I quite liked the January transfer window thread on here because it brought a lot of speculation and good discussion between posters. 

How would you like to see the summer window go? Where should we strengthen? Who should leave the club? 

My wish list for next season that we strengthen in the left back and attacking options. Keeping guys like Miles Storey and Owain Fon Williams should be an imperative.

Noticed in in the daily record today that John Fleck is looking for another club. Would be an ideal replacement for Ryan Christie. El Bahkatoui of Dunfermline would be a fantastic addition to our club too. 

Hope we get our business done early doors. 

10 minutes ago, WYNESS101 said:

Horner has done well when called upon. If we start him at RB and let him play there week in week out he should improve and make that position his.

Horner Warren Meekings Tremarco

I'd give that a go

Here we go - back to the old days of squad catch-up. Even if we ignored the Storey situation there is something that appears to be not quite right when it comes to the club's recruitment. Personally I don't rate Lewis Horner as a defensive unit and wouldn't have said he was the type of player that Hughes was stating we need to improve the club. Then again maybe he will prove me wrong. 

The BBC article on Storey http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36314711 states that Goodwillie has been released by Aberdeen - hopefully we are not even thinking about considering him as a replacement 

Disappointed, but not surprised by Storey's move to Aberdeen - particularly if the rumour about development fee to Swindon is correct.

Doran is potentially an excellent signing, but we don't know how he'll shape up following that injury - some players are never quite the same.

Horner was occasionally appalling and sometimes OK - I'd have him as back-up for right back or midfield - nothing more. However, Yogi seems to like him, so i'd not be surprised if he were first team. Never saw Fisher play, so hope he's got something.

How long are the contracts? All 1 year?

Edited May 17, 201610 yr by PerfICT

1 minute ago, PerfICT said:

Disappointed, but not surprised by Storey's move to Aberdeen - particularly if the rumour about development fee to Swindon is correct.

Doran is potentially an excellent signing, but we don;'t know how he'll shape up following that injury - some players are never quite the same.

Horner was occasionally appalling and sometimes OK - I'd have him as back-up for right back or midfield - nothing more. However, Yogi seems to like him, so i'd not be surprised if he were first team. Never saw Fidher play, so hope he's got something.

How long are the contracts? All 1 year?

From the ICT statement:

As promised, we bring you up to date on where we are with player recruitment for the coming season.  We had hoped to have at least some of these in place sooner so we could have included a word from the players, but we'll do that as soon as they are back from their summer break.

We are pleased to confirm that deals are now complete with Aaron Doran (2 years + 1 year option for the club), Lewis Horner (1 year) and Alex Fisher (6 months with 1 year option for the club).

Horner in - Raven out. How can anyone at ICT tell the fans that this is a forward thinking move. Why don't the board or the manager come out and tell the fans what exactly is happening.and why has Raven been shown the door when he is the best right back at the club and wanted to remain unlike some of the other prima donnas who are holding out on re-signing.   

33 minutes ago, Alan said:

Horner in - Raven out. How can anyone at ICT tell the fans that this is a forward thinking move. Why don't the board or the manager come out and tell the fans what exactly is happening.and why has Raven been shown the door when he is the best right back at the club and wanted to remain unlike some of the other prima donnas who are holding out on re-signing.   

I would guess it's forward thinking due to the ages of the players in question. It is a shame to lose Raven, but I actually think Horner has shown quite a bit of potential this season.

I think Horner has had some decent games and can be good going forward but on the opposite end of the scale he has had a couple of terrible games and can literally just run straight into an opposing player with no idea of what to do next when attacking, conceding the ball in feeble fashion.

The decision has been made that Raven is going and Horner is staying but at the very least I am hoping we see Horner in the RB positon and not Josh, I agree with the line ups mentioned above. Tremarco was quite poor when he first came to us but stepped it up a gear this season and was one of my players of the season, with game time there is every chance Horner can do the same.

Where are the NEW faces that we were promised? Looks like the same old story, we will sign up the leftovers when we lose a few matches!

1 hour ago, finmack said:

Where are the NEW faces that we were promised? Looks like the same old story, we will sign up the leftovers when we lose a few matches!

Surely this doesn't surprise you. 

Dave the Rave plays 17 minutes on saturday yet is chosen as RB in SPFL team of the week. Now what does that say about his ability

40 minutes ago, caleyboy said:

Surely this doesn't surprise you. 

No, but we can always live in hope!

2 hours ago, finmack said:

Where are the NEW faces that we were promised?

Calm down, we don't need anyone for another 2 months!

Would love to see McKay back but don't see it. Have heard that his wages at Wigan are £13,000 a week and united when he was on loan had to play him each week or they had to pay his wages for the weeks he never played. Interesting and believable so pretty sure unless he gets his contract paid and he has some decent cash he won't be coming back to us for over £10k a week wage drop!

Edited May 17, 201610 yr by PerthICT

4 hours ago, WYNESS101 said:

Horner has done well when called upon. If we start him at RB and let him play there week in week out he should improve and make that position his.

