SPFL Premiership Summer Scouting Report Part 2 - Celtic, Dundee, Kilmarnock, Hamilton, Ross County, Motherwell & Playoff Clubs

After part 1 of the Summer Scouting report covered Hibs, Hearts, St Johnstone, Partick Thistle, Rangers and Aberdeen, it’s time for part 2 to cover the remainder of the SPFL Premiership clubs and also brief mentions for those sides who may come up through the Premiership playoff. For the Premiership sides mentioned (aside from Inverness, who are soon to be returning me money placed at 11/2 to finish bottom), I’m acting on the assumption they won’t get relegated as I’m not expecting a side to be promoted via the playoffs this season.



Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Departure Confirmed: Greg Tansey

Contracts Expiring: Josh Meekings, Henri Anier, Kevin McNaughton, Lewis Horner, Louis Laing, Alex Fisher, Jason Brown, Dean Ebbe

Loans Ending: Billy King, Larnell Cole, Jamie McCart, Billy McKay

Contract Chat: Greg Tansey is already moving to Aberdeen and, of those with deals expiring, there can’t be too many really worth keeping that would do a job at Championship level - Meekings, Laing and Fisher would be about it and that’s being generous. Even then, Meekings is probably the only player who should definitely also be on his way on a pre-contract to another Premiership club. This season has been an unmitigated disaster dating back to the second Richie Foran as employed. He surely can’t survive into next season but many Caley fans have a sinking feeling that he will be.

Departures?: The club from the Premiership. Brad McKay, Carl Tremarco and Liam Polworth could probably be trusted do a job at other Premiership clubs but, aside from them, the age, lack of exposure or sheer inconsistency of the other players left at the club going into next season should rule them out of a move to another club.

What do they need?: For next season, Caley currently have only 13 players contracts - three of which are goalkeepers. Numbers are definitely needed along with some quality. In defence, a back four of what is left at the club of Warren, McKay, Tremarco and Raven looked OK at the start of the season but Warren and Raven look to have aged about ten years this season and it’s difficult to say confidently that they will be able to hack it at even Championship level next season - if they can, then sole blame for this season’s debacle needs to be laid at Richie Foran’s feet.

Starting at the front, the one senior centre forward at the club will be Scott Boden, who Foran never really gave a chance to.in spite of looking solid in the League Cup. He, at least, can be relied upon next season but is the only striker left. It possibly goes without saying but, with Peterhead potentially sliding out of League One and Inverness being slightly closer than any other club who might be interested, this could be the season Rory McAllister gets one last opportunity to play full time football. He’ll likely turn it down but there is no more convenient club to offer him the chance. Both plus getting Alex Fisher to extend his deal gives Caley a very decent attacking roster for the level.

In midfield, assuming Polworth departs (which he should), that leaves a line up of Draper, Doran, Mulraney and Vigurs. Bolster that with one of the out of contract Dundee United pair Willo Flood and Charlie Telfer and then that midfield looks very solid. That simply leaves the defence as an issue but, if the current line up can be kept, then it is of an acceptable quality assuming players don’t degrade further and they are, unlike this season, actually organised properly. Caley at least have a small nucleus of players they would need to add only a couple of players permanently and use the loan system well to to bring it up to the standard of challenging for, at least, the playoffs next season.

Hashtag of the summer: #ForanOut

Greenock Morton

Contracts Expiring: Mark Russell, Michael Tidser, Michael Doyle, Conor Pepper, Ricki Lamie, Andy Murdoch, Jon Scullion, Kudus Oyenuga, Jamie McDonagh

Loans Ending: Bryn Halliwell, Lawrence Shankland, Jamie Lindsay, Aidan Nesbitt, Jamie McGowan, Luke Donnelly

Contract Chat: Less than the other playoff sides, Morton’s finances won’t be hugely affected by not getting promotion. Simply being in the playoffs is exceeding the season’s expectations and it’s likely Jim Duffy will try to keep the side together as much as possible to have a (very realistic) crack at trying to win the Championship next season, particularly as they will hope to have the services of Jai Quitongo for the full duration. What that means is expect deals for Mark Russell, Michael Tidser, Michael Doyle, Ricki Lamie and Andy Murdoch - this team will not likely break up this summer.

Departures: Jai Quitongo was heavily scouted by a lot of sides prior to his injury but that injury will have had the side effect of keeping him under wraps for a little longer, keeping him at Morton a little longer too. Thomas O’Ware has been similarly looked at by a host of English Championship teams and, with a startling scoring record, the chances of him moving (for a decent fee) are more likely - the £250-300k it will cost to pry him from Morton is a big deal for the club but pocket money for the sides looking at buying him.

What do they need?: From a getting promoted perspective and the perspective of trying to push for the title next season, the obvious thing that is lacking is a goalscorer. Even with Jai Quitongo fully fit, Morton still look light up front.

Aside from that, the Ton don’t need much else assuming they maintain the quality of loanee that came to the club this season. The statistics say Morton shouldn’t be where they are based on how much possession they have and what attacking threat they pose so those are the areas they need to improve upon - bringing in Keatings, who scores and assists regularly, should solve both issues.

Dundee United

Confirmed Signing: James Keatings, Billy King

Contracts Expiring: Frank van der Struijk, Willo Flood, Paul Dixon, Wato Kuate, Sean Dillon, Stewart Murdoch, Simon Murray, Blair Spittal, Charlie Telfer, Luis Zwick

Loans ending: Tony Andreu, Thomas Mikkelsen, Alex Nicholls

Contract Chat: United didn’t budget for being in the Championship this season and it’s doubtful they expect to be in it next season. Cost cutting is the order of the day and most of the players out of contract will be allowed to leave to bring costs down. It leaves the midfield looking seriously light, but barring a fairly surprising promotion via the playoffs, there might not be much choice.

