January is a month of getting to know new players and clubs. A time to reassess things for managers - even if they do not have the money to just sign who they want.

stmirren jpeg
St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson is looking to strengthen his squad this month but will be doing some "wheeling and dealing" to bring new faces in as he will not be seeing any of the money from Stephen McGinn's move to Watford. McGinn's undisclosed fee is believed to be around £125,000 and the saving of his wages should allow MacPherson to bring someone else in, although not necessarily another midfielder. MacPherson, whose team face Motherwell on Saturday, admits there could be further comings and goings before the transfer window closes. The St Mirren manager said: "We would like to add numbers to the squad. I can see one or two areas we would like to strengthen. Talks are ongoing between clubs, players and the agents. But they can take some time, players want to see what their options are and maybe decide later in the month. But we won't be able to spend any of the money that was brought in through the Stephen McGinn sale. We just have to wheel and deal, but we're used to doing that."

MacPherson knows that this month could see some more players coming and going following McGinn's move. He said: "That could be a possibility as well. That's the nature of this month, we have to look at it not just from a football point of view but a financial aspect as well. It's all well saying that, just because we've lost a midfielder, that's what we're going to replace but it could be a different type of player we're looking at." The income from McGinn helps St Mirren stay as one of the few Scottish clubs able to operate in the black. The move to a new ground was welcome but MacPherson knows new training facilities needed some sacrifices. He said: "It's just the financial situation, within this club and Scottish football. A lot of our supporters believe we're different because of the new stadium and no debt. A lot of our money went into the training facility at Ralston."

St Mirren's bank account will get a welcome boost next month when Sky Sports show their Scottish Cup fifth-round game against Rangers. In the meantime, Saints could end the weekend in the top half of the SPL if they beat Motherwell at Fir Park. The Buddies won 3-0 against 'Well in the Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-finals, just days after letting slip a two-goal lead to draw with the same side, but MacPherson believes his side have since developed a ruthless streak. He said: "Those two performances were very, very good. As of late, performances haven't been to that standard but we have picked up more points. We have shown a real strong mentality. We have scored goals at crucial periods from set-pieces and won extremely tight games. At Tynecastle last week we lost an extremely tight game. That's just the way the SPL is at the moment, very tight games that can go either way. You are just hoping you take your chances and defend properly. That's where we have improved in the last three or four weeks, just a bit stronger, physically and mentally, at the back."

Editor
Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)

Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)

This is Scottish-Fitba.Net