Horner Warren Meekings Tremarco

 

3 hours ago, LundavraJag said:

 but at the very least I am hoping we see Horner in the RB positon and not Josh, I agree with the line ups mentioned above. Tremarco was quite poor when he first came to us but stepped it up a gear this season and was one of my players of the season, with game time there is every chance Horner can do the same.

Nobody seems to be reckoning on us bringing in another defender or two! I'm pretty sure we will, having just lost a senior player from there.  Unless he improves, I find it hard to see Horner as anything more than a versatile, low wage squad player (which is something that a team like ours does need, by the way).

59 minutes ago, PerthICT said:

Would love to see McKay back but don't see it. Have heard that his wages at Wigan are £13,000 a week and united when he was on loan had to play him each week or they had to pay his wages for the weeks he never played. Interesting and believable so pretty sure unless he gets his contract paid and he has some decent cash he won't be coming back to us for over £10k a week wage drop!

I dont believe Wigan are paying anybody £13000 a week

At least with Storey off top the Dons, its unlikely that we will be competing with them if interested in Mckay, although that doesnt mean Hearts wont be afterall they were reported to be last summer and many other clubs too. Obviously when asked in the press he said he'd like to come back but thats just good PR, afterall he'd be stupid to say anything negative as that would reflect bacly on him not just with ICT fans but other clubs too. There seems a habit of fans looking back, considering who we should bring back to the club - primarily while I wouldnt mind seeing BM back, I also believe that he will think he can do better now perhaps in terms of playing or club level but certainly in terms of finances.

1 hour ago, Alex MacLeod said:

I dont believe Wigan are paying anybody £13000 a week

I wouldn't be so sure, I'd imagine there are a few earning up to £25/30k there and that will go up now they are promoted.

I would be stunned if any Wigan player in League 1 is earning £30,000!

Anyway, I see De Vita was released by Ross County the other day. He's probably within our budget (free) but he barely played last season although he did have a good start to his County career when he first signed. Worth a punt?

47 minutes ago, RiG said:

I would be stunned if any Wigan player in League 1 is earning £30,000!

Anyway, I see De Vita was released by Ross County the other day. He's probably within our budget (free) but he barely played last season although he did have a good start to his County career when he first signed. Worth a punt?

I wondered the same, RiG. County fans were raving about him when he first came, but he didn't get a sniff this season, except against Aberdeen on Sunday. Cultured left foot but absolutely no pace seems to be the verdict....bit like Ian Vigurs?

13 hours ago, PerthICT said:

I wouldn't be so sure, I'd imagine there are a few earning up to £25/30k there and that will go up now they are promoted.

Agreed.  Wigan's wage bill has been suggested as being around £10m for this last season and for a smallish squad of about 20.  That's an average of around £10k a week with players remaining from the Championship squad earning more and developing players earning less.  Mckay probably wasn't on £30k but he would have been paid a lot and Wigan obviously did not get value for money from him.  There is no way he can expect that kind of wage elsewhere but it depends on how much he is prepared to drop to play again for a club where he had success before and which put him in the spotlight.  Having lost out on Storey, the club may be prepared to pay more for him.  I wonder if the Board did not play ball with Hughes over Storey because they would rather see Mckay back.

Personally, I would like to see a team with Mckay back in tow with a fit again Doran.  Tremarco surging down the left flank, Draper surging through the middle, telling through balls from Tansey and Polworth, and with the option of mixing it up with Fisher as a target man up front we would have the nucleus of a fairly exciting side.  But we would need a manager who gets a team to play to it's strengths rather than one who dictates a style of play which constrains the players and bores the fans.

Can't see Yogi holding out much longer if he keeps losing players to rivals.

I wonder what effect all this will have on season ticket sales.

I don't know what you mean by "Yogi holding out".  Do you mean you think he will quit or that he will be sacked?  I'm afraid I find the current situation rather perplexing as it was only in December that Yogi extended his contract.  At the time there must have been clarity around the money which is available for players and the role of different people within the club over contract negotiations.  Remember, before he signed Yogi had complained about how the club dealt with these matters and therefore there was a particular need for him to be clear on the arrangements before extending his contract.  Unless the Board has withheld promised funds or has gone back on their agreed process then Hughes simply needs to shut up and get on with it.  If the Board have done the dirty on him then I think he would be a bit more specific in his complaints.  

I just wish something would happen to move the Yogi v The Board situation on a bit, because at the moment no business is going to be done with contracts and signing up new players until this is sorted. Very damaging for the club. 

Interesting quotes from Yogi's pal John Collins today

"What he has done with average players, no support, no training ground, no sports science, no video analysis is incredible. If Inverness lose John Hughes then it will be a huge loss to them."

“John will be disappointed he’s lost one of his top players in Miles Storey but he lost them last season with the likes of Graeme Shinnie, Billy McKay, Ryan Christie and Marley Watkins all moving on. But he finds players, moulds them into his system and builds teams. He will do it again.

"How his name hasn’t been mentioned for the Celtic job I don’t know. "