1 John Lambie Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 (edited) As per the 'match preview' on the official site Paton & Boyle have been offered new 2yr deals, with Burns & Stevenson being offered 1yr deals. I would like to see Lochhead given a new deal, or at least a chance before the end of the season to earn a deal, think he has somethin. (That's as an aside to the others I hope we keep that have been mentioned in other threads). Also good news about the possibility of getting Balatoni &/or McGowan on loan next season. Onto the team, it looks like Kinniburgh will be playing, (which would mean 3-5-2) but I would go for: ...........................Fox Robertson.....Balatoni.....Archibald.....Boyle Campbell.....Flannigan.....Rowson.....Erskine ..................Grehan.....Dooolan Subs: Scully Kinniburgh McGeough/Lochhead Stewart Fraser I would honestly be tempted to throw in Lochhead at CM from the start, but it's not going to happen, is it? Saw the 2nd half of the U-18s game the other night, McGrotty looks a player. Edited April 1, 2011 by 1 John Lambie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin energy Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 As per the 'match preview' on the official site Paton & Boyle have been offered new 2yr deals, with Burns & Stevenson being offered 1yr deals. I would like to see Lochhead given a new deal, or at least a chance before the end of the season to earn a deal, think he has somethin. (That's as an aside to the others I hope we keep that have been mentioned in other threads). Also good news about the possibility of getting Balatoni &/or McGowan on loan next season. Onto the team, it looks like Kinniburgh will be playing, (which would mean 3-5-2) but I would go for: ...........................Fox Robertson.....Balatoni.....Archibald.....Boyle Campbell.....Flannigan.....Rowson.....Erskine ..................Grehan.....Dooolan Subs: Scully Kinniburgh McGeough/Lochhead Stewart Fraser I would honestly be tempted to throw in Lochhead at CM from the start, but it's not going to happen, is it? Saw the 2nd half of the U-18s game the other night, McGrotty looks a player. Couldnt make the Under 18s game the other night i know we lost 2-1 how did it go ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin energy Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Couldnt make the Under 18s game the other night i know we lost 2-1 how did it go ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 (edited) I would honestly be tempted to throw in Lochhead at CM from the start, but it's not going to happen, is it? Saw the 2nd half of the U-18s game the other night, McGrotty looks a player. I agree re Lochhead from what I've heard he could be a strong player in midfield, though whether he's ready yet ...? McGrotty is very young isn't he? (Just checked the OS, apparently he's just turned 17). Signed for next year but if he continues his present development should be offered an extension ASAP. Edited April 1, 2011 by Mr Bunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Murray Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 ...........................Fox .....Balatoni.. Kinniburgh...Archibald... Robertson.............................Boyle .....Flannigan.....Rowson.....Erskine .................Grehan.....Dooolan Looks like it will be the above team but I would like Fraser and Campbell to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 ...........................Fox .....Balatoni.. Kinniburgh...Archibald... Robertson.............................Boyle .....Flannigan.....Rowson.....Erskine .................Grehan.....Dooolan Looks like it will be the above team but I would like Fraser and Campbell to start. That looks OK to me. Hope both Fraser and Campbell get a good half hour or so, once we're 3-0 up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand2 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 McCall says there's another four or five from the current squad he wants to keep. You would think he would be keen to keep a hold of Archie and Rowson. I would suspect MacBeth and McGeough will be retained (I would certainly hope so if Burns has been offered a new contract). Not sure who the fifth one will be. The ever-reliable Pie and Bovril has recently linked us with the Raith keeper, Davie McGurn which, despite probably being totally unfounded, is interesting. As far as I recall, McGurn was part-time at Morton and still is at Raith. He was also, if I remember correctly, Morton's goalkeeping coach. If this does transpire to be true, it perhaps suggests Scully will spend next season out on loan with McGurn playing second fiddle to Fox. Perhaps signals the start of a full-time, part-time mixture but, in all likelihood, is utter bollocks. Back on topic, I suspect from one of McCall's comments that he is considering switching back to a 3-5-2 for tomorrow. If that is the case, I would expect Kinniburgh to come back in alongside Archie and Balatoni with Boyle and Robertson at wing-back. Erskine seemed to do well in a 3-5-2 at Raith so I would imagine he'll start with Rowson and possibly Flannigan, who seems to play quite well against Queens. Doolan is an automatic pick and Grehan will probably continue up-front. I am quite interested to see Stewart in a competitive match; he looked decent, if a little unfit, in his trial game against Queens Park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 John Lambie Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 McCall has stated that he's happy to go with Fox, Scully & Shepherd as goalies next season. & he has also stated that Hinchy will always be here whilst he is here, so I don't think the McGurn rumour will be true. He is also just 30, was he really a gk coach when at Morton? He left their aged 28. He's a decent keeper tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand2 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 McCall has stated that he's happy to go with Fox, Scully & Shepherd as goalies next season. & he has also