7.45pm

There has been plenty of activity at Fir Park on transfer deadline day.

Firstly, Hungarian defensive midfielder Krisztian Vadocz has arrived on loan until the end of the season.  The Under-21 Internationalist impressed Maurice Malpas in a closed-door match against Gretna yesterday (a 4-1 win, including a hat-trick for Ross McCormack incidentally), and expects to receive clearance from former club Auxerre to play against Morton on Saturday.  Malpas said yesterday:
"He played well this afternoon and we are looking to tie up the loose ends tonight and we should have everything done by tomorrow. This means he should be eligible to play on Saturday, barring any last minute hiccups.

"I took a call from an agent on Saturday about another player but he told me about Krisztian.  He was the captain of the Hungarian Under 21 side and I remember being in charge of a Scotland side who got thumped by them and thought he must be decent enough.  I phoned a couple of people and they told me that he is an excellent player.

"We got in touch with him on Sunday morning and got him over on Sunday night. His agent has been excellent to deal with and we got clearance from Auxerre to allow him to train and play today, as I didn't want to make a move until I saw him play.

"It has been a big surprise that we managed to get anything done."

Meanwhile, Richie Foran has left to join Stevie Hammell and Alan McCormack at struggling English Championship side Southend.  The fee for the 26-year-old, who has scored 14 goals this season, is £150,000, plus an additional £50,000 if Southend avoid relegation.

Probably not a bad bit of business really, given that he would probably have left for nothing at the end of the season.  And let's face it, despite all those goals he's not really THAT good, is he?

Maurice Malpas is quoted as saying:
"We got an offer last night from Southend which we had to agree to. After that it was up to Richie to pass his medical and agree personal terms with Southend.

"We think the fee is a decent return for the player, and he thinks it is a decent return for himself. Therefore both sides are happy with the deal. Richie appreciates his time at the club as it has been good for him. He knows we took a risk signing him and during his time here everyone has gained out of it.

"In an ideal world we wouldn’t have wanted to have let him go but he had hinted he wasn’t going to sign on again after we had offered him a new deal.

"We had already knocked back a couple of offers from Southend and we thought things were done and dusted and this move came out of the blue last night.

"Sometimes at this time of year you can be in the right place at the right time as we were with Vadocz yesterday, and from yesterday’s point of view this is possibly the case with Southend and Richie."

Although Malpas insists no other players will be leaving, reports suggest that Rangers have this evening made a £400,000 bid for Scott McDonald, which was turned down by the club.  Here's hoping they don't come back in for him...