RicoS321

Yep. Sadly the only route is either through the loan system, which worked for us with McRorie, but not with the equivalent Tims, or snapping them up after they've gone down South for a bit and failed. Johnston has already had a loan move to the Portuguese top league, so I expect he'll have multiple options if he's willing to travel.

Yep, same team as last time. Should be an 0-8 win.

I think he'll be above our budget. Scales would be a good comparison. We weren't willing to get close to what the Tims valued him at. Our board seem more keen to spend money on unknowns like Gueye for some reason. I guess that they think the return will be greater. The Scales and Christie scenarios show that the Tims aren't really amenable to a deal either, which is their prerogative, and will force us to pay over the odds. I also suspect that the Hernandez move was a massive mistake that the board maybe learned from. He was way out of our existing price structure (frees and small fees), and I don't think we've come close since despite paying some decent amounts. Edit: also Hernandez and Richardson would very much have got the fans excited if they had been good at actual football. I remember huge excitement around Hernandez until the minute he walked onto the pitch. Duk has got everyone excited too. I think Johnston would too, you're right.

The Tims will be wanting close to seven figures for Johnston. He's contracted until 2026. Undoubtedly a good player, but the only way he'll be coming here is on loan. Hopefully the previous burnings of Christie and Scales will put us off this.

Absolutely. I would expect, and agree with, the five coming out for the Tims. Personnel wise it's not too different, but you'd probably choose one of Barron or Clarkson in order for the same success we saw in some European games. It shouldn't be a five though, it should be more like a three, that's where we saw benefit when it worked, when McKenzie and Devlin played a bit higher and there were two sitting midfielders to cover them sideways. A 3-4-2-1 basically. You could fit Clarkson higher up and Barron sitting, but I think that Polvara suits the high up role as part of a two better. Either way, the key in my opinion is to have the two sitting at all times (unless chasing a game). That brings out the best in our midfielders and allows the most combinations of personnel. Of course that might slightly change if Barron goes, but I still think the personnel that remain suit the two sitting better.

Probably time to review the season's signings again though. Doohan - not let in a single goal. Success Jensen - solid enough signing, a bit underwhelming in all areas. Not nearly as good as Scales or Considine. Jury's out Rubezic - aggressive and has some good qualities. Will be interesting to see if the mistakes can be ironed out with age. Jury's out. Gartenmann - some great games. Suffers when setup is shite. Success Williams - is that his name? Fail Dadia - fail Devlin - success (as he was always going to be, known entity) McGrath - success (when played correctly, as expected) Sokler - He has some fantastic attributes such as pace and movement. Dives around too much and is a bit weak, but those are areas that can be easily improved. Jury's out (probably success) Gueye - fire into the moon - fail Is that everyone? Not including the signings from last season of course. If so, about a third success rate. Maybe 40% if we include Sokler as a success. About the same success rate as McInnes was getting that he was regularly (correctly) chastised for. It does seem this recruitment thing isn't as easy as folk make out.

I don't think we need to fill the Ramadani hole, and a large part of me hopes that we don't. The Ramadani hole is completely of Robson's own making. You simply change setup, as he has maybe now done, and the hole vanishes. Another Ramadani in means reverting to the failed formation and hoping that the new recruit actually is another Ramadani and not another Gueye, Morris etc, etc. I'd look for width. Other than that, risk sticking with what we've got until summer, unless we lose a player.

No chance I'm making it beyond 21. Not with my lifestyle.

Nah. Harvey played a couple of games (sub) under Glass, and maybe one sub under Goodwin in the league cup. Bavidge had already moved ahead of him at that point. Didn't really excite in his brief appearances in the way some young players do, looked a little slow and obviously not physically up to it at that point. That said, Bavidge is also a long way from ready too, but he did score in Aberdeen at the weekend at least.

Aye, 83, that's nae age.

That's a sneaky use of links not being able to show decimals.

He's very good when the midfield in front does it's job. As part of a back five, he should have licence to get forward and have the expectation that someone will cover in behind, either in the shape of Devlin, or one of the midfielders, or Rubezic stepping across if numbers permit. In the games where we've been set up like a serious football team, rather than some weird Robson conceptual project, he's generally held his position well and dominated his opponent.

You're not supposed to track your marker, they're supposed to track you.

I had thought of him, but for some reason I thought Shingles was captain at that point. Edit: and Whyte? Surely one of those two were ahead of Cuntbarry?

He's definitely the best of the three defenders we've bought. He's had a poor run along with the rest of the team, but seemed to be more himself in the last game. He's very good in one-on-one situations and reads the game well, as well as being reasonably aggressive. At 26, he's approaching peak age for a defender, so having him around for another few years would be a perfect stabilising influence. Could even be a future captain perhaps. Have we had a foreign speaking captain before? Snelders or Kjaer, were they captains? I'm thinking actual captains, rather than someone who might have just taken the armband for a game or two.