stated that Hinchy will always be here whilst he is here, so I don't think the McGurn rumour will be true. He is also just 30, was he really a gk coach when at Morton? He left their aged 28. He's a decent keeper tho. The thing is, if he only wants to keep a further four or five players as he says, I can't see Shepherd being one of them. I'm not suggesting replacing Hinchy, not at all; he's done an excellent job with Tuffey and now Fox and can hopefully do the same with Scully. McGurn is apparently Centrally-based and is looking for a move closer to home if P&B is to be believed. He's a good keeper and would provide excellent competition for Fox, as I have doubts whether Scully is ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifu03340 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 McCall says there's another four or five from the current squad he wants to keep. You would think he would be keen to keep a hold of Archie and Rowson. I would suspect MacBeth and McGeough will be retained (I would certainly hope so if Burns has been offered a new contract). Not sure who the fifth one will be. Hodge, Flannigan or Robbo...I dont really think we have anyone else as surely Jackie Mac & Sid are done now. I'd say that Hodge or Flannigan is the more likely & Im sure one of them will be kept. Re: Your point on McGurn. I dont think we can can afford to carry a quality 2nd keeper like that given the amount of game time he is 'likely' to get. (Unless Fox gets a long term injury) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pie Of The Month Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 The thing is, if he only wants to keep a further four or five players as he says, I can't see Shepherd being one of them. I'm not suggesting replacing Hinchy, not at all; he's done an excellent job with Tuffey and now Fox and can hopefully do the same with Scully. McGurn is apparently Centrally-based and is looking for a move closer to home if P&B is to be believed. He's a good keeper and would provide excellent competition for Fox, as I have doubts whether Scully is ready. McGurn is a lecturer at Cardonald College I believe. It must be a pain for him to travel to Kirkcaldy to train when he is no longer automatic 1st choice. It makes sense from that point of view but I could only really see it happening if Hinchy wanted to move on for whatever reason and we then used McGurn as a player/coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand2 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Re: Your point on McGurn. I dont think we can can afford to carry a quality 2nd keeper like that given the amount of game time he is 'likely' to get. (Unless Fox gets a long term injury) He would be part-time though, which would decrease the financial impracticality of having two quality keepers on the books. I'm sure if he does leave Raith, he could get another Central-based team who could offer him the number one jersey but maybe not in the First which would be a shame as he is a good keeper. McGurn is a lecturer at Cardonald College I believe. It must be a pain for him to travel to Kirkcaldy to train when he is no longer automatic 1st choice. It makes sense from that point of view but I could only really see it happening if Hinchy wanted to move on for whatever reason and we then used McGurn as a player/coach. Aye, you're right, I remember hearing that. Perhaps someone has noticed the work Hinchh has done and he is being poached. That saif, McGurn wouldn't necessarily have to come in as a coach. It's a benefit that he is capable of doing some coaching work but he would be coming in purely as a player, I would have thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kni Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 ...........................Fox .....Balatoni.. Kinniburgh...Archibald... Robertson.............................Boyle .....Flannigan.....Rowson.....Erskine .................Grehan.....Dooolan Looks like it will be the above team but I would like Fraser and Campbell to start. Agree 100%. I expect the subs to be Scully, McNamara, Donnelly, Stewart and Campbell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 John Lambie Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 The thing is, if he only wants to keep a further four or five players as he says, I can't see Shepherd being one of them. I'm not suggesting replacing Hinchy, not at all; he's done an excellent job with Tuffey and now Fox and can hopefully do the same with Scully. McGurn is apparently Centrally-based and is looking for a move closer to home if P&B is to be believed. He's a good keeper and would provide excellent competition for Fox, as I have doubts whether Scully is ready. Just repeating what McCall said at the MTMN, maybe he's not including some of the younger players in the 4/5 he wants to keep? If he doesn't think Shepherd is good enough (from what I've heard, he is rated pretty high, along with Scully), then going with 2 goalies (& using the emergency loan if needed is a decent alternative). Hodge, Flannigan or Robbo...I dont really think we have anyone else as surely Jackie Mac & Sid are done now. I'd say that Hodge or Flannigan is the more likely & Im sure one of them will be kept. Rowson?? He's a must for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven H Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Just repeating what McCall said at the MTMN, maybe he's not including some of the younger players in the 4/5 he wants to keep? If he doesn't think Shepherd is good enough (from what I've heard, he is rated pretty high, along with Scully), then going with 2 goalies (& using the emergency loan if needed is a decent alternative). Rowson?? He's a must for me. He's in the original 4. Think McGurn would be a good back up for Fox if he was signed on a part time basis. Scully and Shepherd are good prospects but still a year or so away from sustaining a long term place in the team if Fox were to get injured or sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pie