ascender

Its very strange though to read about these guys who still like more than the odd glass of wine though and don't pay much attention to their diets. These are supposed to be professional athletes who are earning an obscene amount of money. Most people I know who do any sort of regular exercise know that you have to look after yourself and if you do, you'll see benefits in your performance. So WFT is it so difficult for Scottish players to get it through their thick skull? I see that some of the Hibs players have been having the exact same moans about some of John Collins' ideas about training, fitness and lifestyle.

There's a few different topics going on here, no-one can deny what WS has achieved and how the results and performances under PLG were poor. Couple of quick points though.... 1. PLG was the boss. So what he said should have been law. No? 2. We're talking about professional athletes here. Surely they should have been welcoming a new, different, European approach with more emphasis on looking after yourself, diet, lifestyle and fitness. 3. The Gavin Rae quote is a really small and insignificant one, but it does worryingly, add a little bit more weight to all the rumours we've heard which suggest that there was friction in the dressing room, towards training or PLG or something/someone, which wasn't in the best interests of the club. I bet we don't know the half of what went on behind the scenes under PLG. But then we said the same thing under AM. I know DM gets a lot of stick, but I'm more convinced than ever that there's an element of player power in the dressing room which needs to be sorted out asap.

Double that price and you might be right. I won't go in to the whole argument about him as we've talked so much about that its gone past boring now, but whether you rate him or not just now, he still has a lot more potential than a 1.5M player. If he can score half as many at a higher level then we'd be giving him away at that price. I was really surprised at the weekend when a couple of the guys I was working with from England had heard of Kris Boyd and how many goals he'd been scoring up here. Gribz - I've been a recent convert to the school of thought that all our first team squad should be available at the right price (except maybe Smith & Hutton?), but I think 1.5M could be very short sighted.

We've done well since WS took over, but its pretty obvious that we don't have the strength of squad to replicate those results over the course of a season, let alone the quality of player needed in key positions to win titles convincingly.

What's the message behind the banner supposed to be Cammy? Is it a dig at the recent moves to cut out the sectarian singing - i.e. we should be proud of our club's heritage and the like?

Because he can take a mean free kick but also has that ability to do something special and turn a game. I don't think we're over-hyping him, but we certainly don't have anyone like him in our squad at the moment.

We all knew it was coming, so its no surprise but doesn't make it any easier to take. I guess we can just be a bit more optimistic now that next season we'll actually put up a decent fight for the SPL under Walter. Juffrey is right though, we could do with signing one or two "special" players who can turn a game with individual skill or a moment of brilliance. I think that's what we've been lacking ever since we started to downsize. Add in some more players with grit, determination and fight, and we won't be far off winning it next season.

D'oh! I knew it was one of the full back positions. Come to think of it, maybe that was the problem.... Rae at right back, never. Rae at left back, it might just work. I'm a genius.

Only if he was playing at left back....

Chelsea seem to be coming on to a game at just the right time while Man Yoo seem to be struggling and their defence is in tatters thanks to injuries. But then they've had a few wobbles this season already and the next week they'll come out and destroy someone. Exciting stuff though.

Nice one. That's a relief actually.

Good point!

Thanks, I'll drop Frankie a PM. Re the letters, that's what I thought but I couldn't see it on the latest one. Besides, I've just ripped it up!

Where can I find my membership number? Just filling in my renewal and sharesave forms.....

Maybe I'm being over-dramatic, but this just seems symptomatic of the way our club is being run, no-one seems to care any more about the standards we used to set. Its just one big atmosphere of indifference from the top down. No wonder we're in the state we are. Or maybe I'm just getting old and the recent kits have been big hits with the "yoof". I can't remember the last time I bought any Gers gear for training, but its been a very, very long time.

This guy definitely seems to be worth spending the money on so I really hope we don't miss out on him.

Centre defence is now looking to be in good hands with lots of cover, so I guess that's something to be please about. I could see WS buying a couple of full backs in the summer though unless he's been happy with Ian Murray at LB with Smith out.

Very, very poor.

Yeah, he's definitely getting on, I think he's 36. Another one who should never have been sold and never really seemed to be rated by DA. Could he do a job for a season or two in the SPL? Probably.

lol. That's hilarious!

Its a tricky position though because we need goalkeeper cover, but with Am being so young, the likely choice is an older, more experienced keeper. Probably someone who will want to be number one, unless we get someone who is near the end of their career and is looking to come, work with young keepers and get the odd run out. Is Carroll better than McGregor? I honestly don't know. I've not been watching him week in, week out, so I'm not sure. Maybe someone else has been so can shed some light? All I do know is that the standard of keepers is very high in the Premiership, so we could do worse? I don't think he'd be happy as number two though.

Still more stories coming out about Roy Carroll. Apparently he's a Gers fan and as such has turned down Celtic in the past. Apparently there's a relegation release clause in his contract which means he can leave for nothing.

Was it down to our cost cutting that made him leave in the end? I'm assuming he's on a nice wedge of dosh out there.

Me? No-one springs to mind. When it came to our defensive problems, it was pretty obvious who I wanted signed - Pressley or Weir were two names mentioned and I think a lot of us thought that was a no-brainer. Now, I have no idea. It depends how much money is available and what our scouting network turns up I guess. It also depends greatly on what WS thinks of our current squad. Also, the last part of your question is very telling at the moment. I just don't know where we go from here really.

I don't think we've got a natural leader at the moment. Davie Weir would be a shoe-in if he was a bit more vocal on the pitch, but at the moment I'd like to see us sign someone experienced who will really play with his heart on his sleeve and give him the armband. Its a cliche, but I think its true at the moment.