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Andy P was a central figure to this forum and today marks 5 years since his passing, its ironic that the World Cup starts today. I had the pleasure of getting to Andy P well by doing the MFC Podcast with him and Andy Ross, he always found positives even during sone shit times. I would love to hear Andy P thoughts on the season just passed and his views on Jens and Co and I guarantee he would be on his way to America. 5 years passed so quick and I still think of him often. Gone but he will always be part of my thoughts.

Not in a forward thinking footballing world. Age is nothing, the ideal is seen as a career path in nations who are way in front of our own. Ian Cathro at Hearts? Football has evolved, maybe the psyche of some fans should too. Suppose first impressions count, not sure how you conclude he hasn’t that aura about him from the clubs’ social media output. He was fairly open on not making wholesale changes so for me seemlessly transitioning hopefully building incrementally as is club board ethos which is very different to JBA arriving and having to put his stamp on things from the get go.

Del???? Oh please im delighted we don’t have a support who use the phrases “he jist gits it” “he knows whit the clubs aboot” “he’s a rangers /sellic man” …… that whole low life bigotville we are blighted by. thank god we are not these “people” the guy sounds like he wants to maintain what we have and it’s another refreshing appointment. Goan yersel Alfie

Aw well thats it settled then the man is obviously shite and totally the wrong appointment, that post must a new record for negativity concerning a new player or manager 1 hr and 37 mins after the formal announcement 🤦‍♂️

I'm surprised VAR didn't award a couple of goals to Maeda so that he would get it instead.

🤣 Of course, on reflection, Clarke's record in the finals of international tournaments does speak for itself: we are unquestionably dire 😱.

Clarke definitely took a shambles of a Scotland outfit and turned it around into a team that was difficult to beat and that the players wanted to part of. And no doubt he did well to qualify for our first Euros. The way we performed in those finals was embarrassing and 100% down to his tactics. I would have punted him then, but was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt given it was our first Finals in 200 years or whatever. When we got to our second Euro Finals our performance was even worse. Literally no lessons learned from the first debacle. That, for me, was when Clarke absolutely had to go. Fair play for what he had achieved, but he had more than reached his limit as a coach by then. Anyone who watched or World Cup qualifiers could see were dead lucky to make it. Outplayed in multiple games with only moments of individual quality rescuing us in spite of the insipid tactics played. In that last game against Denmark, they battered us for most of the game. As happy as I was to see us win, and with some cracking goals, our 30% possession in must-win home tie says it all. Even with 10 men, they were the better side. It was a miserable performance with miserable tactics once again rescued by 3 moments of individual quality. A classic Clarke approach, and with no change in approach to squad selection, I expect every game to be a grind in the US regardless of how far we do or don't get. Now was the time to bring in someone more progressive and take full advantage of some of the more talented players we have available.

Bloody hell, the poor guys just in the door, never managed a Super Well game yet, and in a few days before the ‘aura’ is supposed to appear, he can’t have been that bad managing Rosenberg for almost 2 years at 33 so give him a chance, actions speak louder than words as they say, the board took nearly 4 weeks to appoint a manager and we have to trust that their homework got an “A” and AJ can be successful for our wee club. He’s not Jens, so at least give the poor guy even 2 games until we make any assumption!

As a Swede, I understand most Norwegian, but I still took the easy way out and had ChatGPT summarize the interview. And you're right—the comments section seems full of people who were very happy with him. Summary: Alfred Johansson explains that he feels sadness and disappointment that his time with Rosenborg has come to an end, as he greatly enjoyed his time at the club and built strong relationships with players, staff, and colleagues. At the same time, he expresses deep gratitude for his experience there and the memories that were created. Reflecting on his two and a half years at Rosenborg, Johansson highlights that the first 18 months were characterized by development, positive performances, and results moving in the right direction. The final year, however, was more challenging, with results falling short of expectations. Despite this, he remains proud of the work that was done and what the team managed to achieve during his tenure. Johansson particularly emphasizes the club's long-term development. He explains that Rosenborg had a clear strategy when he arrived and that the management and coaching staff worked purposefully to create stability. He is proud to have contributed to the development of several young talents who later moved abroad or established themselves in the first team. He also speaks warmly about the supporters, describing their backing as something he will never forget. Despite the high expectations, he experienced tremendous encouragement, passion, and support from the fans, which left a lasting impression on him. When discussing the players and club staff, Johansson becomes emotional. He thanks the players for their hard work and stresses that he could never question their commitment. He also expresses sincere gratitude to the board and club leadership for giving him the opportunity to lead Rosenborg despite his limited experience at the senior level. Furthermore, he thanks the coaching staff, administration, and all employees at the club for their support and the sense of community he experienced during his time in Trondheim. The interview concludes with Johansson wishing Rosenborg and its supporters the very best for the future. He expresses strong confidence that the club will achieve its goals and believes it is only a matter of time before Rosenborg returns to the level it aspires to reach.

