LA-Don

I hear you donsdaft, my number is where I'd expect a starting bid. Then again, McGeady and Alan Hutton went down south for 9M! Given I'm sure they were both on way more than Hayes, that takes JH to maybe 3-4M??

Even if Hayes were to push the move, 500k is nothing. We don't need to sell and he's under contract for another 18 months. Given the funny money for transfers I'd say 1.5M is more realistic for an international squad player and one of if not our best player.

I'm a big fan of McGinn. If he was any better or more consistent he'd have moved on to bigger and better things long ago. He'd be a loss and no clue who'd be an adequate replacement.

Good win and good performance. Thought we worked very hard and were definitely up for the game. Thought we dominated throughout. Starting to think Cathro is a poor signing for Hearts. Neilson had them getting stuck in and playing for the jersey. A real physical challenge for us. Perhaps Cathro is more of a passing/skill manager and Hearts just don't have the players/skill for that. Saying this, all they did was long ball and they were minimal danger all night. COYR!

Elgin, totally agree #1 priority is the tough tackling grafter, just planning ahead!

Saw virtually nothing from Ali Crawford yesterday. With Maddison staying (is this confirmed??) I assume if there was ever any interest that's gone, although maybe a precontract? With potentially losing McGinn as well as Maddison in the summer maybe still an option?

Rocket, agree with your team, but see it as a 4-2-3-1 with Maddison central ahead of two mids, plus the two wingers. McLean is fine in there when not expected to be the heavy lifter. I assume the missing central midfielder was meant to be O'Connor but he's proved he's not the best in there and effective at the back. This meant a major rethink by DM which he's struggled with all season. Taylor gives us height in a low level league where aerial battles occur. Reynolds is meant to give us pace. However, both get exposed by a weak midfield. Why has O'Connor been dropped? We appear more secure with him there. Getting that midfielder will allow us an extended period of a settled team....... hopefully! Expect a loss tomorrow. Another game that will be physical and a get stuck in game against a team who have out worked us in the past. Very similar pressure in this game to the last two old firm games and we didn't have the bottle for either.

Ready to be slated. Very similar player to Ally McCoist? A very effective penalty box poacher.

I thought we were pretty good first half, lots of attacking, corners, chances, goal disallowed, and Taylor's goal was clearly coming. Hamilton scored totally out of the blue. This was more like us, my only gripe is the nervy at the end 2-1 win when we should have been out of sight!

Very enjoyable game although we should have won more convincingly. We still play sideways far too much and need to be more direct. The run from Shinnie at the end which led to the sending off was exactly what we need instead of the simple square ball - think we still need to hit Rooney earlier and support quicker.....lack of movement on Rooney's part?? Thought Ryan Jack played very well today. Looked more imposing and more physical, first time I've complimented him this season!

Now we run into the same weekly issue. Just won a decent game, why change the line up?

I think Maddison is a super player and I'll be delighted if he stays until the end of the season. However, if we don't sign one or two imposing and more physical central midfielders then I feel Maddison is a luxury we cannot afford. McLean is wasted at holding mid, he's a natural attacking mid competing with Maddison for playing time in the same position, and McLean is proabaly regressing as a result of playing out of position. We're so powder puff in midfield and need a more balanced team. Add that holding mid and I also think we'll get more out of Maddison and the other attack minded players.

I kinda agree with Edinburgh but my take is that while Maddison is most effective centrally he can be used in any of the 3 attacking mid positions. With him staying Storey can definitely leave, as can potentially Burns. Morris too. Hopefully this frees up money plus with further funds made available we can pick up 2 tougher more definsive minded center mids. With a more balanced team we'd more likely get more from existing players.

Wide open game, both teams had chances. We tend to over pass at times, third goal was the old Aberdeen, attack at pace and punish a team. Don't understand why we dropped O'Connor again. Taylor should have scored at least one. McLean played well but is poor defensively and can't win a tackle. Playing in the more advanced roll helps him. Shinnie is not a center mid but we're better with him there, more bite and drive. A tough tackling physical midfielder alongside Jack or McLean would definitely help the team and most likely the performances of either player and allow them to play their more natural game. Thought McGinn and Hayes were better than they've been of late. Rooney' penalty miss sums him up of late but thankfully he got the rebound. He doesn't offer us enough up top in my opinion hence we go sideways too much.

That's coaching! Shinnie wouldn't have scored if he was at left back ha!

And chopping and changing again. Taylor back in, Shinnie in midfield, Maddison, Stockley, and Burns moved to the bench.....

