ShaggerG

Aye, we paid you for him though IIRC?

I wouldn't be too upset with Hippo going as he's turning into a bit of a luxury player who gives us maybe one good game in 5. It's looking difficult to get any sort of consistency out of him. If Hartley can't get to the root of Loy's problems and get him going again it may be better for both parties that he moves on. He's obviously not the committed guy that we had previously when his work rate was fantastic, in fact he used to piss me of at times because he was often charging about all over the place to get involved. Not so now. IMO though Austin would be worth keeping. To me he just looks a bit lost at the moment however I still think he looks the most dangerous of our forwards but definitely needs a good experienced partner playing beside him. Hopefully that can yet be Rory Loy.

Fair to say you're not happy then? Give it until the end of next season and you won't have to worry about it!

Should've used a question mark, not a full stop.

Aye, because that's what I said - not! I said I would be happy to have him back but that I don't think he's what we need just now. I think we need someone in the middle of the park that can take the game by the scruff of the neck and drive the team on, A bit like Kerr but with legs and a forward passing brain. There's a guy playing with Rotherham at the moment that would fit the bill but I don't think we can get him! Unfortunately we can't just sign Alston for nothing and it's obvious that we can afford very little at the moment so, IMO, we need to be looking at a different type of player, assuming of course that we have the funds to sign anyone at all. Alston for me also is the type of player that would be adversely affected by the malaise surrounding the team currently rather than the type that would help drag us out of it so we'd possibly end up with yet another player with a mysterious loss of form!

I'd be happy to see Alston back but I don't think he's what we need at the moment.

I think you've misunderstood; they're not blind, they're all fans of the Man Utd defender.

Who? Only one that we sold that I can think of who's come back up the road is Higginbotham. Taylor (who's since gone back down again) & Biabi on loan as well but can't think of anyone else. Who is my befuddled auld brain missing?

There's clearly no evidence therefore they need to go and find some from somewhere.

Luca will, of course, immediately become the best CH in the league!

Jumpin f**k!

So you presumably think that Gasparotto won't be able to play against us as his parent club? Do you happen to know if that's an automatic rule because, if not, I have every confidence in our BOD forgetting to put it in there?

Yea, I think we get it Shadwell! There's no doubt he's been disappointing but he's far from the only one. I think it's obvious that he's a decent footballer but he's got no heart and he looks feart of his own shadow. He had a very bad injury at one point I believe which has probably something to do with that. I think too that there's been a couple of games where he's looked like he's the only one that could provide any quality, albeit in short bursts. Sadly he appears to be a bit of a luxury player, which is not something that we need at the moment as we can't afford to be carrying any passengers so I think he may be one that PH will try to loan out at some point.

Aye, Hippolyte's the worst offender for that. At one point today we were moving forward and he had a teammate inside for an easy pass but decided to do a 360 degree turn in order to run into a defender instead!

I assumed he was injured as it seemed a daft decision. He should have kept Austin on too when he brought Loy on. Maybe not too apparent for those at the game but we had a great chance in the 1st half when Longridge was running through and he had Harris (I think) on his right in acres of space who would have had only the keeper to beat but, for some reason, decided to turn back into the defenders and lost the ball. Good chance that Harris wouldn't have scored of course but he should at least have been given the chance. I was really disappointed in Longridge today.

Really? I honestly didn't hear it.

I heard chants of 'Kevin O'Hara' and 'f**k the SFA' but didn't hear anything regarding Shiels. I am a bit deef right enough.

Well I hope your dad told you that he was a right winger then.

Hartley made a stupid fuckin mistake by taking Austin off. Both he an Loy need a partner up front, neither are suited to a loan striker's role and Austin was actually starting to get at the defence. It's even worse watching us on the telly than live as you tend to get caught up in things a wee bit when at the game. Hippo was fuckin abysmal, Longridge anonymous and, despite getting by his man a few times, Harris could barely clear the first man with his crosses. Dunne was also shite when he came on. Having said all of that I do think that we were unlucky with the goal as it was a ricochet that set bell up. I think Hartley will do well to keep us clear of the relegation play offs and I really fear for us next week as it would appear that we're going to have no defensive midfielders available at all!

Do you happen to know if the same player can then be loaned to the same club for a further 93 days? Should be a daft question because that would make a mockery of the 93 day limit in the 1st place but we are talking about the Scottish footballing authorities here!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Can type faster than me!

'Emergency loan' is a bit of a misnomer. There doesn't have to be an 'emergency' as such as any team can loan a player at any time. I'm a bit unsure of the length of the loan though, think it's maybe only for 3 months or so and I also think there's a limit on the number of players that can be loaned in this way. SD would be able to tell us.

I'm talking about McKee who, apparently, is denying the allegations. If he does, and is telling the truth, then there's nothing to report.

What, you don't think that's a possibility? Quelle surprise! It would be interesting to see the stats regards clubs reporting issues to the league. You may be aware that Dunfermline have done it more than once and not always about the same club.

So the ref didn't hear anything then? It's therefore their word against O'Hara's & McKee's and to O'Hara's credit that he's fessed up. That hopefully means that he understands the error of his ways and will try to suppress his anger if a similar situation arises again. I can't see how McKee can be banned though if he is going to refute the allegations given that nobody heard anything other than the Dunfermline players and management. His word against theirs. Also, exactly how long after the alleged remarks were made did Dunfermline report it? Could be a case of them concocting a story to get McKee banned given the obvious bad blood between him and Shiels during the match. They do, after all, have a history of running greeting to the authorities. Edited to say that, given O'Hara's contrition, I feel sure that Shiels will be beating a path to Hampden tomorrow to admit to exactly what he said to rile the boy in the 1st place!