RicoS321

It's simply happened too many times and to too many different clubs for it to be classed as anything other than a systemic issue. This is a serious problem for clubs involved, it can be so costly. It disproportionately falls on the smaller (poorer, in theory) clubs too. It's the fact that it is always those clubs and not the system itself that gets held to account. It should be an absolute embarrassment to the SFA every time a club is ejected from a competition because of an administrative error. They should be really, really ashamed. That fifteen lads can go out and win a game on merit get pulled up for not having their socks on the correct feet.

That's because I didn't read your post correctly! Clarkson has been dicked about, playing deep, then high, then deep again, often switching during the game. He has one role, and that's behind the front one or two. His through balls are just top class. I think we keep him in and ease the new lad in for the remainder of the season with sub appearances and cover for that single role too. He doesn't look quite good enough from what I've seen so far, but he definitely has some interesting qualities and I can see why we signed him.

I've said this 100 times before, but in the 21st century, with even the most rudimentary database technology, this should largely be impossible. Every team line (or even just squad) is typed into an online central system, and it doesn't allow you to submit if it includes an ineligible player. All players registered in the system, with dates signed etc and all cautions recorded post match. It's absolutely ridiculous that we've spent millions on some ridiculous system that measures offside to 1/1000mm, but we are still allowing games to be lost on an administrative error. Frustratingly, we hear this almost every year, yet nobody ever focuses on the solution to this, it's always about blaming the club (usually some part time administrator) as opposed to the system.

I'm guessing Roberts and Duncan could both play left sided. That isn't the most worrying thing for me. Assuming that we stay up this season, our team for next season (removing those we know are gash) is: Roos McRorie, McKenzie Ramadani, Barron, Shinnie Roberts, Duncan, Hayes, Myslovič Duk, Miovski I've included Shinnie because he's here and probably has a high chance of signing. I'd say that there are question marks over McRorie, McKenzie, Ramadani, Myslovič and Roberts , regarding whether they're good enough for the first team. Duncan and Barron will be going into their final years, and we simply can't afford to offload them. We're going into another season of transition, whether we like it or not. We're not adding 10 good new signings to that bunch in one window. We're worse off than last season in my opinion, with the club learning zero lessons. It's a bad situation.

Is Clarkson dead/injured/resigned? He's our best player by some stretch at the moment. Otherwise, looks decent. I'm a bit wary of throwing the new lad in on his wrong foot for his first game, but needs must. Maybe Robson will give Coulson another chance and play McKenzie in left centre.

Did the headline read: Stewart heads to Milton Keynes as Dons try to avoid relegation?

A shame. Never really liked him if I'm honest, seemed a bit immature and huffy and didn't really back it up. I could see why he was signed, but we need to be feeding this data back into the system, as he clearly lacked the pace and strength to be able to cut it in the SPFL, which has since been repeated with Morris and the jury still out on Roberts.

They are though. We've learned nothing about the importance of continuing to sign players in every window otherwise. McInnes' final window, signing three loanee strikers set us back a year in terms of the squad. Manager or not, we need to keep things ticking over with players going out and in. There is enough qualified people at the club to make signings in areas where we need players, and enough knowledge around the existing squad to know who can leave (within reason). An entire back line is having to be signed in the summer, that's an unacceptable position to be in, and pretty much setting up the new manager to fail. Experience tells us that we'll need to sign between 6-8 defenders to get four good ones. A new manager is always going to have to work with someone else's signings, we need to have transfers transcending the management team.

Joke thief.

Eight loanees is similar to when Ashley was dicking about with the Hun. It's quite unbelievable given the supposed recruitment specialists we now have. I'm assuming if this guy comes in then we're looking at Besuijen or Morris out?

I assumed you meant £3M plus agreeing to take Scales back?

Stewart to mk Dons would be the best bit of business this window by some distance.

Get him signed. The foreign revolution continues.

Should have stayed on his feet more often.

That's two right sided centre backs in this window. With four months left, we've now got three right sided centre backs. One extreme to the other.

Welcome aboard Gus.

