ShaggerG

Don't think it'll be remotely near £700k TBH; maybe half that, although there would be add-on's that could take it closer to the original figure.

Cheers mate. Abel's double right enough (looking at that photo anyway.)

Nah, too auld. Gallagher's got a lot to learn but I reckon Elvis would get screwed for pace most games now.

The reason I was asking is that that looks like Gregor Abel at RB. I know he coached you in the late eighties but don't think he was a signed player. Wondered if it was maybe a pre season game or something?

Do you happen to know what game that was?

Not sure I agree with that!

Aye, that was he. He's only just turned 18 earlier this month though so it's maybe no real surprise that he's not quite ready. I don't think a lack of pace is his problem though (I would imagine that he's possibly one of the faster players in the squad) more poor anticipation and positioning which hopefully will come with time. Problem is, we've no-one else available to play LB and it concerns me that a promising young career could be badly affected before it's even started due to this.

Aye, I think, in a perfect world, every one of our players would come through the Academy and play for us for a few seasons before moving on so it's hard to take when we sell guys that we haven't really seen playing! Can you imagine the seethe though if somebody like Biabi left us after a few years to join Montrose for example for us then to find out that Swansea had earlier had a £150k bid rejected! I think Swansea have simply taken advantage of our earlier success with the Academy. They've obviously had someone scouting the young lads and have taken the best available at a cost that is really a drop in the ocean to them knowing that they will probably be able to sell them on at a profit if they don't become 1st team regulars. They'll make a profit of around £2.5m or so on Kingsley for example.

You're partly right so my post may have been poorly worded. He left us for, I believe, £175k to join Huddersfield in the EC. Since then his career has gone backward. Congratulations on being the 1st pars man to notice the dig though! TBH though, Higgy tended to run about beating players a lot without maybe providing an end product consistently enough. His best game for us was probably the SC semi against Celtic when he coaxed some of the young lads through, particularly Jay Fulton. I think that's probably what got him his move.

You can look at it both ways though. Who's to say that either Blair or biabi would have been any good at 1st team level? We may just have got decent dosh for two players that could’ve disappeared without trace. Biabi in particular I didn't feel was all that good and I was very surprised that we got a decent enough fee for him. There may also be some decent add on's with them too.

You assume a lot Shadwell. (Unless maybe you're ITK? ) The fact that the board, as Dunning says, have managed to get some of the fees that they have, sometimes for players who have no 1st team track record, is quite impressive IMO. You've no idea either just how hard they've bartered to get the fee, add-on's, etc. Yes we've missed out massively on add-on's for McGrandles, ironically due to a tackle by our, now, own player but the board can't be blamed for that. I'm sure also that we did get some cash as an add-on for Arfield although I don't recall what the circumstances or figures involved were. We also managed to get some decent cash for the likes of Taylor and Higginbotham, the latter of whom's career has nose dived since!

Absolute nonsense! Sometimes it's an elbow.

More as soft as shite I would say.

Yea, I don't disagree on him not being ready for the first team and ideally he would be coming on for short cameos to ease him in. I feel he's been hung out to dry as things stand and it could affect a very promising career as teams will surely continue to focus on attacking him. We need an experienced left back, an experienced CH, a new RB and, and, and...

Was actually meaning more from the point of view of the BOD wanting to cash in ASAP (whatever the fee) rather than any slight on the boy's ability. I think he could be a very good wing back with the right support.

When's he leaving then?

I believe that Clucas has already signed for Swansea and that Kinglsey is due a medical tomorrow. I don't think then that he would be the makeweight in any deal as, in the event that he failed the medical and Hull rejected him, Swansea would be £3m or so down would they not?

Houston has brought Shepherd on when he shouldn't have, on Saturday he should have put him on instead of Harris. Why he thought a lightweight like Harris would have given anything to the team when played up front on his own is anybody's guess!

You think O'Hara is more physical than Austin?

But good when he came on against Dumbarton but you choose not to mention this! You'll never hold your hands up either as he won't 'produce week in, week out, for 90 minutes' because no-one can.

Fitness of certain players aside, I think he'll play exactly the same team that started on Saturday other than Aero in for Luca. Presumably he'll bring Sibbs on at some point though?

Ok, so let's be clear then; you're writing him off and feel that playing Langton would be a better option? We're both entitled to our opinions, I don't happen to agree with you though but, sadly, there's going to be many more that do. If Dunfermline beat us on Saturday and, let's face it there's a very good chance that could happen, he'll be hung out to dry by a large portion of our support and could well end up being anonymous for the rest of his tenure. That would be a complete waste of a wage for someone that may just have done us a turn. The fact is the guy is a Falkirk player now and we're not going to be bringing in another one in that position so we need to get as much out of him as we can in the time that he's here.

That's not entirely true either. He, along with the rest of the team, performed very well in the group stages of the LC and did very well when he came on against Dumbarton. He was poor in the shitfests of St Mirren and Livingston but so were everybody else. Houston obviously thinks he can get the best out of him and has said as much, I just think that we all need to play our part in that.

Ok, let's just write him off and give him loads of abuse. Hopefully he'll start on Saturday so that we can get a full 90 minutes at it. That should help enormously! People are all different, some need a bit of coaxing, some need a kick up the arse. IMO Harris falls into the former and I happen to think that if we want to get the best out of him we need to treat him accordingly. I don't see any point in getting on his case as he'll disappear and do nothing therefore wasting a wage for the next 2? seasons.

Well that's just not true is it? He's beaten his man on several occasions already this season, including Saturday's game and with the right coaching, encouragement and support, I believe will do so regularly. The point I'm making is that, IMO, he needs to be handled in the correct manner to get the best out of him and I don't think that pillorying the guy will work in this instance. TBH your comments re Harris, to me, just smack of you wanting to prove that you were 'right all along'.