TopCat

I think we can safely file Hamilton's current financial arrangments under 'shenanigans'.

He was a tidy player and couldn't be faulted for effort, but it looked like the switch to full time football just came a bit late in his career. A shame to see a talented guy not make the grade physically but that was the gamble we were taking.

Any best XI from the players listed probably wouldn't be good enough to win the Championship or even finish 2nd in a given season, and that's testament to the job Imrie did in securing mid-table finishes. On the other hand, it shows how far away from a serious promotion challenge we are unless sustained investment can be secured (putting aside the slim chance of a flukey playoff run).

I didn't think the swivel-eyed accusations of political bias towards MacPherson would be topped this season, but this 'Imrie the side-hustler' bit has been some effort.

His opinions should now be treated with the same attitude shown to any other opposition manager. I've got nothing against the guy for making a career move to suit himself, but football is tribal and he's ditched us for a direct competitor mid-season after fumbling a transfer window. I hope we pump Raith in all the remaining fixtures.

I was meaning previous seasons there, but agree that we're not out of the woods yet. My gut feeling is that losing Imrie mid-season will be the difference between a comfortable 6th place and a nervy 7th/8th. Not a disaster, but another lukewarm campaign to be followed by high player turnover.

This feels as good a point to part ways with Imrie as any to me. The main target of mid-table safety has been achieved, and this season looks like turning out much the same. That's decent enough for us in the grand scheme of things, but the tendency to cling on to what you have rarely works out in football. We might appoint a complete dud next, or someone with a lesser work ethic, but I think it's fair to say that the summer transfer window was Imrie's least successful. That can't continue, otherwise we'll end up in the same position as Ayr, Raith, Dunfermline and Partick: wasting a fortune on a bloated mess of a squad while achieving nothing.

I forgot O'Halloran existed. Feeling optimistic about this one. The tide will turn for us at some point and I can't see Arbroath sustaining their early season form for much longer.

I'm not convinced that touchline instructions really achieve very much, especially over and above what the manager is already doing. Any improvements to this rabble are going to come from the training pitch, a more aggressive defensive approach and Imrie (presumably) being given more money to chuck at the problem in January.

Some of the recent criticism of the players has been unreasonable, but this is a different level of headloss.

Well worth reading through the threads on P&B and Reddit on Hamilton's latest shenanigans for a look at how bad things can get under incompetent backroom staff. It's also pretty amazing to see that there's still a core group of apologists and bootlickers defending the club despite the mess they're in.

Shaw either needs to be dropped or we need to sacrifice the other winger for a narrower midfield. Having Shaw and one of Adeloye/Brophy plodding around makes our press laughably easy to play through. We made Partick look like a top 6 Premiership side in the second half last week.

The development idea has been canned for the time being and Arnold Clark are renting the plot for parking.

I get that the end of last season was a shambles, but its still hard to tell what is to be achieved with this plan. Will it address a hard stop to the ~£750k p/a Dalrada funding? Generate more revenue so Dalrada can reduce their funding by an equivalent amount? Brian Bonar's sponsorship is certainly welcome, but it's hard to see him pulling out as anything other than a cliff face scenario, even if our staff manage to turn us into the commercial equivalent of a small-scale Man Utd.

Beating that rancid rabble will never get old. Great result to hopefully build a bit of confidence in the squad.