Temple Of Saints

The Surreal World of the Prospective Saintee and ex-Saintee........Season 1998-99.

This page lists the details of those professionals who have been deemed possible disciples at McDiarmid (as inspired by the Great Striker Search of 97) but then vanished into the Twilight Zone of the Trialist. Also we look at the myriad of players the media have linked us with and the various transfer rumours which abound in the media (usually after we play the Old Firm) of players leaving the Hallowed Halls of Saintdom.
Previous details can be found here.

If anyone has any more info / data on the players listed below (or names of new entries) e-mail me at webmaster@grange.demon.co.uk

Trialists - Check the names and excuses from the Great Saintee Search as St. Sandy builds up his Air Miles Collection and contributes to the Perth Hotel trade.

Who wants to be a Saintee - They might never have worn the top but they're still part of the Great Search (even if it does include Barry Bloody Lavety for the nth time).

Leaving Rumours - Who's set to leave (or would have left if the papers had their way).

Trialists

	Who ?	Where Did This One Come From ?	So What Happened?	End Result?
	Martin Nash	Stockport County	5ft 11" Canadian international midfielder who was freed by Stockport in May. Born in Dec 1975 and played part of the friendly match against Rothes. Dogged by Injury and released at the end of Aug 98	REJECTED
	Nathan Lowndes	Watford	21-yr old striker who joined Watford from Leeds in 1995. Has only made 11 first team appearances for the Hornets. August 9th - Luggy seems set to pay £50-70,000 to sign him this week. Signed on August 19th.	BECAME A SAINTEE !!!!
No Picture Available	Miguel Simao	Portugal	"Portuguese wing king" (SUN) who played in a closed doors match v Scumdee on Aug 27th. Signed on 29/08 and made his debut against TFOD that day. Played for Porto and an ex-Boavista youth player.	BECAME A SAINTEE !!!!
No Picture Available	Senor X	Spain ?	Unnamed striker who played in the same closed doors match. Sept 3rd played in a bounce match v Arabs and seems set to be offered a deal by Saints. Sturrock quit the day before.	Vanished
	Daniel Nannskog	Djurgarden	24yr old striker on trial for a week starting 18/01/99. Rated in the 250 grand bracket. Played for U-21s against Motherwell. 6ft tall .	Denied
	Colin Cramb	Bristol City	24-yr old ex-Accies / Falkirk / Hearts / Doncaster Rovers striker set to come on trial to McD in Feb 99. 02/03 - reported on Teletext as still interesting Saints. 18/03 - rumoured to be set to sign.	ONGOING
	Alex Ostlund	AIK	Swedish U-21 striker coming for a weeks trial in Feb 99. 20 years old with several U-21 caps and a full cap. Played for AIK in Sweden and was on trial at Sheff Wed. Went back to Sweden after 10 days but is still interesting Saints. 17/03 - returned to Sweden	REJECTED

