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Coljag
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McCall extended Kinniburgh's contract before sending him out on loan to Clyde.

 

Before Boyle joined him, McCall said publicly that he had a future at Firhill. Then he transfer listed him at the end of the season. Boyle knows that he is not wanted but no other club will offer him a full-time contract. He will bide his time until the club offer him a tax-free lump sum to terminate his contract.

 

Remember McCall's boast that Boyle was better than Twaddle? Remember his boast that Hamilton offered something different? Then we had the Shields and Lovell disasters. McCall also said that Grehan needed a full pre-season to get his fitness up to First Division standards.

 

McCall had better get his act together or we will be relegated. Many blame the board but McCall has wasted a lot of their money. Would you throw more of your money down the drain?

Sadly Hamilton did offer something different.

 

I don't think Boyle is quite as bad as a lot of folk on here make out. It looks tho' that he does suffer badly from a lack of confidence, so the end product is just as bad. In isolation Boyle isn't that big a problem. There's far more established players that could prove a far bigger problem.

 

A question that's got to be asked is how many players are comfortable actually taking the ball past an opponent? In my mind the answer is only one player, Erskine, and even his biggest fan will admit he's far from the finished article.

Although over the 180 mins I've seen I like the look of Flannigan he's still yet another player whose natural game doesn't appear to involve taking the ball past opponents. If he's signed, and on balance I hope he is, he'll be joining a list of players (Rowson, Hodge, Paton, Boyle and to a lesser extent Cairney) who rarely go past an opposition player. Combined with a lack of pace throughout the midfield that's a real problem.

Edited by lady-isobel-barnett
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McCall extended Kinniburgh's contract before sending him out on loan to Clyde.

 

Before Boyle joined him, McCall said publicly that he had a future at Firhill. Then he transfer listed him at the end of the season. Boyle knows that he is not wanted but no other club will offer him a full-time contract. He will bide his time until the club offer him a tax-free lump sum to terminate his contract.

 

Remember McCall's boast that Boyle was better than Twaddle? Remember his boast that Hamilton offered something different? Then we had the Shields and Lovell disasters. McCall also said that Grehan needed a full pre-season to get his fitness up to First Division standards.

 

McCall had better get his act together or we will be relegated. Many blame the board but McCall has wasted a lot of their money. Would you throw more of your money down the drain?

I recall you welcoming the Hamilton signing as it brought something different.

The remarks about Boyle being better than Twddle were incredibly stupid but he was hardly going to slag the boy off given that he had just signed, theres probably not a Manager out there and who hasnt said a similarily stupid thing.

 

I seem to recall you welcoming the signing of Lovell and actually posting how worried you were that Bournmouth might take him back last January. To msot fans Lovell looked a good signing, he wasnt a wee boy and was as much responsible for his poor performances as McCall.

 

McCall has signed some dreadful duds and signings but with the poor spending money and for the second year running a ridiculous policy of not being able to sign anyeone pretty much till July then the targets he wants are gone. I dont think for one minute he st off last summer with the aimof I must get Jim Hamilton and Paddy Boyle, rather that to an extent was what was left. As for the Greg Shields signing cant fathom why on earth he ever considered that dud.

 

As for the McCall better get his act together well if he is getting no money and no more signings not to sure what can be done getting in new players

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I think you're placing too much emphasis on the young lads.

 

Fair enough, the old saying "if they're good enough, they're old enough" aaplies, but I think they should be used sparingly throughout the season, unless the look something special during there game time. Something I don't think can be applied to any of our youngsters - yet.

 

Paton appears to be the new target for people's ire. I don't think his performances have been any poorer than they were during his first season and his failings were immediately apparent.

 

I'd suggest the rumours of him looking for a move - and remember, they were only rumours - plus the fact he appeared to challenge some of our fans' view down at Ayr have caused his popularity to greatly diminish.

 

When it comes to the young players, if they are not any worse then they are good enough imo, and I dont think McGeough is any worse than Paton (on the evidence Paton showed last night AND most of last season). Also, Paton has long since been my most frustrating player but that's because he has shown so much potential and done heehaw with it. Parhaps with a lot of fans it is as you say, but not me. Infact I was given stick from my mates for going mental at Paton early last season, my the mid-way stage they changed their tunes.

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I recall you welcoming the Hamilton signing as it brought something different.

The remarks about Boyle being better than Twddle were incredibly stupid but he was hardly going to slag the boy off given that he had just signed, theres probably not a Manager out there and who hasnt said a similarily stupid thing.

 

I seem to recall you welcoming the signing of Lovell and actually posting how worried you were that Bournmouth might take him back last January. To msot fans Lovell looked a good signing, he wasnt a wee boy and was as much responsible for his poor performances as McCall.

