well fan for life Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Roberts is probably a decent option to have around. Woolery's hit a bit of form and looks very handy now. Justin's a complete unknown. Reckon midfield cover is probably the most pressing matter in January. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I don't really see too much movement in January. I'd be happy to keep Roberts until the season. We know what he's about, we know he can do a job if needed and his only other option is to sit in the Main Stand at Tynecastle until May. For midfield cover, maybe? With Tierney coming in, you'd have him, Slattery, Cornelius, Donnelly, Goss, O'Hara, Grimshaw & Maguire. I'd assume Crawford will be offski as he's miles away from the squad and quite frankly, not good enough. I think that's enough to get by with. Any three of Slattery, Cornelius, Donnelly, Goss I'd be happy with. You've then got O'Hara & Maguire in the can do a job category, and Grimshaw can cover a couple of positions on the pitch. Hopefully we can see Tierney being drip fed into the team over the next months in preparation for next season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie McSquackle Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 A few months ago I don't think any of us would have thought we'd have been looking at this transfer window more with a view to shipping players out than bringing them in but it looks as though that could well be the case. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 (edited) Aye, to be clear I'm totally fine with Roberts sticking around if he wants. I wasn't packing his bags for him or anything it's just his deal's up but since he appears to have pretty limited options then tbh it's difficult to see us getting a better fit than him during a January window. He knows what we're about, we know what he's about and there's probably not a massive drop off between him and Woolery - which is a nice position to be in. Tbh, with the squad as it is I don't really see much needing done other than a bit of nip and tuck here and there. If we've been tapping the Irish market I guess there are probably opportunities for permanent signings from there given their season's not long ended rather than the usual route of loan signings we've often seen in January windows. If I'm choosing I'd happily take a possible longer term wide option if big Justin doesn't work out and as I said in a post the other day I'd quite like another in the style of Goss as there's still a bit of a lack of creativity in our midfield options. Someone like Goss but in a similar profile to Tierney that could be drip fed into the team would do me (unless we have one already kicking about the u18s or whatever). Incidentally I see Mark Doyle referenced us in a recent interview and has signed for St Pats the other day: Quote Doyle, who has an agent working on his behalf, says it’s too soon to say where he’ll end up in the coming weeks and he insisted that staying with Drogheda for what would be an eighth season remains a possibility. “I’m not really sure what’s happening at the minute,” he said, speaking on Sunday afternoon. “I’ve had a couple of things, but nothing concrete, and I don’t know if there’s going to be interest or not (from other clubs). If anything happens it’s a bonus for me really, and if it doesn’t I won’t be too concerned. “I would rather not talk about Motherwell because I don’t know if there’s anything there for me and I’m not getting my hopes up, but being the Scottish Premiership I would have to consider it seriously. “But I’ve not committed to anything, so everyone is in the picture at the minute and (staying with) Drogheda is an option.” Link Edited December 20, 2021 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Really like the cut of these Irish fellas collective jib. Clearly they are aware that we are massive. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 20 hours ago, Desp said: I don't really see too much movement in January. I'd be happy to keep Roberts until the season. We know what he's about, we know he can do a job if needed and his only other option is to sit in the Main Stand at Tynecastle until May. For midfield cover, maybe? With Tierney coming in, you'd have him, Slattery, Cornelius, Donnelly, Goss, O'Hara, Grimshaw & Maguire. I'd assume Crawford will be offski as he's miles away from the squad and quite frankly, not good enough. I think that's enough to get by with. Any three of Slattery, Cornelius, Donnelly, Goss I'd be happy with. You've then got O'Hara & Maguire in the can do a job category, and Grimshaw can cover a couple of positions on the pitch. Hopefully we can see Tierney being drip fed into the team over the next months in preparation for next season. I think this is a good summary. I think our midfield is still the area that needs the most work (and it is also still full of pre-Alexander signings) - but it is hard to see what we can do without moving some players on and that might not be possible (or even desirable) in the Jan window. