Sunny Saint

So now we're signing Miranda, Dummett, about four different Callums, Kris Doolan and Jure Travner. Seems legit. In all seriousness, the Newcastle lad sounds decent and his loan signing would surely all but end Miranda's possible return?

Good player at a decent level in England but was stabbed in the leg and got serious injuries a couple of years back. Is now 29 and playing in the United Counties League. About three years ago he would've been a massive scoop... now, it would just be a bit bizarre!

We have four better strikers than him at the club. It won't be Callum Elliot... ...

Is he a striker? I'll be honest and say that's probably the last position needing filled right now. Where would he fit in with Thommo, Guy, Reilly and Parkin all already on the scoresheet this season?

We could've done with him on Saturday to put Cairney and his pals in their place. If Shuggie was to win the First Division, would he become the only player to have won it three times in the current Scottish league format? Any historians out there help on this one?

You're almost as good as us at that passing it about aimlessly malarky. Though yours was more effective as it involved Shuggie Murray and ended in a goal.

Good to see this post on P&B:

Best bit of that story: Yes, I'm terribly embarassed we can't pull in a bigger crowd than Rangers in the Third Division. St Mirren have the population of Paisley (roughly 80,000?) to pull on for home games. That's pretty much it, give or take a few here and there, and that's living in the shadow of Scotland's biggest city and biggest two teams. Rangers have more than 500,000 in Glasgow, glory hunters the world over and a catalogue of idiots from Northern Ireland to draw upon. They have also had trophy after trophy for these fans to feed off; our last national one came in 1987. No wonder they get significantly more fans. Shite journalism.

Off the Ball is a hilarious listen today. They should do it in front of a live audience every week, a great laugh. Frank McAvennie on good form too.

St Johnstone "lead the race" to sign Craig Beattie, according to the BBC. I have to say that despite my previous assertions that they would be weaker, if they're lining up with a strikeforce of Craig Beattie, Rowan Vine, Nigel Hasselbaink, Gregory Tade and Stevie May, that ain't to be sniffed at. Though they did sign Patrick Cregg, which cancels alllll of that out. I hope.

No, you're wight - he is a doctor.

Do you know for a fact that we don't have the money to spend on the salary of a left-back? If not, then why are you asking fellow forum users to answer this question? They know as much as you do.

Shiels joins Black in showing f**k all ambition to sign for Rangers. Good luck in the Third Division, you clowns.

This is probably how they're tempting Black, Beattie and Shiels to play for them - tell them they'll be in the SPL and challenging for trophies again in a year's time. Of course, the ridiculous sums of money will also help, but I will have no respect for these idiots if they do go to newco. It shows they have f*ck all ambition and are purely in it for the cash. Also, has anyone heard the latest one from Green saying he wants McCoist to stay for 25 years and that they would never let his contract end? It just gets better!

It's not a "disgusting" signing. Most idiots chant these things because their pals do, and know nothing of what they're actually saying. They do it because it gives them status, because it's controversial, because it gets other people's backs up. Are you telling us you've never done something stupid like that before, without thinking? There are far worse people in the world and I'm sure Grant - having been prosecuted for his crime - has learnt his lesson. If he hasn't, he won't be a professional footballer much longer anyway. Let us get on with the football and judge Grant on what he does in St Mirren colours in these next two years - as little or as much as that might be.

How old was this guy and his friends? There was a group of young guys who looked like they'd just stepped out of Oxford University and went to a number of away games about two, three seasons ago. They wore the jumpers in the fashion demonstrated above and were always extremely smartly dressed. I never heard them speak though so always just assumed they were normal fans who liked to dress well! Is this the same group I'm thinking of?

A quite absurd statement. He deserves to take abuse? What kind of abuse, may I ask?

The board of directors are the ones who still own our club and should be telling us fans if administration is now no longer a possibility. As usual though, the paying punters are kept in the dark and the last ones to find out. We're heading into a new season in less than a fortnight - what else could get the fans feeling positive again than revealing that we are no longer facing the kind of financial meltdown first being predicted? That is, of course, if 10000 Hours have got the statement correct.

Thanks for the insight. I agree too - he was better being allowed to stroll around the pitch and control play. Having him and Hasselbaink supporting Thompson towards the season's start was pretty tasty but Teale faded fast when asked to play the winger's role. Teale can still beat a man, but more in the way that McGowan does by keeping the ball close to his feet. When he's played as a winger, he tries to beat them with pace and it doesn't work any more. Teale still has something to offer the team if used properly, but if we could get him off the wage bill it would be a big bonus I think. Besides, we have McGowan in that role and he's top notch.

Yip - agree with that. I guess I was more thinking when we need someone to come on and replace Gowser or McLean during suspensions/injuries or just late in the game. Last season we almost always played Teale wide and he was largely ineffective.

I have no doubts that Gary Teale is a good player. He was outstanding at the start of last season and I picked him out there and then as a probably player of the season. He was pulling the strings and had a free role across the attacking third of the pitch. However, we seemed to try and change him back into a winger again. He has lost his pace, and his decision making lets him down too often to be a good winger at this level any more. If we keep him this season, we should play him in a central role as others have suggested. I wouldn't have any qualms with him signing for Rangers. How amazing would it be if Rangers ended up signing probably the one player most fans wouldn't be bothered about leaving us, after years of signing or speculating about signing our best players.

I think there are two chances of that happening: none and hee haw.

I would be far more concerned if we lost McGowan than if we lost McLean. McLean is a good player who will only get better and I'd be hoping for a few hundred thousand for him at least, but his form was patchy last season and he's the kind of player who drifts in and out of games. Should anyone come in with a decent offer for him this summer, we should take it given the current situation.

I still think we need a natural left-back. I've promoted Carey's strengths in that position but don't get me wrong, we still need someone who has played in that position most of, if not all, of their career. A Barron/Carey combination to fill that gap all season doesn't fill me with huge confidence.

My head hurts.