Signing Targets

	Target	Who is He ?	Background	End Result ?
	Gary McSwegan	Dundee Utd	Part of the Great Striker Search of 97, ex-Hun McSwegan unfortunately hit form as we went for him. Currently rumoured to be a Saints target when his Arab contract is up in September. Rumour restarted on Sept 1st. Denied Sept 2nd. Signed for Jambos Oct 7th.	Went to Hearts
	Daren Dods	Hibs (under Bosman)	Rumour has it that the HIVBee defender will sign by the end of June Signed a 3-year contract with the Forces of Light on July 1st.	BECAME A SAINTEE !!!!
	Steve Livingstone	Grimsby Town	£130,000 rated 28 year old striker. Luggy has admitted interest in the player but apparently he is "one of several". As of August 4th a deal is "unlikely" - probably cos he signed a 3 year deal with Grimsby in June. As of August 5th a fee of around £100,000 has been agreed. Aug 10th - the deal has hit a problem with the players wife unwilling to move or an ankle injury - take yer pick. Aug 12th - changed his mind.	Turned Saints Down
	Jean-Francois Peron	Walsall	Midfielder and lef-winger the 32-yr old is highly rated by Walsall fans and is said to be more of a goal provider than scorer - he looks like another Dino.
	Junior Mendes	St. Mirren	Young striker currently on month-to-month deals. Turned down a £70,000 move to Airdrie. Rumours persist despite Saints denials.	Denied
	Ludwig Ernstsson	Kongsvinger (Norway)	£500,000 rated Swedish striker who impressed Sturrock on a scouting trip. His club refused to release him until the end of the Norway season in Octover.	Club Refused To Release Him
	Andy Gray	Leeds Utd	Scotland U-21 midfielder. First linked via an article in the Hunday Mason on Aug 23rd. 20 years old and the son of former Leeds and Scotland player Frank Gray. Never made much of an impact with Leeds and was loaned to Bury last season. 6ft 1".	Went to Notts. Forest
	Sean Devine(he's the ugly one on the right)	Barnet	Rumoured target from last season but a £500,000 price tag was ruled too great for the striker. However Waily Retard as of 31/08 reckons that the price has dropped to £350,000 and that Saints are back in the hunt.
	Martin Lauchlan	Partick Thistle	One of their 18-yr old wonderkids who was watched by Saints on 29/08. Saints made a bid in March 99 but the £50,000 offer was rejected. Retard report of 17/05/99 says a £150,000 signing is imminent. 18/05/99 - Signs a 4-year contract with Saints for £45,000 rising to £150K based on appearances.	BECAME A SAINTEE !!!!
	Derek Lilley	Leeds (ex-Morton)	According to Scotsman on 02/09 Saints were watching the striker in a reserve match at Birmingham. 02/10 Sun reports St. Sandy watching him with rumours of a £500,000 record bid about to be made. 08/10 has the Arabs also interested. 30/10 has the story resurrected in the Daily Mail. 18/11 resurrected in the Sun with the player now transfer-listed. Signed a loan deal with Hearts on 30/12.	Went to Jamboland
	Pat McGinlay	Hibs	Ageing midfielder who according to Radio Scotland on 19/09 is about to be the subject of a £400,000 bid by Saints.	Media Rumour
	Paul Hartley	Raith Rovers	Rumour started in Sun on 20/10/98 that Saints bid 100,000 + Paddy Connolly for the ex-Accies striker. 04/12 Sun reports reckons a 200 grand bid this weekend.05/12 reports that player has turned down the deal on offer. 06/12 reports say that a move is still ongoing. 19/12 Signed for HIVBees.	Went to Hibs
	Gary Wales	Hamilton	Linked in the Sun on 09/11 with 'Boro also expected to make a £300,000 bid for the 19-yr old striker. 18/11 Saints set to sign him for a £300,000 fee. 19/11 - Turned us down. Fee was 100-150,000. Feb 99 - Move appears to be back on for a £200,000 fee after the player lowered his wage demands.	Turned Saints Down
	Jim Hamilton	Hearts	£400,000 bid rumoured according to the Sunday Mail of 15/11/98 - accepted by the board but the player didn't want to move. Eventually signed for the Sheep in March 99 for £250,000	Turned Saints Down
	Zeljko Radovic	Grazer AK	Yugoslavian hitman first linked with Saints in News of the World 13/12. 24 years old and over 6ft hes an attacking midfielder. "Never heard of him " - Geoff Brown 14/12.	Denied
	Darius Adamczuk	Scumdee	Adamcheat is out of contract next year. According to media reports in papers on 20/12 Saints made some enquiries but Courier on 22/12 says personal terms were too greedy. Thank God for that.	Stank too much
	Quim (Joaquim Miguel Leitao Freites Ferras)	Belenenses (Portugal)	Crackingly-named striker linked with a £250,000 move to Saints in the Sun on 14/01/99. Described as a giant striker. WWW Info says hes 6ft tall and 24 years old. Also out of contract in 1999. Denied by Saints by 19/01/99.	Denied
No Picture Available	Scott Walker	East Stirling	23yr old defender linked in a Sun report on 22/01/99.	Went to St. Mirren
	John Paul McBride	Celtic	20-yr old midfielder linked in a Sunday Mail report in Jan99. Signed on 05/02/99 for £200,000	BECAME A SAINTEE !!!!
	Neil Tarrant	Ross County	05/03/99 reports had the 20 yr old striker watched by Saints with £100,000 the estimated fee for his services.	Went to Aston Villa
	Mark McCormick	Livingston	Young striker linked in reports in April 99 of a summer move
No Picture Available	Davie Nicholls	Clydebank	Midfielder linked in a Sun report on 22/04/99.	*Went to Flkk
	Dirk Lehmann	Fulham	28-yr old German striker mentioned in Sun on 04/05/99 as being "almost certain" to sign under Bosman. Nicknamed the "German Porn Star since he looks like one". Was at the final game of the 9899 season at McD and looks set to sign according to reports on 25/05/99. 27/05/99 - Hibs and Ipswich are now in the hunt as well.	Went to Hibs
No Picture Available	Marvyn Wilson	Airdrie	Young midfielder linked with a summer move to Saints in May 1999.
	Gordon Connelly	York	22yr old striker rumoured to be the subject ofa £60,000 bid by Saints in the Sunday Mail 16/05/99. 6ft tall the Scot played for TFOD and Airdrie before moving to York in 1998 - not very highly rated and hasn't featured since the turn of the year.
No Picture Available	Kenny Brannigan	Clydebank	Retard report 16/05/99 linked Saints with him. He's a 33-yr old midfielder so don't expect anything.	Went to Partick Thistle
No Picture Available	Craig Taggart	Clydebank	Retard report 16/05/99 linked Saints with him.