Beale is a poor example, he was at the Huns previously and has very little experience as a manager, and both van bronckhorst and Gerrard took a while to appoint. Everton are a basket case by all accounts, so I'm not sure that following their example is useful. Pretty much every club has a process that takes a few weeks, it really isn't that unusual. Most have their preferred candidates (Goodwin didn't take long to appoint for example), but most often they have a process to make sure that who they're actually interested in is the best available. It's just good sense to do so, especially if your preferred choice isn't interested, or doesn't like the terms. I don't necessarily disagree that someone tried and tested is a good idea, but there's really no stand out candidates that I can think of. Lennon is your choice, but he's tried, tested and failed at every club bar the one he was given a shite tonne of money. The other problem with guys like Lennon is that he was demonstrably a worse manager than McInnes, who we're still trying to improve on. For a guy that 50% of the fans think is an absolute cunt before he enters the building, I just don't think it's worth it. There's also the issue of what we're asking a new manager to do, and that's play attacking football whilst getting results. Most SPFL-experienced managers don't do that (because it's difficult). I can't think of a tried and tested SPFL manager that fits the bill.

You seem to be under the illusion that there is any real science to appointing managers. In any walk of life. I've worked under many managers and seen many managers hired for various reasons and fired for various reasons. Some came with great experience, others promoted from within with success and others promoted from within despite glaring evidence that they were useless. Some of the useless ones even turned out to be quite good at managing. In reality, luck has a gigantic role to play on all levels. Whether they fit in, whether certain players hit a run of form, luck in the transfer window, settling on a system that works, having one or two in the background that hold things together etc. Having Robson in as interim helps to root out some of the wider problems too. Things that can be attributed to something that isn't the manager, that can be weeded out before a new guy comes in. I guess that's always a benefit of an interim appointment, but it has to be weighed against the danger that he might do really well and fans will always use hindsight to suggest we should have just kept him. You mention not having a guy lined up too, I just don't think that's a thing. The club should always go through a process, even just to rule out other options. You never know who might throw their CV in. You also might have targeted a manager who is with a club that then goes on a run of shite performances and you have to rethink. Any manager that's jobless will likely have just done that too. However, it may just be that you believe that succession planning within the club in both players and management staff is always the correct way to go (if circumstances allow). I generally think it's a good thing, and I'd be quite pleased if we're trying it. The hiring of an experienced coach to see the process through is also sensible. I also don't think it's necessary to explicitly announce that approach either, when you can ease Robson in with less external pressure (he'll know, obviously, so he'll have that internal pressure) and give him time and support to establish himself. I genuinely don't know enough about non SPFL managers, so I'd be quite happy if a more mature, more disciplined (with age) Robson is given the opportunity to take the role.

Agree with all this. I'd switch Duk for Miovski though, he's been a detriment to the team since the last win (whereas Miovski seems to just lack confidence and direction). Coulson only gets his place because it's a terrible idea to play anybody else there.

Good stuff. An experienced bloke to help Robson suggests it might be with a view to a permanent position. That experience was certainly missing the last couple of times he was involved in the caretaker role.

I would assume so. Lewis has looked like a shadow of himself (a shadow might be better), and is just a panicky mess. Unless he was just downing tools to quicken Goodwin's departure, which I think is unlikely. I think it's notable that we've addressed it even without a manager, although I guess it is just a loan.

jay gorter signing on loan from Ajax? Maybe time for Lewis to hang up his gloves?

The best way to get rid of annoying hibees is to perform a reverse beetle juice on them. If you say the name "Terry Butcher" three times, they simply disappear.

I suspect that if you spoke to him like that he would.

I've not heard the Cowley brothers talking, but if their voices are anything like thon Lee Johnson, we should be steering well clear. I have zero idea about non SPFL managers. It's fairly clear to me that Martindale is the best manager in the league, but he seems a perfect fit where he is. He could be persuaded by the opportunity to launder money in a new stadium project of course. I don't think we should go for him though, for the reasons Panda states. Outside of Scotland, I've simply no idea. After Goodwin, I've no idea how you even get a managerial appointment correct. Glass should have been a complete known quantity in terms of his tactical ability and ability to change games and get the best out of players, but Goodwin will have had a decentish record, up and coming, and interviewed well. Unless you actually sit through games where managers are involved and watch their interactions with players and the tactical changes they make during games, you've got little to go on. Given that many of the managers we'll be looking at might not be in a job, I'm not sure how you do that. It's not like targeting a player.