 

McCall has signed some dreadful duds and signings but with the poor spending money and for the second year running a ridiculous policy of not being able to sign anyeone pretty much till July then the targets he wants are gone. I dont think for one minute he st off last summer with the aimof I must get Jim Hamilton and Paddy Boyle, rather that to an extent was what was left. As for the Greg Shields signing cant fathom why on earth he ever considered that dud.

 

As for the McCall better get his act together well if he is getting no money and no more signings not to sure what can be done getting in new players

 

I never welcomed Hamilton's signing and said that he was a dud from the start. That lazy, useless clown was a disgrace to the jersey that he should not have ever worn.

 

I welcomed Lovell's signing as we needed a new striker after Hamilton's displays confirmed that he was a dud. However, I was opposed to his end-of-season extension after his initial spell proved disappointing.

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I think its more the boards decision on this one.

I see Eddie Malone is still available can play in defence and midfield definetly a lot better than the vast majority of defenders we have

Can I remind you who signed most of these guys too? Yeah, McCall. Hes equally as responsible for wasting his fragile budget on a heap of trash.

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Can I remind you who signed most of these guys too? Yeah, McCall. Hes equally as responsible for wasting his fragile budget on a heap of trash.

 

Maybe so, but when you consider he actually made this Club £185k in transfers it kinda balances it out. Then you can add in Buchanan and Cairney as potential income and it looks not too bad. No other manager has done that at this club!

 

Lovell = good signing in everyones opinion but bad outcome, not McCalls fault imo.

Hamilton = good signing in most peoples opinion, turned out to be lazy/past it/sh!te.

Boyle = not the best signing.

Doolan & Erskine = jury is still out.

 

Loan signings have not worked out with the possible exception of Conroy, but other than that I struggle to think of bad signings made that were deemed bad by the fans at the time. Another plus is that McCall has moved the players on that have turned out to be not good enough, and quite quickly too.

 

In short, the bad signings haven't been the worst and the good ones have been lucrative and potentially lucrative...imo of course :thumbsup2:

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Maybe so, but when you consider he actually made this Club £185k in transfers it kinda balances it out.

 

In short, the bad signings haven't been the worst and the good ones have been lucrative and potentially lucrative...imo of course :thumbsup2:

 

As you first paragraph proves, not just in your opinion - he has earned us c. £180K.

 

Not only that but he's set up a youth policy, which if it's left alone by the board, could earn us more in the future.

 

Mind you, the money we got for Harkins was a bit of a fluke but if we could get £50-&100K every couple of years for players that would be a big help to the club. And you never know we might hit the jackpot, a la Hamilton. (But that's only likely if we can keep the yourh policy going and developing for a good number of years).

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Yeah, he's that good he got released by an absolutely woeful Kilmarnock side who have no money whatsoever to replace him. :rolleyes:

 

You've just totally contradicted your point in the same sentence, the reason he was freed was exactly because Killie are absolutely skint.

 

I suppose if he was 6f 6, 17 stone and could kick a few people he'd be more to your liking? It's people like you who are what's wrong with the Scottish game.

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If Harkins was sold for £150k and Twaddle for £60k then is that not £210k that was made.

If some team in England buy Harkins from Dundee then we also get 25% of that but I guess thats just speculation as for all we know he might just stay his full term at Dundee.

 

A couple of months back there was a few posters who stated rumours that Bolton were considering offering £40k for Ryan McBeth but that was maybe just rumour but I guess the potential is there for McBeth and a few others.

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If Harkins was sold for £150k and Twaddle for £60k then is that not £210k that was made.

If some team in England buy Harkins from Dundee then we also get 25% of that but I guess thats just speculation as for all we know he might just stay his full term at Dundee.

 

A couple of months back there was a few posters who stated rumours that Bolton were considering offering £40k for Ryan McBeth but that was maybe just rumour but I guess the potential is there for McBeth and a few others.

 

The Harkins fee was £125k + 25% sellon clause IIRC. As for MacBeth, he went on trial with Bolton in the week between the last game of the season and the youth cup final...maybe he didn't impress them enough, may they will just monitor his progress :unknw:

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If Harkins was sold for £150k and Twaddle for £60k then is that not £210k that was made.

If some team in England buy Harkins from Dundee then we also get 25% of that but I guess thats just speculation as for all we know he might just stay his full term at Dundee.

 

A couple of months back there was a few posters who stated rumours that Bolton were considering offering £40k for Ryan McBeth but that was maybe just rumour but I guess the potential is there for McBeth and a few others.

 

Yes there's good potential but any one of them could be hit by injury or find the life of a professional too hard (I mean in the sense of with a youngster looking after yourself, trying to improve all the time). That's why the youth policy has to be kept going and developed further whenever possible. We need a good number of youngsters coming through regulary because only a few really ever make it.

