Glasgowfan

If John Boyle was trousering the extra fiver to pay for his Majorcan holiday home then we'd have something to shout about. But the money will go towards the additonal players Craig Brown desperately needs. If that means challenging for the top six again rather than a grubby relegation battle then a fiver well spent.

Celtic sign a has-been Chinaman from Charlton and it's pages and pages in the sports pages. Motherwell sign an exciting young French player from Charlton and there are a couple of paragraphs buried inside. It was always thus.

Obviously I thought Mark McGhee was a great manager at Motherwell when we finished third in the league. The atmosphere at Fir Park for the start of the Nancy game the next season was terrific. Yet now I'm surprised how much I want to beat the Sheepies on Saturday. My head tells me we've got a better manager now than when McGhee was here, so why am I bursting to see McGhee get a gubbin?

What would be John Boyle's strategy in investing in the team? Is he going to invest in a side to challenge Rangers and Celtic for the league title? In our dreams maybe, but not realistic. What he in truth wants is to spend enough to avoid relegation. And with the state of Falkirk and Hamilton these days, he's already done enough to achieve that. So there may be a couple of players coming in, but that's it. For better or worse we have the squad for this season. Bit scary at the back, exciting breaks from midfield. Young players who will need our encouragement when they inevitably have the occasional stinker. Looking forward to it immensely. But let's stop dreaming about who we may or may not sign. That was pre-season fluff. Forget it, and get behind the team we've got. C'mon the Well!

Stating the blindingly obvious, I know, but if you look at the team list on the club site, the manager has not allocated the number 2, 9, and 10 shirts yet, which is as clear as you can get that he is lining up a right back and two strikers.

Ye gods. You're not suggesting are you that we sit here like Trappist Monks, not saying a word, until half way throught the season. Of course fans are going to judge the manager on what has happened so far as that is all we have to go on. Can you imagine four Motherwell fans meeting in a pub and asking "what do you think of the new manager?" and someone replied "No comment. We can't offer a view for a few weeks yet. Folk aren't going over the top. They are just saying that the way he has handled himself so far has been impressive. They'll soon descend upon him if we lose a few matches, so give Gannon a break until then.

What do you need the Tannoy for anyway? The team goes up on the electronic boards. The players have their names on the back. Other than announcing would someone get back to their car asap, and you vaguely wonder whether its badly parked or had its windaes panned in, it doesn't really add to the sum total of human knowledge. And you can hear shite music on Radio Clyde at any time, so you're unlikely to arrive early at Fir Park for the DJ mix.

Spot on with that. If any of us knew what was going to happen we'd be down the bookies making a fortune, not sitting here. Like all young teams they will have some great games and some stinkers. But never ever will they be as bad as Hamilton, Falkirk and St Mirren.

Was going to say that maybe the manager has kind of noticed that we need a striker or two, so it's a bit early to get frothing at the mouth about it. But what I really want to say is that it's bloody brilliant that there is already over 2000 posts about comings and goings at the team, and the SPL doesn't even start for over a week. OK we're not going to win the league - possibly - but you just know it's going to be a great roller-coaster ride.

You're right! I'm going through the usual highs and lows about Thursday's game, yet when you see all the glum fans of other sides barely getting off their arses for shitey friendlies, we're having a great time already.

Immigration officials are surely not suggesting that the Albanian players will take one look at Airdrie and decide they want to stay there rather than go home....tempted by the Airdrieonian seductresses wallowing out of Greggs chewing on a steakbake, washed down by a Smirnoff Ice.

Of course the manager was correct with his comments, and was only saying what everyone was thinking. No one could disagree with them. I only wonder why he concentrated on poor defending rather than the gut-turning worry of a team that can't score even if the match had lasted as long as the Wimbledon final. Who is going to score in the return leg?

From the Daily Mail online, which seems pretty positive.

The name of this post sounds like corporal Fraser from Dad's Army. "We're all doomed!" or whatever it was the bug-eyed old grey-haired git shouted. Remember, we will have a new manager who at least will have room to bring in new players. He's not going to be told we have too many players on the books now is he? Would you rather be following St Mirren, Kilmarnock. Accies, or Falkirk just now? We're in a better position to bring in players than they are. There is no money sloshing around the Scottish football scene, so with transfer money coming in, Motherwell's books must be in a far better position than most teams. We just need to hold our nerve until the new boss is in place, who is bound to have a few players in mind to bring to the club, otherwise why would he take the job? A good Europa win next week will steady the nerves.

OK, leaving aside the trip to Llanelli, and the folk bragging about who got the cheapest flight there, it's a trip down memory lane going back to Airdrie for a game next week, even though it's a different stadium. Some of the games against Airdrie were vicious. And not forgetting Tam Cowan's gag the other week: "A survey showed that 85% of Airdrieonians have had sex in a shower. "The other 15% said they'd not been to jail." Or the time Tam was in Airdrie and a guy asked: "Do you want to share a taxi?" When Tam agreed the guy said: "OK, you take the wheels and I'll have the engine."

Still doesn't rule out a change of venue if they thought it was worthwhile financially.

Ground might be swtiched at Llanelli. this on wikipedia:# The club's home ground is Stebonheath Park, which has a capacity of 3,700. In recent years, big games in European competition have been played at Stradey Park, the traditional rugby venue in the town.

Are we not jumping the gun here? I know we're all gagging to find out who the new manager is, but Boyle will take his time, have proper interviews and make sure he has the right man. Is it not the case that Scott Leitch is going to come back temporarily to oversee the side for the Europa qualifying leg?

First post. Wanted to say hello. Be gentle. But had to ask. Why is everyone else not looking forward to the new season? OK we lost our manager. We had a good run, he took us into Europe, third in the league, acquitted himself with dignity at the Uncle Phil tragedy. Sure, I almost barfed when he began whoreing himself around Scotland looking for a new job, but all the best. Don't know who new manager will be. No one does. But John Boyle has run a few companies in his time, knows about recuiting people, will be taking plenty of advice, and some of the names being mentioned sound pretty good to me. Second. New pitch. Embarrassing last season getting slagged off for that cowfield. Bound to be an improvement. Third. Europe. Fans moaning about the price? Fifteen quid for God's sake. You wouldn't even get a ticket for the Krankies at that price. And moans about going to Airdrie? Get train into Glasgow and train out. It's hardly climbing Everest. Losing players. Any new manager, even without a transfer budget, can pick up a few good players who are being released all over the place because of the economy. There will be new faces, and that's a good thing. And finally, those that are already maoning about relegation worries? Come on! St Mirren will be down there, Hamilton Accies poor form in last half of season will put them down there, Falkirk will be down there. Kilmarnock might blow up. No reason why Motherwell won't be fighting again for a top six finish, a wee run in Europe, maybe a run in the cup. What's not to like? New manager, new players, new pitch, new Europe campaign. Surely that's something to look forward to?