ascender

Maybe we should have some sort of transfer window bingo board with the usual suspects on it.

I saw quite a lot of Naismith when he played for Killie and I do think he has something to offer us if played up front in a more traditional forward's position rather than out wide left. The same could be said of Lafferty of course. In my lineup, you could swap Fleck for McCulloch, particularly as Fleck's preferred position seems to be playing off the front man. I agree about Whittaker, defence isn't his strong point, but going forward he does give us something else and is one of the most skilful players we have, very comfortable on the ball, when his confidence is high. I've never been a fan of 3 centre backs as I think its a difficult system to play unless you have the right players for it and also a couple of strong wing backs who can play as part of the midfield. I do agree though Gribz, you should play to your strengths and on paper, Weir, Papac, Bougherra and Webster are four very good CBs. ______________________McGregor____________________ Whittaker_______Webster______Bougherra_____Papac__ __ _______________________Edu________________________ ____________Davis____Thomson________McCulloch_______ __________________________Fleck______________________ ______________________Miller____________ ___

My tuppence worth..... ______________________McGregor____________________ Whittaker_______Webster______Bougherra_____Papac____ _______________________Edu________________________ ____________Davis____Thomson________Fleck_________ _________________Miller_______Naismith_______________

I agree, I don't think there's much between them, but I think 5M is a more realistic price. I have no idea how on earth Hearts managed to get 9M for Gordon. I think it was just one of those lucky situations where the manager really wanted him and was willing to pay whatever it took. Gordon's had a very good season and is rated highly down there, although I'm sure I read somewhere that Bruce wasn't his biggest fan. If Mcgregor does fancy a move and we could get 5M or so which would be reinvested in the team, I'd take it at the moment.

I have some points! That'll do for me. Got New Zealand in the sweep at work, so am hoping not to finish last in this one!

England should also be looking at how Dempsey was able to get that shot away in the first place. I thought he got a bit lucky with the one in the second half, but that's keeper's for you. Listening to the Guardian's podcast, they were saying that according to stats, Green made the most in the PL last season which directly lead to a goal being conceded. England should have won last night, I thought they were very poor. It was really strange listening to the commentary and the pundits, they didn't seem to be watching the same game that I was. Will be interesting to see if Algeria give it a go against England after watching that.

First part, fair enough, could be true, could be bull. The second part just makes no sense at all. Murray will be in place until someone concludes a deal to buy him out. There's no way he could say "I'll give it up next year" as there may be no interest at all then.

No news. Which is good news remember.

That's just the parochial little country we live in. You also had media and supporters of other teams complaining because of the damage we were doing to Scottish football and also the national team. Now the stories and complaints are that we're poaching other teams players. Assuming a fair fee is paid, which can be reinvested then I don't see what the problem is. This is pretty much how Scottish football has always worked, its not a new thing and was certainly the case 40+ years ago where the Old Firm would buy players from the other clubs. The Scottish market doesn't offer good value for the Old Firm because they are often forced to pay over the odds for players with the selling club effectively holding us to ransom. I guess its not helped by some of the fees we've paid in the past and also those that English clubs can afford. Clubs are obviously looking out for themselves which is perfectly natural, but you'd hope that common sense would prevail at some point if you have a player who would like to come to us, so long as there's a fair fee, what's the problem?

No, there's been nothing factual or official released. What's changed? Those that claim the deal is "done" are sticking to their guns. And those who have been against Ellis from the start still seem to be against him. The only thing that has dried up over the last few weeks appear to be the negative Ellis stories which seemed to be coming from the King camp. I wonder if it will all come out in the wash as to why certain posters, forums and prominent people from supporters groups have been aligned so strongly to certain viewpoints? Its funny seeing people trying to take the moral high ground while rubbishing what other people are claiming, when both sides are trading in rumours and info from sources.

I thought there were two or three people claiming the deal was effectively done, from at least two different sources. Allegedly.

