dennyc

Can we make sure Llanelli are included.

With the support of member clubs...including ours... the buffoons that run the game up here would welcome the OF second string teams into the Scottish Premiership. No doubt quoting sponsorship and TV income as the prime reasons for their inclusion. And most of that income would end up going where it does now. I could even see games up here being arranged to ensure that games involving the OF do not clash with their British League fixtures. Cant damage PPV income after all. Given the income that Rangers and Celtic would get from a British Super League they could easily fund teams strong enough to continue to dominate up here. Effectively feeder teams where squad players could be brought up to a level for promotion to their top sides. Might take a couple of seasons but I have no doubt we would end up with the exact same situation we have now. Except that we would have two Rangers and two Celtics to wind us up. The media would love it though.

If your dancing watch out you don’t injure yourself on their artificial pitch. Has to be better than what Accies and Killie have at present though.

Maybe some of the players might be able to remember what the deal with the kit was? Gary MacAllister?

My Understanding is that Uefa compensation only applies only if a cross border transfer takes place. So if he was to go to Hibs, either the Clubs agree a deal (with possible addons including a % of possible future transfers) or it goes to a SFA Tribunal....to be held in private with Clubs not allowed to comment on the details. All as per Ferguson from Accies to Aberdeen. Accies fans had to wait until Aberdeen detailed the transfer fee in their Accounts to find out how much had been awarded. The Uefa Compensation tables are encouraging and the 400k you mention is what I also calculated for a category 2 League. But any domestic tribunal does not need to follow Uefa guidelines. And if it is a Tribunal award, it is a one off fee with no add ons. For those reasons we did well to negotiate a deal with Rangers for Hastie rather than go to the Lottery of the SFA. Just ask Accies. My reading of it anyway. Better if he heads South.

Hopefully get back to rebuilding our Youth structure when all this is over. Most teams will be in the same boat and I suspect/hope there is a core of youngsters known to us champing at the bit to get their careers moving forward. Staying in the PL can only help us secure these kids, especially financially Where would we be without the income the system has generated over the years? Not just the likes of Turnbull but many others who have moved on for decent money before really getting to first team level. I hope Stevie Hammell will still be involved and I also wonder if there is a role for Keith Lasley to play. Too much to hope for the return of Stephen Craigen as I think his results show he was excellent with the younger age groups and took them to a level Maurice Ross struggled to match. Whatever the Coaching structure is, the sooner the youngsters get back playing the better. Could the summer break be a time to get ahead of the game?

I think Compensation is due up until the end of the season in which a player turns 23. So as AC is not 23 until July (I think) we should be ok if he leaves at Season end. Might end up like a Hastie situation if he moves within Scotland. Either the clubs negotiate a fee or it goes to a Tribunal, like Ferguson from Accies to Aberdeen. If he goes cross border then prescribed Compenation should kick in. Or a deal can be agreed. The benefit of agreeing a deal means add ons can be built in. With a Tribunal it is a once and for all fee.

No probs. You can speak for me any time. And spot on with those other names. Vagabonds every one of them!

Hastie was open and up front about leaving. No pretence. He got slaughtered on here by many for wanting to better himself, and being honest about it. And booed when he took to the pitch. Perth I think. Don’t see the same abuse heading Gallagher’s way and, if true, he has been doing a lot more manoeuvring re contracts than Hastie ever did. And we got good money for Hastie. Vigurs was crucified...still is....for allegedly feigning injury to force his way out of the Club. Same accusation has been made about Gallagher, but folk refuse to believe it whereas in Vigur’s case it was taken as gospel. Double standards. Every player has the right to try and better himself, but it does seem that for some on here, if your face fits and you are a “good guy”, then you can do no wrong and can muck the Club about in ways that others get hammered for. And I’m not defending Gallagher. Far from it. Just comparing the reaction to his dealings and those of others who eventually moved on.

And who do you think placed the Gallagher story in the Media? First of all that there was a clause about to kick in and then that it had been "sorted" and that he would be available for free in the Summer. I hardly think the Press would be bothered making it up given that they don't give a toss for anybody other than Rangers and Celtic. So no motive. And I did not pick up on the Club responding that the story was fabricated, as surely they would have done if a lie was being promoted about a player. It would definitely not be in Motherwell's interest to try and encourage a January bid for their Captain and best player before any clause kicked in extending his contract and placing Motherwell in a better position. . Especially in the middle of a relegation dogfight, Nor can I see the Club advertising the fact he is available for nothing in the Summer given they will hope to encourage him to stay. So no motive there either. So that leaves Gallagher and his new Agent. Doing what they feel necessary to cash in when they can? Can't really blame them for that given a chance to substantially increase earnings of a 30 year old. And the timing of his unfortunate injury was very convenient. But I wonder what the reaction would have been on here if his name was Hastie or Vigurs rather than Gallagher?

Thanks. Hope he recovers as certainly one for the future. With us or not.

