MJC

Tommy Coyne was a great player for us once upon a time. Louis Moult was a great player for us once upon a time. There would be absolutely no point in bringing back Tommy Coyne as he is done and too old. And while Moult is clearly not anywhere near as old, we know for a fact that he has barely had a pair of football boots on in the last few years AND we know that we had him here on loan earlier this season and he couldn't get anywhere near required fitness and is clearly also done at this level. There would be no reasonable justification for us signing Moult again this summer. It would be driven by sentiment, nothing more and we can't operate like that. Steelboy gets a lot of flak on here, but he's said this a few times and he's bang on the money with it, that there are too many of our fans who see the players as their mates and no matter how little they offer, they're happy to have them in the team.

I'd take Tommy Coyne back easy. Full pre-season, Pay as You Play deal.

Why? Because "we exist to improve people's lives"? Inspite of what our social media team and some in our support like to think, we are not a charity. We are a professional football club and we can't afford to sign ex players who are well past their best for purely sentimental reasons. We did this with McFadden after St.Johnstone had binned him, brought him back and he did nothing. The whole team even chucked it in a Cup tie to try and get him a goal and he couldn't. He even got made up to assistant manager/player! Louis Moult was a great player for us, but that was almost six years ago now and in that time he has barely played any football. We need to move on and stop looking back with misty eyes at players who were once good for us. We tried with Moult this season and he offered us next to nothing. Take the hint.

Jesus suffering fuck Why don't we give Wullie Pettigrew a contract too while we're at it? I know he's drawing his pension now but class is permanent. I'll take a contract too if we're handing them out to anybody. I mean I'm pushing 40, a bit overweight these days and my footballing ability is five a side level at best, but I did score a really good goal at the Palace ground pitches a few years ago when I was wearing the 17/18 home top that Moult wore when he put Rangers to the sword at Hampden. I'll probably not offer the team much in the way of anything but neither did Moult when he was here this season so if SK wants to give me a call...I'll even bring my own boots.

The BBC gossip page isn't something you'd give much credence to but in fairness to them given our track record of re-tracing steps and signing former players then it's really not that far fetched to suggest Moult might be signed again. As I said the other day, I wouldn't put it past us. It would be so 'Motherwell' to go there again and Moult and his agent will know that too.

I’ve probably been at more games than you this season.

I’ll be forever grateful that it happened in my lifetime but as the years pass bye it becomes all the more frustrating that we haven’t managed it since. In 32 years time we still won’t have won any other silverware I reckon.

We’ve got a fair bit of a track record when it comes to re-signing ex players. Faddy god knows how many times, Stephen Hughes, David Clarkson and Moult himself. It really wouldn’t be that out of the question for us to go down that road again, indeed it would be a very ‘Motherwell’ thing to do. As far as “posting some amount of pish” goes, coming from you I’ll take that as a compliment.

The worst thing is that I genuinely wouldn’t put it past us to sign Moult again. Maybe even give him a player/coaching/asst mgr role like we did with Faddy when he was clearly a spent force.

I suppose the best way to describe it is that it felt like a bit of a novelty, even though the result was probably inevitable, which turned out to be the case. Yes there is a degree of excitement about those games, but at the same time I knew that it wouldn’t have any bearing on our league season. So yes, in answer to your question (I think) seeing Motherwell playing B.Dortmund or Steaua Bucharest or Nancy did have a different feel to it beforehand, but at the same time there was that feeling that we were just there to make up the numbers…and in the cases of Nancy, PAO, Levante and Kuban it looked very much like the manager and players thought the same.

Of course you can enjoy both. As I said if the experience of going abroad to Germany or France or wherever is the big appeal with us playing in Europe then that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that. What I would say though is that when we are in Europe and playing against a ‘big name’ like Borussia Dortmund then that adds a fair bit more to the tie than if we are playing Sligo Rovers, Stjarnan, Levante or MyPa-47 and losing to them. I appreciate that others see it differently, but us in Europe just doesn’t ‘do it’ for me and I’d much rather see us do well domestically.