Its begun, with Thompson saying they'll take no less than 3M for Goodwillie.

Not a bad signing so long as we don't pay over the odds for him. 750K - 1M tops.

All they've done there is actually read the statement that we've all read. Its the same as the other media outlets, they've all got access to the same facts, but will choose how to represent those facts. Their own sources notwithstanding obviously. But we all know about those pesky sources....

If anyone was in any doubt about the sorry state of our media, just look at the papers this morning. These bastions of honest reporting have taken that simple statement released last night and rather than just reporting what it said, they've decided to put their spin on it, to sensationalise and mis-report it, to suit their own agendas. Its complete and utter bullshit which allows these papers to write completely made-up headlines and stories based on nothing. Not even one of their "famous sources". I think the best of the bunch is the R*cord one saying how the deal is "on the brink of collapse" which appears to be based on the single line of the statement saying that a deal may not be concluded. There's your proof of the true agenda of that paper, which ironically still gets brought up by other supporters as being pro-Rangers. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but its amazing they get away with presenting stuff as fact when its clearly just opinion.

Another step in the right direction surely, an encouraging sign? If nothing was progressing, then why would this announcement be made? Sure, we don't know any more than we did yesterday, but does this not at least give us hope? On the other hand....

Has anyone checked on youtube or football manager yet?

At the moment I'm guessing Webster and Weir are our likely CB pairing. The most recent stuff from Weir seems to suggest he'll be here for another season. I know that a few people who've seen a lot of Webster this season have all been impressed with him, so assuming he's over his injury problems it will be good to see him back. Bougherra seems to be linked with another club each week, so unless he has a terrible WC I'm guessing he'll be off. Wilson seems determined to go and recent talk has Broadfoot going with him, so we're definitely looking light at the back. Like you say, the fact Whittaker can play either side means we might get away with those positions if we have a reserve RB available. WS has a good record with CBs, so its one area I'm less worried about tbh. Everything is just so up in the air at the moment due to the takeover (or lack of) but at the same time, with the WC about to start, maybe there isn't the same urgency to get things done with all the focus being on SA.

But he's number 18 at the moment, which I'm guessing is because 1+8 = 9?

At times we've effectively played with variations of what's being suggested and both Lafferty & Naismith playing out wider have looked pretty impotent. But is that down to the system WS is playing or is it the players we're using in those roles? i.e. are they just lacking the knowledge and discipline to play in the positions and they just start to wander as the game goes on? I think we're all agreed that a straight 4-4-2 is almost out-dated these days and not for us, but either we need to look at something different in terms of the 4-3-3, or sign players more suited to the system.

The problem with that formation is that it can very quickly lead to one up front with the two flankers being drawn out very wide and playing as wingers. Although like you say, if there's no onus on them to track back, that can help. What about the midfield 3, how do you see them lining up?

If this season has confirmed anything, its that neither Laffery or Naismith should be played out wide on the left. Whether its a winger or a left-sided midfielder, we badly need one to bring some balance to how we play.

There's also been a distinct lack of mud-slinging about Ellis over the last couple of weeks. Does anyone have any idea why that seems to have stopped all of a sudden? It seemed to be a recurring theme for a while there.

That's it for me Gribz, you have to think that if any of those guys listed, even Naismith , get decent chances in the SPL, they'll take a fairly high percentage of them. So you then need to turn our attention to making those chances and stopping the other side getting chances. In Walter we trust, but he has been guilty in the past of seemingly over-looking areas that need to be strengthened. Possibly the lack of funds will help focus his attention this time!

I really, really hope that he comes good next season, presumably while getting a run up front, through the middle. Having said that, the same could be said for Naismith, would be good to see him come in from the wide left. Based on last season though, I'm not overly optimistic that'll happen as he was rank rotten for most of it and seems to get drawn in to playing silly buggers instead of just getting on with things. Like I said before, I'd loved to be proved wrong on this, but at the moment it doesn't fill me with confidence, that's all.