January Transfer Window 2019

Wotcha think, will we be making any additions and/or moving some players on?

Hopedully we can hold onto the key players of our own, Halkett and Hardie being the 2 most likely to be at risk of leaving in Jan. And Rafa shouldn't be far away from returning from injury.

Still wouldn't mind seeing us getting a pacy winger, or even a striker so Dolly could move onto the wing. We've been pretty much stretched to our limit this month so it gave Holt a good look at where we struggled for cover, LB was one area that springs to mind when Lamie got injured.

I’d like to think Rangers will honour our season long loan of Hardie... Morelos is pretty well scoring when he wants so I see no reason for them to recall RH.

Halkett seems to be so passionate about playing for us that I’d also like to think he wants to see how far we can get as a team this season before seeking a move.

Of course I could just be letting my heart rule my head.

I would have liked to see us go for Shankland but I hear Celtic are sniffing after him now.

Maybe we can scoop up some of St Midden’s better players & give them a new lease of life.

Problem for us is we have very little chance of getting anything other than loan signings from teams above us & do we really want the underachievers from the teams below us?

Halkett in the media talking about Hardie's 6 months loan deal coming to an end and if Rangers don't want him then he'd be happy to see him stay on at Livi for the rest of the season. Dunno where this 6 months loan deal pish is coming from, it was announced on our OS we'd signed him for the season.

Livingston FC is delighted to announce the return of prolific strker Ryan Hardie on a season long loan.

Or is the media lazily regurgitating something Halkett said as last season was coming to an end & extrapolating what he said to give it more relevance with January almost here?

If Rangers think about it then they should allow Hardie to stay with us. He will score against the opposition teams they are competing with yet he will not be played against them. Simples.

He is also unlikely to get much game time at Ibrox while he is very likely to keep banging them in for us.

Either the Official Site's announcement that we signed Hardie for a season's loan deal is wrong (and can't see how they'd get that wrong) or the media are talking bollox saying it is a 6 months deal. If it's the latter then the ball is in our court whether we want him for the whole season or not and Sevco have no say in the matter, the rule is that the on loan club would have to agree to him going back to his parent club early.

And tbh if we've been paying part of his wages up to January and he's only just started playing games for us in Dec, I think Hardie has a moral obligation to see out the season anyway.

I feel like I need a shower with carbolic soap after going to read this article

https://www.rangersnews.uk/tactics/early-ryan-hardie-return-a-big-doubt-after-steven-gerrards-comments/

But it puts it into a bit of perspective.

I think you have it the wrong way round tho LF, I believe the parent club has the right of recall.

And this seems to confirm the loan is until May, unless it terminates early

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ryan-hardie/profil/spieler/249063

Bertie Bassett wrote:I feel like I need a shower with carbolic soap after going to read this article

https://www.rangersnews.uk/tactics/early-ryan-hardie-return-a-big-doubt-after-steven-gerrards-comments/

But it puts it into a bit of perspective.

I think you have it the wrong way round tho LF, I believe the parent club has the right of recall.

And this seems to confirm the loan is until May, unless it terminates early

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ryan-hardie/profil/spieler/249063

Nope, the parent club has no say in this at all, they can approach us to ask for him back but if Livi don't want him to leave then he stays for the rest of the season.

A very reliable poster on P&B that has something to do with QotS knows all the rules for each division and has posted this a couple of times when people were asking about loan deals. I'm def believing him over some journos.

This seems to suggest recall is by mutual consent (page 167)

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/media/3998/scottish-fa-handbook-18_19.pdf

SPFL equivalent does not specify anything except relating to goalies.

As far as I understand any termination of a loan agreement needs to be agreed by both clubs before it will even be considered by the SFA - HOWEVER the fall-out from us refusing to agree to an early return could seriously affect the chances of us getting loan players from Sevco in the future. In all honesty we've done pretty well off this over the past few years with Halkett; Kelly; Thompson and Hardie springing immediately to mind.

Souring that relationship could have a serious impact going forward particularly if the suggestion that they currently seem prepared to pick up the lion's share of the wage bill is to be believed.

As far as I'm led to believe the portion of Hardie's wage we have been paying is around that of our higher earners. And we've been paying for most of the season while he was injured. It would be a bit mean of Rangers to take him back now that he is fit.

Durnford wrote:As far as I understand any termination of a loan agreement needs to be agreed by both clubs before it will even be considered by the SFA  - HOWEVER the fall-out from us refusing to agree to an early return could seriously affect the chances of us getting loan players from Sevco in the future. In all honesty we've done pretty well off this over the past few years with Halkett; Kelly; Thompson and Hardie springing immediately to mind.

Souring that relationship could have a serious impact going forward particularly if the suggestion that they currently seem prepared to pick up the lion's share of the wage bill is to be believed.

