TopCat

Lanarkshire 0-1 TC's Black and White Army We will go above Motherwell and stay above them all season ;)

A striker and a loan from Man City to be signed next week apparently..,

I don't think we will sign anyone till the first two weeks of July, when most English based players contracts expire. Patience!

Delighted with our fixtures actually. Only two pre split trips to the highlands, as opposed to 4 last season. Dundee and Hamilton at home twice each before the split...Only one trip to Celtic Park scheduled. Perfect! I've not been as optimistic about a season for a long time. I'm confident we are going to set a record high position for this century - 7th or above!

Why are we struggling exactly? Have Killie or St Johnstone signed anyone yet? Nope. I doubt they're panicking yet. I believe we offered contracts to two Scottish based players, Ridgers and Stevenson. Ridgers joined, Stevenson signed a 2 year deal with Thistle instead of a 1 year deal with us. Dundee and Hamilton have signed a couple of crocks and a couple of first division players. Should we be concerned by that? As TC said, contracts of English players typically expire at the end of June. I expect the majority of our signings will be players who played in England last season along with a couple of loans. Therefore expect the first couple of weeks in July to be our busiest time with regards to incoming players.

Is our only income crowds? No. Unsustainable? How is it unsustainable? We've been doing it for years and we're still here, and we're debt free. I don't know what century your head is stuck in, but it's certainly not this one.

Where do you think the extra money went then?

You clearly have no grasp of modern football if you don't think we're already paying players more than 1k a week.

Exactly. How can a club like ours 'penny pinch'? What goes in goes out. The more that comes in, the more that goes out. Simple economics really.

Give it up, you've completely lost the plot.

We had a home friendly against Newcastle last year? Couldn't give a hoot about home friendlies personally, I'd rather we were away from home.

Like Newcastle last year? Nah! This is a great friendly for both clubs, decent crowd guaranteed along with a relatively competitive fixture.

Exactly. I certainly wouldn't have offered a 2 year deal to a player his age who's been crocked several times in the last season. He was worth the punt of 1 year deal, nothing more. If Thistle want to take the gamble of giving a long term deal to an injury prone player who will be 30 this year then fair play to them. It's a gamble I'm glad we didn't take.

Thanks for the exclusive

It's a two year deal they've given him with an option of a third, I imagine that's why he went there. Longer contracts can sway players now, it's the same reason Harkins chose us over Motherwell last summer. Given Stevo's injury record I wouldn't have wanted him signed on anything longer than a 1 year deal.

No way, what a waste of money that would be. The balance we have with the keepers now is spot on for a club with our budget: One proven keeper at this level, one younger keeper who's played in the lower leagues and at u21 level for his country and one u20 keeper.

I certainly wouldn't be. It amazes me some football fans are naive enough to expect some kind of loyalty from players. If I was Darren McGregor and someone offered me 4 times my salary to do the same job 15 minutes away, I'd jump at the chance. I imagine every other sane person would too.

Stevenson's signed for Partick Thistle. Surprising one, wouldn't have been overly happy if he'd came to us but would have taken him.

If either us or them lose then this game will go ahead as a regular friendly ;) Definitely our most 'competitive friendly' although I am aware that is a slightly oxymoronic term. Hopefully we can get the win and give us a wee lift going into the start of the season.

Wee Danny in with a shout maybe?

Everyone said what a great appointment he was when he took over. Turns out he's one of the worst Hibs manager in history. Just shows there's no such thing as a safe appointment when it comes to managers.

How many would you like?

Liam Craig would be an absolutely fantastic signing.

Would take McFadden only if the contract was heavily weighted in appearance bonuses. If he's playing would make him a top earner, if he's not then should be on next to nothing.

And I think a great many people - including Danny Lennon and seemingly Tommy Craig - think he is good enough for this level.