Departures: None likely. While any decent offer would be accepted, most of the talent is leaving for free.

What do they need?: Numbers in midfield and up front. United’s loan returns do, at least, give them plenty in defence.

To do this, United will need to have some decent manipulation of the loan market and using the Dutch links that seem to have crept up over the last season under Ray Mackinnon. That would likely mean an attempt to bring back Gary Mackay-Steven on a loan deal, made all the more likely by the fact that Celtic are willing to let players go to the Championship. The club have also brought in Billy King on a pre-contract deal - he hasn’t impressed at Inverness, however, and it’s debatable at this point if he is still capable of making the impact United need. It would also (as a personal hope) mean a potential loan deal for Elif Elmas from Heerenveen, who has been on loan in his native Macedonia this season but is definitely of a level where he could add to United right now. Likely, a scan of the Dutch second tier’s free agents will be revealing as well and names such as Kenny Anderson and Genero Zeefuik are not unfamiliar to Scotland and would fill United’s needs. But with the unpredictable nature of United’s balance sheet, a reliance on the youth system may be forced upon them.

Falkirk

Expiring Contracts: There’s SIXTEEN players whose contract expire, based on Falkirk’s tendency to try to do business only once the playoffs have finished. I’m not listing them all but it’s basically the entire first team

Loans Expiring: Danny Rogers.

Contract Chat: See that bit where there are sixteen players out of contract? The Bairns have a total of five senior players contracted into next season including zero midfielders. If other sides want to pick up some of those expiring contracts, then Falkirk have more issues. Given that those out of contract includes every decent player they have, that will inevitably happen to some. If Falkirk go up through the playoffs, then most will stay (even the prized possessions like Craig Sibbald), if not, then the side will end up looking seriously shallow.

What do they need?: To do business before the end of May. Even if Falkirk get their choice of who to keep and who to let go and don’t see other teams step in, they do probably need another striker given that Lee Miller is fast approaching 35 (and is Lee Miller). But, for obvious reasons, it’s quite pointless speculating about what Falkirk may do when they lack three quarters of a team because of how they negotiate contracts.

Hamilton Accies

Expiring Contracts: Giannis Skondras, Alex D’Acol, David Templeton, Gary Woods, Gramoz Kurtaj, Eamonn Brophy, Martin Canning (seriously), Blair Adams, Craig Watson, Jack Breslin, Ronan Hughes

Loans to End: Remi Matthews

Contract Chat: Martin Canning’s contract only applies to his playing career before anyone gets too excited - he will surely not renew himself for another season. Of the remainder of the players, you would expect Accies to seriously try to keep Skondras, D’Acol, Woods and Brophy with Kurtaj and Ronan Hughes being possibles as well. Accies don’t operate on a huge budget so anyone wanting to try to snaffle a player (even if they aren’t necessarily in the Premiership) would have a fair chance at doing so - Brophy and D’Acol are the two candidates for that.

Departures?: It’s almost tiresome at this point to say Ali Crawford - at his best, he has the talent to play for a much larger club but, for the past two seasons, has had at least one extended period of either injury or loss of form that makes it fair to doubt whether he’ll ever get a move away. He has another season on his deal after this so I would expect him to stay at Accies for one last season (barring relegation). Mikey Devlin and Greg Docherty are both possibles.

What do they need?: Goalkeeper would be one major point of concern if Gary Woods doesn’t sign back on, especially now they no longer have Alex Neil donating players to them. There also isn’t a single full back contracted past this summer. Goals wouldn’t go amiss either. A little bit of everything then…

In goals, Mark Gillespie of Carlisle would be an obvious pick - out of contract, at a club who are (and I say this as someone to whom Carlisle was their local club growing up) an absolute state and regularly playing, he is a cut above many free agents on the market. Accies have a very good record with having a good keeper at the club and, while Gillespie’s reputation (ex-England U21) has taken a knock over the past couple of seasons thanks to the goings on in Cumbria, Hamilton is an ideal stage at which to grow it again and get the Michael McGovern style move to a bigger club in the future.

Accies do have a fairly eclectic scouting policy - Sarris, Skondras, Kurtaj all particularly alien names in Scotland and outside their own families - and it’s hard not to think that will be kept up to fill the other areas of the pitch along with those moving up from their development league squad. In keeping with the Greek theme (and, it’s worth pointing out, Sarris and Skondras were playing for decent sides over there), at least part of the full back issue could be filled by Konstantinos Giannoulis. Giannoulis’ career has been one of fluctuation, twice impressing enough at smaller clubs to earn a big move (to Koln and Olympiakos respectively), yet never actually doing anything while there. But at these smaller clubs (who are little different to Accies in terms of finances), he has impressed and gets up and down the line on a regular enough basis to suggest he can provide a threat from the cross that would add to Accies’ repertoire.

Up front, there is the constraint of budget always which limits where players can be brought in from but perhaps the most suitable player (if potentially a stretch) would be Jasmin Mesanovic of Zrinjski Mostar. Mesanovic fits a similar profile to that of Alex D’Acol in that he is good at winning the ball in the air and flicking the ball on to runners coming through from midfield. His goalscoring record is nothing to write home about but, in one of Europe’s most defensive leagues currently, the chances are that he would be able to go from a 7-10 goal a season striker to a 12-15 goal a season striker just by adapting to the more open style of play that we have in Scotland compared to that in Liga 12. Being at Zrinjski, Accies would need to bring him in at the upper level of their wage structure but it would be a move that would undoubtedly pay dividends - a penalty box striker who is capable of doing the dirty work of holding the ball up and flicking the ball on 30-40 yards out would be ideal for the club.