Of The Month Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 http://www.ptfc.co.uk/news/2010-2011/april_2011/contract_update Lochhead and Shepherd told they won't be offered new deals. Boyle has rejected new deal and Paton thinking it over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 John Lambie Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Really disappointed about Lochhead, he stood out last season for the u-19s & has carried that forward into the reserves games this season (from what I've seen). Think we may live to regret that one. Onto Shepherd, I can only think the game at Queens must have had some impact on the decision to not offer him a new deal, as it seemed fairly certain from what I remember at the MTMN. If it has been decided on that game, pretty harsh. A shame about Paddy, especially considering he would be absolutely nowhere this season (or next) had we had the money to release him last summer! I would rather have kept Paddy than Paton, but I do hope Paul stays. Pity there's no LB coming pushing from the U-19s. Good luck to Lochhead & Shepherd, I'm sure they'll find a 2nd or 3rd division club to get some games & experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Oh no, that's terrible news about Paddy. From a selfish perspective I'm hoping he doesn't get an offer from an SPL club. If he moves to another div1 team it would be difficult to hear about but if div1 is his only choice he may decide to stay with us. I imagine there will be plenty of interest though, for a left sided player with his potential. Also not great news that two of the youngsters are free to find new clubs, but we can only have so many players and not all the youth players are going to make it, unfortunately. Wish them all the best in finding new clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand2 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Disappointing news about Paddy. I know he was training with Motherwell before he signed with us so perhaps they've revived their interest. Would be gutted to see him leave which is a massive turnaround from last year where I would have driven him to his new club myself. Probably our most consistent player this season and, although I don't agree with McCall's claim that he is the best in the league, he's certainly not far away. Seems strange after he was saying a week or two ago that he was desperate to sign a new deal but, hey ho, that's football. Hope Paton re-signs but, if Paddy is able to get a significantly better offer elsewhere, I would imagine he would be equally capable. Still time for Paddy to change his mind. If he does, great. If not, best of luck, Oor Pad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 (edited) Boyle has come on a ton, but he's no world-class player. Come the summer there will be left-backs available, and looking for a club, who are just as good as if not better than him. Sorry about the young guys; never saw either of them in action that I can recall. Hope they get fixed up. Edited April 1, 2011 by Jaggernaut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Boyle has come on a ton, but he's no world-class player. Come the summer there will be left-backs available, and looking for a club, who are just as good as if not better than him. Sorry about the young guys; never saw either of them in action that I can recall. Hope they get fixed up. It's probably because he's left sided that he's got offers elsewhere. I don't think you'll find a glut of decent left backs available come summer. Surprised at the Lochhead release. Came across as an old head on young shoulders who I thought could have in time replaced Rowson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodMcDonaldJag Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 It's probably because he's left sided that he's got offers elsewhere. I don't think you'll find a glut of decent left backs available come summer. Surprised at the Lochhead release. Came across as an old head on young shoulders who I thought could have in time replaced Rowson. Pretty much how i saw it too. I think he suffers from the fact that he is behind the likes of Bannigan, Campbell and McBeth who will all probably end up at central midfielders. Having watched the unders quite a lot over the past season or two, i was always impressed with Kyle and how strong he was for such a young lad. Good luck to him in the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fearchar Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 The ever-reliable Pie and Bovril.....in all likelihood, is utter bollocks. Seems a fair summary to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kni Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Boyle has come on a ton, but he's no world-class player. Come the summer there will be left-backs available, and looking for a club, who are just as good as if not better than him. Sorry about the young guys; never saw either of them in action that I can recall. Hope they get fixed up. Ryan Conroy is out of contract at Celtic in May and could be a possible replacement for Boyle. It is significant that McCall did not talk about deals for Rowson, Robertson, Hodge and Archibald. He has stated that he wants Balatoni and McGowan back. It looks like we will have a young and inexperienced squad next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennythistle Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 Ryan Conroy is out of contract at Celtic in May and could be a possible replacement for Boyle. It is significant that McCall did not talk about deals for Rowson, Robertson, Hodge and Archibald. He has stated that he wants Balatoni and McGowan back. It looks like we will have a young and inexperienced squad next season. McCall has mentioned Rowson and Archie in the past. I'll be quite shocked if they are not at Firhill next season. Do agree with you that it will be quite a young looking side next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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