Tweed

Thing is Bournemouth is a wealthy retirement town full of people with loads of money, Motherwell on the other hand is a depressed former Steeltown. People paying £65 for friendlies may well be idiots but you can bet your bottom dollar they are rich idiots who don't have the same decisions in life we do.

Dundee Utd fan at work said him leaving today was best bit of transfer business they have done all summer. Tells you all you need to know!

Correct, which is why we can't be too one dimensional and the lack of attacking options concern me.

And I think Ya Bezzer has hit the nail on the head. Ojamaa set up sixteen goals last season plus any others he was involved in earlier on in the move. As of now we are defensively better and offensively poorer. We need options. The weakness of the team the year before last was we were a bit one dimensional and I see this being recreated. Lawson is a good player, never wastes a ball but creatively he is a huge step backwards.

We need to sort out the wingers and strikers before we even contemplate going back to Tom Hateley. He had every chance to stay here and chose not to and we have acted on that decision and brought in McManus and Kerr. At the moment if Faddy plays right wing, we have a gaping hole up top as Sutton and McHugh won't score enough goals. If Faddy plays up top we have a problem at right wing. I think we've got a decent defence and we're OK in the middle of midfield but these attacking impact players are still a bit on the light side. Hateley, I have no problem with as a person, but he's made his bed.

Virgin's customer service when things go a bit wrong is excellent. So far this year I was on a train that was delayed because of the snow in January, one of my work colleagues was also on that train who was heading for an early flight the next day at Stansted and because it got in after the tube and connections had stopped running, they laid on a taxi for her no questions asked.7 Also the night we played Hibs and Faddy and Higginbotham scored there was a huge problem at Bridgeton and Virgin volunteered to stop a train at Motherwell to let folks get home. I went in the car yesterday because it was my dad's birthday last night and needed back. Thought Gadi was all right, could see cult hero through him as clearly a hard worker, not scared to take a man on but he did throw in some crosses that were south of poor. Silva looked a little less match sharp but as the 2nd half wore on I thought he looked the better option. Very intelligent cut back to Vigurs and very alert to what was going on around him. I think Anier is one of these guys who is decent but would frustrate the arse of you because he will throw in some easy misses. Can see why McCall is a bit unsure on him but he is certainly got potential.

Well for a friendly it was one of the most professional displays I've seen and to say our defence looked pretty ordinary at times was generous.

No. Kerr played right back, Hutch and Ramsden in the middle and Hammell left back. ZFA played left mid with Carswell, Lasley in the middle and Vigurs on the right with the two trialists up top. Faddy retreated when Moore came on.

Actually thought Kerr did pretty well. My concerns were Cummins really struggled both positionally and with the ball and Hollis's body seems to have more holes in it than Muirfield golf course. Ramsden was very inclined to wander when he was right back, either forwards or inwards and a lot of Newcastle's good work in the first half came from his side. When he was moved in one and Kerr went to right back we looked much more secure. It was no accident the one time Kerr wandered out of position in the second half is when they scored. Thought we looked a fine team with the ball at our feet, most of our problems came when they were in possession in that our positional sense didn't deal with it. McManus should help that. Also, Newcastle were big, powerful and fast. We won't play many teams, if any, like that this season so I think we have a lot to be encouraged about.

Think that pish oatter should have had my name on it :-(

He was a bit pessimistic - we're the 2nd force now. He was maybe just a little short-termist. In all seriousness, administration was the best thing that ever happened to us. It let us strip the waste, redefine our priorities and basically start again from scratch. We got wee rubs along the way, an unexpected cup semi final in 2003, Falkirk's ground being not up to scratch, another two good cup runs in 2005 and 2006 plus the financial rewards from being involved in Skippy Sunday but all these things allowed us to develop more and more and in time we have shown you need to have a good plan, prudence and a close knit group of players and it is amazing what you can achieve. Dempster was a shrewd appointment. Looked totally under qualified but Boyle has obviously seen a spark there and she is proving herself to be an excellent acquisition. She has made mistakes, she'll continue to make mistakes but in this game everything you do is in the spotlight and noticed. I certainly have no worries about the longevity of Motherwell with her at the helm.