Elijah is the closest I have seen to Willie Hunter of Ancell Babes fame effortlessly drifting past lead footed opponents and scoring some sensational goals. Pity Willie is no longer around to see if he agreed with the comparison. I'm sure he would have.

I don’t think hearing the audio from that night will tell us much that isn’t already pretty obvious to be honest. VAR saw a ‘potential’ handball which obviously wasn’t but Andrew Dallas or whoever it was likely knew that John Beaton is too scared to give any big call against Celtic and would take the ‘safer’ option by giving them a penalty. And it took Beaton literally seconds to watch that and give it when it would have been impossible to be able to determine that in that time. Celtic run the show and the whole thing stinks. I’m not talking about daft conspiracy theories like lodges, dodgy handshakes and knowing nods, I’m talking about that club having such a hold on football, media and society that they are running it through fear and intimidation. Celtic caused a refereeing strike in 2010 for far less than what happened at Fir Park earlier this month and since then they’ve had almost everything their own way. And on the odd occasion that they haven’t the officials in question have been absolutely hounded by them, their fans, the managers and their media stooges. John Beaton being the most obvious but there have been others. The reality is that Celtic Football Club are an absolute cancer on Scottish Football.

Should be a good final.

I think you may be supporting the wrong club mate!

Jeez, you dont half quote the bloody obvious..." fine as long as it works out" ....covering all the bases there.

Del, who has one league cup to his name as a manager. We'll see. I'm not sure what 'knowledge of our league' is worth these days. Most players & managers in the SPFL arrive from outside Scotland, and they're rarely here very long. On the downside, too many knowledgeable Scottish bosses seem stuck in the past, tactically speaking, and can't seem to shake off their defeatest attitudes when it comes to taking on the 'big' teams.

Suspect Just and the Club have bigger fish to fry than Celtic now.

Ahem a Motherwell player is joint top goalscorer at the World Cup!I think we could be loaded soon lol.

Heard from an Arbroath fan in Antalya airport last night that we're apparently in discussions with Dunfermline over Neil Lennon...

I remember we beat AGF Aarhus 1-0 in a pre-season friendly before the 1974/75 season. It was part of a 5-game pre-season tour in Germany and Denmark. We also beat St. Pauli, Hamburg and Aalborg.

So suspended punishment of a reduction of 100 tickets for Celtic which lasts until 30th June 2027 and a £2500 fine. And the same fine for us with a suspended closure of Block E for the same timescale. And five of our fans and five Celtic fans referred to the SPFL Trusts pyrotechnics awareness course. So there you have it, a slap on the wrist for Celtic and us lumped in with them to dilute the blame. That’s not to say that ‘Block E’ are blameless and indeed they gave the authorities the open goal they needed to drag us into what happened, but this non punishment for the true culprits is as predictable as it is laughable.

I've gone ahead and moved some of the World Cup chat to the World Cup thread in General Football so the Former Players thread can get back on track. A few posts around current players and players leaving us in this window have been shifted to the 2025/26 ins and outs thread.

Aye, because I genuinely believed that was how his name was spelled and wasn’t making a joke at the expense of the thick Celtic and Rangers fans.

I hope Lennon MIller wasn't planning to play in the 2030 Finals: "The Scottish FA has announced that Steve Clarke has signed a new deal, extending his stay through to the 2030 World Cup" As terrible SFA decisions go, this must be one of the worst.

25yrs too late

Hard as it may be, we need to forget about JBA. He`s gone. A new chapter has begun.

Motherwell manager thread.

StevusClarkius of the genus shittytacticus.

We have seen on a few occasions how actual ignorance of the Scottish game and by extension the OF circus/fawning, can be beneficial.

Sounds like Kettlewell even made Frail play out of position.

Or the 3.10.....3.40....4.10....🤣🤣

By drawing his name out from one of the bowls?

