All Activity

I am sorry to see Muirhead go as much he was inconsistent he had double figure goals for the past two seasons his attitude was questionable but Dougie turned him into a much better player than he was when he first turned up. No idea how it will go for him at Livingston but I would bet everything to say he will score against us and then give it big licks as if he was some messiah. Anyway we now know both he and Crawford are definitely away no point crying over spilt milk let's see who we can try and bring in.

You're...welcome?

Was told tonight we've tried to sign Aidan Smith, striker/winger from Annan. Believe he got POTM for April in League 1 and double figures in goals. Apparently has rejected us (and Hamilton) as we can't cover the wages (based on his part time Annan wage and full time job).

So you're stating something obvious that happens more or less to every club, at the beginning of every fucking summer. Thanks for that solid 0/10 contribution then.

You're right, he did say that. The story of him leaving was only a few days later, so I'm not sure how to take what he says though. It would be strange if we signed players like Wilson and Davies for the following season but didn't even indicate to our own regulars they would be offered something. Maybe that's just what happened, I don't really know. I suspect it's more likely that we didn't know the best offers we could give to players until we knew where we finished, and both parties were in a wait and see situation. But again, I have no idea.

No problem with Muirhead moving on - I'm hoping Davies will be better than him.

Well, yes, pretty much. To greater and lesser extents, that's what happens. And that is what I'm saying. I mean, unless you're just trying to play some weird semantic game, I was just stating the obvious reality of the situation. Players we wanted to sign have not signed, so now we look to other potential targets.

That's not the reality - unless you think that every single May involves almost every single club 'not getting their targets' too. It's part and parcel of this level in modern football that players will use free agency to move elsewhere and a manager will be building with a different set of options than they would ideally like to keep.

Did Crawford not tell the Tele (if you believe the press) that he hadn’t had discussions with the club by early May? I may be wrong.

We may have. It’s also known that we offered them improved terms, which may not have been possible until we knew for sure that we wouldn’t be playing in league one next season.

How do you know we didn't? I'm thinking we probably did offer them new deals but the players wanted to wait until the Summer. We secured Mullen and Wilson, I'd imagine we spoke to others too.

It's possible that we did. And likely that at the very least certain players were given guarantees of offers. It's also possible that certain players have known for weeks or months that they would be moving to another club.

If we had earmarked Muirhead, Oakley and Crawford as players we wanted to keep, should we not have offered them contracts in January? Last year we offered early renewals to key players. Why wasn’t it done this year? You can’t blame players for considering other offers when they face unemployment in two weeks. This summer looks to have been poorly thought through.

We've really struggled for decent goalscoring strikers over recent years. They're actually really not easy to find at this level. You can pick faults in Muirhead, but he's been better than most we've had. Both Martindale and Imrie would have liked him for next season, we just need to hope something decent comes up. I wouldn't be too worried if it looked like Oakley would be staying. Those two scored about half our goals last season. The reality is that we're not getting our targets. If Imrie had more confidence in the market than in Muirhead, Crawford, or Oakley then he wouldn't have been offering them new deals. The way Dougie talked previously about who he'd be offering deals to, and that number potentially being higher depending on who re-signs, I do wonder if Gillespie gets an offer because we are potentially losing so many other midfielders. Things could work out well in the end, but it doesn't tend to be positive when your top targets don't sign.

Given the financial uncertainly brought about by their ongoing legal proceedings, I suspect Martindale is realistic enough to see the coming season as one of consolidation and stabilisation. If so, Robbie is probably a solid enough signing. But aye, if he believes he's assembling a squad to mount a serious promotion challenge and he sees Robbie as being an integral part of that, then I agree it's a strange one.

Dougie’s confirmed at the Q&A a few weeks ago that he wants more pace in the team and particularly at the top end of the park. So it’s exciting to see what the team will set up like come the start of the season. Better budget than before and I’ve got faith that Dougie will pull something out the bag again and replace Robbie. A change in players and system sounds good to me.

I wouldn't call him consistent, 0.4-a-game-steady either, but compared to anyone we've had since McHugh and before that MacDonald, he is as close as we can get.

I wouldn't call him a consistent goalscorer but the reality is that if he wasn't carrying the team during the first quarter of the season, we'd have been cut adrift and would probably be replacing Falkirk in the seaside leagues. The general point about a need for a refresh applies to Muirhead too though. We have had to adjust our attacking play to fit him alongside Oakley in the same team. That's no longer a requirement and there's no reason why we can't find a better attacking shape with options to play there next season. The turnover of first team players is a bit higher than I'd like but we're in a stronger position to replace players than 12 months ago. And if Livingston want to pin their hopes on Muirhead at 28 taking their team to the top flight then good luck with that.

Neither up nor down about Robbie. I’m certainly not in the camp of those who were desperate to see him go, but he’s had his time here and has, over the piece given us decent service, it’s probably best for all concerned that he moves on. Think it was clear from the point he scored that goal against Queen’s Park that both he and the support had had enough of each other, though I suspect Dougie Imrie will be more disappointed than we are. No ill-will towards him, but I hope he has a miserable time at his new club, as I do with every player who joins a direct rival of ours.

It’s disappointing to see a player with those stats walk out the door, but under Imrie is is the only time in his career he’s produced them. There’s a good chance this could turn out to be a really poor career move. I work with a few Livi fans who reckon they’re destined for league one. I doubt they’ll be offering him a much better wage than our improved offer. The only benefit I see for Muirhead is a clean break from a fan base he’s unfortunately come to resent.

Definitely sad to see Muirhead go. He was unpredictable of course and could go months without much happening but he was always liable to making things happen from nothing. Would have preferred to keep him for sure.

We don't have a great track record of finding double figure strikers so be careful what you wish for wishing one away. Muirhead had never been one though, anywhere else or even at Cappielow until Imrie coaxed one out of him so all the faith is put on Imrie to find that from someone else. Big hopes pinned on Davies right now.

I don’t share quite the same bravado or enthusiasm for Muirhead’s departure as some do. Clearly, when he’s been on song he’s been a very important player for us and a good goal scorer for our level. I wouldn’t mind seeing him replaced with someone who has more pace and is more inclined to press from the front. Hopefully alongside George and the new lad Davies.

I'm not sure many are celebrating, but he blows hot and cold and latterly more cold. He may do well against us but I'm not all that disappointed since if we are to keep either George or him it's no contest. If we lose George too then who knows but presumably Jordan Davies hasn't been signed to warm the bench so maybe a different shape to things next season which I would welcome.

Not devastated, but I think those celebrating Robbie's departure are optimistic if they believe we'll find a better replacement