I know this season ain't over yet, but northendsaint mentioned on the, "Jim Goodwin on the Radio", thread that Declan Hughes looks ready to step up to the first team, and some discussion followed about having to bring him in gradually rather than drop him in at the deep end.
I figure that pre-season frendlies are the ideal opportunities to do this with younger players and also trialists looking to get a contract. However, in recent years, our choice of pre-season opposition has hardly set the pulse racing, or set a high standard against which to measure youngsters or prospective signings.
Long time gone, but not forgotten, were the days when we brought major attractions to Paisley - especially in the days of the Paisley Cup. Personally, I'd like to see us return to the days where we lined upo a couple of games that would attract more interest and provide stiffer tests than the like of Dumbarton (no offence) and teams from the Skrill League.
I'm not suggesting we try to bring the elite of Europe to Paisley, but perhaps we could be bringing up mid-table English Premiere clubs - like we eventually did last year with Newcastle. I always felt we never made the best of connections with former players & managers, like Stevie Clarke and Aelx Miller - both in terms of arranging friendlies and also in getting loan players. Hopefully Stevie finds a new club in the Premiership and we can start to take advantage of that.
Does anyone know of any reason why the Paisley Cup could not be re-introduced?