bdu98196

I see DUtd have released Dow & Spittal both players who have at times displayed skill and looked like they may be prospects to come good. Personally I'd like to see us try take a chance on them and I'm sure combined the salary would be less than a player like Rankin who I don't think we need.

Agreed, its a great achievement and brings positive hope to all teams and fans. After reading that the following has happened with titles elsewhere - Celtic 5 in a row, same as Juventus, Bayern Munich 4 in a row, Basel 7 in a row, PSG 4 in a row, its refreshing to see an alternative winner in any leagues these days - while in England there have been some different winners the league is dominated by 4 clubs (Man U, Man C, Chelsea, Arsenal - other than Blackburn nobody else has won a title there in almost 25 years) . In Scotland we are slated for having a duopoly however how is elsewhere in Europe different. Leicester city have shown that a team of players who work hard, are well organised and want to play for success and not just money can achieve - it should be a lesson to all in football and provide inspiration to all teams even those up here like Hearts and Aberdeen that it is possible to break a dominance and overcome the financial gap. The positive for Leicester has to be that they are now set for direct qualification into the Champions League group stages and a £150m plus windfall where they can potentially build on the success or at least retain the players. Its inevitable that some may get picked off by large offers from the clubs that buy success these days but there should be a more even playing field for Leicester to compete - it would be a shame to see them go the way of Blackburn, or even its possible to draw some similarity with ourselves where success and over-achievement provides a platform for players to become the targets for bigger clubs and end up with a big rebuild job and decimated squad.

Billy Mckay is still contracted at Wigan til 2017, so they may want to either loan him out again next year or sell him - in which case its unlikely we can afford either option unfortunately.

DUtd fans have all but given up hope, even for the Dundee derby many aren't going - even if DUtd win the derby the travelling support for Fri will be small, if they loose it might be non-existent. Combine Friday night KO time, people having work etc, the away fans having given up, the home club having patchy attendance at best, wouldn't be surprising to see this as a sub 2k crowd unfortunately.

Considering there has been talk on this thread and others of Doran re - signing then you seem to be the only user who had a problem with the missing hyphen, so to clarify it's expected that Doran will sign a new contract. Fisher - based on his limited contribution whether injured or not he has failed to prove himself at this level so far, you may disagree but does being injured for 6 months make an ideal candidate to offer a new deal when he hasn't shown he can play SPFL level? Mckay stats - must be good to have time to research that, doesn't change the statement that he has struggled to get a run going scoring goals sporadically - plus if he fails to score tomorrow the stats at DUtd will be worse than ICT or do you class his time at DUtd a success? Winnall on loan or otherwise if he had been ready and proved capable at the level required he would have had more game time, hence 2 appearances only. He is an example of a gamble which never worked for us but has elsewhere.

This the same under 20's that are bottom of the development league http://spfl.co.uk/development-league/

Goodwillie, a player with a reputation for getting in trouble when he was at DUtd and elsewhere, punted out of Aberdeen due to his lazy attitude, he is also barred from most of the pubs & clubs in town - all that while being one of the Dons highest paid players. Hasn't done anything of not on his loan period. His work ethic and attitude don't suggest he is the sort of player we should be signing, I'd rather use the money he'd want to try fine 2 young hungry strikers either down south or look at others being released. Any Considine

Players like Dani Lopez were a gamble, we got players injured during pre-season last year so some were stop gap signings with limited success - as much as I'm not a fan Vigurs has been good as has Mutumbo in flashes, however the bigger concern isn't the cheap, available, emergency signings but the likes of Wedderburn & Horner who were specific targets and are struggling to step up. Moving to DUtd IS a step up, we are a club with a smaller fan base and budget, just because they are below us in the league that doesn't make them unattractive much like Hibs and The Rangers. Last Sunday night I passed Yogi on the A9, presumably going back home to his family - I have no idea how many times a wk he makes that trip but I know that even occasional journeys frustrate me so can only imagine a few trips a week will drain your sanity. Although Yogi signed a longer contract that doesn't mean his family and personal life should be less important than his professional - if he got offered a good profile job closer to home, I think he'd take it, any one of us would. In some aspects I criticise Hughes, but its important to try look beyond just the obvious and try understand the bigger picture, yes mistakes are made but we have also had success. A few years ago we had a transition when some stalwarts were moved on and some fans thought the club would implode and die, then after a few years we had our most successful ever periods of 2 consecutive cup finals including winning one and entering European football. After making it onto the radar in the media and for other clubs we have had key players poached or leave for better prospects/finances so are yet again in transition - Yogi needs to change his negative attitude in the press and playing style but still deserves backing to see what he can do next year and where he can take us.