Hashtag of the summer: #DAcollade

Motherwell

Expiring contracts: Scott McDonald, Lionel Ainsworth, Keith Lasley, Craig Samson, James McFadden, Joe Chalmers, Stephen Pearson, Kieran Kennedy, Lee Lucas, David Ferguson, Ross McLean

Loans Ending: Zak Jules, Russell Griffiths

Contract Chat: This summer will likely see a big changing of the guard at Well. James McFadden will surely retire, Stephen Pearson will do his usual summer departure and maybe come back again if the team need him come next winter, Keith Lasley (even if he keeps playing for another year) is no longer able to contribute on a regular basis and Scott McDonald is going to go to A League sooner or later - there is no better opportunity than now. Add to that questions like - Does Lionel Ainsworth want to stay to be a bit part player as, when his current contract was signed, he was vital to the side? Are any of the other players up for departing, aside from Samson, actually worth keeping? Whatever the answers to any of those questions are, it’s clear that Stephen Robinson has a pretty massive task on his hands over the summer.

Departures: Motherwell have two key assets - Craig Cadden and Louis Moult. Cadden is going nowhere but Moult has been linked to quite a few clubs, enough to justify having a “Who will Louis Moult play for next” betting market (one of only two players based in Scotland to have this) open with Rangers and Aberdeen joining a whole host of English Championship clubs in the hunt. Moult is at the stage where if he is at Fir Park come the end of summer, it would be a surprise. Barring any clauses the like of which saw Kane Hemmings go for £250k, Moult would surely not be moving anywhere for under half a million.

What do they need?: While it’s wrong to judge a side in May for the following May, you look at how Well have performed this season, look at who is going, look at who could go and it’s quite hard not to feel that they are going to struggle next term. Take out of the side right now Louis Moult and Scott McDonald and there isn’t a goalscorer. Take out Lionel Ainsworth and there is little in the way of creativity from the bench. Take out Joe Chalmers and… well, that’s probably no bad thing but you get the picture. Stephen Robinson may have instilled a bit more steel into the Steelmen that Mark McGhee had but they are still a leaky side that are reliant on one very wily striker and one very good striker up front to damage sides. Assume Moult is going and you have a side that needs reinforcements across the defence, across midfield and up front. And a goalkeeper if Samson goes (albeit, whichever division Well are in next term, I would expect them to keep him). It would be a surprise were Robinson not to just go all in and embrace a three man defence based on what will be at the club already next year and it saves money on a couple of fronts to do that (one - he doesn’t need to bring in two new full backs and two - he can let Ainsworth go and not worry as he doesn’t fit into that formation because of the defensive responsibilities barring a permanent adoption of 3-4-3).

Stephen Robinson’s transfer history from his time at Oldham suggests that he likes players he has worked with in the past and, in striking terms, were he to attempt to replicate something that didn’t work in England and have a strike force of Billy McKay (on a free) and Lee Erwin (on loan) it would be an interesting experience. Both players have suffered a fairly bruising couple of seasons after permanent moves to England just plain haven’t worked out as planned but the poaching instincts of McKay and the Daddy Long Legs style of Erwin have worked in the SPFL and in far more hastily clobbered together sides than Robinson has. As long as Robinson can get the support to them right, then there is little reason why either player would not have a good season in a better environment than they could get in England and in a better environment than they have been forced to endure of late.

Next goes back to the defence and the need for a solid centre back - Well would surely be another club interested in Josh Meekings and a Heneghan-Meekings-McManus partnership wouldn’t sound too horrible on paper (even if it would sideline Richard Tait at right back, who has been perfectly decent this season). It’s the midfield which needs the real thought put into it. While Chris Cadden and Craig Clay would hold the right midfield and one central midfield slot each, that leaves the left flank uncovered and at least another two midfielders needed to make Motherwell complete. That sends us down to England for Stefan Scougall and Jamie Ness - both have played their part in League One and (arguably) Scougall may be out of Well’s price range (although probably cheaper than bringing in a cut price midfielder, seeing him fail and then bringing back Stephen Pearson for the umpteenth time in January) but Scougall can be on the left to the side what Chris Cadden is on the right. As for Ness, his career is stuck in a hinterland between being a solid League One player at a decent club or being an essential part of a struggling League One club - he has primarily been at smaller clubs in terms of budget since leaving Stoke (Crewe and Scunthorpe) and would definitely be within Motherwell’s reach.

The two would be very logical choices - almost too logical for what these scouting pieces are trying to do - but it highlights Motherwell’s issue: in a modern perspective, they are one of Scotland’s bigger clubs but since the demise of Stuart McCall’s European challenging team, successive managers have built up sides who were very good in an attacking sense when they clicked but they have had little in the way of resolve or discipline - as 7-2 defeats at Pittodrie tend to show up. Stephen Robinson goes into the summer with what looks at first like a pretty poor side but is, instead, a side which is already fairly bloated, losing some of it’s problems in summer, has a big asset which can be sold to fund the rebuilding and has the financial reach to be able to put together a smaller, but far higher quality, unit than he has at present. Two successive seasons of the summer business being bringing relative nobodies in volume hasn’t paid off (McGhee brought in 11 permanent players and 4 loans - at best, 4 have paid off. Baraclough did similar) and this policy of trying to identify potential gems further down the ladder rather than bringing in actual good players the club can afford has paid off with three successive seasons which have had the side, at one point or another, in serious trouble. Without any of the more outlandish (and, hopefully, insightful and interesting) speculation that it’s fun to research and identify, its easy to put a smaller team together that would be better than what they have now and, if Well started next season with the five players mentioned in this abnormally obvious transfer report (Scougall, Ness, Meekings, Erwin, McKay), I doubt fans would be too displeased.

