In consideration of our failing season, thought an update to our contract situation might be worthwhile. Apologies for the length.

GK

2023

• Woods (31) - Is he Injured? noticed the boy Ritchie was on the bench Sunday.

2024

• Lewis (34) - Been off form but capable of getting that back made some good saves yesterday. 

No real issues here. Lewis has been out of form, but not really a problem for January or even next summer. 

Defence

January 2022

• Devlin (28) - Injured needs to be released.

Summer 2022

• Considine (34) - Injured and aging but should be given another year extension.
• Gurr (26) - not of the required standard.

2023

• MacKenzie (21) - Injured will be fine once he recovers from injury.
• Gallagher (30) - Injured looked off form when he has been fit.

2024

• Hernandez (24) - Loaned out hopefully Atlanta repay us for the fee paid out on their behalf and the whole sorry mess can be put to bed. 
• McCrorie (23) - arguably a midfielder been OK at the back and we have had little option. 
• Ramsay (18)- Injured could end up receiving offers for him, maybe his current injury will delay them till next summer. 
• Bates (25) - improving. 

I'd hope we are looking to start next season with MacKenzie, Gallagher, McCrorie (is he a midfielder), Ramsay (unless the right offer comes in) Bates & Considine (depending on his recovery). In January, Devlin must be off the payroll, attempts made to get Gurr off too, and fingers crossed Atlanta buy Hernandez (for everyone's sake). Should be planning on 4-6 of the current lot being here next season. Assuming recovery from injuries and no more occurring;

MacKenzie, Gallagher, McCrorie, Ramsay and Bates till end of the season, that are good enough, scope for additions.

Midfield

Summer 2022

• Hayes (34) - can see him signing an extension if offered but is he as effective as first time around? Can we get better and younger for the wage?
• Hedges (26) - will be off, decision is balancing any money offered and what player(s) can we bring in against what little Hedges playing within himself brings for the remainder of the season.
• McGeouch (28) - Injured? (again) imagine he's looking to see what offers he gets and will be trying to minimize injuries to his fragile body in the meantime.
• Ojo (30) - Also seems to be looking to see what offers he gets and we should be able to do better. 
• McGinn (34) - Past it.

End of Loan Summer 2022(If possible cancel them all in January)

• Jenks (19)  - Not good enough
• Samuels (21)  - Not good enough
• Longstaff (21) - Not good enough

2023

• Campbell (20) - Doesn't appear as if Glass rates him that highly.
• Kennedy (27) - Injured (allegedly) tried to get rid of in the summer depending on how true the back injury is, will likely try again.
• McLennan (22) - Injured he's got strength, pace, skill all let down by decision making and consistency. Should be at a higher level if he's going to make it at his club. 
• Brown (36) - Injured? Will give his all and probably been our best player, but he's 36. 

2024

• Ferguson (22) - doesn't want to be here will push for a move to england again in January. 

Next season would be planning on Hayes (to sign a new contract), Campbell, Brown, McLennan maybe Hanratty. Potentially for remainder of the season we have;

Campbell, Brown & Hayes who will give their all all, albeit Brown is 36 and probably will need a rest at some point some & Hayes who is 34 and has 6 months left on his contract. Hedges, McGeouch and Ojo who will be playing with one eye on a signing on fee elsewhere, won't care where we finish and play accordingly. Jenks, Longstaff and Samuels none of whom are good enough and none have a vested interest in our success.  Kennedy and McLennan who are not good enough and Ferguson who is trying to get a move elsewhere. 

Forwards

2023

• Watkins (31) - Hopefully stays injury free for the remainder of the season.
• Ramirez (30) - Possibly Glass's singular piece of good recruitment
• JET (30) - wrong type of player for battling at the wrong end of the table

An aging strike-force. Can't see any of them being here after summer 2023. JET too much of a luxury but can't see anyone taking him off our hands in January. Ngwenya to join them next season?

Youth on loan

• Ngwenya (18) - contract till 2024
• Ruth (19) - contract till 2022
• Barron (19) - contract till 2022
• Ritchie (18) - contract till 2022
• Duncan (17) - contract till 2022
• Hanratty (18) - contract till 2024
• Mykyta (19) - contract till 2022
• McIver (18) - contract till 2022
• Gallagher (20) - contract till 2022
• Milne (18) - contract till 2022

As far as I can find only Ngwenya and Hanratty signed for longer than the end of the season?

Following Sunday it appears we may only have 15 fit outfield players fit. 3 defenders (1 is Gurr and McRorie will be banned for hibs), 9 midfielders (Longstaff might as well not be here, Jenks and Samuels aren't good enough, McGinn has made 2 starts from 7 appearances ), 3 forwards (1 is JET).

