Andy_P

A love in? A few folk have posted they had a great time over there and were well received. A few folk from their end posted they had a great time in Motherwell and were well received. Disrespect us by their no show! Do you realise how daft that sounds? Is it only Aelusund folk are allowed to go over and have a good a time, mix with the locals, create new friendships, forge links because a number in your group have done so?

Reynolds to Sheffield Wednesday?

Voting primarily. You may recollect that when the Rangers newco vote thing had to be made, those who had contributed were required to either respond to an email or PM I sent. Any matters arising that require a vote can be dealt with in much the same way someone might vote for the Man of the Match.

Indeed. Arguably the turning point in that season. We had been 1-0 down as I recall that afternoon and that result, allied to win against Airdrie the following weekend kick-started the season and saw us eventually escape relegation. Had we failed to get those results we were in serious trouble of becoming detached. Much as Kirkie takes some credit the guy we should also thank for that one is one Eric Martindale esquire, one of the SFA's finest.

Have you seen the interview that's been broadcast of him a couple of times on SSN today at all. It's quite an amusing piece where he contradicts himself about being ready to jump in the car to drive anywhere at a moments notice to discuss a deal.....but not wanting to rush into anything as he can join anybody because he's a free agent. But the point he makes is a fair one and there will be some others like him, I can recollect Gow, Jeffers and possibly McGlinchey all coming in after the window had closed, so its not necessarily the end of things if the club decide to take stock over the next few days and players that might previously have been out of reach, decide to re-evaluate their demands.

I think when folk are saying they would be happy with avoiding relegation in the majority of cases that's clearly a minimum expectation - particularly when we're in a period of uncertainty both on and off the park as we are just now. I'd be happy if we avoided relegation for the next 50 odd years but that's not to say its the sum of my ambitions for the team, and don't have aspirations that we do much better than that.

That's the thing Johnstone. Fate has dictated that we've had to chuck a few of the youngsters in already, probably earlier than McCall might have wanted. But those fringe players/youngsters have already helped us to some steady if not spectacular results. You compare that to some of the results SPL sides had in the League Cup this week or even one how some of the other SPL teams have fared in the league so far. Worst case I would still think we have enough about us not to be dragged into a relegation fight.

Certainly going by the message that gets re-inforced by those at the club that we aim to sell one player a season, after failing to do business back in January it would seem incomprehensible that we don't part with someone today to go towards the running costs. There's a wee bit of irony in there somewhere that players as part of Motherwell sides who have achieved much less have had clubs desperate to spend money on them, yet we have some mainstays who have taken us to Cup Finals and Europe and we can't seem to attract the bids that the board - if not perhaps McCall - would want

For the travelling Dossers - voting open from 0800 on Friday - your thoughts and votes please....

What does Craigan know? He'd never make it in League One.

I think you have to view each contract on its merits. You can't just dole out a 3 year deal every time someone new comes into the club. You just don't know how a signing is going to turn out. You have a mooted scenario here where some folk are decrying the club for offering Stevenson "just" a 2 year deal. Plenty of folk have spent the last 12 months screaming blue murder at how the fuck Omar Daley managed to get as long as a 2 year deal.

I think you could only really get away with Humphrey on the right hand side if he was played as a wing-back and we had three centre-halves in there and strong protection in midfield. Somthing like... ------------------ Randolph --- Kerr -------- Cummins ------- Page Humphrey --------------------------- Hammell ----- Carswell --Lasley --Hetherington ------------- Murphy ------ Ojamaa You could argue that's it hardly the kind of game for experimenting like that, but then again you could also argue its exactly the kind of game where you could get away with experimenting!

I personally think you're reading too much in to it. The gag was simply a play on the long standing joke - going back as far as the early Only an Excuse stuff where the guy signing for Celtic supported them as a feotus - with the Kingston stuff chucked in for Jamaican context. Bit more stereotypical than racist I'd say.

That's pretty encouraging stuff about Stevenson if the club can sort it out. He did pretty well as I recall at Tynecastle. A thought though. Were Ipswich not one of the teams someone posted (or perhaps it was on Twitter) further up the thread that were seemingly keen on Murph? 2 + 2 = ?

