headsup

Yes. He was crap in both of those games. In fact, he only played 30 mins against Rovers.

First sentence – I somehow doubt it. Second sentence – please god no.

Absolutely ridiculous comment, especially in this day and age when awareness around hidden disabilities and illness should be much higher. Give your head a wobble.

Thanks for your reply and explanation, Bede. I think the crux of this debate comes down to fan engagement, like you say – it hasn’t been good enough this year which has led to wild speculation and vicious rumour. This is my number one criticism of Carol (who I hold in the highest regard) and something the club must improve on fast. Especially seeing as we’ve been told time and time again that comms and transparency will be improved yet no real progress being made. I’m an idealist so I’ll stand by my point that if one fan can hear something, all fans should be able to hear it. Honestly, I think some battle-hardened and heavily involved fans like you and Jacko should be on the board in some capacity so that you can lend Carol your advice, and she can share sensitive information with you in confidence without people like me crying out about inequality within the fanbase.

I agree to an extent but you can’t moan about getting rid of battlers and then call for Smith who, along with Garrity, is the biggest battler at the club. He’s a hard working, solid defender and is by all accounts a good character in the dressing room. We need to use him in the right system or as a squad player. The way we played this season highlighted his weaknesses but that’s down to bad recruitment and management. He’s been a consistent first-teamer under, what, six or seven managers now? They can’t all be wrong…

We've been garbage except for 1.5 seasons Smith has been a first team regular. People used to make the same argument about Pope. First season after we let him go we went up We’d have been worse off without him in those seasons. I mean, he won player of the year two times so he can’t have been that bad. In fairness, I would rather see him as a squad player rather than a nailed-on starter, but I really don’t have faith in our recruitment to replace him.

Were you saying that during promotion season? And every other L2 season for that matter? L2 is his level and guess where we are next season… He can still do a job for us.

Smith is a victim of circumstance. For him to be on this list is harsh, imo. He can do a job for us in L2 but I would like to see us bring in CBs better with the ball if DM intends to carry on playing out from the back.

There we have it.

This bunch of wimps finally showing some fight and sticking up for each other. Far too little, far too late I’m afraid.

I hear you, but all fans are equal as far as I’m concerned. It’s a very risky strategy for the club to share sensitive info with certain fans – those fans could easily let that info slip, accidentally or otherwise. I’m firmly of the belief that the club should either tell everybody or tell nobody. I’m also of the belief that you shouldn’t make statements without backing them up with facts. Telling people they’re wrong and then basically saying “that’s for me to know and you to find out” gets us no closer to the truth, and verges on playground behaviour.

I don’t know what to believe, which is exactly my problem and what leads people to speculate. I’d also like to point out that I haven’t done any speculating on CG, but merely asked for those in the know to share their knowledge rather than simply telling people they’re wrong. Again, if there’s something CS feels like she can tell one fan, she should be prepared to share it with all the fans.

Because people care, Jacko. The fanbase shouldn’t be a hierarchy – if there’s anything one fan can know, the whole fanbase can know it. While I appreciate the time, money, and effort you, Bede, and the others put in for the betterment of our club, dangling little tidbits of information in front of the rest of us is just plain unhelpful. I’d honestly rather you just say nothing than “No, you’re wrong, but I refuse to tell you why you’re wrong”.

So why not tell us what is so people stop speculating?

Don’t say anything then instead of being a tease. You’re “in the circle”, we get it.

Do share

There’s a lot of talk of Loft’s bottom in this thread. Not a complaint; just an observation.

I like Leon Legge as a bloke but he has no experience outside of playing, and he hardly covered himself in glory with his tweets during the pandemic. He’s free to have his opinion but I’m not sure that’s somebody I’d personally want as the most senior footballing person at the club. Foyle, on the other hand, is a great shout and I suspect he’s Carol’s number 1 target with him being at the game yesterday. It might take a bit of convincing to pull him away from SPL and St Mirren if he’s settled there. But a promotion from Head of Recruitment to Director of Football might be enough to pique his interest. Whoever comes in should have less power than DF seemed to have. I’d even argue they should be on the same seniority level as the manager, despite the “director” title. I don’t know what we were doing before but the most logical solution to me is: - Manager focuses on man management, coaching and tactics (i.e. the next game) - DoF focuses on infrastructure and long-term strategy - And recruitment sits between them with both parties having a veto of any signings suggested by the other/Head of Recruitment

Loft has had a pretty dismal season but it’s not been down to a lack of effort. That’s why a lot of the criticism has been harsh and unnecessary, including the comments on Thursday.

I think they’ve been working but contracts had only just been finalised.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your balls appear to be anaemic