Squad For 24/25 Season (And Signing Rumours)

[jaggymct]

29 minutes ago, a f kincaid said:

Think he scored a cracker for Kilmarnock v Celtic. As best I remember he hardly set the heather on fire at Firhill. 4 appearances, all as a sub.

IIRC he was signed by Archie and then Caldwell didn't like him for whatever reason and he was left out of the team, undoubtedly a talented player and has been playing in northern Africa since leaving us. 

 

[partickthedog]

54 minutes ago, jaggymct said:

IIRC he was signed by Archie and then Caldwell didn't like him for whatever reason and he was left out of the team, undoubtedly a talented player and has been playing in northern Africa since leaving us. 

 

I remember him coming on in the away game v Alloa. Caldwell's first game and possibly Coulibaly's debut. He was so keen to impress that if the ball went out of play, he took on the role of ballboy and ran to fetch it. However, that early good impression soon evaporated in his subsequent appearances. 

The podcast indicated that he had a poor attitude in training which probably limited his first team appearances. Of course it may just have been that regardless of how good or bad he was, Caldwell and Coulibaly did not see eye to eye, which was hardly a recipe for success.

Looks like he would be a risky signing and difficult to imagine, given past history.

[Dick Dastardly]

1 hour ago, Jaggernaut said:

So far, I'd say we are looking just about the same in terms of depth and quality as towards the end of last season. McMillan's departure is compensated (though not like-for-like, of course) by the return of Turner. Has to be said that without Lawless, McMillan kind of went off the boil. Hope we can get somebody stronger; shouldn't be too difficult. We need a replacement for Lawless, and we need a commanding centre back. Another striker would also be useful. 

Still enough time for Dools to bring in a few gems.

We don’t need a replacement for Lawless. We need someone who can stand in for Lawless until he is fit. Stevie is still on the books, do a player specifically for that position might be wasting a wage that could be used elsewhere 

I think we need another keeper and we certainly need a right back more than any of the positions you mentioned 

[Jaggernaut]

2 hours ago, partickthedog said:

I remember him coming on in the away game v Alloa. Caldwell's first game and possibly Coulibaly's debut. He was so keen to impress that if the ball went out of play, he took on the role of ballboy and ran to fetch it. However, that early good impression soon evaporated in his subsequent appearances. 

The podcast indicated that he had a poor attitude in training which probably limited his first team appearances. Of course it may just have been that regardless of how good or bad he was, Caldwell and Coulibaly did not see eye to eye, which was hardly a recipe for success.

Looks like he would be a risky signing and difficult to imagine, given past history.

Hmm, steer clear, I'd suggest.

[Jaggernaut]

2 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

We don’t need a replacement for Lawless. We need someone who can stand in for Lawless until he is fit. Stevie is still on the books, do a player specifically for that position might be wasting a wage that could be used elsewhere 

I think we need another keeper and we certainly need a right back more than any of the positions you mentioned 

Point taken about Lawless. If he gets back to full fitness, all the better. But he's 33, and it's only sensible to take into consideration that by that age, after a long lay-off getting back to pre-injury levels of fitness. sharpness, and endurance can't be guaranteed. Even some younger players don't manage it (Bannigan might be put forward as an example.)

Edited June 12, 2024 by Jaggernaut

[partickthedog]

2 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

We don’t need a replacement for Lawless. We need someone who can stand in for Lawless until he is fit. Stevie is still on the books, do a player specifically for that position might be wasting a wage that could be used elsewhere 

I think we need another keeper and we certainly need a right back more than any of the positions you mentioned 

Wasiri Williams would be a back up right back, but probably not a first choice in that position.

[jaggymct]

Shaun Byrne has been announced by Raith

possibly best announcement tweet ever though to be fair

[Albert's Ghost]

41 minutes ago, jaggymct said:

Shaun Byrne has been announced by Raith

possibly best announcement tweet ever though to be fair

That is sensational.  Where did they find such quality bants?

[Fawlty Towers]

1 hour ago, jaggymct said:

Shaun Byrne has been announced by Raith

possibly best announcement tweet ever though to be fair

Not sure about that to be honest - our announcement of Scott Tiffoney was pretty good and did not need to involve any team that might have been interested in him as well.

Might just be me but there does seem to be a trend, mainly in social media land, to be more concerned about winding others up rather than just promoting yourself. But whatever lights your candle I suppose.

[JAG1970]

1 hour ago, Jaggernaut said:

Point taken about Lawless. If he gets back to full fitness, all the better. But he's 33, and it's only sensible to take into consideration that by that age, after a long lay-off getting back to pre-injury levels of fitness. sharpness, and endurance can't be guaranteed. Even some younger players don't manage it (Bannigan might be put forward as an example.)

Stevie could miss half the season before he’s ready to play week in week out again, and he’ll be knocking on 34 by then. It will be great if he’s still able to play 90 mins every week but presumably Doolan will bring in someone else who has the opportunity to stake a permanent claim for that position with Stevie being used less often.

[elevenone]

6 hours ago, a f kincaid said:

Think he scored a cracker for Kilmarnock v Celtic. As best I remember he hardly set the heather on fire at Firhill. 4 appearances, all as a sub.

his toe poke vs celtic

 

[fenski]

7 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

We don’t need a replacement for Lawless. We need someone who can stand in for Lawless until he is fit. Stevie is still on the books, do a player specifically for that position might be wasting a wage that could be used elsewhere 

I think we need another keeper and we certainly need a right back more than any of the positions you mentioned 

I'm not prone to doom mongering, but I think we do need a replacement for Lawless, for this season anyway.

The injury he's got is a tough one and has previous for both ending careers and having a long term impact on performance.

Sincerely hope that's not the case for Stevie. But I reckon having him back and fit enough to start regularly this season, should be treated as a bonus, not a necessity.

[exiledjag]

I was of the opinion that bringing Stevie Lawless back to the Jags was a mistake. Well I was made to eat my hat and a hugh slice of humble pie on that one. He has been a great re-signing for the Club!

I think though given his age and more importantly, the nature of his injury, it would be prudent to sign someone who is good enough to challenge a fit Stevie Lawless for that position.

As our Manager it is necessary for Doolan to plan for the future and he would be negligent in not planning to  replace  Lawless and others, eg. Graham.

[Dick Dastardly]

On Graham, I would not be at all surprised if he was offered a player/manager role somewhere. His record with the women’s team will not have gone unnoticed.

[Lenziejag]

4 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

On Graham, I would not be at all surprised if he was offered a player/manager role somewhere. His record with the women’s team will not have gone unnoticed.

No doubt. Hi contract extension with us in December had a player/coach role for this season.

[Yellow & Redneck]

8 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

On Graham, I would not be at all surprised if he was offered a player/manager role somewhere. His record with the women’s team will not have gone unnoticed.

He was offered the Celtic Women's role just before signing the extension here. 

[scotty]

8 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

On Graham, I would not be at all surprised if he was offered a player/manager role somewhere. His record with the women’s team will not have gone unnoticed.

Scotland women's team sometime in future?

[Yellow & Redneck]

Back on topic, I'm not too bothered about Byrne. Another midfielder on the wrong side of 30 isn't what we are needing. 

[jagfox]

47 minutes ago, Yellow & Redneck said:

Back on topic, I'm not too bothered about Byrne. Another midfielder on the wrong side of 30 isn't what we are needing. 

I didn't realise he was 31. I'd agree with that.

Question for me is do we use McBeth in the 'screener' role now that we have 'missed out' on Byrne?

I guess we may tell from the next batch of signings.

[laukat]

Byrne would have been a decent player but I'm not sure we were ever going to get him given the travel he would have had to commit to. I think we may have been slightly used by Byrne's agent to get a few more quid out of Raith which isn't too bad from our perspective as it means they have less to go after other targets. I suspect Raith will sign Paul Hanlon and bar loans be pretty much done.

Slightly surprised we've not seem some signings this week. Perhaps we're holding back until next week to avoid the announcements getting lost in the publicity for the Scotland game?

[jagfox]

Prime holiday time for players and managers. Doesn't mean deals aren't in the making or even just waiting for the signature on the dotted line either.

[elevenone]

2 hours ago, jagfox said:

Prime holiday time for players and managers. Doesn't mean deals aren't in the making or even just waiting for the signature on the dotted line either.

Yup hope Dools is watching the Euro’s for next couple of weeks unearthing the remaining signings 😙

[lady-isobel-barnett]

2 hours ago, jagfox said:

I didn't realise he was 31. I'd agree with that.

Question for me is do we use McBeth in the 'screener' role now that we have 'missed out' on Byrne?

I guess we may tell from the next batch of signings.

