ascender

So how long before organised protests and action against DM take place? I know its not the Rangers way, but something has to be done to stop our club sliding any further.

That's something that crossed my mind too Gribz. It would have been a good investment to buy Brown at 2.5/3M as you could see Premiership clubs going to 4 or 5M in the future. But Scottish clubs never get massive fees for players going south. I'm guessing the 5 year deal is Celtic's safety net so that they have adequate time to sell him on rather than letting him leave for free. As for Langfield, I was reading somewhere that he nearly joined us before. If we're in for him again, I guess that means McGregor will be our number 1 next season.

Looks like he's signed for Celtic. Hibs must be laughing all the way to the bank.

If its not already happened then its imminent. So much for all the reporters with inside info.

Nothing's been confirmed yet and its just quotes from his agent which are being taken as being accurate.

Personally I think he'd be a good signing. Again, at least we know what we're getting for our money. I've seen a lot of the postings about him on other forums, but I think the problem with a lot of fans is that they just don't seem to realise the dire financial situation we're in. Who do they think we could get for similar money? Why not spend more than the sums being talked about for McCulloch on an unknown foreign player instead? I may not be happy about the way things are going, but I get the impression that WS is playing things very safe as he knows damn well he can't afford to make any expensive mistakes. Bottom line is that the majority of fans aren't happy because Celtic seem to be able to out-spend us and also would appear to be a much more attractive proposition to players at the moment.

My mate who is usually spot on with Edinburgh related stuff is saying that we were informed of the offers on the table for Brown, but that we wouldn't go above our offer of 15K per week for him. probably bollocks, but it kind of makes sense.

I think Thomas Buffel could be a big player for us this season, but only if WS uses him in the right position and if Buffel knuckles down to it.

I'd have thought 2.5 - 3M is a fair price. So on one hand I'm glad we're not paying over the odds for him. On the other though, he is young and so we would probably be able to sell him on. Besides, say our budget for him was 3M. We're freeing up 30K a week from Klos' wages, so over a year, paying the extra is probably well within our reach. If we miss out on him, I think its a huge, negative message to send out to the fans. Regardless of the money involved, its pretty depressing as I think he's exactly the sort of player we've been missing for years.

Some of today's rumours..... Everton to move and scupper Boro bid for Brown.. Celtic have nearly finalised a deal for Brown. Fowler to Rangers or Celtic,with his agent denying he's a Rangers fan. Lee McCulloch from Wigan to Rangers Dudas (Hungarian Kid) from Gyori to Rangers

Various places are reporting today that Celtic are close to signing Brown for 4.4M.

Well, Richard Wright has been released by Everton, so if WS is interested, I'd imagine a deal would be done fairly sharpish.

Frankie, have you heard how things are behind the scenes since WS took over? Obviously we'd all heard the rumours about splits in the dressing room, the undermining of the manager, Scottish lads not being happy about changes to training & lifestyle etc. Following the manner of PLG's sacking, have these rumours stopped now, have the Scottish players settled down?

FWIW I think McGregor has improved this season. Not as much/visibly as Hutton, but I do think he's more confident and less prone to flapping than he was at the start of the season. Its a fine line between coming for cross balls and just not coming for them at all. At least when he comes for them, he tends to get something on them, regardless of how many players he has to go through. I think one of Klos' big weaknesses was his lack to do this. I think McGregor has done more than enough to warrant being our number 1 next season. Maybe WS will want to sign a more experienced, international keeper, but as with a number of other players, we won't know if WS rates them until he has the chance to replace them. As for Boyd, I don't think we adjust to suit his style, I just think he needs to work a bit harder on the pitch to try to get in to the game instead of waiting for everything to come to him. Like a few other players, I think its harsh to judge him considering how this season has gone and how inconsistent the team selection and tactics have been. No point selling him though, is there? Our top scorer? Unless we sign a better replacement obviously. They both need to be hammered for their behaviour at the weekend though.

But did they then not screw Hibs over on the deal in terms of the number of games played thing? That was mentioned as the reason why the Celtic bid for Thomson was turned down but ours was accepted.

Its a great idea in principle, but finances will dictate that we can't afford to have a major clear out.

