MJC_MKI

Going to be a tight affair that could go either way. Hopefully we can come out of the traps flying and get an early goal like we did against them at Tannadice in November as we always seem to take a lift from going ahead early on. I'm going to sit on the fence though and go for a 1-1 draw with Higdon on the scoresheet again.

The one positive to this is that we'll get a decent crowd for it, if the two previous Friday night games against Hibs are anything to go by, they usually bring a good support.

What's also noticeable is that we are always shite when we play on a Friday night.

Would I be right in saying that we were the last team to beat Inverness? It's an incredible unbeaten run that they are on and if both us and them keep up our recent form then the game against them at Fir Park on 16th February is going to be massive.

Exactly. You can go on about how St.Johnstone had the better of the game and how we were fortunate all you like but the only important statistic is that we won today and gained a valuable three points. Our performance wasn't great but we still did enough to win so that's a major plus from today.

More nervy than it needed to be in the end but all that matters is that we've got the win and picked up a massive three points. Well done to big Higdon. Say what you like about him but he is worth his weight in gold with the goals he scores for us.

Cos he wasn't as lucky as Boyd was, you know, the way the media etc was right up Boyd's arse making him out to be a top class striker before he left Killie and joined Rangers. Boyd was a decent SPL striker, just like Higdon is but playing for a bigger club alongside better players helped Boyd's reputation and goal scoring rate no end.

Both are about the same level as each other IMO. They are penalty box strikers who'll score goals given the right service and dare I say it, had Higdon played in the same Rangers teams Boyd did then he would be highest SPL goal scorer, or at least thereabouts.

First game back since the 'break' and since Murphy's departure so time to get back to winning ways. I'd start with McHugh up front with Higginbotham on the bench, otherwise unchanged from the side who played Celtic on the 2nd. 2-1 to us in an end to end encounter.

Welcome to Motherwell and best of luck to you Kallum

It's not his ability that would stop him getting a Premiership club just now, as has been said he's a better keeper than some of the current No.1s down there, it's more that Premierships view of the Scottish game and the SPL would count against him. He's been playing at a 'less fashionable' SPL club for the past three years and the EPL clubs seem to pay little to no attention to the game up here outwith the Glasgow two and at a push Aberdeen, Dundee Utd and the Edinburgh clubs. Unfair yes, but just the way it seems to work.

I completely agree but sadly it's money that speaks loudest in football and players or manager will go where the cash is. If Brown wants Randolph badly enough then there's a fair chance he'll get him because let's face it, as good as Randolph has been for us he's not going to get a Premiership club and Aberdeen can pay big wages in SPL terms anyway so if they offer him what he's after then he'll go there. Hopefully when, not if Randolph moves on he goes back down south and gets a decent Championship club.

It will come down to how the next month pans out in terms of transfers in and out of the club. Before we lost Murphy I would have said that finishing 2nd was possible but then so was finishing 6th, you just never know with us and in this league as outwith Celtic the majority of sides are evenly matched so there's a good few sides in with a decent shout of 2nd. Murphy will be a big loss for us and we need to make some kind of attempt to replace him. Paddy McCourt would be a fantastic signing if we could pull it off and he could stay fit but I think this is a long shot so we have to hope that we've got one or two options lined up. If we are able to bring in at least someone who can fill the void left by Murphy's departure - which will not be atall easy - then we've still got a shout, as good as any, at second but if we fail to do so then I doubt we will. This month and then more importantly the summer are going to be a big test for McCall and the club because we are almost certainly entering into a period of transition on the park with many key players from the past couple of seasons set to move on so it's time to see what he can do in terms of a rebuilding job.

Was that Celtic game on 27th February not originally scheduled for that date and time anyway?

The best penalty I've ever seen by a Motherwell player still remains the one by James McFadden against Livingston in the 6-2 win on the last day of 02/03 when he made a complete and utter c*nt of Alan Main by strolling up casually and chipping it. That was all after Main had tried his best to put him off by mouthing off to him as he was putting the ball on the spot.

Shearer was the ultimate penalty taker for me. His spot kicks were always dispatched high and precise into the top corner with sheer power giving the keeper no chance whatsoever. That is the way that penalties should be struck in my view.

Agree with this completely, however we really should have reached the Semis at least last season and that combined with our pathetic showing at Ibrox in September were extemely sore points that cannot be ignored.

We've not had someone like that in the team since Scott Leitch IMO. Someone who could grab the rest by the scruff of the neck and get them scrapping for everything going.

Did he not miss against Dundee Utd at Fir Park in 2008? Or was that Porter? It was in a game that finished 1-1 early in 08/09 if anyone can remember. Edit: it was Porter, I just checked. One guy I forgot who had a 100% record for us was Shaun Teale, surprisingly for a centre half. Burn Broomfield just beat me to that.

Fair enough, though I was mostly referring to my own time watching 'Well which goes back to 1990 and you're right Cooper was pretty reliable. McLaughlin was before my time. I think a lot of the feeling that we are as poor from the spot stems from the fact that, as I said, when we miss it tends to end up costing us. In recent times that's certainly been the case.

With the exception of Richie Foran, Kevin McBride and Ged Brannan who were regular/semi regular penalty takers at one point and only missed one between the three of them - Foran at Tynecastle in a 0-0 draw in 2005 - we have always been pretty chronic from the spot. Tommy Coyne, the best striker I've ever seen at the club in my time, missed quite a few, Owen Coyle near enough hit the roof of the Cooper against St.johnstone and missed a couple more and who could forget Willie Falconer's awful effort against Killie in his debut? He also missed one against Alloa in a League Cup shootout defeat. The most galling thing about our penalty woes down the years is that they tend to always cost us points/cup ties with the odd exception here and there.

I remember Kevin McBride being told by some halfwits to 'fuck off back to Parkhead' and being labelled a 'tarrier bastard' in a League Cup match against Morton at Cappielow back in 2004 in what was only his second game for the club or something and the clowns doing it were quickly told to belt up by those around them and quite rightly so. It's not exclusive to players or managers with Rangers connections, however I tend to think such shouts like that one with McBride are shouted down by other fans far quicker than some of the bile shouted at Hateley, or so I've noticed anyway. They tend to be told to fuck off to Ibrox and that they are the reason why we are called Hvns without the fare etc.

Towards the end of his tenure yes there was but not straight from the off like McCall, Hateley and other figures who had some Rangers connection were subjected to from some, for example the guy and his mate sitting next to me at New Douglas Park on the 1st January 2011 who wasn't best please that we "had this h u n c**t in charge now" to quote him. And that was before the game had even kicked off.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with that one. There are some Motherwell fans out there who are extremely insecure about Rangers, probably due in part to the whole 'H u n without the busfare' attitude that often gets thrown towards us as a support, so much so that they can't seem to stomach any form of link, or perceived link between us and Rangers via players or managers who are or have at some point been connected with Rangers. This is reflected both by many of the comments on here and at Fir Park, ie. "GTF McCall ya Rangers bastard", the same thing I might add was also quite often shouted at Butcher when he was here, likewise with Goram and Spencer. I'm not a fan of McCall as I've previously said on here but to shout that at the manager or any player of the club you support is disgraceful and doesn't help one bit. Fair enough if the team aren't producing on the park and the paying punter feels he hasn't had his money's worth then they have a right to criticise, but there's a difference between criticism and just plain abuse.

And guess what? Having just saw that footage aswell I would have to agree with you. It was a decent strike which was well saved. It's still very frustrating mind you to get a penalty at Paekhead with less than 15 minutes to go and for us to fail to score and I think that's what the reaction has been based on so far.