7 games till the break and opening of the window. 

Recruitment has been a shambles for a while now, nothing we saw in the summer points to improvements and this must be the most unbalanced & incoherent (almost as bad as this post), uncommitted and aging squad we've had in a long time. Hopefully our DoF has been making several plans based on any number of scenario's.

We have to;

• Mitigate the effect losing Ferguson and/or Ramsay would have
• Take into account the lack of commitment from the 8 midfielders with no contractual obligation beyond the end of the season.
• The imbalance inexperience and decimation through injury of our defence. 
• The age of our attack. 
• And the lack of players in their "prime years" throughout the squad.

And this has to be balanced against;

• how shit January is as a transfer window
• that we have enough to ensure we don't get dragged into relegation worries
• not make rash decisions that fuck up future season with more aging or not good enough players all playing the same positions on high wages. 

I actually don’t think we have a bad squad, but it’s key players we need to add, not squad fillers.

we have a good keeper, and very strong young left and right back. Bates, Gallagher, and mccrorie, plus considine and I think we’re solid in the middle. If Ramsey goes we need a new right back. 

brown and Campbell are solid in central mid, plus if bates and Gallagher are fit I’d like to see mccrorie in central midfield. I’m assuming Ferguson is gone and I’m happy with those 3 filling the two central mid spots.

the three keys players we need are two wingers and a number 10. Hedges is away I’m assuming. Jet is a good back up for one of the spots, but he’s not your regular starter to rely on.
up front I do like Ramirez but he needs the service. We do need to sign a back up when Ramirez needs rested, injured, or playing gash.

I think it’s a definite 4 we need, 5 if Ramsey goes. Interested to see what January brings.

Probably pish but rumours circulating online that Shinnie has been offered a pre contract to return in the summer. 

Wouldnt be surprised if quite a few Derby players were getting pre-contracts arranged to jump ship before the administrators/ liquidators move in.

Guess the follow on questikn if this were true is if many of us would be happy to see him back in red and if so where would he fit in our current team ?

23 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Guess the follow on questikn if this were true is if many of us would be happy to see him back in red and if so where would he fit in our current team ?

I don't think many central midfielders in Scotland would enjoy playing against brown and shinnie even at this stage of their careers but it's creativity we need to add. 

Like Shinnie as a player but it’s the one position we do not need to strengthen. Would have thought a creative player was more of a priority. 

With Ferguson and hedges likely to leave and Longstaff away, there might be a place for Shinnie along side Brown. 
agreed that we need a creative player in to replace the likely departure of Hedges.
Think it depends where Glass sees McCrorie playing long term. I’d personally like to see him in the midfield alongside brown but if Bates and Gallagher can’t get it together as a partnership or he sees McCrorie as a centre half long term or as part of a back 3, then there’s a place for Shinnie I think, with the departures. Also, he’s always an option at left back if there are injuries or we want to set up differently. 

Get the suspicion we might get a few of these stories for the next month. 
 

 

New contract until summer of 2024 for Barron upon his recall from Kelty Hearts loan spell.

1 hour ago, BigAl said:

New contract until summer of 2024 for Barron upon his recall from Kelty Hearts loan spell.

Thought this would be happening when he was recalled. Hopefully gets game time to help him develop. 

3 hours ago, Jute said:

Thought this would be happening when he was recalled. Hopefully gets game time to help him develop. 

Management team seem to have pretty high hopes for him.

Let's hope he gets the chance and grasps it 🙏

Zander Clark ??

Is he any upgrade upon Joe Lewis ?

Always got the impression that Lewis was pretty settled in the North East and is under contract until the summer of 2024.

Kind of get The Arabs being interested as Seigrist is out of contract this summer.

36 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Zander Clark ??

Is he any upgrade upon Joe Lewis ?

Always got the impression that Lewis was pretty settled in the North East and is under contract until the summer of 2024.

Kind of get The Arabs being interested as Seigrist is out of contract this summer.

Saw that mentioned in press but just dismissed at as cannot see Joe leaving any time soon and Clark would be wanting first team football. Both would be on wages that would be expensive for a back up. Arabs makes far more sense as you say. Anyway don’t trust folk with hillbilly beards. Just wrong. 

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.

3 minutes ago, wokinginashearerwonderland said:

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.

Few interesting points you raise there and don't necessarily disagree with them.

Maybe he is too comfortable, there will be no doubt that he will be one of our higher earners.

Joe will need to be happy to move on as no way we can afford to have him as back up for the next 30 months on a high wage.

