wokinginashearerwonderland

The damning thing about this season is that the old firm and Hearts aside, the rest of the teams in this league have been honking yet we are still struggling to make the top 6. Failure to beat the crap teams in the league has a horrible resemblance to how we were back in the days of Ebbe and Alec Miller. I hope the signings of Polvara and Besuijen are not just Nigel Pepper and Andy Dow in disguise. We have 14 games left of the season. Get in Jack Ross now and let him get an early start on his preparations for next season. Blaming Cormack IMO is totally wrong. He has backed Glass to the hilt. Not only has he had free reign to bring in 14 new players, he has also managed to hold on to Ferguson and Ramsay when he could have taken the cash for them.

Very difficult for a team with any kind of aspiration of success to develop young players, as a manager you just do not get time. As we are seeing right now at the Dons, if you drop to 7th or 8th in the table the fans want you sacked so why would you jeopardise your job as a manager just to fill the team with a few youngsters? It's fine if you are Motherwell or St Mirren and nobody really cares whether you finish 10th in the league, there is no pressure. That's why it is very rare to see a young player coming through the youth set up at Celtic, Rangers, Man Utd, City etc. It only happened for Chelsea a couple of years ago due to their transfer ban which forced them into using their youngsters.

Ok, I’m not convinced Rico. Tell that to the guy who Gallagher battered with a baseball bat who had a bleeding brain and 20 odd staples to fix his head wounds. It’s like arguing whether paedos or murderers are worse, there’s no real point. Why it is ok for Gallagher to represent Scotland and the Dons but Goodwillie gets it in the neck over signing for Raith is beyond me. Both are total animals, just monsters.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course and what Goodwillie did was awful. For me, the issue this brings is how bad does the crime have to be before you are no longer allowed to do your job again? Is what Goodwillie did deemed to be worse than what Declan Gallagher did, which he spent three years inside for? Yet, Gallagher plays in our first team and has been capped for Scotland in recent months. Just playing devils advocate here but supposing he was a car mechanic, should he never be allowed to be a mechanic again? Gazza allegedly beat up his wife yet is widely acclaimed. Just for curiosity, I was searching for a Goodwillie thread on this site last night to gauge the feel for when he was our player and seems a number of our fans were quite happy to have him at the beginning so none of us should get too high and mighty over this one.

Undoubtedly fans bum up their own players a bit and make out they are better than what they are BigAl. Having said that, Ramsay and Ferguson are good prospects and we will get a decent wedge for each of them in time. It does come across like clubs hate buying and selling in January unless they really have to, either to avoid relegation or if they are pushing for the title. An awful lot of January deals are loans, with teams unwilling to commit to either buying or selling. I think we will see Fergie move on in the summer, hopefully Ramsay sticks around for a while. If he can get a few caps we might get a bit more for him. I do think we should have been more pro-active in replacing Hedges properly, not convinced this Dutch dude will be the answer.

Almost choked on my coffee when I read the BBC headline "is Ramsey on his way to Ibrox?"

I am going off the point a bit here but what the huns #1 did before in not paying their creditors and evading taxes was totally out of order but I don’t have a problem with what the huns #2 are doing just now. If someone wants to bankroll a club then good luck them. You wouldn’t have seen Blackburn, Man City, Chelsea and rest do anything if it wasn’t for that. We have had it with Milne, the Donald’s, Cormack and Crotty and I guess without that investment we might be £10m in debt. However clubs who sell their best players are inevitably worse off in the end.

I can see what you are saying boys but as a fan it's shit. When I watch my team I want to see the best players on the park, I couldn't really care less what the balance sheet looks like. Part of our Data Man's pitch to the fans about Glass was that he had helped Atlanta make millions when they sold one of their top players. That might be great if you are the chairman but fans want entertainment and the chance to compete. Replacing Ramsay with some second rate right back from Rotherham won't make it any better viewing for us just because Cormack has £5M more in his pocket. I would rather try to hold on to him until we have a gun at our head and really have to sell.

Not sure why you would want rid of our best player mate? After the last couple of years with no crowds, Glass would surely get very little of that fee to spend so the team would end up weaker. The longer we can keep a hold of the lad, the better. Unless you're on the board like?

Bet the geordies are pooping themselves at that news because Hodgson might just manage to keep Watford up.