Edited by Mr Bunny
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........not being a fan of pre-season frendlies (having had my fair share of dross in previous seasons), I have not been at the last 2 games, but I have to ask, Is Paton CB material? is he the sort of player who can 'deal' with high balls into the box? Quite frankly this move worries me.

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He only really played CB for the latter stages of the QP game mainly I would have thought to allow McGeough a run at RB.

I assumed that as well. Bit of a balancing act between giving players the necessary run outs and protecting our scaled down squad.

 

I know it's common to hear of defenders being able to play anywhere across the back line but I can't imagine a situation so dire that Paul will be asked to fill in at centre half in a real game. :)

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I assumed that as well. Bit of a balancing act between giving players the necessary run outs and protecting our scaled down squad.

 

I know it's common to hear of defenders being able to play anywhere across the back line but I can't imagine a situation so dire that Paul will be asked to fill in at centre half in a real game. :)

 

Oddly enough Boyle seems to have done OK as centre back a couple of times (or did I dream this). Maybe he's OK there as he doesn't get a winger running at him.

 

It's odd how some players are more adaptable than others. Robertson seems to be able to play right across the back four. Archie can play full back or centre back but only on the left hand side.

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I'd like to put forward the apparently controversial opinion that Boyle played pretty well against Dumbarton. He appears to have become a lightning conductor for any criticism.I'm sure he's aware that he's got to impress this year or he's finished.I'm keen to see him play against better opposition but passmarks from me on Tuesday. A definitely positive aspect of his game was his ability to overlap and fire in crosses.

That to me was of the most concern. We had absolutely no width and everthing played thro' the middle. No surprise when 1] Paul Cairney was played wide right. For me he's wasted there and needs to be in the centre to be effective. 2] Our right footed triallist was playing wide left in the first half, nearly always cutting in and onto his stronger foot.

This might be a symptom of our small squad and injuries. I hope Erskine can solve the problem on the left but we badly need a wide right midfielder.

Without some width I fear we are never going to create enough goal scoring chances.

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I'd like to put forward the apparently controversial opinion that Boyle played pretty well against Dumbarton. He appears to have become a lightning conductor for any criticism.I'm sure he's aware that he's got to impress this year or he's finished.I'm keen to see him play against better opposition but passmarks from me on Tuesday. A definitely positive aspect of his game was his ability to overlap and fire in crosses.

That to me was of the most concern. We had absolutely no width and everthing played thro' the middle. No surprise when 1] Paul Cairney was played wide right. For me he's wasted there and needs to be in the centre to be effective. 2] Our right footed triallist was playing wide left in the first half, nearly always cutting in and onto his stronger foot.

This might be a symptom of our small squad and injuries. I hope Erskine can solve the problem on the left but we badly need a wide right midfielder.

Without some width I fear we are never going to create enough goal scoring chances.

Although not his best position Cairney may be better placed on the right as he can sort of go by a man. Trouble is he tends to forget his position and drops into central midfield leaving the right wing empty.

No doubt on his game he's best placed in centre mid but he's not been on his game for quite a while now. Even in the two friendlies he's looked more off the pace than others. Put another way if we had an orthodox right midfielder on his most recent form I'm far from certain Paul would be a regular start in central midfield.

Hopefully he can regain his form of earlier last season and cause McCall a real headache as to where to play him.

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For the doom merchants its a pre season game FFS

 

McGeough is not helped by playing Cairney/Trialist out right as they both want to be in the middle of the park, we need a right sided midfielder.

 

Boyle not good enough but all we have till archies is fit or we bring in a left back.

 

Halliwell will sign and hinchy abviously had weight watchers the day and needed to lose a few pounds to get his target weight.

 

Lets be honest with ourselves at best we may challenge at worst we will be 8th

 

Personally, I think the team could be a pleasant surprise this season. These practise games should all be 'closed doors' in my opinion - they are a training exercise, nothing more. We are rapidly becoming like OF fans who really believe that pre-season 'Challenge Matches' are taken seriously by anybody involved. Roll on the new season!

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I'd like to put forward the apparently controversial opinion that Boyle played pretty well against Dumbarton. He appears to have become a lightning conductor for any criticism.I'm sure he's aware that he's got to impress this year or he's finished.I'm keen to see him play against better opposition but passmarks from me on Tuesday. A definitely positive aspect of his game was his ability to overlap and fire in crosses.

That to me was of the most concern. We had absolutely no width and everthing played thro' the middle. No surprise when 1] Paul Cairney was played wide right. For me he's wasted there and needs to be in the centre to be effective. 2] Our right footed triallist was playing wide left in the first half, nearly always cutting in and onto his stronger foot.

This might be a symptom of our small squad and injuries. I hope Erskine can solve the problem on the left but we badly need a wide right midfielder.

Without some width I fear we are never going to create enough goal scoring chances.

It almost makes you think back to the Twaddle-McKinlay left wing as a dream team.

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