Halkett wasn't a loan deal, he was deemed not good enough for them and released to sign for another club, same as Dorrans and Halliday, who both now play for them again. We've done quite well signing up young players deemed not good enough for bigger clubs. Unfortunately we get the odd duffer like Darren Cole from Sevco rejects too.
I suppose you're right though, for future loan deals it would sour relations, point still stands about this media speculation saying Sevco is the one deciding what Hardie does, if Livi don't agree then it wont happen, it isn't just up to Sevco.

orco wrote:As far as I'm led to believe  the portion of Hardie's wage we have been paying is around that of our higher earners.  And we've been paying for most of the season while he was injured.  It would be a bit mean of Rangers to take him back now that he is fit.

Exactly, that's why I think Hardie has a moral obligation to seeing out the season.

I know we're all looking at this from a Livi POV, but it really doesn't look like it would be in Hardie's best interest to leave Livi, and I don't think Gerrard will want the deal cut short either. Sevco will be looking to sign a striker with a reputation for scoring goals, to push for a title challenge, Hardie will be left at Livi for his development and then given a chance by them next season.

Rangers appear to have signed Jermaine Defoe.  I'd say that makes Hardie staying a wee bit more likely.

Saunders has left to join Partick Thistle.

orco wrote:Rangers appear to have signed Jermaine Defoe.  I'd say that makes Hardie staying a wee bit more likely.

Almost a certainty I'd say; Defoe is a fantastic achievement (albeit his wages will probably push them into administration again) and could likely replace Morelos

Bertie Bassett wrote:Saunders has left to join Partick Thistle.

Good stuff, Knox is going out on loan to Berwick Rangers too.

Looks like we'll have a couple of new signings in Jan too, a big striker is on trial with us, we've been really short of striking options so far but with Hardie back and a possible striker being signed we should have decent options now. Hopefully Miller isn't seriously injured too, and Raffa will be playing once the winter break is over.

It really showed us up against Aberdeen that we had nobody on the bench to come on and change the game for us, but Aberdeen brought on 2 players that won the game for them.

Just realised with Matthew Knox' loan to Berwick his dad must be please as punch. He always said his some would end up playing for rangers.

Durnford wrote:Just realised with Matthew Knox' loan to Berwick his dad must be please as punch. He always said his some would end up playing for rangers.

Apparently we have Lionel (no not Messi) Ainsworth on trial, he’s 5’5” & a winger that scored 23 goals for Motherwell over 2 or 3 seasons.

Ainsworth was on trial but he's back at Plymouth Argyle, not sure he's what we're looking for as Motherwell fans said he tended to drop out of games and then pop up and score a worldie. Don't think he has the work ethic our current players have.

Bertie Bassett wrote:

Durnford wrote:Just realised with Matthew Knox' loan to Berwick his dad must be please as punch. He always said his some would end up playing for rangers.

Apparently we have Lionel (no not Messi) Ainsworth on trial, he’s 5’5” & a winger that scored 23 goals for Motherwell over 2 or 3 seasons.

Not another Cadden?

Sorry - read that like we had two people on trial - Ainsworth was with Motherwell for a total of four seasons I believe.

Ainsworth would probably be a good player if we could afford a luxury like that. Imagine he'd be most effective with us as an impact sub when we're needing a goal.

If he's back at Plymouth already I'd assume the management don't rate him enough, and I think it's safe to trust their judgement.

We also had (not sure if we still do) Nathan Oduwa on trial, he was part of the Rangers team that won the Championship, although his loan ended in January. Think he's a winger so wouldn't make too much sense to me unless we're seeing him as a striker. Could still do with another body up front in case we get any injuries, whereas signing him as a winger would give us 9 who would play out wide (Lamie, McMillan, Lawless, Cadden, Lawson, Burns*, De Vita, Menga, Oduwa).

*Can't remember if his loan is up this month or if we've got him all season. Regardless, I'd rather a defensive player if we're signing another winger unless they can make a significant change in our attacking play.

Was actually surprised to see Jordan Allen is now a Cowdenbeath player. When he scored a hat trick for us in the reserves I thought we'd offer him a contract.

Dundee fans saying Byrne is being linked to them, obv McIntyre is looking at old players he has worked with, or has knowledge of from being at Ross County and Dunfermline but I can't see it happening. Byrne deserves better than Dundee when he leaves Livi. Would like to think we'd be looking for a hefty transfer fee too, on the north side of 300K.

Sky Sports seem to think Hardie loan is up this month & that Gerrard is probably going to loan him out again but unlikely to be to us

This link to Rangers official site seems to confirm that the loan was only until January
https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/hardie-heads-to-livi/

Whoever announced it as a season long loan at our end needs a good slap.