The Ghost of B A R P

It’s uncanny. If the boy’s a quarter of the player, sign him.

Barry Ferguson’s kept himself in good nick…

Edited… I blame @Alibi

The problem with that is Garrity is just a much better footballer than Easedale, with maybe only a wee bit of a lack of pace standing between him and a really good career. Great touch on the ball and the capacity to do cute, unexpected things. I wonder if he'll end up playing in midfield rather than wide. McGregor and King also look as though they might have a future. I doubt Easedale would get a regular game at a decent Lowland League side, never mind League One (EK have just signed McHugh ffs). There are literally dozens of better players washing around in the lower levels, up here and in England; he's only at Cappielow because naebody's got the guts to bump him.

Dundee might very well make the signings and piss it... but there's at least as much chance they'll elect to provide *hilarious* entertainment and it's the rest of us who'll be doing the pissing... Looking forward to it.

I think they might have as many as ten players on more than the highest earner at Cappielow; like Ross County (but on a smaller scale) they need to pay more to get players up there. Never said any of them were ‘amazing players’, btw, just that the likes of Deas, Welsh, Doran, McKay, or Samuel won’t be cheap (and that’s not to mention what Dodds himself is on, which will be 1.5 - 2x more than Imrie). As you say, would be interesting to hear what ICT fans have to say, but I’d expect that to confirm that they’re (comfortably) in the top four… while we’re just as (un)comfortably in the bottom six…

tl;dr version: McGowan thought he could bump the current manager for nothing and get Imrie in, then realised he couldn't. More or less like Imrie thinking 'I'll sign Ross Stewart', then realising he couldn't.

They quite clearly are: do you think all those players Morton or Ayr couldn't afford are relocating to the Highlands from the central belt or England because they like the scenery (or to work with Billy 'The Scrote' Dodds)?

Pure class, on and off the pitch. Assistant Manager should have been his post-playing career choice though…

Add Raith and you’ve got the basic shape of the league. Dundee, ICT, Partick, and QP will be various degrees of clear blue water above. Of the six others, my guess is that Hamilton (paying the price for a too high budget and failure last year) and Raith (spunking large sums on a player who’ll never play for them) are the two who might be feeling the pinch this season.

Agree. He might have been a bit too crude with the 'manage expectations' stuff, but I'm seeing a guy who's being very, very careful with his budget, knows what he can and can't afford, and is willing to hold his nerve in order to get the right players for the right money. I think we'll sign four more (plus a young back-up GK) between now and the end of August; if three out of the four are clear first-picks, we'll be pretty competitive in what looks like being a brutally competitive league. Either a defender, a midfielder, and two up front; or a defender and three up front (adjust if there are any further outgoings). Would be good to see maybe two of them in place before the league cup kicks off, but better to hold off if waiting means better quality. Anybody tempted to jump on Imrie before June is out should just repeat these words to themselves: Caolan McAleer; Jordan Allan; Kudus Oyenuga; Ryan Scully; Tom Allan [insert your own particular favourite]. We've been murder since the last season and a bit under Duffy (Nicky Cadden making Hopkin look better than he was for a bit or Grangemouth in the Sun notwithstanding) and sunk to miserable depths not much more than six months ago; the wee spell before Imrie got his touchline ban showed what he's capable of with a very limited squad and I'm confident he'll move us on even if the squad ends up being only a bit better than last season.

Settle.

Brutal reminder of the realities of the market we’re in for players… let’s hope Sir Doug’s reputation for getting the max out of players — and Quitongo’s hamstrings — emerge intact. Also, 4-3-3 incoming, which is good.

Don’t think loyalty’s got anything to do with it. He clearly has a realistic understanding of what he can get for his budget. Big test will be what he can get in up front with whatever money he still has in the bank: another defender, another midfielder, and four forward players still required.

Brian Schwake signs on loan from Livi (assuming that means Hamilton’s away). Wonder how many players we’ll end up signing from there?