The squad

[21sMay]

Looking at our our squad, what is everyone's opinions on who to keep or let go for next season ?

Marciano-- number 1 and key player
Bogdan. -- loan player but would try keep
Dabrovski- back up . Keep

Gray. -- I think we can all agree
McGregor-- still got it . Keep
Hanlon -- good pre season. Keep
Stevenson-- keep . Mr consistent
Mackie -- needs to push on . Keep
Portues -- going to be a star . Keep
Spector -- I wouldn't mind him staying

Mallan -- good starter . Keep
Bartley -- maybe time to go
Milligan -- move him on
Slivka -- another who should move on
Horgan -- getting better . Keep
Omeonga -- try our best to get him
Fraser Murray -- needs to push on
Gauld-- keep if possible
Agyepong-- move on
Boyle -- can't wait to have him back
Whittaker -- move on

Kamberi -- keep. Player in there
McNulty -- if price was right I'd keep
Shaw -- very unsure . Maybe one more year


Overall there is the makings of a good squad but still a lot of work to be done especially in the wide areas and up front. Allan will obviously make a massive difference when he comes and that's one of the reasons I'd keep both strikers around. Having someone like Allan supplying the forwards will make a big difference

[B.H.F.C]

Allan not mentioned above and he changes things in the final third massively IMO.

With him, Boyle to come back and Horgan there I think the attacking element of our midfield is fairly promising. You can include Mallan in that as well. We need some fresh blood in the middle of the park to give us some legs in that area. Yesterday was a prime example of what we lack in that position. Their midfield just ran off us at will.

There are players there who we could look to move on but as they are under contract it might not be easy.

Striker(s) required as well.

[danhibees1875]

Porteous, Allan, and Boyle coming into the mix and I can't see us "losing" any of our own first time players this summer puts us in a good starting position.

We need 2 strikers, a battling midfielder or 2 (Omeonga for one), and I think a right back and centre back - youngish ones to just be on the fringes for next season, but capable of taking the odd game when required and developing to replace SDG and McGregor.

[J-C]

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Looking at our our squad, what is everyone's opinions on who to keep or let go for next season ?

Marciano-- number 1 and key player
Bogdan. -- loan player but would try keep Wages will be a problem and with Marciano playing well, can't get a game.
Dabrovski- back up . Keep

Gray. -- I think we can all agree
McGregor-- still got it . Keep
Hanlon -- good pre season. Keep
Stevenson-- keep . Mr consistent
Mackie -- needs to push on . Keep Looked good in his cameos, maybe play him as a winger.
Portues -- going to be a star . Keep
Spector -- I wouldn't mind him staying Here purely as cover, expect him to move on.

Mallan -- good starter . Keep
Bartley -- maybe time to go Good servant but his time here has come, we need to look forward
Milligan -- move him on Good football brain but looks very slow and can be very negative with his passing, slows the game down too much.
Slivka -- another who should move on Hasn't shown the consistency needed and never grabs a game by the scruff of the neck
Horgan -- getting better . Keep Is very inconsistent and another who disappears all too often
Omeonga -- try our best to get him
Fraser Murray -- needs to push on Did well when he came on, unlucky with injuries, hopefully a good pre season kicks him on.
Gauld-- keep if possible Shown nowt since he came and looked like a wee lost boy yesterday.
Agyepong-- move on Too injury prone
Boyle -- can't wait to have him back
Whittaker -- move on Offers nothing now, need his wage freed up.

Kamberi -- keep. Player in there
McNulty -- if price was right I'd keep
Shaw -- very unsure . Maybe one more year Needs to force his way into the team, maybe a loan at a good Championship team will do him good, he needs game time.


Overall there is the makings of a good squad but still a lot of work to be done especially in the wide areas and up front. Allan will obviously make a massive difference when he comes and that's one of the reasons I'd keep both strikers around. Having someone like Allan supplying the forwards will make a big difference

Problem may be that we play a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 system which allows for only 1 main striker in the team.

[eastcoasthibby]

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Problem may be that we play a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 system which allows for only 1 main striker in the team.

We probably need to bring in 6-7 new faces! I think Bartley, Slivka, will join our loanees out the door ! with the priorities to have 4 good options up front , a ball winning and a dynamic midfielder at least, right back to compete/cover Gray and a natural wide player and a good second keeper would love Bogdan to stay but think he will want a better option for regular playing. Look forward to see what the Boss and Robbie bring in

[Jones28]

Milligan has been one of our best performers over the last few months and you's all want him punted 😂 He had an ok game yesterday but we needed possession, and when we had it he helped retain it. Ok some of the balls were back to Marciano but ffs what's he supposed to do?

