SpoonTon

There's no cap on business energy rates. That's still quite high, but if they were leaving a good deal then it's quite the hit that they'll be taking. I managed to tie business energy rates in at the beginning of the year which were just over twice what they had been (and the previous deal wasn't even very good) - and that was before Russia invaded Ukraine. 36% would be great, btw. By October, it looks like I'll be about 200% up on what I have been paying domestically up until early last month.

The sponsorship deal certainly doesn't seem to have come through yet, and the way that it was put on here at the time was that we were relying on it to keep the budget the same (which isn't surprising given increased running costs and perhaps also that we had the cushion of COVID money last year). It's not great if we were planning on the basis on money that wasn't there yet, and I'm certainly going that it's not the case. Hopefully we're just waiting on our targets being willing to sign for the money we can offer.

Lawrence Shankland is back in Scotland with Hearts. I wonder if he'll actually manage the first decent top flight season of his career.

I agree with much of this, and I've said elsewhere that we might be at the point when trying something different with at least an element of part time football involved. One thing I would say, though, is that there isn't a part time club (or a club who have went down that route at some point) that have been a championship club for more seasons than we have over the past 15 years or so. Full time football absolutely gives a better platform for success than part time, but only if it's something which is actually affordable (a hybrid of proper full time players and cheap local younger players isn't something that has worked). And a caveat here is that a really well run part time club can achieve more success in individual seasons than poorly run full time clubs. Practically speaking, if we can't quite afford to function properly as a full time club then part time or hybrid set ups are sensible options.

I definitely think there's a risk in the message going part time would send. There are plenty who would see it as a sign of a lack of ambition - but perhaps most of those have already been staying away. I also think is very difficult to make a success of part time football - and those who have done in recent years (Dumbarton, Arbroath) have paid very good wages (not far off or equal to lower full time teams) to give them an advantage over other part time teams. In that sense, I do think that there is a shifting point for us when part time football (or a hybrid model) would allow us to put together a more successful team when we're struggling to attract a decent full time team (and right now we might be circling that point), but I think there are major risks in it as a longer term model. I honestly think if we announced we were going part time (at the end of next season, for example), there would be a decent part of the hardcore support that might think that would be sensible (and some older fans who would spend months taking about how Ritchie, etc., we're part time anyway) but the wider support and others beyond that who would just see it as a big reduction in ambition and a sign that the club is struggling. I think it would have a sizable impact on season ticket sales and would leave the club needing to show that it could be a success from a starting position of a reduced income.

Raith have sometimes had a hybrid model. In their last season in league one, for example, they had two part time players. They've had an openness to flexibility at times rather than seeing part time football as a route to success. Going back I don't know exactly how many players they've had on part time deals. They've had mixed results whatever approach they've taken.

No, basically. That's why I mentioned earlier that having a goalkeeper among the 'reserve' players would make sense.

We've got 5 or 6 players who very much feel like are here in absence of a reserve or development team (certainly Easdale, McGrattan, King, McGregor, and Garrity - maybe also Hynes). I can understand doing something like this in the sense of retaining some decent young players, showing that there is a pathway to the first team, and adding some cheaper depth to the squad by using local players. I'm not sure about the selection process of these players. Easdale and McGrattan are certainly both in the older end of the scale here to be decent future prospects. It would also have been helpful to have a goalkeeper among these players. What wouldn't make any sense would be to only a 13 player squad outside of those 'reserves.' That's what we currently have. I've been assuming that there are at least 4 or 5 more players to come, and we do need at least a full 18 outside of those reserves. It feels strange that we don't seem to be actively having a look at options on trial or being linked with anyone else. I'm really hoping that we haven't started to build a squad and have had to stop because she funding hasn't come through. 4 good signings and we could be very competitive in a tight league this season. As it is, it would be a real struggle. There's still time to bring in some good signings, I hope they're coming at some point.

It's telling that we all disappointed that QP were doing the right thing from their point of view by dumping players like these. There's obviously the Imrie connection with Gillespie and Jai was a young player with potential at one point but it's a big gamble to try to get both careers back in track. Points to a bit of a struggle to attract quality players.

Yeah, not a fan of that whatsoever.

Quitongo was a brilliant, raw talent as a 18/19 year old, but he's arguably only gone backwards since then. He hasn't seemed to improve much technically and has perhaps lost that fearless edge he had before injuries. I'm sure there are those around him that would say I'm being unfair and that he's still got the talent, but his career has never really got going. There's very little, if anything, to suggest he's what we're looking for (beyond once having, a really quite explosive, raw potential). He would undoubtedly be a better squad player than Easdale, though, but I expect he's just training with us (like many players have done over the years without signing).

Think it was not proven.

