Recruitment

[LawSteelman]

Along with other things, our recruitment policy needs overhauled big time. Over the last couple of years in particular it has been shambolic and we need to start looking elsewhere rather than the English lower reaches.

It's actually embarrassing the level of player that we have brought in in the last few transfer windows. Guff like Seedorf, Hylton, Mugabi, Chapman, Lamie, McGinley, White, Cole, Sloth, Ilic all brought in and offered little to nothing and for a club that's never done reminding all and sundry that we have such a small budget, it's a disgrace that that's the level of player we are bringing in.

Big, big changes are required to how we scout and sign players or we are going nowhere but down.

[Handsome_Devil]

Where do you suggest we look?

Chances are the majority of folk in Scotland we'd feel confident about boosting our team are contract. We can occasionally make good offers, for us, to secure some out of contract guys in that bracket but we don't have the cash to fund a squad by pipping St Johnstone/St Mirren/Ross County etc to 10 guys rather than just a few. So most signings from Scotland will be gambles - White, Lamie etc - in the same way as the rest from England or wherever.

A fresh manager with some contacts and a fresh chief scout will hopefully help. But we can't change the market that we and virtually every other club in Scotland operates in.

Edit to add nearly half that list you mentioned didn't come from England - we're sadly perfectly capable of signing rubbish from anywhere...

[texaco cup]

I totally agree that our recruitment policy has to be looked at. Yes we have a very limited budget which restricts the players we can attract. But surely our opponents today don’t have any bigger budget or in fact operate on a lower one. But they still find players who can’t be described as the most skilful but are usually fighters who give their all for the team and club something we are lacking in large numbers in our current squad.

[Handsome_Devil]

They also sign rubbish as well, we just pay less attention to it or have no idea who they are because they don't play while lamenting those who could do a job for us going somewhere else.

Signing dross isn't the problem because everyone does it and at our level you'll never eliminate it. The problem is that in our recent signings we've not been hitting the roughly required tally of 1 great signing, 3 varying degrees of ok and 1 total flop from every five, it's been 1 vaguely ok and four total flops.

You can excuse Wes Fletcher, Nathan Thomas and goodness knows how many others if you also get Louis Moult etc. Robinson always struggled with attacking players but Foyle - presumably largely based in England and responsible for down there - has long stopped producing.

[jwok]

Regardless of who is signed if players' attitudes are not right when they cross the line then failure will follow. I just don't believe that Hamilton have better footballers than us yet they cruised it today. No matter who takes the reins at Fir Park, they need to be able to motivate.

[Handsome_Devil]

They had a better player in goals for sure, which turned out to be pretty handy...

[Wellup4it]

At the end of the day Stephen Robinson has left us in a helluva mess. We can't blame Lasley for today's fiasco but he's part of the problem not the solution.

[dazlhigh]

Regardless of who is signed if players' attitudes are not right when they cross the line then failure will follow. I just don't believe that Hamilton have better footballers than us yet they cruised it today. No matter who takes the reins at Fir Park, they need to be able to motivate.

Correct, but even Klopp or Guardiola would find it hard to budget for the type of individual blunders which put Accies in easy street. We do have the basis of a competitive team - Carson, Carroll,Gallacher, O'Donnell,Campbell,Crawford, O'Hara and Watt, supplemented by Polworth, Grimshaw, Maguire and Hastie (if he can get back on form) are, properly structured, good enough for our league. But we badly need to get a striker to support Tony Watt - he's ploughing a lonely furrow. I can't, now see either Devante or Jordan ever worrying defences - I don't remember either of them getting remotely close to scoring for weeks now.
But, despite our run of miserable form, we're not adrift in the league. There is still time to organise and stop the rot, but we need something soon.

[sieb1886]

A cynic would say our players are running some sort of competition; "See who can make the most blunderous error of the Season"!

Christ knows 'cos that list just keeps getting longer and longer ...