Slivka has been in the sidestep times and I don't think anyone can deny he has looked the part most of the time, he's got all the physical attributes and clearly has a footballing brain. Definite keep, as I don't think we will be able to afford Omeonga.

Gauld has been injured so much it's difficult to judge, but based on yesterday his main attribute is trying and failing to nutmeg people. I don't think he will stay.

[B.H.F.C]

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Milligan has been one of our best performers over the last few months and you's all want him punted 😂 He had an ok game yesterday but we needed possession, and when we had it he helped retain it. Ok some of the balls were back to Marciano but ffs what's he supposed to do?

Slivka has been in the sidestep times and I don't think anyone can deny he has looked the part most of the time, he's got all the physical attributes and clearly has a footballing brain. Definite keep, as I don't think we will be able to afford Omeonga.

Gauld has been injured so much it's difficult to judge, but based on yesterday his main attribute is trying and failing to nutmeg people. I don't think he will stay.

Milligan has done well enough against the poorer sides in the league.

We are desperately lacking in the middle of the park though and that was never clearer than yesterday. As for him being decent in possession, if you are looking for someone to continually pass the ball backwards that is fine.

I wouldn’t be desperately looking to empty him, I think he could provide reasonable cover and experience. But if we start next season with him in the middle of the park I’ll be concerned.

As for Slivka, he’s not been able to cement a place in a relatively poor midfield which says it all about him IMO.

If we keep all these players that we ‘ok’ we aren’t going to improve.

[jeffers]

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Milligan has been one of our best performers over the last few months and you's all want him punted 😂 He had an ok game yesterday but we needed possession, and when we had it he helped retain it. Ok some of the balls were back to Marciano but ffs what's he supposed to do?

Slivka has been in the sidestep times and I don't think anyone can deny he has looked the part most of the time, he's got all the physical attributes and clearly has a footballing brain. Definite keep, as I don't think we will be able to afford Omeonga.

Gauld has been injured so much it's difficult to judge, but based on yesterday his main attribute is trying and failing to nutmeg people. I don't think he will stay.

Not for me and far from it. He does generally retain possession, but at times by just passing the ball back when he could look up and play a forward pass. For a defensive midfielder he doesn't provide enough cover, doesn't put in enough tackles, is easily beaten by any player with a bit of pace and jogs around the park the majority of the time with little or no sense of urgency. He may well have been a great player in his prime, but those days are long gone. Yesterday his most telling contributions were to lose possession twice, the first causing Mallan to have to concede a foul that he was booked for, the second ultimately led to the Huns goal.

I've said it before, but for the wages we are paying him (and no I don't know the exact figure) I don't think we are getting value for money and I trust PH to get better with the money.

[Dublin07]

I don't think improving a squad is based solely on who has done OK or not. You have to look at how much a player is costing us and could we improve that position with the same or better money. Milligan for me is one of those that has done OK but for similar money we get get someone more mobile and bring better energy to the team. Slivka is probably similar. He is nearly a very good player but nearly doesn't get you top 3.gauld has brought nothing to the team and Allan is a much better player. Don't think we need both.

[SMAXXA]

I think we will be lucky if we see more than 4 new players

[Eyrie]

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I think we will be lucky if we see more than 4 new players

We need more than four new players.

GK - Marciano, Dabrowski?
RB - Gray, ???
CH - Porteous, McGregor
CH - Hanlon, ???
LB - Stevenson, Mackie

CM - Allan, Mallan, Milligan?, Slivka?
Wing - Boyle, Horgan, ???, Murray

ST - Kamberi, Shaw
ST - ???, ???

So that's a RB, CH, winger and two strikers, with two more that can be upgraded in midfield and three youngsters (Dabrowski, Mackie, Murray) who are unproven at this level.

[The Leith Dutch]

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Looking at our our squad, what is everyone's opinions on who to keep or let go for next season ?