The statement from the club clarifies and adds the transparency we have been seeking but doesn't still align with the message from Yogi. There is another interesting article from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36165670 - this suggests the public targets from Partick are now outwith our reach. If as suggestions around that Doran is about to resign, hopefully he can provide the missing creative spark, also given that Vigurs staying seems likely we are close to a starting 11. The comments about quality over quantity perhaps suggest that some of the 'emergency' signings due to our injury issues maybe on their way as they just haven't cut it at this level - Hughes, R.Williams, Fisher, Wedderburn are 4 that spring to mind - Roberts has disappeared so whether he is no longer in the plans or has agreed to go elsewhere its safe to assume he is gone and Mutumbo is really a player that's 50/50 - he has got better but will he make the grade longterm. The striker position is the huge concern, where to find that goalscorer? Is always a gamble - Storey started well but has faded a bit perhaps due to loss of confidence and also being out of position. We see Billy McKay scored goals for fun with us but at DUtd cant get a run going, we had Sam Winnall and he never looked anything like a player when here but is now top scorer in League 1 down south - somewhere a gamble has to be made because we cant afford a proven scorer unfortunately.

Disgusting its taken so long for justice to be partially served that those who should be held accountable are now at the wrong end of the age spectrum and given the British courts system, I would expect that many will die before being put in the dock.

People seem to forget that WE pay to attend the football which is meant to be entertainment. Each one of us pays towards the running of the club and therefore the players. If I go to the cinema, theatre or any other entertainment stream then it seems to be acceptable to comment on the quality, performance and maybe even the director or cast, same if I go for dinner I can criticise the food, service or even the management for staffing or service issues yet it seems to some that on here its not acceptable to comment on what we pay to see on the pitch or around the club. This is a fan forum therefore the correct platform to discuss and comment on issues, every opinion is valid whether agreed with or not by everyone - right now there are concerns about the lack of information, transparency and messages coming out of the club so we have a right to comment on these. If people think this can affect the club in a negative way, then I'd suggest that the club are the only ones to resolve this - surely its better to have a public platform with concerns which can be reviewed and addressed than people keep their discord private and just end up drifting away without the club having an understanding of reasons?

Given that Brill, Doran, Foran were all injured very early on and we had to bring in a keeper in Williams and cover in many areas across the park - R.Williams, Fisher, Hughes even the signing of Vigurs - are these players that if we never had the problems would have been here this season? I'm pretty sure the club increased the budget and dug into the 'rainy day; fund to ease our injury woes, therefore a reduction of budget for next season may not be anything more than going back to 'normal' levels.

Agreed, yet fans still complain and wonder why we don't have budget to offer new deals and improved packages to players? Strangest of all is that he got the full 90mins against Hibs in the cup without playing any time before or after and he was far from our worst performer that night.

2228 according to BBC wherever they got that figure from. Looking around at the vast empty areas all over, I'm shocked it was as high as that - unless we are counting security, officials and the playing squad to up the numbers.

TBH, I fully expect DUtd to part company with Mixu as he has done nothing at the club and taken them backwards from even the Jackie position, there is no doubt they are going down and in that case I would think they will come north looking for a new manager - but which one would get offered the job or want it more.

From the talk on Sportscene last night they brought up the Tansey to Aberdeen talk again, so perhaps this isn't going away and with the McInnes comments regarding more steel and fight in midfield required in the Dons team, we already know he is a Draper admirer so this may have growing foundations. After yesterdays game, I am starting to wonder if there is a rift between the 'senior' players and the manager starting to develop too. As I put on the matchday thread the behaviour of Foran, Raven & Warren is interesting and we know that those guys along with Draper, Meekings, Tansey and Esson are pretty close and more so pivotal to the club.

