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3 hours ago, Slash said:

Or perhaps he stays until the end of the season and signs a PCA in January which will be worth more to him and his agent.

I would agree that the best possible outcome would be a PCA and we keep hold of him to end of season giving us time to source a replacement. What I would rather hope we didn't do is accept a shocking low bid at last minute like the hibs one. However given the recent debacle over the rangers ticket allocation(another thread i know!) I wouldn't be shocked by whatever club does.

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20 minutes ago, Cumbriansaint72 said:

I would agree that the best possible outcome would be a PCA and we keep hold of him to end of season giving us time to source a replacement. What I would rather hope we didn't do is accept a shocking low bid at last minute like the hibs one. However given the recent debacle over the rangers ticket allocation(another thread i know!) I wouldn't be shocked by whatever club does.

I think a lot will depend on where we are at that point of the season. If we are fighting for top 6 or a relegation dog fight, can see us keeping him.
 

If we are comfortably 7th -8th with little chance of going down or cracking the top end, may think to cash in during January & strengthen for next season. (I know none of that is guaranteed regarding where we’ll finish, I’m talking in risk acceptance terms) 

Doubt we’d get anymore than £100k-£200k for him if he went though. Still possibly a couple of players at our level.

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8 minutes ago, bazil85 said:

I think a lot will depend on where we are at that point of the season. If we are fighting for top 6 or a relegation dog fight, can see us keeping him.
 

If we are comfortably 7th -8th with little chance of going down or cracking the top end, may think to cash in during January & strengthen for next season. (I know none of that is guaranteed regarding where we’ll finish, I’m talking in risk acceptance terms) 

Doubt we’d get anymore than £100k-£200k for him if he went though. Still possibly a couple of players at our level.

I think it all depends if we can start again in the same form as up to the split then top 6. Hopefully then it will really get the McGrath debate going.

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15 hours ago, Slash said:

Or perhaps he stays until the end of the season and signs a PCA in January which will be worth more to him and his agent.

I think there will be teams wanting McGrath this season to help their push for promotion.  Some teams will probably be touching base just now to try and get a deal done early.  There will be lots of scouts watching McGrath in the next two ROI games knowing he us available relatively cheap in the next transfer window . I think we will get considerably more for him in January , than what Hibs were offering in September. 

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Good article on Jamie from the Irish section of the Times today ...

Jamie McGrath coming of age in Ireland’s new generation
Paul Rowan
Thursday October 14 2021, 12.01am, The Times

 

Such is the nature of St Mirren’s operations that their players who earn international recognition generally do so at under-age level, before their services are required elsewhere, but the Ireland international Jamie McGrath is proving an exception. McGrath picked up his fifth cap against Qatar on Tuesday night and in the aftermath inevitably faced questions about whether his future lay away from one of the less fashionable SPL clubs.

“I’m happy where I am,” McGrath replied. “I have a year left on my contract, up until next summer. So we’ll see what happens, but I love every minute there. It’s a great bunch of lads and the gaffer has been brilliant for me as well. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

That was a reference to fellow Irishman Jim Goodwin, who signed him last year. McGrath goes back considerably further with the Ireland manager Stephen Kenny – who once managed Dunfermline and then hooked up with the attacking midfielder at Dundalk for a highly successful spell before both men moved on. McGrath’s lengthy apprenticeship in the League of Ireland and a determination to complete his business degree studies at a Dublin university means he is now regarded as coming player, even at the relatively old age of 25.

Kenny himself – who reached a Scottish Cup final in 2007 with Dunfermline but was relegated in the same season before being sacked – is not one to stick his nose up at players from smaller clubs, and nor can he afford to either. Whereas Ireland once was able to boast of a number of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal players capable of giving a game to some of the best teams in Europe, now more ingenuity is required and McGrath hasn’t looked out of place so far.

“I don’t think Stephen Kenny cares who you play for,” McGrath says, “As long as you are doing well he will give you a chance. During the last lockdown I put a lot of hard work in. I came home for about three months and worked my socks off. It’s nice to get the rewards. Hopefully this is just the start.”

 

At one point he felt he was being left behind by some of his peers, but what McGrath has had at clubs he has played for is plenty of game time and along with that has come a plethora of goals, including 17 in 46 appearances for St Mirren last season. He hasn’t been quite so prolific so far in this one for his club, but for Ireland he has already contributed with an assist against Portugal last month and won the penalty on Tuesday that was converted by Callum Robinson, even though McGrath is the regular spot kick-taker for his club.

