buster.

It's a significant weekend, not only for us as I wrote about a few posts back. If the Aberdeen v Celtic match was to be a home win or draw, then it would re-enforce the growing feeling that Timothy are losening their grip on domestic dominance. The fact that they have beaten the sheep in 8 or 9 consectutive games up until now actually puts more pressure on them. How they react in this game will paint a clearer picture as to where they are domestically.........It goes without saying that we need 3 points today to increase the pressure.

Since getting back to the top tier we've managed to win 4 league games in a row twice. Both towards the end of the calender year (2016 and 2017). The first under Warburton and then more recently, under Murty. On neither occasion did it signal a major change for the better as we reverted to type with the latter bookended by two defeats on either end. Four wins from five league games post winter break is fairly good but back in the day, our teams that went on to win the Championship would have probably have won all five. Inconsistency in the league has been the consistent aspect of our results and it is this that needs to change for us to go up a level and challenge. In the top tier it isn't easy to achieve and there is now no team without their achilles heel. Ironicaly, Celtic's best winning run of league games this season is only 3 (less than our 4), Aberdeen are at 4 and the winners of the Kilmarnock v Hibs game today, will be at 4. What we now have is a reasonably competitive league that is difficult for anyone to put together a long winning run. However, this presents an opportunity for a team that could raise their game over a couple of months and win 7 or 8 on the spin. Are we good enough to do it ? Most of the evidence points to a no but IF we can win our next three (Hearts, St.Johnstone and Celtic) then we'll have turned a significant corner. It's a big IF and first we have to break down the Hearts defence with the old high tempo fitbaw.

For that reason I'd prefer to get Bears with financial knowledge/gumption express their views on the detail.

A registration of a charge document in connection with the Close Brothers business has been lodged at Companies House. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC425159/charges/mLBWBxLf49wYxVpcq5n1pX_hCbE Within the document there is a link to a PDF document with 56 pages of detail. Have any of the financial folk on here any comment on the contents ?

Frankie, Hearts aren't the only team to beat Celtic domestically this season. Kilmarnock have as well and the point I'd take from it is both Hearts and Kilmarnock are very well organised at the back. The cautious optimism that abounds needs fueled by a win against Hearts, anything else and it's difficult to say we are moving forwards. This is the type of game that will be difficult against a good defence, but one that we have to find a way of winning. No excuses, the three points have to be got.

There is always some hullaballo pushed in a controversy hungry media, who seldom want to talk about the game itself. The split has been around for quite a few years now and has survived league reconstruction so whilst it's imperfect, it obviously has some plus points. The real issue about the split in Scottish football is that we need it to be competitive more often than not. We can't continually have a Championship already won before the last round of fixtures begins.

A more settled and effective defensive midfield pairing that includes Ryan Jack would probably leave the centre-backs less exposed. Docherty worked hard yesterday but undid some of that by losing possession to easily with misplaced passes.

Eleven goals in the last 180 minutes is an excellent return with various players scoring. In these types of games, I'd tend to forget the bad moments in defence and hope for more concentration come 'bigger games'. Good to see Morelos play an unselfish game with two assists, especially the pass to Murphy as the Columbian has always tended to shoot no matter how acute the angle. Now we have to back this up and beat a defensively sound Hearts at Ibrox. This is the type of test that Murty has to pass if he harbours hopes of staying in the job. So far this season we've only taken one point from 3 games at Ibrox against Edinburgh clubs, that has got to change.

The more good footballers you have in a team, the better it will be. Moving the ball out from the back is extremely important these days and we've struggled at this at times this season.

Put simply, Murty has to go with what he and his coaching team think is best for the team to win football matches and not allow other pressures to overrule him. He needs to establish a fairly ruthless authority if he wants to do well and keep the job, even if his interviews sound more concilitory.

A win today and we go second on goal difference. This squad of players should have enough about them now to go and get this done. Consistency of result should be our biggest aim and winning has to become a habit.

What is worse ? Pundits (eg.Michael Stewart) thinking their opinion is valuable and matters to the wider world or The media, for starting to heavily encourage and push controversial pundit clickbait (eg.Chris Sutton)

A tall forward that goes by the name of Hardie may have caught the eye.

At times a solid defender but I doubt he'll ever go to a club as big as Rangers. I think his agent probably has an inflated value of his worth, that we as a club wouldn't be that concerned if he left and our offer may reflect that.

There is a lot we don't know and that restricts us to best guess with what is out there but I think if there is a sizable bid that is reasonably structured, we have to take it. This type of money is seldom on offer to Scottish teams whose players haven't shone in European competition. If accurate, it would be comparable to a reasonable season in the Europa League and give the club some breathing space. On the other hand it might hinder an effort to get through European summer qualifiers.....but then there will always be problems maintaining selection consistency between seasons, not to mention the dug-out.

Good contract management is essential if you want to leave the potential to maximise financial benefits come the time players leave. With this in mind, the deals for Tav and this potential deal for Windass are important. Looks to be some joined up thinking coming from the football operation.

Purely on numbers, he's playing less minutes per game this season, which you can understand at 33 in the EPL midfield. I haven't seen enough of those minutes to see how he is performing. That said, his ability isn't in question.

Good news to see Tav extending. Excellent creative talent who we need in the team.

Comes down to his physical state. Kranjcar is a great player but hasn't any legs left.

Pedro isn't the only manager from Portugal to use colourful descriptions...... Swansea City manager Carlos Carvalhal on potential new signings: "The boat is on the sea - but the fish didn't bite the hook. There is nothing so far, but you never know when the boat is on the sea. "It might not be possible for the team to play as I want after just a month, what is important is that we fight to win games."

Hamilton chairman Ronnie MacDonald said: “A member of my board was contacted by a Rangers official on Friday afternoon to state their interest in Greg.“He was passed my number if he wanted to take it further and as yet there has been no contact“I don’t deal in verbals. Unless there is an email waiting for me with an offer which has a figure there is no news. We’ll wait and see what develops but there is obvious interest in Greg.” -------------- 18 days of the window left Reports say Cardiff are also interested If we really want him then best to get the offer in Do we have spare cash to frontload payments ?

I'd wait until you see him do it in a competitive 90 minutes. Which (90 mins) he has never managed to do at first team level and he's 23 years old.

Might as well complain about rain Happy to wait and see what happens although I kind of agree with Frankie, in that if we had wanted him, it'd probably have been done by now. The assumption there is that the club/football operation are fairly clear about what they want and can do.

It wasn't Pep, it was Luis Enrique.

IMO they are connected. The club/football operation have to decide on who they want and they'll consider both Naismith and the others. Now the club or/and football operation may discount Naismith quickly, which would be fine if they had other names and could deliver them. The issue of finance presently available has to be considered when considering the above. ------ I'd welcome a fresh approach after too many expensive auld yins who haven't delivered (sometimes predictably).....but this particular auld yin wouldn't be expensive and IMO is actually more likely to deliver.