I figured it’s about time to start this. I think there’s a very good chance that come January we’re bottom six and lost a cup semi. I’m expecting McKenna to be sold plus I do see both Shinnie and GMS moving on, possibly Shinnie doing a McLean returning on loan but I see GMS moving if we can get some cash. With Ross, Wright, McGinn, and McLelland, DM will see us as having ample cover.

 

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Gleeson and or Forrester punted too, those two haven’t worked out. Tough to argue otherwise. Tansey too. Honestly, the squad needs an overhaul, happy to see the young boys given a run and save any money from exports in January for transfers in the summer.

 

Think we’re also due an offer or two for Joe Lewis. Wouldn’t be surprised to see that in the winter window.

 

Sad to say that i’m writing this season off, shame since Devlin is an excellent signing, what I wouldn’t have given for a player like him over the last few years. Would be happy to see the manager go too, things are stale and we’re going in the wrong direction both in performance and league position. Yesterday, with Wilson stuck in the Rooney wide left role, emphasized that we need fresh ideas and someone with a different set of contacts in the transfer market. DM, it was good while it lasted, but we’re going nowhere fast by the looks of things.

Surprised by the silence to the Stewart signing. Maybe I'm the minority with a few spare Donstalk minutes. He was excellent for Killie, must be a real kick in the teeth for them too.

 

Really curious to what happens with Shinnie and GMS. Thankfully Lowe is back so we have a legit defender, so Shinnie is still planned to be in the middle of the park. No clue if the link with McTominay was shite, probably, but so far I'm happy with Lowe and Stewart and if we had the funds to add McT i'd be happy. Praying Stewart doesn't get punted out wide if GMS leaves.

Welcome back Greg, if he carries on the form he showed at Killie then we are laughing.

Happy with this, just wish it was a permanent deal as opposed to a loan, i know his deal is up in the Summer & the only issue i can see is the difference in wages , between  Brum & ourselves.

Good move though.

Welcome back Greg, if he carries on the form he showed at Killie then we are laughing.

 

8 goals in 16 games, but he also had 6 assists too. That's good form, and since he doesn't have Christie and McLean to compete with for the withdrawn striker/attacking mid role you'd like to think we'll see a central Stewart doing well for us.

Heard a couple of days ago that we were in talks with Joe Shaugnessy , appears we are & St.J gaffer has confirmed it.  Could be a decent addition .

I would've been totally underwhelmed by the news of Greg Stewart returning but for his performances at Killie.

 

He never showed he was that good with us, even though many of you were excited by his first coming based on his performances at Dundee.

 

This is an excellent move, as is getting Lowe back. Good work McInnes. Credit where it's due 

Very pleased to have Stewart back, we all knew there was a player there and kudos to killie for getting it out of him. The comment about not having to compete with McLean or Christie is a good one, so hopefully we'll see him continue where he left off with killie.

 

So far, after a slow start, so good.

Astonished if we did anything other than agree a pre-contract for next season.

 

Astonished if we did anything other than agree a pre-contract for next season.

 

Precisely, why pay for what you can get for free and already have on loan?

Astonished if we did anything other than agree a pre-contract for next season.

 

Why? We’re obviously paying more to Birmingham than killie were or could but why would you assume that’s got any connection to future contracts?

2bh I think we got lucky getting Lowe back so I'm not sure the club deserves too much credit in getting him back.  Hell, Derby probably called us. 

 

The whole thing is an odd one re Stewart being recalled.  I can't help but wonder if afc got in touch and said we will pay more and brum had a free recall clause. 

Heard a couple of days ago that we were in talks with Joe Shaugnessy , appears we are & St.J gaffer has confirmed it.  Could be a decent addition .

 

Odd one if it happens. Was McInnes that punted him, no? Also likely only to be a back up to Devlin and McKenna.

Odd one if it happens. Was McInnes that punted him, no? Also likely only to be a back up to Devlin and McKenna.

Not sure if he's been brought in because McKenna is off or if Devlin's injury is worse than first thought.

Not sure if he's been brought in because McKenna is off or if Devlin's injury is worse than first thought.

 

Could be either scenario tbh! 

Greg Stewart's loan move to Aberdeen is "bull****" and has a "slightly strange smell about it" says Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke.

 

Clarky not too impressed   

Full interview from BBC.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46935230

 

 

 

Greg Stewart's loan move to Aberdeen is "bull****" and has a "slightly strange smell about it" says Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke.

 

Clarky not too impressed   

 

Clarke should say what he means rather than hinting at whatever it is that’s upset him.

lewis morgan being talked about loan deal

lewis morgan being talked about loan deal

 

No for a number of reasons

 

Probably means GMS is away

Puts him ahead of McLennan

Develops an opponent's youngster

Unable to play in games against them.

Dislike everything connected to that racist club

Thought we may have learned our lesson from loaning players from Celtic after Christie, it would seem not.

No for a number of reasons

 

 

Develops an opponent's youngster

Unable to play in games against them.

 

 

These would be my main two objections. Christie deal should and subsequent cup winning goal should be putting us off any further loans from teams in our own league unless it’s a try before you buy set up.

 

Should also say your last point also has merit.

Thought we may have learned our lesson from loaning players from Celtic after Christie, it would seem not.