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Dougie Imrie is going to knock us out the cup 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 17 minutes ago, YassinMoutaouakil said: Dougie Imrie is going to knock us out the cup You've got a bad habit of typing out my worst fears for all to see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Swello said: I think this is a good summary. I think our midfield is still the area that needs the most work (and it is also still full of pre-Alexander signings) - but it is hard to see what we can do without moving some players on and that might not be possible (or even desirable) in the Jan window. I think the point about the pre-Alexander signings is a good one. There are similarities between the way Alexander seems to be moving towards us playing and what Robinson was about but there are nuanced differences in terms of what we seem to be after in a player and some feel like less obvious fits than others the more we seem to be finding our feet as a team. Alexander mentioned previously he'd had players chapping his door about (lack of) minutes, I guess it's a question of whether that's enough of an issue for them in January or if it's something that's more of a transition thing in a summer window. I suppose for that specific bracket of player it's a case of whether someone comes along and offers them guaranteed first team games rather than us packing their bags for them in January. Edited December 21, 2021 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 I am assuming that Motherwell haven’t stated any specific commitment around games where we are locked out this season. Otherwise that season ticket purchase will run into a third year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillips455 Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 It's a real pisser that we'll be (mostly) locked out again - I've been hugely enjoying being back at Fir Park this season - but there has been an inevitability about this for a few weeks now, I was just hoping we could scrape it until the winter break. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 I would assume they'll look at just bringing in the Winter Break immediately, following Wednesday's game? Do we have enough free midweeks in 2022 to fit in the three outstanding rounds of fixtures that are/were due to be played 26th Dec - 2nd Jan? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu92 Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 5 minutes ago, Desp said: I would assume they'll look at just bringing in the Winter Break immediately, following Wednesday's game? Do we have enough free midweeks in 2022 to fit in the three outstanding rounds of fixtures that are/were due to be played 26th Dec - 2nd Jan? Without doing any sort of checking I'd say so. Even if it meant 2 games per week for a sustained period, it'd surely be preferred by the vast majority of clubs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 It makes sense to try to use the fact that we've got a break coming up anyway - but the issue will probably be to do with European football, not domestic as that eats up most midweeks and I think in normal circumstances, you're not allowed to play on these nights (which a lot of shite anyway) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 I think you can play "re-arranged" games on European nights, so might be able to use that loophole. Alternatively, you might have daft kick-off times like 5:30pm to avoid the Champions League kick-offs, because as we all know, at St. Mirren v Dundee is a major threat to the viewing figures of PSG v Real Madrid... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Get on the phone to Livingston and get the game on Saturday evening after the Turkey 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welldaft Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Not sure how easy it would be to re-schedule 3 games but if anything happens I would expect them to play next two fixtures but not the New Years games as that would have detrimental impact on the Derby’s and resultant crowds / income. Meaning you would have to re-schedule only one fixture which would be doable. Financially it ought not to have to big an impact on us as our only home game would b v Livi and would expect an away crowd of a few hundred at most . The Morton tie falls after the 3 week shutdown so as long as there are signs we are on top of Omicron - fingers crossed crowds would be allowed to attend that and other cup games 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_MFC Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Get on the phone to Livingston and get the game on Saturday evening after the TurkeyThey do it in America, I’d absolutely be up for fitba on Christmas Day but can we get it done for a half 12 kick aff? Certainly afore the dinner, the stink of Christmas dinner farts in the east stand on a cold night would be unbearable. Besides, once the presents are done no one really does anything between 12-3, do they? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 16 minutes ago, MP_MFC said: They do it in America, I’d absolutely be up for fitba on Christmas Day but can we get it done for a half 12 kick aff? Certainly afore the dinner, the stink of Christmas dinner farts in the east stand on a cold night would be unbearable. Besides, once the presents are done no one really does anything between 12-3, do they? Agreed 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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