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Thanks to Hibbee Jibee (in the cup thread) this was always the most likely outcome. It does mean that we play on the Tuesday beforehand which is not ideal but little difference than a Saturday and then a Tuesday night. Does it give Morton an advantage ? Either way it is an extra £24,000 in the coffers. Although that will be impacted by a lower crowd most likely. At least those that cannot make it can watch the game. Glad to see Oli Shaw is heading back south. We are going to add up all the savings so we can bring back the main (grumpy) man…

I agree in that is a position where we have numbers / cover. But the biggest issue this season has been conceding soft as **** goals almost in every game. Saturday against Alloa another case in point. So leaving as is will likely result in similar outcomes. I listened to a Killie fan on SSB the other night saying they just don’t look like conceding goals at the moment. They say (and who am I to argue) that to build a successful team you start at the back. Not saying the CB are all to blame. Kelly has made a mess a few times. But since we are not going to replace him I don’t think it would be a bad idea to try and find an Aldred type. Casey and Butcher both look a long way off the levels they reached end of last season. I tend to agree that it may not happen but I would like it too.

Was surprised to see he is only 23 . At Exeter at the moment. Presumably they will look to release him when they sign Nouble.

Has this been confirmed ? More than likely and hope it is the case. But because of midweek fixtures before that weekend only ourselves, Rangers and Aberdeen can apparently play on the Friday night. And since Viaplay will choose Rangers and BBC chose Aberdeen in the last round on the Friday…… Edit to add - we play Ross C at home on Tuesday 6th Feb. Aberdeen play Rangers same night. All other teams are down to play on the Wed night. Hope that means there is no Friday night game. 3 days recovery would not be great

He is quite the enigma. One minute he takes the ball down dribbles the ball towards goal fends off several opposition players and gets a shot off. The next he misplaces a five yard pass or fails to control a simple pass. On the face of it he has been a solid signing. I hope he can kick on. I guess it all depends who we bring in over the next 10 days. Either way he likely to be the 2nd or 3rd choice striker in the pecking order. I would be a wee bit concerned if he was our out and out number 1 striker.

Do you not think Halliday will start in midfield once he is fully up to speed ?

A wee bit concerned that the Elliot lad has not played any competitive football for over 6 months or thereabouts. That said his last club Wellington Phoenix had offered him a 3 year deal. He snubbed it apparently as the sell on clause he felt was priced too high and could act as a barrier for a move to Europe. There is that I guess. Although Hearts had a look and obviously decided against taking him on board. Who knows but he is young enough and hopefully eager to impress. He also has one full cap for New Zealand so must have some promise. Wonder what happened to the German Tobias whatever his name was ?

You can almost guarantee that one of the Old Firm will get Bonnyrigg Rose or Brora / Cove at home. Probably Rangers. Since Taylor Swift has not been in touch I guess an away draw at Ibrox or Celtic Park may not be the worst outcome. Although if we could postpone that for another round . I suspect we will get an away draw to another non old firm premiership side likeAberdeen, Killie or St Mirren. Boring. Little money to be had and a defeat more than likely

To be honest I don’t remember much about this lad. But the fact there were other teams interested down south meant it was unlikely he would end up at Fir Park. Agent doing his job I guess. Reaffirms the fact we have clearly have wage limits and they are several levels below most teams in the same league including Dundee, Killie and probably Ross County these days. The Nouble one is a strange one. Not that long ago Martindale was quoting a £million plus. I agree he seems like a Xerox copy of Bair. So we could have two man mountains that struggle to bring the ball under control and score goals. Dont see that one happening either. Surely we can try to persuade Luton Town to loan us Wee Al

Fair enough. We all have different opinions. I am looking for him to shine against a team from 2 leagues below us. In my opinion he did not do enough. Then again nor did many including Paton. I like Davor. He seems like a decent guy. Just not sure he is cut out for the top league. The demands are too physical. If he starts most of our games from here on in and impresses I will happily eat my words. Just don’t see it .

He is far too lightweight for me. Should not be starting. We were under little pressure today and his passing was generally poor. I would liked to have seen a lot more from him against lower league opposition. All about opinions and these are mine. Thankfully Miller and Halliday will be in midfield going forwards. I see greeny boy is filling his boots as per. All too predictable

Not sure why you expected more ? We genuinely have the smallest squad in the top flight. The players playing today were pretty much the only ones available to us. We have one fit striker . Not Alloas fault and I get that even our paltry resources are still a higher level. Actually was very impressed with Alloa in the 1st half. They passed the ball well and for a while looked the better footballing side. Genuinely. Sammons goal was well taken but the defence was awful. In some ways I was surprised that Alloa did not cause us more problems after they scored. Job done. Decent support from Alloa. Best of luck for the rest of the season .