I thought that Wilson looked like a player with the potential to be really good at this level, and I do think he'd fit in better in a 4-3-3 type structure (there was often an aspect of him not quite fitting in, I thought), but there's also a part of me that thinks if he doesn't smooth out those (sometimes very) rough edges then he won't ever quite be the player he looks like he might be - he did so some ridiculously bad stuff in amongst his good general play. I think we're going to have to hope Jacobs can find his form or we can find a way to move him on (which Imrie seemed to generally hint at in terms of players who already have a deal).

I had that worry about my season card after signing up for the direct debit last season. It's not the most reassuring system ever - especially with the direct debit where things have to be matched up manually. I did get an email on the week leading up to the first game of the season, when I assume this matching up was done (which was good work on their part considering I had used my email address that I use for MCT and not for gmfctickets). Overall, though, it's usually fine and not worth the worry - despite the lack of confirmation emails, etc. I still can't get my payment to go through this year though. Seems to be quite a few people having an issue with the verification page. I'm not worrying too much because I can get the MCT price any time, but it's not great for those trying to get the early bird price. I'm certainly not alone in having this issue. The club either need to get this sorted today or extend the early bird window imo.

Imagine going back in time to December 2021 and telling your past self that Blues and Muirhead would be signing new 2 year deals. Whatever you think of it now, it's not something anyone would've seen coming then.

I should have known better than to think that I could just quickly pop onto the website this morning and renew my season ticket. I'm now remembering why I ended up paying by direct debit last year - because it was the quickest and easiest way to do it. Issues with authentication check not connecting this time. It does very much feel like any problem resolved with the website just throws up a new problem.

It's a left footed winger, for anyone still guessing. I had McHugh in 6th, with Tidser's with one more cup goal as the tie breaker. It is a list which puts things in perspective, though. We haven't had many goalscorers in recent years.

Pfft, doesn't even make the top 5...

A striker who finds the net once a month would be our top goalscorer. Reilly came onto a game in the second half of the season, but he never really liked like he was going to score loads of goals.

This move had been rumoured for ages. The talk was that he had moved (or was moving) back down there, so it was a move which really made sense for him. He's at a stage of his career that a move back to his hometown club was going to be difficult for us to compete with.

While I agree that some form of vision is important. What happens if we do push a vision for aiming for promotion, increase the budget intentions, and then we still only sell about 500 or so season tickets? Selling a vision with words and slogans is one thing, having the finance to back it up is another thing entirely. People come back to the club when they see financial investment (on and off the pitch) and a bit of success - but those running the club don't have the financial backing to do all that much at this point. The balancing act going on here is incredibly important to try to get right, but it's also incredibly difficult.

I've always thought Baird's awful.

I felt that Ledger defended really well from right back but didn't really show the other qualities of a full back or wrong back, but his performances at centre back were always a bit patchy (I'm not surprised he never made that position his own over the last couple of years). If he could really nail down and improve in either position then he'd be up to this standard, but that probably won't happen playing second fiddle in both roles. So it's the best decision all round, I think. He's definitely cut the kind of figure that is easy to wish the best in the future. I hope he finds somewhere he can nail down his role and improve his game.

There's sometimes talk on here about the benefits of putting together a team made up of the best part-time players, like Arbroath have done. But the other aspect of it is that they have been very good at picking up and improving players who have come from a similar or lower level. Their squad is made up of players from the likes of Queen's Park, Forfar, East Stirling, Airdrie, Berwick, Stranraer, Morton, Raith, and Dunfermline - complimented with good loan signings. They seem to have a group of hard working, talented players with the right attitude. There's no substitute for actually having a decent eye for a player, and knowing the right players to compliment each other. I think the second half of the season showed that the squad was at least part of the way there. The trouble is that we might lose quite a few of the better players (Brandon and Reilly already, with Strapp, Hamilton, etc. undecided). I suspect Imrie is wary of changing too much and risking too much, hopefully that won't backfire. Ideally I would've liked to have seen us make minor changes to the squad (replace Reilly and Brandon and improve upon Oliver, Jacobs, Ledger, and McEntee). We would know the worth of what we had, and look to compliment that with good signings. As it is my worry is that we're going to be left with too many of the poorer players and not enough space to make those shrewd signings.

Moving to 4 at the back would also involved finding centre backs who are good enough to do that. I'm not sure Ledger and McEntee were (although with McEntee I think it's decision making and judgement, he seems to have the physical attributes and he might have been fine alongside the right partner). That means being able to find a couple of central defenders who are actually commanding and competent enough to do the job. For all we know the discussions with McLean are more along the lines of if we get our defensive targets there won't be room for him, but if we don't then it's plan B and stick with the back 3. Perhaps we'll aim to play with the back 4, but injuries or other reasons might mean switching to the 3/5 at certain points. Nothing really seems in the "ideal" category when it comes to Imrie's squad building this summer.