I missed the start so never saw the Boyd/McGregor thing, that's shocking. Most worrying thing for me Frankie is that we've got many of the same problems on and off the park that we've had for 3/4 years now.

The local gossip is that Brown would have signed for us on deadline day if Hibs hadn't beaten St Johnstone. He is definitely a bear, but has made no secret of the fact that he does want to play in the Premiership one day. He is young, so maybe that will persuade him to come to us for a few years and then have a go down south. As for the fee, I know Hibs are supposedly very unhappy with Celtic over the Riordan deal, so that's in our favour. What's not in our favour is that 4M to any club in the Premiership is nothing. We just can't compete with that now which is pretty depressing.

And back to crappy picture quality for yesterday's match. I can't see me renewing Setanta in the summer.

That's a shame. Its more of a shame that he couldn't go out on a real high by lifting the SPL trophy or even the Scottish Cup.

Official site is saying Prso is fit, but it doesn't say when the story is from. Has Klos recovered from his dislocated thumb?

Sebo's a difficult one to call though. I thought he did well against Celtic where he was brought in to do a specific job - ruffle the feathers of the centre halves. He did that well but pretty much nothing else apart from a number of wild challenges. But some people seemed to think that game showed he was worth keeping. Sorry, but we could sign any number of players if all we wanted was someone to rough up centre halves who've had it their own way for too long. The lad obviously tries, so I think we've all been guilty of looking for any little sign that he is worth keeping. On the other hand, he's obviously fast and comfortable with the ball at his feet. Well, sometimes at least. There's been lots of times I've seen him this season and he can't trap the ball or even play simple passes. He certainly doesn't look like a 1.8M striker. Thing is, there's been strikers who've come here before and struggled to fit in. But there's been very few, who, like Sebo, have come here, struggled, but not even managed to score on a semi-regular basis or at least show some glimpses of something special. Something that leaves you thinking he'll come good, he's obviously got what it takes. But I've just not seen that from Sebo. Has he had a good run in the reserves yet? If so, has he been banging them in at that level? He is young and has time to adjust, but The Gers really isn't a club where you're going to be given time to improve in the first team. You really need to hit the ground running and with the recent improvement under WS, expectations are going to be much higher next season, so there's going to be less chance to give someone like Sebo a run-out over a few games, to see what he can do. I guess it comes down to what WS and AM think of him. At the moment though, where will he play next season? Boyd will be first choice striker with someone alongside him when we're playing two up front. You've got Gow and the French lad who've come in already and I just think Sebo's slipping down the pecking order already. Also, don't forget that WS has said publicly that there are players (note the plural) who have come in and who he'd like to move on. But that these players are on 3 year deals so it might not be easy. I'm assuming that means Sionko, but also probably Papac and/or Sebo. The Killie loan story makes sense, that could be what he needs, but it seems a bit far fetched to me. Also, can you imagine if he went to another SPL club and struggled? The fans would make his life a misery and it could just get worse for him. Also, Gribz, I wasn't taking the piss when I quoted your thing about how to judge players. I know what you're saying, but looking at Sebo, has he really done enough to show that he can hack it as a first choice player for us? I just think we all might be trying too hard to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I think he'd be worth a punt, but only if his wages are reasonable and on a par with the first team average. He's not played much recently, but that's fair enough given where he is. I think class is permanent and at his age he could easily have a few years in the SPL. I also think that he could be good to have around guys like Sebo, Gow and Boyd. Young strikers learning from McCoist and Fowler? Superb IMO. There's no way we'd pay over the odds in terms of wages now. As far as I'm aware, once Klos has gone, that's it. There's now a wage structure in place and it won't be broken, especially for someone the wrong side of 30. I don't think its a make or break signing, but we truly are in a transitional period just now where signing someone like him could bolster our squad and help us through the next couple of seasons. Given our financial situation, there's no way WS will get the squad he wants within the next 2 transfer windows, we're looking more like 2 years or so to rebuild. I could think of worse players to sign, lets put it that way. Can't see it happening, but I wouldn't be sad to see him signing. Also depends on what's happening with guys like Sebo and Novo.

And McGregor will start in Austria to give him some experience.

I knew I should have set-up a sweep stake yesterday for when the first Robbie Fowler topic would appear following the news he was leaving 'Pool.