Hashtag of the summer: #ErwinReturnin

Dundee

Expiring Contracts: Kevin Gomis, Konstantin Gadzhalov, James McPake, Nick Ross, David Mitchell, Sam Dryden

Loan Ending: Henrik Ojaama

Contract Chat: Could be summed up in three words: no loss there. Gomis has phoned it in, Gadzhalov and Ross are squad players and James McPake has been injured for the best part of 18 months, time in which I hope he got his coaching badges. That is harsh, but his career as a player seems over.

Departures: Scott Bain will surely go - every other good player at the club has left him there on his own and he has often seemed homesick for going away. The only other real asset at the club is Craig Wighton and, even then, he is at least a season away from realising the potential the club credit him as having.

What do they need?: Certainty about the managerial position would be a start. Neil McCann has made a decent start to his time at the club, even if it is only to the end of the season and, if he can pick up another win or two, then the job becomes his to turn down. He is just dipping his toe in the water to see if he fancies it as a career or would prefer the warmth of a TV studio and that is very much up in the air (albeit I would expect him to give it a go). With McCann being so new, however, it makes trying to figure out what he might do as a coach fairly difficult. His two games so far have seen a fairly straightforward 4-4-2 which, given Dundee have an even more straightforward attacking line up of big man Marcus Haber and small man Faissal El-Bakhtaoui or Craig Wighton. With Rory Loy coming back from loan at St Mirren, that set up should become fairly entrenched. That is, at least, one area of the side which shouldn’t need to change next season (albeit those supporting Haber could do with being a little more productive to take the pressure from the Canuck Clint Dempsey). They have also the foundation of a good (or, at least, effective) midfield in O’Hara, McGowan and Hateley. The rest of the side, however…

Dundee will need a goalkeeper, that much is plain. Scott Bain (rightly or wrongly) wants a shot at England and he will surely get it. It means the real work for McCann to do is in defence and in the wide midfield. They, like Accies, would be well served to look at Mark Gillespie as a goalkeeper and that should be a fairly easy position to fill. With Darren O’Dea, they should have at least one centre back position sorted. Along with Kevin Holt at left back and Cammy Kerr (who has endured a baptism of fire but is at least showing signs of improving), the full back slots are acceptably covered albeit can be improved upon.

That said, Dundee have been nothing if not leaky this season - they currently sit as both the third lowest scoring and third highest conceding team in the league. The goalscoring statistic can easily be improved upon with the right supply and the simple plan Dundee will have of getting the ball in good areas and getting good hold-up play from Haber - something they have had plenty of this season but often been unable to support.

The other element, of course, about Neil McCann managing is that there is no previous as to what players he may wish to bring in, albeit he does, at least, have the benefit of what should be a pretty comprehensive knowledge of the game given that that was his job. Dundee will be another side in the queue to bring in Josh Meekings - they have an fairly iffy record of signing from Inverness but it’s hard not to think that Dundee would benefit from having more savvy and experience in there than they get from Julen Extabeguren - a simple solid, 6/10 centre back like Meekings (or Tam Scobbie) would improve Dundee no end by giving them a bit more consistency.

But while the real difference maker in that respect will be from a coaching perspective and in how McCann can organise a defence (something which it’s probably unfair to judge him on from Dunfermline given the circumstances at the club at the time), the weak spot of the side is undoubtedly on the flanks and in providing service to Haber and company - to play how Dundee will have to play with the attacking roster they have requires it. One answer to that could be Kilmarnock’s Jordan Jones. Few players put crosses in in the volume of Jones but there is an issue of his success rate - 21% compared to, as an example, Jonny Hayes’ 33% - but he can be given a pass on that because while Hayes is delivering to Adam Rooney, Jones is delivering to the less mobile and less dangerous Kris Boyd and Conor Sammon. Plant Jones, who has undeniably impressed more than most of Killie’s faceless signings, in a side where he is able to target Haber and a support runner, and his effectiveness should quickly increase. This would be further enhanced by the fact that no player in the Premiership takes players on more than Jones - combine that with the coaching of McCann who was one hell of a winger himself and you surely get even more impact. Dundee need that sort of player and that sort of player is the perfect little project for McCann to see if he can bring them on and make them a star.

Finally, Dundee, more than most clubs, tend to have a completely inexplicable signing from out of nowhere (see Y Teijsse, L Tankulic, etc) so I’ll pick at random, Brian Span of IFK Mariehamn of the Finnish leagues. He’s American, so the owners will like him. He plays in a need position for the club (right of midfield), likes a shot and has decent crossing figures. Plus he’s playing at a higher level than the Dutch Pub Leagues (unlike Teijsse) so is surely guaranteed to be more of a success than some of the players Paul Hartley brought in.