1-0 to Queen's Park in the biggest televised game of the evening.

Think both Tims are well out of our range. Pretty certain the Tims are wanting to keep Vata, but clubs in the EPL are trying to get him. Lowe would be a great signing, but I'm guessing that he'll be miles out of our reach, given he's still getting minutes in the EPL.

Neither? There's a Scottish game on BBC Scotland. Infinitely better than any English pish, and TNT can ram itself in the bumhole.

Decent rugby player too.

I misread that and thought you were suggesting he play at fullback! You're right, he can't be relied on to be a wing back, and a 4-2-3-1 is definitely his best formation. He played number ten in one of Glass' teams from memory and he did okay. He's definitely got talent, I just think it's in the same way Cammy Smith did, at a level below. Between him and Morris, to be honest I don't care, and if one has a bad attitude and the other doesn't, then that probably sways it. I think it was as long ago as the Atlanta trip that Besuijen was frozen out, so I think it even precedes Robson. He was shiter than Matty Kennedy in my opinion anyway.

I don't think either are particularly good. Besuijen reminds me of Jeffrey De Visscher. Technically good and composed, but easy to brush off the ball, and lacking in any pace to get away from a player. He's a level below what we're looking for too.

Morris' biggest issue is his cowardliness (I don't mean it in a bad way, just can't think of a better description). He doesn't do the driving runs to the byline that Hayes used to do. He kicks the ball, hesitates, then does his run. He doesn't show for the ball, and he doesn't make runs that will lead to him getting the ball in dangerous areas. He doesn't have the skill of a Niall McGinn, where he can leave a guy on his arse either, so if he's not got the beating of a defender for pace, he's basically fucked. He's also not got a huge potential beyond what he's already shown. The attributes that he's missing - skill and strength - aren't likely to take him to the next level. He's currently a poor man's Matty Kennedy, and his ceiling is probably Matty Kennedy. Matty Kennedy wasn't terrible though, just that we should be looking for better. I'd rather we gave any Morris minutes to Duncan. Duncan has physical attributes that could probably give him a higher ceiling and is still young enough that his confidence can be built over time. I'm not sure he'll make it either, but is certainly a better project. Ideally we minimise the number of guys we have hanging around the squad who aren't at the required level, as inevitably we'll buy more guys who also aren't at the required level. McInnes was quite bad for building up crap in the squad. I'd be happy to see players like Morris and McGarry moved on in the summer, with Hayes moving into coaching. Keep it lean and try and take through youth (like Milne for instance) to make up the numbers. Polvara and McKenzie should be the level we're currently aiming for with our squad players, both more than capable of holding down a position if required, whilst maybe not being part of an ideal first eleven (McKenzie is at the moment of course). Edit: also, we should look to use the winter break to leave Gueye on an uninhabited island somewhere too.

I wouldn't mind Duk leaving. I'd rather that than the fans started to turn on him. I don't think we have the resources to deal with a player like Duk when we need points and performances. He'd be a fantastic asset off the bench, but a couple of good performances and he'd be back in the team where we end up having to switch tactics to accommodate him. If we had a really top class left back, we could probably afford to play him on the left, but we don't. He's better off elsewhere, making cameos for someone else unfortunately. He's been entertaining and frustrating.

Also, Jayden Richardson getting plenty of ten minute subs appearances for Stockport, so maybe we should look to bring him home. He actually came on up front for the final ten minutes a few weeks back when they beat notts county (they were drawing when he came on), and I have a feeling he could be the next Josh Magennis. Ideal replacement for Miovski in my opinion.

Anyway, not sure what is meant by defensive midfielder these days, and probably not a necessity. I wouldn't have called Ramadani a defensive midfielder, nor would I really describe Shinnie as such. I'm hoping it means someone with the ability to run about a lot and get stuck in, while giving the ball to the good guys as quickly as possible. Whilst I'm keen on another midfielder, there's a large part of me hopes we don't get one so that Robson is forced to continue the setup we had at County. I've a feeling any new midfielder will see us revert to Clarkson deep and the direct approach again. I'd like to see several out and maybe only a couple in. I'd be happy enough with McKenzie for the remainder of the season at fullback and Duncan given more minutes in a wide role. Right wing is where we should definitely be strengthening, as Morris is clearly not good enough there. I think that if we keep to a 4-2-3-1, then we're quite well served as a squad otherwise, and perhaps we concentrate on trimming the squad ready for more errors in the summer. Unless, of course, there are some long term targets that we will miss out in if we wait. A pre contract or two wouldn't go amiss either. If Barron leaves, then we either risk Polvara until the end of the season or look elsewhere (Watson at Killie would be fantastic, but he has over two years left).