"I am getting among the players and telling a few home truths because the past has not been good enough." Nice quote from big Dunc. Would love to have been at the Everton training ground these last few days

Fair point Rico. It was fine to see us actually compete with them and not be hanging on for a change. We look like a blunt knife going forward though, just not making goalies have to make saves too many times this season. Plenty of "attempts" if you like, which Dave will be noting in his data book but lacking the killer instinct.

Watched the whole thing last night and listened to the pundits on both Sky and BBC and have to say, I must have been watching a different game to them. I thought this was typical of our season so far. We conceded the first goal again which I think they said was the 15th time this season and apart from the penalty, McGregor was untroubled the whole evening. We could have played until Sunday and still not scored a goal, Ramirez was petty much unemployed. Yes, we dominated the ball in the second half, put in a good shift (which should surely be the minimum requirement in any game) but that is probably the poorest Rangers have played against us since they came back up. Having watched the penalty claim about a hundred times I still don't know if you can actually see McGregor making contact with Hedges. First time I saw it at full speed it looked like McGregor total cleaned him out but watching it back I'm not convinced at all. The penalty we did get was very debateable, can't see why anyone can claim that Morelos actually played the ball, the ball just hit him. but some you get, some you don't and we'll certainly take that one. The referee was terrible, how he felt the need to dish out so many cards in a game with hardly a tackle in it is mind blowing. The play acting from both sets of players last night was embarrassing. Guys going down all over the place after hardly being touched, don't know why this has crept into our game.

Yes, Sky were reporting it last night as having an obligation to buy him for £3.5M at the end of the season if we they avoid relegation.

About time Sean Dyche got a crack at one of these top jobs, he’d be a good fit there.

Adam Rooney James Wilson Sam Cosgrove As we are becoming a feeder club for Gary Neville do you think he would take Matty Kennedy?

I agree 17th has to be the goal sheepheid. Trouble is, you say next season they can get top players in if they stay up. In order to get top players there instead of Man City, Man U, Liverpool and the rest, they are gonna have to sign 11 wage thieves otherwise you just wouldn't go there above these top teams. It's a real dilemma for anyone with a bit of ambition to try and break into the top 5 or 6 in that league that you have to just pay stupid money to get anyone of a good standard into the club. It must be crap for team moral though, at the moment they will have a right back who is probably earning twice what anyone else is on.

Hedges is worth more to us for the rest of the season than getting whatever Blackburn are willing to pay to get him now rather than signing him on a Bosman. Would leave a gaping hole in our team for the remainder of the season if we were to sell him in January. Him leaving could be the difference between finishing 6th and potentially challenging for 3rd, if he stayed fit that is.

The signings look peculiar based on their dire predicament in the league. 19 games to go and all they can really hope for is to catch Watford because the other teams above them are 8 points in front. Why you would want to prioritise a right back in their situation is a bit strange, it's almost the area of the pitch where you could chuck anyone in. You would not think Trippier will change the team all that much. Wood looks a competent striker but I agree with you BigAl, if you had all the money in the world would Chris Wood really be high up on your list?

Funny you should say that. Just been reading up on this and apparently he had offers from Juventus, Valencia, Dortmund and Man City. Turns out he opted for the Dons due to his love for butteries, Irn Bru, shortbread and freezing temperatures. Seemingly likes a buttery cut in half with bacon in the middle

How long before we see Sam Cosgrove on loan at Rugby Park?

I guess a defeat to Cambridge was not part of the master plan

It’s about time one of our signings was successful, been a lot of duds taken in over the last couple of years (Ramirez apart). Here’s hoping this guy is the one which bucks the trend and we end up with a real player on our hands.

I think it is time for Lewis to move on. He has been absolutely immense for us and the best keeper we have had for a long time but he's just reached that point where his best years are behind him and for the last year or so just has not been good enough and thrown in too many bad mistakes for my liking. He may be settled up here but you have to be ruthless and our squad needs a real shake up in order to move forward. Lewis is symtomatic of what is wrong with the squad in general, too many players in a comfort zone, bimbling merrily along earning a decent wage but lacking hunger and desire to really push on. Clark looks a really good keeper, at 29 is at a decent age and is likely to be in contention to be the next Scotland keeper once Gordon and Marshall finally call it a day. Sign him up.