In the end comfortable. Yet again we concede a goal with the opposition 1st shot on target. It is getting very very predictable ! Pass marks for Gent, Montgomery, Miller. Thought the rest of the team struggled and not overly impressed with Davor. He did not do much wrong he just did not do that much. If you are going to shine then you should against a team 2 levels below. Bair was back to being Bair. Struggling to trap and control the ball. Just being in the wrong place more often than not. I like the guy and want him to succeed but he should be back up or an option for the last 20 minutes. The fact he is our only fit striker is quite frankly horrifying and such a poor situation to find ourselves in. In many ways it is quite impressive and even mystifying we are winning games (or not losing them) with about 13 fit players to choose from. We still need a commanding CB in the Aldred mould. Mugabi should be on the bench and not starting. A right back that is not SODs even though he was OK today. Another midfielder or two and 3 strikers. So another 6 players 3 or 4 that can come into the starting 11. We do that and with a fair wind we will survive in the top flight.

One of my pals has said he saw some speculation that Oli Shaw may be away or about to leave the club. I guess if he is injured I assume we would be able to cut any loan deal short as happens the other way with Biereth recall. Leave us VERY light up front if true even if he did not make a great impact or any sort of impact. His miss when he was thought on goal in his debut probably sums up his impact. That goes in it may have been different. He did have the assist for late equaliser v Dundee or Ross C if I recall. Hey ho nothing official.

One does wonder that if there is even the faintest chance of getting him back do we wait right up until the window closes ? Risky business but would be some boost if he signed on loan in the last minute of the transfer window. Whether he is even half the player he was before that would be the best deadline day transfer feeling to top the lot. I do expect he will end up at Aberdeen or one of the Edinburgh clubs. Spoke to a Jambo neighbour today who said he would be happy to see the back of Halliday. Says he is too slow and ponderous. But then again he probably has higher expectations . We just want a signing …..

Sometimes laughter is the best medicine….

Dread to think where we would be without Mika contribution this season. Ordinarily I hope he does well as he did us a solid. But in many (bitter) ways I hope Sheffield Wed still have a shite season if that is where he ends up. As for those chunts at Arsenal. Unless they send us another promising young striker I hope their recent poor run continues. I don’t care if it is shallow and uncalled for it makes me feel better. Is paper thin thinner than wafer thin. Genuinely don’t know which one to use when describing our squad as it stands. Be prepared for Maguire and Shaw starting this weekend. Joy of joys. Edit to add - just realised Shaw is down as injured

I like the our description as top team strugglers when Sheffield Wed are 3rd bottom of their table… Does Mika get a say in this ? Maybe he would want to stay. Problem is they could afford to pay all his wages and a little on top possibly. Wait and see but suspect this may well happen with one club or another. Especially when Arsenal have previous on cutting short loan deals.

Thanks for the update. I was wondering if we had any bounce games arranged. Don’t want to go into Saturday game on the back of a 2-3 week break. Good to hear that both Lennon and Montgomery played. Still have Lennon listed as a doubt in the pre game spiel. Be interesting to see whether he plays a part in the game this weekend.

I like the comments from their fans... "Total Waste" "Good Riddance" "Should have gone a long time ago" It seems football fans are the same the world over, even in India . He may not end up at Fir Park but I also believe he would be a better option than Shaw and Obika. He knows the league. He knows Motherwell. He really came onto a game at the end of his time with St Mirren. I am up for it.

100% this ^ My only concern is that I seem to recall he struggled with the odd injury. Maybe that is a misperception, but hopefully he will be up to speed as I assume he has been training FT with the Jambos.

Probably. But with the Slattery injury now confirmed we are (this transfer window) 4 1st team players down on what everyone acknowledged was a paper thin squad. We are firmly entrenched in a relegation dogfight so this window is as important as the last Jan window was. With Montgomery looking odds on to join, I still think we need another 4 or 5 players that can play in the 1st team either as 1st choice or as a very decent back up should we get more injuries / suspensions which will happen.

The Cooper Bar is your best bet. I am pretty sure it is open to anyone attending the match as away fans get access also. The door to the Cooper Bar is on the far right as you approach the stand. The other end from the Club Shop.

A positive post for a Sunday morning. Most welcome Good news re Miller. When you are that young injuries can heal quicker than say an old codger / player at 28. If Biereth is training with us it would seem strange if he had been anywhere near any other English clubs. Unless he stopped off there on the way back up the road. Hopefully positive that he is back in training

So for all our relegations rivals the scores on the door appear to be (so far): Ross County 2 in and 5 out = 3 players down St Johnstone 3 in and 4 out = I player down Livingston 2 in and 3 out = 1 player down. Motherwell 0 in and 5 out = 5 players down. Not panicking. Not me. Not yet. This winter window is the most crucial since well the last one. But we need 5 players to replace those that have left. We already admitted we needed 2 in to bolster the squad. That is before we learn that Slattery could be missing for the rest of the season. So at least 6 or 7 players that can contribute or questions will need to be asked