starting to seriously benefit the club in the long and short term.

Does anyone know around how much we paid for Barton?

I'm pretty sure I spotted Dumbuya in training in the match preview video the club just put up on Facebook. Good to see him back and with some luck he could be ready by the time the winter break is over.

So what team do you reckon we should go with against Killie and in what formation? Presuming Lindsay can play.

Does anyone know when Dumbuya's last match was?