“I had a brief discussion with Callum, but he was on a mission so I didn’t want to stop him,” McGrath said as his team-mate went on to score a hat-trick, his fifth goal in three days for his country. Playing in a wide position rather than the central role for his club, McGrath also played a part in the neat build-up for Robinson’s first goal

“I’m not playing as an out-and-out winger, so that suits me as well. I have the freedom to come in and join in if I want. I really enjoy that position.”

McGrath is already proving a firm favourite back in Ireland, blessed with boy-next-door charm and genuine humility, which probably comes partly from growing up in rural Co Meath. From Lansdowne Road, McGrath heads to Ross County on Saturday, with St Mirren on a run of five games unbeaten. On a previous weekend, McGrath entertained a handful of Ireland fans he met on the plane coming to Glasgow for a music festival after the September international window. He showed them some of his favourite spots in Glasgow after they had been reacquainted watching Snow Patrol. Just another face in the crowd, but perhaps not for long.

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1 hour ago, MenstrieSaint said:

I think there will be teams wanting McGrath this season to help their push for promotion.  Some teams will probably be touching base just now to try and get a deal done early.  There will be lots of scouts watching McGrath in the next two ROI games knowing he us available relatively cheap in the next transfer window . I think we will get considerably more for him in January , than what Hibs were offering in September. 

Would like to think they would be just as interested in how he's performing with us. 

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Would you sign this deal if you were him? I wouldn't. There will be other clubs willing to pay him far more than we can - even with this club record offer. Why would he put an obstacle in the way of that? He doesn't owe us anything.

He will be away for a cut price fee in January or nothing in May. And good luck to him. We've been good for him, he's been good for us. Everyone's a winner.

Edited by TopCat
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Would love to think Jamie would accept our offer, but the days of player loyalty to a club are long gone. The lad has every right to do as so many others do nowadays and advance his career as well as earn lots more by going elsewhere. We should not begrudge him anything, but thank him for his contribution to the club and wish him well.

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On 10/13/2021 at 9:17 PM, bazil85 said:

I think a lot will depend on where we are at that point of the season. If we are fighting for top 6 or a relegation dog fight, can see us keeping him.
 

If we are comfortably 7th -8th with little chance of going down or cracking the top end, may think to cash in during January & strengthen for next season. (I know none of that is guaranteed regarding where we’ll finish, I’m talking in risk acceptance terms) 

Doubt we’d get anymore than £100k-£200k for him if he went though. Still possibly a couple of players at our level.

Makes sense but hope that the figure might be higher than the upper figure you suggest.

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Would you sign this deal if you were him? I wouldn't. There will be other clubs willing to pay him far more than we can - even with this club record offer. Why would he put an obstacle in the way of that? He doesn't owe us anything.
He will be away for a cut price fee in January or nothing in May. And good luck to him. We've been good for him, he's been good for us. Everyone's a winner.
I think you are slightly missing the point here. Of course he won't sign anything we can offer him and everyone connected to the club including Goody know that. This is about being seen to be doing all we can yet knowing full well it won't be enough. I suspect we will have made an offer we know is well outwith our wage structure on that very basis ie that Jamie is highly unlikely to sign it no matter what.
Jamie will go and the club can legitimately say we did all we can to prevent it. They owe that to the fans especially with majority ownership, that's what this is all about.
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10 minutes ago, Ayrshire Saints said:

I think you are slightly missing the point here. Of course he won't sign anything we can offer him and everyone connected to the club including Goody know that. This is about being seen to be doing all we can yet knowing full well it won't be enough. I suspect we will have made an offer we know is well outwith our wage structure on that very basis ie that Jamie is highly unlikely to sign it no matter what.
Jamie will go and the club can legitimately say we did all we can to prevent it. They owe that to the fans especially with majority ownership, that's what this is all about.

Of course that is the case. This is no criticism of the club, we are absolutely right to be asking the question and its a no lose situation for us. Just seems some fans thought he might be signing it - of course he won't be (barring some exceptional event like a leg break between now and January). This is just good PR from the club.

 

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On 10/13/2021 at 6:58 PM, MenstrieSaint said:

There will be top end Championship clubs in England desperate to sign McGrath.  We could get quite a decent fee for him , certainly more than what was offered last transfer window . As soon as a club signs him and puts him on a three year contract his value will be £3 million as a current Irish International.  Should the team get promoted that value would triple . Look out for Celtic offering sweeties .

And if the management still scratches their tongues, his price could go up to 5 million. And why not?

Edited by Pokitren
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On 10/25/2021 at 4:08 AM, W6er said:

I'm praying he's okay. It happened right in front of me, and he was clearly in a lot of pain.

Yes it looked both sore and strange... a quick and full recovery would be most welcome...

Followed by £350,000 in January for him - But I'd prefer he signed an extension

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