Hashtag of the summer: #ThankGodHesNotOnSkyAnyMore (a bit wordy, I know, but I doubt anyone would disagree)

Ross County

Expiring Contracts: Chris Burke, Paul Quinn, Oscar Gobern, Alex Schalk, Martin Woods, Kenny van der Weg, Jonathan Franks, Tony Dingwall

Loans Ending: Jim O’Brien, Milan Lalkovic

Contract Chat: Martin Woods and Kenny van der Weg have a one year option which will no doubt be used for both. County would surely like to keep Schalk but the others are flip of coin decisions as to whether they are worth persevering with - Quinn was signed as a like for like replacement for a player who didn’t leave but can’t be shoehorned into the side and the others share various levels of being in and out of the side.

Departures?: Liam Boyce has one year left on his contract and, similarly to Louis Moult at Motherwell, it would be a big surprise were he to last the summer and not have been subject to interest (although County are better placed than most to resist such interest) - Aberdeen are the most obvious side who should covet him, but English sides will no doubt be in the mix too. Beyond Boyce, County should be fairly settled in terms of outgoings.

What do they need?: Assuming they keep van der Weg, County’s defence has little/no need to change between now and next season save a little depth - even then, that could well be provided by call ups from their league winning development side (Reghan Tumilty, for one, has already had an introduction into the first team). Up front, the Liam Boyce question rears its head - perhaps more so than even Louis Moult at Motherwell, you suspect that were County to sell Boyce, they’d also be selling away their Premiership spot but, on the other hand, this is also the last opportunity to get some value from him. Midfield is probably the key area in which County need to upgrade.

County have nothing if not a fairly predictable gameplan - two hardworking strikers, two proper central defenders, two hardworking central midfielders and some wingers. Variance occasionally happens be it three at the back, five in the midfield or a 4-4-1-1, but just like Coronation Street, the cast may change but the theme stays the same. Even in midfield, if County simply kept Martin Woods and were able to bring Jim O’Brien in permanently, you’d probably think most of their work was done. Such is the benefit of having a stable set-up in place and generous backing of Roy McGregor - the Highlands’ own version of Brooks Mileson, minus the air of dodginess and the innumerable vices.

I could easily stop now as, having made that comparison, any County fan reading this will probably have rage quit and closed their browser window. However, as you can possibly tell, a serious look at County makes the side look similar to, if in a better state than, Motherwell - both sides have a striking asset they will probably cash in on this summer, both are looking for logical improvements to the side. The only key difference between the two is that the Staggies will be doing so from a slightly stronger position in terms of the talent at the club now but also a slightly weaker position in terms of being up in the Highlands trying to attract players compared to being in the central belt. The only material difference in what each side is looking for is that County need a right sided midfielder and Motherwell need a left sided one.

Given County’s benefactor, the obvious option would be to make a move for Chris Maguire (if Jim O’Brien can’t be secured for a low fee). His Oxford contract is up in the summer and he has been played all across the attack with remarkable consistency. He is more likely to stay than leave, however, given his long term relationship with manager Michael Appleton. Moving to County’s favoured haunt of the Netherlands, however, would happen us upon Justin Mathieu of FC Oss. The ex Dutch U17 international has had two productive seasons in the Dutch second tier scoring at a rate just under 1 in 3 from the right wing with an assists ratio to match it. Going further in depth shows a good talent at getting to the byline and getting a cross in with a perfectly acceptable success rate.

Outwith that, County have little need to add on to their side. In size terms and in playing staff terms, they have a mix that will keep them in the upper reaches of the bottom six - if anything, that it took so long to reach that security this season has been a bit of a disappointment, but much of the blame for that has gone to Jim McIntyre and not onto the players. The key is keeping Liam Boyce - signed up for next season already is Craig Curran so County have their first choice strikeforce already at the club with no need to add to it. Lose Boyce and it would mean losing 20 goals a season (even if he does blow hot and cold) for which there would be no replacement - simply happening upon the most prolific striker in the league on the cheap doesn’t just happen. The core they have next season is solid with a top goalscorer, without it and then there starts to be plenty of holes to poke in the side. What do County really need? Liam Boyce’s signature on a new deal.

Hashtag of the Summer: #KeepBoyce

Kilmarnock

Contracts Expiring: Gary Dicker, Jordan Jones, Martin Smith, Dapo Kayode, Joshua Webb, Jamie Cobain, Nathan Tyson (Transfermarkt still shows him as at the club but I’ve a feeling he’s been released)

Loans Ending: Conor Sammon, Luke Hendrie, Freddie Woodman, Callum Roberts, Sean Longstaff, Josh Umerah

Contract Chat: Killie would surely like to keep Gary Dicker and Jordan Jones. The rest are members of the faceless horde Lee Clark brought in over the past twelve months and barely even count as having been at the club in the first place.

Departures: Unlikely although there may be a question over Jamie McDonald who is out of favour at the moment with Freddie Woodman and there must be the question as to whether he can return to being the club’s number one next season: if not, then a move to the Championship is possible.

What do they need?: Since taking over as manager, Lee McCulloch has shown some tactical flexibility but generally preferred a simple 4-4-2 with Kris Boyd doing the scoring and Conor Sammon doing the work. He has also had the benefit of Kristoffer Ajer on loan helping to shore up the defence and provide a bit more class and the form of England Under 20’s Freddie Woodman.

