Sunny Saint

Ahhhh, wait...

FWIW I would have taken Kirk over Parkin.

What happens if the subscriptions in either of these two other areas are not met by Thursday? Does the bid essentially collapse? And how confident are you that these will be met?

Methinks Carey is the likely candidate in that case, with Imrie playing ahead of him in a 4-4-2 or with him as wing-back in a 3-5-2. I just hope Danny knows what he's doing, but I'm willing to trust him on this one.

I think it goes without saying that teams will make enquiries to ensure a player is within their price range before taking them on trial or expressing serious interest in signing them. This. Going into a season with Carey as our only left-footer who can actually play at left-back (with varying success) would be kamikaze stuff IMO. Barron might have done a decent job there but we are a team looking to push onwards and upwards, and that IMO would be a step backwards. I do realise previous successful teams didn't have left-backs but with our philosophy of football, I can't see that being anything other than a poor move. That said, I don't think Carey is as bad at left-back as some think. In fact, his penalty being saved aside (and it wasn't the worst penalty), Carey had by far his best game of the season while playing at left-back in the Scottish Cup replay against Hearts. Given he is a little injury prone though, it would be a very risky business to have him as our one and only player in that position.

Find out their worth how exactly? If the rest of the team and the manager are in Spain, how on Earth are they meant to see potential new signings? Besides, they're hardly going to be forking out thousands on one man to take him abroad, so what's the problem?

Thanks - apparently he's signed a two-year deal with an option for a third. Hardly major news as he's only 16 (apparently) so wouldn't imagine he'd be near the first team yet but good to see we're looking to the future. There's next to nothing online about him so we'll have to assume he is the new Messi.

Teale is just too slow now, that's his main problem. He was always a pacey guy which obviously got him by for many years when he could simply knock it past a player and run after it. He can't do that now. Couple that with poor decision making and he is not a good winger any more. I think Teale works hard on the pitch but our best bet would be to get rid of him and free up the wage he's using. Otherwise, turn him into a Carey-type player who does his work from deep and actually looks at the game instead of running with his head down. You are right in the English/Scottish aspect though - he probably got much more time on the ball down south which he simply doesn't have now. In somewhat related news, someone on P&B is reporting we've signed 'highly-rated' winger Adam Brown, 16, whose contract at Celtic was up, on a three-year deal. Hardly the kind of wild rumour someone would make up, so I'll anticipate there's likely to be some truth to it.

Would be a great signing for us. He was on loan at Brentford this season so them or other League 1 clubs might make a move. We didn't think we had a hope in hell of signing Carey this time last year, so who knows?

I would actually find it very difficult to bring myself to support O'Connor or Griffiths if they donned Saints shirts. I can't remember us having many horrible characters in the black and white in recent years but those would certainly be two. And like others said - they're a major part of Hibs' problems this year. If people thought Nigel was inconsistent, they obviously didn't see this pair play.

I'm sorry I should express my opinion of him on a site designed for people to offer their opinions...

11 goals in 56 games for Hearts. No thanks.

What would people's opinions be of Gregory Tade? Yick Choung just made a comment on Open All Mics that he thought he might move on from Inverness and it was said in that suggestive 'I know something' kind of way. I may be putting two and two together but given he has had insider knowledge of Saints on various occasions, I just wonder if there might be something in that.

Yeah, think you're right. It doesn't look like we're going to be the ones burning the midnight oil on transfer deadline day desperately seeking a player. The good thing is that we're already well covered in most positions, it's just a case of strengthening what's there, which we are actively doing. I think the 'big name' thing seems to have been a case of Chinese whispers. I don't think Lennon would ever say he was looking at a 'big name' anyway. It could be someone fairly low-key or a youngster, but it's anyone's guess I suppose.

Can I just ask where this mention of a 'big name Scottish-based striker' has been made? That's not me being cynical, I just haven't seen a direct quote from the manager saying that. I do remember seeing something about a Scottish-based striker, but has the 'big name' thing just grown arms and legs, or has Danny actually said that?

Would love to know what radio station you listen to to get all this news...

I don't think either are as good as Nigel and certainly didn't possess the skill to do that on a regular basis, as well as scoring goals - particularly at the age of 21. And I have a bad memory.

This is by far the strongest Saints squad I've ever seen, both in terms of potential and current ability - it's great! I know what you mean. I do make strong cases for trying to keep players like Hasselbaink but of course we shouldn't break the 'Hasselbaink' () to keep him. Replaceable, of course he is. But perhaps it's because I haven't seen a player like him who can beat a player with such ease EVER in a Saints jersey that I may sound like it's the end of the world - I kind of want to keep that!

I'm not saying it's impossible, but the way some people post on here it's as if we're replacing a screw in a piece of machinery and not a football player. No two footballers are the same, so to replace someone like-for-like is indeed a very difficult task. Anyway, we're not in the situation of needing to 'replace' anyone yet, and I hope we still aren't come August. We need to build on the quality we have, not simply build a new squad every season. Thankfully, we do look like doing the former at the moment.

I disagree. Using that philosophy, first-team players would all be paid the same wages. Craig Samson has played every match this season and has been arguably one of our most important players, but I'm willing to bet Thompson, Teale, Goodwin, McGowan and Mair are all on higher wages than him. Different players lend themselves to different circumstances - to say that it should be one signing-on fee or none at all is unrealistic and unproductive, surely. We pay Thommo higher wages because that's probably what we needed to pay him to get him to sign. Similarly, we had to pay £35,000 for Imrie because that's what it took to make him a Saints player. If we wanted either player to stay with us, we may have to pay more for the privilege. After all, we only gave them one-year deals at the start of the season. I suppose it depends on how much we want to keep them and how much they're demanding, and indeed whether the club has a strict policy over it, but there surely must be room for negotiation here.

You didn't use those exact words but you said there were plenty of players "at least as good". So, come on, who are they? Surely, if you know such a vast amount of available talent exists, you will be sending a list to Danny Lennon in due course? I'm not saying either player is irreplaceable either, but if we are to let players go - unless we are absolutely powerless to avoid it - we have to have others lined up to replace them. IMO, both Tesselaar and Hasselbaink are important players and have been key to the progress we've made this season. I feel that letting them go could have a detrimental effect on the way we perform next season. I don't think it's as easy as just saying we can sign someone else. Almost every player is replaceable - but it's being able to replace them with the right player that is the difficult part.

Such as?... Tesselaar's the best left-back we've had since we got into the SPL. Hasselbaink's probably one of the most exciting players we've had playing for us in the SPL and when he plays well, the whole team plays well. Still, it's good to know there are several other Hasselbainks and Tesselaars lining up at our door, ready to sign on for the same wages.

And what about all those 'meaningless' games we won in the first half of the season? Do they not count? No match is meaningless, even if it's after the split and we're safe. I've said this before: what is the point in being in the SPL as a competition at all if we don't strive for the highest league position possible? We can still achieve the highest league position available to us at this moment in time, so how are those matches meaningless? Is it a case of top six, Europe, win the league or don't bother? If that's the case, why don't you go and support one of the bigger clubs or the Old Firm and maybe your wishes will come true.

O'Connor has two serious court cases at the end of the season and could quite easily get jailed if found guilty. Even if not, I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole.