dennyc

One for us oldies. Dave Whiteford. If I remember correctly. Might be a bit biased though. His first game for MFC was the first Motherwell game I attended. Truth be told I did not know that until 5 minutes ago. St Johnstone at FP in 1966. 3-3. Went on to partner Joe Wark for many a year.

100% Rice was doing just fine until he suffered a bad injury. Promoted to their first team squad, youngest player to feature in the first team, featuring in European games. Captain of Scottish U19s as well I think. Then injured and a seat on the sidelines as the Club became a basket case and went through a string of Managers and coaches. Still under 20 with a healthy bank balance. He also had plenty of options this time round as several decent English teams and at least two overseas sides wanted to sign him. So he must have been convinced he had a future at Ibrox to sign a new deal. And they must have faith in him as the persuaded him to stay. Yet again Rice made the decision he thought was best for him. As he should do. Isn't it telling though. Because he abandoned us for an OF team he got vilified at the time. As did Hastie. Whereas others who opted for England or overseas as youngsters are viewed as being brave for seeking a fresh challenge and looking to further their careers. I would have preferred him to stay, but we got a good fee when Rice left, plus add ons. Much better for instance than when Max Johnstone opted to walk away after only 21 first team games. As he was entitled to do.

A superb piece of research and looks to me like a well thought out and balanced group. Taking in all the factors that matter to us fans. No chance any two lists would be identical which emphasises what a task it is. My main addition would have been Higdon. Had to win the fans over, did that and ended up a cult hero for both his on and off field contributions. I would rate him marginally above KVV. All about opinions though. Thanks for putting the time and effort into this.

And McInnes now cited for his comments regarding the penalty. Clear pattern emerging here. Dissention in the ranks cannot be tolerated.

Very few have captained us to Cup success so on that basis Boyd would have to make my list. Grudgingly. Fan favourite is not a top criteria for me (although it is a factor) and ranks well below being part of a major League or Cup winning squad. Subject to appearing in a decent number of games. For me 'Greatest' equates to performance, achievement and contribution. Tough choices and given I would include all/most of our trophy winning squads plus many of the Ancell players I guess I would have to exclude a good number of players who have entertained me over the years. Whilst including dozens that I did not have the good fortune to see in the flesh. It really is an impossible task. For instance, with one spot left would it be an entertainer like Tommy Coyne who I loved watching or Stephen Craigen who holds the record for most capped player. Or Stephen O'Donnell as the player most capped by Scotland whilst with us and who made us all proud with his performance at the Euros. Good discussions though. Thought provoking.

Great call. But what a sad end to his life. Tragic.

First round link went live shortly before yesterdays draw.. Head to Uefa and follow link to Conference League........the wee green trophy at the top takes you straight to the live draw page. Quotes 2pm CET which is 1pm here.. Good luck

Ta much. Motherwell WhatsApp subscribed to. Every day is a school day.

Stand to be corrected but my reading of UEFA is one of Copenhagen Helsinki Mostar Caernarfon or Tallin ( playing first round) Havnar From a group of 10 with the above 5 seeded and us one of 5 unseeded. But it’s early and I could well be wrong.

He also has history of making obscene gestures to opposition fans. Like he did in Denmark when in charge of Legia Warsaw for a European game. The guy comes across as emotionally unstable. Left one French Club after 23 days having not Managed a competitive game. Reported as 'Internal tensions'. Maybe the Scottish set up is not for him. I can already picture him having a friendly chat with John Beaton or Nick Walsh.

Lowe appears to have started his Managerial career successfully but as he moved up the ladder his performance tailed off and issues arose with players, style of play and fan relationships. No doubt he talks a good game and would come across well at interview. Sounds familiar. Not for me as I think it would be a huge step backwards from what we so much enjoyed last season. I get we may not unearth a new Askou but the least we should strive for is a progressive manager who believes in similar principles to JBA. Time for the Board to back up their earlier assurances.

Might be the boring option for some but I think he has earned the opportunity. Knows the players, has their respect and clearly bought in to the style of play. Will also be aware of the players we were looking at in the knowledge we were aware 3 or more first teamers would be moving on. For me, any appointment attaches risk but appointing MR would lessen that risk. Assuming he is comfortable as top man that is. Whatever happens I hope he is with us next season.

Brilliant. Sums the whole farce up. And highlights the misleading information being pushed out of HQ. Maxwell also stated that no way was VAR being withdrawn. Out of curiosity, is that his call or is it up to the teams in the top division? If they united (this is Scotland so unlikely) could we do a Sweden? Was reading yesterday that after discussing VAR with numerous Clubs, Rangers approached Maxwell with funding and improvement suggestions. Dismissed out of hand. Appears we have a Dictator running his own little empire.

Hibs maybe but doubt Celtic would sell to Hearts. And he enjoys his football too much to fit into the Robinson non football approach. Aberdeen fans are in for a treat.

irrespective of who we eventually turn to, what all this research shows is that there are plenty of decent, progressive options out there. No need to turn to the usual, washed out, living in the past ( resist it Grizzlyg) favourites the Scottish media come up with. Hopefully something announced soon.

Hopefully still available as a catch up. English did not hold back. Not just about the Nicholson decision. Refreshing although it will make no difference to Collum etc. Dallas was the one who got the real going over. English will be on the naughty step alongside Stewart.

Tom English on Sportsound let rip yesterday. Pointed out how frantic and desperate to have his way Dallas sounded. Essentially bullied the decision through despite the doubts expressed by his assistant and even Beaton. Worth a listen. Dallas made the decision no matter what Collum says about all 3 officials being in sync. Even the presenter on the VAR Review questioned Collum's take on decisions. Not just our game. Normally Gordon Duncan just rolls over. Never challenges the nonsense that Collum spouts.. Cue no more VAR review programmes as Collum being called to account.

I fear Connor Barron will be who Clarke goes for. Based on nothing but who he plays for. Hopefully I'm wrong because Lennon Miller should be first in line. No faith that Clarke will do the right thing.

I got the impression that Welsh enjoyed playing for Askou. Although he was clearly fully committed to Motherwell I'm not so sure he would want to return now that Askou is away. Would not surprise me if Welsh ended up in Toulouse

Having watched the var replay, Beaton clearly still doubted whether it was a hand ball. So not clear and obvious to him by any means. Again Collum making it up to fit the outcome. He contradicts himself time after time. Another joke was Collum standing by the decision to allow the Newell goal. That is as clear and obvious error as you will see. Even Newell was laughing at it standing. Oh, and apparently leaving the ground to launch a two footed tackle which catches the shin is only a yellow card. Must bear that in mind for next season. But really, did we expect anything else.

There are 2 aspects to the discussion. I highlighted examples that support your view that our Officials are useless and above sanction. I don't believe they are corrupt. There are stills of the Ibrox penalty claim that suggest minimal contact at best. Whether they were available at the time is debatable. For what it's worth, viewing 'live' I thought it was a penalty and on balance still do. For me, it was not as bad a decision as the penalty donated to Celtic. Not as clear cut. The other issue is who is currently the dominant power in the running of Scottish football? Celtic beyond doubt for which I also highlighted examples. Rangers have been in that position in the past. But not currently. MJC is spot on. To lump them together at this time only helps deflect attention from Celtic. Both would like to rule the roost but Celtic are winning that race for now.

Agree with much of that. But I would suggest that, funny as it was at the time, Rangers demise years ago effectively handed the opportunity for complete control to Celtic. And they grabbed it with both hands (assisted to a degree by Aberdeen's greed). To the extent that they are currently much the dominate power. At times in the past it has been Rangers in that power situation and your Traynor comment is so relevant. The Media will always cow to the OF. But at the present time Celtic are well and truly in control of how Scottish Football is governed. Otherwise why have they escaped punishment on so many occasions? Why is a blind eye being turned to three pitch invasions in a row, or at best excuses being made on their behalf? Why is the damage their fans cause to away Grounds ignored? They are not so lightly treated when it is UEFA calling the shots. Speaks volumes. Although even there Lawwell managed to get a UEFA Board position which I think he still holds having been proposed by the SFA. Despite him having stood down from the Celtic Board. Normally that UEFA position would have ended at the same time as he gave up his position at Celtic. You might be correct. Rangers could well have benefited from the sort of decision Celtic got had they been playing us in that League situation. But they weren't so that comparison is purely hypothetical. Admittedly Rangers probably got away with our penalty shout at Ibrox, but that was less clear cut than the Nicholson shambles. As for Officials and VAR generally. All teams suffer from their incompetence. As opposed to corruption. The Newell hand ball goal could have cost Celtic the Title. Rangers lost silverware last season because of an acknowledged refereeing/VAR error. Livi were more or less relegated right at the start of the season because of some horrendous decisions. Gave them a mountain to climb.. As a fact, fans of every team could point to incorrect decisions that cost their Clubs dearly.

What I find surprising is that Beaton is getting all or at least most of the flak. Not excusing Beaton but Andrew Dallas is the one that created the whole injustice. Even though the supposed error was not Clear and Obvious. More like Fabricated. Beaton could have stuck by his original decision of course but he was put in such a position that I don't think any referee would have overridden Dallas. Add Beaton's previous history with Celtic and the outcome was assured. Dallas must have known that. If I was Beaton...and thank God I'm not.......I would be raging at Dallas for putting me in such a situation. For his part (and more so because of the part Dallas played) Collum will refuse to acknowledge any error. Fortunately for us, other than a point lost, the penalty did not change our situation. Draw or lose we still had to win at Easter Road. Hearts were the team most hard done to, especially as they had a much more valid penalty claim denied a few days earlier. Despite all that crap about errors balancing themselves out over a season, those two decisions decided the outcome of the League. Our Officials and our Association should be ashamed not only about the way things played out at Fir Park but their rewriting of history regards the disgraceful ending at Celtic Park a few days later. Given the recent actions of many Celtic fans at Ibrox, Fir Park and Celtic Park I wonder what sanctions will be handed out? Not holding my breath though as I suspect all the ever increasing noise coming from the SFA about pitch invasions not being unlawful in Scotland is a prelude to taking no action whatsoever. If anything, Rangers and Motherwell will be warned about not taking ample precautions, we will be fined for the pyros, and the Celtic Park invasion will be viewed simply as understandable exuberance with Hearts fined for leaving early and not completing Media duties. As MJC says, that is the extent to which Celtic control things in Scotland. Media included.

Bobby Hogg (a winger)played a few games for us in 1967 before moving to Stenny then Australia, where he ended up being capped a good few times. Before us he played one game for Hibs The 1967 Testimonial against Rangers featured most of their Cup Winners Cup final side beaten by Bayern Munich. Roger Hynd (my PE teacher) being one of them. Wellnet gives Hogg summary. My first game was in 1966 but other than the name I cannot recall seeing Hogg play.

Hogg who then moved to Stenhousemuir and Australia? But if correct I'll leave it to you to suffer the SK lectures. Better not heckle him though.