Marciano-- number 1 and key player
Bogdan. -- loan player but would try keep
Dabrovski- back up . Keep

Gray. -- I think we can all agree
McGregor-- still got it . Keep
Hanlon -- good pre season. Keep
Stevenson-- keep . Mr consistent
Mackie -- needs to push on . Keep
Portues -- going to be a star . Keep
Spector -- I wouldn't mind him staying

Mallan -- good starter . Keep
Bartley -- maybe time to go
Milligan -- move him on
Slivka -- another who should move on
Horgan -- getting better . Keep
Omeonga -- try our best to get him
Fraser Murray -- needs to push on
Gauld-- keep if possible
Agyepong-- move on
Boyle -- can't wait to have him back
Whittaker -- move on

Kamberi -- keep. Player in there
McNulty -- if price was right I'd keep
Shaw -- very unsure . Maybe one more year


Overall there is the makings of a good squad but still a lot of work to be done especially in the wide areas and up front. Allan will obviously make a massive difference when he comes and that's one of the reasons I'd keep both strikers around. Having someone like Allan supplying the forwards will make a big difference

I think the defence is actually pretty decent and, assuming we keep Porteous, we're probably talking about cover there.

Midfield for me we need two proper centre mids who can run the centre of the park, hold the ball up, tackle and make a pass.
If they can contribute in attack then great but we need to control the centre to ensure we play the ball on the deck and to allow the defence to come up a yard or two so the whole team isn't sitting too deep. This would actually be my number one priority for the first team.

I'd keep Mackie - looks good as an actual Left Midfielder rather than a Winger which I think is not a bad thing as it contributes to the aim of bossing the midfield. Not sure he's 100% ready to be 1st team. Would also require balance on the right.

Upfront is tricky - firstly given Kamberi's form, secondly we're generally light in that area.
But someone else pointed out that none of our strikers are lone striker material and I actually think we need that.
Tough to imagine us playing with more than four players whose principle role is attacking.

Scott Allan has to be one of them and, as we're fortunate enough not to be managed by Levein, we need at least one of those slots for a striker.
That leaves Boyle, Mallan, Horgan, Shaw and any new attackers and strikers we sign fighting for a couple of places.

Granted, strength in depth is good but I'd also like us to know how we're going to play in general and I'm not quite seeing how those pieces fit together into a team.
I think that was a part of the problem with the signings we made this year - the players themselves were decent but not sure we signed them with a team and formation in mind.

[04Sauzee]

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I think we will be lucky if we see more than 4 new players

Think we will see more than 4.

With the number of loans returning to their parent clubs and the likes no Nelom, spector, Bigriamana and Bartley all being out of contract. May also see the likes of Slivka moved on and Shaw being loaned out.

[SMAXXA]

I think from what we have available just now Boyle, Porteous and Allan are like 3 new signings, I just am not sure we will see another 6/7 on top of that. Exciting if so but club speaks a lot of consistency and bringing in maybe another nearly new team in volume I don’t think will happen. Maybe invest more on quality than quantity who knows and a couple of young lads Mackie, Murray for example

[Allant1981]

We need a few players but doubt we will get all of them, we need at least

GK
RB
RM
CM
LM
2 forwards

[Unseen work]

Would allow the following to go

Spector
Whittikar
Bartley
Gauld
Bogdan (Too expensive I would imagine to justify being here as back up)
Nelom
Johnson
Bigirimana
Aygepong

Which is a huge amount of players to leave, that’s not including McNulty and Omeonga who I would try get back. The funny or annoying thing about the above list too is that the majority have barely made an impact or featured at all.

Aygepong clearly has quality and would be a good player for us, but unless we got him back where we were barely contributing to his wage it’s a no for me. We brought him in and with his amount of injuries it’s left us so short in that department.

Slivka, Milligan and Shaw night divide opinions however they have showed they have quality. We need to keep some form of consistency in the squad and those 3 have provided enough this season. Slivka and Milligan have started or played a big part since Heckingbottom came in.

Boyle, Allan and Porteous will make a big difference once they’re back I am sure.

It’s a huge summer of players in as we need a lot, we need quality starters who will improve the team instantly and also squad players.

Also, find it funny the lack of recognition young Mackie gets. First full season in the first team and for me he had been brilliant, he’s not came in and played it safe, he has shown really skill and quality on the ball. I could see him left of a midfield, certainly has the athleticism for it

[Franck Stanton]

Anyone think Porteous Would be vast improvement on Milligan as defensive midfield.

[Unseen work]

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Anyone think Porteous Would be vast improvement on Milligan as defensive midfield.

Think he would be terrible there and a massive waste

[Ronniekirk]

Gauld hasn’t shown enough yet to suggest we should try and get him back With Scott Allan coming in I don’t think we need Gauld


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[Allant1981]

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Gauld hasn’t shown enough yet to suggest we should try and get him back With Scott Allan coming in I don’t think we need Gauld


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If gauld was fit I think he would be a decent player, really depends if he is willing to be a back up player as I cant see him starting in front of SA and they are too similar to start together

[Saint Hibee]

What’s the deal with Bigirimana? Has he actually played for us yet? I was talking to a Motherwell fan who seemed to think he was a good prospect.