What a sickener! In all fairness a point was the least St Mirren deserved. I thought they were the better pretty much from start to finish but the timing of their equaliser was really cruel on a team that had shown bags of character and determination to keep them out in the preceeding 92 or minutes. Did the linesman get the throw in call wrong? What was the first booking for Hutchinson about. Dissent? He let a fair bit of that go unchallenged so seems harsh to caution someone for dissent after being clubbed in the chops. It was quite an open game to begin with. Great start for us but I never thought it was going to be the only goal the way it swung back and forth for a bit before they got on top. They seemed to be playing more of the football and us looking more direct and pacy on the break. Was certainly dangerous the way it allowed them plenty possession but we still threatened to add to our tally on the break. Pretty much more of the same in the second half as they pressed. I'm sure his detractors will be quick to point to Higdon's chance to kill it that he fired over. I'm not a harsh critic of his but it in retrospect it was a key moment. Looked like we were going to do it, even after Hutchy went off but it wasn't to be. Frustrating that it comes potentially comes as a consequence of officiating after being so dogged in holding firm. As I say a point was probably fair, the circumstances behind not getting three, very frustrating.

Your thoughts and votes please....

Not really what the thread's about but harsh on Hampden. It's not perfect but its hardly the shitiest stadium in Scotland It's been said before that its the folk that fill it that make or break the atmosphere in there. I've been to plenty Scotland games in there where the hairs are standing on the back of your neck even with the same sightlines and seats as we had at the Final last year.

I think when we get fixtures moved I generally prefer playing on the Sunday after the bulk of the other SPL games rather than prior to them. For me at least it usually offers either an added incentive of what a result can do for you, or the knowledge of what requires to be done to alleviate a tricky situation. Ofcourse with that comes with an additional pressure but I'd like to think since some of the squad are internationalists, have closed out 3rd place finishes, got to finals, player in the europe for the most part they should be able to deal with that. So, some interesting results and as a consequence some opportunities that await if the result tomorrow can go our way. It already looks like things will be pretty tight and whilst I'd like to think it won't concern us it's always quite re-assuring when one or two look like they are going to be marooned from early on. So an awkward one tomorrow certainly but winnable ofcourse. Thinking back to the St Johnstone game when things were a bit flat both on and off the park for a good chunk, hopefully there will be a strong start that will get both the team and fans on the front foot from the off.

I think you are both correct. Clearly any competition you take part in, you seek to go as far in that competition as you possibly can. And it seems only reasonable that if you build up a certain amount of experience in that competition you look to apply that where possible to see where you can better yourself next time around. Within that though there remains plenty of variables that mean it's never going to be a constantly upward progression - quality of our team, quality of opposition, officials and atmosphere are just a few off the top of my head. And then there is what I'd largely put last night down to - we simply didn't play as well as we could on the night. But to me there's absolutely nothing wrong in striving to see us make the next step in Europe which for us is trying to get into the Europa League groups. That said however I get totally where Melvin is coming from on this one. Because we have had a few European campaigns relatively close together it can't be assumed that this will always be our lot. I'm sure when St Mirren had 3 or 4 European campaigns behind them in quick succession in the early-mid 80's their fans believed that would be the norm. By the end of the decade they were in Division 1 getting pumped 7-0 by teams. Likewise Dundee Utd. It can all turn around so quickly so frustrating as performances like last night are and as much as we want Motherwell to make strides at the same time we have to put it into context of where we are as a club in the broader view and that means celebrating that we've actually got to this point in the first place and taking as much as can from the experience no matter the outcomes.

The Step by Step Guide thread would certainly benefit from your contribution if you could!!

Was that the thread about where him and Murphy supposedly don't get on, despite him being about the first to congratulate him for both his goals on Saturday with much back-slapping and heaving him into the air? One might have thought if there was as strong a mutual dislike between the players he might well have just trotted back into position no?

I think with the Panathinaikos game there was a definite feeling at the end of it that we had given it a good go, things hadn't gone our way but but for the most part we'd done ourselves justice. Whilst we've a similar scoreline tonight and I think it's the fact that I don't think we can say the same this time is what's most frustrating. I thought there were patches of the game where we looked pretty decent but it was some way short of the level of performance a few weeks back. I would have been happy with any result tonight where we hadn't conceded and we certainly looked like getting half way towards that before conceding before the break. Too far up the East Stand to offer a comment or whether it was or wasn't offside but as has been said already it's one of the first things you are taught when introduced to football is that you play to the whistle. I thought we did fairly well in response to going behind in the early part of the second half and looked to be building up a wee bit of momentum with a couple of half chances created but as soon as they got the second it became very painful viewing. We've got quite a few European games behind us now and whilst there will remain a wee bit of pride that we've faced a La Liga side at Fir Park its going to be a game that's way way down the list of memorable Motherwell matches in Europe.

I haven't really considered the man of the match too much but in terms of Cummins I was hugely impressed with some of the long range passes he was able to ping around the field.

Your thoughts and votes please folks...

It's incredibly sad I know but for the last dozen years I've worked in the city centre and have seen lots of foreign fans floating about the town in wee groups before European games in Glasgow. I think its magic that for once this wee group kicking about are actually here to see them play my team!! I hope they like Glasgow, love Scotland and that their team get absolutely fucked!!