Player contracts and transfers


David123
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Muzz will be a big miss but over a normal season we have to do without him the to injury & suspension.

Macca this season looks like he has lost a yard & doesn't cover half the ground he did last season. We also have to do without him for 4 to 6 games season due to plastic.

These guys plus Midge & Watson plus a few others should help the budget for next season.

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https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/hearts-in-pre-contract-talks-with-st-johnstone-s-steven-maclean-1-4722814

In the Evening News no mention of Muzz though, seem to be offering Maclean a route into coaching, will be less of a commute and more cash, although this rag is not always the most reliable these days.

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Was sad to hear the pre contract news tonight, especially when MacLean made it known not that long ago he would be happy to see his days out at McDiarmid. I note what fellow postees have said and to be fair hard to disagree with much of what has been said.. However, don’t underestimate his input/work rate attitude to our team, he is a winner.. it would be a good move for him .. probably better money, chance to coach, the odd game, closer to home.. 

He will go down as a legend in the history of Saints and should be applauded for helping us win the cup.. wish him all the best

 

 

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4 minutes ago, RandomGuy said:

MacLean to Hearts will be "confirmed within 24 hours" according to some Edinburgh paper on Twitter

New thread needed on WAP in 24 hours then.. as he deserves a farewell/ appreciation all in one place, not lost in this thread... 24 hours time, admin need to create a shrine for us to post.

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McLean hasn't been the player he was this year.  Being pragmatic Murray is getting on a bit, although still has a few years left and we usually only get about half a season out of him with injury / suspension and is probably a higher earner. however he is still easily our best 'combative' midfielder. 

In saying that loosing one or both feels very much like a beginning of an end, whither that end is a bright new beginning or a decline is very much dependent on how we recruit going forward.  We bloody well better have something up our sleeve. 

I have a horrible feeling all this talk about doing things differently along with these potential departures is all about trimming budgets again and could see us back in the Championship, which quite frankly after the progress we have made is simply now unacceptable.

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21 minutes ago, Shaggy Jenkins said:

I have a horrible feeling all this talk about doing things differently along with these potential departures is all about trimming budgets again and could see us back in the Championship, which quite frankly after the progress we have made is simply now unacceptable.

Simply throwing money about isn't the answer either - just look at Ross County. We have had a good period of stability and need to build up another so will be a challenge for both the manager and chairman.

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56 minutes ago, garydavidson said:

Simply throwing money about isn't the answer either - just look at Ross County. We have had a good period of stability and need to build up another so will be a challenge for both the manager and chairman.

Absolutely true, however spending some we have would maybe be a start, would we go out tomorrow and pay a similar transfer fee to get a McKay, Davidson combo?

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17 minutes ago, Shaggy Jenkins said:

Absolutely true, however spending some we have would maybe be a start, would we go out tomorrow and pay a similar transfer fee to get a McKay, Davidson combo?

i think that only happened because of the mad Italian Livi had in charge at the time. Not sure such a good deal exists out there these days.

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16 minutes ago, Shaggy Jenkins said:

Absolutely true, however spending some we have would maybe be a start, would we go out tomorrow and pay a similar transfer fee to get a McKay, Davidson combo?

That was a combination of events that resulted in us getting probably 2 of the best players ever to play for us & resulted in us winning a Scottish cup.

We will never be that lucky again unless Rangers need us to take O'Halloran off their hands 

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1 hour ago, RandomGuy said:

Brown has to let Wright spend money this Summer, no excuses. This is exactly the situation the "rainy day fund" is here for, to help rebuild when we lose a chunk of key players. 

Millar, Davidson and MacLean could all be away, we won't replace them cheaply. 

I'm not sure that everyone was on board with keeping Macca anyway. As big a loss as he is we have had the best from him - I wanted him for another season alongside Ando. Muzz going is a huge loss and this should have been addressed earlier.

Keeping Alston is now a priority and I suspect Liam will be offered another year too.

Everyone and their dog is looking for that elusive striker and we don't have money for proven top players and when you see what wages Hearts are paying for Naismith and his meager return it's a lottery anyway.