3rd goal I enjoyed, shame so many fans got impatient within the first few passes, but I thought it was great and eventually what Yogi is trying has come off, sadly its not often enough. If that was a bigger club Sportscene would have showed all the passes in the move, not the last 2 - but then we got less highlights time that Rangers, so what can we expect. Some points from the game Anyone notice that Richie has the last few games sat outside the dugout, rather than in it alongside Hughes, also yesterday he was joined by Raven? Also anyone else see how after Kilie scored and we were returning to the centre to kick off that Richie ran over (from his seat) to kick the ball back, granted it was only a few yards infield from the touchline but seems an odd thing to do considering the 4th official and Rice were both closer - was that to make a statement? There was also the incident where Yogi was clearly having a real go at Warren, considering he lost his man once and performed pretty solid throughout compared to Devine - it seems odd. Clearly Warren wasn't happy at this and the touchline exchange looked quite heated. Reading too much into this or is there a rift opening up at our club with Foran (others) and Hughes?

If hes sacrificing 2 or 3 players like raven for someone quality up top, im expecting a quality striker coming in on record club salary. While we know up front its been light this season should we not be reducing holding and defensive midfielders instead of getting rid of our only natural right back. This all suggests he is keeping horner but more worrying who else will go.

Unlike the message from public enemy - they do believe the hype. We seem to suffer from managers having some success or taking the club forward with plaudits from media and peers then they seem to go off the rails and become ego maniacs. Rather than continue their initial philosophy and humility which brought success they become so hungry for more they end up destroying what they built or inherited to promote themselves further.

The Tokely and Munro situation was similar yet different, both were stalwarts and club legends who had given so much, but both were past their best and fading fast - it was never going to be an easy decision or time to move them on but had to be done. Raven however is still performing at the highest level and has consistently done so since arriving with probably another 2 years left at least.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36100893 Interesting approach that St J are increasing their player budget due to the arrival of a newly promoted club, seeing them as potential rivals. Given all the discussions of how qualification for Europe losses money for Scottish clubs, then to spend more to try maintain position seems odd. As a team similar in fan base and level to us, is this the right approach and will others do the same to keep up and try avoid the relegation battle? We saw before that clubs spending money they don't have such as Hearts, Rangers and Dundee - this may not be to the same level yet but to increase expenditure based on promotion of one club seems speculative at best. If others follow this, then ICT will find recruitment and retention even harder, personally I'd rather see our club maintain the philosophy of spending what we have and living within our means even if we end up with a weakened squad and potentially relegation battles - so long as we have a team that tries, plays the best they can and we see signs of development for the future, this has to be better than speculative spending and the potential issues that inevitably come with this?

All we hear from yogi is how hard it is to sign players and how low our budget is, lets hope this isnt a sign of all we can afford. I still expect yogi signings of vigurs, wedderburn, horner, mutumbo maybe even hughes and fisher to stay - none have been consitently high performers and might see staying as the best option for them. Whether thats best for the club to develop or maintain the status quo im not sure or excited about it.

Celtic will opt for Lambert or Lennon as both are out of work 'cheap' options, there will be stories of Rodgers, Monk, Moyes but its likely all 3 will be after jobs like Villa and will see opportunities for high profile championship or lower premiership clubs as a bigger draw than a fleeting European adventure followed by travelling to provincial Scottish grounds. Yogi - not a hope in hell of a job the profile of Celtic. If Hibs don't go up Stubbs might be out anyway but not sure Yogi would be high on that radar either. Sadly for Yogi I don't see many upwards steps available in Scottish football only sideways or backwards.

I would expect to start seeing more of Horner playing, JH seems to be keen to oust some of our key players over the last few seasons in favour of those he is bringing in whether better quality or not - similar to his match tactics he is becoming more stubborn in his approach at the club. Very disappointed to see DR leave, but really comes as no surprise - he has been a great player at RB and really made the position his own - I will be even more gutted if he goes to another SPFL club which I'd say looks probable. He will forever be remembered for running into the box and scoring the winning goal to get us to the Scottish cup final.

That makes no sense. The commentator is to remain impartial and unbiased, yet tailor their language to only praise the team doing well and not comment negatively on the opponent as this may affect future crowds? So to recap - they have to remain positive at all times even if one team is bobbins (hence lying) to try and emphasise the entertainment part as it may get fan numbers up - although this is not his role for any club as he is impartial so will have to mention all 42 senior clubs during every commentary?