capt_oats Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Not to sound like I’m walking back here but fwiw I agree with Casagolda and thisGRAEME as well. I’ve always been of the opinion that Cadden’s best position is 100% as a box to box midfielder.He’s put in a great shift at wing-back but I’ve never really got the arguments that he’s a winger of any sort.I absolutely agree that there is more to him in terms of potential than what he’s shown from wing-back last season. The fact that he’s been asked to play through injuries a fair bit definitely hasn’t helped either.Even 6 months in the centre of the park would be interesting to see whether he has plateaued or not. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al B Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 13 hours ago, well fan for life said: If I meet Richard Tait at Primavera you can probably just bury me in Parc Del Forum because it’s never getting any better. He's our Pirlo or Beckham. #icon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 To expand the Cadden discussion and frame it in terms of "the strategy" here's the current breakdown of the squad for contracts to summer 2019 (and beyond): 2019: Liam Grimshaw Gael Bigirimana Chris Cadden Carl McHugh Elliot Frear Andy Rose Ross Maclean Craig Tanner David Turnbull Curtis Main Ryan Bowman George Newell Jake Hastie 2020: Trevor Carson Rohan Ferguson Richard Tait Peter Hartley Charles Dunne Cedric Kipré 2021: Alan Campbell I know James Scott and Shaun Bowers have signed the extensions they were offered but I don't think there's been any official clarification as to how long those deals were for. I'd like to think we'd be offering David Turnbull a Campbell-esque extension right now tbh. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 (edited) So O’Halloran’s a thing again lads... Quote “SunSport understands that Motherwell are leading the chase for Gers outcast O’Halloran. Motherwell have made O’Halloran a key target — if and when he’s allowed to leave Ibrox. He is expected to be one of the players deemed surplus to requirements. St Johnstone are also keen to bring the winger back to McDiarmid Park for a third spell but face serious competition from Stephen Robinson’s double cup runners-up. Well want him to add pace to their attack and believe he will complement Curtis Main and Ryan Bowman. O’Halloran, 27, signed a four-and-a-half year deal when Mark Warburton bought him for £500,000 in 2016 but he has struggled to make an impact. He was loaned back to Saints for the first half of last season but recalled in January. However he made just one sub appearance — a single minute against Hearts — under Graeme Murty. O’Halloran was recently criticised by Gers fans after being pictured sitting among Celtic fans at the Scottish Cup final. That means there is likely no way back for him at Ibrox and Robinson is waiting in the wings to take him to Fir Park.” Edited May 31, 2018 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Hot take but I don't see Cadden playing regularly at a higher level than the Scottish top flight/English L1/2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 Happy Cammy Bell day to one and all... #batteredthem #aclassabovethem 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welldaft Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 Those were good times....well the last 2 games of the season in any case. Strangely more of a high for me than last season even reaching the Cup Final. I see the rumour it is a straight fight between us and St Johnstone for MOH. Assuming he leaves Rangers. Firstly that would take Rangers giving him a decent pay off for remaining 2 years of his contract. Still not sure that will actually happen. Surely Gerrard would want to see him 1st hand. I suspect a loan more likely in which case he will no doubt opt for Perth as he did over us same time last season. As much as he has had an indifferent season I also would expect some clubs from down south to be interested. Still waiting for some signing news ? Flow hoped to get one or two over the line this week. Probably been gazumped again by a team in the Conference or league 2. Plus when is the £5m transfer for Carson going to materialise. Well £5m if he was playing in Championship. No doubt any bidding will start at £300k. I think a realistic value is £1m. It all comes down to whether there is more demand from several sources or not. Of all the players we have he will be the most difficult to replace like for like if it’s happens. I would love him to stay but he has behaved impeccably since we turned down the usual (insulting) offer from Celtic. He deserves a big money move. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 O'Halloran won't be loaned out again, they want him off the books. A rumour went about last week he'd rejected a pay off. If a fee needs paid we won't pay it, as our Chairman's utterly obsessed with having money stashed away in case of relegation (a truly self fulfilling prophecy, "don't spend money to help when relegated, only get relegated because you won't spend money"), so if Motherwell would be willing to stump up a six figure fee you'll get him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezz Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 O'Halloran won't be loaned out again, they want him off the books. A rumour went about last week he'd rejected a pay off. If a fee needs paid we won't pay it, as our Chairman's utterly obsessed with having money stashed away in case of relegation (a truly self fulfilling prophecy, "don't spend money to help when relegated, only get relegated because you won't spend money"), so if Motherwell would be willing to stump up a six figure fee you'll get him. That won’t be happening as I believe the most we’ve paid for a player in recent times was about £50k for Marvin Jonhson. We could perhaps pay a nominal fee with a chunky sell on to tempt Rangers into sending him our way. Surprised the likes of Hearts aren’t looking at MOH tbh. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welldaft Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said: O'Halloran won't be loaned out again, they want him off the books. A rumour went about last week he'd rejected a pay off. If a fee needs paid we won't pay it, as our Chairman's utterly obsessed with having money stashed away in case of relegation (a truly self fulfilling prophecy, "don't spend money to help when relegated, only get relegated because you won't spend money"), so if Motherwell would be willing to stump up a six figure fee you'll get him. I dare say after the season we have had income wise - 2 cup finals, 30% increase in attendances (due in part to 2 extra games v old firm than previous season) and £1m plus in transfer fees (although 60% goes to 2 former owners until combined £1 - £1.5m is paid back) - means we could pay a six figure sum. Chances are we won’t unless we felt we could sell him on for many multiples of that. Last year we paid the princely sum of £10,000 for Carson. What a bargain that was..... What age is MOH ? He may yet have a chance to move down south if he has a decent season or 2 in top flight in Scotland. He clearly has an affinity with you boys in any case as was proved last summer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al B Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 He's 27, I think he'd be a fantastic addition to our side. I have my fingers crossed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 44 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: O'Halloran won't be loaned out again, they want him off the books. A rumour went about last week he'd rejected a pay off. If a fee needs paid we won't pay it, as our Chairman's utterly obsessed with having money stashed away in case of relegation (a truly self fulfilling prophecy, "don't spend money to help when relegated, only get relegated because you won't spend money"), so if Motherwell would be willing to stump up a six figure fee you'll get him. There's no chance we will be paying a 6 figure fee for anyone. That should be clear to everyone. The fees we pay are low 5 figures: Carson was £10k, Moult and Johnson were £30k-£40k...Bowman and Frear were 'undisclosed' but would probably be a similar-ish ball-park to Carson. As welldaft says they're normally augmented by decent sell on fees which act as a kicker. In fairness, The Sun article makes it clear what our position is; "Motherwell have made O’Halloran a key target — if and when he’s allowed to leave Ibrox.". Essentially, our stance seems to be if he's cut loose we'll take him thanks very much. I'd imagine we'd be banking on their hubris and everything around the Stevie G Revolution meaning that they're just going to clear their decks and cut their losses. I've no idea who actually brokers the deals at Ibrox whether it's their DoF or MD but as is often pointed out by seething Rangers fans their managing director Stewart Robertson is a former Motherwell director and club secretary. If they're desperate to get shot of MOH then who knows, if it's Robertson who's negotiating he might be a bit more favourable dealing with us if it means they can get him off the books. It's obviously to be taken with a crate-load of salt in terms of the specifics but we were in for him in January on what could only have been a permanent deal (on account of the Ciftci loan) and his agent highlighting that we were "probably closest to signing him earlier in the season" as part of his defence of his client's poor choice of seating at the cup final makes you think that there must be encouragement coming from somewhere in terms of us signing him. We've been quoted as having had interest going back to McGhee's time as manager. Clearly he has a long-standing history with Saints and TW so who knows that may well end up being a draw for him. The ball really seems to be in his court in terms of what he's willing to accept and how he sees his next move. Having said all that, if we can make this happen along with the deal for Ciftci that was reported last week then, cards on the table, I'll be fucking delighted. Given some of the other names we've been spuriously linked with such as Kenny Miller, Gavin Reilly and Simon fucking Murray then going into the new season with Main, Ciftci, O'Halloran and Bowman as first team forwards would be absolutely smashing tbqh. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 As I say, rumour was he'd rejected the amount of money Rangers had offered him to end his contract, and he was happy to sit and take in the wage while they tried to sell him. No idea how much truth is in it, mind you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casagolda Posted May 31, 2018 Author Share Posted May 31, 2018 (edited) I’d be absolutely delighted with Ciftci and O’Halloran, however I’d imagine we’d struggle to afford either let alone both. I’ll stick my neck out and say despite all the talk of the likes of Ciftci and O’Halloran, I’ll still need to google our first couple of signings to find out who they are. For me personally, some quality up front and a proper left wing back are a priority. Would also like to see Bigi and Frear moved on if possible. Edited May 31, 2018 by Casagolda 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 (edited) 41 minutes ago, Casagolda said: I’d be absolutely delighted with Ciftci and O’Halloran, however I’d imagine we’d struggle to afford either let alone both. I’ll stick my neck out and say despite all the talk of the likes of Ciftci and O’Halloran, I’ll still need to google our first couple of signings to find out who they are. For me personally, some quality up front and a proper left wing back are a priority. Would also like to see Bigi and Frear moved on if possible. That feels like it's more likely to be the reality. Of the two I'd say Ciftci still seems the more probable given he's already been at the club and going back to that Vice interview he did he seemed to give impression that he was at the point where money wasn't really the motivator for him. Not only that but he's only got a year to go at Celtic, O'Halloran's looking at another 2 years at Ibrox. Strongly agree on what's needed as well. A natural left back/wing back seems obvious and it feels like there's still a reasonable amount of tweaking needing done in the central midfield area. Edited May 31, 2018 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casagolda Posted May 31, 2018 Author Share Posted May 31, 2018 12 minutes ago, capt_oats said: Strongly agree on what's needed as well. A natural left back/wing back seems obvious and it feels like there's still a reasonable amount of tweaking needing done in the central midfield area. I think we’re overstocked in midfield to be honest. You’ve got McHugh, Campbell, Rose, Grimshaw, Bigi and now Turnbull- 6 players vying for 3 positions. You’ve also got Tanner still to come back and Robinson saying he’s looking to add to the middle of the park. Hence why I’d try and shift Bigi on. He may be the most talented of the lot of them but it’s pretty obvious his face doesn’t fit. He’s probably one of our higher earners as well, plus I imagine there would be a number of teams happy to take him and he’d probably be happy to leave if he’s going to be nothing more than a squad player again next season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezz Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 Absolutely get where you’re coming from and it seems more and more likely that Bigi’s face just doesn’t fit but I’d really like to see him stay. As you say he is probably he best footballer of the lot and offers something completely different in midfield to Mchugh, Rose, Grimshaw and to a lesser extent Campbell who are all somewhat similar in that they are more adept at breaking up play, chasing and pressuring the opposition. No disrespect to these teams but when we come up against the likes of Livi, St Mirren and Accies next year I’d like to think we are confident enough in our footballing ability to outplay them in possession rather than just win the physical battle and pick up second balls - we still have that ability with the players mentioned above but it’d be nice to have a midfielder to dictate the tempo of the game from deep and play through the thirds of the pitch when the game allows. Bigi, Tanner and (hopefully) Ciftci next year would be like watching bloody Barcelona. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al B Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 (edited) How can anyone not like Bigi's wee face...it's the 2nd happiest face I've ever seen, behind Paul Lawson. Personally i'd want to play him...I agree that there are plenty games over the course of the season where we can sacrifice a bit of the "keeping it tight" style without too much of a detriment overall. I understand the headache of who you leave out though...it would need to be made clear to the players at the outset that different games have a different approach. Ciftci, Main and O'Halloran up front though, and any combo of Kipre/Dunne/Hartley/Aldred at the back, Carson in goal....we can just not bother with a midfield and save any selection headaches. Edited May 31, 2018 by Al B 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YassinMoutaouakil Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 58 minutes ago, Al B said: How can anyone not like Bigi's wee face...it's the 2nd happiest face I've ever seen, behind Paul Lawson. Personally i'd want to play him...I agree that there are plenty games over the course of the season where we can sacrifice a bit of the "keeping it tight" style without too much of a detriment overall. I understand the headache of who you leave out though...it would need to be made clear to the players at the outset that different games have a different approach. Ciftci, Main and O'Halloran up front though, and any combo of Kipre/Dunne/Hartley/Aldred at the back, Carson in goal....we can just not bother with a midfield and save any selection headaches. According to most of the rest of the league we already don't tbf. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 If they are all here and fit at the start of the season, I'd be more than chuffed with a midfield three of Bigi, Campbell and Cadden. A left wing-back and a striker to play alongside Main must the two priorities this summer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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