ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds

He also announced Ballantyne to us the day before the club announced it, but it had been talked about a lot on this forum for about a week before his twitter post. Could be wrong but I think that twitter user simply rifles through Pie and Bovril threads and posts what he sees on here. Moffat got a mention on this thread so he claims Airdrie are interested. I hope there’s something in it, but it seems like a cycle of sources where someone mentions it on here, so he posts it, and then we on here start saying there’s something in it because he’s posted it. He’s our source and we’re his. I really hope that’s not the case though.

Seen those rumours as well and believe it or not I had forgotten about them when I wrote that post, so I didn’t actually have anyone in particular in mind as the “exciting” forward that might play in a wider area I’d like to see come in, but he’d certainly fit the bill! The majority of our midfield backup options last season were young players we had on loan, and it’ll probably be the same again. I reckon we’ll sign up Agnew and Easton’s replacements on permanent deals and I don’t expect those signings to be inexperienced teenagers, but the midfield backup options probably will be. Good to keep in mind that we can sign loan players in September (McInroy was signed on the 30th of September with the season already well underway) and I’d expect us to add another loan player at that stage again, once the squad is settled and any weaknesses have been identified.

Looking at what we have so far… Rae’s in as first choice keeper and we have Hutton as a back up. We don’t really need a third keeper but we have had a third in the past so I wouldn’t rule it out, especially since Hutton is doubling as a goalie coach. Another keeper is definitely far from a priority however. We’ve got Fordyce as a starting centre back. Ballantyne should be our first choice right back and can also provide cover for left back. Watson played most of last season at right back and can give Ballantyne a bit of competition while also providing cover for centre back. McCabe is also cover for centre back but I’d imagine he’ll be building the team with a plan to play himself in midfield, but it’s something we can fall back on if necessary like last season. Definitely need at least a left back and a centre back. Midfield’s still very light. McCabe presumably will play the sitting role but I think we’ll still need another quality midfielder capable of that part of the game. Devenny I wouldn’t expect to be a starter but he could potentially end up having a season similar to Scott McGill’s last season, where he maybe isn’t part of our strongest 11 but still gets a lot of game time by covering different areas. Frizzell’s obviously going to be a starter and I think he could in some ways be Easton’s “replacement” if we start playing through him more in Easton’s absence, but I still think we should look to bring in a quality attacking/playmaking midfielder to replace Easton if possible. I’d say that’s two midfielders as a priority, who would effectively be Agnew and Easton’s replacements and we’ll need another one or two for cover as well We’ve got four forwards signed up which seems like a lot considering we only have 12 players at the moment, but when you break it down it’s still an area I think we need a player or two. If we carry on from last season as has been suggested by McCabe, we’ll probably be trying to play 433, so three forwards will be on the pitch at all times. Gal and Salim are central strikers, Gabby could be as well but will likely play out wide too. Smith clearly is at his best playing on the left and cutting inside and he should continue in that role. I’d say we’d still want to bring in a couple here, one wide player and one more central forward. I’d really like to see us bring in at least one forward that’s exciting and should be a nailed on starter. Rae Ballantyne (New CB) Fordyce (New LB) Frizzell McCabe (New CM) (New FWD) Gallagher Smith That’s my optimistic lineup that has 4 new players in the starting 11. That still leaves Hutton, Watson, Devenny, Salim, and McGill on the bench of the players we have signed up at the moment.

You’ve failed to acknowledge that the Airdrie are massive

Where has he played mostly? He started out at right back for us then shifted to centre mid. By the end of his time with us he was playing in a back three but he was never really a standout in any role. I liked him more than most did, but from what we seen of him in his two seasons with us there’s no way he’d have made our strongest 11 last season.

We’ve seen mentions of him and Oluwayemi so I’m fully expecting one of those two

Dycey 5 year deal

Keeper going to be announced tonight it would seem

We used a lot of trialists in those games if I remember right, including Matty McDonald, Luke Lyons and Gabby McGill who all signed and guys like Ally Taylor and Harris O’Connor who didn’t.

