exiledjag

OK you win. On this basis I would sign him and hope he would be good enough to be a first team regular. Actually he is 30 according to his online bio! Still young enough!

OK point taken about last season when Dundee won promotion via the play-off matches. However has he made any impression at Dundee this season in what has been (glad to say) a disasterous campaign for them. Re Carlisle I kept an eye on him their because as I said I liked him and felt some of the criticism he received when a Jag was very harsh. He had a run of games, then on the bench and gradually faded from the first team squad to eventually leaving the club. He played 200 games while a Jag, 16 for Carlise (1 Season) and 44 games for Dundee (2 seasons). The majority of games for Dundee were as you rightly point out played in the 20/21 season.

I liked Elliot though I acknowkedge points made about his ability to cross the ball. He has though failed to make any impression at Carlisle or Dundee so on balance I don't think we should resign him. Same goes for McDaid and Fitzpatrick. The latter IMO I was over rated. I think IMC should focus on brining in new players and developing those young players fron the Academy who are close to joining the first team squad like Stanway and Lyon. I am not too familiar with the Kilmarnock players who have been released so don't see any names there I think would interest us.

My memory might be failing me but wasn't the problem with Welsh that he had some medical/health condition that made him a slow healer. This condition meant that even with normal injuries the recovery time he needed was much longer than that needed by other players. When he joined ICT he was in and out of the side but in the last few season he has been one of their best players been made captain and is a regular in the team. I assume the health issue has been resolved or being managed more effectively.

We, Jags Fans didn't rate Devine and there were numerous negative comments about him every week. Similarly with Craigen though perhaps not as severe. For my part I thought Devine was a solid defender and although he made the odd mistake I thought he didn't deserve the criticism he attracted. Archibald said he wanted to keep Ridgers but we didn't have enough money in the budget to do so. Welsh and Craigen left for similar reasons - both wanted assurances of more game time: theassurances weren't forthcoming so they left!

I don't think we actually let Welsh go. I seem to recall Archibald clarifying the position with Welsh. He said Welsh, who was in and out of the team at that time, approached him seeking assurances that he would get more game time and Archibald's response was that he couldn't give such assurances. Welsh then said he wanted to leave! My recollection might be inaccurate but regardless I fall into the camp of those who regret his leaving. With Welsh in midfield we actually had a midfield that could dominate the opposition.

Oh forgot Ayr and their former Chairman's dismissive statement that " Partick Thistle were just Collateral damage" Hope I get the chance soon to say something similar about Ayr. Another entry in my black Book!

Dundee, Dunfermline, Queen of the South, St Mirren, Clyde, Raith Rovers Cowdenbeath Ross County and perhaps Brechin were, from memory, clubs who made comments about our unethical relegation or legal action that could be construed as being negative towards Heart and the Jags. There maybe other clubs whom I can't recall With the exception of Ross County all of the above have had a poor season one way or another. I especially liked the self-inflicted mess Raith and Clyde got themselves into over the Goodwillie signing. Can't say I feel any sympathy for any of them and in fact for most of them I hoped they would be visited by bad karma. In fact I recall Hearts fans being very annoyed when the club made an emergency loan (a goalkeeper) to St Mirren! All of these clubs are in my black book!

I wasn't questioning the formation. I could see you were grouping defenders, midfielders and strikers. I just thought it strange where you listed Milne. I would have included him where you showed Holt give your groupingszrent alphabetical either.

I have no proìblems with Bell and Murray leaving. I assume Foster and Hendrie are being released because we want 'wing' backs rather than 'full'backs. I Otherwise I would have retain these two as well as McKenna as cover. Clearly these players being released have a squad composition and/or financial consideration. Involved.

I thought Milne was a left wing back? Does Smith chave another year left on his contract? If no then he should be released.

Agree with this. Perhaps though Bannigan and Docherty shouldn't be certain starters! Re Sena. He has never struck me as a future star and to be honest I always felt quite neutral about him. If he stays at Firhill I think he would make the bench but not get much game time. Suspect its in his own interest to leave for the reasons stated by IMC. I will say though that any time I have seen him I have never doubted his commitment to the Jersey and the team and that is a big point for me.

Big changes in the championship with 3 clubs leaving and 3 joining. Leavers - Kilmarnock, Dunfermline and Queen of the South. Joining - Cove, Airdrie or Queens Park and all but confirmed, Dundee. I am leaning towards Airdrie (no particular reason beyond the fact I know an Airdrie supporter; he is hoping we don't sign Easton whom he rates very highly). I think we should give Dundee a big warm welcome on their first visit to Firhill and have some with huge banners calling out Nelms for what he is! The only downside in the above is Killie getting promoted. Of course we may also have to swap St Johnsone for ICT or Arbroath. I think SJ might just be too strong for either club.

Every manager signs players who don't make the grade it goes with the job. Even the great Alex Ferguson signed some that didn't live up to expectations! The guy was set a target to reach the play-offs and he did this. Job done! Kilmarnock, ICT and Raith all had bad runs. Arbroath wobbled a bit. The important point was they had their bad runs when there was still enough game ahead to enable them to recover. We had our bad run in the last third of the season with no time to recover. The state of the pitch was a problem but so was playing 2 games a week for 3/4 weeks to play our games in hand. Oh and I should say I am a IMC fan. He is much better manager than Caldwell or latterly Archibald.

I just felt he showed enough in the bits and pieces he was given to indicate there might be a player in there and that he should have been given a better chance to prove himself and especially after Rudden left. So by giving him a chance I mean giving him a run of games, say 6 or 7, to prove himself. He was after all on the periphery of the first team.