ascender

If we can get a creative, attacking midfielder in to the first XI and someone to replace Weir, I think we'll be well on our way to having a very successful team, squad and one which can be dominant in Scotland for a while to come.

The Carrol transfer suited all parties. He got a chance to knuckle down, get fit and challenge for a place while we got someone to put some pressure on McGregor. Good luck to Carrol, he never got his chance here, but reserve keeper is always a bit of a strange position to fill.

Banks looks OK from what I've seen. He's been treated like shit recently by Romanov, but most Jambos rated him when he was playing regularly.

Boyd has improved other areas of his game this season and has showed that, albeit in the 20 minute cameo appearances he's been getting. But a lot of our fans have chosen to ignore this and just continue the slagging of him.

He might be better off at another club tbh as there's a large section of fans who will never want him here.

I still don't buy the argument that we need to change our formation and tactics to get the most out of him. He can't play up front on his own, but not many strikers can successfully. I think in the SPL, which is our bread and butter, you could put any two of our strikers out, give them some time to gel and they'd score goals. Even more if we sorted out our creative problems.

I don't understand why Boyd has been held up by many to be all that is wrong with our club at the moment and over the last few seasons.

And Birmingham won't be playing most games with one striker?

I've no idea. I thought they played with O'Connor and Forrsell up front. But I thought the question was about why Boyd hadn't been playing for us much.

I don't think Boyd has been playing because WS has been playing with one main striker up front for some time and that role just doesn't suit Boyd. Recently its been almost a 4-3-3 at times with Burke and Naismith on the flanks.

I still don't understand why Boyd isn't rated by many Gers fans. Especially given that this season in his limited appearances, he's still scoring goals and also working harder, gets involved in more link-up play and has improved his touch. But then given that a large section of the support just don't like him, maybe he should go somewhere he'll get a fair chance.

The other thing about Boyd is that given Cousin's age and JCD's injury rate, should we be looking to sell a striker?

Birmingham have apparently had an offer knocked back for McFadden and are due to come in with an improved one for him.

* sigh *

Last time I checked St Mirren were supposed to be an SPL club and I guess they have access to the web to check the weather reports and plan accordingly?

And what was with the stories in the press today from various spokesmen saying most Bears would be unhappy at the stadium being renamed? From what I've seen, most of us would be quite happy for it to be re-named if it is going to take the club to a new level as it will always be Ibrox to us.

I'd have thought if this goes ahead, it will be a cert that the stadium is renamed to the highest bidder.

We play twice before Celtic play again, so could have a nice wee gap opened up by then.

Does that mean there's been a leak to someone in the media about plans and maybe the leak was way off what was actually being planned?

Sounds interesting, but you have to wonder where the money is coming from.

i am quite confused by this man. in the last statement we are a selling club, and in the statement before it we are signing new players. clearly the choices are a) keep alan hutton and dont buy a,nyone extra or b) sell hutton and reinvest in other players. thats not quite a selling club, its just a choice. while we cant afford to spend 8 mill on an Alan Hutton, there is absolutely nothing that says we have to sell him. i think just blindly deferring to this idea that we have to sell is just cynicism masking itself as realism. the implication is that if we didnt have Alan Hutton to sell we would be going under, which doesnt seem to be the case.

Yeah, it was a bit vague! What I meant by that was that if we get 8M for Alan Hutton, that 8M could bring in 3 or 4 players to strengthen the overall squad.

I was almost playing devil's advocate though. We clearly don't have to sell Hutton and the guy is on a 5 year deal with us, so there's no pressure. The truth is, I have no idea what the future holds for our club at the moment. I don't know what SDM is thinking and what his plans are. The fact that the offer from Spurs appears to have been accepted, does that mean we need the money to service the debt to make the club more appealing to buyers? Do we need the money so that WS can strengthen the squad? But more importantly, what are our ambitions now? I really don't know what direction the club is going any more and exactly what level of success SDM will be happy with.

FWIW I think its encouraging that any of our players is so highly regarded within the English game as has been evident in the media this season. I'm also encouraged that Hutton doesn't want to leave at the moment.

But given we are in the SPL with such little revenue from TV and having been through a period of down-sizing, is this not the future for us? Develop young players and then sell them on giving us actual money to reinvest in youth and signing more players?

I just don't see how we can be anything but a selling club in today's climate unless we get fresh investment.

He's got age on his side and isn't getting badly paid so I think it shows some ambition on his part as he's hoping to improve so will always have the option of moving on. I think 8M + add-ons is a great price for him.

I think he came off in their last game before the break with an injury, so the Gers jinx has obviously hit him too.

Strange to see Moore's name being mentioned as I thought WS ruled him out last week or the week before as he was too similar to players we already had.

Superb result for us and leaves us with a great opportunity over the next while to open up a gap. Am pleased for Caley too as they were my local team when they were in the Highland League.

If its a rumour, why can't you post it here, or preface it with "allegedly".

Besides, if its that bad then surely he'd have been sacked and wouldn't be anywhere near the first team?

Is this the rumour that has Boyd annoyed he's not playing, but even more annoyed that McCoist has been passing team news to one of his journo friends before the players have been told?

Part of the problem though Frankie is that 3 in to 2 won't go (actual numbers not accurate). Thomson is improving all the time and I'd like to see him in there as our holding midfielder. In a traditional 4-4-2, that's leaving room for a more attacking midfielder alongside him. But that doesn't seem to be Fergie going on his performances this season. He still gets pulled back and becomes far too defensive, to the point where at times with him, Hemdani and Thomson in there, its just a (very negative) shambles.

But WS won't drop Fergie. So do we then look at 4-5-1 with an attacking midfielder? I still think that we should be playing a straight 4-4-2 in the SPL and give a forward pairing some time to gel together.

You're right, we're still missing a really creative, box-to-box, link-up midfielder. Why hasn't Gow been given a chance? What about Buffel? Burke on the right surely deserves at least a chance to see if he can turn his Ibrox career around? Is Boyd finished here?

Its almost like WS has his preferred players who he'd rather play week in, week out, regardless of how they're actually playing rather than giving others a chance. I just think its a bit narrow-minded and smacks of short-termism which is a shame when you look at some of the players we have signed who just aren't playing. But then maybe DM has told WS that the SPL is the priority this season and he's to grind it out no matter what. I do think though that WS's blind loyalty to some players and the overly-defensive system has already cost us points in the league and will continue to do so.

I do agree with your other sentiment, progress has been made since last year, but its frustrating to see some of the same old baffling decisions being made.

WTF happened there? Am sitting at work, its 1-0. Go to get a drink, come back and its 3-0.

Please tell me we didn't play 4-5-1 until the last 5 minutes or something.

Lyon don't expect us to come out and attack, but I think we should. And if that means going for it from the start with JCD on for however long he can do, I think that's worth it. The only thing is that due to the nature of the injury and the sort of player he is, there's every chance of it reoccurring.

Our problem over the last 3/4 years in particular has been a lack of creativity in our team. I don't really think we have a problem with our strikers as we now have a few to choose from and they all offer different attributes. But I still think that if we were creating the number of chances we used to, historically speaking, our strikers would be banging in a lot more goals than they currentl are. Of course, that then brings us to the formation and system WS currently favours, which maybe isn't the most positive either.

We don't Miller as things stand, simple as that really.

Thanks for the info Frankie.

This is now officially the rumour that won't die. Frankie, do you know if there's anything in it or is it just agent and tabloid s*it-stirring?