Can only echo the other comments relating to Andy, one of the good guys who's opinions on Motherwell and fitba in general were always worth listening to

Dont panic .

Yes, I think we all knew this would happen but I fear the conduct of the aggressive and unruly Celtic fans in particular will only get worse, further emboldened by the feeling they can act with virtual impunity. Also, they now have the sainted Martin confirmed in charge, who clearly does not want to upset the apple-cart by calling them out for their thuggish behaviour. What's it going to take for the "authorities" to grow a pair? Do we have to have a death or two from this kind of disorder before anything is done? I still feel absolutely disgusted about the events at FP last month in particular. Askou looked livid after the game and I'm sure he was glad to be getting out of Scotland given the level of corruption and intimidation he had witnessed during the season.

In other news.....opening game of world cup .South africa no.13 surname is sithole.....thank feck Sean Connery not commentating! 🤣

Madness

One of life’s good guys. Like we have, he would’ve loved the season past and not missed a minute.

Jens wasn't appointed til 12th June last year and he had a major rebuild on his hands. I'd rather we took our time and got it right..

The choice of Fletcher over Lennon or indeed any of the others with far more first team experience is last straw for me with Clarke and his overall judgement as a manager. Fletcher may turn out to be as good or better than his dad and will have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate this in upcoming campaigns but there can’t be any serious expectation that he will play any part in this WC. Maybe Lennon wouldn’t have either but has at least been involved with squad and (unless has pissed off some senior players - doubtful) would have contributed far more to preparation and training. As it is I can realistically see Scotland finishing in last place either losing all three or a single shitfest point so perhaps Lennon is well out of it. As some others have said my enthusiasm for this WC is at an all time low.

Reached out with two fingers.

You are miles out i am afraid. Press conference set to be held there to announce Wishy as ryder cup venue in 2031 ! 🤪🤪

That a different level to “was seen at upper crust bakery” 😂

Bugger . His adventurous, cavalier, forward thinking, slick passing ,attacking style would have suited us perfectly. He would have been an asset for the club at the weekly jurno interviews aswell.

Just when you think you are over that weird running limp style he had…… I’m now having PTSD about it. to be fair, I don’t mind the big guy, not the worst of players.

How is Wales a nightmare to get to, unless you are planning to walk there. From that list of opponents only the Faroe islands would be a challenge, everywhere else is a pretty straightforward flight.

I've got a sinking feeling about all this.

We had similar vids for JT and Watt recently, and I'm sure we'll get Ibi's highlights along to the Benny Hill theme soon enough.

I didn't know that Forrest and McGregor weren't fêted much (unlike foreign players) by the Celtic support. I feel this is typical in Scotland. If you have an Italian, Spanish or sexy Dutch name, you're probably going to be regarded as intrinsically better. Likewise, if John McGlynn were a slim 30-y-o with a sexy foreign name, he would be praised as a tactical genius. IMHO one of the best things Askou did was to show that humble players, Scottish or otherwise, could play great football based on ball-control, positional awareness, passing and moving, bravery on the ball and risk-acceptance if they are properly coached. In a sense, Clarke is the opposite, as stuck in the past as the other hardy annuals on the Scottish managerial merry-go-round who people our media as pundits. As far as Scotland squads are concerned, OF Scottish players can walk in but players at provincial clubs are at a huge disadvantage and SC will look to the English Championship, whether in form or not, before considering a Watt, McGinn or Welsh. Some might say Clarke hasn't as much time with the players as club managers do but most of those players outwith the Scottish Premiership are probably quite used to more enlightened coaching. They just need a mindset and a plan devised by a talented and progressive manager.

I have looked at the images multiple times, video and stills, and tried to be as impartial as I can be. At the end of the games that night it didn't make any difference to what we needed to do at Easter Road after the Hibs result at Ibrox, but I can't for the life of me see how they can be so definitive with those images. Willie Collum: "for us there is clear evidence", "in our opinion this is clear" "VAR, AVAR and referee are the important people here". Andrew Dallas: "definitely hits his arm" Seems to me they are basically saying it doesn't matter that most people, other than Celtic or Hibs fans, can't say one way or another whether the ball definitely makes contact with Sam Nicholson's hand/arm it's what we think that counts. For me they are seeing, or say they are seeing, something most other people can't. Most people can't see ghosts either.👻

Id rather have Will Still than his brother Stan....... 😉😉😉