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Ah yes, the all important "forgotten man" role!

The club made it clear that players would not be signed for fees over the summer. Accrington were due compensation because they offered Gornell a contract during in that window of time they were permitted too. I cant remember how long it is but im willing to bet thats why that deal fell through because he is under 23. We got Tansey for free because he was never offered a new deal by Stockport and because he moved cross border. The funds that were going towards Rooney's potential new contract will still be there surely as he only left a week ago. Im sure the wage packet alone would be very appealing to a player of a decent calibre.

This funds issue, seems to have been something that has only reared its head in past few weeks. Remember first of all, Butcher said that most new signings would be younger, less experienced players due to "financial constraints" and now the Gornell deal has fallen through due to "limited funds". So, what's happened here? Was there money in the first place, and if so, where has it gone?

Think it's become pretty clear that the club have no intention of paying a fee for any player. My main concern is the defence. We need more cover and someone with experience. The decision to let Munro go looks - at the moment - less and less understandable.

One would have thought so, but I've just read an article that says we lost out on Terry Gornell the young striker we were due to sign from Accrington Stanley because a fee was payable due to his age and we couldn't afford it! Hope this is not true. What about the Marius money we ended up not needing.. where did that go.. ?

Hmmm....yet somehow he managed to just about save us from relegation when most would have given no hope upon his arrival, win promotion at the first time of asking and secure a 7th place finish in the SPL (narrowly missing out on top 6). I'm not going to argue with your rating of individual players, that's largely opinion and we won't all agree....however, some would have been signed with a view to being starting 11, some would have been seen as squad players and one or two were perhaps reluctant signings but needed due to circumstance. They may not all have been superstars, but they got the job done and that's what matters.

I don't think Butchers record for signing players is as good as people make out. I had a wee look at the list of his signings and there are a few flops, most of the signings are very average with a couple gems thrown in. Richie Foran - Excellent signing Johnny Hayes - Excellent signing Kenny Gillet - Injured for most of the season but looks very impressive. Lee Cox - Good solid signing Jonny Tuffey - Excellent backup keeper to have The rest of the players he signed are either shockingly bad or fairly average and could have been replaced by any player really. Chris Hogg - Looked good but was only here for 6 months, i'd liked to have seen him for longer. Dani Sanchez - Average player that didn't even set the first division alight Stuart Golabek - Good first division player for 1 season. Stuart Duff - Average player who will always be seen as a rotational player, top 6 player? i don't think so. Eric Odhiambo - Average signing who helped with rotations. Chris Innes - We really didn't need him Brian Kerr - Rubbish Robert Eagle - Rubbish Daniel Stratford - Rubbish Nauris Bulvitis - Rubbish Gil Blumstein - Rubbish Max Johnson - Didn't even get a chance Then theres the loanings of: Alex Macdonald - We didn't need him Kevin McCann - Far too injury prone and again didn't convince myself he could hold down a regular spot. Aaron Doran - I liked him and would have loved to have seen him for longer. Out of all of those players i'd only ever be screaming to hold onto Foran and Hayes. I rate Cox but i've still always thought Duncan was better. Butcher has signed 7 defenders and apart from Gillet possibly i would say Grant Munro was better than them all and yet he gets punted. Strangely enough i would say our best two players last season were Ryan Esson and Adam Rooney, both Craig Brewsters signings. Terry Butcher has seemed to work well with what he has got but with more players leaving he is making this team his own and i don't think his signing ratio for talented youth players is that excellent. I really hope to be proved wrong this season though and can't wait for the first game against Clach.

Oh how I remember everyone (some anyway) asking....... What the **** is he doing fielding Nick Ross n Graham Shinnie blah blah, the man has an eye for young talent. Let's roll with it.

I think there could well be a case to play the 4-4-2 diamond next season. Some like this - Cox Tade---------------------------------------------------Hayes Tansey Foran New Striker I think something like that, could well be the best way to play. Hayes and Tade charging up each wing, with Tansey or Andrew Shinnie sitting behind the front two feeding the ball through. I must also say, that Foran has to be played down the middle next season. He's far superior there than on the wing.