January transfers

[RED_JOHN]

Very good player, can't see it happening though. He'll be on Championship wages next season. Can't see him going to the Glasgow scum either.

Wonder if this is his agent trying to drum up interest to get a good deal for the lad. Is the lad commanding in the air?

[RealPompeyDon]

Wonder if this is his agent trying to drum up interest to get a good deal for the lad. Is the lad commanding in the air?

Pompey are currently owned by a yank billionaire, hasn't gone silly with spending, but the cash is (supposedly) there. Probably is the agent trying to get as much out of the owner as possible. There would be merry hell down here is he was allowed to leave for next to nothing. Commanding in the air and doesn't flap under pressure, was out for a while with cruciate damage, but has been outstanding this season and is back to his best.

[RED_JOHN]

Pompey are currently owned by a yank billionaire, hasn't gone silly with spending, but the cash is (supposedly) there. Probably is the agent trying to get as much out of the owner as possible. There would be merry hell down here is he was allowed to leave for next to nothing. Commanding in the air and doesn't flap under pressure, was out for a while with cruciate damage, but has been outstanding this season and is back to his best.

Sounds decent but the injury is a bonus for us as we like a bit cruciate damage on our new players. Reality though is that if Celtic truly wanted this lad they would blow us out the water regarding wages etc but no harm in making an attempt to entice him to super Aberdeen.

[Don_Corleone]

Reality though is that if Celtic truly wanted this lad they would blow us out the water regarding wages etc but no harm in making an attempt to entice him to super Aberdeen.

Did you just say 'reality'?

[afc1903mad]

Did you just say 'reality'?

[blowupsheep]

Considering last year he had 17 in 43 games, it is a marked improvement

Cannot argue or disagree with that statement, as much as I would really like to

SF

[blowupsheep]

but the injury is a bonus for us as we like a bit cruciate damage on our new players.

Cannot argue or disagree with that statement either ffs

[RED_JOHN]

Did you just say 'reality'?

Yes. Celtic can certainly pay more wages and that is a thing I have never contested. We can still have a go at their higher waged team though...that is what I contest.

[BogBrush1903]

We're already getting pretty good bang for our buck if you look at our performance over the last 5 seasons. There are diminishing returns in the player market so we could quite easily double our budget for relatively little return in terms of an improved standard of player so I agree that the additional investment route isn't really going to help us significantly in bridging the gap. I agree that we should be prepared to spend transfer fees on promising younger players but our wage budget is fine in the context of our annual turnover. If we increase it to pay higher wages to existing players there's a danger of wage creep with no substantial improvement.

The lack of first team players who have come through the youth system in the last 10 years has been a disappointment and our current level of league performance probably isn't sustainable if we rely on the transfer market alone. We can't put the blame for that on McInnes because it's not as though any of our youth players from this period have gone on to bigger and better things since leaving AFC. And we have seen with McKenna that if you're good enough you'll be given a chance. This has been mitigated a little by us poaching young talent from other teams as we have done with Ferguson, McLean and Shinnie but we'll usually have competition from the cheeks, Hearts and Hibs for those players.

I'm always sceptical of talk about "not accepting defeat". Of course you can instil a winning culture at a club but you still need the ability to back it up. I understand that fans want 11 warriors on the pitch who are willing to die for the cause but that's not how things work in reality. Being a winner breeds a winning attitude. Being a loser... Every team of winners look like unstoppable supermen until they're losing and run out of ideas.

It was McInnes himself who said there was "acceptable ways to lose". Now I understand the point he was trying to put across but would've he said it if he was the manager of Glasgow Sevco? And what message does "acceptable ways to lose" say to the players and fans? We don't need warriors as such, we just need players with the belief that they go that one step further and lift silverware. The one cup that we did win was assisted by the fact that ICT looked just as nervous and unwilling to win the cup as we did...

McKenna's introduction to the first team was forced upon him after the horror showing in the Fir Park League Cup Quarter-Final. But what would've happened if McKenna experienced an off day in the following league match at the same venue a few days later. For instance, what if we lost 0-3 again instead of winning 1-0? Would we have seen McKenna again or would he have failed the McInnes trust test?

The lack of a proper Youth Academy and lack or removal of scouting networks (the West of Scotland scouts were shelved) are faults that lie with Stewart Milne. The failure to nurture, and thus have confidence to blood youngsters into the first team are the fault of McInnes. We need capable young players to bolster the squad; therefore, they need to be nurtured even if they ain't going to make the club £10 million...

[thebeachend]

bang on bog brush