The problem is there that, in that list, I’ve just named three players in on loan. While Killie have more players contracted for next season than most, taking the last game vs Dundee, only three of the players in that line up will feature next season. Many of the players have been tried, tested and shown to be not good enough. If Killie went into next season with, as an example, Karleigh Osborne and Miles Addison as their central defence, you would not hold out much hope for them. So while Killie have numbers, they have a real need for improving the quality of those numbers. Keeping Gary Dicker and Jordan Jones will go a long way to helping that issue out - Jones, in particular, would leave Killie with an attacking four of Jones, Kiltie, Boyd and Rory McKenzie which looks decent enough for Killie’s aim of achieving safety. The key area that is lacking is midfield and Lee Clark at least showed that Killie have the ability to recruit good players from English League One Level. To fit that bill would be Gillingham’s Chris Herd who has experience at every level of English football including plenty of appearances in the EPL but has fallen down the ladder as various moves have been a mix of short term loans and simply things that didn’t go to plan but Killie’s need is for a reliable central midfielder. To further that also, a return to Scotland for Lee Croft or a move for Rochdale’s Donal McDermott should also be considered - the Killie midfield is by far the weakest element of the side going into next season.

Finally, the one element of the defence where Killie have no cover whatsoever is at right back for which there is proven SPFL talent available in the form of Paul Caddis who moved to Bury from Birmingham but has featured only intermittently given the change in manager to Lee Clark. It does highlight Kilmarnock’s issues heading into next season which are, ultimately, a result of a pair of seasons of odd recruitment first under Gary Locke and then under Lee Clark - numbers have been brought in in the past but quality had not been which leaves Killie with a fairly unbalanced side and a fairly unbalanced wage sheet that is full of players who aren’t the required standard but who aren’t about to be leaving the club any time soon. As such, Lee McCulloch has to improve the quality of the side but with a lower percentage of the overall budget available than he would like. Similar to many sides, Killie’s challenge is simply to create a small core of quality players as the first team and swap in and out the detritus every now and then to keep those at the club already happy.

Hashtag of the Summer: #TheCull

Celtic

Contracts Ending: Emilio Izaguirre, Kolo Toure, Kris Commons, Fiacre Kelleher

Loans Ending: Patrick Roberts

Contract Chat: I include Izaguirre as most places say his contract expires this summer but he has recently given an interview where he says it’s 2018 - that said, his interview also makes it sound strongly as if he wants to leave so it would be fair to think that he won’t be in Glasgow come the end of the summer whether Celtic get a fee for him or not. Kolo Toure is a possible to stay but more transitioning into a coaching role. Commons and Kelleher are both off.

Departures?: There will definitely be some movement outwards from Celtic so it’s worth splitting this into two categories: players who just haven’t made the grade and players who are highly coveted.

In the former category are Logan Bailly, Efe Ambrose, Saidy Janko, Scott Allan, Nadir Ciftci and Gary Mackay Steven. We can also put maybes alongside the names of Nir Bitton and Cristian Gamboa. All of those players have had chances and simply not made the standard - Brendan Rodgers will undoubtedly try to shift them out to free up some wage space.

In the latter category are Jozo Simunovic, Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic, Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele. Of those, only two (Armstrong and Rogic) have contracts which expire before 2020 - if anyone wants to test Celtic’s resolve, they will need a sizable cheque book. To go through each in turn…

Simunovic has been linked with a few clubs for a fee of around £9m. Celtic don’t want him to go anywhere and, as his perfect tackle on Kenny Miller that went viral showed, Simunovic is nothing if not the present and the future of the Celtic backline. With his fitness issues from last season out of the way, he has become the take-no-prisoners defender this site tipped him to be when first mentioned on here 4 years ago.

Kieran Tierney has been linked with a £20m move to one of the top few sides in the EPL but it would be a big surprise to see him go anywhere.

Armstrong has had links to England too, albeit at the other end of the table. With his contract up in 2018, the direction to him will be to sign a new deal or be sold - if he chooses the latter, then Celtic will be looking for something in excess of £3m for him.

More likely, still, to go is Tom Rogic. Rogic, who has had another injury disrupted season and is unlikely to be available for some Champions League duty owing to international commitments with Australia at the Confederations Cup has been linked with plenty of sides over the course of the season and his injury record is such to suggest not just that Celtic can live without him, the fact is that they have. If any jewel is to depart Celtic, Rogic is the most replaceable.

Scott Sinclair’s form is bound to have attracted some interest but it will be a big offer to move him and the player seems happy to remain with Brendan Rodgers, who gets the best out of him.

Finally, Moussa Dembele. Linked with clubs for fees getting ever more astronomical, the player himself seems content to carry on with another season in Glasgow and in the Champions League but, with some estimates of his value being at £40m, you wouldn’t really blame Celtic for accepting an offer around that value - after all, 1 Moussa Dembele = 1 season in the Champions League and, of course, all of this could change if Celtic ended up out of Europe’s premier competition prior to the group stages.

What do Celtic need?: It’s May 9th as I write this and Celtic are still unbeaten domestically. Celtic don’t NEED anything to retain their title next season aside from to keep on keeping on. But that isn’t what Brendan Rodgers wants and the demand will be for gradual improvement in the Champions League resulting in, at worst, Europa League after Christmas. After all, Celtic are hardly likely to get as unkind a CL group (or draw in general) as they encountered this season.

Linked already has been Dominic Solanke of Chelsea. The 19 year old has been unhappy at being third pick behind Diego Costa and Michy Batsuayi but only has 24 senior games under his belt (at Vitesse in the Eredivisie) and rumours of wanting an excessive wage are somewhat offputting. However, similar to Moussa Dembele, Solanke would be available at a knockdown cost for the development fee (something around £600k compared to £8m for an English side) and would be a cheap punt to see if he takes to senior football on an irregular basis. The big issue with the move would be wage - he was rumoured to be demanding £50k per week from Chelsea, something he’s since denied - and also seniority: would Solanke wish to trade being third pick at Stamford Bridge for probably being third choice behind Dembele and Griffiths at Celtic? Probably not.

