Transfer Window Round Up

Celtic are sitting smugly at the top of the league and have strengthened their defence by signing Stephen Pressley and the magnificently named Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe. Shaun Maloney looks odds on to move to Aston Villa. While Celtic are clearly better than anyone else in the league, they are still not great and definitely beatable. They'll drop points in weeks to come if only because they get complacent.

Rangers, who seem to have changed half their team, currently lead the chasing pack. Not only have veteran defenders David Weir and Ugo Ehiogu signed but Kevin Thomson has arrived from Hibs in exchange for a hefty cheque of £2m. Jeremy Clement and Lionel Letizi have followed Paul Le Guen back to France and there is still time for Alan Gow or Paul Hartley to possibly arrive. Rangers have been very comfortable against us in recent years despite having a dismal team and it would take a bitter fan to deny Walter Smith has improved them. But we've beaten better Rangers sides in the past; perhaps this will help us in a bizarre way!

Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs are all still in with a shout of making the Champions League and the UEFA Cup is definitely a target. Aberdeen have re-signed three of their own players but have been involved in little else. Hearts, unsurprisingly, are busy. Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon look to be on their way out but it is questionable whether or not they have time to depart before the window closes. A couple of squad players have departed on loan while Laryea Kingston looks set to arrive. Some Georgian midfielder was ditched after a work permit proved impossible to obtain but once more it seems that Hearts are shooting themselves in the foot when they could do so much better. Hibs have lost Kevin Thomson but it looks as though Scott Brown will stay at Easter Road. Clayton Donaldson has signed on a pre-contract and while York have turned down a bid to take him immediately there is still time. Hibs shouldn't be significantly worse for the loss of Thomson – he's hardly played for them in the last months anyway.

Kilmarnock have a League Cup final to celebrate and they boosted their squad with the signings of Momo Sylla and Rocco Quinn. Sylla is a good utility player that can do a job in many positions while Quinn seems highly rated and has made a solid start. Willie Gibson has also signed from Queen of the South but won't arrive until March. Killie seem to have battled through a really sticky patch recently and are struggling with injuries but they seem to have made useful additions. Thankfully our hoodoo against them seems to have vanished with two wins out of two this season. Killie walloped Falkirk 3-0 at Fir Park in the CIS semi final and that could well persuade Falkirk to part with Alan Gow sometime on Wednesday evening. He is out of contract in the summer and Rangers are sniffing around. Carl Finnigan has arrived from Newcastle – surely not another Stokes in the making?

Inverness have signed Don Cowie on a pre-contract agreement but they've lost Darren Dods to Dundee United on a similar deal. The loss of Mark Brown will be a big blow but Michael Fraser has made a reasonable start and Ally Ridgers has been signed as a back up 'keeper. Veteran fullback Stuart Golabek has gone on loan to Livi. The potential loss of Craig Dargo, who hasn't signed a new deal, could hurt them next season. Dundee United are the other side in contention for 'best of the rest' in the bottom six and Craig Levein appears to be starting major surgery. David McCracken, Alan Archibald and David Proctor are all, in effect, free to leave. Striker Jon Daly has arrived but hasn't scored in a few games, a midfielder called Gomis has arrived as a squad player from Cowdenbeath and Che Bunce, a central defender, is on trial. United have improved a lot under Levein but they still have a long way to go. Nonetheless, we would not be eager to draw them in the Scottish Cup should we progress past Morton.

Of the bottom three, we have made a few interesting moves. Obviously Danny Murphy already looks a good signing at left back and Trevor Molloy has shown a couple of useful moments on the wing. It is doubtful if he will be a first choice player though even if he is involved more than Paul Keegan who is clearly in a box marked 'emergency only'. We also needed a defensive midfielder and we've picked one up until the end of the season. Not just any kickabout midfielder either, an international! Okay, Krisztian Vadocz has only a handful of Hungarian caps but he captained their U21 side and moved to Auxerre for a spell. Clearly if he is free to join us he is not the new Puskas but there must be some potential there. On the other hand, the loss of our top goal scorer can hardly enhance our prospects for the rest of the season.

St Mirren have done next to nothing for weeks but now Simon Lappin looks set to join Norwich while Clyde duo Eddie Malone and Stephen O'Donnell have joined up at Love Street. St Mirren have only won one game in the last fifteen or something equally ridiculous and they must be watching Dunfermline nervously. The Buddies are in a desperate run but Gus McPherson hasn't come under pressure yet. It'll be interesting to see if that stays the same if the Pars close the gap. We've not beaten the Buddies in a while – surely they are there for the taking now?

And finally, at the bottom, is Dunfermline. Loan wingers James O'Brien and Adam Hammill have arrived and look useful but Bobby Ryan, from Ireland, doesn't seem to have set the heather on fire just yet. Jamie Harris has also arrived and he will add some depth to their defence or possibly allow Phil McGuire to move into midfield. Dunfermline haven't scored in eight games but they took a battling point from Tannadice last week. If they can even pick up a few points between now and they split they could give ourselves and St Mirren some nervous moments in the closing games.

So, that's the moves so far but of course there is plenty of time left for more moves. How have we done in relation to everyone else? Will Dunfermline actually get better and cause us some problems? They certainly can't get any worse. The sooner we secure a few more wins to ensure our SPL place the better!