Yes it is. Look at our record in European games over the years. Look at other Scottish sides of a similar size to us over the years. Stjarnan and Sligo for us, Connah’s Quay for Killie, Malmo for Hibs. The trend is there. Only Hearts and Aberdeen, easily the 2nd and 3rd biggest clubs in the country have managed to progress past the prelim rounds in Europe in the last 20 years. No, I’m not saying we should refuse to take part in any European competition as that is obviously good for the club, on paper at least. I’m saying that us playing in Europe is nothing more than an extra bit of fluff as a result of a good league season (usually) or winning the Scottish Cup. Nobody but nobody is telling me that playing a prelim Euro game against Kuban Krasnador where we lose 3-0 on aggregate is as good as watching us beat Celtic twice, pump Hibs 4-1, go to Tannadice and run riot and play fast flowing football over the course of a season.

But we can compete in the league and the cup, some years better than others granted. Europe is just a level we don’t belong at and for us and the majority of Scottish clubs is nothing but a permanent anti climax and an occasional source of humiliation. I want to see us finish as high up in the league as possible, playing good entertaining football and winning matches. I also want to see us winning a Cup even more so. Getting into Europe as a result of either would be just a mere bonus to that.

Fancy 3-0 here. KvV to score at least once and have at least one ruled out by VAR.

There’s nothing wrong with going abroad and enjoying a piss up when your team is playing a European tie, if that’s what going to the football is about for you then that’s fine. It’s just not for me. I prefer to see us compete at a level we are capable at and be the best we possibly can be at that level.

And that, let’s face it, is the real reason that a lot of Motherwell fans want to see us qualify for Europe. We are never going to do anything of note at that level as we simply don’t and never will have the money required to do it. And I don’t just mean go deep into the tournament either, I mean even getting to the Europa League group stages is beyond us, as it is for every other club our size and with our budget. But I suspect the majority of Motherwell fans realise and accept this. The ones who get all excited about ‘Europe’ get excited at the prospect of a few days abroad on the booze more than the football itself. Some of them that travel probably don’t even go to the game when they are there. But it’s all great fun!

Completely disagree that qualifying for Europe is the best we can hope for. Winning one of the Cups is the ultimate achievement for us and would trump any European qualification. Obviously winning the Scottish Cup would get us into Europe, as would finishing 3rd, but I would see the European qualification in that regard as just another added bonus to the main event. If we’ve had a great season in the league like we did in 07/08 or in 94/95, played great football and finished high up in the table then that would be the enjoyable and satisfying part of it, not so much playing a Euro qualifier the following July/August. On the other hand when we sneak into Europe like we did last season having had an absolutely dismal second half of the season or when the season is abandoned due to covid then it is less enjoyable and that devalues the European spot even more for me.

Knowing us we will roll over and lose to them on the last day to keep them up. Dundee are going to be in the top flight next season, they will bring a healthy support as they always do so that would make up for Utd not being there. Dundee Utd are a club that I have absolutely no time for. Arrogant supporters, Jim Spence and a ‘darling’ club of the Scottish media. Then you go further back and look at the likes of Jim McLean, Dave Bowman, John Clark, Maurice Malpas. All really unlikable individuals. If they are relegated I will be delighted.

No one can argue with the job he’s done in less than three months for us. From relegation certainties in February to being on course for best of the rest in the bottom six with three games to go, that’s some going.

That’s one way to look at it. If we actually do financially benefit from playing in Europe that is. We as a club have been clear in the past that playing in Europe actually costs us more than it earns us. The other way to look at it is avoiding embarrassments like Sligo and Stjarnan and no-show non-events like PAO and Levante is probably more beneficial to the team and the club as a whole. Obviously getting a glamour tie like Dortmund is different and more prestigious but on the whole Europe for us is just a level that is way beyond our reach.

That’s the big bonus of being bottom six. We literally could get more points than the side finishing 6th, 5th or even 4th and yet there is no chance of ‘Europe’. ”THE….passports in the drawer! The passports in the drawer! And that is where it’s staying! And that is where it’s staying! And that is where it’s STAAAYYYINNG!!!! The passports in the drawer!” Bring on the League Cup group stages.

And we won to officially secure safety! And to make things even better Dundee Utd lost to Ross County to send them to the bottom of the table. If Carlsberg did Saturdays…

Yes. Officially. 100%. Signed, sealed and delivered. We are safe. From where we were in mid February that is a superb achievement.

VAR is a nuisance but when it goes in your favour you take it! Another one on the tally for our goal machine.

There’s this weeks KvV goal ruled out by VAR.