Orinoco

Clubs like ours need players who actually appear to have some affection to the club they play for. Unless someone offers stupid money or he wants to leave, then he should not be sold. Getting rid of such players could upset the harmany of the squad.

There is more money to be had for Porter by not moving just now. I would be very suprised if he agreed to move now.

clock is ticking down yet again to another window, where the squad is in danger of being weakened further. Yes, it costs money to run a football club, but to continually cut and keep cutting the playing staff budget will eventually catch up with us. Even allowing for extensions to contracts to current players & staff, given the amount of wages free'd up by releasing players or selling them, then surely the wage budget aint that much different from previous seasons. Time will tell i supose, when the accounts come out, but it's certainly going to be interesting to see what has happened to the increased revenue from the increase in season ticket sales, higher prize money, european football etc etc. This season promised so much, but in typical Motherwell fashion, our club's ambition and progress has went backwards. Mr Boyle is ment to be a very good business man, with very intelligent people around them, yet from a position of scratch, i.e position to start again, where are the ideas or initiatives to progress our club forward? That german guy we were talking about the other day, had proper ideas, i.e. build a youth academy and build up slowly. What we got and continually get is overpaid diddies, and a crumbling stadium. If their is really no money within the club, stop this pursuit to bring in loan signings and give our youth players a proper chance.

maybe all clubs are waiting for Man City to Spend the £100m which will filter down the leagues...... of italy

so what were these agents doing prior to the 1st January?

there might be 18 days left, but although there is no guarantees any new player will improve the team, points and league placings might be lost because we have not improved the teams weaknesses.

14 days into the transfer window, and still no team/squad improvements. Not as if these problems or the transfer window appeared overnight! Whats the chances that we get to 1st February with no signings other than the loaned goalie, and then receive a bid we cant refuse for one of our so called better players. So what has happened to this mega McGhee hit list? Who's dragging there feet?

If your good enough you will play. However, many promising youngsters never make the grade due to numerous reasons, and not just because they dont play regular 1st team football. Remember it's the players choice on where they learn the game. Signing for a bigger club carries a big risk. As for James McArthy, Hamilton, probably did not have any other alternatives, much like Motherwell and David Clarkson, and we all see what happened to his form for a number of seasons. As a club we do not do to badly in bringing players through. Some might never be world beaters, but the majority do a job.

Perhaps if our full backs played like full backs rather than wingers, then they might not get caught out of position as often. Also, i bet they would like some cover in front of them or behind them when they do attack. The midfield needs to do alot more, before we can start pointing fingers at every member of our defence.

I seem to recall we had agreed a price for a centre back from dunfermline, but the lad chose to go to Hibs. Given that our squad has also shrunk considerably, and presumably the wage bill (Remember Boyle is apparently picking up some of the wage burden re Porter & Hughes) since McGhee arrived. There is surely money available to bring in bog standard players. Why bother to push the boat out to bring in Hughes and Porter, which resulted in european football, to suddenly decide not to invest in the team much like the Butcher & Malpas eras? We must also be flush with monies if we can reduce the fee for old firm fans. If another transfer window opens and closes without a decent stab at addressing our teams weaknesses then McGhee's & our board of directors need to go. Throughout our clubs history, we have always found gems, and by individuals who apparently dont even have the same amount of contacts in the game that we keep hearing about. Does anyone really know what some or all of our directors do? Does any of them try form links with more wealthier clubs, attract sponsorship or investments etc etc.

If true, thanks ports for your contribution last season and all the best, but enjoy reserve football for the rest of the season.

when results are going against you, it's easy to hide and suddenly become injured! time to see who are the men from the boys. Lets get back to basics, and do what we are good at. Play the guys in their correct positions, ball on the deck, and let them do what they were doing last year. As a wiseman once said, luck is earned. Time to roll up the sleaves and knuckle down. Hard graft, bottle, turst and belief is the way ahead.

Lets draw a line under recent setbacks to global 'well domination, and start afresh. We are the boys and girls of the MFC, and there's nothing better than watching our team battling against the odds. We cant change the past, and the only way is up, so let the battle commence. Merry christmas everyone, here's to a much better 2009.

McGhee has a track record of failure after early success and perhaps if given time and proper support from his board of directors he might be able to become a very good manager and build a few decent teams. The problem is this support from the directors wont be from our club. If a club cant build on the successes of a wonder season, when will they ever? Yet again our club blow a golden opportunity to progress. Longstanding loyal fans now feel unvalued, and are turning their backs to our club. We as a club are going backwards. From the outside it appears we were badly prepared heading into this season, and for that the buck has to rest with McGhee. Good managers know when to ship out players, yet we seem to reward these players with better contracts. In saying all that you have got to wonder how much of a hindrance our board of directors are with progressing our club. Mr Boyle has to get serious with our club, it is not some little plaything. We need real committment and effort from all within the club. After all, they keep saying our club is only a step stone away from greater things. How this can be true when so many of these so called professionals cant be bothered is baffling.

All this talk of only trusting 13 players, constantly talking about moving onto bigger things, not improving the defence, playing players out of position, the handling of the captains armband, etc etc would appear to be having a massive negative effect. There is nowhere near the same effort or committment from the team this year. Perhaps the bond between players is stronger than Mcghee thinks, and upsetting one or two has backfired big time. McGhee talks a good game, but it seems to me, he cant seem to organise a team to do the basics. Maybe our best bet now is for McGhee to move onto another job. Sometimes change can be beneficial for both parties. Mind you the problem is who's going to take a manager who is only productive for one season?

Finally McGarry gets the hook. yet again a team beats us very easily without having to get out of 2nd gear. This form has been ongoing for almost a year now, and there is no sign its going to end soon. I'll say it again, where has the money gone? No investment in the team or any improvements to the ground. The board of directors should hang there heads in shame, or better still resign, and let new blood move us forward before its to late.

relegation performance the night. clueless.. Ive seen better training games.

Our crossing and final ball needs to be alot better. The centre of the defence needs somebody to sit just in front of them to protect them. Reynolds is having another of those not so good games. Hughes needs to sit deeper and dictate the game. McGarry, WHY???? All in all very predictable going forward.

I think Hughes' next decision with regards to his football career, will give an indication of his ambitions within the game. Will he choose money over education? An education as in improving his all round game, gaining consistancy, and working towards a move towards a much bigger club. He has the ability, i just hope he does not waste it like so many other promising scottish players, i.e. Kerr, Pearson

It seems we have many questions we would like our board of directors to answer. The problem is we wont get any answers, and it's been like this as long as i can remember. Given the financial restraints within the game in Scotland, I would not suprised in the slightest if several clubs have decided not to switch on their undersoil heating, and are constantly cutting back on things they consider to be unimportant. The problem is those unimportant things are holding the clubs back, and in fact running clubs into the ground. Given the additional costs of running a club during the winter months, i think our season should be played during the so called warmer months, i.e. March to December Why would any sane person want to sit in the freezing cold for 2 hrs, after paying well over the odds for that privilege? Motherwell FC needs strong leadership from the top, and someone with a vision of what our club could achieve within the local community and beyond. Any takers?