Perhaps The Arabs might pay to take him off our hands if they lose Seigrist and we sign Clark 😉

Have to disagree with you both. Joe is still one of best keepers in the league and I think better than Clark. Admittedly Clark could still improve and if this was 2024 then it might be a move you would make but with 2 years still to run on his contract and at the prime age for a keeper I would not be looking to move Joe on. Plenty other positions that need addressing first. 

9 minutes ago, Jute said:

Have to disagree with you both. Joe is still one of best keepers in the league and I think better than Clark. Admittedly Clark could still improve and if this was 2024 then it might be a move you would make but with 2 years still to run on his contract and at the prime age for a keeper I would not be looking to move Joe on. Plenty other positions that need addressing first. 

I was sitting on the fence with my comments Jute.

I don't necessarily disagree with Woking's comments nor do I totally agree with them.

Whilst it isn't a necessity for us, if it strenghtens us then I probably have other matters I'd feel more strongly about.

I dunno as can’t say I’ve paid any attention to Clarke, but is he the type of keeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet? I would suggest that, this is the type of keeper Glass’ “style” would require. I don’t think Joe is that good at or in any way comfortable with receiving and playing short passes out of defence. He loves a straight ball back and a long punt up field. 
If Clarke is that type that might be the thinking plus maybe value in selling him and freeing up his wage to increase overall budget? 

3 hours ago, baggy89 said:

I dunno as can’t say I’ve paid any attention to Clarke, but is he the type of keeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet? I would suggest that, this is the type of keeper Glass’ “style” would require. I don’t think Joe is that good at or in any way comfortable with receiving and playing short passes out of defence. He loves a straight ball back and a long punt up field. 
If Clarke is that type that might be the thinking plus maybe value in selling him and freeing up his wage to increase overall budget? 

Have to admit, I don't get the "comfortable with the ball at his feet" thing. Lewis is way better than Craig Gordon in that regard for example. He's absolutely fine at taking in and finding a player or just dealing with it under pressure. Like all keepers in our league, he struggles when given the ball in a tight situation with nobody to pass to. Like all keepers in this league, there's a period between November and March where the playing and pitch conditions make being "comfortable on the ball" completely irrelevant, as you're last man and doing the safe thing is far more important than any defence to attack super-play (#glassball). Lewis was absolutely fine with the ball at his feet throughout McInnes' tenure and it only really became a problem when Robson and Sheerin started the obvious tactic of playing out from the back without mixing it up, continued temporarily by Glass too. Attackers work it out pretty quickly. 

I don't think there's a better keeper in the league at one v ones as Lewis and after a spell of poor performances and subsequent dropping (good move by Glass it has to be said) has recaptured is all round play, coming solidly for crosses etc once again. I think those fundamentals of goalkeeping are the absolute priority (as shown by hearts/Gordon) in Scottish football. We'll lose far more goals by sacrificing all round goalie skills than we'll gain from a footballing keeper. Not to mention the number we'll lose by dicking about with it at the back. It's not like we've got amazing ball players all across the back line who are being let down by a goalie. As soon as Clarke gives it out to McRorie in a tight spot and he takes three touches and loses it we'll have to revert to just having an average keeper. Even Celtic and Rangers don't have ball playing goalies. McGregor is worse than Lewis in that regard, and Hart is fairly honking too. We can see the mess Rogers made of it trying to implement at the Tims whilst trying to replace Gordon. 

I could be wrong about Clarke's general ability, but I think he's more Langfield than Ward.

Dundee United have just signed a Finnish (he’s only 27) international keeper, I would imagine they wouldn’t be signing Clark also.

1 hour ago, Slim said:

Dundee United have just signed a Finnish (he’s only 27) international keeper, I would imagine they wouldn’t be signing Clark also.

Good!

Should be easier to score a goal against him then.

🙂

Samuels loan period ended early. No real surprise as he looked poor in games I watched. 
 

 

47 minutes ago, Jute said:

Samuels loan period ended early. No real surprise as he looked poor in games I watched. 
 

 

Wish him no ill to be honest.

Given that Wolves gave us a signing clause in the loan deal, did think he might not be up to much.

Shame really.

He was pish. Another in the list of dud loanees. Hopefully we have the scouting in place now to properly replace him. Otherwise, just do without a Samuels replacement until summer. 

2 hours ago, BigAl said:

Wish him no ill to be honest.

Given that Wolves gave us a signing clause in the loan deal, did think he might not be up to much.

Shame really.

The signing clause was always an odd one given his deal is up this summer and is free to sign elsewhere from now.