Ferguson

You'd think the Raith players were being sent for 90 minutes in the Gulag the way these threads go. With Wilson and Strapp out and Baird and Blues likely to join them we'll either see a rejuvenated team with a point to prove or a disjointed scramble as we've seen more often than not this season. Anyone's guess how this one will go, 3 points would be nice but I won't lose sleep if not. Thoughts go out to the Raith players in advance.

Yeah, alarm bells would be ringing if Dougie instead said he'd be happy to only ever manage a mid-table Championship team on a shoestring budget his whole career. He's more than capable of reaching a higher level than us and I'm sure he will, hopefully after his contract runs out in 2026. Won't be reading too much into the comments.

As much as I'd take him over McIntosh it still gives me the fear. With lower-Championship level strikers there's a Robert Thomson for every George Oakley, and with every forward option we have signed up still to prove themselves at this level it's a big risk. If we do bring in Bird we then need to start looking at adding some proven quality into the squad, but there's a long summer ahead for that.

I also thought he looked OK against us with Cove a few times, but given he's spent the last few years playing with part time teams on the east coast he's probably not going to be up for relocating and likely chucking his full time job.

Mullen McMillan Gallagher Holt McMann Sibbald Stanton Paton Vaughan Middleton Graham

He's been decent enough in spells, but there's also been times he's let us down such as the Ross County game where he cost us, and then the Inverness game at Cappielow sticks out where he just kept passing the ball out the pitch. Not reached the same levels he did last year, but definitely enough of a player in there to keep about.

Very inconsistent, Broadfoot has kept him on the bench when he's been fit. He's not been terrible but he's been poor for a lot of the season. Imagine we'll be looking to upgrade in the summer.

I think 1 of the 2 will, Oakley preferably and probably more likely as well. Muirhead's been here 5 years and he's still earcupping Morton fans after scoring, which is justified by some of the abuse he gets and I have no problem with it as long as he's producing results to back it up, but now that he'll probably have options elsewhere I can't see him putting up with it.

Our current squad size of 20/21 should be fine at this level but that can't include as many players as we currently have either staring at retirement, injury prone or unproven at this level. All 5 January recruits last season, arguably excluding Roy, were proven at this level or above and at decent stages in their careers, i.e. not breaking through or winding down, and they all replaced players who couldn't cut it in the Championship then. I'm fully aware that's a lot easier said than done, but we can't regress again this summer.

I think it's easy to criticise tactics etc. when things aren't going well but we're still approaching games the same way we did when we went on our longest ever unbeaten run this season, we've just not been very good at carrying it out since then. For me what's killed us has been the severe lack of January recruitment. Last January we replaced McGregor, Hynes, Lithgow and Kabia with Calvin Miller, George Oakley, Calum Waters, Ally Roy (lol) and a certain ginger imposter who shall not be named. On the whole a decent upgrade to the squad, and after the January window closed we picked up 27 points. This season our only January business was to loan out Logan O'Boy, and we've picked up 12 points since. Clearly we don't have room for rotation and we're playing guys with nothing in the tank. That's probably Imrie's biggest failure since arriving, had a squad of players who'd just made history and took us onto a 7 point cushion in the playoffs and wasn't able to supplement it with a bit of freshness to kick on. Aw well, onto next season.

Our fate for the season is more or less decided, 4 drab matches left with not much to gloat about and not much to moan about. Unremarkable 5th-7th place finish. Performances haven't been terrible nor have they been impressive. Just extremely meh.

I struggle to see Quitongo or McGrattan getting another Championship gig. At most, they'll spend a season in and out of a dilapidated Ayr/Queens Park team, making 24 appearances and scoring 3 goals, 2 of which come in a drab Tuesday night match at Cappielow in November.

Garrity is in the same position McGrattan was in this time last season. He's done well, made a positive impact on the team and has the chance to make the position his own going forward. Turning 22, he's not a boy anymore, but for me he has so much more ability than McGrattan. A joy to watch at times, both when running at defenders and from dead balls. If he can improve on the defensive side he'll play at a higher level no doubt.

It's a shame the club aren't keen on giving away fans the far end of the Cowshed anymore. I'm led to believe it's for security reasons as well as the financial impact that has, but you're just never going to get the same atmosphere without it. For the visit of clubs with smaller away supports such as Airdrie, Dunfermline etc. where it's always a quiet, dull affair it adds a bit of bite. Bring it back.

Now that we're more or less consigned to a dull mid-table finish (assuming we don't somehow tumble into 9th, which we're getting uncomfortably close to) it's approaching the time to start thinking to next season. Already signed up Mullen, Baird, Wilson, King, O'Boy, Bearne, Davies - No major gripes with any of these, decent spine to build from and some players with points to prove. Big year for King and Bearne. Must keep Strapp, Oakley, Crawford - All nearly impossible to replace in terms of quality in the player market we need to operate in. We'll do well to hold onto them. Should keep Muirhead, Garrity, Blues, O'Connor - All have played a big part at times this season, but have also shown they need quality around them before they can be effective. Probably harsh to not have Muirhead as a must keep as his goal return is very difficult to replace and we'd likely be down with Arbroath without him, but he has his obvious drawbacks and has had extended periods where he's offered very little. He should stay but we need better competition for his place next season when he's off the boil. 50/50 Waters, French, Power, McGrattan, Gillespie, Quitongo - Wouldn't have any big problems with any of these staying or leaving. Power a level above the rest, but I'm not sure he has another year in him. The rest have been OK, but they're not going to be starters in a team that fits this 3 year strategy to consolidate us as a top 16 team. If I had to pick one to get rid of it would be French, can do better. Release Broadfoot and McDonald - Goes without saying really. Both contributed at times this season but have also cost us a lot of points.