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Jon McLaughlin has signed a new contract to summer 2024.

I'd be surprised if he signed on just to be no. 2. After McGregor's howlers maybe this is a sign that he is about to become our official no. 1. I'd like to see McCrorie moved up to McLaughlin's place once Greegs retires.

Early start for this thread therefore please feel free to sex it up in time for Wednesday. Anyhoo, my team for the game on Wednesday would be: *******McLaughlin******* ***Balagun****Goldson*** Tav****************Borna ***********Kamara******* ***Arfield********Aribo*** Diallo****************Kent **********Roofe********** Balagun if fit obviously... Thoughts?

Why - you're the one questioning the financial backing the fans give and referred to some as knicker wetters over their questioning of the timing of a £45 payment - think that was completely out of place (oh and order)....

I am the eternal optimist and think we have more than enough to beat them.

Selling Patterson was us starting to do what the yahoos have been doing for years - making a profit on players. We only need to make significant profit on one or two players each year - we don't need a whole team of prospects. It's a balancing act.

I note we are connected with Guy Bivouac from FC Tent, of course could just be a load of canvas?

Thanks Mr. bread man for taking him if true.

Agree with your comments Ian but now see this as McGregor's swansong season. As for the clamour to sign a new keeper it amuses me as McLaughlin,IMO,will seamlessly move up to no.1 and McCrorie to no2.

Madness wanting our best keeper dropped for Wednesday, he is our best keeper, he had a few mistakes against Ross County but so did a lot of others, if for instance the players who missed numerous chances had scored we would have won the match easily, also he has saved us many times, if every player who had a bad game was dropped for the next match we would have to play our youths

I think this wave of momentum they seem to be carrying could work in our favour. They are setting this up as 3 pts are a given. Dundee Utd showed that they are vulnerable.

My thoughts centre mainly around get f*cking intae them and will do until kick off. That's when the panic/anxiety sets in. Roofe should definitely start up top. I'd start Sakala instead of Kent but can't see that happening. We need to attack because our defending is a bit of a concern. My main worry is GvB will continue to take a defensive approach. We have what it takes to beat them.

This is good news and pretty telling. Siegrist was excellent yesterday again BTW

My jaw hit the floor in absolute disbelief watching our defensive debacle yesterday. I was going to compare our defence to a sunday league pub team but that would be an insult to the latter. If we ever needed an advert for our defensive frailties it was there for all to see. It does concern me that most of the goals we concede are self inflicted. There have been plenty this season where we have conceded from harmless positions and it must be concerning our manager. I called out our defence at the start of the season and I'm calling them out again. Our whole back line is just not good enough.

A bit of a selection nightmare for Gio ahead of Wednesday. Goalie: McGregor is usually solid, but how he messed the game up yesterday. Giving McLaughlin a new contract will have that guy buzzing ... and he ain`t no bad goalie either. Defence: Goldson`s been a rock last season, but even out of my head I can count about a handful of games where he handed goal to the opposition this season. And yesterday was no different. If anything, the Scum knows how to attack and if our centre-halfs are not up for this, the game may become a "who-scores-more-goals contest", as their defence ain`t great. I actually do wonder whether we`ll go to three at the back with Balogun - Goldson - Bassey, with at least one DM in front of them. Defensive midfield: Kamara can be a fine footballer, but yesterday it was another sub-standard performance. For all his ball-winning and retaining possession stats, he passes sideways and back far too often when there actually is the opportunity to either go on the attack himself or play a pass up front. We sure missed Davis these last few games, not least as Goldson`s accurate passes from the back have become a rarety. Likewise, the old fox`s cool head eases some pressure off the defence. He won`t make it till Wendesday though. If I had the choice and he`s fit, I`d place Jack in front of the defence. He`s the destroyer in midfield with a calm mind as well as the willingness to go on the attack and even has a good shot in him. No Kamara, as I would play with 3-at-the-back. Midfield: Dunno how to describe it, but even after all his years here, I do not know what position Aribo is playing in. Maybe he should simply be given the free-roving role. Thing is, yesterday he popped up here and there and I don`t know whether other people filled the spaces appropriately, it all looked somewhat makeshift time and again. Every now and then, you also beg Aribo to (finally) pass the ball, instead of jousting along with two or three defenders (which eh did well to attract to him ... and thus creating space for others to run into). Given his combative streak and willingness to attack, Arfield should also be in the starting line up. Not as effective yesterday, but the service to and from other players to him and Itten weren`t that great either. He`s an Old Firm veteran too and knows the score. That would leave us with the "wingers". IMHO, Diallo will be given another starting slot and did well enough. We`ll have to wait and see how he copes with the howling hordes. Then there is the left wing. Neither Wright nor Kent have set the heather on fire of late, I`d play Sakala there ahead of either, but since I use 2 strikers, that slot goes to Kent. Its games like these that he usually performs, so I`ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Strikers: I`d play two, whether as nominal strikers or not. Since they are the most lethal pair, I`d go for Sakala and Roofe. Quick, bags of tricks and the most direct we have. McLaughlin Balogun/Tavernier - Goldson - Bassey Jack Diallo - Aribo - Arfield - Kent Sakala - Roofe What we will get though is most likely a hard-copy of yesterday, with the odd change. If I had to make a prediction, I`d say ... McGregor Tavernier - Goldson - Bassey - Barisic Kamara - Jack Diallo - Aribo - Kent Sakala ... and they will come at us in waves while we hope for counter attacks. In the here and now, the outcome looks ominous. Then again, in OF games, the form book goes out of the window ...