Was going to comment re Byrne earlier but I too am unsure as to where McBeth's preferred position will be. Or more correctly where Doolan will prefer McBeth to play. I think if Luke was played as a centreback there may just have been a case for signing Byrne, even given his age and provided not on an extended contract.

Even if McBeth is going to play as defensive mid I still feel we need back up. Byrne would've been too expensive an option. Ideally we want a ball winner that can also play at fullback (preferably left sided at that). Last season not being adequate in defensive midfield, thus having an overexposed defence must have cost us a considerable amount of points.  

Agree we'll have to wait to see who's coming in to guess where McBeth will play.

[Woodstock Jag]

On 6/11/2024 at 10:10 PM, Barney Rubble said:

IIRC the issues were to do with contractual registration rather than anything untoward with the player himself.

Those with a better memory than I have will be able to clarify accurately.

Coulibaly signed for Al-Ahly in January 2017, but left after just four months, taking an unauthorised trip to London and refusing to return to Egypt. He claimed he was being treated poorly there (analogies were drawn to slavery with varying levels of credulity). Al-Ahly lodged a dispute with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in June 2017, claiming, effectively, breach of contract. A decision was handed down in April 2018 stating that Coulibaly owed Al-Ahly about $1.4 million (US).

Coulibaly appealed this decision, meaning it wasn’t (at that point) final. In September 2018, Thistle sought to register the player, on the basis of him (effectively) being a free agent. However, a registration of this kind requires what is known as an International Transfer Certificate (ITC).

This is sometimes colloquially referred to as “international clearance” and is why you’ll often see that phrase used in signing announcements even for loan deals from England. Normally it’s a formality and a player’s former Club and parent association rubber stamp the release of the previous registration, making someone “free” to be registered in Scotland.

The Egyptian FA and Al-Ahly refused to cooperate in providing this, effectively saying that either Coulibaly or Thistle had to pay the CAS award or they wouldn’t let him move his registration. But they don’t get the final say, especially in disputes like this and in particular when an appeal is live. It is ultimately for FIFA to determine whether a club can register a player.

The Scottish FA made representations to FIFA on Thistle’s behalf asking for a temporary ITC to be issued directly, so that Thistle could register the player. As far as I can gather this was argued on the basis that the appeal was still live and that the player should not be prejudiced (in the interim) by being unable to play football and earn a living.

A temporary ITC was granted in October 2018, enabling Coulibaly to play for Thistle. Additionally, Thistle had received assurances that they were not liable for any sums in respect of the CAS dispute, which was solely a matter for Coulibaly and Al-Ahly. He subsequently played a grand total of four times and appeared to fall out with Gary Caldwell and was released in May 2019. In that intervening period, Coulibaly lost his CAS appeal, and the sum owed became final, but this had no bearing on the validity of his temporary ITC.

Subsequently in 2019, Coulibaly signed for a Tunisian side, Etoile dun Sahel (Etoile) on a 5 year deal. As part of that player registration, Al-Ahly, Etoile and Coulibaly entered into a settlement agreement, whereby Etoile would cover Coulibaly’s unpaid liability. On that basis, Al-Ahly and the Egyptian FA allowed the registration to proceed.

Etoile and Coulibaly actually defaulted on this agreement, leading to Al-Ahly taking both to CAS again and FIFA imposed a player registration ban on the Club and a ban on Coulibaly playing for up to six months, unless the dispute was resolved sooner.

A second settlement agreement was reached with Al-Ahly, which Etoile partially fulfilled, paying $500k US to Al-Ahly in January 2022. However, they had also not paid Coulibaly his wages for November 2021-January 2022. Coulibaly claimed breach of contract and formally terminated the employment contract in March.

Etoile then took Coulibaly to CAS, arguing that he was still liable for the unpaid sums to Al-Ahly under the settlement agreements, and that he owed them the $500k already paid to Al-Ahly. CAS threw out this claim, saying Etoile had assumed liability for the full sum in the settlement agreement, and that they had defaulted on wages, giving Coulibaly just cause to terminate the contract, and they owed him more than $200k US.

Coulibaly, having become a free agent, had signed for a Cypriot team, Karmiotissa, for whom he played pretty regularly in season 2023-24, and had a very uninspiring goal return. He then played in Algeria for ES Setif, and had a similarly uninspiring spell before parting ways.