Similar applies to Henry Onyekuru of Eupen, the AWOL Nigerian who seems to have been linked everywhere and tried to force a move everywhere - speculation to Celtic for him seems to have died down a little and, given the fairly glaring attitude problems that seem to have soured his relationship with his current club, that’s probably no bad thing.

So, what do Celtic need to push that little bit further from a European perspective? Up to five positions need strengthening. Firstly, Central defence. While Jozo Simunovic is definitely up to scratch, there are doubts around the application of Erik Sviatchenko and the quality of Dedryck Boyata. Next, Right back where Mikael Lustig is no slouch but, even at his best, is no more than a middling player at that level. Central midfield is an issue that has gone on for years about the long term succession plan for Scott Brown. Ahead of him, the Rogic position just in behind the strikers has fluctuated between Rogic, Armstrong, McGregor and just plain not having it - Rogic hasn’t the fitness to be relied upon all season long so an alternative must be found. Finally, on the right wing where Patrick Roberts has overtaken James Forrest, yet is back at Man City at the end of the season.

To start with that Rogic position first as, in my mind, there is only one outstanding candidate for it. Lovro Majer of Lokomotiva Zagreb is a name that will likely not be familiar to many people, but if you were making a list of players who would succeed Luka Modric for the Croatian National Team, Majer would be top and by some distance. An unusual player at Lokomotiva in that he is home grown at the club having been there since 13, now 19 he has blossomed into a quite brilliant little player. At 19 and having been protected by the club to the extent that he has only played ⅔ of his side’s games this term, he has the most assists in the entire league for a side in the bottom half of the division that have barely scored a goal a game. Those assists have come from set pieces, through balls - the lot. Worth searching for is an assist he did vs Cibalia that shows him at his best - a sharp, technical 1-2 with direct running and trickery - and this is just one example of why, when I compile Croatian highlights, I absolutely love to watch him. He has assists from backheels, presses like a demon, dribbles - the lot.

Domestic commentators see him as having the potential of Marko Pjaca (Juventus bought him for €23m last season) - albeit Pjaca is on the wing while Majer is very much a central player. Both Celtic, and Brendan Rodgers, are known to have a very good knowledge of the South East European market and, for Celtic, it makes sense to buy from that market then sell on for the sort of fee Pjaca went to Juve for. Majer would come in at about £2m and it would be immensely surprising were he not on Celtic’s radar and immensely disappointing were he not also thought of as a player who needs to be part of the squad as the potential there and the improvements that can be made (mainly to shooting) are such to mean he will grow into as essential a part of the squad as Jozo Simunovic - he is just that good. Besides Majer, a more complete player (at this point), is Franko Andrijasevic of Rijeka. I’ve previously mentioned Andrijasevic on here as a clutch player - when Rijeka have needed goals to keep their hunt for the title going, he has been the one to consistently provide them with 14 goals from that Rogic position. He is almost the trequartista’s trequartista but would come in at a much higher price than Majer - around £6m. Finally, while there has been plenty of media speculation about who Celtic scouts were in Belgrade looking at, none have mentioned Crvena Zvezda’s biggest prospect, Luka Adzic. Adzic has begun breaking through into the first team and scored a spectacular scissors kick on just his second appearance to set his star in the ascendancy - it would be too early for him to move at this stage, however. Some have also mentioned his colleague Srdan Plavsic, who sits ahead of him in the line up for the time being but it is hard to judge him too well in a Crvena Zvezda side which is all too workmanlike and, in addition, there is a point to be made about his following through on runs which is far inferior to that of Majer.

Moving across to the right wing and the preferred option for many fans would be to keep Patrick Roberts - the question is price. Manchester City paid £12m for him two seasons ago and, at that price, he would take up the vast majority of Celtic’s budget. Any future for him in Glasgow depends very much on how reasonable Manchester City want to be - it’s probably fair to assume the answer to that will be “not very” but if City wanted anything lower than £8m, Celtic would surely bite. Roberts is the first and only target in this role currently. Beyond him, Celtic could look at their best friends Rapid Vienna for winger Louis Schaub - being left footed, he has often played across the midfield but the right side is where he is most at home and where he plays most at club level. His issue is a lack of pace but has developed in a manner that compensates for that and means that he can be an effective presence either in a narrow 4-2-3-1 where he is asked to cut in and build up play slowly or in a wider role where is is asked to put crosses in on a more regular basis - his cost would be not too dissimilar to that of Roberts.

At right back, as previously mentioned on this site, Celtic should be looking at Linus Wahlqvist of Norrkoping, the heir to Lustig at international level. He would be very much a “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it sort of signing” replacing an adequate right back at Champions League level with another adequate right back at that level, albeit one still very much on the upwards curve of his career as opposed to Lustig who now resides on the wrong side of thirty - particularly the wrong side for a player who has suffered serious injury in the past and relies very much upon his galloping style of wing play to get forward. Brendan Rodgers has, more than Ronny Deila before him, used Lustig as a slightly narrower defender and, given the ability at getting forward shown on the other flank by Kieran Tierney, this is likely to extend Lustig’s usefulness by a period but, crucially, the Cristian Gamboa experiment hasn’t borne fruit nor is Anthony Ralston at a stage where he could take the step up to first team football on a regular basis and injury to Lustig would leave Celtic looking a little short. Celtic have experimented with three at the back as an alternative when needed, but it should be there as an option to use if things aren’t going right as opposed to a permanent gameplan. An examination of Lustig and Wahlqvist side by side shows that Lustig is slightly the more active player (although that is as much explained by Celtic’s style than anything) but Wahlqvist is, if anything, slightly more effective in an attacking sense putting in slightly more crosses than Lustig and also having a slightly higher success rate than his countryman. Passing success rates are near identical, albeit Lustig plays on average ten more passes per game (again, can be explained away by “Celtic”). Where Wahlqvist is notably more effective than Lustig is when exposed 1v1 and also when attacking a marker - a season of coaching into the Celtic style should see the elements of his game that are slightly behind come up to the required standard and those elements of his game which are naturally slightly stronger than Lustig’s be honed further - similar to Simunovic/Toure or Boyata/Sviatchenko, Lustig would begin as number one and then Wahlqvist would gradually ease him out over the season should all go to plan.

