Balmer, who will be 37 in September, is a defender and was with Hamilton last season as player/assistant to Billy Reid. He will take over the coaching role that Mark Reilly held last season before retiring, and may play if things get really bad. In effect, he'll have the same sort of role that Joe McLaughlin had the last time we were in the SPL.
If he plays in the reserves, his experience will be handy to the younger players, especially the defenders. However, as we have a limited budget, you can't help but think we'd have been better signing an extra first team player rather than a coach.
Whilst this is technically our first signing of the summer, it doesn't really count as he'll hardly be playing. Saints boss Gus MacPherson has confirmed that talks have taken place with Dundee midfielder Garry Brady, but he has yet to sign a deal.
Story source: The Official St. Mirren Website