I'm quite a pessimistic person. I tend to get the fear going into most games. But, even I think the comments recently have been embarrassing; a complete over reaction. Because we dropped a couple of points - through individual error - to then see criticisms for every facet of our club is mental; McGregor had a howler, so now the DoF is not good enough, recruitment policy is not working, tactics are wrong, the manager's lost it, the dressing room is split, all personnel are sh*t, this is rubbish, that's p*sh...

We are, and we've been top of the league for the majority of the season. However the gap has been closed and we're one result away from not being top of the league. Where in reality, we should have been out of sight. We are kidding ourselves on if we don't believe the momentum has swung in their direction. They are at home and will rightly fancy their chances (I know I would if the positions were reversed). We have a decent recent record against them and I think we have better players than them but that doesn't always mean the better team. We don't seem to be playing as a team and our performances this season have been littered by individual mistakes. Wednesday is huge and will go a long way in showing the character (or lack off) of this group and players and management team.

What an utter pile of crap. How do you know people's financial positions? £45 before payday after Christmas is a lot of money to some people. Just because it's not to you, doesn't mean it isn't to the person sitting next to you. Hardly knicker wetters, what an utter crass ridiculous comment. And those that were impacted asked for a little more time to pay, sure the vast majority stumped up once they had been paid. To question the financial support the fans give the club is ludicrous - it's often taken for granted but it is unwavering.

Aribo - by a mile.

Heart and Hand did a good analysis of the accounts which seemed to suggest that even with the covid losses, we are returning to a decent position. If we trimmed the squad, had a run in Europe and sold one player for good money in the next year, it would be a very rosy picture (as other commercial areas have grown well). Since then, we've sold Patterson and taken in money for SG and his team, having already plugged the funding gap for this year. I don't think its the money that's the issue. January just isn't the transfer window where the major business is done, that's usually in the summer window, so I think our collective hands are tied a bit. But there's no doubt we're paying the price for not being more ruthless after 55 and facing up to some of the positions which needed fixed. Not sure if it was a false sense of confidence, whether SG genuinely didn't see the little things needing improved or if the gamble was that we'd qualify for CL and that would make more money available? Of course its an over-reaction to yesterday, but a lot of the criticism is valid because we're struggling in the same ways we did at the start of the season and during SG's time (other than the league last year). I still think we'll beat them at Parkhead though.

The reaction is embarrassing.

We wil get big money for Aribo and Kamara and decent money for one or two others. We're not in trouble if we keep picking up bargains and moving them on at significant profit.

Being level-headed and considering the bigger picture are not things we, as a support, are renowned for.

What’s frustrating about today is that the individual errors returned which seemed to have stopped after GvB took over.

The speed with which the usual suspects have rushed to condemn Sands is symptomatic of the very worst in our support, always looking to acquire scapegoats and apportion blame. In Sands' case the condemnation has been so swift you might think he had been lined up as a whipping boy before he even arrived at the club. The truth is that, for a young man crossing the Atlantic and going straight into the team, Sands has acquitted himself well and none of us can say how good he might yet turn out to be or how big a contribution he might yet make. Frankly, commenting on performances in specific games is one thing but condemning players as worthless before they've had time to show what they can do is ridiculous. More than that, it's shameful.