A question for those in the know. What is the up to date position regarding young Sam Campbell who was on the point of leaving us to head South, with Motherwell having agreed terms with both Leeds and Liverpool? Not seen anything since he went down for his trial at Liverpool.

I don't know how much the current parachute payment amounts to. but no way would it offset the areas of funding mentioned in Milo's post. And Season Ticket income could well be much reduced as well if current Holders take up the CoVid deal. We would need to create a team capable of securing promotion, probably with a bunch of journeymen senior pros and a smattering of untested kids.. Could we afford to run any sort of fruitful youth programme? If not, there goes another source of income. And then if we do succeed in bouncing back up, how on earth do we build a new team capable of keeping us up? Just look at how much Hibs, Dundee Utd (and probably Hearts) had to invest in new players and wages to achieve safety following promotion. But coming straight back up is not a given. The fact the play off structure is weighted to benefit the PL team means actually winning the Championship is essential. So to my mind relegation would be a disaster and at best I could picture us being a yoyo club for years. At worst I could picture us sitting mid table and getting used to that station in life. In truth I would enjoy visiting all sorts of exotic new grounds and playing in Cups with crazy names...but only for a wee while. Much better to survive this season and invest hard earned monies in building a new team to keep us in the PL for another 30 odd years. hopefully with players that want to play for Motherwell. Believe me, I have tried to convince myself that relegation might prove beneficial. So far I have failed miserably.

Sure I read that the money goes to the club that had the player’s contract at season end. So on that basis, yes. I guess the thinking is that a player earns his place at the finals on the basis of how he played for his contracted club. So that club should get the payment.

Yeah. Gallagher has been poor. Far and away the poorest defender. Been that way for weeks. Thank god for Mugabi, eh?

Has Gallagher succeeded in getting himself suspended yet?

You mean when he played with his knee in bits to help his Manager out. Yes, he was at the end of his playing career when he played for us , but look at his effort compared to what you saw from some yesterday. But, whatever, he is qualifying as a coach ( maybe has) and is highly regarded by other coaches and player who have worked with him.

Rather have Stephen McManus if we look at Celtic. Knows the Club, is a winner and gaining a good rep as a coach. Anybody but the media loved old guard that just do the rounds. A rebuild is required and he could be the man to do it. And he does not stand for any crap from the players. Time to be forward thinking and appoint somebody to move us forward.

Agree to an extent with the injury comments, but don't gloss over that Saints also had players out. Kerr, Conway and Davidson are just as key to St J as our missing players are to us. They didn't even list a full number of subs. And the flak our keeper is getting in comparison to others is nonsense. Is he as athletic and comfortable with the ball at his feet as we would like? Clearly not. But he stopped it being four or five goals conceded. Others were much more culpable. And the agenda some folk have against Crawford and McGinley is nonsense. Then again with Dunne missing they have to focus on somebody. Bottom line is we were rotten and Robinson made a huge error in selecting Lamie, and a bigger error in waiting until were losing before he hauled him off. We could well have gotten out of jail if our Manager had acted quicker. But no excuses, the team that deserved to win are into the quarters, which hurts even more when you see who also went out. What a chance missed!

Yep. But give him credit. He managed to slag the guy off in a game in which he took no part. That’s dedication for you.

With the Statement being read out by Alex Ferguson with Tony Fitzpatrick and Frank McGarvey standing by his side. Might almost be as funny as their comments when we won that game.

Simo Valakari’s son on debut for Finland scores against France. An attacking midfielder born in Motherwell per Wikipedia.

I think that is spot on. The delay in the hearing taking place was to allow the SPFL to complete their enquiries into whether a breach took place. Having established that in their opinion there was a breach it is then passed to the panel to pass sentence and hear any mitigating circumstances put forward by the Clubs. At least that is my take on it.

I thought O'Hara had a great game with the centre back pairing worked as well as any this season. Certainly a whole lot calmer. The back four set up probably helped as well. Ok, Stewart had two decent headed chances from about ten yards and missed a sitter, but when has he not caused defences those problems?...and not just ours. Watching the game I was more relaxed with our defending than during every other game this season, even after Carson went off. As Vigurs was AWOL, County's only real creative threat was Charles-Cook who seemed to have acres of space at times. Then again his charges up the park left all the room in the world for us to exploit as the County defence was left short handed and stretched. Polworth's pass to McGinley exploited that space brilliantly for the first goal.

I also think the impact on ourselves is an issue and should be reflected in any punishment for wrong doing. If the actions of Killie and St Mirren have beached protocol and the impact on us is no game for a lengthy spell and then being forced to play three games in 8 days then that is also unfair. It will disadvantage us enough and may well have an affect on player availability and ultimately our final League position. At the end of the day I'm not convinced deduction/forfeit of points will happen though. Too dangerous a precedent to set in this league. I really don't know what the answer is but I suspect fines or suspended fines will be the cop out.