mhs

I wonder if Higgy would work as a lone striker??? His effort and creativity is brilliant from the midfield/wing positions, I just think it could be interesting to see him as the main striker. Not a long term solution though as it could weaken the midfield/wing.

I'm sure it was reported he was to be given improved terms, along with the players who signed extensions. I haven't seen an official statement to confirm that happened or the details, I may have missed it though.

That's a good shout. Although he doesn't seemed to have played much in the last few seasons. Cardiff signed him after having him on loan so he must have impressed them which is a good sign. Agree that his wage demands will be above us but if he is free then maybe he will be willing to negotiate. Edited to add... also just seen rumours that he is training with Sevco this week!

Haha! Clearly no stone has been left unturned! Thanks for that

But we would obviously have Subo representing us.

Yes, they should be a punishable offence.

The big question is... Would an independent Scotland take part in the Eurovision Song Contest? To my knowledge, this has not been covered by the Yes campaign. ...

Really?! I didn't know that, I had read Elvis recommended us though. Good to hear Osbourne has a positive outlook on us.

I noticed yesterday that the BBC Sport News article quoted him and said "Osbourne says...". I see they have fixed that error now!

St Mirren are close to getting a Man City winger on loan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28755601 That might mean they are not in for Gonclaves and there is a rumour suggesting we might be getting Gonclaves. Rumours. We can hope though.

Agree, he looked sharp in warm-ups and impressed me the two short times I saw him (including his appearance against County). Looked like he could have fitted in with our squad quite well. Best of luck to him.

Imagine a back pairing of Scott Boyd and Gabby...

Noooooooooo!

HAHAHAAAA unbelievable, good bit of luck for them. And we can all watch them get tanked again

I'm not too bothered about Erskine. Higgy, Stevenson, Lawless, Elliot and Craigan can all fill that role to an extent. Erskine is not exactly the most versatile player either. The guy is still a bit of a hero/legend but not sure he adds much to our team. I noticed Ratnamara has played him pre-season and he did score at least once so maybe he is getting a chance there anyway.

I am inclined to agree. The irony is the seeding is meant to encourage sponsorship so the sponsor gets maximum exposure during games featuring "big teams" in the semis and the final.

Win-win situation... Celtic (or any rival) does well in Europe, it helps our status as a footballing nation and the coefficient stuff. Celtic (or any rival) gets pumped in Europe, can sit back and have a laugh at them.

I agree, I can see potential in Gabby. He is fairly mobile, tall, quite strong and wins a lot in the air. I feel he needs discipline (in a positional and role sense, not behaviour) and to learn to read the game better - both should come in time with experience playing. I think a 6 month or season-long loan to the Championship would be ideal. Archie works with him almost daily though so he will have a better idea than me of any potential!

Just signed a 5 year deal with them. I think they probably liked him http://www.bbc.co.uk...otball/28537098

I have selectively quoted you but... LOL. I don't think that is why he signed for us at all. From Wiki and some other news sites: "In April 2013, Stevenson was banned from driving for a period of 20 months". So he can drive from October. Doubt he would sign his career for 2-3 years based on a few months of commuting, especially when he just played/trained in Edinburgh for a year. PS. For what it's worth, I agree with you with regards to where this extra cash available is, we were told we can now compete with many other Premiership clubs.

I thought we were told the wage salary was almost doubling (or certainly greatly increasing) this season, only a handful of players have signed new deals so there should be plenty money available.We were also promised preparation and planning would ensure swifter action this close-season. We have proper training facilities now which was cited as a negative last season for attracting players. Nothing we can do unfortunately, just have to sit and wait to see what happens with signings. We are clearly scraping the barrel now which is concerning. If we had finished seventh we would have had an extra £150k and maybe looked more attractive as a club on the up. Still got time, lets hope Archie can work a very minor miracle and grab a few great players!!! Edited to add... Why sign Ozzy again? We have Osman for the centre-mid holding role, plus Banzo, Fraser and supposedly Welsh (in six weeks time!). Unless it is with a view to playing Ozzy at centre-back?

Okay background starting at Crystal Palace but the lad has barely played professional first-team football, only 28 games in 4 years total according to Wiki. In saying that, Fraser has probably only played about that many first-team games and he is good enough! Have not seen him play so can't pass judgement but I would hope we could get better, on paper at least. Hopefully he is impressing in training and in pre-season games.

Agree, I think McFadden in a player-coach role could be a great idea. It would help make sense of paying his higher than average wages (in Thistle terms) and could be key in attracting him to sign (career development). It would also allow a player with experience of playing at the highest level to coach our relatively young team. Archie and Shaggy are defenders and it could be beneficial to have a striker help with coaching. I think Darren Jackson helped coach us under Ratnamra and we played good attacking football which we are doing our best to continue. Such a coach could help with that.

Bad memories and the feeling of disappointment come flooding back...

Closest one I can think of is Stevie Fulton, not exactly a "former star" but he did have caps for Scotland and play most of his career at our top/high level.