Don't think this has been mentioned elsewhere, but the club are looking to extend his contract. Been a great signing, with a fantastic goal return. As I said, not mentioned anywhere else but this dedicated McGrath thread. 

 

I am stunned this has not been mentioned in another thread. I will go against the grain here and say that I am still not totally convinced by McGrath but probably not totally against him getting another deal. Still think he disappears in games when the team is struggling. 

Considering we played him out of position to accommodate others I think he’s had a great season. I think he’s a true #10 but doesn’t fit with the players we had, shinnie Rama and McGrath would be great balance. Think it’s hard to play him and clarkson together centrally, but with no right mid he did well there. Good squad player to have if you ask me, especially if anyone were to offer decent money for clarkson.

Happy to say I’ve been on the McGrath hype train from the beginning. Always thought he was a decent player and the fact we got him on a free is ridiculous. Best bit of business this season for us and hopefully he signs an extension. 
 

 

Edited May 24, 20242 yr by STFU_Donny

Get it done. I was happy to eat humble pie as I was absolutely wary about signing him from a relegated team. But he’s proved me wrong. 

Boy has really started the season well. Any injury update? Would be a blow if we lost him for a few weeks, especially with clarkson out. Their creativity is big for us.

Break doing us a bit of favour.No word on McGrath,but Clarkson potentially available for Motherwell at home in 2 weeks

Gutted for him, he’s been electric this season. Hope the break works in our and his favour.

I have the fear about getting him on a new contract 🙈

8 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

I have the fear about getting him on a new contract 🙈

Aye, was it here on Twitter I’d seen something about the Tims sniffing about? Need to look him in asap.

If he's currently concussed and not quite 100% then now would be a good time to put the contract in front of him.

12 hours ago, manc_don said:

Aye, was it here on Twitter I’d seen something about the Tims sniffing about? Need to look him in asap.

Was just thinking this was the sort of error that someone that had taken a heavy blow to the head might make.

Apparently healthy, no concussion, and will be fit for Motherwell.

22 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

Apparently healthy, no concussion, and will be fit for Motherwell.

Big win for us. So that’ll be him and Clarkson back then?

10 hours ago, manc_don said:

Big win for us. So that’ll be him and Clarkson back then?

There was a suggestion last week that Clarkson was targeting the Motherwell game for his return. Would assume if both are fit Clarkson would play in behind the striker with McGrath wide left. 
 

Hopefully club can persuade McGrath to extend his contract but have a suspicion he might want to see what’s available. 

I think Motherwell is too soon to start clarkson, he’ll be back in training next week from what I read, not quite ready to begin a game.

i would really like to see McGrath at 10 behind nisbet. Think we will see sokler moved to the bench. I think Vinny deserves the start on the left and Morris has proven that he’s an impact sub. Topi on the right. Give Morris the last 20-30 mins and tell him to go at tired defenders. Gueye has proven that he’s a squad player, someone we can bring on when we need a goal and carries a threat.

All of this moves Ambrose further away from minutes and that’s not a bad thing right now. I really think a loan to the championship , somewhere like a raith maybe, would have helped get him up to speed with Scottish football.

On 05/09/2024 at 07:26, Jute said:

There was a suggestion last week that Clarkson was targeting the Motherwell game for his return. Would assume if both are fit Clarkson would play in behind the striker with McGrath wide left. 
 

Hopefully club can persuade McGrath to extend his contract but have a suspicion he might want to see what’s available. 

I do wonder if Mcgrath is wary to sign on 2bh.  Since he signed last season he has played under 4 managers and I wonder if that has an influence. 

1 hour ago, tlg1903 said:

I do wonder if Mcgrath is wary to sign on 2bh.  Since he signed last season he has played under 4 managers and I wonder if that has an influence. 

Doubt it. Could argue that with the impact JT is having and that we are not st. mirren or Dundee utd who aren’t regular top 6/europe, he’s got a good gig here so is eager to sign. 

1 hour ago, OrlandoDon said:

Doubt it. Could argue that with the impact JT is having and that we are not st. mirren or Dundee utd who aren’t regular top 6/europe, he’s got a good gig here so is eager to sign. 

It's probably somewhere in the middle. Time is on his side, so he'll probably give it a few months to make sure we're not going to become an overnight disaster before thinking about signing. Above that, it'll be down to family decisions and what he wants to do in life. If his family are settled here, then that'll probably take priority. If he's a player that wants to see a bit of the world, then there'll be plenty options there too. In terms of ability, we are as good as any other places to be for his level. I don't see him making a big step up from here. He'll be difficult to replace like for like if he does go, but you could slot a speedy winger into his position for something different.