 

Obviously I hate us getting players from them, but pragmatically speaking though, we got a player who won us several points and progressed us through tournaments (semi final goal v Hibs for example). Whilst we developed a player for the Tims, arguably they could easily have just bought a player of similar calibre (Rogic let's say) who would have done a similar job and also had no bother scoring against us. I think, overall, we gained a lot from Christie's move in terms of our on the park performances - we were a better team with him in it (although I never thought him and McGinn worked particularly well together, but that's not specific to Christie). Celtic also gained massively too, but that's neither here nor there given the gulf in finances. You also have to factor in the points gained by another club (say Hertz, Hibs or whoever) had they signed Christie instead; he's clearly a good player that thrived on game time. From a short term perspective, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Christie or Morgan as a temporary solution for six months is fine if there are few other obvious options (which is almost always the case in January). The biggest problem is the long term defecit that it creates. Celtic are developing a model whereby they can pick up the best young players (Christie, Morgan, Allan, Griffiths) with zero intentions of developing them. They send them out on loan to either success or, in the case of Allan, not quite there. By facilitating these loans (and, let's be honest, they will just loan Morgan to someone else if not us) we're actively promoting a model which allows Celtic to have zero/minimal downside to taking a punt on a young player. They can pay a comparitively small fee and then have a significant portion of the subsequent wages funded by the loan move with a resulting asset generally worth more than the initial outlay and wages less loan wages received.

 

To me, it's a systemic issue that needs to be addressed further up the chain than AFC (although AFC could certainly highlight it), perhaps by preventing loans between clubs in the same league. Whilst Morgan could probably have/may still go down South for a spell, that possibly wouldn't give him the same Tim-ready experience that he'd get in the SPL. I think that would be a simple solution to a problem that isn't being addressed or recognised, and would probably prevent the Tims going for players like Morgan in the first place, who clearly aren't anywhere near ready for their first team, but allows them to have significant control of the best players in the league(s). Until that type of legislation is passed however, we may be cutting our noses off to spite our faces - from an entirely pragmatic perspective - by not pursuing these types of loans, as inevitably our loss would be someone else's gain.

Obviously I hate us getting players from them, but pragmatically speaking though, we got a player who won us several points and progressed us through tournaments (semi final goal v Hibs for example). Whilst we developed a player for the Tims, arguably they could easily have just bought a player of similar calibre (Rogic let's say) who would have done a similar job and also had no bother scoring against us. I think, overall, we gained a lot from Christie's move in terms of our on the park performances - we were a better team with him in it (although I never thought him and McGinn worked particularly well together, but that's not specific to Christie). Celtic also gained massively too, but that's neither here nor there given the gulf in finances. You also have to factor in the points gained by another club (say Hertz, Hibs or whoever) had they signed Christie instead; he's clearly a good player that thrived on game time. From a short term perspective, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Christie or Morgan as a temporary solution for six months is fine if there are few other obvious options (which is almost always the case in January). The biggest problem is the long term defecit that it creates. Celtic are developing a model whereby they can pick up the best young players (Christie, Morgan, Allan, Griffiths) with zero intentions of developing them. They send them out on loan to either success or, in the case of Allan, not quite there. By facilitating these loans (and, let's be honest, they will just loan Morgan to someone else if not us) we're actively promoting a model which allows Celtic to have zero/minimal downside to taking a punt on a young player. They can pay a comparitively small fee and then have a significant portion of the subsequent wages funded by the loan move with a resulting asset generally worth more than the initial outlay and wages less loan wages received.

 

To me, it's a systemic issue that needs to be addressed further up the chain than AFC (although AFC could certainly highlight it), perhaps by preventing loans between clubs in the same league. Whilst Morgan could probably have/may still go down South for a spell, that possibly wouldn't give him the same Tim-ready experience that he'd get in the SPL. I think that would be a simple solution to a problem that isn't being addressed or recognised, and would probably prevent the Tims going for players like Morgan in the first place, who clearly aren't anywhere near ready for their first team, but allows them to have significant control of the best players in the league(s). Until that type of legislation is passed however, we may be cutting our noses off to spite our faces - from an entirely pragmatic perspective - by not pursuing these types of loans, as inevitably our loss would be someone else's gain.

 

Excellent post. Have a Simmie 

Concentrate on developing our own young players rather than take them from any of or direct competitors.

 

It's a nonsense situation.

Concentrate on developing our own young players rather than take them from any of or direct competitors.

 

It's a nonsense situation.

 

Well, aye, but what if the Tims loaned Morgan to Hibs and his goals and assists led directly to them gaining 9-12 points (not unrealistic) and finishing above us? I'd be happy enough that we've eplicitly rejected a model that relied on Tims ahead of our young players (Wright and McLennan in this case, who may be worse players than Morgan - I've only see him play once, and he was average) even if it meant us finishing lower in the league, because that's just the way I am. However, from the point of view of the manager who's job will be lost through poor league finishes, you could surely understand the dilemma? It has to be a club decision, and it has to be publicly articulated at club level (i.e. above McInnes) and built into expectations. Perhaps even with an agreement with yer Hertz, Hibss, Killies and Motherwells to alleviate the potential of the player just going elsewhere.