They also paid Preston something like 1.5 mill for the boy Garner I think. Sad and painful reality is that they will pay more in transfer fees, more in wages, get bigger crowds, and are a bigger attraction. Central belt vs north easy too has been a signing factor before. As for the 'we're scotlands second team and playing regularly in Europe', I'd say we were for the last 3 years but this year could be a turning point. Certainly hope it's not but nothing DM is doing right now is filling me with confidence. I'm not sure we'll even finish top 4 and then no Europe next year. We're on a downward spiral since the cup final, but realistically we've been poor all season so to call us scotlands second team as the sevco revival continues leaves me wondering.

Manc, whether the Huns have money doesn't matter, they have spent on players and I expect will continue to do so in January. I'm sick of DMs bullshit but we can't compete financially with rangers. We can still beat them with astute signings, good coaching, and intelligent team selections..........still waiting for that to happen.

Great news but doesn't change the fact the team is incredibly imbalanced and we're extremely lightweight. If this means we're stuck with McLean and Jack behind Maddison then this isn't that big a deal, the same problems exist. Sign two hard bastards to play behind JM then this is great and we'd probably see even more from JM.

I wouldn't say it's the only area needing strengthened. I'd say we definitely need two central midfielders. Maddison leaves and McLean goes back to his position so we're missing one in there, plus that guarantees Jack a game. Storie doesn't play so any injury or suspension and Shinnie is back in midfield. We need two additions in there for sure. When Hayes or McGinn doesn't play Burns plays. A loan player who hasn't done much, when does he return to his club? Wright doesn't play so I'd like another wide guy because both Hayes and McGinn need back up. Storey doesn't play and I'm thinking he leaves in January. Neither Rooney or Stockley are having good seasons (mainly due to the inconsistent starting/playing) so why not take a chance with Cummings?

Perhaps but when on form he's a very good player and he's only 21, should improve and also be a financial investment. Worth the risk adding him and punting Pawlett or Storey. Or Taylor, he's like playing with 3 men down!

I'm a relative newbie at the fantasy crap. Anyone tell me when a week officially starts - want to play the triple captain, bench boost etc and it recommends playing them when a team has two games in a week. Does that mean the weekend game and the following week day game, or the weekday followed by the weekend game??

Anyone think a move for Jason Cummings in January is a good idea? Seems to have lost his way a little this year (or perhaps injured, I don't know) since I've not heard much about him. Surely we can pay cash plus one of Pawlett/Storey/Taylor/Reynolds?? Rooney and Stockley aren't exactly banging in the goals......although being in and out of the line up weekly doesn't help.

Don't agree with DL and a smaller squad at all. We 'failed' in the last couple of seasons because we were gassed by March. We finished the season with our stronger players having nothing left to give. From what I see DM doesn't know how to use a squad. Last couple of season he's played maybe 15-16 players and run them into the ground. He'd have done the same again this year except with players off form/not performing he's had to change things. Then it gets worse because it changes weekly, if players don't immediately perform they're dropped again e.g. the constant switching of Rooney and Stockley. But then again if you do perform you can still get dropped - Pawlett for example who has come in and played quite well still gets binned for Jack. Then we have players who rarely play well - it was Jack and McLean until McLean finally found a bit of form - play week in week out regardless. There is no consistency in team selection, plus no consistency in why a team is selected, hence no consistency in team performance. It's impossible for a player to play consistently well when you don't know if you're going to play regardless of performance. Man management is definitely being questioned. It's the first time in the DM reign where multiple players are off form and questions have been asked about DM's man management and team selections. He appears to be failing miserably. Lastly, we had driven leaders in Anderson, Quinn, Flood, and Robson - you can't maintain performance when failing to replace multiple leaders and strong characters. There guys had a major influence on the field and that's a huge loss.

I don't think it's apathy yet, people care. I think Garlogie puts it perfectly. It's a lack of understanding with DM. People are confused. The board or Milne are not doing anything at present to upset/cause increased concern (I think) but it's purely on field performance. The endless chopping and changing suggests a desperate man. The fact that we change by game (e.g. the constant switching of Rooney and Stockley, the position of Shinnie, the changing of the back 4) has left everyone baffled. I'm speculating but based on the changes, DM isn't happy with the holding center mid, isn't happy with the forward position, and isn't happy with central defense. Add this to the fact Maddison leaves, that's 4 areas he's got to fix in the January window. In addition, the out of contract players add more uncertainty and DM stating we may not keep them all suggests movement out of the club soon. I think apathy will kick in if these areas aren't addressed in January. Failure to do so (like we failed last January) shows a lack of effort/care which will definitely impact fan attitude. At this point Milne and co do come into play because the club backs the manager or not in these windows. Obviously we don't expect reckless spending but we've got clear areas that need addressed immediately.