We only have 10 players and we pretty much need players in every position (apart from right back) so any would do, provided it’s a good player. I’d say forwards would be the lowest priority right now other than right back but we still need to bring one or two in so even that would be welcome.

Someone mentioned Mendy on twitter the other day and it was pointed out that he’s not currently in the UK and is on holiday with his family so while I have no idea if he’s a player we’re after or have had discussions with, he certainly wasn’t training with the squad today if that is true.

Going by the pictures from training Frizzell’s got the number 10 jersey and Salim’s got 7 this season. Everyone else’s training gear had the same number as last season although if 7’s went to Salim them McCabe will need a new number (staff training gear was initialed rather than numbered), so presumably he’s either got 4 or 8. Not that it’s that big a deal but with the lack of signing news this is all we’ve got for a bit of excitement for the new season.

Gal’s part time so hopefully he just wasn’t available for that training session and will be back in for a night time session

Was it not Josh Rae that was mentioned on here a while ago but signed for another club? I thought someone had mentioned him signing for an English team?

I seen the Spanish Armada having a chat with Alan Gow and Xi Jingping in the panorama video of the new pitch getting laid down

I said on here a couple of days ago I wasn’t really expecting any signings before today but I agree I would be worried if there weren’t any announcements today. There should be more than those we’ve already announced at training today surely. If not we might have an issue.

Walker’s a player I wanted to do well but I honestly wasn’t particularly keen on. I was never convinced by his actual footballing ability but he was somewhat redeemed by the fact he clearly tried his hardest and his effort could never be doubted. For someone that definitely looked a level below most of his teammates he actually made quite a lot of appearances, which I think is testament to how highly Murray thought of him and rated his work rate and attitude. Certainly not much of an attacking full back though, highlighted by a moment towards the end of last season where he knocked the ball past an opponent, beating him with his pace and someone behind me in the crowd exclaimed in total shock “Scott Walker beats a man!” It really was that rare an occurrence and usually he plays it very safe on the ball. He sometimes looked decent in games we were more dominant in so dropping down a level could be a good move for him. Definitely a player I hope does well and a player I think could do well in League Two.

Agreed but it seems inevitable with the way lowland league clubs are spending, as well as decent potential from highland league clubs too. Think the best thing would be to expand the lower leagues a bit, three 12s instead of 10s or something like that, to bring in some of these clubs and create a better cushion for the historical clubs like the rovers. Already seen East Stirling, Berwick, Brechin and now Cowdenbeath fall away. If anything it’s impressive that the Rovers have survived longer than all of those teams (well except East Stirling they were honking for years)

This is a complete guess but I think we’ll announce two or three players on Saturday when our pre-season preparation officially begins. Not expecting anything tonight or tomorrow.

Barjonas staying at Kelty

If he’s had serious injuries then it’s hard to know how well he’ll do or how far he’s fallen from the form of his early career. But if we got half the player Rangers had as they romped this league I think we’d be onto a tremendous signing. As you say though, plenty of folk out there that talk shite to make themselves sound well-informed and well-connected to a stranger.

Is this implying that other deals are basically done and just not announced? Because realistically the “player brought in” so far is Ballantyne and even though I’m very happy with his signature and the players we’ve kept from last season, it’s not really much of a squad yet from what’s been officially announced.

Training could just be eight boys (manager and assistant included) kicking shots into Davie Hutton

I think the best realistic shout I’ve seen on here so far is Jamie Barjonas. By all accounts done well last season with Kelty and was highly rated at Rangers as a young player. Seems like he would suit our style of play from last season too and could effectively replace Easton even if he’s not the exact same type of player (not many are). That’s the kind of signing that’d excite me.

Find it really odd that the club don’t tell us this. Same with Watson saying he signed his contract months ago but couldn’t talk about it until we announced it recently. I don’t really understand the benefit of keeping things secretive like that.