Long story short: he’s not got any outstanding issues around player registration or CAS judgments against him, but he’s also not had a particularly good footballing record before or since (essentially) a purple patch in 2016-17 across his spells with Killie and then Al-Ahly. He typically plays under half the games in a season, scores 3-4 goals a season, and then moves on. Having played in Egypt, Tunisia, Cyprus and Algeria.

Wouldn’t be in any hurry to sign him even if he is available.

[Norgethistle]

1 hour ago, Woodstock Jag said:

Coulibaly signed for Al-Ahly in January 2017, but left after just four months, taking an unauthorised trip to London and refusing to return to Egypt. He claimed he was being treated poorly there (analogies were drawn to slavery with varying levels of credulity). Al-Ahly lodged a dispute with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in June 2017, claiming, effectively, breach of contract. A decision was handed down in April 2018 stating that Coulibaly owed Al-Ahly about $1.4 million (US).

Coulibaly appealed this decision, meaning it wasn’t (at that point) final. In September 2018, Thistle sought to register the player, on the basis of him (effectively) being a free agent. However, a registration of this kind requires what is known as an International Transfer Certificate (ITC).

This is sometimes colloquially referred to as “international clearance” and is why you’ll often see that phrase used in signing announcements even for loan deals from England. Normally it’s a formality and a player’s former Club and parent association rubber stamp the release of the previous registration, making someone “free” to be registered in Scotland.

The Egyptian FA and Al-Ahly refused to cooperate in providing this, effectively saying that either Coulibaly or Thistle had to pay the CAS award or they wouldn’t let him move his registration. But they don’t get the final say, especially in disputes like this and in particular when an appeal is live. It is ultimately for FIFA to determine whether a club can register a player.

The Scottish FA made representations to FIFA on Thistle’s behalf asking for a temporary ITC to be issued directly, so that Thistle could register the player. As far as I can gather this was argued on the basis that the appeal was still live and that the player should not be prejudiced (in the interim) by being unable to play football and earn a living.

A temporary ITC was granted in October 2018, enabling Coulibaly to play for Thistle. Additionally, Thistle had received assurances that they were not liable for any sums in respect of the CAS dispute, which was solely a matter for Coulibaly and Al-Ahly. He subsequently played a grand total of four times and appeared to fall out with Gary Caldwell and was released in May 2019. In that intervening period, Coulibaly lost his CAS appeal, and the sum owed became final, but this had no bearing on the validity of his temporary ITC.

Subsequently in 2019, Coulibaly signed for a Tunisian side, Etoile dun Sahel (Etoile) on a 5 year deal. As part of that player registration, Al-Ahly, Etoile and Coulibaly entered into a settlement agreement, whereby Etoile would cover Coulibaly’s unpaid liability. On that basis, Al-Ahly and the Egyptian FA allowed the registration to proceed.

Etoile and Coulibaly actually defaulted on this agreement, leading to Al-Ahly taking both to CAS again and FIFA imposed a player registration ban on the Club and a ban on Coulibaly playing for up to six months, unless the dispute was resolved sooner.

A second settlement agreement was reached with Al-Ahly, which Etoile partially fulfilled, paying $500k US to Al-Ahly in January 2022. However, they had also not paid Coulibaly his wages for November 2021-January 2022. Coulibaly claimed breach of contract and formally terminated the employment contract in March.

Etoile then took Coulibaly to CAS, arguing that he was still liable for the unpaid sums to Al-Ahly under the settlement agreements, and that he owed them the $500k already paid to Al-Ahly. CAS threw out this claim, saying Etoile had assumed liability for the full sum in the settlement agreement, and that they had defaulted on wages, giving Coulibaly just cause to terminate the contract, and they owed him more than $200k US.

Coulibaly, having become a free agent, had signed for a Cypriot team, Karmiotissa, for whom he played pretty regularly in season 2023-24, and had a very uninspiring goal return. He then played in Algeria for ES Setif, and had a similarly uninspiring spell before parting ways.

Long story short: he’s not got any outstanding issues around player registration or CAS judgments against him, but he’s also not had a particularly good footballing record before or since (essentially) a purple patch in 2016-17 across his spells with Killie and then Al-Ahly. He typically plays under half the games in a season, scores 3-4 goals a season, and then moves on. Having played in Egypt, Tunisia, Cyprus and Algeria.

Wouldn’t be in any hurry to sign him even if he is available.

But can he play right back?