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Personally I don't think we need to be chucking too much money at the Striker position for next season. A fully fit combo of McMillan and Kane could be quite tasty, with Hendry hopefully growing in potential once also injury free and given some first team game time. As for Johnstone, if it were me I'd let him go on the gamble of being able to recruit a bargain from the EFL or somewhere, they couldn't be much worse so likely improve our options.

Of course all of this is wishful thinking but not at all far fetched.

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Liam already has another year. He signed a 2 year contract last season.

I can't see Tommy getting much beyond whatever he'll save with the players going out. At this moment in time, it appears Millar, Watson and Maclean are definitely leaving. Mannus has been linked with a return to Shamrock Rovers and Davidson has been linked with Hearts. If we lose those 5 (on top of Willock, Johnstone and probably Williams) then Tommy should have a decent amount of money to work with in the summer. I'm not sure how you even begin to replace guys like Maclean, Millar, Davidson and Mannus. They've obviously been fantastic servants to Saints, but they'll be so missed in the changing room too. 

Of the out of contract players, Davidson, Anderson and Tanser should be the top priorities IMO. Alston is in the next tier for me along with Mannus.

If we do lose Millar and Davidson, midfield is the biggest concern and most pressing issue. We need 2 starters.

 

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20 minutes ago, SaintDougie said:

Personally I don't think we need to be chucking too much money at the Striker position for next season. A fully fit combo of McMillan and Kane could be quite tasty, with Hendry hopefully growing in potential once also injury free and given some first team game time. As for Johnstone, if it were me I'd let him go on the gamble of being able to recruit a bargain from the EFL or somewhere, they couldn't be much worse so likely improve our options.

Of course all of this is wishful thinking but not at all far fetched.

Whilst Kane has certainly improved,  he has scored 3 league goals.

Statistically O'Halloran is our best striker this season with 5 goals against fewest minutes played.  Our major challenge over the last few seasons has been our difficulty in scoring goals. Our stats in that area this season again remain pretty poor in comparison to Hamilton and Ross County. The likes of Templeton, Bingham and Schalk really helping those sides.

As for McMillan, a little bit of news and regular updates regarding his situation from the club would be most welcome.

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8 minutes ago, Havana Saint said:

Whilst Kane has certainly improved,  he has scored 3 league goals.

Statistically O'Halloran is our best striker this season with 5 goals against fewest minutes played.  Our major challenge over the last few seasons has been our difficulty in scoring goals. Our stats in that area this season again remain pretty poor in comparison to Hamilton and Ross County. The likes of Templeton, Bingham and Schalk really helping those sides.

As for McMillan, a little bit of news and regular updates regarding his situation from the club would be most welcome.

Don't get me wrong, I am in no means an advocate for Kane being our messiah and one and only hope. In fact I have been quoted many times as saying he's not a Premiership quality striker. However he does appear to have improved this season after his loan period at QoS, so maybe there is a Prem striker in there somewhere.

If McMillan can replicate what he did at Dundalk and get on a good goal scoring run I reckon Kane could feed of that, as opposed to being the main target man (Macca drops too deep these days) as he has been this season. 

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Had we had a better season and been clear of relegation sooner I suspect we'd have more players tied up by now and Macca would probably have been one of them. As it is, it seems the delay has hurt us as our rivals have been able to start planning earlier than us. We all knew Macca was coming to the end of his career and probably wouldn't play as much next season, but I worry that losing him completely from the dressing room and the training pitch is going to be a huge blow. He's clearly not going to be a first choice pick at Hearts but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him popping up with some important goals for them.

If we end up losing Macca, Mannus, Millar and Davidson (and possibly Ando?) all in the same summer... individually it's perhaps not a worry, but losing several is a massive concern as that's the heart of our most successful ever squad all gone. That really hammers home the need to up our game in terms of recruitment - but with a lower league placing and less money coming in, will Steve Brown see it that way? We need to find new blood from new places and one thing I don't want is yet another dragged-out transfer window of talking about O'Halloran and Swanson.

One thing that speaks volumes about Macca is that even though he's leaving us for one of our nearest rivals in terms of league placings, I haven't heard a single word said against him from any Saints fan for making that decision. I truly believe that in years to come, when we're talking about all-time Saints legends, he'll be right up there in the top 5.

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