[J-C]

I notice a few wanting another couple of strikers, are you assuming Heckingbottom will play with 2 up top, the modern game very seldom has 2 strikers up top with 1 being the norm and what we've seen for the past good few games.

[lyonhibs]

I suspect, for the 140th odd season in a row, those expecting 6-7 nailed on 1st team squad players who are ready to hit the ground running to sign up early doors are likely to be in line for a disappointing summer.

With Boyle, Allan and Porteous to return/come in, I wouldn't expect more than 4, 5 tops, "name" signings to come in.

[The Leith Dutch]

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I notice a few wanting another couple of strikers, are you assuming Heckingbottom will play with 2 up top, the modern game very seldom has 2 strikers up top with 1 being the norm and what we've seen for the past good few games.

I think doubly so given the players we have to fit in - Allan, Boyle, Mallan, Horgan plus any other non striking attackers that come in.
Keeper and back four makes five and then I think any less than two midfielders that aren't on that list leaves us weak in the middle of the park.
I know Allan can handle himself and Mallan isn't as powder puff as some on here make out but we didn't get them in to do the dirty work in midfield.

I can see us playing one up front in which case the budget would likely be one extra striker to duke it out with Kamberi with Shaw as backup.
Not saying that's ideal fwiw as an injury plus loss of form scenario would leave us light but that said it wouldn't surprise me if we did go with Flo, Shaw and one new signing.

The other issue with signing two strikers is who do we get that people think is a good signing but who is also going to be happy sitting on the bench assuming Flo had his mojo back.
And we're in a troublesome state if he doesn't as we've got two years of his wages left which I'd imagine are at the higher end of our budget.

[Steven79]

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Allan not mentioned above and he changes things in the final third massively IMO.

With him, Boyle to come back and Horgan there I think the attacking element of our midfield is fairly promising. You can include Mallan in that as well. We need some fresh blood in the middle of the park to give us some legs in that area. Yesterday was a prime example of what we lack in that position. Their midfield just ran off us at will.

There are players there who we could look to move on but as they are under contract it might not be easy.

Striker(s) required as well.

I see would love to see us play something like this next season with obviously a few more players added into the mix.

Mallan Oméonga
Boyle, Allan, Horgan
Kamberi

[B.H.F.C]

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I notice a few wanting another couple of strikers, are you assuming Heckingbottom will play with 2 up top, the modern game very seldom has 2 strikers up top with 1 being the norm and what we've seen for the past good few games.

As things stand we have Kamberi and Shaw contracted for next year.

One hasn’t really shown he is capable of playing on a consistent basis. The other hasn’t lived up to what was expected of him or justtified the investment in him. Looking at two strikers might not be that far fetched.

[Tarrahib]

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What’s the deal with Bigirimana? Has he actually played for us yet? I was talking to a Motherwell fan who seemed to think he was a good prospect.

He came on against Aberdeen and ran the midfield.

[J-C]

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As things stand we have Kamberi and Shaw contracted for next year.

One hasn’t really shown he is capable of playing on a consistent basis. The other hasn’t lived up to what was expected of him or justtified the investment in him. Looking at two strikers might not be that far fetched.

Only if Shaw goes on loan and Kamberi gets punted and also depending on how Heckingbottom wants to set up. Seemingly Shaw has been playing a wider role, the modern way seems to have wide attacking forwards, not quite winger but just attacking players who can play anywhere across the front line.

[The Leith Dutch]

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As things stand we have Kamberi and Shaw contracted for next year.

One hasn’t really shown he is capable of playing on a consistent basis. The other hasn’t lived up to what was expected of him or justtified the investment in him. Looking at two strikers might not be that far fetched.

Shaw will be cheap wages wise and can possibly go on loan but it's tough to see us affording two good striker wages and Kamberi sitting on the bench - particularly if he's not producing.
Not saying we're there yet with Flo but you'd imagine we really need him playing regularly and with purpose or we need to move him on.

I guess the other option is to unearth a gem at reasonable wages which would avoid a lot of headaches :)

[The Leith Dutch]

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I see would love to see us play something like this next season with obviously a few more players added into the mix.

Mallan Oméonga
Boyle, Allan, Horgan
Kamberi

For me that's too light a midfield.
If everything goes your way it'll batter some teams but the more organised teams who can dig out results will run off that midfield all day long and our defence will be backs against the wall.

For me you flag the big question mark we have going into next season - I don't think you can play two wide and also fit Allan and Mallan in the same XI.