Leaving Tales

Player	Off To ?	The Truth	Has He Gone Yet ??

Roddy Grant a.k.a. the "Legend"	Falkirk, Airdrie or Livingston	Out of contract in June 99 and not getting any younger so a move may be on the cards.	Likely
George O'Boyle	Summer 98 - Set to move to Tannadice as part of a financing deal to bring a new striker to Perth. This rumour is copyright the Courier. Sept 98 - set to surface again after Sturrock took over at Tannadice. Nov 98 - Motherwell are the latest club mentioned.	Possibility for the longer-term since Georgio for all his talent isn't the most popular of players with the faithful.	??
Stephen Robertson	Wigan Athletic according to the Sunday Mail (twice)	Looking likely - has appeared crap in pre-season games and with Kevin Cuthbert coming through his chances will be limited. Started a weeks trial on Aug 24th. As of 31/08 no moves have been made but Wigan are planning to watch him play for Saints U-21s.	??
Philip Scott	Sept 98 - rumoured to be moving to join the Hilltoon Whore at Araland. Jan 99 its the Arabs and Birmingham Feb 1st Hibs now interested. Feb 22nd - Bolton + Everton.	Likely if hes not too ashamed at being involved with the Scum. A fee of around £1 million is too much for Saints to ignore. Jan 99 saw the player starting contract negotiations with Saints as the media linked the Arabs and Birmingham City with the player.	Signed for Sheff Wed 24/03/99
Alan Main	Sept 98 - rumoured to be moving to join the Hilltoon Whore at Araland.	Probably - the Scotland prospect has ruined any relationship with Saints fans by coming out via the media and asking for the move. £1m price tag. Rumour resurfaced with a swap deal likely after the cup final.	Likely
John O'Neil	Feb 99 - Bolton set to bid £400,000	Given that it was the Sunday Mail sounds like a load of crap.	Very Unlikely
Jim Weir	Apr 99 - Hibs in the summer May 99 - Dundee Utd	NotW report based on him being 'frozen out of the team' - nope he was injured. Despite that he might still be one to move on. Courier Report in May has Tannadice mentioned.	??