I joined the society last year and I am glad I did as I could afford it and it is something the club I love asked me to consider to invest in the future. However before joining I was very sceptical that we had a big enough fanbase with the means to provide the Society with the money required to function. Sadly 17 months down the line nothing much has changed on that front. I hope the board of the society do have the skills, contacts and initiative to bring the money we require home but I have a deep underlying fear no matter how good a job they do the capital required just isn't there. I hope I'm proved wrong and I have no regrets in investing and I have no bones about the make up of the board I'm just concerned that the concept, whilst good in principal can only work where there is a bigger audience.

My old man and I were talking about McManus tonight and we agreed that if we can keep him fit he would be a good addition for us but he is a tad slow. However I think a man of his experience could bring Cummins on leaps and bounds. He, to me, looks like a raw talent but not playing with the right person to bring him on. I'd be quite pleased to see him sign I think.

So would I but had Sutton not been here or available I'd have not been averse to taking the gamble. My worry is where the supply is coming from and none of the names I've heard linked to us change that.

Is Jim Bowen still involved with them? Super smashing great, have a look at what you could have won.

On his own I would have taken a risk on Kyle but I think him and Sutton are a bit similar. We did so well last season because so many of our forward players had pace, another lumbering slow striker is not now the answer in my book.

The weakness in the team when Jennings and Lasley were both there was that as an attacking outlet we were very one dimensional as we had nothing coming through the middle. Last season we were more multi-dimensional as an attacking force but forewent a toughness to break down. In the season before we lost two games against non-Old Firm teams when both Lasley and Jennings started in the SPL and one of them was against Dundee Utd on the last day when everyone was on the beach. I wouldn't say that team was defensive but they were bloody tough to beat. In the here and now we need two wingers, a striker, a goalie and either a centre half or a right back for the every week plus another couple for numbers and back up. I trust McCall but I am beginning to get nervous about the lack of movement.

Disappointing time for that fixture but they were here this time last year, unfortunately Dundee Utd is the only SPL ground within 100 miles of Aberdeen this season so with three rubbish days for public transport being used this year (Boxing Day, Sunday between Xmas and New Year and Ne'er Day itself) someone was going to have to do it.

That's correct, and the rules were any team could miss fixture 2 to play a friendly so if we had wanted to all we had to do was say just like anyone else. But yes Celtic (a) in game 2 is ideal as it could give us a rest only thing is they will probably be at home in game 1 to raise the flag!

Yes, Inverness have signed seven today so whilst I get McCall may have ideas in place it is not impossible other teams could steal a march on him if we dick about. But part of the problem is there are still a few unknowns in the current crop - Higdon, Faddy, Hateley, Kerr the big ones.

Brian Kerr?

I think they are both fanstastic institutions of the Scottish game and it is quite disturbing the media don't focus more time on them due to this. I can't believe these great clubs had to forego three pages in yesterday's papers to a wee team like Hibernian. Do I fuck - may they both rot in hell.

I actually believe McCall is one of the few guys in football who you can trust implicitly. He has never once said he wouldn't move but he has also said he is not searching a move. I think it is very clear he is happy working for Motherwell. The very reason for this is he is left to get on with it and there are no unrealistic expectations forming a noose over his head from the boardroom (the East Stand may be a different kettle of fish, mind). If you can have another run at that within very clear and set parameters with a management team (board) you can trust as opposed to a club who sacked a manager when they were in the top four who clearly have no money and delusions of grandeur he quite possibly feels the hastle wasn't worth it. I don't now think McCall is going to do a McGhee and put himself forward for every job going but if someone with money and ambition that matches come in then I have no doubt he will go. Delighted he appears to be staying but got to say wouldn't have been that bothered if he hadn't.

Suppose the other thing we are assuming here is that there were other teams interested in him.

Football is a short career that even at the fag end of the SPL you make enough to have a comfortable living. I don't understand why someone would want to piss two years of it away playing against part time teams you should be beating five or six nil each week and all that happens is when you don't you get ladels of criticism. What Rangers players have come out of Division 3 with a shred of credit? McCulloch maybe but not many more. Players will naturally become lazy when they are better than the opposition each week and whilst this does a lot for his wallet it does nothing for his career. Nothing against Rangers here though, they have to satisfy the big crowds they get and they have to look to bring in talent that will entertain them.