Some will obviously look closer to home and to Callum Paterson as the answer to the question I’ve just posed and my answer to that would be that, for all Paterson’s immense attacking abilities and the screw that is loose in his head that make him put himself about with reckless abandon, he is not defensively sharp enough (currently) to make an impact at Champions League level and it would require not just an advancement in skills to make him suitable, it would take a change in personality and an injection of Common Sense that even Thomas Paine would take a look at and go “Nope!”.

Centre back is next on the list. Reports Celtic were interested in Partizan’s Nikola Milenkovic were scuppered by him confirming a move to Italy and rumour that the club was interested in Dinamo’s Filip Benkovic was ended as Dinamo put a frankly stupid price tag on him (£20m, according to Vecenji List). As a position, it is far harder to fill than perhaps any other on the pitch due to the dual nature of the task required - to start attacks and be on alert domestically and to absorb pressure and mark tightly on a continental level. A previous link to Heerenveen’s Jerry St Juste could be resurrected but, and this is something that would have been hard to conceive a season ago, the replaceable centre back is the person alongside Simunovic, which is now Dedryck Boyata who has shown enough progress to get back into the Belgian national side and to pose the question over whether there is actually a better option out there than him who is also competitively priced along with the rather irritating phenomenon that most good young centre backs are already signed to not just large sides but then sent out on loan to other large sides - there is little Celtic can offer a Tomas Kalas or an Andreas Christensen that they cannot currently get at Chelsea (aside from first team football from their primary employers!) no matter how good a signing either may be and, while this piece is designed to speculate and has thrown a few names out there, even in the depth that I’ve been looking, there is no stand out obvious candidate that Celtic should get their hands on at all costs, particularly as the sort of player they are looking for is that Virgil van Dijk style player who can play the ball with consumate ease at the back while Jozo Simunovic alongside tackles players so hard they see the curvature of the Earth. This site tries not to recommend players who are a) a pipedream or b) pish and that’s just not currently feasible for this position.

Finally, we come to my favourite bugbear - replacing Scott Brown. It is a dilemma that has presented itself for the past few seasons: how long does he have left, how is his form and how immediate is the need. Last season, it seemed like the answer was “not long”, “godawful” and “very”. This season, it seems to be “another 2 seasons”, “tailed off a bit but never really worse than good” and “*shrugs*”. There has to still be a question over his form given that it disappeared for so long for no reason other than, seemingly, he just couldn’t be bothered under Ronny Deila - if he similarly fell out of love with Brendan Rodgers, would he turn crap again straight away? He does, of course, play a different role now - less box-to-box and more holding, similar to how Victor Wanyama was used while at the club - and he has excelled doing a task which many would have previously suspected he didn’t have the discipline for. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need a succession plan in place as neither Stuart Armstrong nor Callum McGregor have the skillset to fill in for him and Nir Bitton still doesn’t do some of the things that role requires from a defensive sense and, while he possesses plenty of class, the accusation that his level of graft does not match it hasn’t been put to bed. While this isn’t an urgent need for Celtic and doesn’t need me to go in-depth on players, I’ll drop a name into the mixer: Bojan Knezevic of Dinamo Zagreb who is not immediately in the Dinamo squad as a permanent feature yet but, in a very competitive environment, is undoubtedly next in lin and will go in a couple of seasons for a considerable sum. What people will have wanted me to say there was John McGinn but I (and I appreciate that I’m in the minority here) am unsure he’s proven himself enough to justify the leap up. He has been Hibs’ biggest name but not always their best player this season and, while he made his name at St Mirren while in the Premiership, there is a world of difference between being there as part of the St Mirren midfield and being there as part of the Hibs midfield, never mind Celtic. It would be a far riskier move than people would think right now and I, for one, would like to see him have this season with Hibs (or even just till January) to see if he can dominate games against Aberdeen, Rangers et al on a consistent basis - doing it vs Ayr or Dumbarton is, with all due respect, not enough proof for me. That said, were someone to moot a return for Jackson Irvine, I would not complain, nor would I if one were to acquire the next big midfielder out of Australia, Adelaide United’s Riley McGree, who has impressed from a deep role in the A League this season at just 18 and is expected to get his first full caps for his country at the Confederations Cup alongside Tom Rogic.

Hashtage of the Summer: #LoveMeSomeLovro

So that’s it. 12 Premiership clubs and four Championship clubs fully covered for the summer. Past pieces have seen players signed and, while I’ve no idea if scouts or managers are reading this, there’s a whole lot of speculating to be done and a whole lot of players to be brought in (along with a whole lot of column inches of speculation to be filled). The season might not be over, but silly season is here already. I hope you’ve enjoyed this preview of the summer’s business transactions and I hope that, just like last season, this serves to get someone employment at a club somewhere and that they do well out of it.