4 hours ago, OrlandoDon said:

Doubt it. Could argue that with the impact JT is having and that we are not st. mirren or Dundee utd who aren’t regular top 6/europe, he’s got a good gig here so is eager to sign. 

If he was eager to sign I suspect we wouldn't be having this conversation 2bh.  We can but hope he and his are enjoying their time in the granite city and that he is persuaded to sign an extension.  That said if he does go our recruitment recently has been excellent. 

6 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

If he was eager to sign I suspect we wouldn't be having this conversation 2bh.  We can but hope he and his are enjoying their time in the granite city and that he is persuaded to sign an extension.  That said if he does go our recruitment recently has been excellent. 

I was taking it to another extreme in a sense. I don’t think he’s way because of the number of managers, much like I don’t think he signs because we are a greatly better option than st mirren or united. I’m assuming he’s getting to know the new management team, seeing the signings we bring in, and weighing up his options. I think we are appealing but money also talks. Good season and he’ll get a pay raise in England. Certainly hope he stays, but I feel he’s a number 10 and does he want to be a left midfielder? Or does clarkson have a killer season and we accept 5m from lazio for him, and McGrath becomes our main 10? We shall see…

About time to start discussing him again.

How fucking good was he on Saturday, in fact how good has he generally been this season. Two goals and SIX assists in the league this season. The number of assists puts him miles ahead of anyone else.

The potential issue is there for all to see, without a new contract and in this sort of form there is every likelihood of him signing a pre contract with someone in January window. If that happens, he is going to be a big loss, but in Jimmy I trust to find a replacement.

Obviously don't know the lad, but given his background it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that he is a TIM and probably like other Orish lads wouldn't hesitate to join them 

28 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Obviously don't know the lad, but given his background it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that he is a TIM and probably like other Orish lads wouldn't hesitate to join them

Aye, it wouldn't surprise me, I wish we had sewn it up before the start of the season. It was clear he was a stand out for us, it'll be interesting to see when we started talks. I don't think there's much hope of him extending his contract at present, unless he's really settled in the city with family etc. It's in his own best interests to let it play out for a while and see what offers are on the table in January. It's a similar situation to that of Hayes when he joined the Tims, and he signed a contract with us that guaranteed a good wage and a healthy - but not outrageous - sum for us when he departed. It would be tremendous is we could get McGrath on another 2 years with a ~£1M clause if he's happy enough in the city. The Tims will happily pay that chicken feed amount to get a player that can win them games domestically, coming in and out of the team when required, whilst weakening a team that can take points off them. They've done it many times over the years, with McCowan the latest, Hayes before and others. I guess it depends how much he values being a key part of a team and minutes on the park over being a smaller part in a bigger machine. I suspect many of us have had eqiuvalent situations in our own working life (I have!). He's been a great signing for us either way.

4 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

Aye, it wouldn't surprise me, I wish we had sewn it up before the start of the season. It was clear he was a stand out for us, it'll be interesting to see when we started talks. I don't think there's much hope of him extending his contract at present, unless he's really settled in the city with family etc. It's in his own best interests to let it play out for a while and see what offers are on the table in January. It's a similar situation to that of Hayes when he joined the Tims, and he signed a contract with us that guaranteed a good wage and a healthy - but not outrageous - sum for us when he departed. It would be tremendous is we could get McGrath on another 2 years with a ~£1M clause if he's happy enough in the city. The Tims will happily pay that chicken feed amount to get a player that can win them games domestically, coming in and out of the team when required, whilst weakening a team that can take points off them. They've done it many times over the years, with McCowan the latest, Hayes before and others. I guess it depends how much he values being a key part of a team and minutes on the park over being a smaller part in a bigger machine. I suspect many of us have had eqiuvalent situations in our own working life (I have!). He's been a great signing for us either way.

Agree 100% Rico

I'm not sure we could have sewn it up in the summer after the basket case of a season we had culminating with the fucking tourist. Hardly grounds to extend for a few years when you have a talent and can do better. 

Our only hope I think is the stability and progress we have clearly made since can convince him we are worth staying at.  Sadly though if the tims are interested he will go, he probably is  a Tim as his family were over for the game Saturday which he seemed very chuffed about. I know it was a big game and they could have just been there anyway but it is an easy one to speculate on.